Ninja Innovation
The Ten Killer Strategies of the World's Most Successful Businesses
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3.4 • 10 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Innovate or die
For thirty years, Gary Shapiro has observed the world's most innovative businesses from his front-row seat as leader of the Consumer Electronics Association. Now he reveals the ten secrets of "ninja innovators" like Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and many others.
What does it take to succeed? Discipline. Mission-oriented strategy. Adaptability. Decisiveness. And a will for victory. In short, today's most successful businesses are "ninja innovators." Drawn from Gary Shapiro's three decades of experience leading the consumer electronics industry, Ninja Innovation takes readers behind the scenes of today's top enterprises, uncovering their ten essential strategies for success.
As head of the Consumer Electronics Association and its influential annual trade show, the International CES, Shapiro has worked with the most innovative companies in history—Intel, IBM, and Samsung, to name a few—focusing on creating policies and events that produce revolutionary products year after year. He has learned the key strategies that have guided these businesses to record-breaking profits, as well as the traps that have led so many others to crushing failure.
In order to stay in front of the pace of innovation, Shapiro observes, top companies must operate as an elite strike force—just like the legendary medieval warriors known as ninjas. Ninjas weren't called upon to do the ordinary; they had to perform truly extraordinary tasks, while risking everything. As a highly trained martial-arts black belt himself, Shapiro mines the valuable insights of these centuries-old warriors to spotlight the secrets of agility, creativity, decisiveness, and reinvention that are essential for twenty-first-century leaders seeking breakthrough success.
Taking readers inside the most cutting-edge businesses, Ninja Innovation is the ultimate guide to achieving victory in today's innovate-or-die economy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In his latest, Shapiro (The Comeback), CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, argues that companies should demonstrate the same agility, laserlike focus, and strength as ninjas. He uses the metaphor of the ninja to focus on "the micro factors that lead to individual and organizational success." "Ninja Innovation" serves as a catchall phrase for what it takes to succeed and expands the ninja credo to incorporate traits that modern-day ninjas need. Chapters detail specific characteristics of the ninja mentality, such as besting the competitor, taking risks, and adhering to a code of conduct. Shapiro's chapter on strategy formation, which he considers an art, not science, is top-notch. Despite his use of prominent (but common) examples including Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, and Meg Whitman, Shapiro's advice is solidly based on theory. Readers seeking a practical how-to text will need to look elsewhere. However, those eager for a more stealthy and versatile approach will appreciate Shapiro's treatise on discipline, shared goals, and mental toughness.
