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My initial impression about 'Game-Changer' was that of an ode-of-a-tome to P&G. First few chapters also reinforced this belief. However, it turned out to be  a half-truth. Yes, the book has A.G. Lafley as one of the authors but it's hardly a book about the conquests of P&G. Instead, it's a book on Innovation Leadership and how to integrate Innovation into everyday work life in order to sustain an organic growth. What I liked most about the book is the impeccable delivery and style. In some chapters of the book, both Lafley and  Charan take turns putting forth their respective viewpoints on innovation and injecting heavy doses of wisdom. It's an acknowledged fact that most books on innovation on bookstores shelves are high on fluff and rhetoric; I was fortunate to have read this book in tandem with Gary Hamel's 'The future of management'. These two books, arguably, make a heady concoction of, perhaps, the best material on innnovation ever written.

 

Lafley, in the second chapter, points out how an invention is different from an innovation explaining that unless an invention can be tied to revenue and profit, it can't be branded an innovation. Lafley later mentions that he had realised quite early in his career that the company that builds a culture of innovation is on a path to growth. There are some ideas and lessons in the book that are reiterated many a time and really form the meaty part of the book.

 

a)  First among these outstanding lessons is authors' emphasis on importance of failure in world of innovation. Last three chapters would almost drill the unabashedness from failure into the readers' head. Lafley-Charan markedly tell the reader that every failure is a chance to improve and avoid making the same mistake again. Every failure produces insights.

 

b) Duo's persistence in underscoring the importance of identifying doomed projects should be commended. Just as it's important to direct right resources to right projects, so it is to pin down bad projects and their sometimes unwilful

termination.

 

c) Managing an innovation portfolio is not unlike managing an investment portfolio. Just like an investment manager who would always take the performance of whole portfolio than that of individual stocks into account, an Innovation project portfolio manager should also walk the same road.

 

d) Lafley-Charan point out that measuring an innovation or progress on an innovation has always been considered an arduous task since in most cases, there is no precedent. Nevertheless by hooking innovation projects to future revenues and profits, their progress can be tracked.

 

e) Authors accentuate the fact that innovation leaders are quite different from operational leaders. Mindset for an innovation leadership is entirely different. It requires 4Cs and an O, according to authors.i.e, Courage, Connectivity, Collaboration, Curiousity and Openness.

 

f) Lafley-Charan are also stress that innovation is a team sport, unlike productivity which is an individual's backyard. They also profess that innovation and organic growth are inextricably interlinked.

 

g) Last but not the least, the two illustrious authors play up the importance of building a pipeline for innovation leaders since the duo firmly belives that innovation leaders are not born, they are made.

 

Game-Changer, undoubtedly, is a C-suite book. Nonetheless it's significance for almost anyone who wants to be more than a cog in the machine can't be further amplified. As far as reading time is concerned, this book would definitely consume more than a weekend. But then, it's worth spending time on.