Peter Jackson is a game changer who transformed the practice of filmmaking. Like Jerry Buss, who revolutionized basketball, Jackson and other effective innovators share a common set of qualities that we call the innovation mindset: they see and act on opportunities, use “and” thinking and resourcefulness, focus on outcomes, and act to “expand the pie.” Regardless of where they start, innovators persist till they successfully change the game.

via The Innovation Mindset in Action: Sir Peter Jackson  – Harvard Business Review.

There’s a chasm widening between old school and new school marketers. New school marketers, typically those closer to social marketing channels targeted at Millennials, are telling me they’re having a hard time getting their projects funded internally because old school marketers in the C-suite don’t understand the new context and metrics driving social marketing.

via How to Ditch Marketing And Make Friends – Harvard Business Review.

Coupons. Gift cards. Loyalty points. These tried-and-true tools of the retail trade might not be as sexy as other forms of marketing. But together they account for more than $165 billion in purchasing power ($110 billion in gift cards purchased, $48 billion in loyalty points earned, and more than $5 billion in product coupons redeemed). That’s almost as much as total e-commerce sales.

via The Coming Branded-Currency Revolution  – Harvard Business Review.

Suppose you want to design the best company on earth to work for. What would it be like?

via Creating the Best Workplace on Earth – Harvard Business Review.

Must every business decision be backed by big-data and predictive analytics and a slavish deference to the voice of the customer? Is there no place for instinct in strategy anymore? Johnson’s debacle will go down as one of business history’s epic fails. But I think he was right about one thing: “To do things that haven’t been done before,” he says, “you need to trust your intuition.”

via What Ron Johnson Got Right – Harvard Business Review.