Boringness: The Secret to Great Leadership

Until recently, I hadn't really known any great leaders. As a writer, the highest-ranking people I deal with are editors,...

Do You Know What You Are Feeling?

Over the 23 years since we met, my wife Eleanor and I have spent considerable time, money, and energy on...

How to Market to Someone Who Knows Everything

People talk about Francis Bacon as the last person to know everything. Apparently, these people don't know any 15-year-old girls....

Mark Zuckerberg's Magic Touch

Facebook's shares open for trading today. Chances are, you're holding your breath or rolling your eyes. Whether you're inspired or...

Your Brain on Facebook

While Facebook's rise took many by surprise, its success was little surprise to the hundreds of researchers who study social...

In Defense of Polymaths

Polymath is one of those words more likely to show up on the SAT than in everyday conversation. But the...

To Be a Fly on the Wall at Facebook on IPO Day

Facebook "goes public" tomorrow. Imagine what it might be like inside the company right now. Soon, paper stock option agreements...

Unilever's CEO on Making Responsible Business Work

An interview with Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever. This interview is featured in the forthcoming June issue of HBR. Download...

CEOs Need Hard Data on Customer Loyalty

Three-quarters of the world's CEOs say more emphasis should be placed on measuring the value of non-financial assets such as...

How Employers Can Make Us Stop Multitasking

Tony Schwartz's recent post The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time made a convincing case for staying focused....

Stop Guesstimating Your Sales Forecasts

For anyone running a sales organization, the 48 hours before a pipeline presentation are the worst days of the month....

When Ingenuity Saves Lives

Each year, twenty million babies worldwide are born prematurely or with a low birth weight, and four million of them...

What Your Innovators Want You to Know

What do your innovators want? What do they need from you? Earlier this month, we invited the HBR community on...

How To Encourage Learning By Making "Smart Mistakes"

<div>Avoiding mistakes is impossible. But what if we accept that risk is inevitable and focus on making "smart mistakes" instead?</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/KKGo_hrP-VE" height="1" width="1"/>

Putting Facebook in Perspective

Every day brings some new bit of information — or hype — about social business. If you actively follow the...

Are Women Held Back by Colleagues' Wives?

The new millennium has not brought much progress for women seeking top leadership roles in the workplace. Although female graduates...

The Inexperience Advantage

Ever been shut down by someone who supposedly knows more than you? It happens to me daily. I get denied...

Great Businesses Don't Start With a Plan

You want to start a business. So you need a plan, right? No. Not really. As part of the research...

The Myths That Prevent Change

You probably think that the barriers to innovation are negative elements of your organization — that is, the wrong people,...

Organizing a Sales Force by Product or Customer, and other Dilemmas

HP announced in March that it was combining its printer and personal computer businesses. According to CEO Meg Whitman, "The...

You Are Not A Computer (Try As You May)

Technology is meant to serve us. Instead it increasingly runs us — and runs us down. Where we put our...

Gender Balance is an Investor Issue Too

People get awfully excited about quotas. So do countries. After Norway's lead in 2008, gender quotas on corporate boards have...

Collaboration by Difference

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Your Company's "Obituary" Can Shape Its Future

If you've spent any amount of time in executive retreats or leadership off-sites, you've probably been asked to participate in...

Leaving a Mark That Matters

The other day, I finally tackled a long-overdue task: reviewing a stack of VHS tapes to see what was on...

Are Your Employees Drivers or Victims of Process Innovations?

To stay competitive, organizations need to continually find opportunities for innovation in key processes such as customer service and product...

Why Strategies Go off the Rails

Have you ever been in a situation where everyone seemingly agrees on a particular strategy, but somehow it never happens?...

When High-Return Bank Businesses Go Bad

Institutional banking businesses — including trading operations — typically don't have high barriers to entry. There are few copyrights or...

The Secrets to Clay Christensen's Success

This week marks the release of Clayton Christensen's highly-anticipated book, How Will You Measure Your Life (with co-authors James Allworth...

Empathy: The Most Valuable Thing They Teach at HBS

These probably aren't words that you were expecting to see in the same sentence — Harvard Business School and empathy....

Three Headwinds for Facebook's IPO

I am not pessimistic about Facebook's future. I have used the social network for eight years and continue to be...

How to Get Feedback When You're the Boss

The higher up in the organization you get, the less likely you'll receive constructive feedback on your ideas, performance, or...

3M's Sustainability Innovation Machine

Planes are now held together by tape, not bolts. It's really, really strong tape, but still. Who knew the maker...

The Difference Between "Money Work" and "Busy Work"

<div>Are you doing everything you can to generate new income? The more effective you are with "money work," the more time you'll have for "creative work."</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/beV1WN-3oZI" height="1" width="1"/>

Constructing Your Personal User Interface

I confess — I have a somewhat clunky phone manner. I tend to dispense with small talk, go straight to...

Get the Corporate Antibodies on Your Side

People often ask me why it's so hard for big companies to be innovative. My answer is "corporate antibodies" —...

If Customers Ask for More Choice, Don't Listen

This post is the second in a three-part series. In his provocative book The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz's warns...

The Illustrated 99% Conference 2012: An Epic Episode in Words & Pictures!

<div>Wendy MacNaughton captures the nuances of this year's 99% Conference - from hairstyles to hand gestures - in an awesome illustration series.<br /><br /></div> <div><br /><br /></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/xW1uzCJUH78" height="1" width="1"/>

#Grindworthy: May 11, 2012

Trade productivity for positive emotions Being on facebook, twitter, multiple email addresses, spotify and news sources all at once may not be the way to be the most productive, that’s true.  But it will make you the most happy. Here, Nathan Ingraham discusses a study by Dr. Zheng Joyce Wang that shows that while multitasking doesn’t leave [...]

Want a Team to be Creative? Make it Diverse

Diversity is the crucial element for group creativity. Innovation teams tasked with creating new products or technologies or iterating existing...

Four Strategies for Staying Relevant

A serious threat facing most brands in dynamic markets is the loss of relevance because the category or subcategory they...

Outsourcing the Old Folks

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a new film set in India and directed by Shakespeare in Love's John Madden (age...

The Biggest Obstacle to Innovation? You.

We aren't being critical with that headline. But the problem really is you. More specifically, it's the way you were...

Moving Cusotmers from Pinning to Purchase

Pinterest surged into the spotlight earlier this year when it was revealed that it drives more web traffic than YouTube,...

How to Be Bad at Forecasting

In his wonderful book Expert Political Judgment, psychologist Philip Tetlock (following the lead of Isaiah Berlin), divided the world of...

The Best Path to Success is Your Own

If you're wondering what to do next in your career, you're hardly alone. The debate about where and how we...

Apple and the "Little Dutch Boy" Strategy

Apple is the latest company to execute what I like to call the "Little Dutch Boy" approach to CSR strategy....

Find the Reverse Leaders in Your Midst

In the spirit of reverse innovation, and reverse mentoring, I submit to you that the next trend to watch out...

The Myth of American Decline

An interview with Daniel Gross, columnist and economics editor for Yahoo! Finance and author of Better, Stronger, Faster: The Myth...

When Someone Asks You for a Favor

The professional world is powered by favors — busy individuals helping those in their extended networks land highly contested roles,...

Can You Get Better at Research?

It's pretty widely accepted that people's innate intelligence doesn't change much. Youth, health, and a positive environment can help people...

Culture Takes Over When the CEO Leaves the Room

Here's a rough summary of our worldview: excellence = design x culture. Your job as a leader is to get...

Projects Are the New Job Interviews

Resumes are dead. Interviews are largely ineffectual. Linked-In is good. Portfolios are useful. But projects are the real future of...

Don't Abandon Crowdfunding -- Manage It

In the recent HBR article "The Crowdfunding Road to Hell," Daniel Isenberg argues persuasively that crowdfunding — specifically equity crowdfunding...

Why We Can't See What's Right in Front of Us

The most famous cognitive obstacle to innovation is functional fixedness &#8212 an idea first articulated in the 1930s by Karl...

The Hidden Wealth Beyond Net Promoter

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is perhaps the best known customer loyalty tool around today, based on the entirely sound principle...

#Rethink Venture Capital with Fred Wilson

It’s rare to hear someone say that there is too much money, but Fred Wilson said it. Speaking at our Tuesday, May 8th #Rethink, Wilson broke down the problems with Venture Capital. Most notably, Mr. Wilson pointed out that the vast majority of venture capitalists do not make returns on the $30 billion of capital invested annually; his feeling [...]

99% Conference 2012: Key Takeaways On Making Ideas Happen

<div>Get insights on creative epiphanies, finding your superpower, and celebrating small wins from this year's incredible 99% Conference.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/E3SPAm0C_J8" height="1" width="1"/>

The Next Digital Revolution in Education? Grading.

It seems that you can't go anywhere these days without seeing a new pretender to a digital revolution in education....

How Starbucks Trains Customers to Behave

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How to Engage Your Customers and Employees

Most customers now ignore targeted marketing campaigns, avoid responding to offers, and provide minimal feedback when asked. Instead, potential customers...

The Power of Beliefs to Move Markets and Mindsets

Mindsets matter. For more than two years, we and others have been talking about the need to shift the prevailing...

A Sad Lesson in Collaborative Innovation

The innovator's quest has been to find the win-win proposition: a great new product that can create differentiated value for...

What Does "Professional" Look Like Today?

As the online waters rose, executives at the Susan G. Komen Foundation huddled behind their fortress walls like first-class passengers...

How to Make Your Big Idea Really Happen

Inspired by the loss of her thirteen year-old daughter, Candice Lightner founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 1980 to...

Four Things to Get Right When Starting a Company

Most VCs and entrepreneurs believe start-ups are inherently iterative, that a string of mistakes doesn't prevent success, but may even...

99% Conference 2012: Key Takeaways On Making Ideas Happen (Pt. II)

<div>A call for a new start-up paradigm, lessons on vulnerability, and why you can't iterate yourself into a business model from this year's 99% Conference.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/0bWC3RqjyCo" height="1" width="1"/>

Catering to the Self-Expressive Chinese Consumer

Consumer behavior in China could be changing yet again. Until now, research has shown that the Chinese usually trust better-known...

It's Time to Rethink Continuous Improvement

Six Sigma, Kaizen, Lean, and other variations on continuous improvement can be hazardous to your organization's health. While it may...

Telecom's Competitive Solution: Outsourcing?

U.S. telecom carriers face daunting challenges from device makers, content providers, social networks, and an array of disruptive technologies. But...

To Innovate, Turn Your Pecking Order Upside Down

Here's an uncomfortable truth about innovation: No matter how great your idea, you can't deliver breakthrough innovation without breakthrough organizational...

Are You Targeting a Phantom Market?

Here's a quick quiz for you. Is it easier to get A: 1% of a huge, established market? or B:...

Microsoft Taxes Itself

This week, Microsoft is announcing an unusual initiative that it hopes will change how the company operates: an internal fee...

A Super-Efficient Email Process

"Here's my problem with email," Jane*, a lawyer friend of mine told me recently, "I open Outlook expecting to quickly...

A Soy-Based Tale of Missed Opportunity

Unilever's AdeS, a combination of soymilk and fruit juice, has become a big success in Latin America. In Brazil it's...

Win the Pitch: Tips from Mastercard's "Priceless" Pitchman

As a growth officer in my early career with the mad men and women of McCann Ericksson, my mom could...

99% Conference 2012: Key Takeaways On Making Ideas Happen (Pt. III)

<div>Lessons on embracing "gut churn," turning self-doubt into a strength, and embracing your work as a gift from this year's 99% Conference.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/GWKEW2bDEiI" height="1" width="1"/>

Checking In Versus Checking Up

Recently we wrote about how managing for innovation requires balancing four critical factors to produce a highly motivated and creative...

Crush the "I'm Not Creative" Barrier

Did you know that if you think you are creative, you're more likely to actually be creative? This surprising fact...

TinType Photos Capture the 99% Conference in Vintage Style

<div> <div>Forget instagram, it's all about tintypes. Michael Shindler documents the 2012 99% speakers with an incredible, old-school photography technique. </div> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/BAFANRXjoN8" height="1" width="1"/>

Reinvent Your Career by Writing Your Own Narrative

A topsy-turvy world like the one in which we live offers us tremendous opportunities. But to tap them, we must...

Providing Earnings Guidance? Think Again

As we saw again this quarter, earnings announcements can have significant impacts on stock valuations—at least over the short term....

Question the Euro Crisis

After more than 18 months, a dozen and a half summits, multiple rounds of austerity, a trillion dollars of liquidity,...

#Grindworthy: May 4, 2012

Be present, but only if it’s for a reason  We’ve seen reports about big meetings leading to burn out and actually hindering productivity, but that doesn’t have to be the case. In order for meetings to be effective, they have to be done with purpose. That includes who you welcome into the room. Ken Segall [...]

If You're Not Pissing Someone Off, You're Probably Not Innovating

As the editor of the journal Innovations, I'm asked with some regularity, "So, what is innovation anyhow? How would you..."?...

Sharing Ideas with Authority Figures

When Carolyn Li came into my office for her first coaching session she looked seriously concerned. She had just stepped...

Welcome to the G-Zero World

An interview with Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group and author of Every Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in...

Write a Resumé that Travels Across Countries and Cultures

If you're applying for jobs outside your native country, you need to re-examine much of what you know about putting...

Five Ways to Run Better Virtual Meetings

Anyone who has sat in enough teleconferences has experienced a special kind of meeting hell. The discussion drifts and sags...

CEOs: Read this Before You Open Your Mouth

Are you a CEO preparing to give a town hall state-of-the-union talk to your employees? Whether you're a new CEO...

We're All E-Commerce Companies Now

The day of e-commerce is finally here. Online sales of everyday items — soap, orange juice, toothpaste — more than...

Innovating in the Scary Zone

Sometimes when I am reviewing the work of our innovation groups I see how hard they tried to be innovative,...

Do You Know What You Don't Know?

You probably don't know as much as you think you do. When put to the test, most people find they...

When Choosing a Job, Culture Matters

Some organizations will excite you. They'll stimulate your success and growth. Others will be stressful. They may lead you to...

The Next Big Thing

What's the next big thing? Is it 3D printing, personal genomics, cleantech, hydrotech, self-driving cars, augmented reality, wearable computing, microcurrencies,...

Collaboration Will Drive the Next Wave of Productivity Gains

Increasing productivity — making more with less — is at the core of any company or any economy's economic progress....

End the Chaos: A Better Approach to Business Intelligence

My client Janet already had her laptop open when I asked how many versions of the budget report were on...

Overcome Your Work Addiction

Consider the following: Works long hours. Carries wireless device everywhere. On the phone at kid's soccer game. Checks in frequently...

Turn Your Company into a Customer Platform

The idea that customers can't or shouldn't participate much in the innovation process is one barrier to creativity that companies...

Should I Meditate?

<div>It's time to wake up to your life. A look at the subtle yet dynamic benefits of meditation on creativity and productivity.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/nRuZbHe9SIk" height="1" width="1"/>

Why Everyone at Your Company Should Speak (A Little) English

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Building Data Discovery into Your Organization

In the 1800s, enterprises organized themselves to use their capital assets effectively. Beginning in the mid-1900s, they organized to take...

Women Behaving Badly (And Resetting the Playing Field)

We have seen several TV comedies that feature men behaving badly. The UK's Fawlty Towers started in 1975 and features...

What Do Consumers Really Want? Simplicity

This post is the first in a three-part series You're probably familiar with the purchase funnel, invented in 1898 by...

If the Auditors Sign Off, Does That Make It Okay?

Andrew Fastow, the former chief financial officer of Enron, recently completed a six-year prison sentence for his part in the...

CEOs, Get Out of the Way!

Many years ago, I watched a most unusual puppet show at the Surajkund Mela, one of India's most popular crafts...

How to Avoid Shocking Legal Bills

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, nothing can strike terror into your heart like the arrival of a fat...

Turning 60: The Twelve Most Important Lessons I've Learned So Far

Tomorrow is my birthday — always an opportunity for reflection, but especially this time. For several weeks now, I've been...

Managers Don't Really Want to Innovate

Innovation may be an organization's life blood, but still its success rate in most companies hovers at just 17%. Even...

The Thought-Patterns of Success

Your passion for your career can sabotage your attempts to succeed. When you go from feeling energized, excited and in...

Considering a Start-Up? Think Again.

It's been a banner year for start-ups. With the JOBS Act, the rise of international accelerators, the upcoming Facebook IPO,...

Developing Countries Are Revolutionizing Mobile Banking

On February 16, 2012, Barclays of U.K. launched Pingit, a service that lets people send and receive money using a...

Innovators, Are You Applying the Wrong Lessons from Manufacturing?

Product developers can learn much from manufacturing, but many have gone too far in applying ideas that work in manufacturing...

The One Thing CEOs Need to Learn from Apple

A few weeks before Steve Jobs passed away, I was at Apple having lunch with a leader there. We revisited...

Just How Powerful Are You?

When you write online, no one checks to see if you have a journalism degree before they start to read....

Workers, Take Off Your Headphones

Technology, for a free-lancer like me, creates a powerful and not entirely mad illusion that we work in a peopled...

7 Ways Doing Your Accounts Can Boost Your Creativity

<div>How to get money off your mind so you can get on with your creativity.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/uIYI_ARoOR8" height="1" width="1"/>

Macho Cultures Are Fairer for Women

In the past decade, and long before Dilma Roussef was elected the country's first female (and wildly popular) President, Brazilian...

The Beliefs that Built a Global Brewer

Anheuser Busch InBev (AB InBev) announced its annual financial results this month and they are impressive, especially for a company...

When Will this Low-Innovation Internet Era End?

It's an age of unprecedented, staggering technological change. Business models are being transformed, lives are being upended, vast new horizons...

What We're Reading: Is Innovation Fueled by Conflict or Cooperation?

Nick Bilton of The New York Times strongly suggests that comfort and wealth are inimical to innovation. He points out...

Introducing The 2012 Alva Emerging Fellows

<div>Meet OneBeep, IPT, and Unbound Concepts - the awesome innovations of young inventors who are pushing forward world-changing ideas.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/XZA0_5YPTKg" height="1" width="1"/>

Coping with Email Overload

A few weeks ago, I returned from a week-long technology-free vacation with my family. No computer, no phone, no email....

Walmart's Shades of Gray

Many people love to attack Walmart — as the world's largest company it's an easy target. And although the retail...

Winning in the Intention Economy

An interview with Doc Searls, alumnus fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and author...

Teamwork on the Fly

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Disrupt Your Startup

Just before he stepped down as CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs tried to buy DropBox for Apple. But he and...

Stop Documenting, Start Experiencing

The unthinkable happened at a friend's wedding last month. As the groom was asked to confirm his desire to accept...

The Most Challenging Leadership Job

If I had to single out the leadership job that's hardest to do, I'd say head of sales. And not...

Increase Your Team's Motivation Five-Fold

In a famous experiment, researchers ran a lottery with a twist. Half the participants were randomly assigned a lottery number....

Go Innovate on the Periphery

One of the challenges facing market leaders is that transformational trends are only obvious when it's too late. Typically, transformation...

Innovate by Changing Habits

In his classic, Talks to Teachers, William James observed that "All our life, so far as it has definite form,...

Case Study: Bonuses in Bad Times?

Editor's Note: This fictionalized case study will appear in a forthcoming issue of Harvard Business Review, along with commentary from...

Don't Cripple Innovation for the Sake of This Quarter's Numbers

When hard times hit and revenues fall, R&D is always a tempting target for corporate cuts, because reductions yield quick...

The Hidden Power of Mundane Ideas

Picture this: a nutrition scientist does a study with one person, limiting him to a 1500 calorie diet and having...

Make Your Job More Meaningful

Work is a financial necessity for almost everyone, along with the sacrifices work sometimes demands. It can be drudgery. But...

Strategy, Context, and the Decline of Sony

Sometimes it's useful to be reminded that a great strategy is only great in context. From the early 1980s and...

What Doesn't Motivate Creativity Can Kill It

Management is widely viewed as a foe of innovation. The thinking goes that too much management strangles innovation (just let...

How to Create Raving Fans

Okay. You bought the recipe offered in our previous blog for how to get your boss to say yes, and...

In Praise of Slow Mastery: 10 Great Achievements That Took Time

<div>Great things take time. We round up a list of incredible achievements from "Mad Men" to the Brooklyn Bridge to "Born to Run" in recognition of the power of perseverance.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/PTdPLFNl_aU" height="1" width="1"/>

Living Through a Career Off Ramp

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The Paradox of High Potentials

To retain high-potential employees, the conventional wisdom is deceptively simple: Identify, develop, and nurture them. By paying special attention to...

How to Give Your Business Model a One-Two Punch

It's an intriguing hypothetical: In a fight between Bruce Lee and Mike Tyson, who wins? We'll never know the answer...

Democracy's Debt Dilemma

Is every democracy destined for the problems of Greece? In writing Passion & Purpose, my coauthors and I heard a...

Who's Afraid of a Few Big Companies Taking Over the World?

In my previous post, I argued that the potential gains from globalization are larger than most people think. Since I...

#Grindworthy: April 20, 2012

Creative challenges to keep you thinking Feeling a little creatively tapped out? Push yourself creatively with these tests from the 99%.  “Your success creates success for others” As someone of authority, you want to help others succeed. But their success can only parallel your own. So you know what that means – you have to [...]

You Don't Need This "Recovery"

What happens when one reaches the limits of a vocabulary? Consider, for a moment, the curious case of the "recovery."...

Turn Your Career into a Work of Art

Whose life am I living? I'm sure you ask yourself that kind of question from time to time. What am...

Free Your Frontline Workers to Innovate

Not long ago, I visited a Trader Joe's in Boston's Back Bay. As I went to pay for my goods,...

Growth Isn't Going to Last Forever

Aside from tiny Bhutan and their pursuit of Gross National Happiness, every country bases economic policy on the pursuit of...

Stress Is Not Your Enemy

How often do you intentionally push yourself to discomfort? I know that sounds a little nutty, but here's why I...

What Does It Mean to Sell? Ask the U.S. Supreme Court

For anyone involved in the sales process, a case before the U.S. Supreme Court hinges on a fascinating question: Is...

Leadership Teams: Why Two Are Better Than One

The concept of "two-in-a-box" leadership has been examined extensively over the past few years. One of the most thorough discussions...

Gen X Hits Another Bump in the Road

Here's the bad news for Gen X: at each point thus far, you've drawn a pretty short straw. Your timing...

Get the Most Out of Your Board

Sometimes the best way to re-imagine the use of an asset is to think about it as your only asset....

Transformational Entrepreneurship: Where Technology Meets Societal Impact

The slow decline of industrial manufacturing in developed nations and recent failures of financial capitalism across the globe have sent...

Flash Case Study: Will a Pilot Program Unleash This Innovation, or Kill It?

Editor's Note: Like HBR's traditional case studies, this online-only "flash" case study dramatizes a dilemma frequently faced by leaders in...

Telemedicine Can Cut Health Care Costs by 90%

If you've not yet heard of telemedicine or think that it's not a great way to deliver quality health care,...

The Road to Crowdfunding Hell

Crowdfunding of equity capital for startups is one of a handful of jewels in the crown of the JOBS Act...

Put Your New Business Model to the Test

When a consumer product company wants to know how a new product or new marketing campaign will perform, it doesn't...

25 Quotables from the 99% Conference

<div>Pithy wisdom on putting ideas into action from Jack Dorsey, John Maeda, Seth Godin, Jill Greenberg, and many more.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/dYDLPqrgTng" height="1" width="1"/>

For People to Trust You, Reveal Your Intentions

In our last blog, we discussed the importance of competence for fostering the trust you need as a manager to...

The Folly of Stretch Goals

Let's dispense, once and for all, with the managerial absurdity known as "stretch goals." While it's true that renowned psychologists...

Turn Multicultural Teams into Fusion Teams

I'm a huge fan of fusion cuisine — when a chef combines elements of, say, French and Mexican traditions —...

Business Lessons from the Titanic (in 3D)

This month the blockbuster movie Titanic was re-released in 3D. With special glasses, audience-goers are now able to see the...

How Introverts Can Become Better Innovators

Whether you are trying to create a new product, solve problems more effectively, become the most successful company in your...

Why Older Entrepreneurs Have an Edge

Randal Charlton had great strokes of midlife success — then he didn't. He did well co-founding Asterand, an ethically sourced...

Growth Isn't Rocket Science

An interview with Ken Favaro, senior partner at Booz & Company and coauthor of the article Creating an Organic Growth...

The Mommy Wars are about Daddies Too

The recent brouhaha set off by Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen (who infamously noted that Ann Romney "never worked a day...

The BlackBerry Can Be Saved

Consumers are hanging up on BlackBerry in droves as they are lured to sexier and sleeker smartphones and tablets. The...

How to Respond to Emotional Outbursts

"Please, Daddy, please? Can we open our presents from you now?" It was the third night of Hanukkah and my...

What Being Global Really Means

Today's greatest business opportunities, and also the greatest challenges we face, are global in nature and therefore demand leaders who...

Milton Glaser: We're Always Looking, But We Never Really See

<div>A peek behind the scenes at iconic designer Milton Glaser's creative process from Jonah Lehrer's new book, <em>Imagine: How Creativity Works</em>.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/y99UwoV9dT4" height="1" width="1"/>

To Win Big, It Helps to Be a Little "Nuts"

Here's a simple question for all you students of business success and stock-market returns: What has been the best-performing stock...

Google's Stock-split Plan Would Replace Stewardship with Dictatorship

When Google introduced a controversial dual-class share structure at the time of its IPO in 2004, I had reservations (as...

How Mobile Technologies Are Shaping a New Generation

The cohort I like to call the "Re-Generation" began to take shape around 2008. Individuals at the formative ages of...

The Four Worst Innovation Assassins

Is there a corporate leader who doesn't extol the virtues of innovation these days? Yet if innovation is so important,...

Better Teamwork Through Better Workplace Design

Collaboration is the way we work now. In a 2008 BusinessWeek study of white-collar professionals, 82% reported they needed to...

Tone-Deaf Boards in Sound-Proof Rooms

As we enter into proxy season for corporations around the world, one of the key questions for boards and CEOs...

The Health Care Reform That Can't Be Stopped

There are few more personal, passionate, and political topics than health care. The reasons for this are clear: Health care...

Nonprofit Pathology

Some people say — though never publicly — that the elephant in the room of the nonprofit sector is that...

The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase ... What Exactly?

You might disagree with Milton Friedman's famous claim that the sole social responsibility of business is to increase its profits....

The New New International Economic Order

The choice of who will lead the World Bank has been made. Earlier this week, on April 16, the US...

Four Ways to Think Like an Innovator

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Adventure Race Teams and Audacious Goals

I've learned about building great teams the hard way: by competing in the world's toughest adventure races. From the leech-infested...

For Great Teamwork, Start with a Social Contract

To turn groups of employees into great teams, a powerful first step is to form a social contract — an...

Telltale Signs of an Unhealthy Hierarchy

We may talk about eliminating hierarchy, but most organizations still have one. Frankly, it's very hard to mobilize limited resources...

How to Avoid the Big Data "Gotcha's"

As exciting as Big Data is, the executives I meet with are understandably leery of jumping in with both feet....

Why You Won't Get Breakthrough Innovation by Being Nice

If you want to create a really transformational innovation, you'd better be in an organization that's designed to support, not...

Knock Down Barriers to Innovation: Welcome to the HBR Insight Center

We've all seen them in action: the rules, bureaucracies, and wrongheaded policies that prevent us and our organizations from being...

Share Your Own Job-Search Story

This blog post comes to us from one of our Facebook fans, Unnikrishnan Alungal. We contacted him after reading his...

Embracing What's Wrong to Get to What's Right

It was a tense meeting. I'd gathered our whole team to talk about the fact that we were under very...

How Can We Help You, the Entrepreneur?

At Harvard Business Review, our mission is to improve the practice of management and its impact on the world. Sometimes,...

Should Companies Retain "Strategic" Cash?

To enhance financial flexibility, companies have been retaining unprecedented amounts of cash on their balance sheets, calling it "strategic" cash...

P&G Innovates on Razor-Thin Margins

If you shaved today, either in the U.S. or in India, you probably used a Gillette razor. Gillette (now a...

Managing a Virtual Team

Teams that are geographically-dispersed, or virtual, have now been used and studied for more than three decades — yet we...

Cirque du Soleil: 100-Watt Egos, Disintegrating Costumes & Big Top Dreams

<div>What does it take to build the greatest circus the world's ever seen? We go behind the big top with Cirque du Soleil co-founder Gilles Ste-Croix.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/tqnk67lERzY" height="1" width="1"/>

#Grindworthy: April 13, 2012

Find motivation internally  External motivation isn’t enough for creativity (anyone who has sat down at a desk to “be creative” can tell you that). Instead, creatives need internal motivation, to see themselves succeeding. In this article, Jocelyn K. Glei explains how to motivate yourself creatively. Engage your employees with three small questions  As someone of [...]

How to Get Your Boss to Say Yes

You have this really wonderful idea but: A.) It's a little bit out of the ordinary, so the traditional way...

The Truth About Cloud Economics

The financial reasons for the huge growth of cloud services seem crystal clear: cloud computing simply allows us to pay...

The Resonant Team Leader

It's depressing to realize how few of the teams in our lives use their human capital and opportunities well, when...

Christiane Amanpour on Leadership and Ambition

An interview with Christiane Amanpour, renowned war correspondent and news anchor. This interview can be found in the forthcoming May...

Gender Neutral Quotas

Most companies looking to balance genders in their workforces set a target for the number of women in the organization....

Compete on Know-Why, Not Know-How

Do you know why you make the products or offer the services you do? Too often I find that companies...

Where Teamwork Thrives in the Money Management Industry

Recently, my colleagues at the Focus Consulting Group and I surveyed more than 100 asset management firms around the world,...

Turning Consumers into Customers

The expression "supply and demand" was first coined as "demand and supply," by James Denham-Steuart in An Inquiry into the...

8 Insights From Upstart Inventors

<div> <div>From a photo sharing app to clothing made from sour milk, we look at the origin stories of eight inventors under 30.</div> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/ym-EL2gPGrQ" height="1" width="1"/>

8 Insights From Upstart Inventors Under 30

<div> <div>From a photo sharing app to clothing made from sour milk, we look at the origin stories of eight inventors under 30.</div> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/dF6lBvEkR7g" height="1" width="1"/>

Be Proud of Your Accomplishments, Not Your Affiliations

Stuart stood up confidently and addressed the group: "I studied Art History at Yale, worked at Bain for two years,...

Whose Capitalism is it Anyway?

In the few years since the financial crisis of 2008 hit us where it hurts, the calls for the "end...

Transparency is the New Leadership Imperative

What kind of leaders do we need today? Steve Jobs — mysterious, charismatic, intriguing — is often cited as one...

The Good Side of Quantifying Everything

You manage what you measure. We all know that abstractly, but it can be revelatory to see just how much...

When Not to Tell 'Em What You're Gonna Tell 'Em

One of the most frequently repeated pieces of advice for presenters is to "Tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em,...

Leveling the Playing Field on Cross-Cultural Teams

Multicultural teams are ubiquitous in today's business environment, and a lot has been written about them. What is often lost...

Failing to Success

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Creating a community

Coworking is a trend that has taken off in the past couple of years, and we aren&#8217;t the only ones who have taken action. What makes Grind different than other coworking offices? NPR interviewed co-founder Benjamin Dyett about our curated membership and how that balances our community. As noted in NPR: &#8220;Besides providing a well-lit [...]

Great Leaders Use the Power of Dreams

Buying a lottery ticket has an extremely low chance of paying off. Yet many people, at least in countries where...

The Ex-Im Bank Fight and the Future of Global Competiveness

If Congress doesn't act soon, the U.S. Export-Import Bank will hit its $100 billion credit exposure limit by May 1...

Change the Game, Transform Your Company

The strategic conversation in most companies has shifted from cost-cutting to growth and expansion. But how do companies get out...

In Asia, Power Gets in the Way

"Siew Tian, why don't you speak up? I know you have something to say, and you're not saying it," I...

There Is No Invisible Hand

One of the best-kept secrets in economics is that there is no case for the invisible hand. After more than...

New Books from the Press for April

Check out these new and forthcoming books from HBR Press: Judgment Calls: Twelve Stories of Big Decisions and the Teams...

Can Facebook Remain Faceless?

I have been a consistent user of social media for many years. I've used Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and now Google+...

If You Think Your Team Makes Decisions, Think Again

Executives tell me their teams make decisions all the time. "Bob," a CEO will say, "I know you think that...

Op-Ed: Confidence vs Shyness

<div>Is shyness genetic? Can confidence be learned? Designer James Victore on overcoming self-doubt and acting with conviction.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/XfdTOaTzknU" height="1" width="1"/>

The (Postponed) End of the Dollar Era

Remember "global imbalances"? The lopsided economic relationships between exporting nations like China, Japan, Germany, and the OPEC nations on the...

The Dangers of the Minimal Viable Product

A movement originating from the United States' West Coast has sought to transform the creation of new businesses from an...

Health Care for 1% of the Cost

There is a general consensus that U.S. healthcare needs major reform. Can reverse innovation — innovations originating from poor countries...

Strategic Questions for an Accelerating World

If you feel like the pace of competition is increasing, you're right. Tectonic shifts in culture and technology over the...

The Great Collision

Here's a tiny question. What do you think most people really want? What do you think the average Jane —...

Get Your Team to Work Acoss Organizational Boundaries

Competition today punishes companies that make episodic improvements in key processes. Continually improving performance is what matters, and that can...

What True Love Has To Do With Great Innovation

<div> <div>When you're in love, it's like the rest of the world doesn&rsquo;t exist. It's no different when you're pursuing a great idea.</div> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/3BPchSigOCI" height="1" width="1"/>

#Grindworthy: March 7, 2012

What does imagination mean? It’s hard to be creative, to get down to the core of imagination. But, what does it mean to have imagination? In this post, Maria Popova introduces Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer. To be a strategic thinker… There are many skills necessary in being a great leader. One of [...]

We're All on Billie Jean's Team Now

I was sitting in a cavernous hotel ballroom yesterday afternoon, one of a sea of women eagerly listening to Billie...

Is Your Smartphone Making You Less Productive?

Mobile devices have exacerbated an always-on work culture where employees work anytime, anywhere. They've contributed to the blurred distinction between...

How to Manage Confrontation in Multicultural Teams

Everyone knows that a little confrontation from time to time is constructive, right? And the classic business literature confirms it....

Evaluating Income in Your Career Strategy

The purpose of career strategy is to generate greater and greater income. Or is it? Some MBA students are surprised...

How to Negotiate Your Next Salary

Negotiating a salary can be an uncomfortable process. You want to get what you're worth but you also don't want...

What Macroeconomists Are Missing

Mainstream macroeconomists no longer ignore the financial sector. I can attest to that after doing my honest best to work...

Boost Your Productivity with Microbreaks

An interview with Charlotte Fritz, assistant professor at Portland State University. This research can be found in the forthcoming May...

When Should You Quit Your Day Job?

The answer to the headline is "never," right? As we said in a previous blog, if you can't afford to...

Job Descriptions and the "Experience-Needed" Syndrome

Globally, one in three employers struggle to find employees with the skills and experience necessary to meet their needs, and...

Can One Bank's Leasing Program Boost the Economy?

Bank of America recently rolled out a "Mortgage-to-Lease" program to help financially struggling homeowners. Instead of foreclosing on delinquent mortgagees,...

Tina Brown and Björk, Sisters of Innovation

Björk and Tina Brown have many differences but one common problem: They are watching the boat beneath them sink. Their...

Fixing Salespeople's Biggest Complaint: My Territory is Too Small

If you spend much time around salespeople, it won't take long before you hear them griping about the issue that...

The Things Customers Can Do Better Than You

Many firms assume that customers can do just one thing of real significance: buy their products and services. It's time...

The Biggest Mistake You (Probably) Make with Teams

Throughout most of my career, I've made a big mistake in the way I've lead teams — and wouldn't be...

Ries & Trout Were Wrong: Brand Extensions Work

I am deeply indebted to Al Ries and Jack Trout for advancing branding with their classic book, Positioning: The Battle...

Do You Need a Checkup?

I had been feeling a little odd; a number of minor physical discomforts were leading me to feel anxious about...

Global Entrepreneurs Need New Funding Models

Entrepreneurship seems to have become the silver bullet for a job-scarce, unemployment-saddled global economy still struggling to shake off recession....

Beware the Everyday Expert

Have you noticed that everyone around you now seems to be an expert at something? How your boss gives you...

Target and the Threat of Free Riders

Target is getting nervous, for the first time in a while. Some Target shoppers are browsing comfortably in the company's...

Listen to Your Frontline Employees

A basic prerequisite for business success is to know — really know — your customers. There's a variety of traditional...

What Employers Want from the Long-Term Unemployed

We often hear from job seekers: "If I have the necessary skills and experience, why am I not hearing back...

Gender Shouldn't Matter, But Apparently It Still Does

The response to our HBR blog "Are Women Better Leaders than Men?" has been dramatic, to say the least. Clearly,...

Building Effective Teams Isn't Rocket Science, But It's Just as Hard

Over my 35 years of experience in the corporate and non-profit worlds, I've been part of hundreds, if not thousands,...

It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Believe

Adam Lashinsky's new book Inside Apple offers lots of intriguing material about Steve Jobs and the strategic choices, design principles,...

Conduct an Informal 360°

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Spring Training for Health Care Teams

Two years ago, I wrote a piece in HBR called "Turning Doctors into Leaders," which began with the sentence "The...

Rejection Is Critical for Success

There are few experiences more painful than being rejected. We vividly remember the hurt of not being picked for a...

Good Managers Lead Through a Team

We consider the ability to manage a team so important that, in a recent book, we made it one of...

The JOBS Act, Groupon, and Gullible Investors

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, whatever its eventual impact on entrepreneurship and economic growth, has already accomplished some...

Stepford Women in the Workplace

As researchers in the field of women and leadership, we read a lot about this topic. The scope of dos...

Your Future Employer Is Watching You Online. You Should Be, Too.

Welcome to the Permanent Job Search. From now on, all of us will be "looking" for a job even when...

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

What do these words have in common? "Savor," "relish," " "luxuriate," "stroll," "muse," "dawdle," "mosey," "meander," and "linger?" We rarely...

Why Entrepreneurial Thinking Is For Everyone Now

<div> <div>Entrepreneurs make their own luck, and so should we, according to the new, break-out bestseller <em>The Start Up of You</em>.</div> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/nkRhEDQFkdM" height="1" width="1"/>

Winning the Global War for Tech Talent

It is time for immigration reform that will keep more top technical talent in the United States. Today, American colleges...

Distinguish Yourself from the Market, Not Just Other Applicants

If you're an experienced professional, it can be tough to find a job in today's market. Sally (name has been...

Entrepreneurs Don't Need Work-Life Balance

I was always encouraged from an early age to be balanced in everything that I do. Generally speaking, I'd say...

Three Steps to Generating Social Gravity

In a social age, people don't like to be pushed. As described in my last post, top brands like Apple,...

Viral By Design: Teams in the Networked World

With almost a billion friends on Facebook, six billion cell phone accounts globally, and twenty billion "things" from refrigerators to...

Test Your Creativity: 5 Classic Creative Challenges

<div>How creative are you? Find out by taking a few quick tests that psychologists have been using to study creativity for decades.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/-x1ko9vKxBc" height="1" width="1"/>

The Hidden Skills in Your Most Reliable People

When you need something done — and done right — you probably know who you can count on. Even at...

Stop Inbreeding Innovation

It's a topic that perhaps would only appear on the pages of The Economist: an effort to establish North America's...

The Secret Sauce of Teamwork

In some sense, barbecue has always been a competitive sport. You've probably experienced it this way yourself. Think back to...

Why Great Leaders Are in Short Supply

We're living with something of an irony right now regarding leadership. On the one hand, the topic has never been...

Do Women Need Confidence -- Or Quotas?

An interview with Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO of the consultancy 20-first and author of How Women Mean Business. For more, see...

#Grindworthy: March 29, 2012

5 tips for getting a job in social media What’s better than a job in social media? You get to be on the forefront of breaking news, promote your brand, and share your voice. But how does one break into the industry?  Whitney Parker has the tips. Was your project successful? I’ve always learned that [...]

Post-Financial Crisis, a New Generation's Views on Money

In 2008, adult conversations shifted. After nearly a decade of headlines on terrorism and the resultant wars, suddenly signs of...

Would You Want Carl Icahn to Run Your Company?

"We have a dysfunctional corporate governance system in the United States and nobody can attack it and nobody can do...

Choosing Between Making Money and Doing What You Love

"If you're really passionate about what you do, but it's not going to make you a lot of money, should...

The One Skill All Leaders Should Work On

If I had to pick one skill for the majority of leaders I work with to improve, it would be...

Three Rules for Innovation Teams

Our business at Continuum is design and innovation (if you've used a Swiffer or pushed a new Target shopping cart,...

Overthrow Yourself

Here's a tiny question. When you boil it down, what's the human purpose of enterprise? Of industry and ingenuity, effort...

Technological Know-How Is a Job Requirement

As the internet has grown from 70 million users in 1997 to 2.2 billion, entrepreneurial companies with technology at their...

Leadership's Full Measure

Sometimes, the measures managers use to guide their decisions stop making sense. Take television ratings—the metric by which TV shows...

What It Takes To Innovate: Wrong-Thinking, Tinkering & Intuiting

<div><span style="font-size: small;"></span>A look at the characteristics that have propelled inventors from Leonardo Da Vinci to Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs to success.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/2moLkJegL3s" height="1" width="1"/>

Five Questions Companies Should Ask Before Making an Innovation-Driven Acquisition

The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche is nothing if not determined in its quest to acquire Illumina, the San Diego-based leader...

It's Not a Job Search, It's a Permanent Campaign

Political campaigns used to be short, frenzied run-ups to an election — after which the winning candidate would turn to...

When Your Influence Is Ineffective

In today's highly matrixed workplace, your ability to influence others can be the key to your professional success. In a...

Five Ways to Make Corporate Space More Creative

Winston Churchill famously said, "We shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us." The places we work and the ways we...

The Gettysburg Principles for Keeping Your Customers

Jeff Vogel is managing to make a pretty good living as an indie game developer, even though his work is...

People Are Irrational, But Teams Don't Have to Be

When most organizations design new work processes, they assume that team members will make the best possible use of them...

Measure Your Team's Success

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Give Credit Where It's Due

You might remember the FedEx commercial "Stolen Idea". A boss asks his team for cost-cutting ideas and a young staffer...

Why Some Multinationals Pay Such Low Taxes

Here one thing you can say that's true about U.S. corporate taxes: the statutory rate (35% at the federal level;...

Tackling the Trauma of Unemployment

A friend in New York called me after he was laid off from a large financial services company. He'd made...

Creativity Lessons from Charles Dickens and Steve Jobs

Creativity is the most essential skill for navigating an increasingly complex world — or so said 1,500 CEOs across 60...

Your Career Needs to Be Horizontal

Like it or not, most of us think about career success in terms of moving up the hierarchy. Let me...

Position Yourself for a Stretch Assignment

I once hired a McKinsey consultant into a country manager role in a developing region. Two years later, despite great...

Courtside Seats to the Best (And Worst) C-Suites

As a management consultant, I often have a courtside seat to the senior team discussions of many companies. Sometimes we...

Disney Nailed Attention to Detail Long Before Apple

I recently returned from a family vacation to Walt Disney World in Florida. There, my son noticed the manhole cover....

Reversing the Curse of Dominant Logic

Western multinationals — especially the most successful ones — consistently struggle to achieve their growth targets in emerging markets. Why?...

The Commoditization of Scale

In the game of innovation, there is next to no time to rest. As soon as you've discovered the next,...

Accept the Job Offer or Walk Away?

The hiring manager calls with great news: the job is yours. Phew, the hard part is over, right? Maybe not....

Managers Need to Up Their Game with Social Media

Using social media to accomplish a meaningful purpose involves more than providing new technology and praying for success. Successful mass...

Even Small Data Can Improve Your Organization's Judgment

Amidst all the (justified) hoopla over "big data" right now, I'm a little afraid that managers will overlook some important...

Can You "Re-Anchor" Your Next Budget Meeting?

It has been another long, exhausting budget meeting. As the presenters showed you their plans, you challenged every number, explored...

How The Global Explosion of Capitalism Will Change Your Business

For half a century, the U.S. was the center of the global economic system, and Western-style capitalism dominated. But this...

How Do Your Teammates Perceive Your Skills?

Have you ever been in a team meeting and wondered something like, "Why did the boss gave Jamie that assignment?...

How to Attend a Conference as Yourself

I often feel awkward when I go to a conference. Reluctant to sidle up to a stranger and introduce myself,...

Creative Time: On Making Art Happen and Pushing Culture Forward

<div> <div>Creative Time's&nbsp;Anne Pasternak tells us how the New York-based nonprofit ushers stunning public art projects into the world again and again.</div> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/gNPKuPnwMBk" height="1" width="1"/>

Where to Win In Emerging Markets

As corporations witness the huge economic growth and burgeoning purchasing power in emerging markets, a huge debate is focused on...

The Making of an Innovation Master

A workshop attendee asked me this seemingly simple question: "So, what else should I read to learn more about...

The (Many) Things Macroeconomists Don't Know

Jean-Claude Trichet, now a few months into retirement, has no regrets about his eight-year tenure as president of the European...

Workforce Analytics Isn't as Scary as It Sounds

When faced with a major investment decision, how many organizations would bet their success on a gut feeling? How many...

How to Charge a Fee (Without Starting a Customer Rebellion)

Consumers are up in arms. From airlines to banks to telecoms, companies are gouging us in our moment of need,...

Why Consumer Reports is Wrong about Extended Warranties

It's long been a mantra of consumer advocates: Extended warranties are a sucker's bet. "We have long advised that extended...

Making Decisions in Groups

An interview with Tom Davenport, Babson College professor and coauthor of Judgment Calls: Twelve Stories of Big Decisions and the...

#Grindworthy: March 22, 2012

Keep it Simple  Overwhelmed with work at work? Do you have too many things to accomplish and not enough bandwidth to get everything done?  Leo Babauta has thirteen little things you can do to make a big impact on your day. Being a control freak ups your productivity  There are times when being a control [...]

How to Get into Your Zone

The "zone." Flow. Whatever you want to call it, at one stage or another, every one of us aspires to...

Should You Move for a Job?

Despite recent signs of recovery in the labor market, there are still more than 12 million unemployed job seekers. So...

Take Control of Your Global Development

The ability to acquire and develop multicultural talent is becoming a critical competitive advantage for multinational and national companies alike....

The Challenge to U.S. Competitiveness: A Call to Action

The United States has a serious competitiveness problem. The U.S. is experiencing more than just the challenges related to a...

To Build Trust, Competence is Key

In our last blog , we discussed the importance of trust. It's the foundation of all you do as a...

Do Financial Regulators Have Principles?

In Fixing the Game: Bubbles, Crashes and What Capitalism Can Learn from the NFL, I argued that the NFL is...

Is Your Job at Risk from Robots?

Every time I take a walk in the woods around Boston now, I'm going to be looking over my shoulder...

Is Kindness a Strategy?

A friend recently described a remarkable travel experience. Strange to say, the story was about an airline, and it wasn't...

Global Team Leaders Must Deliberately Create "Moments"

Global teams face the challenge of having to operate with limited face-to-face contact and across vast distances, time zones, language...

Photos of Attractive Female Job Seekers Stir Up HR Jealousy

Résumés in the U.S. and UK rarely include photos, so it might be tempting to think that you can gain...

The Alva Award: Recognizing Remarkable Inventors

<div> <div>Who will be the next great serial inventor, perhaps even the next Thomas Edison? The 99% and GE introduce the first annual Alva Award.</div> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/H7mGISegaQo" height="1" width="1"/>

When Someone Asks You a Question, Respond

Robert S. McNamara, the Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1968, who was the driving force behind the controversial Vietnam...

Case Study: When Key Employees Clash

Editor's Note: This fictionalized case study will appear in a forthcoming issue of Harvard Business Review, along with commentary from...

Where Have All The Young Men Gone?

I have just spent the past couple of days listening to the male corporate leaders of two different companies (in...

Made by Members: Roberto Alcazar

Since founding EO Integration in 2009, Roberto has produced three short films, and developed digital and branded content for numerous clients. In 2011, Roberto brought EO to Grind. He started the year taking on an incredible project: creating and producing a social media campaign for Ecuador’s Yasuní-ITT Initiative in order to change the rules of [...]

What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do

Are you frustrated? We know we are. Most of us prepared hard for the future we expected, and yet things...

Living Differentiation

I've just returned from a trip to Germany and Scandinavia, where I heard two different management teams debate what it...

Look Beyond the Team: It's About the Network

In most businesses, the prevailing assumption is that teams are the best way for leadership groups to go when solving...

I Got My Strategy from Greenpeace

I'm the CEO of Desso, a European company that makes carpets, carpet tiles and synthetic sports surfaces. I'm also an...

Sometimes Customers Are Pretty Stupid

The only sustainable way to build a business these days, we are told, is to be straight with your customers....

How to Curate Your Own Personal Job Feed

Remember the days when looking for a new job involved the Sunday newspaper classified section and a black magic marker?...

How Organizational Hubs Encourage and Enhance Collaboration

Collaboration has a cost. It requires time and, in some cases, significant effort. When it comes to connections, more is...

Three Keys to (Much) Better Decisions

Recently, I came across this startling statistic. Each day, we make an average of 217 food-related decisions. Is it any...

The Alva Emerging Fellowships, Empowering the Next Generation of Inventors

<div>Our new Alva Emerging Fellowships, presented with GE, will give three young inventors a cash grant to put their ideas into action.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/D6ZEKMyGa6c" height="1" width="1"/>

Enterprise 2.0 and Social Business

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Your Competitive Position Is Always Eroding

Whenever I share stories about "green" business strategy, someone inevitably asks me whether pursuing sustainability is against a company's best...

Firing Someone the Right Way

Perhaps the most difficult part of any manager's job is telling a subordinate that he can no longer stay with...

If Unemployment Is So High, Why Is Hiring So Hard?

Why aren't U.S. businesses leading the global economy to recovery? Erratic capital markets, systemic risk, tax policy, and regulatory uncertainty...

The Secrets of Great Teams: Welcome to the HBR Insight Center

The topic of teams is an enduring one for HBR. Enter "teams" into the search box on our home page...

The Hard Science of Teamwork

Like many people, I've encountered teams that are "clicking." I've experienced the "buzz" of a group that's blazing away with...

Virtual Teams Can Outperform Traditional Teams

When I visit companies, it's one of the most frequent complaints I hear: "I'm working on a project with people...

Take Back Creative Control: Introducing the New Behance

<div>We're thrilled to introduce an all-new version of the Behance Network, with enhanced features that give you even more creative control.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/lQnOJ1RKyCw" height="1" width="1"/>

How to Bring Apple's Overseas Cash Hoard Home

I listened in this morning as Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer explained what they're planning to do...

Amazon vs. Apple: Competing Ecosystem Strategies

The most viable rival to Apple's iPad isn't produced by a traditional hardware firm. Samsung, Motorola, Toshiba, HP, RIM and...

Google Grows Up: A Necessary Evil?

James Whittaker left Google and wrote about it. Long story short: Google came under "new" management (which was actually really...

Women Entrepreneurs for Peace in Afghanistan

As Afghan-U.S. relations continue to deteriorate, it's hard to imagine that the two nations can find political common ground. But...

Keeping Your Options Open Could Be Hurting Your Career

Are you the seven-foot superhero, the conniving villain, the strong-willed woman, or the family-man cop? You'd better be one of...

Get Ahead With a Mentor Who Scares You

"You're the best!" the four American Idol contestants cried to their voice coach Patty after narrowly escaping elimination, "We couldn't...

Can America Still Compete?

That's the big question HBR posed with our March issue and a month-long online conversation. Of course, the answer is,...

Creativity with a small c

Schumpeter's vision of the lone entrepreneur is so entrenched in our mind that we unconsciously tend to believe that entrepreneurial...

Why "Generation Why Bother" Doesn't Care

I've been stewing all week about a logically sloppy op-ed in Sunday's New York Times. Every Sunday morning, I leap...

#Grindworthy: March 16, 2012

Have new employees? Help them rock When starting a new job it may be hard to get with the flow of how the company works. The same goes for employers: how do you get a new employee to be awesome right from the start? Luc Levesque has some ideas on how to make sure your [...]

It's Time to Act on the Jobs Crisis

America is struggling with the worst jobs crisis since the Great Depression with no clear path toward restoring the jobs...

Is Outsourcing R&D Hurting U.S. Manufacturing?

Most analysts believe that the future of the manufacturing sector in the U.S. is integrally tied to maintaining our historical...

The Economic Roots of Your Life Crisis

I know: it's not manly, dignified, or barely mentionable in polite conversation. But here's the thing. Lately, I've been in...

Digital Natives Are Slow to Pick Up Nonverbal Cues

If you're a digital native, you should be aware that the internet may have partially rewired your brain in such...

Stop Talking About Social and Do It

"Leadership" has changed when a decentralized group of people can take down a government. "The Value Chain" has changed when...

America's Education Problem

As Harvard Business Review has focused this month on U.S. competitiveness, one theme has been the challenge of training the...

Good Strategy's Non-Negotiables

An interview with Chris Zook, partner at Bain & Company and co-head of the firm's global strategy practice. He is...

Understand a New Job (Before You Accept It)

In the right role, you have a good shot at accomplishment and personal growth. In the wrong role, you may...

The Anti-Goldman Culture

The business world is abuzz today about Greg Smith's parting shot at his long-time employer, Goldman Sachs. Is it accurate?...

Bring Back the Organization Man

How to find good quality employees, how to hang onto them, and how to develop them into better employees —...

A Key to U.S. Competitiveness: Work-Life Balance

In the middle of an economic and jobs crisis, why should any politician or executive focus on a "soft" issue...

New Books from the Press for March

Check out these new and forthcoming books from HBR Press: Just Start: Take Action, Embrace Uncertainty, Create the Future by...

What Happened to Goldman Sachs?

Greg Smith's resignation op-ed from Goldman Sachs Wednesday raised a zillion questions. What was the back-story? What was with the...

March Madness and Productivity: The Real Story

If recent news reports are right, American productivity is taking a big hit this week, thanks to March Madness —...

Everyone Should Learn the Entrepreneurial Method

When I was a teenager, the older women in my family taught me to cook. I learned it was traditional...

Look to IT for Process Innovation?

Suppose you're a senior executive at a large financial services company such as Nationwide Insurance or ING. Would you look...

Are Women Better Leaders than Men?

We've all heard the claims, the theories, and the speculation about the ways leadership styles vary between women and men....

Investing in Infrastructure Means Investing in Innovation

I wanted to understand how the U.S.'s failing infrastructure is affecting our economy, so I called Eric Spiegel. He's president...

The Bad Plus: On Jazz, Humility, and Finding Your Voice

<div>Piano virtuoso Ethan Iverson, of The Bad Plus, shares the inner workings of a trio that has been pushing the boundaries of jazz for over a decade.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/97JJlDYkUmc" height="1" width="1"/>

How to Find the Perfect Job Applicant (or Look Like One)

While we are flattered by the response to our previous post, Career Plans Are Dangerous, we weren't quite anticipating the...

Psychopaths on Wall Street

Psychopaths are the subject of endless fascination. We tend to apply that term loosely to people who engage in bad...

The Regulator Who Explained the World

Andy Haldane gave a speech this morning. It's co-authored with a couple new colleagues of his at the Bank of...

Talent Management When the Old Outnumber the Young

The population used to be shaped like a pyramid: lots of young people, a medium number of middle aged, and...

What Business Would Do to Restore U.S. Competitiveness

Our prior blog post posed the question, "Will Business Step Up or Step Out?" Will business leaders reconnect with their...

The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time

Why is it that between 25 and 50 per cent of people report feeling overwhelmed or burned out at work?...

The Kony 2012 "Controversy"

Last week, Invisible Children launched a brilliant video aimed at making Ugandan rebel warlord Joseph Kony "famous" in the interest...

Millennials Are the MacGyvers of Business

While writing our book Jugaad Innovation, we've come across many innovators in the U.S. who are using the jugaad mindset...

Your Coworkers See Your Office Differently

When people from several different countries share the same workplace, misunderstandings can generate friction. Sure, there are language issues and...

50 Laboratories of Opportunity

One thing that the Chinese do quite well — and that the U.S. could learn from — is to test...

The Value in Wowing Your Customers

A friend of mine in Dallas loves the local Chick-fil-A restaurant. The reason? An employee named Jose once asked my...

Trading Jobs for Military Bases

President Obama's recent appointment of an Interagency Trade Enforcement Committee to stop unfair trade and ensure a "level playing field"...

Is Dodd-Frank Too Complex to Work?

Often when an organizational problem occurs, the typical response is to create regulations to prevent that problem from happening again....

In Praise of Non-linear Career Moves

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Clean Energy Can Fuel Competitiveness

U.S. energy industries, from oil and gas to ethanol, wind, and solar, have long enjoyed lavish government subsidies and other...

Steve Jobs and The Bobby Knight School of Leadership

I believe that Steve Jobs was among the best CEOs of this generation because he created entirely new categories six...

Don't Let Your Job Search Depress You

If you are looking for a job right now, it is certain to take longer than you would like. The...

Corporate Sustainability Efforts: Feast or Famine?

Is corporate sustainability on the wane or growing more important to top executives? At the beginning of the year, two...

Harvard Business Review at SXSW 2012

HBR curated tweets from the 2012 SXSW conference about events featuring HBR Press authors and more. [View the story "Harvard...

Are Great Employees Overrated?

Curated tweets from Harvard Business Review's SXSW panel discussion on "Are Great Employees Overrated?" held on March 11, 2012. Introduction...

MBAs Should Take Competency Tests

MBA education is changing. As a result, it's fair to ask what, exactly, students now are learning. For one thing,...

Why Your Company Should Partner with Rivals

There's a flawed belief that your only 'friends' in business are the enemies of your enemy. At one time, this...

Would You Invest in This Kid?

In 2002, a 14-year-old Malawi boy named William Kamkwamba built a windmill using items he collected from a scrap yard...

Looking for a Job When You're No Longer Young

We operate in a business landscape driven by an obsession with youth. I should know. I used to work in...

How Start-Ups Can Maintain Company Culture While Growing

Over the past 3 three years, the number of employees at HubSpot has grown by over 800 percent. No company...

The $2,000 Car

Increasingly, Western companies are developing products in countries like China and India, and then distributing them globally. For example, GE...

Creating a Future for (American) Cleantech

American efforts to jumpstart the development of a cleantech economy have not been wildly successful to date. While there have...

Diversity Training Doesn't Work

"We've got another lawsuit," my friend and client Lana* told me over the phone. "Really?" I was honestly surprised. "What...

Innovation in Emerging Markets

I recently participated in a spirited panel discussion with Bruce Brown, Procter & Gamble's Chief Technology Officer, and Erich Joachimsthaler,...

The 5 Types of Work That Fill Your Day

<div>What type of work are you doing right now? Reactionary work? Problem-solving work? Insecurity work? A look at how to manage your work energy smartly.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/Fzis5m2X1rM" height="1" width="1"/>

The Social Networks of Emily Dickinson, Paul Gauguin & Charlotte Bronte

<div>Does the notion of the lone genius really hold true? Recent research shows that even famously reclusive creatives relied on collaborative networks.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/7HTWtWjwHCk" height="1" width="1"/>

7 Steps to Enhance U.S. Competitiveness

As we mentioned in an earlier blog post, the United States is poised for a manufacturing renaissance that is being...

How a New Partnership Can Help Smaller Firms Win

For Jeco Plastic Products, 2011 was a landmark year. Since 1979, the manufacturer has employed a 25-person staff, designing and...

A CEO Succession Horse Race Isn't Such a Bad Idea

When Johnson & Johnson named vice chairman Alex Gorsky as its next CEO, the company concluded a very public succession...

Getting Better vs Being Good

<div>Perfection isn't everything. By setting goals based on improvement - rather than looking smooth - you can stretch your potential and reduce your anxiety.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/mtVIArbSYUE" height="1" width="1"/>

#Grindworthy: March 8, 2012

Fast, effective conversation  You only have a little bit of time for person-to-person communication. How do you make the best of it; communicate your point and do it effectively?  Tom Searcy of INC. has 5 tips for how you can have a snappy and poignant conversation. To be a good worker, you need to have [...]

Getting a Job in Today's Market

An interview with John Lees, career strategist and author of How to Get a Job You'll Love. For more, see...

A Unified Theory of Social Change

Most conversations about changing the world eventually degenerate into despair or, after a hands-in-the-air "well, anyway..." segue, they lapse into...

Demand the (Right) Right Data

One of the responders to my last post asked, "Why are managers so tolerant of poor quality data?" One important...

A Remedy for Soaring Executive Pay: Focus Less on It

Given the growing sensitivity to widening income inequality in many developed economies, it is no wonder that criticism of soaring...

How Star Women and Star Men Fare Differently in the Workplace

With today's 101st anniversary of International Women's Day, it's a good time to reflect on how companies are doing with...

Risk Management in a Time of Global Uncertainty

Does your company still have a long way to go to develop more robust risk-management capabilities and create a more...

Why Social Marketing Is So Hard

Brands are spending a great deal of time and energy investing in platforms to get likes or pluses, and not...

Demographics Could Give the U.S. a Competitive Edge

The March issue of HBR on U.S. competitiveness strikes a pessimistic tone about certain demographic facts — the education gap...

Disrupting the Public Sector

Thanks to disruptive innovations, much of our world today looks radically different than it did just a decade or two...

India's Exploding Digital Economy

Recently, I had the privilege of moderating a conference of global entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in Mumbai — an event...

Three Ways Women Can Make Office Politics Work for Them

Raise your hand if you hate politics: The shady, behind-the-scenes deal-making. The tradeoffs where neither party is satisfied. The game-playing...

Four Steps to Building a Strategic Communications Capability

Do you have the confidence that every message and experience that customers have with your organization rings true and leaves...

Don't Get Tough with China, Get Even

Getting tough on China is becoming a popular idea. President Obama has established an Interagency Trade Enforcement Committee with a...

Can the U.S. Become a Base for Serving the Global Economy?

The competitiveness of the American economy depends disproportionately on the competitiveness of its multinational corporations, especially those headquartered in the...

Find a Job Using Disruptive Innovation

Disruptive innovators ask the right questions, observe the world like anthropologists, network for novel ideas, and experiment to make things...

Industry Knows No Gender

Natural resources is not a sector that people automatically associate with gender balance. In fact, most people assume that oil,...

Generational Perspectives Can Strengthen Your Strategy

Imagine a Gen Y employee is invited to a corporate strategy session. He listens to the presentation, focused on evaluating...

Marketing in Revolutionary Times

We're living in a time of uprisings — you just have to pick up the newspaper to know that. Depending...

Willy Franzen: How The Internet Has Changed The Job Hunt

<div>The Internet has fundamentally changed the way we search for jobs. We talk to the founder of OneDayOneJob.com about a 21st-century approach to finding work.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/mNAJR24YnLk" height="1" width="1"/>

Disruptive Innovation Explained

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March Skillshare classes at Grind

Want to learn something new? Check out these Skillshare classes being taught this month at Grind. Virtual Presentations: Make Sure They&#8217;re Listening! March 7th, 7pm Taught by Allon Yosha In today&#8217;s world, our interactions have become increasingly virtualized. Globalization and the internet have enabled us to connect with people in every corner of the earth [...]

Enhance Your Overseas Experience

As the world becomes increasingly global, the need for true global citizens to lead organizations in business, nonprofits, and government...

When Words Fail

Managers spend most of their time talking. Like wrenches for the plumber, words are our most frequently used tools of...

Managing the Information Avalanche

I recently heard newscaster Tom Brokaw respond to what seemed like an obvious question: "Did today's ubiquitous availability of information...

How Would You Restore U.S. Competitiveness?

The pages of HBR and hbr.org have in recent weeks been full of suggestions for how to make the U.S....

Blinded by Facebook

When big business leaders think about social media they tend to focus on three things: innovative technologies, marketing applications, and...

How to Educate More Creative Problem-Solvers

Technological innovation accounted for almost half of U.S. economic growth over the past 50 years, but the country's standing as...

New Math Will Drive a U.S. Manufacturing Comeback

Making the United States an even more attractive location for factories and investments is critical for the health of our...

Why You Need to Make Your Life More Automatic

Why is it that three prominent books published just during the past several months focused on the subject of willpower?...

Strengthen Your Workforce Through Volunteer Programs

Time-crunched employees are increasingly looking to their jobs to provide opportunities for the good deeds that they don't have the...

A Jobs Manifesto for Young Europe (and the Rest of the World)

Europe's young people are bearing the brunt of the fallout from the collapse of the financial system and the struggle...

What Africa's Entrepreneurs Can Teach the World

It's becoming ever clearer that entrepreneurship is the answer to the vexing economic questions facing Africa today: job creation, capital...

Three Questions You Should Ask About Your Cyber-Security

The past year has seen near-constant revelations of large, well-respected institutions suffering cyber-attacks. The most damaging attacks, however, often never...

How Top Brands Pull Customers into Orbit

The most successful companies in business today have something in common. This trait doesn't just make them better than the...

Green-to-Tee Strategy

For smart, talented, and ambitious people, winning is sometimes so easy that it makes true success elusive. That's because victories,...

Afraid to Innovate? Create an Airlock

I gave a talk at the Canadian Marketing Association in Toronto last week. Leaving the hall, I fell into step...

TED Becomes a Publishing Platform

The annual TED conference, held last weekend, used to be a small, exclusive, intimate affair in Monterey California. But it...

What the U.S. Has in Common with Emerging Markets

We should take a look at the most dynamic parts of today's global economy — the so-called emerging markets —...

It's Manufacturing's Turn for Special Treatment

Following up on his pledge to provide greater support for manufacturing in his State of the Union address, President Obama...

Procrastination Is Essential to Innovation

This post was co-authored with Bob Moesta, Managing Partner of The Re-Wired Group in Detroit. While it's written from my...

On The Road: How To Produce Great Work While Traveling The World

<div>"Travel more" is on almost everyone's bucket list. So why don't we act on it? Three veteran world travelers tell us how to take the plunge &amp; still produce great work.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/hFTLzrLbDLU" height="1" width="1"/>

Get Your Boss Out of Your Bedroom

I needed to talk to my boss. You see, I was having some issues. Not in the boardroom — but...

Career Plans Are Dangerous

"Where do you see yourself in five years?" Despite the tendency to slip in some of the questions Google asks...

#Grindworthy: March 2, 2012

Do you use your talents?  What are your talents? Are you doing what you love to do? You may have a great career and work hard, but are you using the skills that you have? Work to your strengths and feel stronger about what you do. Are you in your brilliance zone? Your brilliance zone [...]

Do Your People Trust You?

When we talk to managers, we often ask, "Do your people trust you?" Most are taken aback. It's not something...

U.S. Manufacturers Are Hurting Themselves by the Way They Hire

The United States is at a dangerous juncture: Manufacturing jobs are on the rise, but the growth is still fragile....

Is America Losing Its Edge in Clean-Energy Tech?

Amid all the concern over America's competitiveness, it's easy to overlook a sector where many U.S. companies are outperforming their...

Developing Global Leaders Is America's Competitive Advantage

As global companies focus their strategies on developed and emerging markets, they require substantial cadres of leaders capable of operating...

Meet Your Pinterest Customer

Pinterest is the social media darling of the month, growing madly and reported to be driving more traffic to third-party...

The Five Stages of Strategic Grief

Silicon Valley's been cracking with activity in the last few years — along with Melbourne, Australia and Santiago, Chile. According...

Tripping into Terra Incognita: How Mistakes Take Us To New Places

<div>A mistake is a collision between your perception and reality. As such, it's a terribly valuable asset.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/CRFfFRGk5Uc" height="1" width="1"/>

Are You Network Literate?

Reid Hoffman, co-founder and executive chair of LinkedIn and investor in Facebook, Zynga, and Groupon, sees networks. "It's not like...

Change Your Employees' Minds, Change Your Business

Many business leaders don't care why employees do anything as long as they follow the company's rules, processes, cultural norms...

Restoring America's Innovation Economy

An interview with Rosabeth Moss Kanter Harvard Business School professor and author of the HBR article Enriching the Ecosystem. For...

Trust Is Dead. Long Live Trust!

As business leaders pick up the post-recession pieces, I'm increasingly asked how companies can restore trust with employees. My answer:...

Send a Message to the Women in Your Company

Every day, of course, is a good day to work on improving the way that you engage and communicate with...

Job Creation: Focus on Programs, Not Politics

This election year, we'll all get rich if we earn a nickel each time a presidential hopeful vilifies culprits for...

Unglamorous Freelance Manufacturers Could Boost U.S. Competitiveness

The U.S. competitiveness debate too often devolves into a cry for more Apples and more Ciscos on American shores, when...

Get a Job with HBR this Month

No, we don't mean come work for us. (Though we are hiring). For the next 30 days, we'll be rolling...

How to Keep a Job Search Discreet

Looking for a job while you already have one can be stressful, especially in the age of social media when...

Smart Social Media Helps Jobs Find You

How does a customer-service expert in Seattle catch the attention of a hot San Francisco startup in San Francisco, 700...

The Silver Lining to Scarcity: It Drives Innovation

When times are good, businesses tend to stick with what's working. "It's served us well so far," goes the reasoning,...

Why Tech Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries Struggle to Raise Funds

A few years ago, while I was a first-year Ph.D. student in the engineering school at Johns Hopkins University, I...

Why Companies Are Betting Against Big Ideas

When given a choice between getting $1,000 with certainty, or having a 50% chance of getting $2,500, most people will...

A Leap Year Lesson on Correcting Leadership Drift

We all know why leap years exist, right? Our calendars get out of sink with the solar system so we...

Could Pixar's 'Secret Story Guidelines' Work for Your Team?

Believe it or not, Pixar was once a scrappy startup. The multi-billion dollar juggernaut with a near-perfect record of churning...

How Leaders Lose Their Luck

While researching our forthcoming book — Heart, Smarts, Guts, and Luck — my co-authors and I made a fascinating discovery:...

How Big a Competitive Threat Is China, Really?

Between 1945 and 1990, Japan went from rags to riches, entering the ranks of the world's wealthiest countries and posing...

Why Porter's Model No Longer Works

Imagine that you wanted a new home theater system. But instead of spending hours in Best Buy or on Amazon...

Energy Policy Is Fundamental to U.S. Competitiveness

The United States desperately needs an energy policy. It is fundamental to our economic growth, environmental sustainability and national security....

Who Are Your Organization's Entrepreneurs?

How useful would it be to identify the problem-solvers within your business? They're called entrepreneurs, and not all of them...

Do Social Deal Sites Really Work?

Editor's Note: This fictionalized case study will appear in a forthcoming issue of Harvard Business Review, along with commentary from...

UPS on Moving the U.S. at the Speed of Business

The U.S. economy is improving, but the recovery's been slower than expected. Why? The business leaders I talk to lack...

Break Though Your Mental Bureaucracy

To what extent do you compartmentalize? Or rather, do you ever put things into categories to understand them? Psychologists define...

Diversify Your Dreams

If you ever want to lie awake at night, go ahead and think about your "one thing" — the one...

Sarah Foelske of Bruce Mau Design: On Creativity, Collaboration & Jay-Z

<div>Is compassion contagious? We talk to BMD's Sarah Foelske about what it's like to lead as a woman and a designer &amp; why Jay-Z lyrics come in handy sometimes.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/EXxBToVdrLQ" height="1" width="1"/>

Reimagining Capitalism

While the global financial meltdown and its aftershocks have unleashed a flood of indignation, condemnation, and protest upon Wall Street,...

Learning from Microfinance's Woes

A few weeks ago, I attended a lecture about microfinance, and got sucker-punched. Expecting to hear a litany of pros...

Talent, Passion, and the Creativity Maze

We live in a world mad for talent. From Hollywood and sports to executive search firms and HR departments around...

Should You Bribe Your Colleagues to Innovate With You?

At the Chemical Heritage Foundation's recent seminar on advanced materials innovation, a half-dozen R&D leaders collectively commanding billions in spend...

Three Ways to Make Your IT More Nimble

If you want to improve how your organization develops, delivers and supports its products or services, it's hard to avoid...

It's Time to Bring Manufacturing Back to the U.S.

A growing number of executives of U.S.-based companies are repatriating their manufacturing capabilities — moving some production operations back from...

The U.S. Needs to Make More Jobs More Creative

In order to tackle its competitiveness challenges, America needs to harness the inherent creativity of its workforce. It is making...

The End of Football as We Know It

As much as companies like to tell you the customer is king, that's hardly true in most industries. Instead, major...

Collected Wisdom: 25 Bits of Advice on Making Ideas Happen

<div>What's the best making-ideas-happen advice you've ever received? Check the top 25 tips and quotes from our army of 99% Twitter followers.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/1SVdexaux30" height="1" width="1"/>

How to Take a Month Off

It's an elusive dream twinkling in executives' eyes: what if I could take an entire month off? The lure is...

Community Financing Breathes Life into a New U.S. Manufacturing Firm

Even in this contentious election year, all sides agree on one issue: The loss of American manufacturing jobs over the...

How CEO Pay Became a Massive Bubble

An interview with Mihir Desai Harvard Business School professor and author of the HBR article The Incentive Bubble. Download this...

#Grindworthy: February 23, 2012

Become your own mentor Having a career mentor can be amazing. You have someone who can push you in the right direction, help you make choices and give you advice. What do you do when you can’t find anyone who knows how to help? Take a lesson from Courtney Martin and become your own mentor. [...]

What You Can Control in a Tough Business Climate

Outside of Timisoara, Romania, near an industrial district that borders on beautiful countryside, is one of the strangest cornfields you...

The Problem with High Expectations

At 5 am I was lying in bed, awake, thinking. Actually, thinking is too generous a word for what I...

Quantifying the Gains from Increased Global Integration

In a previous post, I presented evidence that the world is far less globalized than most people believe, which implies...

How to Turn an Obstacle into an Asset

A popular post on this site, Nine Things Successful People Do Differently, provides a fabulous summary of what makes the...

Don't Let a Spreadsheet Decide Where You Locate Your Business

Michael Porter's article in the March issue of HBR on choosing the United States makes the point that in choosing...

The Great Repeatable Leader

Admiral Lord Nelson, Britain's famous naval leader, owed his enviable record of victories to the ability of his officers to...

Kicking Ass & Taking Donations: 9 Tips on Funding Your Kickstarter Project

<div>Have an idea that needs funding to get off the ground? We round up the collected wisdom from some of Kickstarter's most successful projects.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/F6Odwydm-WY" height="1" width="1"/>

How to Network with Executive Search Firms

As you grow in your career, it's important to grow your network with you. By the time they're 45 or...

Eco-Labeling: The Critical Questions to Ask

Will we see the day when all products carry environmental labels with data on carbon emissions and other impacts? Recent...

Social Means Freedom, for Better or for Worse

A Stanford Professor quit his job. But he doesn't plan to go to another prestigious university. Nope. He, like others,...

Introducing the New HBR iPad App

Some exciting news to share with the HBR community: The new HBR iPad app is now live in the iTunes...

Faced with Distraction, We Need Willpower

Mustering willpower is a struggle for almost everyone — and it's getting harder. We, as individuals and as a society,...

In Defense of Responsible Offshoring and Outsourcing

Let's get real — and back to basics. In an era of high unemployment, and especially in this political season...

Why We Don't Always Tell the Truth

When I was growing up, one of the principles in our house was that we had to tell the truth,...

Just How Important Is Manufacturing?

Having a strong domestic manufacturing base is vital to the United States maintaining its world leadership in innovation. That is...

Stop Email Overload

Complaints about email abound. Perhaps you've heard some of these or uttered them in pain yourself: I receive hundreds of...

Reward Value, Not Face Time

"My manager expects me to be at my desk from 9 to 5," a highly successful salesperson lamented during a...

Should Cinemas Raise Prices for Oscar-Winning Movies?

This Sunday many of us will be watching the red carpet arrivals and cheering for our favorite actresses, actors, and...

99% Music Mix - Make Your Own Luck

<div>Need to get into a work groove? Our latest 99% productivity mix creates a cocoon of focus with a steady 4/4 beat.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/ib-L_9OO5KM" height="1" width="1"/>

#Grindworthy: February 17, 2012

6 tips for being more optimistic Being optimistic can make your day a little brighter and your mood a little greater. That positive spin can take any situation and make it fantastic. Use these tricks from Geoffrey James to become more optimistic. Maintain your online privacy Generally, the words “privacy” and “internet” are accompanied by [...]

The Catastrophe of Success

Something odd and interesting happens to a lot of people who become very successful. Once the initial thrill wears off,...

A New Era for Global Leadership Development

The realities of globalization, with increasing emphasis on emerging markets, present corporate leaders with enormous challenges in developing the leaders...

When The Customer Isn't Right

The longest line on a busy Saturday afternoon in a celebrated New York department store is at the returns desk:...

Multiplication Philanthropy

Leverage is the mantra of the times in philanthropy, and rightly so. People want to know that the charities they...

U.S. Companies Versus the U.S. Economy

It's obvious to anyone paying attention that the United States needs well-educated, technically skilled workers if it's to remain competitive...

Pinterest as Free Market Research

My first reaction was panic. You know how it goes. First I heard about Pinterest. Then I heard that it...

Don't Let Customers Freak Out Over Price Hikes

Last year's business pages were filled with episodes of consumer outrage over price hikes. Within hours of Verizon's announcement of...

How One CEO Grows Her Business with Feeling

What do you think causes millions of people to miss work and school in developing economies? Illness? Lack of childcare?...

When Should You Tell Your Boss You're Pregnant?

An interview with Tiziana Casciaro and Lotte Bailyn on the HBR case study When to Make Private News Public. Tiziana...

Why Off-Sites Should Go Virtual

When I was the chief marketing officer at Deloitte & Touche, we would have our annual leadership off-site in Las...

Don't Dismiss Your Gen X Talent

Is the tide finally turning? The Labor Department recently reported that the number of Americans quitting their jobs has begun...

Nature, Nurture, Know-How

I feel privileged to have had some amazing experiences in my work with top performers in business, sports, and the...

Why We Use Social Media in Our Personal Lives — But Not for Work

"We've spent a fortune on collaborative technology, but no one is using it ... or if they are, it's for...

The Market that Needs a Market Maker

Do you wonder why there were an average of 8 million jobs posted online in the U.S. every month of...

The Twin Engines of All Great Companies

Passing through an airport lounge the other day, I saw television images of Greek, Italian and Spanish legislators debating austerity...

Corporate Leadership Is Still All About the Boys

Two consecutive interviews I did last week, one with a man and the other with a woman, seemed to sum...

Spencer Tunick: On Stealing Cameras, Controversy, and Kickstarter

<div>"<span class="blockquote">You can have an idea, but you have to find the materials to manifest it," says acclaimed nudes photographer Spencer Tunick. </span></div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/lAVXicRBHrQ" height="1" width="1"/>

Your Friends Are Now Your Customers

When Facebook announced its recent $5 billion IPO, many applauded the company's mission to connect friends and make the world...

Negotiating Innovation and Control

The other day I had coffee with a friend who was complaining about her company's ability to innovate. "That iteration-itis...

What's Next For Guangdong?

There are news reports almost every day about factories downing their shutters in Guangdong, one of China's most populous and...

Why Some Ads Go Viral and Others Don't

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East Meets West: Who Has Better Leaders?

I recently returned from a trip to Beijing where I was working with senior managers to develop leadership skills in...

How to Innovate When You're Not the Big Boss

A few years ago, Brad Anderson, then CEO of Best Buy, told me something both provocative and profound. We were...

It's Time to Acknowledge CEO Loneliness

From extravagant compensation packages to heated boardroom clashes to dramatic exits, misbehaving chief executive officers dominated management headlines in 2011....

Welcome to the American Competitiveness Insight Center

One of the pleasures of my job is that it requires me to travel abroad several times a year. These...

Making the U.S. Competitive Again

Twenty-one authors. Fourteen articles. A lot of different ideas about how the U.S. can become more economically competitive, and more...

Will Business Step Up or Step Out?

The current discourse on U.S. competitiveness is dominated by the question, "What must government do?" To some extent, the emphasis...

Who's Moving Their Company Beyond Bureaucracy?

We are delighted to announce the winners of the Beyond Bureaucracy Challenge, the second leg of the HBR/McKinsey M-Prize for...

Something Old, Something New: A Shortcut To Your Best Work

<div>Producing great, new creative work on command is tough. The next time you're stuck, consider taking a trip down memory lane.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/whmKugTmz5M" height="1" width="1"/>

What's the Biggest Threat to U.S. Competitiveness?

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What Can Business Do to Bolster U.S. Competitiveness?

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Why Love Matters More (And Less) Than You Think

So, how was your Valentine's Day? Me? I had an anti-Valentine's day at my local bar with the ghost of...

There Is No Career Ladder

Reaching the apex of the career ladder by gradually getting promoted to the top is a thing of the past....

When the Help You Get Isn't Helpful

Have you ever received unsolicited, off-target advice? Some people just instinctually offer solutions when they see someone in need. But...

Rules For the Social Era

"This business model is right for a company selling Purina Dog Chow, circa 1970." "There's no way we could ever...

The Changing Role of Global Leaders

In November 2010, to big fanfare at Unilever's London headquarters, chief executive Paul Polman boldly articulated a new strategy. The...

What Angie's List Knows About Customer Reviews

When we started Angie's List in 1995 — going door-to-door in Columbus, OH to find reliable contractors for my co-founder's...

On Valentine's Day, an Ode to Leadership and Love

Here it is Valentine's Day, nine days after my beloved New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots to win...

Help Women Take the Stage

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, has been speaking out a lot lately about subtle dynamics that hold women back from...

It's Harder than Ever to Be a Senior Executive

The job of the senior executive is much more complicated today than it was a decade or two ago —...

Does Your Portfolio Have a Jeremy Lin?

His team is enjoying a five game winning streak. He's ranked fourth on the NBA Player Efficiency Ratings. He's played...

Why China's Investments Aren't a Threat

The notion of the so-called "China Threat" often pervades the business media. According to many writers — who belong to what...

Creating the New Standards of Global Business

Business has become one of the primary players in structuring the global economy and, by extension, global governance. This places...

Ben Pundole: On Hospitality, Curation & Rolling with the Punches

<div>Entrepreneur Ben Pundole talks about the value of curating people's experiences, thriving in a bad economy, and his new hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/GonRJxB-abE" height="1" width="1"/>

Africa's Chance to Leapfrog the West

You've heard about the African Renaissance, right? The Aid Bosses, once the unquestioned successors in Africa to the joint heirloom...

Wooing the Promiscuous Chinese Consumer

Companies doing business in China constantly struggle to convert brand awareness into loyalty. A marketer will invest furiously to ensure...

Idea Watch: Harnessing Creativity

An interview with Andy O'Connell and Scott Berinato, editors of the Idea Watch section of HBR and The Daily Stat....

#Grindworthy: February 9, 2012

What can you learn from going undercover? You don’t have to don a disguise to find out how your company functions, but the insights you get from going to the core of your company are invaluable.  In this article from the Harvard Business Review, Robert M. Galford points out the strengths and flaws you could [...]

Are Successful People Nice?

Since Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence, we've recognized the importance of tuning into social and emotional factors in the workplace. But...

Managing the "Crazy Ideas" Conundrum

The most painfully awkward debates I hear in ostensibly innovative organizations revolve around "crazy ideas." When unexpected challenges arise, what...

How to Start the Big Project You've Been Putting Off

I want to write a screenplay. I wanted to write one last year, but other work took more time than...

How to Get Promoted (Anywhere in the World)

Michael Black is an American employee working in China for one of the country's oldest and most traditional consumer products...

The Case of the Rolling Stone (that Gathers No Moss) Resume

What would you think if a job candidate sent you a resume listing six jobs held in the last four...

How Employers Can Help Solve the Skills Gap

In my consulting work with large, multinational companies, I see a pervasive anxiety among managers who have trouble finding people...

The Most Important Question You Can Ask

Why are you here? It's arguably life's most important question, but is it one you ask yourself? I recognize it's...

The Interview Prep Cheat Sheet: What Hiring Managers Really Want To Know

<div>Getting hired is all about inspiring confidence. A look at how to tell the right story about your work experience.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/pMCMy88tNu8" height="1" width="1"/>

Yahoo's Shakeup Demands Fearlessness

Four longtime Yahoo board members, including the chairman, are leaving the company. In this one move, Yahoo is trying to...

Managerial Intuition Is a Harmful Myth

I've been learning a lot from Danny Kahneman's great book Thinking Fast and Slow. Kahneman is the world's leading expert...

Bounce Back from Job Search Dejection

Imagine you're looking for a new job. Right now. You have a first-class strategy. You're off to a good start....

Win on Service in a Tough Economy

Great service is always a differentiator, even more so when people are hurting. The service companies that thrived coming out...

Focus HR on Process Improvement

To deliver more value, the human resources function needs to spend more time accelerating operational improvement and less time on...

How GE Is Attracting, Developing, and Retaining Global Talent

We recently convened a team of 21 millennials from various GE businesses and functions around the world for a special...

Don't Confuse Passion with Competence

The most successful innovators are consistently portrayed as possessing a passion that borders on dogmatism. They work tirelessly to bend...

America's Next Top Engineer: She Needs Your Models

Imagine the world in 2030, more resource-constrained than ever—but then suddenly benefitting from a breakthrough approach to harnessing wind energy....

The 5 Whys

[this post includes video]

Walmart Broadens ROI for Green Power

At the recent GreenBiz Forum in New York, I was surprised by an on-stage interview with Fred Bedore, an executive...

Three Lessons for Social TV

You may have noticed something was missing throughout the nation's most social sporting event of the year. The Super Bowl...

Making Bad Analytics Good in China

The virtues of analytics are well known. From supply chain to marketing and even employees, if you can measure, you...

Wanted: Idea Fusers

It's become pretty much common knowledge that great innovation springs from the ability to pull two unlike things together to...

New Books from the Press for February

Check out these new and forthcoming books from HBR Press: Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the...

How To Jumpstart Your Creative Career in a Bad Economy

<div style="background-color: transparent;">When times are tough, it's not enough to play the waiting game. A shortlist of resources to help you take action and get your career into gear.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/ftLSb1LDljY" height="1" width="1"/>

How To Jumpstart Your Creative Career in a Bad Economy

<div style="background-color: transparent;">When times are tough, it's not enough to play the waiting game. A shortlist of resources to help you take action and get your career into gear.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/5Da3pGOH9-s" height="1" width="1"/>

When to Give Up on Your Goals

A few years ago, I had a brilliant New Year's resolution: I'd arrange to play squash with my friend Ben...

What Women Want in Their Leaders

In her first week as Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde spoke for the greater inclusion of women in...

Make a Good Impression in 30 Seconds

This post was co-authored with Holly Newman. Here in the U.S., the Super Bowl this weekend showed us the power...

Zuckerberg May Need to Fail

The forthcoming Facebook IPO gives us lots to talk about. It is likely to be the largest in history (cool)....

The Revolution Inside AmEx's Nextpedition

American Express has launched a travel service call Nextpedition. It's interesting and a little odd. On a Nextpedition vacation, we...

Africa Is Open for Business

Angola is offering financial aid to debt-ridden Portugal. The Economist recently declared Africa a "hopeful continent" after years of writing...

Layering: Multitasking That Actually Works

<div>Multitasking isn't all bad. Find out what activities you can layer on top of each other to save time without cutting effectiveness.</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/The99Percent/~4/Zc-Tr1YHPqo" height="1" width="1"/>

Is "Command and Collaborate" the New Leadership Model?

The theme at Davos this year was "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models." One of the models up for discussion...

The Five Proofs of Facebook's IPO

The record-breaking Facebook IPO proves a number of things. But one thing it won't prove is that investors who buy...

Your Marketing Can Keep Pace with Facebook and Google

The reality of web marketing is that almost all of it happens on platforms that are owned by others. Platform...

#Grindworthy: February 3, 2012

Be ahead of the curve to be relevant With everything changing so fast, it’s hard to stay ahead of forming trends. How do you make sure you stay relevant?  Paul Williams offers tips on how to keep yourself ahead of the curve. Turn conflict into creativity Collaboration is the key to new ideas and great [...]

The End of Customer Service Heroes

An interview with Frances Frei and Anne Morriss, authors of Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the...

February Skillshare classes at Grind

This month, learn something new with Skillshare classes at Grind. &#160; How To Negotiate Your Salary Like an FBI Agent Jim Hopkinson Thursday February 2, 2012 7 pm to 8:30 pm Do Tank You&#8217;ve networked like a politician, found your dream job, and nailed the interview. It&#8217;s crunch time, and the Evil HR Lady leans [...]

#Grindworthy: January 26, 2012

The new gauge of success: personal fulfillment How do you know when you’ve achieved success? Is it monetary, big house, big car? Or is it personal, big love and big gestures? INC has an idea. Geoffrey James believes that “real success comes from the quality of your relationships and the emotions that you experience each [...]

Learn something new from Skillshare at Grind

As you may have previously read, Grind has partnered with Skillshare to bring a variety of interesting and insightful classes to our space. Check out some of the classes below, register online, and learn something new. As Skillshare says, &#8220;the future belongs to the curious.&#8221; &#160; &#160; Ready to build your website? Nate Cooper Monday, [...]

#Grindworthy: January 19, 2012

It’s simple. Hire good people. Building a team sounds daunting, particularly when you have a focus on “hiring.” But what if it wasn’t just about that? What if it were about talent? In this article, DJ Patil discusses how you should be looking for the skills you want and the people you want to work [...]

#Grindworthy: January 13, 2012

Use your time efficiently Work is a big part of life, but it doesn’t have to be your entire life. If you use your time efficiently, you can find more hours in the day to enjoy your time. Anthony K. Tjan has tips on how to work efficiently, accomplish more, and enjoy your time. Proof [...]

#Grindworthy: January 5, 2012

Rock your new position Career advancements are great, but how do you handle the new responsibilities that come with the new position? Elizabeth Grace Saunders and the 99% have the tips to help you adjust. Resolve to live like a free radical The lifestyle of a free radical is exciting and challenging. This year, as [...]

#Grindworthy: December 29, 2011

Your title? Free radical As a free radical, you know that your skills are niche. In today’s changing work culture, conventional positions are being broken down to their most basic pieces and restructured as needed to best benefit the company. Now is the time to create the position that’s right for you, with the skills [...]

Skillshare Classes at Grind

Skillshare is a community marketplace to learn anything from anyone. Their mission is to democratize education by empowering anyone to be a teacher. Now, Skillshare and Grind have teamed up to present interesting classes hosted in our collaborative space, taught by free radicals. As Skillshare says (and Grind agrees) &#8220;We believe that learning should happen [...]