The Geek Way: MIT's Andrew McAfee on Agility, Innovation, & a Geek's 'Four Norms' | Technovation 838

There’s no shame in being called a “geek”. In fact, according to Andrew McAfee, it’s actually a compliment. In this episode, Andrew, co-founder of MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, shares insight into the research he’s conducted while writing his latest book “The Geek Way”. He explains the ‘Four Norms’ of geeks; science, ownership, speed, & openness; and how companies can foster and navigate a culture that follows ‘the geek way’. Andrew discusses what it means to adopt Agile, how to leverage Agile practices to accelerate the pace of innovation, and why companies often get trapped in planning-heavy processes. Finally, Andrew looks back on his career and the learnings he has drawn from his writing process. 0:00:00 Introduction 0:00:48 Andrew's Role at MIT 0:03:04 The Pathway to Andrew's Latest Book 0:06:11 Defining "Geek" 0:08:17 The Patron Saint of Geeks, Maria Montessori 0:10:51 Differentiating Characteristics of Human Beings 0:14:13 Accelerating the Pace of Iteration Through Agile 0:18:36 Why Organizations Get Trapped in Planning-Heavy Processes 0:21:41 Having a Line of Sight: The Iterative Approach's North Star 0:24:37 The Four Norms of Geeks: Science, Ownership, Speed, & Openness 0:27:47 The Story of Will Marshall 0:31:08 Successfully Navigating Culturally Changing to "The Geek Way" 0:34:25 Deciphering the Success of "Tech Companies" 0:36:47 Andrew's Perspective on Acquisitions & Cultural Clashes 0:38:51 The Changing Nature of Work & Collaboration 0:41:00 Andrew's Time Management & Prioritization Strategies 0:42:58 How Andrew Ideates For Writing 0:44:17 Closing Remarks An audio-only version of this interview is available as episode 838 of Metis Strategy’s podcast, #Technovation with Peter High. Learn more at http://bit.ly/Technovation-838. Subscribe to Technovation on your podcast platform of choice: https://link.chtbl.com/Technovation To learn more, visit https://www.metisstrategy.com/technov... ---------------- #podcast #author