Showing posts with label Evan Newmark. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evan Newmark. Show all posts

Sunday, December 20, 2009

America Must Again Fight Like An Underdog

General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt spoke on December 9 at West Point and argued America must re-focus and re-energize its leadership and economic strategy. It is beyond true.

At Core Strategy Group, we work with companies in transforming them from the status of “incumbent”—over-confident, bureaucratic, afraid of change—to “insurgent”—hungry, agile and welcoming change. And it’s this kind of underdog-insurgent approach that American policy-making needs today: Returning to the grounding principles that created our greatness from the beginning and finding the courage to change that which we must.

This means, as Immelt implies, re-booting our nation’s leadership strategies—moving beyond the kind of incrementalism we see at work in the coming health care bill and shifting toward bold, audacious and strategically-focused programs for investment and reform. America was not built on small moves; it was forged on big ideas.

The 18th Century philosopher Goethe wrote: “Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!” And today, in terms of re-focusing America’s economic, energy, educational and other reforms, it is a moment for boldness. There is genius, power and magic in that.

David Morey