Meet Roger Martin | Author and Strategy Advisor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Roger Martin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Roger, we’d love to hear more about your end-goal, professionally.
I would like to be a voice that will be missed. I write books (13) and articles (600) that are aimed at helping readers understand the world around them in ways that enable them to make better decisions. I attempt to simplify complexity for them so that they can be confident in thinking their way through challenging situations. For example, they may wonder why pursuing shareholder value doesn’t seem to result in the production of shareholder value? Or why focusing more intensely on execution doesn’t produce better execution? Or why crunching the numbers often leads to bad decisions?
I help them understand why these things happen, even though the desire and intention is the opposite, and, more importantly, suggest a different way to think about these and many other areas in order to produce better results.
I take on 14 of these ineffective models in my latest book, A New Way to Think, and provide 14 better models. I explore similar themes in my weekly Medium column.
I hope that these writings are sufficiently useful that when I am gone, my voice will be missed.

What should our readers know about your business?
My business is a strategy advisory firm. I provide strategy advice to the CEOs of firms across the world, including companies such as P&G, Ford and Lego. I used to be one of the four leaders of a large strategy consulting firm based in Cambridge, Mass, but now I practice on my own, which makes me somewhat unique in the strategy field. It is dominated by giant, global firms who serve clients with large teams who create strategy for clients. I help clients create strategy themselves, which makes them more capable not more dependent on outsiders. It wasn’t easy to build either my previous or current firm. It takes a long while for one’s reputation for serving clients well to grow, so I had to be patient. The key is in making sure your current clients are really well served because they will tell others that you are worth trying. If you spend your time trying to acquire new clients, your existing clients will never recommend you. The lesson I have learned is that if you are patient and serve your existing clients well, new clients will come to you rather than you having to sell to them.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would make sure to eat at Joe’s Stone Crabs and Prime 112. I would have made sure they had frozen margaritas at Rosa Mexicano – but it closed during COVID; boo hoo! I would do the drive to Key West and hang around for a day. And then I would do another drive to visit Sanibel and Captiva for a day.
Then I would head to the family-owned Brazilian steak house, Chima, in Fort Lauderdale for several caipirinhas and while I was in Fort Lauderdale, get the frozen margaritas that I missed in Miami from La Bamba (the one on Federal Highway).
Then I would sleep for a couple of days!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to dedicate this Shoutout to my wife Marie-Louise Skafte, who also serves as the COO and General Counsel of my company, Roger L. Martin, Inc. She provides warm support and wonderful advice. I have been happier and more productive since meeting her in 2013 and marrying her in 2015.

Website: WWW.RogerLMartin.com

Linkedin: Roger L Martin

Twitter: @rogerlmartin