Chief Culture Officer: How to Create a Living, Breathing Corporation »

Grant McCracken is a Research Affiliate at C3 at MIT. He earned his PhD in anthropology at the University of Chicago and was the founding Director of the Institute of Contemporary Culture. He has taught at Cambridge University, McGill University, and the Harvard Business School. He consults with an array of companies, including Campbell Soup, Coke, L’Oreal, IBM, and the Children’s Television Workshop. He has written nine academic books and his work has been covered by Oprah, the New York Times, the LA Times, Newsweek, and BusinessWeek. He lives in Connecticut.

How can you become Steve Jobs, A.G. Lafley, or David Ogilvy? Hint: read this book.

Publishers Weekly

McCracken (Flock and Flow), a research affiliate at Convergence Culture Consortium at MIT, argues that every company needs a chief cultural officer to anticipate cultural trends rather than passively waiting and reacting. CCOs should have the ability to process massive amounts of data and spot crucial developments among an array of possibilities; they will be able to see the future coming, no matter which industry they serve, and create value for shareholders, move product, create profit and increase the bottom line. McCracken provides an impressive list of individuals deeply connected and in tune with the zeitgeist including Steve Jobs, A.G. Lafley, Mary Minnick, Joss Whedon and Johnny Depp—who fought Disney in order to create a campy male lead in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie—as well as such corporations as Starbucks and Nike that have “refashioned culture.” McCracken’s case is persuasive, and his book, peppered with pop culture references and enlivened by his restlessly inquisitive nature (and ability to strike up conversation with just about anyone), makes for enlightening and entertaining reading. (Dec.)