This week marks the launch of the Curious Leadership podcast, and Dominic Monkhouse kicks it off with John Rossman, former Amazon executive and co-author of Big Bet Leadership. They dive into the challenges of leading major transformations in the digital age.
John shares insights on tackling “zombie projects,” high-stakes decision-making, and finding your company’s competitive edge. Whether you’re leading a business or navigating change, this episode equips you with the tools for strategic success.
Watch it on YouTube
On today’s podcast:
- The key elements and complexities of a Big Bet
- Finding your company’s ‘Killer Feature’
- Dealing with Innovation
- ‘zombie projects’
- Looking to the future of business
Follow John:
Who is John Rossman
John Rossman is the author of four books on leadership and business innovation including the best seller The Amazon Way and Big Bet Leadership. He is an early Amazon executive who played a key role in launching the Amazon marketplace business in 2002. Today he is a leading keynote speaker on leadership for innovation and transformation. John is an operator and builder whose love is diving into business problems and customer needs designing innovative solutions and business models and creating durable enterprise value. He has served as the senior technology advisor at the Gates Foundation and senior innovation advisor at T-Mobile.
His new book, Big Bet Leadership: Your Transformation Playbook for Winning in the Hyper-Digital Era, is an actionable playbook for senior leaders to succeed at complex transformations.
John is the founder of Rossman Partners, a strategy & leadership solutions firm.
What you’ll learn from John Rossman
03:06 – Writing Big Bet Leadership
04:30 – Thinking In ‘Memos’
06:20 – The ‘What Sucks Memo’ Or What Needs Fixing In Your Business
07:37 – Solving The Real Painful Problem of Your Customer?
09:47 – What Is A Big Bet?
11:37 – Innovation: Finding ‘The Killer Feature’
13:26 – Zombie Projects: ’Continue, Kill, Pivot or Confusion’
16:26 – The Complexities Of A Big Bet: Certainty vs Risk
21:38 – Why You Need To Adress Risks Earlier
24:41 – The Cost Model Innovation
28:04 – The Importance of Portfolio Construction In Managing Bit Bets
30:16 – Leaders Commitment To Tomorrow’s Business
33:12 – DRI: Appointing The Right Person To Your Big Bet
36:07 – A Key To Become A Big Bet Legend: On-Point Repeated Communication
39:12 – Devil Is In The Details
41:22 – Elon Musk: Innovating By Simplicity
Recommended reading:
Switch. How to change things when change is hard