Some of the best learning happens when you read stories about real people and real companies. Read them for ideas, for lessons, and inspiration. This week’s stories and strategies from real life are about A.T. Kearney, Kensho, Office Depot, Samsung, and Triumph Motorcycles.

From London Business School: Making history at A.T. Kearney

“The last decade has been a tumultuous one for the consulting firm A.T. Kearney. Now, it is mapping out an ambitious growth path to 2020.”

From Steven Bertoni: Can Kensho Bring Google Style Search To Stock Picking?

“In the coming months Nadler is likely to receive a few more of those calls. His new Cambridge, Mass. company, Kensho, cofounded with programmer Peter Kruskall, is out to do to financial analysis what  Google did to search. That is, they want to put in the hands of the masses a level of expertise about financial markets that only a handful of the top hedge funds and banks use to make billions off of short-term market inefficiencies.”

From Emon Reiser: Office Depot CEO talks company’s turnaround

“CEO Roland Smith told dozens of Boca Raton businessmen and women about the ways he hopes to make Office Depot his sixth major company turnaround.”

From Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg and Paddy Miller: How Samsung Gets Innovations to Market

“Let’s say you’re working in a new market, far away from headquarters, and you need to get approval for an initiative that is somewhat outside the company’s current strategy. What do you do?”

From Wharton: Triumph Motorcycles: The Rise, Fall and Revival of an Icon

“When motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel attempted the longest jump of his career — 141 feet over the fountains at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, on New Year’s Eve 1967 — he did it riding a Triumph. It was a logical choice given Triumph’s reputation for performance and scorching acceleration. The bike’s 650cc twin platform engine set the land speed record — 214.46 mph — as the world’s fastest motorcycle in 1956, a title it held (save for 17 days) for 17 consecutive years. Today, Triumph is the fastest growing motorcycle brand in the United States.”