10. SRI International: Author interviews (December 9, 2009) with Curt Carlson, CEO; Norman Winarsky, vice president, ventures, licensing, and strategic programs; Bill Mark, vice president, information and computer sciences; Alice Resnick, vice president, corporate and marketing communications; Tom Low, director of medical devices and robotics program; Harsha Prahlad, research engineer; Kristin Precoda, director of Speech Technology and Research Lab; Doug Bercow, director of business development; and Dag Kittlaus, SIRI CEO. Other sources: SRI International Corporate Overview Packet, National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics; Andrew Pollack, “Three Universities Join Researcher to Develop Drugs,” New York Times, July 31, 2003; Bob Tedeschi, “What Your Phone Might Do for You Two Years from Now,” New York Times, November 4, 2009.
11. Carlson sometimes worries about the long-term future: Stephen P. Wampler, “Innovation Only Path to Growth and Prosperity,” account of speech by Curtis Carlson, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory website, October 8, 2010, online at https://www.llnl.gov/news/aroundthelab/2010/Oct/Curtis_Carlson.html.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Demand is based largely on the insights and wisdom we’ve gained from client work at Oliver Wyman and from in-depth conversations with hundreds of customers about all kinds of products (both consumer goods and business services), hassles, and new opportunities.
We owe a debt of gratitude to the business managers who have shared with us their experiences, on and off the record, in wrestling with the thorny challenge of creating new demand in today’s difficult economy. We’ve learned an enormous amount from them and consider it a privilege to work with them.
We appreciate the time, energy, and perspectives customers have generously provided to us and to our colleagues at Oliver Wyman. Most of what we’ve learned about demand and how it is created has been taught to us by customers, especially those who care about making products better.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of creating Demand for us has been the opportunity to meet and learn from those who listen to (and watch) customers most closely—the demand creators profiled in these pages. They are some of the most creative, thoughtful, inspiring people we’ve ever had the privilege to encounter. They have changed how we think, and their examples inspire. We’re very grateful to them for letting us see the hidden mechanisms that make their stories so extraordinary. The list of remarkable demand creators we interviewed for this book includes Alan Hoops, Dr. Charles Holzner, Peggy Salazar, Dr. Balu Gadhe, Dr. Ken Kim, Dr. Henry Do, and Dr. Sheldon Zinberg of CareMore; Russ Wilcox, Pete Valianatos, Harit Doshi, Joanna Au, Lynne Garone, Karl Amundson, and Jenn Vail of E Ink; Phil Mazza and Nick Marsella of Byrne Dairy; Matthew Cain of J. Soif, Inc.; Steve Swasey of Netflix; Henk Kwakman and Richard Girardot of Nespresso; Amanda Craft, Elissa Clapp, Lauren LeVeen, and Steven Farr of Teach For America, along with teaching corps members Yoona Kim and David Parker-Longmaid; Tracy Gingell of Pret A Manger; Kim Noltemy of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; Jesse Rosen of the League of American Orchestras; Jonathan Dean, Seneca Garber, Rebecca Chawgo, Rian Kochel, and Vira Slywotzky of the Seattle Opera; Richard Brown of Eurostar; Takeshi Uchiyamada of Toyota; Frank Moss, Tanya Giovacchini, John Moore, Ryan C. C. Chin, Alex “Sandy” Pentland, Deb Roy, Tod Machover, and Cynthia Breazeal of MIT Media Lab; and Curt Carlson, Norman Winarsky, Bill Mark, Alice Resnick, Tom Low, Harsha Prahlad, Kristin Precoda, Doug Bercow, Ellie Javadi, and Dag Kittlaus of SRI International.
We want to offer special thanks to our friend Yoshitaka Ukita of Sony ([email protected]), who shared his insights into the early history of the e-reader and who is now applying his legendary talents to a new career as a consultant in the field of technology.
Many other individuals have also contributed in concrete ways to the creation of this book. Our research team at Oliver Wyman not only unearthed and verified hundreds of important details and data points but also offered fresh, provocative ideas that helped us to see our subject in new ways. Those who contributed significantly to the research effort include Bernard Zipprich, Shannon Monaghan, Kara Culligan, Larissa de Lima, Simon Heawood, Heather Kaptein, Max Kasriel, Jimmy Li, Chelsea Rich, Anna Rosenblatt, Jay Schafer, Ying Wang, Elizabeth Wise, Janée Woods-Weber, and Cheng Zhang. Each one brought tenacity, insight, imagination, and infectious enthusiasm to the project, and made Demand a measurably better, smarter, and more interesting book.
Charlie Hoban, a good friend and former colleague, invested a great deal of time and intellectual energy in reading an early version of the manuscript, and helped to catalyze a major change in direction.
The senior leadership of Oliver Wyman—John Drzik and the management committee—provided crucial organizational support throughout the process. They believe in intellectual capital, they believe in creating great results for clients, and they are willing to invest to get there. Many Oliver Wyman partners provided substantive input, both on the major concepts of the book as well as on specific stories. They include Jacques César, Paul Beswick, and Matt Hamory, especially on retail; Olivier Fainsilber and Gilles Roucolle, especially on Eurostar and passenger rail transportation; Tom Main, especially on CareMore and the health care industry; and Martin Kon and Edouard Portellete, especially on the challenges of the classical music business. Many, many conversations with Brian Rixner and John Marshall helped to challenge our thinking, sharpen the ideas, and evolve them in an exciting and pragmatic direction. Thanks to all for their knowledge and their generous support of this project.
Others at Oliver Wyman who read, commented on, and helped to improve the manuscript of Demand include our friends and colleagues Partha Bose, Steve Szaraz, Chris Schmidt, Eileen Roche, Peter Edmonston, Liz Egan, and Nicholas Sullivan. Their tough and totally accurate critiques helped trigger a second major redirection of the effort. Chris Schmidt, in particular, pulled out all the stops and helped us see what needed to be done. Partha Bose’s unerring judgment helped us think through every major decision. Steve Szaraz’s astute counsel helped guide our revisions throughout the process. One of the greatest benefits we derive from our work is the opportunity to learn from such an exceptional collection of individuals, and the process of developing this book has certainly underscored that fact.
Valerie Sachetta, as always, provided amazing intellectual, conceptual, and moral support and routinely solved complex administrative and organizational problems with apparent ease, unflappability, and good humor. Phyllis Greenhill transcribed our interviews with speed and accuracy.
At Crown, John Mahaney’s careful reading, thoughtful commentary, and shrewd, pragmatic suggestions helped to improve this book significantly. We’re grateful for the support of the other members of the Crown team, including publisher Tina Constable, marketing director Meredith McGinnis, senior publicist Dennelle Catlett, publicity director Tara Gilbride, and production editor Christine Tanigawa. A special shoutout to design director David Tran, who worked with us patiently to create a jacket design that reflects not just his creative spark but also his unusual insight into the message and meaning of the book.
Our literary representative, Mel Berger of the William Morris Endeavor Agency, was a pleasure to work with. His enthusiasm for our book helped sustain us throughout the writing process.
Karl Weber and I have worked on five books together. Demand has been the most challenging of them all—but also the most rewarding. We hope we’ve succeeded in communicating to the reader some of the excitement we experienced in exploring the mysteries of demand.
When you’re trying to decipher seemingly unsolvable mysteries, there are many black days in the process. When you try to write up your discoveries, the days can get blacker still. Having a partner who can see clearly, on dark days and bright, makes all the difference. My wife, Christine, always brought that clarity of vision (as well as countless readings, edits, challenges, and suggestions). It would have been impossible without her.
Adrian J. Slywotzky
Cambridge, Massachusetts
May 2011
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Adrian J. Slywotzky is a partner of Oliver Wyman, an international management consulting firm. The Times of London named Slywotzky one of the top fifty business thinkers, and Industry Week has named him one of the six most influential management thinkers, “promising to be what Peter Drucker was to much of the twentieth century: the management guru against whom all others are measured.” He is the author of the bestselling The Profit Zone (selected by BusinessWeek as one of the ten best books of the year), Value Migration, How to Grow When Markets Don’t, and The Upside. Slywotzky has also been published in the Wall Street Journal and the Harvard Business Review and has been a featured speaker at the Davos World Economic Forum, Microsoft CEO Summit, TED, Fortune CEO Conference, and many other events.
Karl Weber writes about business and current affairs. He has collaborated with Adrian Slywotzky on several books and with such authors as Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and Loews Hotels CEO Jonathan Tisch.
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