COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA295T.13

COURSE TITLE: Built for Growth

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1 unit
 
INSTRUCTOR: John Danner

E-MAIL ADDRESS: danner@berkeley.edu

CLASS WEB PAGE LOCATION: bCourses

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: September 10, 9 am – 6 pm December 3, 9 am – 6 pm

Please note the unorthodox nature of this course, which meets all day on 2 Sundays . To earn a passing grade, you must attend BOTH class sessions in their entirety.

PREREQUISITE(S): None, other than curiosity about what kind of business builder you might be, and what you can learn from the four types of highly successful entre- and intrapreneurs.

CLASS FORMAT: This 2-day course will include a mix of short lectures, case analyses, discussions of current examples of builders in the news, and other exercises, with a personalized midterm assignment between sessions. We may also have 1-2 f2f or video conversations with business leaders relevant to our focus.

REQUIRED READINGS: The main text will be Built for Growth: How Builder Personality Shapes Your Business, Your Team, and Your Ability to Win – lead title with Harvard Business Review Press, June, 2017. We will have a limited set of supplemental readings, including 2-3 case studies, video talks and short articles or excerpts from other works.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: 30% class engagement, 20% midterm paper (8-10 pages), 20% final presentation, 30% final paper (12-15 pages) – [please note: the final presentation and paper may be a team assignment depending on course enrollment]

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:
This course is based on Built for Growth, the 2017 HBRP lead title and Amazon best-seller co-written by faculty director John Danner. The book is not about the why, how or what of growth, but the who: the personality characteristics of highly successful entrepreneurs and their interplay with the dynamic challenges of building ventures of enduring value, whether as standalone startups or new businesses within established companies.

Context: The current business environment is more intense, fast-changing and unpredictable than ever. Political, trade and regulatory landscapes are reshaping every day. Rapid advances in technology and data science destroy, disrupt, and create new markets that can make strategy obsolete before it’s even begun. Competition from across the border and across the world places unprecedented pressure on corporate leaders to not only better manage today’s business, but accelerate their growth of tomorrow’s business.

In this volatile business arena, shareholders, employees, partners and customers expect more innovation and growth, better and clearer communication, improved customer experiences, stronger financial results, and greater value overall. Most executives are necessarily experienced in execution; but not necessarily in the kind of experimentation and entrepreneurial initiative that real growth requires.

Building for growth is the key to survival in these types of environments. However, not every manager on the payroll is likely a good fit for the different types of growth leadership roles and decision-making that businesses require. Corporate executives need to understand who can lead that growth most effectively, and what they can do to best reinforce their efforts.

Focus: What types of executives are best suited for this agenda? This is the central question addressed by this course. Built for Growth shares insights gained from pioneering research on the personality patterns of highly successful leaders in both corporate ventures and independent startups. How are these standouts wired, and how can they best leverage their personal styles and skills, while buffering their shortcomings?  Which Builder Type are you most alike – the Driver, Explorer, Crusader or Captain?

Topics covered:

• The four types of Builder Personalities (based on exclusive research conducted for Built for Growth), and their respective gifts and gaps
• Understand your closest Builder Personality Type, and how to leverage it based on exemplars like you as well as lessons from other types
• Consider the recurring and dynamic challenges of building successful businesses, and how they reveal the personality gifts and gaps of builders
• Recognize the types of co-builders, teams and financial sponsors that will work best together with each Builder type

CAREER FIELD:

• Entre- or intrapreneurship, if you are considering launching your own startup or inside venture
• Joining a growth-oriented team or venture, regardless of which functional role you play
• Executive leadership, especially if you are/will be responsible for driving growth in your company
• Functional management in marketing, strategy, new product development, talent development, M&A or finance

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:
The course will be anchored by John Danner, co-author of Built for Growth. He teaches innovation, entrepreneurship, strategy and leadership in universities and executive education programs around the world. A member of the professional faculty at both Berkeley-Haas and Princeton University, he serves as a senior moderator for the Aspen Institute and faculty director of dozens of executive seminars for other leading organizations. He is a trusted adviser to senior management teams of global enterprises, public organizations and emerging startups across a broad industry landscape. 

The co-author of The Other “F” Word: How Smart Leaders, Teams, and Entrepreneurs Put Failure to Work (Wiley, 2015), he has been featured in numerous articles and interviews in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Chief Executive and other leading channels. In addition, he is a frequent speaker at various conferences, including corporate events and other venues such as TEDx. For those of you who are fans of TED, he’s also the guy who came up with the idea for TED U[niversity], a popular component of the TED and TEDGlobal conferences. He holds three graduate degrees from UC Berkeley, in addition to his undergraduate degree from Harvard College.