Rowan Gibson

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Rowan Gibson Biography

Rowan Gibson is a global business strategist, a bestselling author and an expert and keynote speaker on radical innovation.

Background and career

Rowan Gibson is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost thought leaders on business innovation. The media has labeled him “Mr. Innovation”, “the Innovation Grandmaster”, “the W. Edwards Deming of innovation” and “a guru among the gurus”.

He is the internationally bestselling author of two major books on business strategy and innovation – Rethinking The Future (1996) and Innovation to the Core (2008) – which have been published to date in 25 languages. His latest book, Innovation to the Core (Harvard Business School Press), explains – for the first time – how to build and sustain a deep, company-wide innovation capability that drives continual growth and strategic renewal.

Over the last two decades, Gibson’s international clients have included some of the world’s largest and most successful organizations. He teaches them how to seize new growth opportunities, create new markets and even transform entire industries by recalibrating their whole organizational system around the paradigm of innovation.

Rowan Gibson is one of the world’s most in-demand public speakers. In just the last four years alone, he has delivered his keynote speeches, innovation masterclasses and public seminars in 55 countries around the world. He has addressed a long list of major organizations, including Accenture, Bayer, British Telecom, Coca-Cola, Credit Suisse, Dow Chemicals, Generali Group, Haier, Heinz, Henkel, IBM, Mars, Microsoft, Motorola, NOKIA, Philips, P&G, Roche, Siemens, Steelcase, Telefonica and Volkswagen. Rowan’s big-picture insights, compelling observations, fresh business thinking and upbeat presentation style have impressed a wide range of audiences all over the world. He mixes insight, inspiration and information in a way that always leaves an audience feeling energized.

Rowan Gibson’s keynote speeches, executive sessions and innovation masterclasses are always tailor-made to fit each audience, industry sector and event format. He endeavours, wherever possible, to use business cases and examples that are relevant to the specific audience. Gibson uses very graphic Powerpoint slides – each typically features just one powerful image and a single statement – which makes his presentations extremely dynamic. He is constantly updating his slides with cutting-edge material and up-to-the-minute business news.

In his years on the public speaking circuit, Rowan has shared the stage with well-known celebrities like Neil Armstrong, Ken Blanchard, Deepak Chopra, Bill Clinton, Jim Collins, Newt Gingrich, Guy Kawasaki, John Naisbitt, Bertrand Piccard, Jonas Ridderstråle, Alvin Toffler and FonsTrompenaars. His speaking engagements have often been arranged as follow-ups to other high caliber speakers like Rudi Giuliani, Gary Hamel, Kjell Nordstrom and Tom Peters.

Rowan is also a prolific writer. In addition to his bestselling books, he has authored dozens of business articles, columns and blogs which have been read all around the globe. He has been interviewed frequently on television and radio, as well as online and in the international press. His media appearances include Forbes, CNN, BusinessWeek, Harvard Business Review, and BBC World Service. He has also appeared in several business documentaries.

Rowan Gibson is co-founder of www.innovationexcellence.com – the world’s most popular innovation website. The portal, which builds on an international group of nearly 12,000 members from over 175 countries, offers an arsenal of resources from today's innovation thought leaders and practitioners that is aimed at helping every company achieve innovation excellence. The site currently serves up more than 1 million pages every month.

Gibson has lived and worked in various countries over the last twenty years and speaks three languages fluently. Today, he divides his time between writing, public speaking and consulting.

Speaking Topics

Rowan Gibson is a keynote speaker on innovation, strategy, rethinking the future, business model reinvention, driving growth and renewal, building a deep capability for innovation, visionary leadership, reinventing success for a new competitive era.


  • Winning in the Innovation Economy: the new management imperative
  • Innovation to the Core: a blueprint for transforming the way your company innovates
  • Making Innovation Happen: practical tools for achieving innovation excellence
  • The Four Lenses of Innovation: reverse-engineering the mind of the innovator
  • Mastering Business Model Innovation: generating game-changing growth opportunities
  • The Innovation War-Room: strategies for winning in turbulent times

For further information or to book Rowan Gibson, call us at Speakers Corner on +44 (0)20 7607 7070 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk


Rowan Gibson Video

Rowan Gibson Speaker Showreel -  Click play to watch a short sample video clip of Rowan Gibson.  For more information on Rowan Gibson please contact one of the Speakers Corner booking agents on +44 (0)20 7607 7070 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk


Rowan Gibson News

A selection of relevant news related to Rowan Gibson, Keynote Speakers, Business Speakers, Change and Turnaround Speakers, Innovation Speakers, Leadership Speakers and Marketing & Branding stories.   For more information on Rowan Gibson or details as to how to book Rowan Gibson for your corporate event, please contact one of the Speakers Corner booking agents on +44 (0)20 7607 7070 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk

 

Rowan Gibson shares his latest innovation insights with Speakers Corner

11th December 2009

Rowan Gibson has written his latest online blog, here he shares his latest thoughts on innovation. Rowan is a global business strategist, a bestselling author and an expert on radical innovation. He is also one of world’s most in-demand business speakers. Rowan’s books have been translated into over 20 languages. His latest book Innovation to the Core was published in March 2008 by Harvard Business School Press. Click on the title to read Rowan's article.

Matching what is possible with what is needed - Rowan Gibson's latest online column

30th October 2009

Rowan Gibson is a global business strategist, a bestselling author and an expert on radical innovation. He teaches organisations how to seize new growth opportunities, create new markets and even transform industries by recalibrating their whole organisational system around the paradigm of innovation. He is also one of world’s most in-demand business speakers. Rowan has just published his latest online column about how companies need to drive innovation from both the technological side of the organisation and the customer side. To read Rowan's thoughts, just click on the title.

Rowan Gibson publishes his latest online column - What exactly is an innovation strategy?

4th September 2009

Rowan Gibson is a global business strategist, a bestselling author and an expert on radical innovation. He is also one of the world’s most in-demand business speakers. Rowan’s books have been translated into over 20 languages. His new book Innovation to the Core (co-authored with Peter Skarzynski) was published in March 2008 by Harvard Business School Press. Rowan has just published his latest online column - What exactly is an innovation strategy? To read the article please click on the title.

Rowan Gibson releases his latest online column - Building a Company's 'Innovation Capital'

23rd July 2009

Global business strategist, best selling author and expert on radical innovation, Rowan Gibson has written his latest online column, this time focusing on the importance of 'innovation capital' the term coined by British futurologist Hugh MacDonald to describe a company's intangible assets such as brand equity and marketing capability. Click on the title to read Rowan's article.

Rowan Gibson shares his thoughts on innovating healthcare in his latest online column

27th May 2009

Rowan Gibson is a global business strategist, a bestselling author and an expert on radical innovation. He is also one of world’s most in-demand business speakers. Rowan has just published his latest online column looking at innovating our healthcare systems and rethinking and improving the way things are done. To read Rowan's column please click on the title.

Rowan Gibson: The Innovation “War Room”

17th November 2008

Rowan Gibson offers some advice as to how to react to an economic crisis, how to rethink and reinvent what you do, and how you do it.

Sir Terry Leahy Adjusts to Life After Tesco

11th April 2013

Business speaker and former CEO of Tesco, Sir Terry Leahy stepped down from his position at Tesco in 2011 at the age of 55, he has since started working with several charities, invested in small businesses and written a book.

Mary Perkins Wins Director of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award

2nd November 2011

Director Magazine has awarded Dame Mary Perkins, Specsavers queen, entrepreneur, and retail keynote speaker, the Director of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.

Entrepreneurs’ Forum Boasts Speakers Corner's Best

20th May 2011

The North East of England is the venue for the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, where a handful of Speakers Corner’s top talent take the stage to inspire business leaders and aspirational executives from all over the UK. Hamish McRae, Sarah Willingham, Tim Smit, James Timpson, James Cracknell, and Simon Calver are all on the programme, as are Kanya King, Douglas McWilliams, Karen Mattison, John Timpson and Richard Huntingford – all inspiration and charismatic public speakers.

Mike Forde Links Business to Football

18th April 2013

Business speaker and one of the UK’s leading sports executives, Mike Forde has compared the ideas and practices used in professional football to those used in business environments.


Rowan Gibson Reviews

Rowan Gibson has spoken and appeared at a number of recent corporate events. Please find some client speaker testimonials and reviews for Rowan Gibson for a number of these events and conferences. If you would like some additional information as to how to book Rowan Gibson for your corporate event, then please contact one of the Speakers Corner booking agents on +44 (0)20 7607 7070 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk

Want to experience the future today? Listen to Rowan Gibson. He is one of those rare people who sees around the bend and brings tomorrow close.
Dave Ulrich, ranked by BusinessWeek as the #1 management educator

In a world gone crazy, there's no sounder thinker than Rowan Gibson. He a genius when it comes to rethinking the future.
Al Ries, author of Focus! The future of your company depends on it

you gave a very informative and actionable vision to Bayer, and it was fun. It was a joy meeting you! Thanks again.
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.

We have received very good feedback regarding the event . We enjoyed and benefited from Rowan's speech. It gave us a new way of thinking and we could notice that reflected in the next day workshop presentations.
NOKIA

Thank you for your terrific speech, which contributed greatly to the success of our conference. And people adore your book very much as well. It was my honor and great pleasure to work with you, and I learned a lot from you. Best wishes!
Volkswagen Group China

Rowan can speak on a wave length where everybody can enjoy and learn. In his first session, on 13/12/09, I received this note: He kept us awake. We were following him every single second. The event was our 2009 success story! It was also really nice to meet Rowan. He is humble, resourceful, and conveys trust. When you meet him for the first time, you get the feeling you have known him for a long time.
Human Capital Capability

On behalf of BusinessWeek I want to thank you very much for your contribution to this year's European Leadership Forum at Claridge's. We have had a lot of positive feedback from our partners and delegates alike, and the evaluation forms completed on the day were very complementary. Your ears should have been burning in the past week as I have been quoting your Sainsbury's story quite a bit!
BusinessWeek

Thank you very much for your passionate support of our efforts to kick start enterprise-wide innovation in Mars GCC. I look forward to continued collaboration with yourself, and hope we can together have Mars GCC as a pioneer in the deployment of the Innovation to the Core blueprint in the region.
General Manager, MARS GCC

Rowan had many that remained after the seminar to talk with him and I have had about 10 individuals yesterday afternoon and this morning voluntarily seek me out to thank us for having Rowan speak.
Visonic Americas

Rowan, thank you for a terrific session. You are always great to work with and very well prepared. Thanks again, and see you soon.
Accenture

Dear Mr. Gibson, Id like to express my heartfelt appreciation to you for attending Haier Science Conference, and giving us such an impressive lecture and inspiring workshop. Your profound insights, vivid demonstration and energetic presentation have left a deep impression on us. I believe that every participant has benefited a lot from you. As Haier is transforming to a new innovation model open innovation your perspective on open innovation will definitely promote this transformation. This is the beginning of the cooperation between us. Im sure that you and Haier will continue the cooperation and move it forward to a higher level with joint efforts. Thank you again.
Haier Group


For further information or to book Rowan Gibson, call us on +44 (0)20 7607 7070 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk

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