Extension Tier 3: Specialized Knowledge
Extension Tier 3: Specialized Knowledge
10-Week Deep Dive into Specialized Business Areas
This tier provides depth in specific functional areas - finance, HR analytics, organization design, innovation, and ethics.
Overview
| Module | Duration | Primary Books |
|---|---|---|
| Finance for Leaders | 2 weeks | Financial Intelligence, The Intelligent Investor |
| People Analytics | 2 weeks | Work Rules!, Nine Lies About Work |
| Organization Design | 2 weeks | Reinventing Organizations, Team of Teams |
| Innovation & Disruption | 2 weeks | Innovator’s Dilemma, Crossing the Chasm |
| Business Ethics | 2 weeks | Moral Mazes, The Righteous Mind |
Daily Time: 40-50 minutes
Weeks 1-2: Finance for Non-Finance Leaders
Goal: Understand financial statements and think like an investor
Week 1: Financial Intelligence
Day 1 (Monday)
| Activity | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Read Financial Intelligence Part 1 | 45 min | The Art of Finance |
| Action | 10 min | Find a public company’s financial statements |
Key insight: Financial statements involve judgment and estimates - they’re more art than science.
Day 2 (Tuesday)
| Activity | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Read Part 2: Income Statement | 45 min | Profit isn’t cash |
| Practice | 15 min | Calculate gross margin for a company |
Day 3-5
Continue through balance sheet, cash flow, and ratios.
Week 2: Investment Thinking
Day 6-10
| Activity | Duration |
|---|---|
| Read The Intelligent Investor (selected chapters) | 45 min daily |
| Understand margin of safety | Throughout |
| Complete quiz and case study | 45 min |
Key concepts: Mr. Market metaphor, margin of safety, intrinsic value vs. market price
Weeks 3-4: People Analytics
Goal: Use data to make better decisions about people
Week 3: Work Rules!
Day 1 (Monday)
| Activity | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Read Work Rules! Ch. 1-3 | 45 min | Google’s people philosophy |
| Reflect | 10 min | How is your organization different? |
Key insight: Default to open, hire slowly, data over opinion.
Day 2-5
Continue through Work Rules!, focusing on hiring, performance, and culture chapters.
Week 4: Nine Lies About Work
Day 6-10
| Activity | Duration |
|---|---|
| Read Nine Lies About Work | 45 min daily |
| Challenge conventional HR wisdom | Throughout |
| Complete quiz and case study | 45 min |
Key insight: Much of what we “know” about work is wrong - focus on teams, strengths, and attention.
Weeks 5-6: Organization Design
Goal: Understand how organizations should be structured
Week 5: Reinventing Organizations
Day 1 (Monday)
| Activity | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Read Reinventing Organizations Ch. 1-2 | 50 min | Organizational evolution |
| Reflect | 10 min | What color is your organization? |
Key framework: Red → Amber → Orange → Green → Teal stages of organizational development.
Day 2-5
Continue through Teal practices: self-management, wholeness, evolutionary purpose.
Week 6: Team of Teams
Day 6-10
| Activity | Duration |
|---|---|
| Read Team of Teams | 45 min daily |
| Understand shared consciousness | Throughout |
| Complete quiz and case study | 45 min |
Key insight: Efficiency creates fragility. Adaptability requires shared consciousness + empowered execution.
Weeks 7-8: Innovation & Disruption
Goal: Understand how innovation works and why good companies fail
Week 7: The Innovator’s Dilemma
Day 1 (Monday)
| Activity | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Read Innovator’s Dilemma Ch. 1-3 | 50 min | Why great firms fail |
| Observe | Throughout | Identify disruption in your industry |
Key insight: Companies fail not despite doing everything right, but because of it. Disruption is a pattern.
Day 2-5
Continue through value networks, technology trajectories, and organizational responses.
Week 8: Crossing the Chasm
Day 6-10
| Activity | Duration |
|---|---|
| Read Crossing the Chasm | 45 min daily |
| Understand technology adoption lifecycle | Throughout |
| Complete quiz and case study | 45 min |
Key framework: Innovators → Early Adopters → (CHASM) → Early Majority → Late Majority → Laggards
Weeks 9-10: Business Ethics
Goal: Navigate ethical complexity in organizations
Week 9: Moral Mazes
Day 1 (Monday)
| Activity | Duration | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Read Moral Mazes Ch. 1-4 | 50 min | How organizations shape ethics |
| Reflect | 15 min | When have you felt ethical pressure at work? |
Key insight: Organizational structures create environments where personal ethics get subordinated to organizational demands.
Day 2-5
Continue through corporate cultures and ethical decision-making.
Week 10: The Righteous Mind
Day 6-10
| Activity | Duration |
|---|---|
| Read The Righteous Mind (selected chapters) | 45 min daily |
| Understand moral foundations | Throughout |
| Complete quiz and case study | 45 min |
| Tier 3 integration review | 30 min |
Key insight: Moral judgments are mostly intuitive, then rationalized. Understanding this helps navigate disagreement.
Completion Checklist
- Read Financial Intelligence
- Read The Intelligent Investor (selected)
- Read Work Rules!
- Read Nine Lies About Work
- Read Reinventing Organizations
- Read Team of Teams
- Read The Innovator’s Dilemma
- Read Crossing the Chasm
- Read Moral Mazes
- Read The Righteous Mind (selected)
- Complete all 5 quizzes and case studies