DigitalNow: Association Leadership in the Digital Age

Business Innovation Expert and author Chris Trimble recently broke into the forefront of executive consciousness with a blockbuster article published in the Harvard Business Review, “Building Breakthrough Businesses within Established Organizations.” The article has received more orders for reprints than any other HRB article in 2005 and is adapted from Trimble's highly-acclaimed new book Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators - From Idea to Execution, published by Harvard Business School Press (December 2005).

Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators is the result of five years of intensive research, in which Trimble charted the adventures of dozens of managers involved in what may be the triple-flip-with-a-quadruple-twist of general management - leading a startup venture inside an established organization. The stories Trimble tells come alive with the exhilarating highs and excruciating lows of entrepreneurship, plus the unique triumphs and tragedies that result from the coexistence of a startup with a proven and much larger business.

A sought-after speaker on the topic of innovation and strategy, Trimble's recent speaking appearances include the Conference Board's Innovation Conference in New York, and the BusinessWeek CEO Forum in Beijing.

Through his talks, audiences inevitably see innovation challenges in a new light, ignited by Trimble's breakthrough research. Trimble raises aspirations for what leaders and their organizations can achieve, and does it with a winning combination of empathy, inventive storytelling, and humility.

As a member of Dartmouth's Tuck School faculty at Dartmouth, Trimble's career mixes rigorous academic research with hard-nosed practical experience. He currently is seeing the most rewarding payoff from his work its real-world application as he works shoulder-to-shoulder with executives leading their own startup ventures inside long-established corporations.