Strategy and Change

Preface

WE STARTED WORKING on this book in late 2021, six years after we published our first work titled Leading with Strategic Thinking. That book was coauthored by two of us, Aaron K. Olson and B. Keith Simerson, and came out of its namesake graduate course that we developed and taught at Northwestern University. After several years our publisher encouraged us to consider a second edition, and we began with a targeted publication date of early 2023. For a variety of reasons, both personal and professional, the project was soon put on hold. In hindsight, it was a lucky decision.

The book you're holding is a very different story than it would have been. First, we had the good fortune to engage with two colleagues, Ward Ching and Richard Waterer, who ultimately became our coauthors. Ward and Richard bring deep expertise on topics that became critical to our investigation. Second, OpenAI released ChatGPT to the general public in December 2023. The emerging impact of artificial intelligence (AI) is central to our thesis and became a key part of our story in ways that will become increasingly apparent as you work your way through these chapters.

Before we get started, we want to share some background on the work that went into this book's creation. We'll do that in two parts—first by reviewing the research methods we used as coauthors in 2015 and second by describing the work we've now done as a team of four.

The underpinnings of this book lie throughout the pages of Leading with ...