Without Paddy Miller, incomparable as he was, this book would never have come to be. Paddy started out as my teacher and eventually became my colleague, coauthor, mentor, and friend. As I was finishing this book, Paddy passed away from heart failure at age 71. Warm, funny, brilliant, creative, deeply caring, and a little bit bonkers in the best possible way, Paddy is sorely missed by Sara, George, Seb, me, and the many other people whose lives he touched and made better. This book is dedicated to him.
Many other people helped shape the ideas in this book. Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, of the Harvard Negotiation Project, provided incisive, game-changing guidance on everything from titling to thinky-thoughts thinking (Sheila, as it happens, is the one I have to thank for suggesting the book’s title.) Melinda Merino at Harvard Business Review Press saw the potential in reframing early on, and she and HBR editors David Champion and Sarah Green Carmichael helped shape the initial incarnations of my work. My stellar book editor, Scott Berinato, patiently shepherded me through the publishing process, made the book much better, and gently told me no when I wanted to add forty pages of research appendixes, 3-D images, and secret lemon-juice writing. Jennifer Waring kept a very complicated production process expertly and miraculously on track, leaving no detail unattended.
Esmond Harmsworth, of Aevitas Creative Management, remains the best possible agent an author could wish for. Prehype’s Henrik Werdelin continues to be a key thinking partner on reframing and much else. He is finally publishing his own book, The Acorn Method, and it deserves to be very widely read while still selling slightly fewer copies than mine.
The book also benefited immensely from a dedicated group of people who volunteered to provide detailed feedback on the manuscript: Fritz Gugelmann, Christian Budtz, Anna Ebbesen, Marija Silk, Mette Walter Werdelin, Simon Schultz, Philip Petersen, Meg Joray, Roger Hallowell, Dana Griffin, Oseas Ramírez Assad, Rebecca Lea Myers, Casper Willer, Concetta Morabito, Damon Horowitz, Heidi Grant, and Emily Holland Hull. A special thanks goes to Scott Anthony, of Innosight, whose expert feedback also helped sharpen the ideas of my first book.
For taking a chance on my hand-drawn project and for bringing it to life in such a beautiful way, I also owe thanks to the wider team at Harvard Business Review Group and beyond: Stephani Finks, Jon Zobenica, Allison Peter, Alicyn Zall, Julie Devoll, Erika Heilman, Sally Ashworth, Jon Shipley, Alexandra Kephart, Brian Galvin, Felicia Sinusas, Ella Morrish, Akila Balasubramaniyan, Lindsey Dietrich, Ed Domina, and Ralph Fowler.
My thinking on reframing has also been shaped by people at four other organizations. At Duke Corporate Education, I owe thanks to both current and former collaborators: Julie Okada, Shannon Knott, Pete Gerend, Ed Barrows, Nancy Keeshan, Dawn Shaw, Nikki Bass, Erin Bland Baker, Mary Kay Leigh, Heather Leigh, Emmy Melville, Melissa Pitzen, Tarry Payton, Jane Sommers-Kelly, Jane Boswick-Caffrey, Tiffany Burnette, Richelle Hobbs Lidher, Holly Anastasio, Karen Royal, Joy Monet Saunders, Christine Robers, Kim Taylor-Thompson, and Michael Chavez. At IESE Business School: Tricia Kullis, Mike Rosenberg, Kip Meyer, John Almandoz, Stefania Randazzo, Jill Limongi, Elisabeth Boada, Josep Valor, Eric Weber, Julie Cook, Giuseppe Auricchio, Mireia Rius, Aniya Iskhakava, Alejandro Lago, Sebastien Brion, Roser Marimón-Clos Sunyol, Núria Taulats, Noelia Romero Galindo, Gemma Colobardes, Maria Gábarron, and Christine Ecker. At BarkBox: Stacie Grissom, Suzanna Schumacher, and Mikkel Holm Jensen. At Prehype: Stacey Seltzer, Saman Rahmanian, Dan Teran, Amit Lubling, Stuart Willson, Zachariah Reitano, Richard Wilding, and Nicholas Thorne.
An even larger group of people have been part of the reframing journey in ways big and small: Tom Kalil, Richard Straub, Ilse Straub, Linda Vidal, Jordan Cohen, Christian Madsbjerg, Mikkel B. Rasmussen, Julian Birkinshaw, Dorie Clark, Bob Sutton, Ori Brafman, Christoffer Lorenzen, Maria Fiorini, Cecilie Muus Willer, Anders Ørjan Jensen, Marie Kastrup, Julie Paulli Budtz, Christian Ørsted, Edward Elson, Martin Roll, Blathnaid Conroy, Nicole Abi-Esber, Christiane Vejlø, Tania Luna, Ashley Albert (and Elliott), Ea Ryberg Due, Claus Mossbeck, Joy Caroline Morgan, Sophie Jourlait-Filéni, Julia June Bossman, Lydia Laurenson, Lise Lauridsen, Pilar Marquez, Carlos Alban, Laurent van Lerberghe, Esteban Plata, Alberto Colzi, Ryan Quigley, Brendan McAtamney, Beatriz Loeches, Jack Coyne, Chris Dame, Ulrik Trolle, Peter Heering, Susanne Justesen, Julie Wedell-Wedellsborg, Morten Meisner, Kristian Hart-Hansen, Silvia Bellezza, Elizabeth Webb, Astrid Sandoval, Paul Jeremaes, Ali Gelles, Joy Holloway, Linda Lader, Phil Lader, Stephen Kosslyn, Robin S. Rosenberg, Kelly Glynn, Kevin Engholm, Megan Spath, Per von Zelowitz, David Dabscheck, Judy Durkin, Tracey Madden, Jennifer Squeglia, Heidi Germano, Kathrin Hassemer, Lynden Tennison, Lynn Kelley, Dave Bruno, Teresa Marshall, Karen Strating, Tom Hughes, Jared Bleak, Bruce McBratney, Roz Savage, Lilac Nachum, Linni Rita Gad, Jens Hillingsø, Martin Nordestgaard Knudsen, Luke Mansfield, Jerome Wouters, Ran Merkazy, Erich Joachimsthaler, Agathe Blanchon-Ehrsam, Olivia Haynie, Kenneth Mikkelsen, Brian Palmer, Michelle Blieberg, Josefin Holmberg, Kate Dee, Amy Brooks, Nikolai Brun, Justin Finkelstein, Jennifer Falkenberg, Thomas Gillet, Barbara Scheel Agersnap, Nicolas Boalth, Hanne Merete Lassen, Jens Kristian Jørgensen, Axel Rosenø, Sarah Bay-Andersen, Colin Norwood, Joan Kuhl, Kellen D. Sick, Svetlana Bilenkina, Braden Kelley, Chuck Appleby, Thomas Jensen, Shelie Gustafson, Heather Wishart-Smith, Michael Hathorne, Jona Wells, Paul Thies, Eric Wilhelm, Christy Canida, Raman Frey, Olivia Nicol, Mie Olise Kjærgaard, Maggie Dobbins, Phil Matsheza, Dawn Del Rio, Patricia Perlman, Nils Rørbæk Petersen, Claus Albrektsen, Lisbet Borker, Kim Vejen, Niels Jørgen Engel, and Birgit Løndahl. Rucola’s team kept me fed: Amy Richardson, Jon Calhoun, Bryan Sloss, Allie Huggins, Jeremiah Gorbold, Fernando Sanchez, Jarett Gibson, Brian Bennett, Greg Lauro, and Shevawn Norton. The amazing photographer Gregers Heering is responsible for the author photo. Mikael Olufsen, of course, continues to be the world’s best godfather.
Finally, it’s said that we don’t choose our families. But if we could, I’d still chose the one I have because they are really, really fantastic: my parents Gitte and Henrik, my brother Gregers, my sister-in-law Merete, and the whole extended WW-and-beyond family mafia. And to my nephew and nieces, Clara, Carl-Johan, and Arendse: I love you and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what you’ll get up to. I feel lucky to have all of you in my life.