Critical to the success of every organization, strategy is not a long planning exercise or document. Strategy can be simple, fun and effective and is founded on a set of five interrelated and powerful choices that positions an organization to win.
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Integrative thinking is a form of reasoning which allows you to constructively face the tensions of opposing models. Instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, you generate a creative solution. Your solution contains elements of the individual models, but is superior to each.
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Organizations need to incorporate the best of design thinking into their ways of working to unleash innovation and creativity. An organization will be able to counter-balance analytical thinking with intuitive thinking – to enable it to both exploit existing knowledge and create new knowledge.
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While prevailing theory holds that stock-based compensation perfectly aligns corporate executives’ incentives with those of shareholders, it does the opposite. As a consequence, executives have done brilliantly while shareholders have become increasingly frustrated. Incentives and governance practice needs to be transformed to enable corporations to prosper in a way that better serves society.
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The combination of the stagnation of medium incomes and the rapid rise of high incomes is threatening the future of democratic capitalism. Its predictive future requires building a more robust knowledge, transactional and physical infrastructure for broadly shared prosperity.
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For both social entrepreneurs and corporations, the key tenet of social innovation is finding ways to make the world a better place. My work focuses on building tools for social entrepreneurs to create more powerful models for creating value for society and developing models to guide corporations on a path of productive corporate citizenship.
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Thinker Author Advisor Speaker
Meet Roger
Meet the Team
Let's Read
A New Way to Think
When More is Not Better
Creating Great Choices
The Rise (and Likely Fall) of the Talent Economy
Getting Beyond Better
Playing To win
Canada: What it is, what it can be
Fixing the Game
The Design Of Business
The Opposable Mind
The Responsibility Virus
Dia-Minds
The Future of the MBA
Rotman on Design
Let's Engage
Thought Pillars
Thinker Author Advisor Speaker
In 2017, Roger was named the world’s #1 management thinker by Thinkers50, a biannual ranking of the most influential global business thinkers.
Roger is a trusted strategy advisor to the CEOs of companies worldwide including Procter & Gamble, Lego, Ford, BHP & Verizon
Roger Martin is a Professor Emeritus at the Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto where he served as Dean from 1998-2013, Academic Director of the Michael Lee-Chin Family Institute for Corporate Citizenship from 2004-2019 and Institute Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute from 2013-2019. In 2013, he was named global Dean of the Year by the leading business school website, Poets & Quants.
His newest book is A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Managerial Effectiveness (Harvard Business Review Press, 2022). His previous twelve books include When More is Not Better (HBRP, 2020), Creating Great Choiceswritten with Jennifer Riel (HBRP, 2017) Getting Beyond Betterwritten with Sally Osberg (HBRP, 2015) and Playing to Win written with A.G. Lafley (HBRP, 2013), which won the award for Best Book of 2012-13 by the Thinkers50. He has written 30 Harvard Business Review articles.
Roger received his BA from Harvard College, with a concentration in Economics, in 1979 and his MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1981. He lives in South Florida with his wife, Marie-Louise Skafte.
Contact Roger through Twitter or email. Call us to book a speaking engagement or other services.
Roger is available for keynote and other speaking engagements. Advisory services and team workshops can also be booked with Roger.
Articles
Peter Drucker in the 21st Century
November 25, 2024
Harvard Business Review
What Managers Get Wrong About Capital
May-June 2020
Harvard Business Review
The One Thing You Need to Know About Managing Functions
July-August 2019
Harvard Business Review
January-February 2019
Harvard Business Review
Management Is Much More Than a Science
September-October 2017
Harvard Business Review
September 2015
Harvard Business Review
Two Keys to Sustainable Social Enterprise
May 2015
Harvard Business Review
The Rise (and Likely Fall) of the Talent Economy
October 2014
HBR.org
Why Smart People Struggle with Strategy
June 12, 2014
Harvard Business Review
Saving the Planet: A Tale of Two Strategies
April 2012
Harvard Business Review
June 2011
Harvard Business Review
The Age of Customer Capitalism
January/February 2010
Harvard Business Review
Capital vs. Talent: The Battle That's Reshaping Business
July 2003
Harvard Business Review
The Virtue Matrix: Calculating the Return on Corporate Responsibility
March, 2002
Medium
My Love/Hate Relationship with VUCA
July 11, 2022
Fortune
Going to the Office is the New 'Remote Work'
July 7, 2022
Medium
A Management System for Forgiveness
June 27, 2022
Great Business Decisions Often Require Imagination More than Data
June 22, 2022
Strategy & Leadership
The Power of Questioning Conventional Models in Management Practice
June 14, 2022
Rotman Management
Spring 2022
Porchlight Books: Change This
Planning is No Substitute for Strategy
May 4, 2022
Medium
May 2, 2022
Strategy & Leadership
Rethinking the M&A Model: Give Value to Get Value
April 1, 2022, Vol. 50 No. 3, pp. 11-14.
Medium
March 28, 2022
Medium
March 21, 2022
Harvard Business Review
The Real Secret to Retaining Talent
March-April 2022
Medium
The Great Resignation Should be No Surprise
February 14, 2022
Medium
January 31, 2022
Medium
Don't Let Them Compel You to be Stupid
January 17, 2022
Medium
Singing the Data Analytics Blues
November 29, 2021
Medium
The Rule of Fear and the Rules for Fear
October 25, 2021
Medium
Battling our Same-Different Instinct
October 18, 2021
Medium
July 12, 2021
Medium
The Delusion of Revenue Forecasting
July 5, 2021
Medium
Balancing Exploration and Exploitation
June 28, 2021
Medium
It’s Time to Accept that Play for Performance Doesn’t Work
June 14, 2021
Medium
Manipulation of Quantities & Appreciation of Qualities
April 26, 2021
Medium
The Tragic Futility of Investing to Catch Up
March 1, 2021
Medium
The Two Rules that Monopolists Ignore at their Peril
February 8, 2021
Harvard Business Review
It’s Time to Replace the Public Corporation
Jan-Feb 2021
Medium
Is the Opposite of Your Choice Stupid on its Face?
October 12, 2020
HBR.org
Leaders Need to Harness Aristotle’s 3 Types of Knowledge
October 2, 2020
Medium
September 28, 2020
Medium
September 21, 2020
Medium
September 14, 2020
Medium
Overcoming the Pitfalls of Our Same-Different Impulse
August 17, 2020
Medium
July 23, 2020
Tsinghua Business Review
The Analytics Folly of Modern Management
Issue 6, 2020 pp. 6-10
Thrive Global
3 Final Lessons I Learned From My Mother
May 6, 2020
Brightline Project Management Institute
November 15, 2019
HBR.org
Pricing Needs to Reflect Who People Want to Be, Not Just What They Want
January 25, 2019
HBR.org
Should Mark Zuckerberg Resign?
January 8, 2019
HBR.org
Activist Hedge Funds Aren't Good for Companies or Investors, So Why Do They Exist?
August 20, 2018
HBR.org
Why the U.S. Trade Deficit Can Be a Sign of a Healthy Economy
July 27, 2018
HBR.org
GE's Fall Has Been Accelerated by Two Problems. Most Other Big Companies Face Them, Too.
June 29, 2018
HBR.org
It's Time to Make More Jobs Good Jobs
December 4, 2017
HBR.org
CEOs Should Stop Thinking that Execution is Somebody Else's Job; It Is Theirs
November 21, 2017
HBR.org
In the Workplace of the NFL, the Players Hold the Upper Hand
October 31, 2017
The Globe and Mail
How Unilever won over shareholders with its long-term approach
October 13, 2017
HBR.org
June 13, 2017
HBR.org
What If Investors Who Held Their Shares Longer Got More Voting Power?
April 27, 2017
HBR.org
The 3 Simple Rules of Managing Top Talent
February 24, 2017
HBR.org
A Little Competition Could Improve Your HR, IT, and Legal Departments
February 21, 2017
HBR.org
How the Attacks on Trump Reinforce His Strategy
January 12, 2017
HBR.org
Use Design Thinking to Build Commitment to a New Idea
January 3, 2017
Harvard Business Review
January-February 2017
HBR.org
Are Americans Enamored with the Wrong Kinds of Entrepreneurs?
November 11, 2016
HBR.org
The False Premise of the Shareholder Value Debate
September 26, 2016
Harvard Business Review
M&A: The One Thing You Need to Get Right
June 2016
HBR.org
Strategy and Execution Are the Same Thing
January 12, 2016
Harvard Business Review
December, 2015
HBR.org
How Social Entrepreneurs Make Change Happen
October 14, 2015
HBR.org
October 13, 2015
HBR.org
Yes, Short-Termism Really Is a Problem
October 9, 2015
HBR.org
Why Talking About Strategy “Execution” Is Still Dangerous
September 15, 2015
HBR.org
What Economists Get Wrong About Measuring Productivity
September 14, 2015
HBR.org
Two Words That Kill Innovation
December 9, 2014
HBR.org
The Dark Side of Efficient Markets
October 15, 2014
HBR.org
Why Monopolistic Pension Funds Undermine Capitalism
October 6, 2014
HBR.org
When Talent Started Driving Economic Growth
September 30, 2014
HBR.org
We Can’t Talk About Inequality Without Talking About Talent
September 23, 2014
HBR.org
When Star Talent Grew More Powerful than Capital
September 9, 2014
HBR.org
The Fall of the Talent Economy?
September 4, 2014
HBR.org
In America, Labor Is Friendless
August 28, 2014
HBR.org
How to Win the Argument with Milton Friedman
June 2, 2014
HBR.org
Which Strategy “Comfort Traps” Are You Falling Into?
May 3, 2014
Harvard Business Review
The Public Corporation Is Finally in Eclipse
April 2014
HBR.org
The Unexpected Benefits of Rapid Prototyping
February 11, 2014
HBR.org
The Five Rules Every New CEO Should Follow
October 14, 2013
HBR.org
The Cure for Self-Inflicted Complexity
October 4, 2013
Harvard Business Review
Rethinking the Decision Factory
October 2013
HBR.org
September 6, 2013
HBR.org
Should Barnes & Noble Turn into a Mini-Mall?
July 15, 2013
strategy+business
Leading with Intellectual Integrity
May 28, 2013
HBR.org
Trending Again: Emoting at the World Economic Forum
January 28, 2013
HBR.org
Why I Decided to Rethink Hiring Smart People
October 17, 2012
Harvard Business Review
October 2012
HBR.org
Before You Take a Risk, Lay Out the Logic
June 19, 2012
Financial Times
Is it worthwhile to advise the government?
May 29, 2012
HBR.org
Do Financial Regulators Have Principles? Wanted: Financial Regulators with Backbone
March 22, 2012
HBR.org
The U.S. Needs to Make More Jobs More Creative
February 27, 2012
Rotman Magazine
Opening up the Boundaries of the Firm
Winter 2012
Reuters.com
The Limits of the Scientific Method in Economics and the World: Part II
November 11, 2011
Reuters.com
The Limits of the Scientific Method in Economics and the World: Part I
November 10, 2011
HBR.org
How to Make Companies Think Long-Term
October 3, 2011
HBR.org
CEOs Must Model the Behavior for Creating Societal Value
September 26, 2011
HBR.org
You Can't Analyze Your Way to Growth
September 12, 2011
HBR.org
Can Apple Survive Without Steve Jobs?
August 29, 2011
HBR.org
Are You Ready for Some Football?
July 25, 2011
HBR.org
Cool Alone Won’t Save Your Company
July 20, 2011
HBR.org
June 3, 2011
HBR.org
CEOs Should Be More Like Quarterbacks
May 3, 2011
Harvard Business Review
Don’t Get Blinded by the Numbers
March 2011
HBR.org
Finding the Hidden Gems in Your Business Model
February 22, 2011
Interviews
The Decision Lab
Creating Great Choices with Roger Martin
July 19, 2021
Life Science Leader
Do You (As A Leader) Create Great Choices?
July 31, 2019
Stitcher
Demystifying Organizations: Balancing Stakeholder Interests
June 21, 2019
ANR Newsletter
With Roger Martin – World’s #1 Management Thinker
December 21, 2018
HBR Ideacast
July 31, 2018
The Reading Lists
Roger Martin: Reading to Unlock Mysteries
May 31, 2018
Talks at Google
Roger L. Martin: "Creating Great Choices: A Leader's Guide to Integrative Thinking"
December 18, 2017
Actionable Books
The 21st Century Workplace Podcast
December 20, 2017
The Learning Leader
Episode 190: Roger Martin - Playing to Win: Strategy Is A Choice
February 12, 2017
HBR
January-February 2017 Issue
BizEd
February 23, 2016
Monocle.com
December 30, 2015
Tonyloyd.com
Changing the World One Model at a Time
November 30, 2015
Inside HR
Design Thinking 101 for HR: How to help your CEO drive strategy
November 24, 2015
Changeboard.com
Roger Martin: Strategy is choice
November 9, 2015
U of T News
Social Entrepreneurship Explained
November 2, 2015
Invetech
Taking Innovation Outcomes to the Next Level — An Interview With Roger Martin
October 29, 2015
CBC Metro Morning
October 12, 2015
Outlook Business
September 2, 2015
BFM 89.9 The Business Station
Raise your Game: Playing to Win
August 27, 2015
Innovation Hub
What Threatens the Talent Economy
December 12, 2014
Val 202
December 9, 2014
CBC - Metro Morning
November 25, 2014
Huff Post Business
Want To Make A Difference? Don't Be A Hedge Fund Manager
November 24, 2014
The Economist
April 9, 2013
Mind Tools
National Magazine
Rotman Magazine
Thought Leader Interview: Roger Martin
Fall 2013
DMI: Review
Summer 2013
delawareonline
What I am Reading this Summer and Why You Should, Too
June 20, 2013
Odgers Berndtson
May 30, 2013
Rotman Magazine
Coaching High Performance: Lessons from Veterans in Two Arenas
Spring 2013
Forbes India
Strategy Needs a Mix of Data and Logic: Roger Martin
April, 16, 2013
Business World
Analytical Thinking Is Stifling Innovation
March 25, 2013
Inc.com
4 Key Things Great Strategic Thinkers Do
March 11, 2013
Business Insider
PROFESSOR: 'JC Penney Serves No Compelling Customer Purpose'
March 11, 2013
Business Standard
Every new idea cannot be proven in advance: Roger L Martin
February 24, 2013
Live Mint
Roger Martin | The Master Strategist
February 17, 2013
The Sunday Times
Win the strategy game in five steps
February 10, 2013
Business Insider
P&G's Legendary Ex-CEO Explains Why Everyone Gets Strategy Wrong
February 5, 2013
Forbes
Playing To Win: How Strategy Really Works
February 4, 2013
Inc.com
Rule for Success: Choose Your Playing Field
February 2013
Forbes
Is Everyone Nuts? P&G Now A Dog? And Unilever A Star?
January 11, 2013
Havard Business Review
What the NHL Lockout Reveals About Capital and Labor
January 11, 2013
DNA India
'Capitalism is not as Smartly Managed as Cricket'
October 8, 2012
Innovation Excellence
Balancing Intuition with Analysis
June 15, 2012
Forbes
Fighting The Kool-Aid Of Stock-Based Compensation: Q&A With Roger Martin
January 3, 2012
The Business Times
July 26, 2011
The Straights Times
Design Thinking Gives Firms an Edge
July 20, 2011
Forbes.com
Redesigned Thinking for Diverse Brains!
February 10, 2011
Ideaconnection.com
February 6, 2011
Be You Blog
January 15, 2011
Bobmorris.biz
September 16, 2010
Steelcase Threesixty Magazine
On Innovation and Why Companies Struggle with It
June 2010
DNA Money (Mumbai, India)
Why Companies Get Trapped Into Doing What They Are Good At,
February 8, 2010
Open Forum Blog
The Design of Business, an Interview with Roger Martin
November 4, 2009
Gelatobaby Interview
2009 AIGA Make/Think Conference
October 9, 2009
AIC Institute for Corporate Citizenship
March 3, 2009
DNA (Bangalore Edition)
Great Leaders are Integrative Thinkers
January 29, 2009
Financial Times
March 25, 2008
