From one of today’s foremost innovation leaders, an inspiring and practical guide to mastering change in the face of relentless uncertainty. The world will never be slower than it is right now, says Beth Comstock, the former Vice Chair and head of marketing and innovation at GE. But confronting the relentless pace of change is hard. Employees get downsized; companies find themselves disrupted as challengers steal away customers. To thrive in today’s world, every one of us has to become a change-maker. In Imagine It Forward, Comstock shares lessons from a thirty year career as the change-maker in chief, on spotting trends and driving innovation. In a candid and deeply personal narrative, Beth describes her successes and failures from the front lines of business, across industries ranging from media to health, energy to manufacturing, finance to the Industrial Internet. As the woman who spearheaded Ecomagination, and GE’s famed FastWorks methodology, she helped to turn a process-heavy, risk-averse culture, to one that increasingly embraced transparency, adaptability, iteration, and discovery.She shows how each one of us can -- in fact, must -- become a “change maker”—an instigator of change –by giving ourselves permission to imagine a better way. For Comstock, the concept of being “change ready” calls for the courage to defy convention, the resilience to overcome doubts, and the savvy to know when to go around corporate gatekeepers to reinvent what is possible. It means being willing to move forward without having all the answers, while recognizing that inevitably there will be tension and conflict. It requires an uncompromising faith in experimentation, and a belief that disruption is something you engage, not simply respond to. Among the practical takeaways Comstock offers in Imagine It Forward: ·Give yourself permission. Every change maker must learn to give herself permission to push outside expectations and boundaries. ·The power of discovery. Discovery is the process of bringing the outside into your organization. It is about infusing yourself and your team with a spirit of inquiry and curiosity, turning the world into a classroom. ·Find a “Spark.’ Bring in provocateurs to challenge established ways of thinking; they can be a powerful catalyst for change. ·Story Craft. Strategy is a story well told. To innovate successfully, you have to craft a new narrative about what the organization stands for in order to change how people think and act. “Ideas are rarely the problem,” writes Comstock. “What holds all of us back, really—is fear. It’s the attachment to the old, to ‘What We Know.’” Confronting today’s accelerating change requires an extraordinary degree of problem-solving, collaboration, and forward-thinking leadership to unlock everyone’s potential. Imagine It Forward masterfully points the way.

Imagine It Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change

Biographies & Memoirs

Raz, Tahl

Comstock, Beth

Professionals & Academics

Random House Canada

FROM ONE OF TODAY'S FOREMOST INNOVATION LEADERS, AN INSPIRING, PERSONAL APPROACH TO MASTERING CHANGE IN THE FACE OF UNCERTAINTY. NAMED A 2018 BEST BUSINESS BOOK PICK BY FAST COMPANY AND WIRED UK. Confronting change is incredibly hard, both organizationally and personally. People become resistant. They are afraid. Yet the pace of change in our world will never be slower than it is right now, says Beth Comstock, the former Vice Chair and head of marketing and innovation at GE. Imagine It Forward is an inspiring, fresh, candid, and deeply personal book about how tograpple with the challenges to change we face every day.It is a different kind of narrative, a big picture book that combines Comstock’s personal story in leading change with vital lessons on overcoming the inevitable roadblocks. One of the most successful women in business, Comstock shares her own transformation story from introverted publicist to GE’s first woman Vice Chair, and her hard-won lessons in shifting GE, a 125 year old American institution, toward a new digital future and a more innovative culture. As the woman who initiated GE's Ecomagination clean-energy and its (and NBC’s) digital transformations, Comstock challenged a global organization to not wait for perfection, but to seek out emerging trends, embrace smart risks and test ideas boldly, and often. She shows how each one of us can become a “change maker” by leading with imagination. “Ideas are rarely the problem,” writes Comstock. “What holds all of us back, really—is fear. It’s the attachment to the old, to ‘What We Know.’” As Comstock makes clear, transforming the mindset and culture of a company is messy. There is no easy checklist. It is fraught with uncertainty, tension and too often failure. It calls for the courage to defy convention, go around corporate gatekeepers when necessary, and reinvent what is possible. For all those looking to spearhead change in their companies and careers, and reinvent “the way things are done,” Imagine It Forward masterfully points the way.

Crown Currency

Imagine It Forward

Business & Money

Virgin Books

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