A summary of things you should know about Invent, Reinvent, Thrive according to Lloyd Shefsky:

Introduction

In this episode Lloyd Shefsky takes you on a deep dive into his book, Invent Reinvent Thrive, where he unveils some keys to success for any startup, entrepreneur, or family business. In his book, Shefsky takes you on a journey of reinvention to explain the difference between generations, how to build confidence, how to reinvent yourself, how to deal with naysayers, how to reinvent a business, and the lessons learned from very successful entrepreneurs and family business owners. This book is perfect for the entrepreneur who is struggling to find success and is at a loss for moving forward.

The Book’s Unique Quality (3:01)

It carries the concept of needing to invent and reinvent through various stages but it also uses real stories. They are captivating stories because they come directly from the people I interview. I jokingly say that my book may be the only book where the interviewees and the stories about them include the speakers at both the last democratic and republican conventions.

The Best Way To Engage (4:15)

It’s up to the reader. Most people today don’t have the time to sit and read a whole book but certainly that would work.

The Reader’s Takeaway (19:38)

I think it’s that while there is a key event in the creation of any new business, it’s not nearly one cataclysmic event that creates entrepreneurship they are all those things you do beforehand. There is no one key event; there are many events that lead to success as entrepreneurs or family businesses’.

A Deep Dive Into The Book (4:53)

I start with a preface that talk about the differences in generations because so many of the business concepts we have may work for that generation but not for the next one or the prior one. The introduction gives an overview that talks about the fact that people really can reinvent themselves without inventing all of themselves. And I talk about how to build confidence and your ability to do that.

In Part One I talk about the individual as an entrepreneur – how to reinvent yourself as an entrepreneur. I spend some time talking about core competencies’.

In the Second chapter I talk about ignoring the noise of descent. We all know people who tell you, you can’t do it or shouldn’t do it and each of the people I interviewed had naysayers. But how each entrepreneur dealt with them is what is interesting and I explain that you can’t ignore them, you have to do something about it. And I give lessons on how to properly deal with naysayers.

In Chapter three I talk about reinventing the business, not the individual. I explain when to start reinventing the business, how to deal with it and how often you need to do it.

Chapter five is about captains of industry and here I demonstrate that the lessons that have been taught up until then in the book are applicable at any size and I use 3 companies that demonstrate this.

In Part Four I tell stories of entrepreneurs who morphed to become corporate chiefs. I tell the story of a family physician, Dr. Jim Dan, who is now the head of 1,600 family physicians in the advocate healthcare system. It was not a one jump story; it was a series of steps that lead to that change in Dr. Jim’s career.

In Chapter eight I talk a little bit about entrepreneurs who had resigned as CEO of their company and had to come back. The two that I use as an example are Howard Schultz of Starbucks and Chuck Schwab of Charles Schwab and Company both of whom had to come back when things weren’t working real well. These are great stories of how to look at your company in order to know what to change but more importantly it demonstrates that sometimes people reinvent their business not to be something new but to be something old.

In Chapter nine I switch over to family businesses and the introduction of what I mean by family business.

In Chapter ten I talk about the Crown family, a family that a man started with $10,000 that he borrowed from friends and turned it in to a multibillion dollar fortune today.

In Chapter twelve we talk about leading the family verses leading the business.

In Chapter thirteen I talk about the Carlson family, family who owns the Radisson Hotels and TGIF restaurants.

Notable Quotes From The Book (20:35)

“When focus causes you to wear blinders you’re far more likely to be blindsided.” – Lloyd Shefsky

The Credibility/Inspiration Of The Author (0:33)

I am a Clinical Professor at the Kellogg School of Management. I wrote Entrepreneurs Are Made Not Born which became a best-seller and now in eight languages. I have been teaching entrepreneurship for about 18 years both at the Kellogg School, China, Japan and other places. I consult with entrepreneurs; consult with family business people and the founder/co-director of the Center for Family Enterprises.

For quite some time I’ve been bothered by what makes some people successful both entrepreneurs and family business people and none of the typical factors were working. For a while I thought it would be confidence that I would be looking at but after a few interviews it became clear that what distinguished the successful and non-successful was the concept that they had to continually reinvent themselves. So when I was seeing all this it became clear that there was a great similarity in this reinvention concept.

Other Books Recommended By The Author (21:50)

An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski

More Information About This Book and The Author

Buy Invent, Reinvent, Thrive by Lloyd Shefsky on Amazon today

Visit InventReinventThrive.com to learn more about Lloyd and his book

Follow Lloyd Shefsky on Twitter

More Information About This Episode

Download the full transcript here

Listen on iTunes, Stitcher , and SoundCloud

Related books: The Innovator’s Method: Bringing the Lean Start-up into Your Organization by Nathan Furr | The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field by Mike Michalowicz | The Road To Reinvention by Josh Linkner

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Wade Danielson

Wade is a 4-time serial entrepreneur and is the Founder/Host of The Entrepreneurs Library. With a long time passion for reading books, Wade created an online resource and podcast for entrepreneurs who love to read personal and business development books. His long-term goal in life is to start an entrepreneurial home schooling program for children of business-minded families.