The Imperfection Advantage: Charles Conn

Change Signal

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4M ago 34:01

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Could it be that your strategic planning is actually paralyzing you, your biggest critics hold the keys to breakthrough innovation, and the military metaphors you're using to lead change are fundamentally broken?

Charles Conn, former McKinsey partner, former Head of Rhodes House, and current chair of Patagonia's board, brings a provocative challenge to how we think about transformation. He argues that our obsession with perfect planning is the enemy of progress in uncertain times.

Instead of waiting for clarity, Conn advocates for small, reversible experiments that build capability while you learn.

But here's also what’s true: you need to actively seek out the people who aren't impressed by you — the unhappy customers, the skeptical colleagues, the ones giving you one-star reviews.

Conn shares a powerful framework for breaking overwhelming problems into manageable parts, focusing on high-impact, low-difficulty components. He also reveals why Amazon never bought a bank to enter financial services, and how two Stanford students disrupted orthodontics by seeing through their customers' eyes rather than the industry's.

This isn't theoretical change management — it's battle-tested wisdom from someone who's led transformation at scale and lived to tell the tale.

Change Signal. Cut through the blather, the BS, and the noise to find the good stuff that works in change, transformation, and growth.

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46 episodes

#MBA #Business #Michael Bungay Stanier