Exceptional

Lip service Jack Welch“ An organization’sability to learn,and translate thatlearning into actionrapidly, is the ultimatecompetitive advantage.”Snapshot US IPO highlightsFinancial sponsors drive US IPO marketPE and VC account for:64%of US IPOsHow do you say … in formal Spanish?EnglishHello.How are you?Thank you.Do you speak English?I’m fine, thanks. And you?Sorry, I didn’t understand that.Source: omniglot.com64% of US IPOs(65 deals)59% by proceeds(US$11.3b)Source: US IPO highlights 1H15 (January–June 2015)SpanishHola.¿Como está usted?Muchas gracias.¿Habla usted inglés?Bien gracias. ¿Y usted?Lo siento, no entiendo.DID YOUKNOW?The historyof printinggoes backmore than5,000 years.• See page 44Book clubHow to Fly a Horse: TheSecret History of Creation,Invention and DiscoveryKevin Ashton(Doubleday, 2015)If you’ve been holding onto the idea of the “Eureka!”moment, Kevin Ashtonwants you to think again. Hemay have coined the term“Internet of Things,” but he’sout to bust the myth of thecreative genius.Ashton says creating isn’ta magical, instantaneousoccurrence: “Ideas are likeseeds: they are abundant,and most of them nevergrow into anything.”Instead, true creation isthe result of hard work andunfettered collaboration.He cites the Wrightbrothers: they weren’t thefirst people to conceive ofa flying machine or even tobuild one. But through trialand error, they were the firstto fly in one.Ashton uses this andother examples to illustratehis central thesis: that a“small, isolated, highlymotivated group is the bestkind of team for creation.”Exceptional July–December 20155