The Brains and Brawn Company: How Leading Organizations Blend the Best of Digital and Physical

CHAPTER 2

TWO ATTEMPTS AT RADICAL TRANSFORMATION

We talked about what would happen if you could get the world’s DNA. And he said it would change the world.

—Anne Wojcicki, CEO of 23andMe

The Brains and Brawn framework enables us to evaluate a company along 10 competencies that usually don’t get as much attention as traditional metrics. To show how this process works, let’s dive into two companies that are facing make-or-break inflection points. One is huge, world famous, widely acclaimed for its brawny mastery, and now urgently trying to compete with brainy disruptors. The other is a brainy Silicon Valley start-up that’s trying to add the brawny competencies it needs to achieve long-term profitability. Both are attempting to find the happy balance ...