The Necessity of Strangers: The Intriguing Truth About Insight, Innovation, and Success - Hardcover

Gregerman, Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1118461304 ISBN 13: 9781118461303

Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 2013

Synopsis

A counterintuitive approach to fostering greater innovation, collaboration, and engagement

Most of us assume our success relies on a network of friends and close contacts. But innovative thinking requires a steady stream of fresh ideas and new possibilities, which strangers are more likely to introduce. Our survival instincts naturally cause us to look upon strangers with suspicion and distrust, but in The Necessity of Strangers, Alan Gregerman offers the provocative idea that engaging with strangers is an opportunity, not a threat, and that engaging with the right strangers is essential to unlocking our real potential. The Necessity of Strangers reveals how strangers challenge us to think differently about ourselves and the problems we face.

• Shows how strangers can help us innovate better, get the most out of each other, and achieve genuine collaboration
• Presents principles for developing a "stranger-centric" mindset to develop new markets and stronger customer relationships, leverage the full potential of partnerships, and become more effective leaders
• Includes practical guidance and a toolkit for being more open, creating new ideas that matter, finding the right strangers in all walks of life, and tapping the real brilliance in yourself

To stay competitive, you and your business need access to more new ideas, insights, and perspectives than ever before. The Necessity of Strangers offers an essential guide to discovering the most exciting opportunities you haven't met yet.

About this title

About the Author

ALAN GREGERMAN is an award-winning author, business advisor, and teacher. His writing and consulting work focuses on helping companies and organizations create winning strategies and more remarkable products, services, and customer experiences by unlocking the genius in all of their people. Alan is the author of two previous books, Surrounded by Geniuses and Lessons from the Sandbox. He lives in the Washington DC area with his family.

For more information, please visit www.alangregerman.com.

From the Back Cover

A counterintuitive approach to fostering greater innovation and collaboration.

Most of us assume our success relies on a network of our closest friends and contacts, but what if this isn't the case? What if the real key to new thinking and action is strangers? Although we are often taught to look upon strangers with suspicion and distrust, The Necessity of Strangers offers the provocative idea that engaging with strangers who are often very different than us is an opportunity, not a threat. Strangers challenge us to look at ourselves, the challenges we face, and the world around us with fresh eyes and a sense of new possibilities. Engaging with the right strangers is essential to unlocking our real potential.

The Necessity of Strangers shows how strangers can help us innovate in ways that matter, build remarkable teams and energize workplaces, and achieve genuine collaboration. It also shows how to develop a more open and stranger-centric mindset that can enable you to develop new markets, build stronger customer relationships, create more worthwhile partnerships, and become a more effective leader. Finding the right strangers in all walks of life will help you tap the real brilliance in yourself and your organization.

To stay competitive, you and your business need access to more new ideas, insights, and perspectives than ever before. The Necessity of Strangers offers a unique, essential guide to discovering the most exciting opportunities you haven't met yet.

From the Inside Flap

A counterintuitive approach to fostering greater innovation and collaboration.

Most of us assume our success relies on a network of our closest friends and contacts, but what if this isn't the case? What if the real key to new thinking and action is strangers? Although we are often taught to look upon strangers with suspicion and distrust, The Necessity of Strangers offers the provocative idea that engaging with strangers who are often very different than us is an opportunity, not a threat. Strangers challenge us to look at ourselves, the challenges we face, and the world around us with fresh eyes and a sense of new possibilities. Engaging with the right strangers is essential to unlocking our real potential.

The Necessity of Strangers shows how strangers can help us innovate in ways that matter, build remarkable teams and energize workplaces, and achieve genuine collaboration. It also shows how to develop a more open and stranger-centric mindset that can enable you to develop new markets, build stronger customer relationships, create more worthwhile partnerships, and become a more effective leader. Finding the right strangers in all walks of life will help you tap the real brilliance in yourself and your organization.

To stay competitive, you and your business need access to more new ideas, insights, and perspectives than ever before. The Necessity of Strangers offers a unique, essential guide to discovering the most exciting opportunities you haven't met yet.

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1118461304
• ISBN 13: 9781118461303
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240