Innovation Strategy Expert & Senior Partner at Innosight; Co-Author of "Competing Against Luck"; Authority on Jobs To Be Done Theory
David S. Duncan Biography
David S. Duncan, Ph.D., is a senior partner at Innosight, a global strategy and innovation consulting firm. Duncan advises leaders at major organizations on navigating disruptive change, driving sustainable growth, and transforming their businesses to remain competitive. He has worked with Fortune 50 companies across financial services, including banking, insurance, capital markets, and transaction banking, as well as with organizations in the healthcare sector, such as payers, providers, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies.
At Innosight, Duncan leads the firm's Financial Services practice and its Organizational Capabilities for Innovation and Growth practice. He has developed approaches to transformative growth in large organizations, drawing on extensive experience helping companies address complex innovation and growth challenges. Central to his work is the concept of dual transformation, a process that enables companies to compete in current markets while planning for long-term growth.
Duncan is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller "Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice," written with Clayton Christensen. He also co-authored the e-book "Building a Growth Factory" for Harvard Business Press and several Harvard Business Review articles, including "Knowing When to Reinvent" and "Build Your Innovation Engine in 90 Days." His book, "The Secret Lives of Customers: A Detective Story About Solving the Mystery of Customer Behavior," explores market investigations and the Jobs To Be Done framework.
Duncan is recognized for his expertise in the theory and application of jobs to be done, which posits that customers hire products to achieve specific goals. In his presentations, Duncan uses case studies to demonstrate how defining business through the lens of customer jobs can reveal new growth opportunities, clarify competition, and identify relevant trends. He regularly speaks to audiences across industries, translating strategic frameworks into practical insights for innovation and growth.
Before joining Innosight, Duncan was a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He holds a doctorate in physics from Harvard University and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke University.
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David S. Duncan Speaking Topics
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How to Build a Culture of Innovation
Building a stronger culture of innovation is a goal of most leaders today. It’s a worthwhile aspiration, but progress toward it is elusive. This is due in part to the expression itself, a juxtaposition of two words (“culture” and “innovation”), each of which is vague and ambiguous; put them together and the problem is compounded. David Duncan introduces a new – and precise – definition for what a culture of innovation really is and the factors that create one, and applies it to real-world examples to explain why some organizations are more (or less) innovative than others. Throughout, he engages participants in a discussion to apply these ideas in their own context, and helps them to identify concrete actions they can take to make their own organizational cultures more innovative.
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How to Understand What Business You Are Really In
“What business are you in?” Seems like a straightforward question, but how leaders answer has profound implications for how their organizations compete, innovate and grow. And yet many fall into the trap of defining themselves solely from the perspective of the products and services they sell – a myopic view that leads to flawed decision-making and leaves companies vulnerable to disruption. In this highly interactive presentation based on his forthcoming book “Competing Against Luck,” coauthored with Clayton Christensen, David Duncan uses real-world stories to illustrate the power of defining the business you are in through the lens of the “jobs” your customers are trying to get done in their lives. This shift in perspective changes everything, expanding opportunities for growth and innovation, revealing who your true competitors are, and clarifying which emerging trends matter most. Throughout, Duncan leads participants to apply Jobs to be Done thinking to uncover fresh insights about their own businesses, and leaves them with specific actions to further implement these ideas.
David S. Duncan Videos
Disruptive Innovation And The Secret Lives Of Customers, With ...
Innosight. In this episode J.R. Lowry sits down with its Senior Partner David Duncan who shares how Innosight is helping businesses ...
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What topics does David S. Duncan speak about?
David S. Duncan is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Author, Business, Business Authors, Business Consulting, Business Growth, Business Leadership, Customer Experience, Disruptive Thinking, Innovation, Leadership, Strategic Leadership, Thought Leadership -
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David S. Duncan is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics such as How to Build a Culture of Innovation, How to Understand What Business You Are Really In and Competing Against Luck: Making Innovation a Discipline, Not a Gamble. The estimated speaking fee range to book David S. Duncan for your event is $10,000 - $20,000. David S. Duncan generally travels from East Greenwich, RI, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Dr. Jackie Freiberg, Shaz Kahng, Danelle Delgado, Gary Laney and Stephen Paskoff. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling David S. Duncan for an upcoming live or virtual event.
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