#68—Andrew Binns: The Role of the Corporate Explorer

Andrew Binns is managing director and co-founder of Change Logic, a Boston-based strategic advisory firm. He works with CEOs, boards, and senior teams as they lead significant business change.

He is the lead author of the new book Corporate Explorer: How Corporations Beat Startups at the Innovation Game and won the best article award 2020 for his article, with Charles O’Reilly in the California Management Review – "Three Stage of Disruptive Innovation."

Andy has 25 years of consulting experience as both an external and internal consultant for McKinsey & Co., IBM, and Change Logic. He won an award for his work on the IBM Emerging Business Opportunity program.

He is an Executive Fellow at the Center for Future Organization at the Drucker School of Management and a member of the Fast Company Executive Board.

In this podcast, he shares:

What a corporate explorer is and what it takes to become one What companies often get wrong why trying to unlock innovation Why you should think about the value of weaponizing your humility Why you should be wary of accepting a lot of money How to look out for silent killers

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Episode Timeline:

00:00—Introducing Andrew + The topic of today’s episode

1:47—If you really know me, you know that...

2:44—What do you believe about the idea that things are never perfect, and there is always room for improvement?

4:18—What is your definition of strategy?

6:13—What are some key elements for a company to grow organically?

7:30—How do corporate explorers work with with balancing the core of a company vs. exploring new options?

8:47—What are the characteristics of someone who has the ability to do both core and exploring work?

11:22—What does a "corporate explorer" look like? Is there a "type"?

13:35—Could you talk more on the idea that corporate explorers "weaponize humility"?

15:17—What do you think about the idea of "corporate antibodies," the idea that an explorer has to go outside the company to create something new?

17:53—What are the first steps to developing a culture of "corporate explorers"?

19:02—How can people continue to learn from you and follow you?

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Additional Resources:

Corporate Explorer Page: https://www.thecorporateexplorer.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjmbinns

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJMBinns