Leap

How to Thrive in a World Where Everything Can Be Copied

By: Howard Yu

Narrated by: Feodor Chin

Every business faces the existential threat of competitors producing cheaper copies, but business management and innovation expert Howard Yu shows how companies can overcome these challenges to endure, and even prosper

In a book of narrative history and practical strategy, IMD professor of management and innovation Howard Yu shows that succeeding in today's marketplace is no longer just a matter of mastering copycat tactics;. companies also need to leap across knowledge disciplines, and to reimagine how a product is made or a service is delivered. This proven tactic can protect a company from being overtaken by new (and often foreign) copycat competitors.

Using riveting case studies of successful leaps and tragic falls, Yu illustrates five principles that span a wide range of industries, countries, and eras. Learn about how P&G in the 19th century made the leap from handcrafted soaps and candles to mass production of its signature brand Ivory, leaped into the new fields of consumer psychology and advertising, then leaped again, at the risk of cannibalizing its core product, into synthetic detergents and won with Tide in 1946. Learn about how forward-thinking companies, including China's largest social media app—WeChat, Tokyo-based Internet service provider Recruit Holdings, and Illinois-headquartered John Deere are leaping ahead by leveraging the emergence of ubiquitous connectivity, the inexorable rise of intelligent machines, and the rising importance of managerial creativity.

Outlasting competition is difficult; doing so over decades or a century is nearly impossible—unless one leaps. In a world marked by rapid breakthroughs in AI and global turbulence, leaders need these lessons more than ever. Leap is a manifesto for how pioneering companies can endure and prosper in a world of constant change and inevitable copycats.

Critic reviews

A Strategy + Business Best Business Book
A Financial Times Best Business Book of the Month
An Inc. Top 10 Best Business Book
An 800 CEO READ Business Book to Watch
Winner of an Axiom Business Book Award in the Business Intelligence/Innovation category

“Yu’s research exemplifies how management theory is rigorously built and improved. He carefully documents how companies in the past have spotted and seized opportunities for growth. I find the case studies compelling and the principles intriguing for all business leaders.”—Clayton Christensen, author of How Will You Measure Your Life?

“Leap shows you how to go about deliberately thinking about adapting your business, and investigates the technological forces at work. Every leader can benefit from the wisdom found in this book.”—Jørgen vig Knudstrop, executive chairman, The LEGO Group

“Howard Yu argues that, even in a future age of machine intelligence, the human ability to innovate will be the primary factor enabling companies to thrive. His advice will be invaluable to managers and CEOs worldwide.”—V.G. Govindarajan, author of New York Times bestseller Reverse Innovation

“At a time when big business is challenged by start‑ups, when 100‑year‑old business models have run out of steam, and when your next competitor can come from a totally unrelated industry, Howard Yu offers important guidance on how to reinvent corporations and the need for top leaders to show compassion, pride, solidarity, and vulnerability as organizations embark on the process. The marriage of big data and humanity can fundamentally change business. I can't recommend this book highly enough.”—Poul Weihrauch, CEO and Office of the President, Mars

“As technology’s tectonic shifts reshape how companies win, Howard Yu shows the criticality of good management today. In Leap, he’s written a valuable guide to help managers prepare their companies for long and successful lives.”—Keith Ferrazzi, author of New York Times bestseller Never Eat Alone

“A deeply thoughtful journey on why human curiosity and creativity matter more, not less, than ever in the new brave world of ubiquitous connectivity and smart machines. And why and how we as leaders need to learn to leap ‑ and not just incrementally extrapolate what we already know.”—Jouko Karvinen, Chairman, Finnair

“A truly remarkable book that addresses the fundamental challenge facing managers who seek to sustain growth. Powerful case examples illustrate important concepts drawn from science and sociology as well as business.”—Joseph L. Bower, Harvard Business School

Relevant for any future CEO

Using examples throughout time and across the world, Howard Yu helps set the stage of modern business in a refreshingly optimistic and methodical presentation.

I just love the Leap book

I read the book with great pleasure and curiosity because I found in it some insightful ideas for my business.

The author offers a fresh perspective of why certain seemingly immortal companies have vanished. And why some other companies have thrived for more than 100 years. what they've done differently?

First I've learned that long term competitive advantage is delusional, that every company has to constantly adapt, reinvent and to LEAP in order to survive. The specific examples related to Novartis, P&G and many others indicate that they thrived by switching from one domain knowledge to another, e.g. from chemistry to biochemistry to genetic engineering; from manufacturing to consumer psychology; or from agriculture to platform technologies.

I have also learned about the barriers to leaping. Being afraid to launch a new product because it will eat your existing product's market share is scary? Then remember that if would not do it, your competition will eventually do it.

Lastly, I found the book easy to read and very entertaining, yet packed with interesting historical business facts as well as insightful ideas about what will happen next.

An overview of how to succeed in business today

Leap tells the reader a number of strategies that can be used in order to make sure their business can succeed, or simply keep up their success in a world where change is happening at an ever-increasing pace.

Some of the methods described here are probably not new to those who have in-depth knowledge of innovation, disruption and entrepreneurial strategy, but the real strength of the book lies in how well the case studies of various companies describe the point being made, making sure you will remember it. The introductory comparison between the textile mills of the Carolinas and the chemical companies in Switzerland boils down the in point of the book.

While the textile mills in the Carolinas innovated and created a cost-effective way of making fabric, they settled in as they grew as businesses, eventually being overtaken by competitors in Asia who could make similar products even cheaper. Meanwhile the chemical companies in Switzerland continually reinventing themselves, going from dye manufacturer to high-tech pharmaceutical companies, all because they were not afraid of change and taking risk to compromise their established business models for long-term success.

If you are interested in some easy listening that will help you understand more about how you should do business today, from someone who is not scared to death of the future with the kind of technical change and disruption we are currently seeing, this is a good one...

A history of business

Book cited a lot of business story, but fails to follow through on the promise of the subtitle.