Assumption Hunters
Content
CMS C3: METHOD
ASSUMPTION
A New Profession for the Corporation in the Throes of Structural Change Grant McCracken Author, Chief Culture O cer: How to Create a Living, Breathing Corporation C3 Consulting Practitioner March 8, 2011
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C O N V E R G E N C E C U LT U R E C O N S O R T I U M
C O M PA R AT I V E M E D I A S T U D I E S AT M I T
Assumption
Hunters
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
About
C3
Research
Memos
.........................................................................................................................
3
The
Format
of
this
Memo
............................................................................................................................
4
Introduction
.................................................................................................................................................
5
Implications
.................................................................................................................................................
7
1.
Scan
the
horizon
.................................................................................................................................
7
2.
Excavate
the
assumptions
of
the
corporation
....................................................................................
7
2.1
Excavate
Management
models
.....................................................................................................
7
2.2
Excavate
the
local
culture
of
the
corporation.
..............................................................................
7
2.3
Excavate
the
culture
of
the
component
professions.
...................................................................
8
2.4
Excavate
the
culture
of
the
industry.
............................................................................................
8
2.5
Excavate
the
culture
of
business.
.................................................................................................
8
Professional
development
...........................................................................................................................
9
References
(by
page
number)
...................................................................................................................
11
Works
Cited
...............................................................................................................................................
16
Acknowledgements
...................................................................................................................................
18
About
the
Author
.......................................................................................................................................
18
G.
McCracken
Page
2
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
About
C3
Research
Memos
Introduced
in
the
spring
of
2010,
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
(C3)
research
memos
are
short
(8
to
11
pages)
position
papers
-‐
designed
from
their
inception
to
provide
more
tactical,
design-‐driven
recommendations
to
the
C3
membership.
Ideally,
these
recommendations
would
then
be
introduced
into
the
early
phase
(i.e.
ideation
or
brainstorming)
of
the
strategic
design
process
for
new
media
products,
delivery
services
and
content
programming.
The
suggestion
here
is
that
an
evangelist
(or
“champion”)
of
these
innovative
insights
and
recommendations
would
then
be
able
to:
a. Assemble
a
working
group
within
or
across
organizational
divisions,
departments,
professions
or
academic
disciplines;
and
b. Use
C3
research
memos
as
a
“common
language”
for
these
working
group
sessions
-‐
framing
product
development,
strategic
marketing,
content
programming
or
market
research
challenges
and
subsequent
discussions
within
the
framework
of
“C3
Thinking.”
We
encourage
the
creation
of
such
working
groups
within
C3
Sponsor
company
organizations.
By
taking
this
approach,
the
hope
is
that
new
products,
services
and
programming
would
better
reflect
the
emergent
cultural
and
media
engagement
patterns
unearthed
by
the
current
crop
of
C3
research.
The
very
contemporaneous
wants
and
needs
of
the
audience
(reflected
by
the
sometimes
counterintuitive
and
provocative
market
insights
and
recommendations
generated
by
C3)
would
then
be
embedded
into
new
products,
marketing
and
programming
as
soon
as
they
‘go
live’
or
are
asynchronously
distributed
over
multiple
platforms.
2010
–
2011
C3
Research
Memo
Series
(to
date)
• • • • • • Online
Advertising:
The
New
Magic
by
Ravi
Inukonda
with
Daniel
Pereira
Piracy
is
the
Future
of
Television
by
Abigail
De
Kosnik
Embracing
the
Flow
by
Nancy
Baym
You
and
Our
Space
by
Shenja
van
der
Graaf
Aging
and
the
Future
of
Media
Fandom
by
C.
Lee
Harrington
Assumption
Hunters:
A
New
Profession
for
the
Corporation
in
the
Throes
of
Structural
Change
by
Grant
McCracken
2010-
2011
C3
White
Papers
In
contrast
to
our
research
memo
series,
C3
white
papers
are
longer,
higher
level
discussions
(more
strategic
in
nature
-‐
i.e.
Spreadable
Media
(2008)
or
the
upcoming
How
to
Ride
a
Lion
by
Geoff
Long).
2010-‐2011
C3
White
Papers
include:
• • • Learning
to
Share:
The
Relational
Logics
of
Media
Franchising
by
Derek
Johnson
Turn
On,
Tune
In,
Cash
Out:
Maximizing
the
Value
of
Television
Audiences
by
Sheila
Seles
How
to
Ride
a
Lion:
A
Call
for
a
Higher
Transmedia
Criticism
by
Geoff
Long
(forthcoming)
G.
McCracken
Page
3
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
The Format of this Memo
This
C3
Research
Memo
finally
captures
and
positions
one
of
the
most
powerful,
challenging
and
vital
discussions
that
has
been
floating
around
the
Consortium
for
the
last
few
years.
In
the
memo,
C3
consulting
practitioner
Grant
McCracken
takes
us
on
a
journey
through
decades
of
seminal
organizational
and
management
theory
(as
well
as
cultural
anthropology,
economics,
etc.).
In
doing
so,
McCracken
places
the
MIT
Comparative
Media
Studies
Program
curriculum
(with
its
commitment
to
theory)
and
the
Convergence
Culture
Consortium’s
"practice”
model
in
their
rightful
place
at
the
center
of
a
discussion
of
how
best
the
corporation
(when
attempting,
by
necessity
or
crisis,
to
enact
structural
change)
should
recognize
patterns
and
excavate
assumptions
embedded
within
the
culture
of
an
organization.
McCracken
argues
that
MIT
CMS
theory
and
C3
practice
(deeply
rooted
in
the
liberal
arts,
the
humanities
and
the
qualitative
social
sciences)
are
a
vital
institutional
locus
and
methodological
framework,
respectively,
for
the
continuous
recognition
of
these
patterns
and
for
the
hunting
down
of
these
assumptions.
Throughout
the
memo,
Grant
references
thought
leaders,
public
intellectuals
and
authors
from
a
variety
of
disciplines.
Due
to
the
variety
of
professional
backgrounds
and
academic
disciplines
of
the
C3
readership,
some
references
may
not
be
familiar
to
everyone.
As
a
result,
the
format
for
citing
works
and
authors
throughout
the
memo
is
as
follows:
authors
are
referenced
by
their
name
(at
times
simply
by
their
last
name)
and
a
year
of
publication
in
parentheses
(xxxx).
For
example:
“Henry
Jenkins
(1992)
changes
the
way
we
think
“media”
mediates.
Another
industry
is
upended.
Richard
Florida
(2003)
says
creativity
is
not
an
ancillary
of
the
marketplace,
but
its
prime
mover.”
Starting
on
page
12,
short
biographies
and
Wikipedia
links
for
further
research
and
investigation
are
provided.
A
“Works
Cited”
section
has
also
been
provided
(organized
alphabetically).
G.
McCracken
Page
4
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Introduction
I
read
recently
that
the
thing
that
keeps
CEOs
awake
at
night
is
“discontinuous
innovation”
of
the
kind
Clay
Christensen
(1997)
describes.
This
struck
me
as
odd
because
Christensen’s
discontinuity
isn’t
hard
to
recognize
or
anticipate.
(His
model
says:
an
incumbent
offers
more
value
than
customers
want,
and
a
competitor
responds
with
products
that
are
cheaper
but
“good
enough.”)
Scary,
to
be
sure,
but
how
does
it
count
as
a
sleep
stealer?
There’s
nothing
particularly
mysterious
or
unmanageable
here.
Surely,
the
scarier
thing
for
a
CEO
to
discover
is
that
the
world
has
changed
in
a
way
that
defies
his
or
her
deepest
assumptions.
This
change
is
hard
to
detect.
And
when
detected,
it
is
hard
to
respond
to.
I
would
have
thought
that
in
a
Schumpeterian
(2009)
world
of
creative
destruction,
this
is
more
likely
and
the
more
problematical
event
(Handy
1991).
Let’s
call
it
“structural
change.”
Every
corporation,
every
act
of
commerce,
is
predicated
on
a
set
of
assumptions.
These
are
the
infrastructure
of
all
thought
and
even
the
most
instrumental
action.
Every
enterprise
is,
as
Drucker
(2006)
and
Levitt
(1960)
demonstrated,
shot
through
with
assumptions,
some
witting,
most
not.1
These
assumptions
aren’t
just
technically
invisible.
They
are
deliberately
invisible.
In
turns
out
that
some
knowledge
is
more
powerful
the
more
deeply
it
is
assumed.
(So
says
Gregory
Bateson
[1972].)
Indeed,
the
more
we
use
an
idea,
the
more
completely
it
disappears
from
view.
Thus
do
our
deepest
ideas
“go
without
saying.”
Semi-‐deep
ideas
can
be
evoked
with
a
single
‘buzz
word.”
They
are
“built
in”
or,
as
Richard
Foster
and
Sarah
Kaplan
(2004)
prefer,
“locked
in.”
In
a
perfect
world,
these
assumptions
would
float
to
the
surface
upon
expiration.
As
fish
do.
But
they
don’t.
So
we
keep
using
them.
These
assumptions
are
deeply
implicated
in
the
way
we
see
the
world.
They
can
be
and
have
been
stuff
of
our
best
hunches
and
most
powerful
intuitions.
Breaking
up
is
hard
to
do.
What
provokes
assumption
failure?
Where
does
structural
change
come
from?
Some
of
it
comes
from
the
ceaseless
innovation
of
the
world.
Dupont
introduces
something
called
“plastic.”
James
Black
finds
a
new
way
to
make
pharmaceuticals.
Or
Mr.
Newmark
invents
Craig’s
List.
We
doze
for
a
moment
and
there’s
a
fast
food
industry.
We
doze
a
moment
more
and
there’s
a
slow
food
movement.
(American
markets
are
like
the
weather,
or
for
that
matter
the
markets,
in
Ireland.
Wait
a
moment,
they
will
change.
)
Even
as
these
innovations
make
themselves
visible
on
the
surface
of
the
marketplace,
in
a
less
obvious
way
they
attack
our
deepest
assumptions
Some
structural
change
comes
from
the
academic
and
the
management
literature.
The
authors
of
the
Cluetrain
Manifesto
(2000)
say
“advertising
is
not
messaging,
it’s
conversation.”
An
industry
turns
on
its
Drucker,
Peter
F.
2006.
The
Practice
of
Management.
Harper
Paperbacks,
p.
50.
Levitt,
Theodore.
1960.
“Marketing
Myopia.”
Harvard
Business
Review
38:45-‐56.
“In
public
policy,
a
sunset
provision
or
sunset
clause
is
a
provision
in
a
statute
or
regulation
that
terminates
or
repeals
all
or
portions
of
the
law
after
a
specific
date,
unless
further
legislative
action
is
taken
to
extend
it.”
2 1
G.
McCracken
Page
5
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
ear.
Henry
Jenkins
(1992)
changes
the
way
we
think
“media”
mediates.
Another
industry
is
upended.
Richard
Florida
(2003)
says
creativity
is
not
an
ancillary
of
the
marketplace,
but
it’s
prime
mover.
Joseph
Pine
and
James
Gilmore
(1999)
say,
“You
are
not
making
products
or
services.
You’re
making
experiences.”
Whatever
else
they
do,
these
ideas
contradict
a
fundamental
assumption
of
capitalism,
that
the
business
of
business
is
making
things.
Each
in
their
way,
Drucker
(2006),
Michael
Porter
(1998),
Thomas
Stewart
(2001)
and
others
anticipated
this
assault
on
literalism.
We
are
not
“making
things
to
make
money,”
they
said.
We
are
“creating
value
to
capture
value.”
And
with
this
fundamental
change,
new
process
and
practice
is
set
in
train,
and
the
world
begins
to
drift.
Structural
change
also
comes
from
practice.
It
emerges
from
things
happening
in
the
marketplace,
the
corporation,
or
the
world
of
the
consumer.
This
change
is
not
created
or
officiated
by
experts.
(Unless
of
course
that
expert
is
Oprah.)
It
comes
swimming
up
out
of
the
interactions
of
many
parties,
driven
by
various
motives,
parties
who
may
not
be
aware
of
the
intentions
or
even
the
presence
of
others.
Take
the
case
of
the
American
“great
room.”
In
the
last
25
years,
millions
of
Americans
knocked
down
the
walls
between
kitchen,
living
room,
and
dining
room.
They
spent
many
hundreds
of
millions
of
dollars,
in
the
process
turning
their
homes
into
construction
zones.
The
great
room
did
not
from
the
design
community
or
even
an
Oprah
episode.
It
came
from
Americans,
flying
by
the
seat
of
their
pants,
trying
to
figure
out
a
way
to
accommodate
emerging
notions
of
children,
childhood,
child
rearing,
domesticity,
parenthood,
feminism,
informality,
media
consumption,
dining,
hospitality,
weekends,
entertainment,
cooking,
serving,
and
food.
So
much
for
our
assumptions
about
the
American
family.
G.
McCracken
Page
6
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Implications
There
are
several
steps
the
corporation
can
take
to
protect
itself
from
structural
change.
1. Scan the horizon
Watch
for
changes
in
the
world
that
will
test
and
perhaps
overturn
the
assumptions
in
the
corporation.
The
disintermediation
of
the
supply
chain,
what
will
this
mean
to
our
assumptions
about
distribution?
More
specifically,
what
happens
when
Amazon.com
begins
to
eliminate
bricks
and
mortar
retails
and
the
Mall?
Is
there
a
“New
Normal”
that
defines
consumer
taste
and
preference
and
what
would
it
mean
to
our
assumptions
about
what
consumers
want?
The
corporation
needs
to
examine
the
future,
and
to
anticipate
how
it
will
challenge
present
assumptions
(McCracken,
2009).
2. Excavate the assumptions of the corporation 2.1 Excavate Management models
These
models
sweep
through
the
corporation
with
some
frequency:
“excellence”
from
Peters
and
Waterman
(2004),
“reengineering”
from
Hammer
and
Champy
(2004),
“built
to
last”
from
Collins
and
Porras
(2003).
These
models,
with
their
key
phrases
and
characteristic
points
of
view,
reform
the
corporate
culture
and
the
minds
of
managers
(Collins
2000,
Davenport
and
Prusak
2003,
Gray
2003,
Hindle
2008,
Martin
2009,
Micklethwait
and
Wooldridge
1998,
Sapir
1977,
Sutton
1997).
There
is
no
“sunset
clause”
for
management
models.2
We
may
stop
using
the
model,
but
rarely
do
we
repudiate
it.
The
model
is
still
there,
passive
and
invisible.
Occasionally
it
will
“reactivate”
without
warning.
Someone
will
object
to
“strategy
A”
on
the
grounds
that
“I
can’t
see
what
this
has
to
do
with
excellence.”
Everyone
recognizes
the
term.
They
know
it
as
a
value
that
corporation
once
valued.
So
people
are
inclined
to
defer.
“Excellence.
Good
point.
Let’s
move
on.”
Too
bad.
Because
“strategy
A”
was
a
good
idea.
2.2 Excavate the local culture of the corporation.
The
local
culture
of
the
corporation
has
many
sources:
the
vision
of
the
founder,
ideas
introduced
through
mergers
and
acquisitions,
cataclysmic
events
in
the
history
of
the
corporation
(public
ones
like
“In
public
policy,
a
sunset
provision
or
sunset
clause
is
a
provision
in
a
statute
or
regulation
that
terminates
or
repeals
all
or
portions
of
the
law
after
a
specific
date,
unless
further
legislative
action
is
taken
to
extend
it.”
Anonymous.
n.d.,
Sunset
Provision.
Wikipedia
entry.
2
G.
McCracken
Page
7
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
the
depression
of
the
1920s,
and
private
ones
like
the
time
the
CFO
decamped
with
the
corporate
“playbook”),
and
the
culture
of
the
locality
(Silicon
Valley
vs.
New
York
City
vs.
Austin,
Texas).
Here
too
we
have
a
variety
of
old
and
new
ideas
pouring
into
the
corporation.
The
old
live
on.
The
new
recruit
vigorously.
The
corporation
hums
with
a
variety
of
ideas,
some
visible,
all
active.
2.3 Excavate the culture of the component professions. There
are
many
professional
paths
to
the
business
world.
People
come
up
as
engineers,
MBAs,
entrepreneurs,
accountants,
industrial
designers,
graphic
designers,
liberal
arts
graduates.
Each
of
these
professions
imbues
the
graduate
with
a
certain
way
of
seeing
the
world,
of
solving
a
problem
(Khurana
2010).
(I
did
a
project
for
a
Canadian
telecom
and
the
marketer
expressed
her
frustration
with
the
engineers
with
whom
we
were
working,
“Every
time
I
leave
them
in
a
room
together,
they
start
building
a
machine!”)
In
a
perfect
world,
the
corporation
would
achieve
a
miracle
of
ecumenical
cooperation.
More
often,
certain
professional
cultures
are
given
more
influence
than
others.
So
we
need
the
various
professional
assumptions
and
the
value
hierarchy
that
distribute
their
power.
2.4 Excavate the culture of the industry.
Every
industry
has
characteristic
ways
and
means.
The
car
culture
of
Detroit,
the
start
up
culture
of
Silicon
Valley,
the
P&G
method
as
it
has
influenced
the
world
of
CPG
(consumer
packaged
goods),
the
engineering
cultures
of
IBM
and
GE,
the
new
approaches
emerging
from
the
likes
of
Etsy
and
Zappos.
Furthermore,
every
industry
is
various.
Some
part
of
the
financial
world
sees
itself
as
“white
shoe.”
Another
is
“Florsheim.”
Still
another
is
“hush
puppy.”
These
assumptions
need
mapping.
To
be
sure,
they
build
consensus
and
confer
strength.
But
they
also
create
vulnerability
when
change
happens.
2.5 Excavate the culture of business.
The
world
of
business
has
certain
shared
assumptions
(Kanter
1993).
We
are
inclined
to
share
a
certain
way
of
defining
the
actor,
the
action,
the
motive,
the
objective,
the
unit
of
analysis.
These
appear
to
be
matters
of
simple
rationality.
But
of
course
the
differences
between
Japanese,
American,
and
Canadian
business
practice
tell
us
that
cultural
choice
shapes
this
rationality.
Furthermore,
there
is
a
range
of
choice
within
the
rational.
There
are
many
ways,
in
that
horrible
phrase,
to
skin
a
cat.
The
key
problem:
one
rationality
may
conceal
another,
as
they
discovered
recently
at
IBM.
Kevin
Clark,
then
Director
of
IBM
Alumni
Relations
and
the
Greater
IBM
Connection,
noticed
that
IBM
was
insisting
on
the
boundaries
of
the
corporation
perhaps
a
little
too
literally.
The
fact
of
the
matter
is
that
Information
Technology
is
a
small
world.
Sooner
or
later
everyone
in
the
industry
is
going
to
work
for
G.
McCracken
Page
8
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
IBM.
And
this
means
that
it’s
wrong
of
IBM
to
treat
outsiders
as
outsiders.
Clark
noticed,
for
instance,
that
when
people
left
IBM,
IBM
was
inclined
to
severe
the
relationship.
Clark
believed
the
more
sensible
approach
was
to
treat
them
as
“temporarily
relocating,”
and
to
keep
the
relationship
alive.
The
culture
of
business
encourages
the
corporation
to
insist
on
an
emphatic
boundary
when
indeed
something
more
porous
is
sometimes
called
for.
Only
the
retrieval
of
business
assumptions
renders
this
opportunity
visible.
The
task
here
is
to
find
the
assumption
and
to
release
the
corporation
from
its
thrall.
This
is
what
Henry
Jenkins’
did
with
his
notion
of
“transmedia.”
We
can
see
how
many
ideas
take
their
powers
of
illumination
and
the
ability
to
create
value
from
their
ability
to
transcend
the
assumptions
of
the
moment.
This
category
has
many
examples
including,
again,
Henry
Jenkins’
(2008)
notion
of
“transmedia,”
C.K.
Prahalad
and
M.S.
Krishnan
(2008)
on
the
notion
of
“cocreation,”
Charles
Handy
(1984)
on
the
future
of
work
and
Warren
Bennis
(2009)
on
the
nature
of
leadership.
Professional
development
Who
will
do
this?
Who
will
dig
out
assumptions
for
the
corporations?
The
Liberal
Arts
ought
to
be
a
superb
recruiting
ground
for
this
new
profession.
One
could
argue
that
the
ability
to
find
and
scrutinize
assumptions
is
the
great
gift
part
of
the
liberal
arts
education.
But
of
course
this
part
of
the
university
continues
to
sneer
at
anything
attached
to
commerce
as
beneath
its
dignity
and
corrupted
by
gainful
motive
(Nussbaum
2010).
The
move
to
post-‐modernism
compounds
the
problem
by
insisting
on
the
instability
of
knowledge
and
the
inscrutability
of
the
world
(Swaim,
2010).
A.G.
Lafley
(2008)
has
called
for
a
“hard
headed
humanist”
but
hard
headed
humanists
are
in
short
supply.
The
management
consultant
may
not
be
the
right
person
to
undertake
this
work,
but
we
have
much
to
learn
from
the
Bains
and
McKinseys
of
the
world.
The
consulting
houses
are
good
at
working
from
faint
signals
and
approximate
measures,
at
living
with
noisy
data
sets
and
problems
that
might
as
well
be
shape-‐shifters
they
are
so
fluid
and
changeable.
We
need
to
learn
these
methods
and
approaches,
which
is
another
way
to
say
that
we
need
to
learn
how
to
deal
with
the
world
when
it
is
merely
ignited
by
ideas
and
not
very
much
comprehended
by
them.
A
profession
of
this
kind
will
need
an
institutional
locus.
To
be
sure,
there
are
inklings
and
experiments.
Henry
Jenkins
and
William
Uricchio
(2010)
have
created
something
remarkable
at
CMS,
and
Henry
Jenkins’
experiment
continues
at
the
Annenberg
School
at
USC.
David
Kelley
is
creating
something
interesting
at
the
Design
Program
at
Stanford
as
is
Joel
M.
Podolny
at
Apple
University.
Peter
Drucker
left
behind
an
inclusive
experiment
at
the
Claremont
University
business
school
named
for
him.3
“Reflecting
the
Drucker
philosophy
of
management,
we
believe
that
management
is
a
human
enterprise—an
art
as
well
as
a
science—that
integrates
perspectives
from
the
social
and
behavioral
sciences,
from
philosophy
and
the
humanities,
from
history
and
technology,
and
from
religion
and
mathematics.
This
liberal
art
of
management
brings
together
the
complex
realities
of
the
world
in
which
we
live,
our
diverse
cultural,
institutional,
and
intellectual
backgrounds,
and
our
ethical
responsibilities.”
Anonymous.
n.d.
“Mission
and
Vision.”
Peter
F.
Drucker
3
G.
McCracken
Page
9
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
If
we
dolly
back
a
little
further,
another
opportunity
emerges:
the
creation
of
a
consulting
house
that
makes
the
pattern
recognition
of
the
arts,
humanities
and
social
sciences
an
integral
part
of
the
advice
it
gives
to
business.
Here
too
there
are
inklings
and
experiments.
And
a
question:
why
only
these?
and
Masatoshi
Ito
Graduate
School
of
Management:
Mission
and
Vision
Statement.
Claremont
University.
http://www.cgu.edu/pages/290.asp
(Accessed
September
6,
2010)
G.
McCracken
Page
10
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
References
(by
page
number)
Page
5
Clay
Christensen
is
the
Robert
and
Jane
Cizik
Professor
of
Business
Administration
at
the
Harvard
Business
School.
He
is
the
author
of
The
Innovator's
Dilemma:
when
new
technologies
cause
great
firms
to
fail.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_technology
Joseph
Schumpeter
(1883
-‐
1950)
was
an
economist
and
political
scientist.
He
is
the
author
of
Capitalism,
Socialism
and
Democracy.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction
Charles
Handy
is
a
British
author
and
philosopher
specializing
in
organizational
management.
He
is
the
author
of
The
Age
of
Unreason.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Handy
Peter
Drucker
(1909
–
2005)
was
Clarke
Professor
of
Social
Science
and
Management
at
Claremont
Graduate
University.
He
was
the
author
of
The
Practice
of
Management.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Drucker
Theodore
Levitt
(1925
-‐
2006)
was
a
professor
at
Harvard
Business
School.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Levitt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_myopia
Gregory
Bateson
(1904
–
1980)
was
an
anthropologist
and
author
of
Steps
to
an
Ecology
of
Mind
(1972).
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Bateson
Richard
Foster
is
Senior
Partner
and
an
Innovation
Specialist
from
McKinsey
&
Company
and
Sarah
Kaplan
is
the
Associate
Professor
of
Strategy
at
the
Rotman
School
of
the
University
of
Toronto.
They
are
co-‐authors
of
Creative
Destruction:
Why
Companies
That
Are
Built
to
Last
Underperform
the
Market-‐-‐And
How
to
Successfully
Transform
Them.
G.
McCracken
Page
11
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Page
5
(cont.):
Henry
Jenkins
is
the
founder
and
lead
researcher
of
the
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
(C3)
and
the
founder
of
the
Comparative
Media
Studies
(CMS)
Program
at
the
Massachusetts
Institute
of
Technology
(MIT).
Professor
Jenkins
is
Provost
Professor
of
Communication,
Journalism,
and
Cinematic
Arts,
a
joint
professorship
at
the
USC
Annenberg
School
for
Communication
and
the
USC
School
of
Cinematic
Arts.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Jenkins
Page
6
Richard
Florida
is
a
professor
and
head
of
the
Martin
Prosperity
Institute
at
the
Rotman
School
of
Management
at
the
University
of
Toronto.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_class
Joseph
Pine
is
a
writer,
educator
and
consultant.
James
Gilmore
is
an
adjunct
lecturer
at
The
Graduate
School
of
Business
Administration
at
the
University
of
Virginia.
They
co-‐authored
The
Experience
Economy:
Work
Is
Theater
&
Every
Business
a
Stage.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Experience_Economy
Michael
Porter
is
the
Bishop
William
Lawrence
University
Professor
at
Harvard
Business
School.
He
is
the
author
of
Competitive
Strategy:
Techniques
for
Analyzing
Industries
and
Competition.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Porter
Thomas
Stewart
is
the
Chief
Marketing
and
Knowledge
Officer
of
Booz
&
Company,
a
global
management
consulting
firm
and
the
author
of
The
Wealth
of
Knowledge:
Intellectual
Capital
and
the
Twenty-‐first
Century
Organization.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_A._Stewart
Page
7
Grant
McCracken
is
an
anthropologist,
blogger,
a
consulting
practitioner
to
the
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
(C3)
and
author,
most
recently
of
Chief
Culture
Officer:
How
to
Create
a
Living,
Breathing
Corporation
(2009).
G.
McCracken
Page
12
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Page
7
(cont.):
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_McCracken
Tom
Peters
and
Robert
Waterman
co-‐authored
In
Search
of
Excellence:
Lessons
from
America's
Best-‐Run
Companies.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Peters
Michael
Hammer
and
James
Champy
are
the
co-‐authors
of
Reengineering
the
Corporation:
A
Manifesto
for
Business
Revolution.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_reengineering
Jim
Collins
and
Jerry
Porras
co-‐authored
Built
to
Last:
Successful
Habits
of
Visionary
Companies.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_C._Collins
Thomas
Davenport
and
Laurence
Prusak
are
the
authors
What's
the
Big
Idea?
Creating
and
Capitalizing
on
the
Best
New
Management
Thinking.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_H._Davenport
David
Gray
is
a
member
of
the
Boston
Consulting
Group’s
Strategy
Institute
in
Boston
and
the
director
of
the
firm’s
Strategy
Gallery.
SEE:
http://hbr.org/2003/11/wanted-‐chief-‐ignorance-‐officer/ar/1.
Tim
Hindle
is
a
former
business
and
management
editor
of
The
Economist
and
was
the
founder
editor
of
EuroBusiness.
He
is
the
author
of
Guide
to
Management
Ideas
and
Gurus.
Roger
Martin
is
the
Dean
of
the
Rotman
School
of
Management
at
the
University
of
Toronto
and
the
author
of
Opposable
Mind:
Winning
Through
Integrative
Thinking.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Martin
John
Micklethwait
(the
New
York
bureau
chief
of
The
Economist)
and
Adrian
Woolridge
(West
Coast
bureau
chief
of
The
Economist)
co-‐authored
The
Witch
Doctors:
Making
Sense
of
the
Management
Gurus.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Micklethwait
G.
McCracken
Page
13
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Page
7
(cont.):
David
Sapir
is
a
Professor
Emeritus
in
the
Department
of
Anthropology
at
the
University
of
Virginia.
He
is
the
author
of
The
Social
Use
of
Metaphor:
Essays
on
the
Anthropology
of
Rhetoric.
Robert
Sutton
is
professor
of
management
science
and
engineering
at
the
Stanford
Engineering
School,
where
he
is
the
co-‐director
of
the
Center
for
Work,
Technology,
and
Organization
and
an
active
researcher
in
the
Stanford
Technology
Ventures
Program.
He
is
the
author
of
Weird
Ideas
That
Work:
How
to
Build
a
Creative
Company.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_I._Sutton
Page
8
Rakesh
Khurana
is
an
Associate
Professor
of
Business
Administration
at
Harvard
Business
School,
and
author
of
numerous
important
articles
and
books
in
the
areas
of
leadership
and
management.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakesh_Khurana
Rosabeth
Moss
Kanter
is
the
Ernest
L.
Arbuckle
Professor
at
Harvard
Business
School.
She
is
the
author
of
Men
&
Women
of
the
Corporation.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosabeth_Moss_Kanter
Page
9
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmedia_storytelling
http://techtv.mit.edu/collections/convergenceculture:847/videos/4720-‐keynote-‐
revenge-‐of-‐the-‐origami-‐unicorn-‐five-‐key-‐principles-‐of-‐transmedia-‐entertainment
C.K.
Prahalad
(1941
-‐
2010)
was
the
Paul
and
Ruth
McCracken
Distinguished
University
Professor
of
Corporate
Strategy
at
the
Stephen
M.
Ross
School
of
Business
in
the
University
of
Michigan
and
M.
S.
Krishnan
is
the
Michael
R.
and
Mary
Kay
Hallman
Fellow
&
Professor
of
Business
Information
Technology;
Chair
of
Business
Information
Technology
at
the
University
of
Michigan's
Ross
School
of
Business.
They
co-‐authored
The
New
Age
of
Innovation.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prahalad
G.
McCracken
Page
14
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Page
9
(cont.):
Warren
Bennis
is
University
Professor
and
Distinguished
Professor
of
Business
Administration
and
Founding
Chairman
of
The
Leadership
Institute
at
the
University
of
Southern
California.
He
is
the
author
of
On
Becoming
a
Leader.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Bennis
Martha
Nussbaum
is
Ernst
Freund
Distinguished
Service
Professor
of
Law
and
Ethics
at
theUniversity
of
Chicago.
She
is
the
author
of
Not
For
Profit:
Why
Democracy
Needs
the
Humanities.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Nussbaum
Barton
Swaim
received
his
doctorate
from
the
University
of
Edinburgh.
A.G.
Lafley
is
the
former
Chairman
of
the
Board,
President
and
Chief
Executive
Officer
of
Procter
&
Gamble,
retiring
from
the
company
in
2010.
With
Ram
Charan,
he
wrote
The
Game
Changer,
How
You
Can
Drive
Revenue
and
Profit
Growth
with
Innovation.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._G._Lafley
William
Uricchio
is
the
Director
and
MIT
Faculty
Investigator
of
C3
as
well
as
the
Director
of
the
MIT
Comparative
Media
Studies
Program,
and
a
professor
of
Comparative
Media
History
at
Utrecht
University
in
the
Netherlands.
SEE:
http://cms.mit.edu/news/inmediasres/CMS-‐10th-‐Anniversary.pdf
http://cms.mit.edu/news/2010/04/podcast_cms_10th_anniversary_w.php
http://cms.mit.edu/news/2010/04/podcast_cms_10th_anniversary_a.php
David
Kelley
is
the
founder
and
chairman
of
IDEO.
He
also
serves
as
the
Donald
W.
Whittier
professor
in
the
Product
Design
program
at
Stanford
University,
where
he
also
established
the
school’s
Hasso
Plattner
Institute
of
Design.
SEE:
http://dschool.stanford.edu/
Joel
M.
Podolny
is
an
American
sociologist
and
is
the
former
Dean
of
the
Yale
School
of
Management.
He
is
currently
the
vice
president
and
dean
of
Apple
University.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_M._Podolny
http://news.cnet.com/8301-‐13579_3-‐10073097-‐37.html
G.
McCracken
Page
15
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Works
Cited
Anonymous.
n.d.
“Mission
and
Vision.”
Peter
F.
Drucker
and
Masatoshi
Ito
Graduate
School
of
Management:
Mission
and
Vision.
http://www.cgu.edu/pages/290.asp
(Accessed
September
6,
2010).
Bateson,
Gregory.
1972.
Steps
to
an
ecology
of
mind;
collected
essays
in
anthropology,
psychiatry,
evolution,
and
epistemology.
Chandler
Publishing.
Bennis,
Warren.
2009.
On
Becoming
a
Leader.
Fourth
Edition,
Fourth
Edition.
Basic
Books.
Carpenter,
Edmund.
1976.
Oh
What
a
Blow
That
Phantom
Gave
Me!
Flamingo.
Christensen,
Clayton
M.
1997.
The
Innovator's
Dilemma:
When
New
Technologies
Cause
Great
Firms
to
Fail.
Harvard
Business
School
Press.
Collins,
David.
2000.
Management
Fads
and
Buzzwords:
Critical-‐Practical
Perspectives.
Routledge.
Collins,
Jim,
and
Jerry
I.
Porras.
2004.
Built
to
Last:
Successful
Habits
of
Visionary
Companies.
HarperBusiness.
Davenport,
Thomas
H.,
and
Laurence
Prusak.
2003.
What's
the
Big
Idea?
Creating
and
Capitalizing
on
the
Best
New
Management
Thinking.
Harvard
Business
School
Press.
Drucker,
Peter
F.
2006.
Innovation
and
Entrepreneurship.
Harper
Paperbacks.
Florida,
Richard.
2003.
The
Rise
of
the
Creative
Class:
And
How
It's
Transforming
Work,
Leisure,
Community
and
Everyday
Life.
Basic
Books.
Foster,
Richard,
and
Sarah
Kaplan.
2004.
Creative
Destruction:
Why
Companies
That
Are
Built
to
Last
Underperform
the
Market-‐-‐And
How
to
Successfully
Transform
Them.
Reprint.
Crown
Business.
Gray,
David.
2003.
“Wanted:
Chief
Ignorance
Officer.”
Harvard
Business
Review.
November.
http://hbr.org/2003/11/wanted-‐chief-‐ignorance-‐officer/ar/1.
Hammer,
Michael,
and
James
Champy.
2004.
Reengineering
the
Corporation:
A
Manifesto
for
Business
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Rev
Upd.
Collins
Business.
Handy,
Charles.
1985.
The
Future
of
Work.
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Publishers.
Handy,
Charles.
1991.
The
Age
of
Unreason.
Harvard
Business
Press.
Hindle,
Tim.
2008.
Guide
to
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Ideas
and
Gurus.
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Press.
Jenkins,
Henry.
1992.
Textual
Poachers:
Television
Fans
and
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Culture.
Routledge.
Jenkins,
Henry.
2008.
Convergence
Culture:
Where
Old
and
New
Media
Collide.
Revised.
NYU
Press.
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Culture
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Jenkins,
Henry.
2007.
“From
YouTube
to
YouNiversity.”
Confessions
of
an
Aca/Fan:
Archives.
http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/02/from_youtube_to_youniversity.html
(Accessed
September
6,
2010).
Kanter,
Rosabeth
Moss.
1993.
Men
and
Women
of
the
Corporation:
new
edition.
Basic
Books.
Khurana,
Rakesh.
2010.
From
Higher
Aims
to
Hired
Hands:
The
Social
Transformation
of
American
Business
Schools
and
the
Unfulfilled
Promise
of
Management
as
a
Profession.
Princeton
University
Press.
Lafley,
A.G.,
and
Ram
Charan.
2008.
The
Game-‐Changer:
How
You
Can
Drive
Revenue
and
Profit
Growth
with
Innovation.
Crown
Business.
Levine,
Frederick
with
Christopher
Locke,
Doc
Searls
and
David
Weinberg.
2000.
The
Cluetrain
Manifesto:
The
End
of
Business
as
Usual.
Perseus
Publishing.
Levitt,
Theodore.
1960.
"Marketing
Myopia".
Harvard
Business
Review
38,
no.
4
(July
August):
45-‐56.
Martin,
Roger
L.
2009.
Opposable
Mind:
Winning
Through
Integrative
Thinking.
Harvard
Business
Press.
McCracken,
Grant.
2009.
Chief
Culture
Officer:
How
to
Create
a
Living,
Breathing
Corporation.
Basic
Books.
Micklethwait,
John,
and
Adrian
Wooldridge.
1998.
The
Witch
Doctors:
Making
Sense
of
the
Management
Gurus.
Three
Rivers
Press.
Nussbaum,
Martha
C.
2010.
Not
For
Profit:
Why
Democracy
Needs
the
Humanities.
Princeton
University
Press.
Peters,
Thomas
J.,
and
Robert
H.
Waterman.
2004.
In
Search
of
Excellence:
Lessons
from
America's
Best-‐ Run
Companies.
Harper
Paperbacks.
Pine,
B.
Joseph,
and
James
H.
Gilmore.
1999.
The
Experience
Economy:
Work
Is
Theater
&
Every
Business
a
Stage.
Harvard
Business
Press.
Porter,
Michael
E.
1998.
Competitive
Strategy:
Techniques
for
Analyzing
Industries
and
Competitors.
Free
Press.
Prahalad,
C.K.,
and
M.S.
Krishnan.
2008.
The
New
Age
of
Innovation:
Driving
Cocreated
Value
Through
Global
Networks.
McGraw-‐Hill.
Sapir,
David
J.
1977.
The
Social
Use
of
Metaphor:
Essays
on
the
Anthropology
of
Rhetoric.
University
of
Pennsylvania
Press.
Schumpeter,
Joseph
A.
2009.
Can
Capitalism
Survive?
Creative
Destruction
and
the
Future
of
the
Global
Economy.
Harper
Perennial
Modern
Classics.
G.
McCracken
Page
17
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Culture
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Stewart,
Thomas
A.
2001.
The
Wealth
of
Knowledge:
Intellectual
Capital
and
the
Twenty-‐first
Century
Organization.
Doubleday
Business.
Sutton,
Robert
I.
1997.
Weird
Ideas
That
Work:
How
to
Build
a
Creative
Company.
Free
Press.
Swaim,
Barton.
2010.
“Human
Errors.”
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Supplement.
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5616,
November
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Uricchio,
William.
2010.
“Introductory
Statement.”
in
CMS
10th
Anniversary.
May
7.
Acknowledgements
Thanks
to
Daniel
Pereira
for
his
thoughts
on
the
original
version
of
this
C3
Research
Memo.
About
the
Author
Grant
McCracken
holds
a
PhD
from
the
University
of
Chicago
in
cultural
anthropology.
He
is
the
author
of
Big
Hair,
Culture
and
Consumption,
Culture
and
Consumption
II:
Markets,
Meaning
and
Brand
Management,
Flock
and
Flow,
The
Long
Interview,
Plenitude:
Culture
by
Commotion,
and
the
forthcoming
Transformations:
Identity
Construction
in
Contemporary
Culture.
He
has
been
the
director
of
the
Institute
of
Contemporary
Culture
at
the
ROM
(Royal
Ontario
Museum),
a
senior
lecturer
at
the
Harvard
Business
School,
a
visiting
scholar
at
the
University
of
Cambridge
and
he
is
now
an
adjunct
professor
at
McGill
University.
He
has
consulted
widely
in
the
corporate
world,
including
the
Coca-‐Cola
Company,
IKEA,
Chrysler,
Kraft,
Kodak,
and
Kimberly
Clark.
He
is
a
member
of
the
IBM
Social
Networking
Advisory
Board.
G.
McCracken
Page
18
ASSUMPTION
A New Profession for the Corporation in the Throes of Structural Change Grant McCracken Author, Chief Culture O cer: How to Create a Living, Breathing Corporation C3 Consulting Practitioner March 8, 2011
;’
C O N V E R G E N C E C U LT U R E C O N S O R T I U M
C O M PA R AT I V E M E D I A S T U D I E S AT M I T
Assumption
Hunters
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
About
C3
Research
Memos
.........................................................................................................................
3
The
Format
of
this
Memo
............................................................................................................................
4
Introduction
.................................................................................................................................................
5
Implications
.................................................................................................................................................
7
1.
Scan
the
horizon
.................................................................................................................................
7
2.
Excavate
the
assumptions
of
the
corporation
....................................................................................
7
2.1
Excavate
Management
models
.....................................................................................................
7
2.2
Excavate
the
local
culture
of
the
corporation.
..............................................................................
7
2.3
Excavate
the
culture
of
the
component
professions.
...................................................................
8
2.4
Excavate
the
culture
of
the
industry.
............................................................................................
8
2.5
Excavate
the
culture
of
business.
.................................................................................................
8
Professional
development
...........................................................................................................................
9
References
(by
page
number)
...................................................................................................................
11
Works
Cited
...............................................................................................................................................
16
Acknowledgements
...................................................................................................................................
18
About
the
Author
.......................................................................................................................................
18
G.
McCracken
Page
2
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
About
C3
Research
Memos
Introduced
in
the
spring
of
2010,
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
(C3)
research
memos
are
short
(8
to
11
pages)
position
papers
-‐
designed
from
their
inception
to
provide
more
tactical,
design-‐driven
recommendations
to
the
C3
membership.
Ideally,
these
recommendations
would
then
be
introduced
into
the
early
phase
(i.e.
ideation
or
brainstorming)
of
the
strategic
design
process
for
new
media
products,
delivery
services
and
content
programming.
The
suggestion
here
is
that
an
evangelist
(or
“champion”)
of
these
innovative
insights
and
recommendations
would
then
be
able
to:
a. Assemble
a
working
group
within
or
across
organizational
divisions,
departments,
professions
or
academic
disciplines;
and
b. Use
C3
research
memos
as
a
“common
language”
for
these
working
group
sessions
-‐
framing
product
development,
strategic
marketing,
content
programming
or
market
research
challenges
and
subsequent
discussions
within
the
framework
of
“C3
Thinking.”
We
encourage
the
creation
of
such
working
groups
within
C3
Sponsor
company
organizations.
By
taking
this
approach,
the
hope
is
that
new
products,
services
and
programming
would
better
reflect
the
emergent
cultural
and
media
engagement
patterns
unearthed
by
the
current
crop
of
C3
research.
The
very
contemporaneous
wants
and
needs
of
the
audience
(reflected
by
the
sometimes
counterintuitive
and
provocative
market
insights
and
recommendations
generated
by
C3)
would
then
be
embedded
into
new
products,
marketing
and
programming
as
soon
as
they
‘go
live’
or
are
asynchronously
distributed
over
multiple
platforms.
2010
–
2011
C3
Research
Memo
Series
(to
date)
• • • • • • Online
Advertising:
The
New
Magic
by
Ravi
Inukonda
with
Daniel
Pereira
Piracy
is
the
Future
of
Television
by
Abigail
De
Kosnik
Embracing
the
Flow
by
Nancy
Baym
You
and
Our
Space
by
Shenja
van
der
Graaf
Aging
and
the
Future
of
Media
Fandom
by
C.
Lee
Harrington
Assumption
Hunters:
A
New
Profession
for
the
Corporation
in
the
Throes
of
Structural
Change
by
Grant
McCracken
2010-
2011
C3
White
Papers
In
contrast
to
our
research
memo
series,
C3
white
papers
are
longer,
higher
level
discussions
(more
strategic
in
nature
-‐
i.e.
Spreadable
Media
(2008)
or
the
upcoming
How
to
Ride
a
Lion
by
Geoff
Long).
2010-‐2011
C3
White
Papers
include:
• • • Learning
to
Share:
The
Relational
Logics
of
Media
Franchising
by
Derek
Johnson
Turn
On,
Tune
In,
Cash
Out:
Maximizing
the
Value
of
Television
Audiences
by
Sheila
Seles
How
to
Ride
a
Lion:
A
Call
for
a
Higher
Transmedia
Criticism
by
Geoff
Long
(forthcoming)
G.
McCracken
Page
3
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
The Format of this Memo
This
C3
Research
Memo
finally
captures
and
positions
one
of
the
most
powerful,
challenging
and
vital
discussions
that
has
been
floating
around
the
Consortium
for
the
last
few
years.
In
the
memo,
C3
consulting
practitioner
Grant
McCracken
takes
us
on
a
journey
through
decades
of
seminal
organizational
and
management
theory
(as
well
as
cultural
anthropology,
economics,
etc.).
In
doing
so,
McCracken
places
the
MIT
Comparative
Media
Studies
Program
curriculum
(with
its
commitment
to
theory)
and
the
Convergence
Culture
Consortium’s
"practice”
model
in
their
rightful
place
at
the
center
of
a
discussion
of
how
best
the
corporation
(when
attempting,
by
necessity
or
crisis,
to
enact
structural
change)
should
recognize
patterns
and
excavate
assumptions
embedded
within
the
culture
of
an
organization.
McCracken
argues
that
MIT
CMS
theory
and
C3
practice
(deeply
rooted
in
the
liberal
arts,
the
humanities
and
the
qualitative
social
sciences)
are
a
vital
institutional
locus
and
methodological
framework,
respectively,
for
the
continuous
recognition
of
these
patterns
and
for
the
hunting
down
of
these
assumptions.
Throughout
the
memo,
Grant
references
thought
leaders,
public
intellectuals
and
authors
from
a
variety
of
disciplines.
Due
to
the
variety
of
professional
backgrounds
and
academic
disciplines
of
the
C3
readership,
some
references
may
not
be
familiar
to
everyone.
As
a
result,
the
format
for
citing
works
and
authors
throughout
the
memo
is
as
follows:
authors
are
referenced
by
their
name
(at
times
simply
by
their
last
name)
and
a
year
of
publication
in
parentheses
(xxxx).
For
example:
“Henry
Jenkins
(1992)
changes
the
way
we
think
“media”
mediates.
Another
industry
is
upended.
Richard
Florida
(2003)
says
creativity
is
not
an
ancillary
of
the
marketplace,
but
its
prime
mover.”
Starting
on
page
12,
short
biographies
and
Wikipedia
links
for
further
research
and
investigation
are
provided.
A
“Works
Cited”
section
has
also
been
provided
(organized
alphabetically).
G.
McCracken
Page
4
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Introduction
I
read
recently
that
the
thing
that
keeps
CEOs
awake
at
night
is
“discontinuous
innovation”
of
the
kind
Clay
Christensen
(1997)
describes.
This
struck
me
as
odd
because
Christensen’s
discontinuity
isn’t
hard
to
recognize
or
anticipate.
(His
model
says:
an
incumbent
offers
more
value
than
customers
want,
and
a
competitor
responds
with
products
that
are
cheaper
but
“good
enough.”)
Scary,
to
be
sure,
but
how
does
it
count
as
a
sleep
stealer?
There’s
nothing
particularly
mysterious
or
unmanageable
here.
Surely,
the
scarier
thing
for
a
CEO
to
discover
is
that
the
world
has
changed
in
a
way
that
defies
his
or
her
deepest
assumptions.
This
change
is
hard
to
detect.
And
when
detected,
it
is
hard
to
respond
to.
I
would
have
thought
that
in
a
Schumpeterian
(2009)
world
of
creative
destruction,
this
is
more
likely
and
the
more
problematical
event
(Handy
1991).
Let’s
call
it
“structural
change.”
Every
corporation,
every
act
of
commerce,
is
predicated
on
a
set
of
assumptions.
These
are
the
infrastructure
of
all
thought
and
even
the
most
instrumental
action.
Every
enterprise
is,
as
Drucker
(2006)
and
Levitt
(1960)
demonstrated,
shot
through
with
assumptions,
some
witting,
most
not.1
These
assumptions
aren’t
just
technically
invisible.
They
are
deliberately
invisible.
In
turns
out
that
some
knowledge
is
more
powerful
the
more
deeply
it
is
assumed.
(So
says
Gregory
Bateson
[1972].)
Indeed,
the
more
we
use
an
idea,
the
more
completely
it
disappears
from
view.
Thus
do
our
deepest
ideas
“go
without
saying.”
Semi-‐deep
ideas
can
be
evoked
with
a
single
‘buzz
word.”
They
are
“built
in”
or,
as
Richard
Foster
and
Sarah
Kaplan
(2004)
prefer,
“locked
in.”
In
a
perfect
world,
these
assumptions
would
float
to
the
surface
upon
expiration.
As
fish
do.
But
they
don’t.
So
we
keep
using
them.
These
assumptions
are
deeply
implicated
in
the
way
we
see
the
world.
They
can
be
and
have
been
stuff
of
our
best
hunches
and
most
powerful
intuitions.
Breaking
up
is
hard
to
do.
What
provokes
assumption
failure?
Where
does
structural
change
come
from?
Some
of
it
comes
from
the
ceaseless
innovation
of
the
world.
Dupont
introduces
something
called
“plastic.”
James
Black
finds
a
new
way
to
make
pharmaceuticals.
Or
Mr.
Newmark
invents
Craig’s
List.
We
doze
for
a
moment
and
there’s
a
fast
food
industry.
We
doze
a
moment
more
and
there’s
a
slow
food
movement.
(American
markets
are
like
the
weather,
or
for
that
matter
the
markets,
in
Ireland.
Wait
a
moment,
they
will
change.
)
Even
as
these
innovations
make
themselves
visible
on
the
surface
of
the
marketplace,
in
a
less
obvious
way
they
attack
our
deepest
assumptions
Some
structural
change
comes
from
the
academic
and
the
management
literature.
The
authors
of
the
Cluetrain
Manifesto
(2000)
say
“advertising
is
not
messaging,
it’s
conversation.”
An
industry
turns
on
its
Drucker,
Peter
F.
2006.
The
Practice
of
Management.
Harper
Paperbacks,
p.
50.
Levitt,
Theodore.
1960.
“Marketing
Myopia.”
Harvard
Business
Review
38:45-‐56.
“In
public
policy,
a
sunset
provision
or
sunset
clause
is
a
provision
in
a
statute
or
regulation
that
terminates
or
repeals
all
or
portions
of
the
law
after
a
specific
date,
unless
further
legislative
action
is
taken
to
extend
it.”
2 1
G.
McCracken
Page
5
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
ear.
Henry
Jenkins
(1992)
changes
the
way
we
think
“media”
mediates.
Another
industry
is
upended.
Richard
Florida
(2003)
says
creativity
is
not
an
ancillary
of
the
marketplace,
but
it’s
prime
mover.
Joseph
Pine
and
James
Gilmore
(1999)
say,
“You
are
not
making
products
or
services.
You’re
making
experiences.”
Whatever
else
they
do,
these
ideas
contradict
a
fundamental
assumption
of
capitalism,
that
the
business
of
business
is
making
things.
Each
in
their
way,
Drucker
(2006),
Michael
Porter
(1998),
Thomas
Stewart
(2001)
and
others
anticipated
this
assault
on
literalism.
We
are
not
“making
things
to
make
money,”
they
said.
We
are
“creating
value
to
capture
value.”
And
with
this
fundamental
change,
new
process
and
practice
is
set
in
train,
and
the
world
begins
to
drift.
Structural
change
also
comes
from
practice.
It
emerges
from
things
happening
in
the
marketplace,
the
corporation,
or
the
world
of
the
consumer.
This
change
is
not
created
or
officiated
by
experts.
(Unless
of
course
that
expert
is
Oprah.)
It
comes
swimming
up
out
of
the
interactions
of
many
parties,
driven
by
various
motives,
parties
who
may
not
be
aware
of
the
intentions
or
even
the
presence
of
others.
Take
the
case
of
the
American
“great
room.”
In
the
last
25
years,
millions
of
Americans
knocked
down
the
walls
between
kitchen,
living
room,
and
dining
room.
They
spent
many
hundreds
of
millions
of
dollars,
in
the
process
turning
their
homes
into
construction
zones.
The
great
room
did
not
from
the
design
community
or
even
an
Oprah
episode.
It
came
from
Americans,
flying
by
the
seat
of
their
pants,
trying
to
figure
out
a
way
to
accommodate
emerging
notions
of
children,
childhood,
child
rearing,
domesticity,
parenthood,
feminism,
informality,
media
consumption,
dining,
hospitality,
weekends,
entertainment,
cooking,
serving,
and
food.
So
much
for
our
assumptions
about
the
American
family.
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Implications
There
are
several
steps
the
corporation
can
take
to
protect
itself
from
structural
change.
1. Scan the horizon
Watch
for
changes
in
the
world
that
will
test
and
perhaps
overturn
the
assumptions
in
the
corporation.
The
disintermediation
of
the
supply
chain,
what
will
this
mean
to
our
assumptions
about
distribution?
More
specifically,
what
happens
when
Amazon.com
begins
to
eliminate
bricks
and
mortar
retails
and
the
Mall?
Is
there
a
“New
Normal”
that
defines
consumer
taste
and
preference
and
what
would
it
mean
to
our
assumptions
about
what
consumers
want?
The
corporation
needs
to
examine
the
future,
and
to
anticipate
how
it
will
challenge
present
assumptions
(McCracken,
2009).
2. Excavate the assumptions of the corporation 2.1 Excavate Management models
These
models
sweep
through
the
corporation
with
some
frequency:
“excellence”
from
Peters
and
Waterman
(2004),
“reengineering”
from
Hammer
and
Champy
(2004),
“built
to
last”
from
Collins
and
Porras
(2003).
These
models,
with
their
key
phrases
and
characteristic
points
of
view,
reform
the
corporate
culture
and
the
minds
of
managers
(Collins
2000,
Davenport
and
Prusak
2003,
Gray
2003,
Hindle
2008,
Martin
2009,
Micklethwait
and
Wooldridge
1998,
Sapir
1977,
Sutton
1997).
There
is
no
“sunset
clause”
for
management
models.2
We
may
stop
using
the
model,
but
rarely
do
we
repudiate
it.
The
model
is
still
there,
passive
and
invisible.
Occasionally
it
will
“reactivate”
without
warning.
Someone
will
object
to
“strategy
A”
on
the
grounds
that
“I
can’t
see
what
this
has
to
do
with
excellence.”
Everyone
recognizes
the
term.
They
know
it
as
a
value
that
corporation
once
valued.
So
people
are
inclined
to
defer.
“Excellence.
Good
point.
Let’s
move
on.”
Too
bad.
Because
“strategy
A”
was
a
good
idea.
2.2 Excavate the local culture of the corporation.
The
local
culture
of
the
corporation
has
many
sources:
the
vision
of
the
founder,
ideas
introduced
through
mergers
and
acquisitions,
cataclysmic
events
in
the
history
of
the
corporation
(public
ones
like
“In
public
policy,
a
sunset
provision
or
sunset
clause
is
a
provision
in
a
statute
or
regulation
that
terminates
or
repeals
all
or
portions
of
the
law
after
a
specific
date,
unless
further
legislative
action
is
taken
to
extend
it.”
Anonymous.
n.d.,
Sunset
Provision.
Wikipedia
entry.
2
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the
depression
of
the
1920s,
and
private
ones
like
the
time
the
CFO
decamped
with
the
corporate
“playbook”),
and
the
culture
of
the
locality
(Silicon
Valley
vs.
New
York
City
vs.
Austin,
Texas).
Here
too
we
have
a
variety
of
old
and
new
ideas
pouring
into
the
corporation.
The
old
live
on.
The
new
recruit
vigorously.
The
corporation
hums
with
a
variety
of
ideas,
some
visible,
all
active.
2.3 Excavate the culture of the component professions. There
are
many
professional
paths
to
the
business
world.
People
come
up
as
engineers,
MBAs,
entrepreneurs,
accountants,
industrial
designers,
graphic
designers,
liberal
arts
graduates.
Each
of
these
professions
imbues
the
graduate
with
a
certain
way
of
seeing
the
world,
of
solving
a
problem
(Khurana
2010).
(I
did
a
project
for
a
Canadian
telecom
and
the
marketer
expressed
her
frustration
with
the
engineers
with
whom
we
were
working,
“Every
time
I
leave
them
in
a
room
together,
they
start
building
a
machine!”)
In
a
perfect
world,
the
corporation
would
achieve
a
miracle
of
ecumenical
cooperation.
More
often,
certain
professional
cultures
are
given
more
influence
than
others.
So
we
need
the
various
professional
assumptions
and
the
value
hierarchy
that
distribute
their
power.
2.4 Excavate the culture of the industry.
Every
industry
has
characteristic
ways
and
means.
The
car
culture
of
Detroit,
the
start
up
culture
of
Silicon
Valley,
the
P&G
method
as
it
has
influenced
the
world
of
CPG
(consumer
packaged
goods),
the
engineering
cultures
of
IBM
and
GE,
the
new
approaches
emerging
from
the
likes
of
Etsy
and
Zappos.
Furthermore,
every
industry
is
various.
Some
part
of
the
financial
world
sees
itself
as
“white
shoe.”
Another
is
“Florsheim.”
Still
another
is
“hush
puppy.”
These
assumptions
need
mapping.
To
be
sure,
they
build
consensus
and
confer
strength.
But
they
also
create
vulnerability
when
change
happens.
2.5 Excavate the culture of business.
The
world
of
business
has
certain
shared
assumptions
(Kanter
1993).
We
are
inclined
to
share
a
certain
way
of
defining
the
actor,
the
action,
the
motive,
the
objective,
the
unit
of
analysis.
These
appear
to
be
matters
of
simple
rationality.
But
of
course
the
differences
between
Japanese,
American,
and
Canadian
business
practice
tell
us
that
cultural
choice
shapes
this
rationality.
Furthermore,
there
is
a
range
of
choice
within
the
rational.
There
are
many
ways,
in
that
horrible
phrase,
to
skin
a
cat.
The
key
problem:
one
rationality
may
conceal
another,
as
they
discovered
recently
at
IBM.
Kevin
Clark,
then
Director
of
IBM
Alumni
Relations
and
the
Greater
IBM
Connection,
noticed
that
IBM
was
insisting
on
the
boundaries
of
the
corporation
perhaps
a
little
too
literally.
The
fact
of
the
matter
is
that
Information
Technology
is
a
small
world.
Sooner
or
later
everyone
in
the
industry
is
going
to
work
for
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IBM.
And
this
means
that
it’s
wrong
of
IBM
to
treat
outsiders
as
outsiders.
Clark
noticed,
for
instance,
that
when
people
left
IBM,
IBM
was
inclined
to
severe
the
relationship.
Clark
believed
the
more
sensible
approach
was
to
treat
them
as
“temporarily
relocating,”
and
to
keep
the
relationship
alive.
The
culture
of
business
encourages
the
corporation
to
insist
on
an
emphatic
boundary
when
indeed
something
more
porous
is
sometimes
called
for.
Only
the
retrieval
of
business
assumptions
renders
this
opportunity
visible.
The
task
here
is
to
find
the
assumption
and
to
release
the
corporation
from
its
thrall.
This
is
what
Henry
Jenkins’
did
with
his
notion
of
“transmedia.”
We
can
see
how
many
ideas
take
their
powers
of
illumination
and
the
ability
to
create
value
from
their
ability
to
transcend
the
assumptions
of
the
moment.
This
category
has
many
examples
including,
again,
Henry
Jenkins’
(2008)
notion
of
“transmedia,”
C.K.
Prahalad
and
M.S.
Krishnan
(2008)
on
the
notion
of
“cocreation,”
Charles
Handy
(1984)
on
the
future
of
work
and
Warren
Bennis
(2009)
on
the
nature
of
leadership.
Professional
development
Who
will
do
this?
Who
will
dig
out
assumptions
for
the
corporations?
The
Liberal
Arts
ought
to
be
a
superb
recruiting
ground
for
this
new
profession.
One
could
argue
that
the
ability
to
find
and
scrutinize
assumptions
is
the
great
gift
part
of
the
liberal
arts
education.
But
of
course
this
part
of
the
university
continues
to
sneer
at
anything
attached
to
commerce
as
beneath
its
dignity
and
corrupted
by
gainful
motive
(Nussbaum
2010).
The
move
to
post-‐modernism
compounds
the
problem
by
insisting
on
the
instability
of
knowledge
and
the
inscrutability
of
the
world
(Swaim,
2010).
A.G.
Lafley
(2008)
has
called
for
a
“hard
headed
humanist”
but
hard
headed
humanists
are
in
short
supply.
The
management
consultant
may
not
be
the
right
person
to
undertake
this
work,
but
we
have
much
to
learn
from
the
Bains
and
McKinseys
of
the
world.
The
consulting
houses
are
good
at
working
from
faint
signals
and
approximate
measures,
at
living
with
noisy
data
sets
and
problems
that
might
as
well
be
shape-‐shifters
they
are
so
fluid
and
changeable.
We
need
to
learn
these
methods
and
approaches,
which
is
another
way
to
say
that
we
need
to
learn
how
to
deal
with
the
world
when
it
is
merely
ignited
by
ideas
and
not
very
much
comprehended
by
them.
A
profession
of
this
kind
will
need
an
institutional
locus.
To
be
sure,
there
are
inklings
and
experiments.
Henry
Jenkins
and
William
Uricchio
(2010)
have
created
something
remarkable
at
CMS,
and
Henry
Jenkins’
experiment
continues
at
the
Annenberg
School
at
USC.
David
Kelley
is
creating
something
interesting
at
the
Design
Program
at
Stanford
as
is
Joel
M.
Podolny
at
Apple
University.
Peter
Drucker
left
behind
an
inclusive
experiment
at
the
Claremont
University
business
school
named
for
him.3
“Reflecting
the
Drucker
philosophy
of
management,
we
believe
that
management
is
a
human
enterprise—an
art
as
well
as
a
science—that
integrates
perspectives
from
the
social
and
behavioral
sciences,
from
philosophy
and
the
humanities,
from
history
and
technology,
and
from
religion
and
mathematics.
This
liberal
art
of
management
brings
together
the
complex
realities
of
the
world
in
which
we
live,
our
diverse
cultural,
institutional,
and
intellectual
backgrounds,
and
our
ethical
responsibilities.”
Anonymous.
n.d.
“Mission
and
Vision.”
Peter
F.
Drucker
3
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If
we
dolly
back
a
little
further,
another
opportunity
emerges:
the
creation
of
a
consulting
house
that
makes
the
pattern
recognition
of
the
arts,
humanities
and
social
sciences
an
integral
part
of
the
advice
it
gives
to
business.
Here
too
there
are
inklings
and
experiments.
And
a
question:
why
only
these?
and
Masatoshi
Ito
Graduate
School
of
Management:
Mission
and
Vision
Statement.
Claremont
University.
http://www.cgu.edu/pages/290.asp
(Accessed
September
6,
2010)
G.
McCracken
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10
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Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
References
(by
page
number)
Page
5
Clay
Christensen
is
the
Robert
and
Jane
Cizik
Professor
of
Business
Administration
at
the
Harvard
Business
School.
He
is
the
author
of
The
Innovator's
Dilemma:
when
new
technologies
cause
great
firms
to
fail.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_technology
Joseph
Schumpeter
(1883
-‐
1950)
was
an
economist
and
political
scientist.
He
is
the
author
of
Capitalism,
Socialism
and
Democracy.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_destruction
Charles
Handy
is
a
British
author
and
philosopher
specializing
in
organizational
management.
He
is
the
author
of
The
Age
of
Unreason.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Handy
Peter
Drucker
(1909
–
2005)
was
Clarke
Professor
of
Social
Science
and
Management
at
Claremont
Graduate
University.
He
was
the
author
of
The
Practice
of
Management.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Drucker
Theodore
Levitt
(1925
-‐
2006)
was
a
professor
at
Harvard
Business
School.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Levitt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_myopia
Gregory
Bateson
(1904
–
1980)
was
an
anthropologist
and
author
of
Steps
to
an
Ecology
of
Mind
(1972).
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Bateson
Richard
Foster
is
Senior
Partner
and
an
Innovation
Specialist
from
McKinsey
&
Company
and
Sarah
Kaplan
is
the
Associate
Professor
of
Strategy
at
the
Rotman
School
of
the
University
of
Toronto.
They
are
co-‐authors
of
Creative
Destruction:
Why
Companies
That
Are
Built
to
Last
Underperform
the
Market-‐-‐And
How
to
Successfully
Transform
Them.
G.
McCracken
Page
11
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Page
5
(cont.):
Henry
Jenkins
is
the
founder
and
lead
researcher
of
the
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
(C3)
and
the
founder
of
the
Comparative
Media
Studies
(CMS)
Program
at
the
Massachusetts
Institute
of
Technology
(MIT).
Professor
Jenkins
is
Provost
Professor
of
Communication,
Journalism,
and
Cinematic
Arts,
a
joint
professorship
at
the
USC
Annenberg
School
for
Communication
and
the
USC
School
of
Cinematic
Arts.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Jenkins
Page
6
Richard
Florida
is
a
professor
and
head
of
the
Martin
Prosperity
Institute
at
the
Rotman
School
of
Management
at
the
University
of
Toronto.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_class
Joseph
Pine
is
a
writer,
educator
and
consultant.
James
Gilmore
is
an
adjunct
lecturer
at
The
Graduate
School
of
Business
Administration
at
the
University
of
Virginia.
They
co-‐authored
The
Experience
Economy:
Work
Is
Theater
&
Every
Business
a
Stage.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Experience_Economy
Michael
Porter
is
the
Bishop
William
Lawrence
University
Professor
at
Harvard
Business
School.
He
is
the
author
of
Competitive
Strategy:
Techniques
for
Analyzing
Industries
and
Competition.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Porter
Thomas
Stewart
is
the
Chief
Marketing
and
Knowledge
Officer
of
Booz
&
Company,
a
global
management
consulting
firm
and
the
author
of
The
Wealth
of
Knowledge:
Intellectual
Capital
and
the
Twenty-‐first
Century
Organization.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_A._Stewart
Page
7
Grant
McCracken
is
an
anthropologist,
blogger,
a
consulting
practitioner
to
the
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
(C3)
and
author,
most
recently
of
Chief
Culture
Officer:
How
to
Create
a
Living,
Breathing
Corporation
(2009).
G.
McCracken
Page
12
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Page
7
(cont.):
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_McCracken
Tom
Peters
and
Robert
Waterman
co-‐authored
In
Search
of
Excellence:
Lessons
from
America's
Best-‐Run
Companies.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Peters
Michael
Hammer
and
James
Champy
are
the
co-‐authors
of
Reengineering
the
Corporation:
A
Manifesto
for
Business
Revolution.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_reengineering
Jim
Collins
and
Jerry
Porras
co-‐authored
Built
to
Last:
Successful
Habits
of
Visionary
Companies.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_C._Collins
Thomas
Davenport
and
Laurence
Prusak
are
the
authors
What's
the
Big
Idea?
Creating
and
Capitalizing
on
the
Best
New
Management
Thinking.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_H._Davenport
David
Gray
is
a
member
of
the
Boston
Consulting
Group’s
Strategy
Institute
in
Boston
and
the
director
of
the
firm’s
Strategy
Gallery.
SEE:
http://hbr.org/2003/11/wanted-‐chief-‐ignorance-‐officer/ar/1.
Tim
Hindle
is
a
former
business
and
management
editor
of
The
Economist
and
was
the
founder
editor
of
EuroBusiness.
He
is
the
author
of
Guide
to
Management
Ideas
and
Gurus.
Roger
Martin
is
the
Dean
of
the
Rotman
School
of
Management
at
the
University
of
Toronto
and
the
author
of
Opposable
Mind:
Winning
Through
Integrative
Thinking.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Martin
John
Micklethwait
(the
New
York
bureau
chief
of
The
Economist)
and
Adrian
Woolridge
(West
Coast
bureau
chief
of
The
Economist)
co-‐authored
The
Witch
Doctors:
Making
Sense
of
the
Management
Gurus.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Micklethwait
G.
McCracken
Page
13
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Page
7
(cont.):
David
Sapir
is
a
Professor
Emeritus
in
the
Department
of
Anthropology
at
the
University
of
Virginia.
He
is
the
author
of
The
Social
Use
of
Metaphor:
Essays
on
the
Anthropology
of
Rhetoric.
Robert
Sutton
is
professor
of
management
science
and
engineering
at
the
Stanford
Engineering
School,
where
he
is
the
co-‐director
of
the
Center
for
Work,
Technology,
and
Organization
and
an
active
researcher
in
the
Stanford
Technology
Ventures
Program.
He
is
the
author
of
Weird
Ideas
That
Work:
How
to
Build
a
Creative
Company.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_I._Sutton
Page
8
Rakesh
Khurana
is
an
Associate
Professor
of
Business
Administration
at
Harvard
Business
School,
and
author
of
numerous
important
articles
and
books
in
the
areas
of
leadership
and
management.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakesh_Khurana
Rosabeth
Moss
Kanter
is
the
Ernest
L.
Arbuckle
Professor
at
Harvard
Business
School.
She
is
the
author
of
Men
&
Women
of
the
Corporation.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosabeth_Moss_Kanter
Page
9
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmedia_storytelling
http://techtv.mit.edu/collections/convergenceculture:847/videos/4720-‐keynote-‐
revenge-‐of-‐the-‐origami-‐unicorn-‐five-‐key-‐principles-‐of-‐transmedia-‐entertainment
C.K.
Prahalad
(1941
-‐
2010)
was
the
Paul
and
Ruth
McCracken
Distinguished
University
Professor
of
Corporate
Strategy
at
the
Stephen
M.
Ross
School
of
Business
in
the
University
of
Michigan
and
M.
S.
Krishnan
is
the
Michael
R.
and
Mary
Kay
Hallman
Fellow
&
Professor
of
Business
Information
Technology;
Chair
of
Business
Information
Technology
at
the
University
of
Michigan's
Ross
School
of
Business.
They
co-‐authored
The
New
Age
of
Innovation.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prahalad
G.
McCracken
Page
14
Assumption
Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
Page
9
(cont.):
Warren
Bennis
is
University
Professor
and
Distinguished
Professor
of
Business
Administration
and
Founding
Chairman
of
The
Leadership
Institute
at
the
University
of
Southern
California.
He
is
the
author
of
On
Becoming
a
Leader.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Bennis
Martha
Nussbaum
is
Ernst
Freund
Distinguished
Service
Professor
of
Law
and
Ethics
at
theUniversity
of
Chicago.
She
is
the
author
of
Not
For
Profit:
Why
Democracy
Needs
the
Humanities.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Nussbaum
Barton
Swaim
received
his
doctorate
from
the
University
of
Edinburgh.
A.G.
Lafley
is
the
former
Chairman
of
the
Board,
President
and
Chief
Executive
Officer
of
Procter
&
Gamble,
retiring
from
the
company
in
2010.
With
Ram
Charan,
he
wrote
The
Game
Changer,
How
You
Can
Drive
Revenue
and
Profit
Growth
with
Innovation.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._G._Lafley
William
Uricchio
is
the
Director
and
MIT
Faculty
Investigator
of
C3
as
well
as
the
Director
of
the
MIT
Comparative
Media
Studies
Program,
and
a
professor
of
Comparative
Media
History
at
Utrecht
University
in
the
Netherlands.
SEE:
http://cms.mit.edu/news/inmediasres/CMS-‐10th-‐Anniversary.pdf
http://cms.mit.edu/news/2010/04/podcast_cms_10th_anniversary_w.php
http://cms.mit.edu/news/2010/04/podcast_cms_10th_anniversary_a.php
David
Kelley
is
the
founder
and
chairman
of
IDEO.
He
also
serves
as
the
Donald
W.
Whittier
professor
in
the
Product
Design
program
at
Stanford
University,
where
he
also
established
the
school’s
Hasso
Plattner
Institute
of
Design.
SEE:
http://dschool.stanford.edu/
Joel
M.
Podolny
is
an
American
sociologist
and
is
the
former
Dean
of
the
Yale
School
of
Management.
He
is
currently
the
vice
president
and
dean
of
Apple
University.
SEE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_M._Podolny
http://news.cnet.com/8301-‐13579_3-‐10073097-‐37.html
G.
McCracken
Page
15
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Hunters
Convergence
Culture
Consortium
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the
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Robert
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to
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May
7.
Acknowledgements
Thanks
to
Daniel
Pereira
for
his
thoughts
on
the
original
version
of
this
C3
Research
Memo.
About
the
Author
Grant
McCracken
holds
a
PhD
from
the
University
of
Chicago
in
cultural
anthropology.
He
is
the
author
of
Big
Hair,
Culture
and
Consumption,
Culture
and
Consumption
II:
Markets,
Meaning
and
Brand
Management,
Flock
and
Flow,
The
Long
Interview,
Plenitude:
Culture
by
Commotion,
and
the
forthcoming
Transformations:
Identity
Construction
in
Contemporary
Culture.
He
has
been
the
director
of
the
Institute
of
Contemporary
Culture
at
the
ROM
(Royal
Ontario
Museum),
a
senior
lecturer
at
the
Harvard
Business
School,
a
visiting
scholar
at
the
University
of
Cambridge
and
he
is
now
an
adjunct
professor
at
McGill
University.
He
has
consulted
widely
in
the
corporate
world,
including
the
Coca-‐Cola
Company,
IKEA,
Chrysler,
Kraft,
Kodak,
and
Kimberly
Clark.
He
is
a
member
of
the
IBM
Social
Networking
Advisory
Board.
G.
McCracken
Page
18
