Rita Gunther McGrath – Discovery-Driven Planning

Rita Gunther McGrath – Discovery-Driven Planning – Summary

Rita McGrath Martin Biography
Interesting Facts and Insights about Rita McGrath
Rita McGrath’s Big Idea: Discovery-Driven Planning
Rita McGrath Quotes & Coaching Tips
Rita McGrath Quotes
Books by Rita McGrath
Journal Articles by Rita McGrath
Common Questions about Rita McGrath
Videos about Rita McGrath

Rita McGrath Martin Biography

Rita Gunther McGrath is a strategic management scholar and professor of management at Columbia Business School. She is highly regarded in her work on strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Rita McGrath is best known for her work on the “Discovery-Driven Planning” theory. The planning technique and theory was first introduced in a Harvard Business Review article by Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian C. MacMillan in 1995.

Rita McGrath’s Big Idea: Discovery-Driven Planning

Discovery-driven planning is useful when operating in arenas with significant amounts of uncertainty. It differs from conventional planning by incorporating flexibility in the project by allowing iteration on targets and budgets.

In discovery-driven planning, it is assumed that the planing parameters may change as new information is acquired. In discovery-driven planning, funds are released based on the accomplishment of key milestones or checkpoints, at which point additional funding can be made available based on reasonable expectations of the next step success.

Discovery-driven planning has five critical elements:

Definition: The definition of success for the initiative.
Benchmarking: The benchmarking against the market and competitive parameters.
Requirements: The specification of operational requirements.
Assumptions: The articulation and documentation of assumptions.
Checkpoints: The articulation and documentation of key checkpoints.

The benefits of discovery-driven planning are that it is possible to iterate the ideas in a plan, and it encourages experimentation at a low cost.

Interesting Facts and Insights about Rita McGrath

Born: Rita Gunther McGrath was born in 1959, in New Haven, Connecticut.
MPA: McGrath earned a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University in 1982.
Ph.D.: McGrath completed her Ph.D. at The Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania in 1993.
Dissertation: McGrath’s dissertation was entitled “Developing New Competence in Established Organizations.”
Columbia: McGrath joined Columbia as an assistant professor of management in 1993, was promoted to associate professor of management in 1998, and became a full professor in the Faculty of Executive Education.
Deputy Dean: McGrath was elected Deputy Dean of the Strategic Management Society Fellows In 2014.
Professor: McGrath is a Professor of management at the Columbia Business School, in the City of New York
Author: McGrath is the bestselling author of five books
HBR: McGrath is a widely published author in the Harvard Business Review.
Nationality: McGrath is an American.
Rankings: McGrath was ranked the #10 most influential leadership thinker in the world by “Thinkers50.”

“So here’s an interesting irony. Despite the enormous sums in play, little goes to female and minority founders.”
– Rita McGrath

Rita McGrath Advice Quotes & Tips

“Generating ideas is not a problem. Incubation is. Acceleration is.”

“Without the assumption that advantage will be long-lived, the urgency of an organization to move quickly increases.”

“Exploiting a sustainable competitive advantage is great… If you can find it.”

“Things move quickly in technology, which is why technology companies are fascinating to strategists the way fruit flies are for biologists — you can see an entire life cycle in a very short span of time.”

“Companies attract funding because of a charismatic CEO, the promise of being first in a hot new category or cool technology, and not necessarily because the fundamentals of the business make sense.”

“When competitive advantages don’t last or lasts for a much shorter time than they used to, the strategy playbook needs to change.”

“Think of your problems as a gift – get out there and fix them.”

“The nature of competitive advantage is changing dramatically.”

“There is a large chasm between what academics study and write about in business academia and what practitioners are eager and hungry to learn about.”

“So here’s an interesting irony. Despite the enormous sums in play, little goes to female and minority founders.”

“At some point, business starts to matter – my favorite quote of the day: “I don’t want to build relationships. I want to get paid money for doing work.”

“Predicting the end of traditional management consulting has become something of a cottage industry, but so far the market leaders have retained their allure despite a world which has shifted underneath them.”

“While there will always be a market for high-end consulting, look for a rising number of technology-infused alternatives which offer a combination of expert “brains at scale.”

“They had to stop thinking they know what customers need better than they do.”

“If your industry is also characterized by rapid technological change, unpredictable competition and fickle customers, you too are in danger. There is a company waiting to disrupt you – and it’s better if it is you.”

Share this Information to increase Your Influence

Share this page with your network to increase your Influence. Then explore the additional Coaching Information from some of the world’s top experts. Click the links below:

“Think of your problems as a gift – get out there and fix them.”
– Rita McGrath

Books by Rita McGrath

Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen, by Rita Gunther McGrath, 2019
The End of Competitive Advantage: How to Keep Your Strategy Moving as Fast as Your Business, by Rita Gunther McGrath, 2013
Discovery-Driven Growth: A Breakthrough Process to Reduce Risk and Seize Opportunity, by Ian C MacMillan and Rita Gunther McGrath, 2009
Marketbusters: 40 Strategic Moves That Drive Exceptional Business Growth, by Ian C MacMillan and Rita Gunther McGrath, 2005
The Entrepreneurial Mindset: Strategies for Continuously Creating Opportunity in an Age of Uncertainty, by Ian C MacMillan and Rita Gunther McGrath, 2000
Discovery-Driven Planning, by Ian C MacMillan and Rita Gunther McGrath, 1995
HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Business Model Innovation, by Clayton M. Christensen, Mark W. Johnson, Rita Gunther McGrath, and Steven G. Blank, 2019

Journal Articles by Rita McGrath

How to Set More-Realistic Growth Targets, by Rita Gunther McGrath and Alexander Van Putten, Harvard Business Review, 2017
Cumulative Advantage, by A.G. Lafley, Roger Martin, Rita Gunther McGrath, Scott Cook, Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, David Champion, Harvard Business Review, 2017
To Reduce Complexity in Your Company, Start with Pen and Paper, by Rita Gunther McGrath, Harvard Business Review, 2016
Can Nokia Reinvent Itself Again? by Rita Gunther McGrath, Harvard Business Review, 2015
Investors Fawning over Uber Should Recall AOL’s Stumbles, by Rita Gunther McGrath, Harvard Business Review, 2015
To Make Better Decisions, Combine Datasets, by Rita Gunther McGrath, Harvard Business Review, 2015
Management’s Three Eras: A Brief History, by Rita Gunther McGrath, Harvard Business Review, 2014

Common Questions about Rita McGrath

How to contact Rita McGrath?
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RitaGuntherMcgrath
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritamcgrath/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rgmcgrath
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ritagunthermcgrath/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/rgmcgrath
- Blog: https://www.ritamcgrath.com/insights/blog/
- Email: pam@ritamcgrath.com
What are Rita McGrath’s theories?
- Rita McGrath is best known for her work on the “Discovery-Driven Planning” theory.
- The benefits of discovery-driven planning are that it is possible to iterate the ideas in a plan, and it encourages experimentation at a low cost.

BIG IDEAS:

“Strategies for Influence” explores and shares the BIG IDEAS from the Leaders of Influence that can help you with your Career, Business, and Leadership. Click on any of the links below to explore the Big Ideas that have influenced our work and culture.

“If your industry is also characterized by rapid technological change, unpredictable competition and fickle customers, you too are in danger. There is a company waiting to disrupt you – and it’s better if it is you.”
– Rita McGrath