April 23, 2019

“Pivot to the Future,” New Book from Accenture, Provides Roadmap to Help Business Leaders Navigate Continuous Disruption

Accenture experts provide a modern playbook for harnessing groundbreaking technologies and entering and defending new markets

NEW YORK; April 23, 2019 – Traditional responses to business disruption, such as one-off business transformation and fast-follower approaches, are outdated and won’t be enough to help companies achieve sustainable growth and weather the challenges that lie ahead, according to a new book by Accenture (NYSE: ACN).

“Pivot to the Future: Discovering Value and Creating Growth in a Disrupted World” argues that the emergence of a new wave of technologies — including artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, 5G and quantum computing — requires businesses to continuously reinvent themselves using new management and capital-allocation strategies.

Built on Accenture’s rigorous multiyear study of thousands of businesses across 30 industries, a candid account of its own reinvention, and insights from its extensive work with its global clients, “Pivot to the Future” provides new practical approaches to help business leaders make bold, sometimes contrarian, strategic decisions that can unlock millions of dollars trapped in today’s core businesses — value that can be used for the disruptive innovation that drives future prosperity.

Published by PublicAffairs, a division of Hachette Book Group, “Pivot to the Future” is written by Accenture executives Omar Abbosh, group chief executive of the company’s Communications, Media & Technology business and former chief strategy officer; Paul Nunes, global managing director of thought leadership; and Larry Downes, senior fellow with Accenture Research and a best-selling business book author.

“Rapid recent advances in technology are forcing leaders in every business to rethink long-held beliefs about how to adapt to emerging technologies and new markets,” Abbosh said. “We’re offering a proven strategy for perpetual innovation that has worked not just for Accenture, but for many of our most successful clients. It is applicable to any company that seeks to thrive in a world changed by technology-fueled disruption.”

“Pivot to the Future” has received early acclaim from leading business executives, including Best Buy Chairman Hubert Joly, who said: “Every company is seeking to reinvent itself. ‘Pivot to the Future’ provides powerful and stimulating concepts, ideas and examples that can help guide these efforts. It is a must read for anyone who is looking for help on the journey.”

Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, said: “In ‘Pivot to the Future,’ Omar Abbosh and his co-authors make a powerful case that successful innovation is a long-term game that requires constant pivots to evolve and change. ‘Pivot to the Future’ will excite, energize and empower leaders, helping them innovate intelligently, keep moving forward and always be future-ready.”

Wise Pivot
“Pivot to the Future” includes more than 100 case studies showing how some of the world’s most prestigious companies are reinventing themselves through what the book refers to as the “wise pivot” —repeated renewal and reinvention through a series of strategic shifts, where innovation is applied equally in old, current and emerging businesses. The book’s pragmatic frameworks show organizations how to get the most from their core businesses through strategic investments in new technologies and “fueling up” to make continuous wise pivots at precisely the right times.

The book calls on executives to fight the urge to prematurely abandon legacy businesses and to nurture rather than simply exploit today’s “cash cows.” With the additional value they uncover, companies can fuel their future by embracing the start-up mentality of scaling rapidly as new technologies and markets appear, often suddenly.

Speaking from Experience
The book also includes the story of Accenture’s own wise pivot, in which the company nearly doubled its market capitalization in five years to more than US$100 billion. Recognizing that professional services and outsourcing were on course to commoditization, in the early 2010s Accenture invested heavily in five then-up-and-coming digital capabilities — interactive, mobile, analytics, cloud and cybersecurity — with the potential to deliver major benefits to clients and high growth to the company.

“It has become abundantly clear that, in the digital age, conventional wisdom about business transformation no longer works,” said Nunes, one of the book’s co-authors. “Business leaders don’t need more theories on how to innovate — they need new wisdom and a modern playbook that will help their organizations find their most profitable futures.”

Co-author Larry Downes said, “The positive feedback from the global business community is really exciting. Our book shares a proven approach for finding and releasing trapped value — unlocked by bridging the gap between what is technologically possible and how technologies are actually being used today. It provides a blueprint for leaders who are courageous enough to turn the threats of today and tomorrow into sustainable growth — and who understand that a wise pivot is not a one-time event, but a commitment to constant reinvention.”

The book includes a preface written by Pierre Nanterme, Accenture’s former chairman & CEO, who died earlier this year. “This is really a tribute to Pierre’s legacy,” Abbosh said. “We are honored to contribute net royalties to the Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou, where Pierre received care.”

“Pivot to the Future: Discovering Value and Creating Growth in a Disrupted World” is available in hardcover, e-book, and audio through all major retailers.”

About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions — underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network — Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 477,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

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Contacts:

Sean Conway
Accenture
+1 917 592 5744
sean.k.conway@accenture.com

Tourang Nazari
Accenture
+1 703 947 1947
tourang.nazari@accenture.com

Andy Rowlands
Accenture
+44 20 8396 3871
andy.rowlands@accenture.com