Soren Kaplan

Last updated
Soren Kaplan
Born (1968-11-27) November 27, 1968 (age 55)
Nationality American
Alma mater University of California, Los Angeles

Soren Marcus Kaplan (born November 27, 1968) is an author, consultant, and speaker on the subject of innovation and innovation culture in organizations. [1] He is an Affiliate at the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, founder of the consulting firm InnovationPoint, co-founder of the software company Praxie.com, and is a columnist for the Innovate column of Inc. Magazine. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and career

Soren Kaplan was born on 27 November 1968. In 1996 he jointly wrote an article for the Journal of Creativity & Innovation Management under the title of "Harnessing the Power of Strategic Innovation". [5] In 2001, Kaplan co-founded iCohere, Inc. with his father Pascal, [6] an online learning and collaboration platform. [7] In 2017 the Thinkers50 named Kaplan one of the world's leading experts in business strategy and innovation. [8] In 2020 Business Insider listed Kaplan as one of the top "power players" of the management consulting industry. [9] Kaplan holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from UCLA and obtained a master's degree and Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology with an emphasis on leadership, innovation, and organizational culture from Alliant International University. [10]

Author

Leapfrogging

In 2012, Kaplan's first book Leapfrogging: Harness the Power of Surprise for Business Breakthroughs, outlined his observations on why the power of surprise is so important for innovation. [11] Leapfrogging, received Best Leadership Book by the Axiom Book Awards. [12] In a 2013 article in the Wall Street Journal titled "The Mystery of the Book Sales Spike How Are Some Authors Landing On Best-Seller Lists? They're Buying Their Way", Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg noted that Soren's first book, Leapfrogging entered the Journal's list of best-selling business books immediately and the next week "plunged 99% and it fell off the list". Kaplan told the Journal that he had retained ResultSource to promote the book and "purchased about 2,500 books through ResultSource, paying about $22 a book, including shipping, for a total of about $55,000. [13] Mr. Kaplan says he also paid ResultSource a fee in the range of $20,000 to $30,000." [13] Kaplan's interview with Trachtenberg and subsequent articles on the topic have continued to be referenced by media outlets when describing the dynamics of bestseller book marketing. [14] Following this article, Kaplan became the first bestselling business author to publicly share details of how the book publishing industry has become increasingly reliant on pre-sales of books to influence the New York Times and Wall Street Journal's bestseller lists. Jeff Bercovici reported in Forbes that Kaplan shared his reservations about marketing his book using this strategy, quoting Kaplan as saying "It's no wonder few people in the industry want to talk about bestseller campaigns. Put bluntly, they allow people with enough money, contacts, and know-how to buy their way onto bestseller lists." [15]

Invisible Advantage

His second book, The Invisible Advantage: How to Create a Culture of Innovation (2017), was awarded Best General Business Book by the International Book Awards. [16] [1] Kaplan's books have been recognized as the top business and leadership books of the years when published, and other innovation experts have since referred to Kaplan's "The Invisible Advantage" as a "classic" when it comes to outlining what businesses need to do to create a continuous culture of innovation. [17] [18] [19]

Experiential Intelligence

Kaplan's third book, Experiential Intelligence: Harness the Power of Experience for Personal and Business Breakthroughs (2023), proposes that life experience contributes to intelligence at a level on par with IQ (intellect) and EQ (emotional intelligence). Kaplan's ideas draw upon the original theory set forth by Robert Sternberg in his Triarchic Theory of Intelligence. Kaplan's book has been recognized as advancing the concept of Experiential Intelligence and has been referenced in articles in Harvard Business Review, [20] Psychology Today, [21] Forbes, [22] Fast Company, [23] CNBC [24] and on National Public Radio's Technation radio program. [15] In 2023, the International Book Awards named Experiential Intelligence as a finalist for best book of the year in two categories, Management and Leadership and General Business, and the AmericanBookFest awards recognized Kaplan's book as Best General Business book of the year. [25] [26]

Other works

He is a columnist for the Innovate column of Inc. Magazine, [2] Psychology Today, [27] contributes to Fast Company Magazine [28] and has written articles for the Harvard Business Review website. [29] [30] [31] In addition to critiquing the publishing industry, Kaplan has since critiqued other industries’ business models including management consulting, media, and healthcare. [32] [33] [34] [35]

Recognition & awards

Kaplan was ranked 24 out of 40 in the blog Innovation Excellence "Top 40 Innovation Bloggers of 2017." [36] Kaplan's ideas are discussed in The International Handbook on Innovation by Larisa V. Shavinina. [37] He has also appeared as a speaker at TEDx Bay Area. [38]

Personal life

Kaplan lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two daughters. [39] [40]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Sparks of Surprise - Interviews with Innovation Experts and Authors". ideaconnection.com. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  2. 1 2 "Soren Kaplan's articles | Inc.com". inc.com. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  3. ↑ "0803 | How to Create a Culture of Innovation with Soren Kaplan - David Burkus". David Burkus - Author of The Myths of Creativity. 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  4. ↑ "Leadership in Strategy Innovation & Strategic Business Growth". innovation-point.com. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  5. ↑ Johnston, Robert E.; Kaplan, Soren (June 1996). "Harnessing the Power of Strategic Innovation". Creativity and Innovation Management. 5 (2): 117–121. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8691.1996.tb00130.x. ISSN   0963-1690.
  6. ↑ "Unified Learning Systems, iCohere, Business Solutions Companies". ceocfointerviews.com. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  7. ↑ "Social Software and the Future of Conferences; Right Now" . Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  8. ↑ "Radar Class 2017 - Thinkers50". thinkers50.com. 2022-10-01. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  9. ↑ "Power Players of Consulting". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  10. ↑ "Soren Kaplan: Award-Winning Author, Keynote Speaker, and Founder of Praxie.com". 2023-02-07. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
  11. ↑ "Soren Kaplan: An interview by Bob Morris". Blogging on Business. 2012-09-19. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  12. ↑ "2013 Axiom Book Award Winners". axiomawards.com/. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  13. 1 2 "The Mystery of the Book Sales Spike How Are Some Authors Landing On Best-Seller Lists? They're Buying Their Way", Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Wall Street Journal, 22 February 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2018. Archived at archive.is.
  14. ↑ "Debunking the Bestseller". leapfrogging.com. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  15. 1 2 "Experiential Intelligence?". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  16. ↑ "2017 International Book Award Winners". internationalbookawards.com/. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  17. ↑ "7 Action Items Build A Sustainable Innovation Culture". AlleyWatch. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  18. ↑ "2013 Axiom Book Award Winners". axiomawards.com/. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  19. ↑ "2017 International Book Award Winners". internationalbookawards.com/. Retrieved 2019-03-03.
  20. ↑ Kaplan, Soren (2023-02-03). "How Important Is a College Degree Compared to Experience?". Harvard Business Review. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  21. ↑ "Your Childhood Traumas Can Empower Your Future Success | Psychology Today". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  22. ↑ Caprino, Kathy. "How To Leverage Experiential Intelligence For Greater Success And Impact". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  23. ↑ "These 3 things can help you harness your experiential intelligence". Fast Company.
  24. ↑ Piñon, Natasha. "A more useful way to measure intelligence, XQ is 'the new EQ,' says USC researcher". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  25. ↑ "International Book Awards - Honoring Excellence in Independent & Mainstream Publishing". www.internationalbookawards.com. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  26. ↑ "American Book Fest". www.americanbookfest.com. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  27. ↑ "Soren Kaplan Ph.D. | Psychology Today". www.psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  28. ↑ "Soren Kaplan | Co.Design". Co.Design. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  29. ↑ "How One Insurance Firm Learned to Create an Innovation Culture". Harvard Business Review. 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  30. ↑ Kaplan, Soren (2023-03-29). "You Don't Need a College Degree to Land a Great Job". Harvard Business Review. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  31. ↑ Kaplan, Soren (2023-02-03). "How Important Is a College Degree Compared to Experience?". Harvard Business Review. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  32. ↑ "The Business Consulting Industry Is Booming, and It's About to Be Disrupted". inc.com. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  33. ↑ "5 Ways to Drive Disruptive Innovation in Healthcare". inc.com. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  34. ↑ "MoviePass Is Still Refusing to Die". vice.com. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  35. ↑ Kaplan, Soren (2017-02-01). "Zipcar Doesn't Just Ask Employees to Innovate — It Shows Them How". Harvard Business Review. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  36. ↑ "Top 40 Innovation Bloggers of 2017 – Innovation Excellence". innovationexcellence.com. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  37. ↑ Shavinina, Larisa V. (2003-10-16). The International Handbook on Innovation. Elsevier. ISBN   9780080524849.
  38. ↑ TEDx Talks (2012-08-27), The Power of Surprise: Soren Kaplan at TEDxBayArea , retrieved 2018-09-10
  39. ↑ "Thinkers50 in 50 Seconds with Soren Kaplan - Thinkers 50". Thinkers 50. 2016-10-24. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
  40. ↑ "Soren Kaplan - Berrett-Koehler Publishers". www.google.com. Retrieved 2023-02-08.
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