Jérôme Barthélemy Of ESSEC Business School On How To Write A Book That Sparks A Movement

Kate Mowbray
Authority Magazine
Published in
5 min readDec 8, 2022

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…Strategy research is bursting with findings that could benefit the business world. Better still, these findings challenge many generally accepted ideas and myths.

As part of our series about “How to write a book that sparks a movement” I had the pleasure of interviewing Jérôme Barthélemy, Executive Vice-President, Dean for Post Experience Programs, Corporate Programs and Relations, and Professor of strategy and management at ESSEC Business School. He has also been a visiting professor and visiting research scholar at New York University (NYU), Stanford University and Cambridge University, with published research in top academic journals.

His book Libérer la compétitivité (Unleash your company’s competitive spirit) received France’s best management book award in 2017. His latest book, Myths of strategy (Kogan Page, 2022) debunks the most common strategy myths. It is designed to help make companies more successful by challenging management misconceptions and replacing them with tried-and-tested truths.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you share the “backstory” of how you grew up?

I grew up in a small city in the East of France. When I was 17, I left my family and moved to Paris to prepare for the competitive examinations for the French Grandes Ecoles. I eventually did a Master in Management at ESSEC Business School and a PhD at HEC Paris. Today, I am a professor of strategy and management and a dean of executive education at ESSEC.

What was the moment or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?

In business schools, many professors live in two different worlds. On the one hand, they work hard on their academic research. On the other hand, they teach “folk wisdom” to students and executive education participants (using obsolete tools such as the SWOT model).

Ten years ago, I started a blog entitled “Mieux connaitre la recherche en management” (“Gaining a better understanding of management research”) in France. At the time, my objective was simply to make new and interesting research findings available to a broader audience. Then, I started using these research-backed insights in my teaching and I noticed that students and executive education participants liked them a lot.

What impact did you hope to make when you wrote this book?

While there is a lot of research on strategy, the ideas it contains do not often make it into the business world. Consultants and business gurus, who enjoy closer relations with the business world, are by far the main conveyors of ideas.

That’s a pity because strategy research is bursting with findings that could benefit the business world. Better still, these findings challenge many generally accepted ideas and myths. And, unlike the work of consultants and business gurus, research is subject to a strict peer review and assessment procedure. This means its recommendations are much more reliable. My hope is that the book will bridge the gap between research and practice.

What kinds of things did you hear right away from readers? What are the most frequent things you hear from readers about your book?

The greatest compliment I get is that the book is fun to read. This is a comment that is not often made for business books. To make Myths of strategy as enjoyable as possible, I share a lot of stories. However, they are always backed by solid research findings.

A lot of readers have also told me that many insights from the book are surprising. This is very rewarding as the primary objective of the book is to debunk strategy myths. For instance, business leaders often complain that costs are too high in their firm. However, the opposite is more likely to be true. In most firms, costs are too low to develop a sufficiently differentiated product or service offering and escape from price-based competition.

What is the most fulfilling experience you’ve had as a result of writing this book? Can you share a story?

While I had already written several books in French, this is my first book in English. In France, there are no endorsements on books. Thus, it was quite new for me to ask prominent business leaders and academics to endorse the book.

Phil Rosenzweig, a professor from IMD in Switzerland, was the first one who agreed to do so. I was very happy because Myths of strategy owes a lot to The Halo Effect, a very impactful book he published in 2007.

Do you feel there are drawbacks to writing a book that starts conversation and change?

The idea that research-backed insights can help business executives make better decisions is not new. Thus, Myths of strategy does not start a conversation. However, it connects to a conversation arguing that business books should not reflect the unfounded opinions or beliefs of authors. They should be grounded in findings from the best research.

Can you articulate why you think books in particular have the power to create movements, revolutions, and true change?

It is very difficult to pinpoint why some books create movements. I would say that timing is crucial. As Victor Hugo, the famous French novelist once put it: “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come”. The most successful books are the ones that are in sync with the Zeitgeist.

What is the one habit you believe contributed the most to you becoming a published writer? (i.e. perseverance, discipline, play, craft, study). Can you share a story or example?

For a French author, it is quite easy to publish a book in French. It is far more difficult to publish a book targeted to an international audience. It required a lot of stubbornness…

What challenge or failure did you learn the most from in your writing? Can you share the lesson(s) that you learned?

My objective was to boil down hundreds of academic articles and books in a single 50,000-word long book. It took me a lot of time to do so. Originally, the book was all over the place but I finally managed to settle on “only” 35 myths.

The world, of course, needs progress in many areas. What movement do you hope someone (or you!) starts next? Can you explain why that is so important?

I strongly believe that sustainability will become an increasingly important topic. To be sure, it is not a new topic. Even Harvard Business Professor Michael Porter talked about green business in the early 1990s. However, sustainability is definitely an idea whose time has come.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I am quite active on LinkedIn. I post links to most of the content I create on this platform.

Thank you so much for these insights. It was a true pleasure to do this with you.

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