book covers pivot to the future

A 5 Minute Overview Of

Pivot to the Future

Discovering Value and Creating Growth in a Disrupted World

About the Authors


Omar Abbosh is group chief executive of Accenture's Communications, Media & Technology operating group. He previously served as chief strategy officer for Accenture. He is a member of Accenture's Global Management Committee and has management responsibility for a number of Accenture's business units. Omar Abbosh is a graduate of INSEAD and the University of Cambridge.

Paul Nunes is global managing director for Accenture Research. He is the co-author of three books Big Bang Disruption, Jumping the S-Curve and Mass Affluence. Paul Nunes is a graduate of Northwestern University.

Larry Downes is a senior fellow with Accenture Research. He specializes in developing business strategies. He is the author or co-author of several books including Big Bang Disruption, The Laws of Disruption and Unleashing the Killer App. Larry Downes is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and Northwestern University.

The Main Idea


Disruption is very much a way of life in every industry today. A multi-year research project carried out by Accenture on more than 3,000 companies showed that at any one time at least 63% of companies will be experiencing disruption, and that 44% of the companies in any marketplace are highly susceptible to future disruption.

So what's the best way to respond to ongoing marketplace disruptions? Ideally, you want to become a disruptor, not the disrupted. To do that, you're going to need to have the ability to pivot again and again:

If you can master the wise pivot and keep reinventing your business over and over, you're all set regardless of what happens in the future. To accelerate growth today and establish leadership in tomorrow's opportunities, you have to systematically balance and rebalance your investments in the Old, the Now and the New.

The only solution to continuous and potentially devastating change is constant reinvention, rearchitecting the business in a way that allowed us to pivot from one opportunity to the next, quickly and efficiently — an approach to business value creation we came to call the 'wise pivot'
Omar Abbosh, Paul Nunes and Larry Downes

Pivot to the Future Strategy


1. Releasing trapped value . When you're dealing with markets which are unpredictable, a single one-time large-scale "transformation" of your company just won't cut it. Constant reinvention and multiple pivots from one opportunity to the next and then to the next after that will be required. The aim here is to keep coming up with new and better ways to unlock the value which is trapped within your current business model and then to refocus your business around the right mix of old and new assets.

2. How to make wise pivots again and again . When you're dealing with markets which are unpredictable, a single one-time large-scale "transformation" of your company just won't cut it. Constant reinvention and multiple pivots from one opportunity to the next and then to the next after that will be required. The aim here is to keep coming up with new and better ways to unlock the value which is trapped within your current business model and then to refocus your business around the right mix of old and new assets.

Summaries.Com Editor's Comments


Thoroughly enjoyed this business book. The authors are all employees of Accenture, which went through a digital-era makeover a few years ago and has lived to tell the tale. I thought the point that they make that you pivot to the future technologies on the strength of your legacy business is valid and smart.

I particularly liked the fact they point out this is always an opportunity to release trapped value and to use that trapped value to fund your future movements into new technologies. That's smart. The traditional way of thinking about turnarounds has always been that you exit legacy businesses and start afresh, but this pivot strategy is far more robust and applicable. Well worth reading.

Want in-depth 30-minute summaries?

In addition to this 5-minute overview, Summaries.Com has a premium 30-minute summary of this book and 1,000+ more, to help you advance your career and business.

Check Out Summaries.com Premium Plans Today!

Want more 5-minute Snapshots?

To get a new 5-minute business book snapshot each week, sign up for the Summaries.com free plan.

Sign Up for the Summaries.com Free Plan

Business Pivots 101 Collection


If you enjoyed this summary, here is a collection of related business book summaries, to help you get ideas and strategies that will give you an edge over your competition.

A collection of books that will help you see what's next.

Buy Business Pivots 101 Collection (5 x 30-Min Summaries)
book covers pivot to the future
Summary published 6/2019
Pivot to the Future

Discovering Value and Creating Growth in a Disrupted World

by Omar Abbosh, Paul Nunes and Larry Downes

book covers seeing whats next
Summary published in 2004
Seeing What's Next

Using the Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change

by Clayton Christensen and Scott Anthony

book covers blue ocean strategy
Summary published in 2005
Blue Ocean Strategy

How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant

by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne

book covers built to change
Summary published in 2006
Built to Change

How To Achieve Sustained Organizational Effectiveness

by Edward Lawler III and Christopher Worley

book covers getting to plan b
Summary published in 2009
Getting to Plan B

Breaking Through to a Better Business Model

by John Mullins and Kormisar Randy

book covers disrupt think epic be epic
Summary published 8/2013
Disrupt! Think Epic. Be Epic.

25 Successful Habits for an Extremely Disruptive World

by Bill Jensen

Buy Business Pivots 101 Collection (5 x 30-Min Summaries)