Roger L. Martin
Bio
To be clear, Roger L. Martin, is not an official supporter of Evolved; no support should be assumed. At the same time, we think curious people should be aware of their work.
Personal or Business or Community websites:
- https://hbr.org/search?term=Roger%20L.%20Martin
- https://rogerlmartin.com/
- https://www.druckerforum.org/blog/the-gaming-of-games-roger-l-martin/
More Publications
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## Books (selection)
### 1. **A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Management Effectiveness**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Description:**
In this latest book, Martin distills decades of research and consulting into a collection of essays that challenge conventional management wisdom. He offers new mental models for tackling persistent business problems in areas such as strategy, talent, innovation, and execution, providing actionable frameworks for leaders seeking superior effectiveness.
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### 2. **Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works**
**Authors:** A.G. Lafley, Roger L. Martin
**Description:**
Co-authored with former Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley, this influential book outlines a practical, five-step process for building winning strategies. Drawing on real-world examples, it explains how to make integrated, powerful choices that position organizations for success. The book is widely adopted as a foundational text on modern strategy.
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### 3. **The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Description:**
Martin explores how leading organizations use design thinking to balance analytical and intuitive approaches, fostering innovation and sustainable competitive advantage. The book presents a model for moving knowledge from mystery to heuristic to algorithm, enabling companies to continually reinvent themselves.
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### 4. **The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Description:**
This seminal work introduces the concept of integrative thinking—the ability to face opposing ideas and generate creative solutions superior to each. Through interviews with top leaders, Martin demonstrates how integrative thinking drives innovation and effective problem-solving.
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### 5. **Fixing the Game: Bubbles, Crashes, and What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Description:**
Martin critiques the focus on shareholder value and short-term incentives in corporate America, arguing for a new model of capitalism that better serves society. He draws parallels with the NFL’s incentive structures and suggests reforms for executive compensation and corporate governance.
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### 6. **Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship Works**
**Authors:** Sally Osberg, Roger L. Martin
**Description:**
This book examines the mindset and methods of successful social entrepreneurs, offering a framework for creating transformative, systemic change. Martin and Osberg draw from global case studies to show how social innovation can address society’s toughest challenges.
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### 7. **The Responsibility Virus: How Control Freaks, Shrinking Violets—and the Rest of Us—Can Harness the Power of True Partnership**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Description:**
Martin analyzes why individuals and organizations fall into dysfunctional responsibility patterns and offers tools for building healthier, more collaborative partnerships.
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### 8. **Creating Great Choices: A Leader’s Guide to Integrative Thinking**
**Authors:** Jennifer Riel, Roger L. Martin
**Description:**
Building on *The Opposable Mind*, this book provides practical tools and exercises for leaders to apply integrative thinking in their organizations and decision-making processes.
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### 9. **The Future of the MBA: Designing the Thinker of the Future**
**Authors:** Mihnea Moldoveanu, Roger L. Martin
**Description:**
Martin and Moldoveanu examine how business education must evolve to prepare future leaders for complexity, creativity, and integrative problem-solving.
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### 10. **Canada: What It Is, What It Can Be**
**Authors:** Roger L. Martin, James Milway
**Description:**
A deep dive into Canada’s economic and social potential, offering policy and business recommendations for national competitiveness.
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## Books (selection)
### 1. **A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Management Effectiveness**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Publisher:** Harvard Business Review Press
**Publication Date:** 2022
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### 2. **Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works**
**Authors:** A.G. Lafley, Roger L. Martin
**Publisher:** Harvard Business Review Press
**Publication Date:** 2013
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### 3. **The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Publisher:** Harvard Business Review Press
**Publication Date:** 2009
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### 4. **The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Publisher:** Harvard Business Review Press
**Publication Date:** 2007
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### 5. **Fixing the Game: Bubbles, Crashes, and What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Publisher:** Harvard Business Review Press
**Publication Date:** 2011
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### 6. **Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship Works**
**Authors:** Sally Osberg, Roger L. Martin
**Publisher:** Harvard Business Review Press
**Publication Date:** 2015
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### 7. **The Responsibility Virus: How Control Freaks, Shrinking Violets—and the Rest of Us—Can Harness the Power of True Partnership**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Publisher:** Basic Books
**Publication Date:** 2002
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### 8. **Creating Great Choices: A Leader’s Guide to Integrative Thinking**
**Authors:** Jennifer Riel, Roger L. Martin
**Publisher:** Harvard Business Review Press
**Publication Date:** 2017
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### 9. **The Future of the MBA: Designing the Thinker of the Future**
**Authors:** Mihnea Moldoveanu, Roger L. Martin
**Publisher:** Oxford University Press
**Publication Date:** 2008
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### 10. **Canada: What It Is, What It Can Be**
**Authors:** Roger L. Martin, James Milway
**Publisher:** Rotman-UTP Publishing
**Publication Date:** 2012
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## Key Articles (selection)
### 1. **Harvard Business Review Articles**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Platform:** Harvard Business Review
**Description:**
Martin is a prolific HBR contributor, with over 24 articles covering strategy, integrative thinking, design thinking, incentives, and corporate responsibility. Notable articles include “The Big Lie of Strategic Planning,” “The CEO’s Role in Business Model Reinvention,” and “The Rise (and Likely Fall) of the Talent Economy.”
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### 2. **Columns for Financial Times, Businessweek, and The Washington Post**
**Author:** Roger L. Martin
**Platforms:** Financial Times (Judgment Call), Businessweek (Innovation and Design Channel), Washington Post (On Leadership)
**Description:**
Martin regularly writes columns on leadership, innovation, and management, sharing practical insights and challenging conventional wisdom for a global business audience.
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**Summary:**
Roger L. Martin is a leading strategy thinker and prolific author whose books—including *A New Way to Think*, *Playing to Win*, *The Design of Business*, and *The Opposable Mind*—have shaped modern thinking on strategy, integrative thinking, and design. He is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review and major business publications, offering actionable frameworks for leaders and organizations worldwide.
