Rita McGrath with Rory Sutherland on why big companies kill their best ideas
The Bottleneck Podcast
4,961 views
Rita McGrath has spent her career on a question most companies would rather not answer: can a large organisation genuinely innovate from the inside, or does it only ever buy in what threatens it?
In this episode she joins Rory to explain why big companies are so bad at handling uncertainty. Rita's argument is that firms run new ventures by the same rules they use for the business they already understand, and it kills them. No advantage lasts, so the replacement has to be in development long before you need it.
This is a conversation about the gap between what companies say they want from innovation and what they actually reward, and about where the fixes are to be found.
Timestamps
00:00 – Meet Rita McGrath
03:40 – Why most corporate ventures fail
04:10 – Why companies site new ventures far from head office
05:20 – Why uncertain businesses need valuing differently
07:53 – The life cycle of a competitive advantage
13:32 – People do what they are rewarded for
17:04 – Machiavelli on introducing a new order
19:08 – The discipline of not doing anything
26:38 – Factories, electricity and inherited assumptions
36:06 – Rankings, rejection rates and the arms race
45:15 – Where the business school came from
48:30 – What the research on diverse teams actually found
53:17 – Progress happens at the intersections
01:01:30 – Executive symbolism
01:15:06 – When something becomes ten times cheaper
Follow Rory
Instagram: @rorysutherland_clips
TikTok: @Rorysutherlandclips
X: @rorysutherland
LinkedIn: in/rorysutherland/
Follow Elfried
Instagram: @elfriedsamba
LinkedIn: in/elfriedsamba/
https://www.butterflyeffect.xyz/
A @Sassy+ original podcast series
9 Comments
The flow doesn't happen with Rory. Its really a shame. Can Rory's presence and his wisdom enjoyed? Yes for sure...!
Producers or Editors are not doing their job well. May be AI can do better here also? May be.
Rita McGrath with Rory Sutherland on why big companies kill their best ideas
The Bottleneck Podcast
4,961 views
Rita McGrath has spent her career on a question most companies would rather not answer: can a large organisation genuinely innovate from the inside, or does it only ever buy in what threatens it?
In this episode she joins Rory to explain why big companies are so bad at handling uncertainty. Rita's argument is that firms run new ventures by the same rules they use for the business they already understand, and it kills them. No advantage lasts, so the replacement has to be in development long before you need it.
This is a conversation about the gap between what companies say they want from innovation and what they actually reward, and about where the fixes are to be found.
Timestamps
00:00 – Meet Rita McGrath
03:40 – Why most corporate ventures fail
04:10 – Why companies site new ventures far from head office
05:20 – Why uncertain businesses need valuing differently
07:53 – The life cycle of a competitive advantage
13:32 – People do what they are rewarded for
17:04 – Machiavelli on introducing a new order
19:08 – The discipline of not doing anything
26:38 – Factories, electricity and inherited assumptions
36:06 – Rankings, rejection rates and the arms race
45:15 – Where the business school came from
48:30 – What the research on diverse teams actually found
53:17 – Progress happens at the intersections
01:01:30 – Executive symbolism
01:15:06 – When something becomes ten times cheaper
Follow Rory
Instagram: @rorysutherland_clips
TikTok: @Rorysutherlandclips
X: @rorysutherland
LinkedIn: in/rorysutherland/
Follow Elfried
Instagram: @elfriedsamba
LinkedIn: in/elfriedsamba/
https://www.butterflyeffect.xyz/
A @Sassy+ original podcast series