Can large companies successfully innovate? The popular narrative is the bigger firms become, the less nimble and dynamic they are. Small startups are the disruptors, while big companies are doomed to being static and inflexible. But according to Gary Pisano of Harvard Business School, this is a myth: large businesses can be just as innovative as startups….
Many of our speakers are also acclaimed authors, and their latest books are starting and shaping conversations across every industry. From corporate innovation to the rise of artificial intelligence, here are five subjects to consider for your business needs. MASTERING “NEW POWER” IN A TRANSFORMED WORLD Nearly a year after it was first published, Jeremy Heimans’…
Around every corner, it seems, the world is constantly changing – and it’s happening at record speed. From digital transformation to revamped political risk, leaders are faced with dilemmas requiring strategic decisions that could make or break a business. So, what does the forward-looking business leader put on his or her holiday wish list? Here…
What are the biggest obstacles to driving your company’s transformation? Too often, leaders think of the barriers purely in terms of technical or strategic issues. But Nathan Furr, INSEAD professor and world-renowned innovation expert, argues that the real problem has more to do with basic aspects of human psychology – fear, habit and lack of imagination….
What is the biggest obstacle to large companies innovating and disrupting their industries? It may be perception. In an era where entrepreneurs are romanticized, we have become conditioned to believe that innovation begins and ends with small startups. Gary Pisano, the Harry E. Figgie Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and a renowned authority…
The common assumption about success is that it requires choosing between one’s career and personal life or sacrificing one for the other. Stew Friedman, Wharton professor and global authority on leadership and performance, has found in over three decades of working with senior executives and leaders that achieving work/life balance is a myth. The key to success and personal fulfillment,…
How did startups and grassroots activists get the upper hand over gigantic corporations and establishment politicians? Whether for good or ill, the big winners of the past decade – from market disruptors like Uber and Airbnb to political insurgents like Barack Obama and Donald Trump – have been those who harness our growing appetite to…
Imagine you are in a high-level strategy meeting, and your team is attempting to arrive at a solution to an important problem. What is your instinctive course of action? The natural response of somebody who, understandably, does not want to appear unprepared, ill-informed or indecisive is to deliberate internally before speaking, and then deliver a…
Today’s executives face more pressure than ever before to deliver results while navigating a brand through the treacherous waters of financial and reputational risk. In a recent article for Harvard Business Review, legendary management expert Michael Porter and dean of the Harvard Business School Nitin Nohria analyzed how leading CEOs organize and spend their time. The authors concluded that while business…
Automation may solve the immediate problems of reducing costs and completing routine tasks; but when leaders take such a narrow view of it they fail to raise the big questions required to solve deeper business challenges. Hal Gregersen’s just-published MIT Sloan Management Review article, “Digital Transformation Opens New Questions — and New Problems to Solve”…
Enormous changes are occurring in the world, from the endless technological revolution to crises of leadership in global business and politics. To craft and implement a coherent business strategy that takes all these pressing challenges into account, there are six books the curious practitioner should make sure are included in their personal library. New season….
How does a company deal with constant innovation and disruption? The answer, says Dunkin’ Brands CEO Nigel Travis, is to embrace the “challenge culture.” Having been Chief Operations Officer at Blockbuster, Travis knows firsthand the risks of failing to anticipate imminent change and push back against the status quo. “The world used to seem static and…
The CEO is the primary decision-maker and focal point of any company, with responsibilities ranging from long-term strategy to crisis management. Success or failure of the entire enterprise depends on the CEO’s leadership. While many leading executives have an abundance of support to complete a number of their tasks, one important resource remains a scarcity: time….
Each year, renowned business experts Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen release their World’s Most Innovative Companies list in Forbes, revealing the firms at the cutting-edge of their industries and most likely to change the world. In their 2018 list published this week, Dyer and Gregersen name ServiceNow, Workday and Salesforce.com as the top three. What do these powerhouses have in common? They are at…
Entrepreneurs are often romanticized for prioritizing success at work over happiness in their personal lives, but such a one-dimensional existence is self-defeating, says Stew Friedman, the world’s top expert on leadership and performance in all parts of life. His framework – a systematic method for improving performance at work, at home, in the community, and for oneself,…
From a young age, we are conditioned to give answers, not to arrive at solutions by asking questions. Because we carry those habits with us into the business world, many companies remain wedded to archaic ways of thinking, stifling innovation and breeding complacency. Hal Gregersen, executive director of the MIT Leadership Center and senior lecturer in…
In a time when trust and transparency in business are in short supply, there’s one leader working tirelessly to ensure our next generation of financial leaders are forward thinking, measured risk takers who operate ethically, transparently and with integrity. Minds Worth Meeting speaks with Jeff Thomson, CMA, CSCA, CAE, President and CEO of IMA (Institute of Management Accountants)…
Each day comes with challenges that the world has never seen before. This requires a special kind of leader that prioritizes problem-solving skills over influencing others. Minds Worth Meeting converses with leadership expert and MIT professor Hal Gregersen, who discusses problem-led leadership and how it is changing the world. Keep an eye out for his new…
