Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit – Updated and Revised

On occasion, there are great books that need to be read more than once; that need to be read sitting down; that need to be read with a pen to note your thoughts in the margins--this is one of those books. The ideas of Pie Growing mentality is super counter-intuitive, comprehensive, and refreshing. It is a guide to leading an organization that is outside of conventional thinking (i.e., shareholder wins society loses or vice versa) but backed up with evidence (something lacking in this area by other authors). The book is structured in a super digestible way. Within the start of the book, there is a bit of road map based on who you are (i.e., regulator, business manager, etc.) so you can quickly find the topics you likely have the most questions about first. I frequently cheat on reading books and skim to parts I want to read most first. I found myself reading more and more outside the directed topics to see what insight the author had. Each chapter has an excellent structure and is quite comprehensive on the topic. The book is worthwhile because it offers a map to ways to improve value via human capital that is not fluffy. For example, you will find several advocates on both sides of debates for regulations or policies based on pathos, Alex walks through evidence-based reasons certain things work and why others have unintended consequences. How to attract and motivate talent is one of the most important questions managers face--employee satisfaction and purpose have been identified as key factors of this. This book offers insight into what will and won't work for leading a corporation to become a corporation with a purpose.

It is hard to think of many examples of books that are this well timed to the current situation. The massive shock to our lives is pushing all to face tough trade-offs, in such circumstances it is tempting to be lured into a “pie slitting” mentality and become in practice very myopic in our decision making. Reading this book can shake us off that mindset, showing a convincing view, supported by research of the highest quality, on the importance of keeping our eyes on the full pie.Alex Edmans is not shy about emphasizing the key role of purpose as a useful guide to navigate the trade-offs while warning us of how important it is that that purpose is connected to how our activity grows the pie. By doing this, he moves us in the direction of action, of focusing on what we do best, and prevents us from leaning excessively on avoiding hard per se. The tone and enthusiasm that Edmans conveys also makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read, so go ahead, give yourself a treat and read this great book.

Really easy to read book with good examples and really nice ideas. Alex Edmans shows how the companies must evolve

Buen libro para tumbar muchos mitos de algunas prácticas financieras de las empresas y como estas pueden ayudar a incorporar la sostenibilidad en las compañías.No se trata de dividir el pastel si no de ampliarlo y eso requiere una visión de largo plazo, enfocarse en unas pocas áreas y simplificar los procesos e incentivos.

Alex's message is highly credible because it is rooted in his extensive research and intellectual honesty. He goes further than showing correlation between purpose and profit, he shows causation. Young people will learn that reality is more nuanced than they are led to believe by the media, friends and family and economics/finance textbooks. Career people who feel their jobs are unfulfilling will be inspired to make a change or inspire their organizations to change. Entrepreneurs will see new paths to starting a business or incorporating social purpose into current businesses. Investors will be more attuned to an important driver of long term returns in publicly traded stocks.Grow the Pie has given me more confidence to build a socially responsible culture and empowerment in my next venture. It validates what I believe a silent majority of business people already feel and will start to vocalize: making decisions that create social value is good business.

I love the theory, and its practice as it applies to "ALL" types of business is questionable, e.g., short-term ventures, etc. He repeats saying Growing the Pie way too much, and the book is too long - you can understand most of it if it was 1/2 as big

In my opinion, this is arguably one of the most eye-opening business books written. Most other business books openly discuss the key recipe to success or elements in effective management - Grow the Pie, on the other hand, introduces a new way to view capitalism. Alex's framework (without going too much in detail) in supporting the notion of growing the "pie" of shareholders and investors' value is powerful. How can a company deliver both profit and purpose simultaneously, especially under this over-complicated and competitive business environment. I had doubts where executives would be willing to forgo its profit generation to go extra mile to contribute back in the society, but Alex offers rigorous research, compelling case studies and step-by-step framework to prove otherwise. The book becomes extremely relevant during the times of COVID in how any size or sort of businesses can be responsible in maintaining both long term shareholder value and CSV.A must-read for any business leaders or investors, and any individual who is interested in learning about being socially responsible.

Love that the author is showing others how to broaden their horizons to do more good in the world. Changing one's thought processes to working on more than just our own needs helps others on a much larger scale, all while developing our own businesses. We need more of this in the world.

Wide ranging and engaging - a good read!

What is responsibility? What is a responsible business and how should this be run? As Alex Edmans shows in his book - it's been a long time since I described a book "A REAL PAGE-TURNER" - not sacrificing profit for social benefits, by moving the balance in one or the other direction. No, companies have a lot better ways and options to act and develop responsibly. To the benefit of both the financial performance share of the pie and the social share of the pie. Alex Emdens outlines and bases his work on evidence and real-life examples (which I consider crucial and very resonating) across several industries and countries. The most successful companies or rather their managers don't just focus on profit directly, but dig for the underlying purpose to ultimately serve social needs, thereby contributing to improvement of humans and the environment. By starting out on identifying and embedding purpose into practice making it more than just a "mission statement". Further it covers the key role of cooperating with investors, employees, customers and other stakeholder groups. Last but not least, the book offers unprecedented and extensive research thereby providing stunning results on how executive level renumeration, shareholder activism and the famous topic of share buybacks can be used as an instrument to achieve and grow the pie of common good. Given its quality and importance to all of us, I would love to see the book being made available in languages such as German, French, Spanish among others.

I really enjoyed reading it. The book is full of interesting case studies and anecdotes that make it enjoyable and easy to read. Whether you are a CEO, investor, policy maker or a citizen this book challenges to think on the rationale to implement ESG principles at different levels and in our own daily lives. I wanted to learn more about the reletionship between ESG, investments and Corporate Finance issues and I found a delightful book and theory (pieconomics). CEOs should read this book but I find it also interesting for entrepreneurs starting to shape or grow their businesses. To sum up: fully recommended!

This book is well written and backed by research. It provides evidence and practical advice on how company and personal purpose can create long term value. The review of each stakeholder and the difference each can make is thought provoking. In particular the section on how to navigate your career through personal purpose is useful to early, mid and late term careers .

Great book. It has inspired my future goals.