The “game of opposites” lays behind several stories of innovation success.
Stories of a leadership whose strategies and actions leverage on different – often contrasting – factors, continuously balanced over time: tradition and discontinuity, exploration and efficiency, discipline and experimentation, alertness and risk-taking.
This book is a collection of “oxymorons” designed and implemented by Italian entrepreneurs and managers during periods of change; the “game of opposites” strongly characterized the way in which they faced the “innovation problem” to support the development and success of their business.
Three key ingredients are crucial to balance the “opposites” over time: reciprocal acceptance of contradictions, change management and pursuit of strategic thinking, while maintaining a strong focus on results.
Ten stories of Italian innovation told through the “game of opposites”.
Each story is a case, and every case a successful company. They are not isolated episodes but unique cases, which are difficult to replicate. Being in continuous contact with managers and entrepreneurs over the years has taught us that there is not one absolute truth when it comes to innovation management. What we would like to tell in this book is a story of diversity, the variety of forms through which Italian companies successfully managed antithetical elements in their innovation paths.