In Break the Rules!: The Six Counter-Conventional Mindsets of Entrepreneurs That Can Help Anyone Change the World, celebrated London Business School entrepreneurship professor, keynote speaker, and best-selling author Dr. John Mullins delivers an eye-opening and insightful exploration of what sets successful entrepreneurs apart from other business people and from those who fail to reach their goals. You’ll discover a compelling argument that successful entrepreneurs exhibit one or more of the six break-the-rules mindsets revealed in this book.
Each of these six mindsets can be learned, practiced, and built upon - by anyone, in any business setting large or small, old or new -, to create thriving businesses that grow and prosper. Mullins draws on over two decades of research to show you how to do exactly that. You’ll also find: - Explanations of why the six break-the-rules mindsets fly in the face of conventional business and business school wisdom - Strategies for dealing with, skating around, or otherwise overcoming the daunting obstacles that stand in every innovator’s way - Ways to challenge assumptions and mitigate risk in order to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves along your entrepreneurial path - Steps you can take now to make one or more of these mindsets your own.
An essential new take on entrepreneurship and on what it takes to be or become more “entrepreneurial,” Break the Rules! sheds new light on an oft-discussed - but rarely understood - area of business.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
Preface: Why This Book xvii
1 It’s Time to Break the Rules: Challenge Assumptions, Overcome Obstacles, Mitigate Risk 1
2 When You’re Tempted to Say No, Instead Say “Yes, We Can!”: Then Figure Out How 13
3 It’s the Customer’s Problem That Matters, Not Your Solution: Problem- First, Not Product- First, Logic 41
4 Why “Moving the Needle” Doesn’t Matter Much to Entrepreneurs: Think Narrow, Not Broad 69
5 How Entrepreneurs Get Things Done with Almost No Money: Ask for the Cash, Ride the Float 97
6 Make the Future Winnings Yours!: Beg, Borrow, But Don’t Steal 125
7 What Entrepreneurs Can Do That Big Companies Can’t: Instead of Asking Permission, Beg Forgiveness Later 151
8 Act Your Way to a New Way of Thinking (Because the Reverse Won’t Work!): From Mindsets to Action 179
Notes 193
About the Author 209
Index 211
