Mike Maddock
Mike Maddock is a serial entrepreneur, author and a keynote speaker. He has founded 5 successful businesses, including Maddock Douglas, an internationally recognized innovation agency that has helped over 25% of the Fortune 100 invent and launch new products, services, and business models and create cultures that know how to innovate. He co-chairs the Gathering of Titans entrepreneurial conclave at MIT, is past president of Entrepreneurs’ Organization and current chairman of Young Presidents’ Organization. Mike currently writes for Forbes and is the author of three books about innovation: Free the Idea Monkey to Focus on What Matters Most. Brand New, Solving the Innovation Paradox and Flirting with the Uninterested, Innovating in a "Sold, not bought," Category.
Latest
3 Indisputable Traits of a True Leader
I was flying to a business meeting with an associate when he told me he didn’t think I was a very good leader. (Ouch!) Sensing that God had sent a messenger to tell me that…
How to Win in the Corporate Venturing Game
I like to use the line “the robots are coming” when I speak about the future. Lately I’ve noticed that it makes entrepreneurs smile and executives frown. The frowns are understandable. After all, what’s a…
How to Pick Your Yoda
“It sounds like you have made yourself an issues cocktail,” said my friend David Zelman. And with that comment, I once again was reminded of the value of coaching. David works with leaders—everyone from royalty…
Two Lists Successful Leaders Make Every Day
Q: What can the 80s rock band The Police teach us about leadership? A: Turns out they planted a seed in me that has grown into a useful business practice. That practice, which I have…
How to Identify the Most Dangerous Person in Your Company
If you’ve read this column for a while, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I tell people that intelligence is learning from your own mistakes. This means intelligence is painful, and…
Outsource Your Crazy
Two realities are colliding in business today, and they’re changing the way executives must think about creating new sources of growth. The first has to do with the ticking time bomb attached to large, conservative…
How Entrepreneurs Overcome Fear
I’ll let you in on a little secret: Entrepreneurs are scared. They are scared of failing. They are scared of getting fired or losing control. They are scared of not being able to close a…
The 3 Strategy Questions Leaders Need to Ask Right Now
Do you smell that? That, my friend, is the smell of freshly baked, ready-to-serve strategy. This familiar aroma is wafting through the halls of many companies this time of year as diligent executives return from…
How Leaders at Large Companies Can Think Like a (Genius) Entrepreneur
I deeply believe there is a fundamental difference between the way entrepreneurs, and the people who work for large companies, see the world. As I said last time, entrepreneurs, innovators and inventors have “abundant thinking”—they see…
How to Think Like a (Genius) Entrepreneur
“Michael, do you know how I know that you’re going to be a huuuuuuge success? Because you’re too GdD#$n stupid to understand that you shouldn’t be doing what you’re doing!” I first heard this loving…