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
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.
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
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
Washington Post
The virus shows that making our companies efficient also made our country weak
March 27, 2020
Harvard Business Review
The One Thing You Need to Know About Managing Functions
July-August 2019
Harvard Business Review
January-February 2019
Rotman Magazine
Creating Great Choices: Integrative Thinking for Leaders
Winter 2018
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
The Big Lie of Strategic Planning
January–February 2014
The New York Times
September 28, 2012
Harvard Business Review
Bringing Science to the Art of Strategy
September 2012
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
June 2007
Stanford Social Innovation Review
Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition
Spring 2007
Harvard Business Review
Capital vs. Talent: The Battle That's Reshaping Business
July 2003
WashingtonPost.com
May 13, 2011
The Huffington Post
Fixing the Game: The Dangers of Expectation
May 10, 2011
The Daily Beast
Earnings Season: Short-Term Focus, Long-Term Harm
May 5, 2011
Forbes.com
It's Only A Matter of Time Until The Next Crash
May 5, 2011
The Huffington Post
Old CEO Pay Theories Die Hard -- and Damagingly
May 5, 2011
FastCompany.com
The NFL: A Smarter Game with a Better Business
May 5, 2011
The Huffington Post
Fixing the Game: The Problem with Expectations
May 4, 2011
HBR.org
CEOs Should Be More Like Quarterbacks
May 3, 2011
The Huffington Post
Fixing the Game: What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL
May 2, 2011
The Globe And Mail
Flawed Economic Theories are Destroying American Capitalism
April 29, 2011
The Globe and Mail
Why are CEOs Compensated Differently than Quarterbacks?
April 28, 2011
The Huffington Post
Fixing the Game: The Unintended Consequences of an Economic Theory
April 27, 2011
The Globe and Mail
What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL
April 27, 2011
The Globe and Mail
How an Economic Theory Changed the Way CEOs Get Paid
April 26, 2011
The Daily Beast
April 25, 2011
The Huffington Post
Fixing the Game: What the NFL Can Teach Us About Executive Compensation
April 25, 2011
The Globe and Mail
The Next Financial Crisis Could Be Right Around The Corner
April 25, 2011
The Toronto Star
Think Your Home is a Safe Investment? Think Again
April 7, 2011
Harvard Business Review
Don’t Get Blinded by the Numbers
March 2011
The Globe & Mail
Say Goodbye to the National Franchise Company
February 23, 2011
HBR.org
Finding the Hidden Gems in Your Business Model
February 22, 2011
HBR.org
How to Successfully Manage Opposing Strategies
January 27, 2011
HBR.org
The Integrative Strategic Move of “Doubling Down”
January 17, 2011
HBR.org
A Smart Example of an Integrative Strategy
December 10, 2010
Rotman Magazine
Building Better Decision Makers: The 3D MBA
Winter 2010
HBR.org
When Strategy Fails the Logic Test
November 24, 2010
The Toronto Star
Reciprocity should be guiding principle in foreign takeovers
November 16, 2010
Bloomberg Businessweek
What we Learned from the Crash
November 12, 2010
The Globe & Mail
How Canada can avoid France’s Retirement Woes
November 3, 2010
HBR.org
How I Knew AOL Time Warner Was Doomed (No, Really!)
November 2, 2010
Financial Times
The battleground that is business research
November 1, 2010
Annual Report 9
Today’s Innovation, Tomorrow’s Prosperity
November 2010
HBR.org
Board Chairs Should Be More Like Judges
October 14, 2010
The Toronto Star
Maple Leaf Foods Fighting to Become a Global Player
October 7, 2010
HBR.org
Six Ways to Tell if You Have a Bad Board
September 29, 2010
HBR.org
Why Good Boards Aren’t There When You Need Them
September 20, 2010
Rotman Magazine
Stretching the Mind: Developing an Adaptive Lens to Deal with Complexity
Fall 2010
Working Paper 14
Trade, Innovation, and Prosperity
September 2010
The Financial Times
Reward Real Growth, Not Expectations
August 2, 2010
Harvard Business Review
July-August 2010
HBR.org
Management Is Not a Profession — But It Can Be Taught
July 1, 2010
The Globe & Mail
June 11, 2010
HBR.org
Moving from Strategic Planning to Story Telling
June 1, 2010
Report on Canada 7
June 2010
HBR.org
Five Questions to Build a Strategy
May 26, 2010
HBR.org
It’s Time to Tax the Wall Street Casino
May 11, 2010
Design Observer
Design Thinking Comes to the US Army
May 3, 2010
HBR.org
My Eureka Moment with Strategy
May 3, 2010
Rotman Magazine
Beyond the Numbers: Building Your Qualitative Intelligence
Spring 2010
The Washington Post
The Business of Fleecing Others
April 26, 2010
HBR.org
Regulators' Challenge: Correct the Error or the Cover-up?
April 19, 2010
The Daily Beast
April 19, 2010
Bloomberg Businessweek
April 12, 2010
Working Paper 13
April 2010
Interactions.org
Designing Interactions at Work: Applying Design to Discussions, Meetings and Relationships
March/April 2010
HBR.org
The Secret to Meaningful Customer Relationships
March 24, 2010
HBR.org
Saving Stock-Based Compensation From Itself
March 22, 2010
HBR.org
Why CEO’s Don’t Owe Shareholders a Return on Market Value
March 11, 2010
Strategy & Leadership
Achieving insights via the ‘‘knowledge funnel’’
March 9, 2010
Bloomberg Businessweek
The 'Inglourious' Decline of Miramax Films
March 4, 2010
HBR.org
Five Ways to Heal American Capitalism
March 3, 2010
Strategy Magazine
March 2010
HBR.org
Why Modern Business Is Bad for Your Mental Health
February 23, 2010
HBR.org
The Inauthentic Communities of the Modern Executive
February 17, 2010
HBR.org
What We All Lost When Business Lost Respect
February 9, 2010
The Washington Post
On Leadership: Logical Leaps into the Future
February 1, 2010
HBR.org
Barack Obama’s Integrative Brain
January 29, 2010
The Daily Beast
Obama’s Real Wall Street Scheme
January 22, 2010
HBR.org
January 19, 2010
HBR.org
Why Most CEOs Are Bad at Strategy
January 16, 2010
Bloomberg Businessweek
Innovation’s Accidental Enemies
January 14, 2010
The Daily Beast
January 12, 2010
HBR.org
Why Good Spreadsheets Make Bad Strategies
January 11, 2010
Financial Times
MBA World Needs to Broaden its Horizons
January 11, 2010
BBetween Magazine
Designing Relationships: Applying Design to Interactions at Work
2010
Rotman Magazine
The Science and Art of Business
Winter 2009
The Globe & Mail
November 26, 2009
Harvard Business Review
Two Leading Researchers Discuss the Value of Oddball Data
November, 2009
Walrus Magazine
Who Killed Canada's Education Advantage
November 2009
Annual Report 8
Navigating Through The Recovery
November 2009
HBR.org
Economic Forecasting: What's the Value of Outliers?
October 26, 2009
The Toronto Star
What Happened to Canada's Education Advantage
October 20, 2009
HBR.org
The Goldman Bonuses: I'm Shocked, Shocked
October 16, 2009
Design Observer
What is Design Thinking Anyway?
October 14, 2009
BusinessWeek
October 14, 2009
HBR.org
The 2009 Nobel Prize for Economics: Reading the Tea Leaves
October 13, 2009
Rotman Magazine
The Virtue Matrix Reloaded: What Can it Tell Us About Corporate Social Responsibility Now?
Fall 2009
The Globe & Mail
Time for Ottawa to Learn Business Hardball
August 3, 2009
HBR.org
Scrap Stock-Based Compensation and Go Back to Principles
July 10, 2009
The Toronto Star
Running Risks on Scoreboard and Big Board
June 5, 2009
The Globe & Mail
The CRTC’s Dial is Stuck on Failure
May 25, 2009
The Financial Times
Managers Must be Judged on the Real Score
May 11, 2009
Rotman Magazine
Undermining Staying Power: The role of Unhelpful Management Theories
Spring 2009
HBR.org
April 30, 2009
HBR.org
April 9, 2009
Report on Canada 6
April 2009
The Toronto Star
Business Not Only Winner in Budget's Tax Changes
March 31, 2009
Working Paper 12
March 2009
The Globe & Mail
We Can Ride the Crisis Out On a Wave of Our Own Inventiveness
February 7, 2009
The Toronto Star
Ontario's Prosperity Hinges on Harnessing Creativity
February 5, 2009
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
Dec 16, 2024
Addendum to Educating Extremists
Dec 16, 2024
Leaders Shouldn’t Try to Do It All
Dec 16, 2024
