Pivot to the Future: Discovering Value and Creating Growth in a Disrupted World | Omar Abbosh - Paul Nunes - Larry Downes

The proven, effective strategy for reinventing your business in the age of ever-present disruption

Disruption by digital technologies? That's not a new story. But what is new is the "wise pivot," a replicable strategy for harnessing disruption to survive, grow, and be relevant to the future. It's a strategy for perpetual reinvention across the old, now, and new elements of any business.

Rapid recent advances in technology are forcing leaders in every business to rethink long-held beliefs about how to adapt to emerging technologies and new markets. What has become abundantly clear: in the digital age, conventional wisdom about business transformation no longer works, if it ever did.

Based on Accenture's own experience of reinventing itself in the face of disruption, the company's real world client work, and a rigorous two-year study of thousands of businesses across 30 industries, Pivot to the Future reveals methodical and bold moves for finding and releasing new sources of trapped value-unlocked by bridging the gap between what is technologically possible and how technologies are being used. The freed value enables companies to simultaneously reinvent their legacy, and current and new businesses.

Pivot to the Future is for leaders who seek to turn the existential threats of today and tomorrow into sustainable growth, with the courage to understand that a wise pivot strategy is not a one-time event, but a commitment to a future of perpetual reinvention, where one pivot is followed by the next and the next.
 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Omar and the team at Accenture have written a wonderful book that outlines what it takes to succeed in a world changed-and super-charged-by technology-based disruption."―Satya Nadella, CEO,Microsoft

"For any of us that are trying to build long-standing, sustainable businesses-which is hard-the most important thing is to listen carefully to what your customers want from you and then move quickly to innovate to improve the customer experience. Omar and his colleagues provide practical information and real-world examples that will be useful to companies looking to embrace change and adopt strategies and technologies to keep reinventing and iterating their customer experiences."―Andy Jassy, CEO,Amazon Web Services (AWS)

"In Pivot to the Future, Omar Abbosh and his coauthors make a powerful case that successful innovation is a long-term game that requires constant pivots to evolve and change. Pivot to the Future will excite, energize, and empower leaders, helping them innovate intelligently, keep moving forward, and always be future-ready."―Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO,Dell Technologies

"Every company is seeking to reinvent itself. Pivot to the Future provides powerful and stimulating concepts, ideas, and examples that can help guide these efforts. A must read for anyone who is looking for help on the journey!!"―Hubert Joly, chairmanand CEO, Best Buy

"We all face disruptive transformations fueled by digital technologies. Pivot to the Future: Discovering Value and Creating Growth in a Disrupted World is an invaluable testimony on how Accenture very successfully transformed and adapted. It takes more than a new strategy, it takes a new approach to strategy. It is a well-structured guide on how to 'wisely' pivot a business towards new opportunities in the digital age and definitely a must-read."―Jean-Pascal Tricoire, chairman and CEO, Schneider Electric

"The 'wise pivot' concept is a powerful framework that can shape top leadership teams' decisions around digital strategies and new operating models. With the help of Omar, we used that framework to develop a digital strategy that strikes the balance between growing our core business and shaping new ways of operating."―Giovanni Caforio,CEO, Bristol-Myers Squibb

"We'd better be ready for disruption. I like the strategies I'm seeing for unlocking trapped value and simultaneously reinventing legacy, current, and new areas of a business. I think they could go a long way in helping us-and other companies-get there."―John Pettigrew, CEO, NationalGrid

"We are facing a period of disruption, the like of which I have not witnessed in my career. It has the potential to obsolete businesses and destroy industries. Even the disrupters are being disrupted! As Pivot to the Future argues compellingly, traditional strategies are no longer enough. From their own experience, the authors reveal that reinvention must now be a constant, and must address not only the legacy businesses but pivot into new, scalable businesses. This requires organizations to embrace both technological and cultural change, and take bold moves from an outside in perspective. Change should be measured across three horizons: the old, the now, and the new. I recommend this book to those of you who have stepped up to this exciting challenge, understand the magnitude of what is required, and are keen to learn from their peers."―Gordon Cairns, chairman of Woolworths Group and chairman of Origin Energy

"Pivot to the Future-finally-presents a much-needed perspective that reinvigorates tired and outdated concepts of strategy. Instead of building an advantage and defending it, it shows how organizations can release waves of competitive advantage by freeing up trapped value. Instead of innovation for the Next Big Thing, this book shows how innovation plays a role in businesses at every stage. And instead of theorizing, it draws on a real-world journey to figure all this out."―Rita McGrath, bestselling author of The End of Competitive Advantage and professor at Columbia Business School

"Pivot to the Future helps decision makers break free from traditional, linear thinking and immediate concerns in order to win in the Fourth Industrial Revolution by leveraging disruption rather than fearing it."―Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman, World Economic Forum

"The authors succeed in going beyond the theory of disruption-sharing the experiences of those businesses who have successfully pivoted themselves. With case studies and lessons learned, Pivot to the Future provides an invaluable tool for reinvention."―Luis Maroto, president and CEO, Amadeus

"The great opportunity of the digital era is to release trapped value from the legacy processes that encumber it. Pivot to the Future offers business leaders a much-needed focus on these opportunities which are often hidden in plain sight. It provides a playbook on how to win-and keep winning-in the digital revolution."―Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Zone to Win

"Pivot to the Future is timely, insightful, and practical. Just think about the pivot to additive and digital manufacturing that is getting started now, and you'll know how important this book is. A must-read for anyone who cares about the longevity of their firm and their career."―Richard D'Aveni, author of The Pan-industrial Revolution: How New Manufacturing Titans Will Transform the World and Bakala Professor of Strategy, Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth

"We no longer live in a world of digital divide. The winner takes all markets ahead will create a disruption unlike no other. Winners must make bold and wise pivots required for success. This book illustrates and proves with examples that span multiple industries why incremental innovation is not enough. When the iPhone came out, it destroyed twenty-seven business models and over 10,000 products. THAT is disruption. And that's why we need the kind of advice I'm seeing in this timely book."―R "Ray" Wang, principal analyst and founder, Constellation Research, Inc.

"If companies do not learn to innovate and-as Accenture puts it, pivot wisely-they risk irrelevance. But when you combine the ability to pivot with the ability to partner with startups, other companies, universities, and research centers, you're on your way to sustainable growth."―Francesco Starace, CEO, Enel

"Businesses are experiencing technological and consumer-behavior shifts of unprecedented magnitude, so 'conventional' doesn't cut it any more. Accenture's leaders clearly get this. But what really counts is that the authors don't just tell us what's wrong, they outline a powerful framework for success."―Patrick Koller, CEO, Faurecia

"New technologies like Internet of Things, 5G, big data, and artificial intelligence are already leading us into the next industrial revolution, and Pivot to the Future helps business leaders to turn these 'disruptions' into opportunities in the intelligence era."―Yuanqing Yang, chairman and CEO, Lenovo

"When the literature on this subject can hardly keep up with what's going on, it's refreshing to read a succinct work with a unique perspective that cuts to the chase on how companies big and small can not only survive, but really thrive, in these complex, challenging, and incredibly exciting times. The dozens of case studies supporting Accenture's singular vision not only bring this fascinating topic to life, but also underpin and validate the need to pivot where others fear to tread."―Antonio Huertas, chairman and CEO, MAPFRE

"At a time where business leaders are searching for value and growth, Omar and his coauthors have given us a blueprint of how this can be done by pivoting existing businesses and also leveraging technology and change to pivot to the new. And for those simply seeking a good read, there is a lot of very interesting historical business context and analysis."―Alistair Phillips-Davies, CEO, SSE plc

"Society is being transformed, and it won't stop. Incrementalism no longer cuts it. Ever-evolving digital technologies require a fundamental shift in attitude. Companies must continuously pivot to the new. But as profit windows shorten and one pivot follows the next, the opportunities are vast. Abbosh, Nunes, and Downes explain with some humility how Accenture, where they work, itself learned hard lessons about continuous transformation. Pivot to the Future offers deep insight into how to manage the twists and turns."―David Kirkpatrick, founder and editor-in-Chief, Techonomy Media

"In this age of lurching change, strategic agility has become the defining signature of the winners. Pivot to the Future captures it well. The book is not shy about common missteps CEOs can make and properly emphasizes honing leadership skills to be bold, be courageous, move mindsets, and build teams that execute with a sense of purpose. I saw the essence of the book being discussed by a group of CEOs and many of them commented on how enriched and energized they felt. This book is a must-read for those CEOs who seek to become the disruptors -not the disrupted."―Fred Hassan, author of Reinvent: A Leader's Playbook for Serial Success, former chairman and CEO, Schering-Plough, and current senior advisor with Warburg Pincus

"Deutsche Telekom weathered multiple waves of change. And I agree that reinvention can never be complete--it must be ongoing, and therefore organizations must embed a replicable process to encourage it."―Timotheus Höttges, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Telekom AG

"An excellent book that should be consulted often in these times of constant change and opportunities that require studied transformational plans."―Miguel Angel Gutierrez, YPF, President

About the Author

Omar Abbosh is group chief executive of Accenture's Communications, Media & Technology operating group and is a member of Accenture's Global Management Committee. He has served as the global client lead for leading multinational companies where he advised client executives on major strategic issues for their businesses. Mr. Abbosh joined Accenture in 1989 and became a partner in 1998. He holds a degree in electronic engineering from Cambridge University and a master's degree in business administration from INSEAD.

Paul Nunes is the global managing director for thought leadership at Accenture Research and leads the company's principle business research programs that shape its strategic vision. He is coauthor of three books, Big Bang Disruption: Strategy in the Age of Devastating Innovation (2014). He has written for MIT Sloan Management Review, Fast Company, Conference Board Review, The European Business Review, Rotman, Strategy and Leadership, and Wired. Nunes' research findings have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BusinessWeek.com, Forbes.com, Inc.com, CFO, CIO, CIO Insight, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune.

Larry Downes is an Internet industry analyst and author on developing business strategies in the age of disruptive innovation. He is the co-author of Big Bang Disruption and author of New York Timesbusiness best-seller, Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market Dominance, (1998) which was named by The Wall Street Journal as one of the five most important books ever published on business and technology. He is a columnist on innovation for both The WashingtonPost and Forbes and writes regularly for Harvard Business Review. Downes has held faculty appointments at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Northwestern University School of Law, and the University of California-Berkeley's Haas School of Business, where he was Associate Dean of the School of Information. Since 2014, he has served as project director at the Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy.