"Smart" devices, big data, predictive analytics, cloud computing, the social enterprise-none of these world-changing innovations would have come to pass without a Culture of Disruption that allowed fertile minds to challenge conventional wisdom, take risks and boldly bring new technologies to light. In Provoke, "innovation provocateur", entrepreneur and strategist Linda Bernardi reveals the discomfort with which corporations, boards of directors, investors and academics regard disruptive ideas-and why embracing this discomfort to create a Culture of Disruption is the only way that business can innovate and revitalize the global economy. In this candid, insightful book, Linda-a pioneer in fields like data analytics, digital marketing and the social enterprise-pulls back the curtain on the "innovation ecosystem" to take the major players to task. Among the issues that fall into her sights: -Why companies utterly deny the disruptive impact of new technologies until their business model is on life support... -How venture investors are playing Las Vegas roulette by throwing huge money at companies that can't justify it... -The myth that companies can become innovators through acquisitions... -How the arrogance of many entrepreneurs dooms their companies before they even launch... -Why Innovation-Based Leadership(TM) is the key to everything... In Provoke, Linda asserts that only by creating a deliberate collaborative, global Culture of Disruption, in which all the players support unconventional thinking and the work of passionate innovators, can we lay the groundwork for our economic future.
About the Author: Few individuals have the courage to predict change, the vision to understand its potential, the influence to disrupt economic ecosystems, the peer respect to bridge the gap between startup and enterprise, and the passion to guide revolutionary innovations through development to maturity, transforming industries and societies. Linda Bernardi is one such individual. A provocative thought leader and instigator of change, Linda is the founder and CEO of StraTerra Partners, a consulting firm that works closely with enterprises, startups, academia and investors to promote the development and deployment of groundbreaking innovations in information technology. She has spent more than 20 years expanding the boundaries of key technologies and business models from cloud computing to analytics. Linda is also an educator, early-stage technology startup investor and board member with an extensive professional network in India, Asia and Europe. There and in the U.S. she promotes the "culture of disruption" and game-changing innovations in a dazzling range of markets: -Big Data and predictive analytics... -The social enterprise, which she began emphasizing long before most corporations saw social networking as anything more than a plaything... -Digital marketing and its impact not only on brand development but the entire supply chain... -Technologies to address the increasingly distributed, collaborative and global nature of startups as well as established corporations... Additionally, Linda engages with corporations around the globe through her Bernardi Leadership Institute, training executives and entrepreneurs in her provocative, transformative theories on innovation, leadership and technology. In 2001, she founded ConnecTerra, Inc., a Cambridge, MA-based software provider connecting RFID technology to large enterprise IT. The solutions she developed are now part of the Oracle product line. Linda serves on the advisory board of Illuminate Ventures, the boards of the SETI Institute, The Association for Enterprise Information and numerous companies, and the council of advisors of Astia, and is an Emeritus board member of the Anita Borg Institute. She earned a Masters degree in applied statistics from UCLA, and lives in Washington state.