Businesses in every sector, especially global corporations, have been waking up to the fact that the only way forward is to convert to sustainable practices to fight climate change – mostly because, as the saying goes, there is no “Planet B.” As firms shift their focus from long-term growth to the long-term survival of their businesses…
Following a quiet though valiant year-long battle with cancer, Clayton Christensen died Jan. 23, 2020. Clay was many things to many people. A renowned Harvard Business School professor (he loved to teach, above all else). The world’s most influential management thinker. A prolific and inspiring writer. A powerful presenter. An encouraging and empowering colleague. A…
Today’s leaders are dealing with unprecedented changes, and an unpredictable and challenging future. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, with its explosion of new technologies, is forcing companies of every size, in all industries, to reevaluate everything – from how we think about and do our jobs and create business growth to what it takes to inspire…
In the very near future, robots will be able to fully perform key tasks and jobs ranging from educating children to caring for the sick. In order for them to be truly helpful to humans, they must understand us, our emotions, our many differences and our unpredictability. Dr. Ayanna Howard, a renowned roboticist, AI expert and professor at…
Inequality negatively impacts communities and employers alike. Although many point to the “skills gap” there is another, better-hidden chasm that limits access to opportunity: a connection gap. After all, 50 percent of jobs come from a personal connection. Consider too the projection that companies will face a significant shortage of skilled workers in years to come. The…
With the holiday season in full swing, minds often turn to family gatherings, festive parties – and, of course, food. But while we in developed countries take it for granted that we can generally eat what and however much we want, that bounty may not last. Climate change, epidemic viruses infecting livestock and high population…
The common assumption about success is that it requires choosing between one’s career and personal life or sacrificing one for the other. Stew Friedman, Wharton professor and global authority on leadership and performance, has found in over three decades of working with senior executives and leaders that achieving work/life balance is a myth. The key to success and personal fulfillment,…
How did startups and grassroots activists get the upper hand over gigantic corporations and establishment politicians? Whether for good or ill, the big winners of the past decade – from market disruptors like Uber and Airbnb to political insurgents like Barack Obama and Donald Trump – have been those who harness our growing appetite to…
A report by McKinsey indicates that 62 percent of executives believe they will need to either replace or retrain a quarter or more of their staff within the next five years. Though digitization and automation are often assumed to be good for firms’ bottom lines, in practice, many organizations face a shortage of employees with the skills needed to…
Imagine you are in a high-level strategy meeting, and your team is attempting to arrive at a solution to an important problem. What is your instinctive course of action? The natural response of somebody who, understandably, does not want to appear unprepared, ill-informed or indecisive is to deliberate internally before speaking, and then deliver a…
Debates over artificial intelligence (AI) tend to focus on what the technology can do – what jobs it will perform better than humans, and what industries it will transform. Iyad Rahwan, MIT Media Lab professor, renowned AI developer and highly-regarded computer scientist, focuses his research on the kinds of tasks at which AI will excel or need to…
Today’s executives face more pressure than ever before to deliver results while navigating a brand through the treacherous waters of financial and reputational risk. In a recent article for Harvard Business Review, legendary management expert Michael Porter and dean of the Harvard Business School Nitin Nohria analyzed how leading CEOs organize and spend their time. The authors concluded that while business…
Will AI and machine learning leave us without jobs or allow us to perform our functions better? Some theorists believe the former, that technology will take over, and make our jobs obsolete. Stern Speakers represents some of the most notable scholars and practitioners that believe in getting ahead of technology to design it properly from the…
Dr. Ayanna Howard’s childhood hero was the Bionic Woman. Now, she is mentoring and inspiring young girls and women in STEM and other disciplines, proving no career or vision is out of reach and the sky is no longer the limit. From her management at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to her current role as the chair of the…
Automation may solve the immediate problems of reducing costs and completing routine tasks; but when leaders take such a narrow view of it they fail to raise the big questions required to solve deeper business challenges. Hal Gregersen’s just-published MIT Sloan Management Review article, “Digital Transformation Opens New Questions — and New Problems to Solve”…
Is it possible to literally read someone’s mind? Mental telepathy is often thought of as a product of science fiction, but according to Dr. Mary Lou Jepsen, acclaimed inventor, scientist, entrepreneur, futurist and gifted speaker, it’s an imminent reality. Dr. Jepsen, who was also a professor at the renowned MIT Media Lab, is leading the revolution in…
On August 2, 2018, Apple became the world’s first ever trillion-dollar company. You may or may not be reading this on an iPhone, iPad or MacBook, but no matter your digital device of choice, there’s no denying Apple and its unique technology have made their mark on the world. To get to be worth $1 trillion,…
How does your organization view communication technology? Does digital connectivity enhance human interaction, or replace it? In an op-ed for the New York Times, renowned social psychologist Sherry Turkle took a powerful and thought-provoking look at the impact of technology on human empathy and connectedness. Her conclusions demonstrate why, in an increasingly impersonal age, retaining a human touch will…
