Genius at Scale
Innovation doesn't just happen. You need to lead it. Discover the three critical roles leaders must play in driving—and scaling—innovation.
Constant tech disruption. Unrelenting economic volatility. Radically shifting demographics and work norms. More than ever, we need to innovate amid these daunting global challenges. But do we have the leaders—and the leadership—it takes to make this innovation happen successfully?
Yes, we do. As preeminent leadership scholar Linda Hill, Harvard researcher Emily Tedards, and former Microsoft innovation executive Jason Wild show in this powerful book, there are indeed exemplary leaders to learn from—and in Genius at Scale, the authors present stories of such leaders in fascinating detail, not only igniting your imagination but providing inspiring and instructive models to follow. Hill's award-winning last book, Collective Genius, began the crucial task of showing how successful innovation doesn't just happen—it needs to be led. Now, Genius at Scale breaks new ground, highlighting that moving from generating new ideas to actually scaling them involves co-creation—collaborating, experimenting, and learning with others both inside and beyond the boundaries of the organization. This requires three distinct types of leadership mindset and behaviors:
- Leader as Architect: shaping culture and capabilities for co-creation
- Leader as Bridger: building partnerships across groups and organizations
- Leader as Catalyst: cultivating and activating movements across ecosystems
The authors vividly profile these three types of leaders with individuals from all kinds of companies, across private and public sectors—from high tech to hospitals to consumer products—who illustrate the mindset and skills needed for leading in a world more uncertain and challenging than ever before.
Genius at Scale provides an essential guide for any current or aspiring leader in mastering the art and practice of innovation.
Linda A. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Faculty Chair of the Leadership Initiative. She is the coauthor of Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation and the cofounder of InnovationForce, named by Fast Company as a 2023 Innovative Company to Watch. Emily Tedards is a doctoral student in organizational behavior at Harvard Business School and a doctoral fellow for the Reimagining the Economy Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School. Jason Wild is the former Global Vice President and CEO of Co-Innovation and Customer Engagement at Microsoft. Prior to that, he was the Senior Vice President of Transformation and Innovation at Salesforce.