The Brains and Brawn Company

The grounded, clear-sighted guide you need to blend digital and traditional business functions for long-term competitive advantage Digital disruption isn't the answer to everything-and it's never the only answer. Less flashy business operations like logistics, manufacturing, and distribution more than likely remain just as important for the success of your company. The Brains and Brawn Company offers practical, proven insights and advice for any business leader facing the gulfs between digital vs. physical, disruptors vs. incumbents, startup world vs. Fortune 500, and tech culture vs. industrial culture. With a foot in each camp, Silicon Valley VC and Stanford Graduate School of Business lecturer Robert Siegel demonstrates how to analyze and combine thebest of both digital attributes and physical attributes to grow your company in the coming decade. He shows how companies blend the advantages of digital and traditional business functions and explains why striking a balance between them is the sweet spot for most companies. Siegel also discusses the leadership capabilities and attributes required to succeed in a world that blends both digital and physical competencies, and explores why those talents and skills that allowed leaders to be successful in the past will not be enough to lead in the coming decades. The Brains and Brawn Company is packed with original research and case studies of Daimler, 23andMe, Charles Schwab, Kaiser Permanente, Instacart, AB InBev, Desktop Metal, Michelin, Google, and othercompanies. The author rates each company's organizational capabilities along five digital attributes and five physical attributes-grading each attribute on a 0-10 scale of proficiency, providing a maximum possible score of 50 for digital" and 50 for "physical." He then shows readers how to apply this framework to their own companies. If you work at a long-established company, you'll learn how to leverage your business strengths to establish a huge competitive advantage. If you work at a startup, you'll learn why it's worth investing time and effort to master the competencies of the so-called "dinosaurs." The Brains and Brawn Company provides everything you need to set your company apart from your competitors and take the lead in your industry for years or decades to come"--