Tools for Your Journey
From published articles to long-form videos, take a peek inside Barrett’s expertise and find recommended books to help you along your path.
“Break Your Industry’s Bottlenecks”
by Barrett Ersek, Eileen Weisenbach Keller, and John Mullins, Harvard Business Review
Five bottlenecks — endless ways to innovate.
There are five sources of bottlenecks found in any industry, and within each, there are organizations that have found a way to break the rules and provide value to their clients and the world. Through stories of successful disruption, the authors share what it takes to innovate and stand out from the crowd.
“Turn Your Industry Upside Down”
by John Mullins, Barrett Ersek, and Eileen Weisenbach Keller, London Business School
Rules are meant to be broken — especially in business.
Conventional tactics to gain a competitive edge are one thing, but what do the revolutionaries who upend their industry do to achieve that status? For one, they step back for a macro look at their industry — identifying the bottlenecks and the levers within that can be moved to the point of disruption.
Discovering Your X-Factor Workshop Recording
by Barrett Ersek with Petra Coach
Discover how to break your industry’s bottlenecks and gain an edge.
In this session hosted by Petra Coach, Barrett highlights the importance of balancing execution with innovation to achieve exponential growth.
He shares colorful real-world examples to help you apply five diagnostic levers, find your X-Factor, and fuel creative innovation leading to a 7-10 times advantage.
Discovering Your X-Factor Workbook
by Barrett Ersek
What’s an idea without a guide?
This step-by-step brainstorming tool is designed to tease out a bottleneck in your industry and guide you in taking immediate actions to innovate.
From working through the difficulties of today’s economy to learning about the success of modern disruptors, Barrett walks you through how to move forward with finding your own X-Factor, and leveraging it to take more market share in your industry.
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Recommended Reading
“I’ve always been a lifelong learner and it’s been a huge part of my growth. Here are some great books from experts in their fields that I’ve leveraged to help grow my business.” - Barrett
As a key influence on Barrett’s own entrepreneurial journey, “Scaling Up” takes readers through the steps to grow their business from pint-sized to outsized.
The Customer Funded Business
John Mullins PhD
Whether your business is still an idea or you’re trying to scale up a company of 300 people, funding is critical. Mullins encourages readers to think “scrappy” and find inspiration in the 21st century entrepreneurs who forged success for themselves.
Kiyosaki turns the concept of needing a high income in order to be wealthy on its head through engaging narrative and helpful sidebars that consider the intricacies of finance in the modern world.
Think and Grow Rich
Napoleon Hill and Arthur R. Pell
With the advantage of reviewing decades worth of entrepreneurs, Hill and Pell dive into the contributing factors and the lessons learned from each path to success.
The Freak Factor: Discovering Uniqueness by Flaunting Weakness
David J. Rendall
To Rendall, your greatest weaknesses are the foundation for your success. Learn how to use what sets you apart to break the status quo and find your way to triumph.
And don’t miss Rendall’s follow-up book:
The Freak Factor for Kids: The Weirdest and Weakest Children Make the Best Adults
In it, he demonstrates a powerful truth: the qualities that set you apart are meant to be amplified — not stifled.
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox
Unlike your run-of-the-mill management books, “The Goal” sets up lessons in management and Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints through a fast-paced thriller following a character through his mission to save his factory from disaster.
