The Best of Harvard Business Review

Why do so many big companies get poor returns on all the money they invest in innovation? A large body of research suggests that it’s because their managers tend to think novel ideas are “deviant” and…

«Why do so many big companies get poor returns on all the money they invest in innovation? A large body of research suggests that it’s because their managers tend to think novel ideas are “deviant” and resist them. As a result such ideas get watered down to make them less threatening—or get squashed altogether.»

The accelerated pace of technological change and, most recently, the advent of AI are reshaping jobs and organizations in ways that call for constant career reinvention. So we all need to learn how to…

We’re hitting a tipping point for artificial intelligence: With ChatGPT and other AI models that can communicate in plain English, write and revise text, and write code, the technology is suddenly…

«Until now, AI has primarily been aimed at problems where failure is expensive, not at tasks where occasional failure is cheap and acceptabl»

ChatGPT, from OpenAI, shows the power of AI to take on tasks traditionally associated with “knowledge work.” But the future won’t just involve tasks shifting from humans to machines. When technology…

Burnout is the result of chronic stress and, at work, that stress tends accumulate around your experiences of workload, values, reward, control, fairness, and community. If any are lacking or out of…

«The bottom line is this: The more chronic stress we face, no matter where it’s coming from, the closer we get to burning out.»

Whether you want to change jobs or prepare for the next-level role, the most important thing to know about upskilling is that every employee needs to be doing it all the time. Jobs are changing as…

«With rapid changes in technology, including digitization and automation, the World Economic Forum projects that 50% of all jobs will require a change in skillsets by 2027.»

Every design project extends beyond the brief. No matter how straightforward and discrete a project seems at first, it will unfold in the context of a complicated, networked, and messily human organization.

Three lessons from Infosys.

«we found that a persistent set of small, orchestrated changes is the best approach to drive large and lasting change at an organization.»

Raising ideas or concerns to managers can raise your profile positively, but not if your busy manager doesn’t have the headspace for it. The authors present research suggesting that people who wait…

Management behaviors that foster employee engagement

Covid-19 has shown how companies can work together to solve problems.

To do well in business, a company needs to be both robust and nimble.

“Unfocus” enhances resilience, creativity, and decision making.

Too often, when we need to make a difficult decision, we rush through it to avoid sitting with uncomfortable emotions. But channelling those emotions — a process the author calls “emotional…

«But the exercise of emotional bookending helped him realize that there were other ways to get the business acumen that the company needs.»

The approach, once used primarily in product design, is now infusing corporate culture.

«There’s a shift under way in large organizations, one that puts design much closer to the center of the enterprise. But the shift isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about applying the principles of design to the way people work.»

The alternative is messier, but more democratic.

It’s about so much more than your technology.

«What is needed is a shift in mindset, culture, and talent, including upskilling and reskilling your workforce so that they are future-ready»

Lessons from three companies that changed how they create value.

Transformational leaders are exceptional communicators. In this piece, the author outlines four communication strategies to help motivate and inspire your team: 1) Use short words to talk about hard…

An outdated way of thinking about peak performance is: “maximum effort = maximum results.” But research shows that it doesn’t actually work that way in reality. Here’s what actually works: The 85%…

«The 85% rule counterintuitively suggests that to reach maximum output, you need to refrain from giving maximum effort. Operating at 100% effort all of the time will result in burnout and ultimately less-optimal results.»

When women fail to achieve career goals, leaders are prone to attribute it to a lack of self-confidence. And when women demonstrate high levels of confidence through behaviors, such as being…

«confidence is a highly gendered word aimed at and adopted by both women and men to explain away the slower progression of women at work.»

The authors, executive coaches for women leaders, wanted to understand why some women are able to sustain and maintain career momentum, despite the systemic, structural problems women — and especially…

It’s essential for strategic thinking.

«Cultivating silence, as Hal Gregersen writes in a recent HBR article, “increase[s] your chances of encountering novel ideas and information and discerning weak signals.»

New research shows that outstanding performance is the product of years of deliberate practice and coaching, not of any innate talent or skill.

«All the superb performers he investigated had practiced intensively, had studied with devoted teachers, and had been supported enthusiastically by their families»

A step-by-step guide to pare down your to-do list.

«When you stop doing the things that make you feel busy but aren’t getting you results, then you end up with more than enough time for what matters.»

To combat stress and burnout, employers are increasingly offering benefits like virtual mental health support, spontaneous days or even weeks off, meeting-free days, and flexible work scheduling.…

«Detachment leads to better recovery and even improvements in work-related outcomes, such as performance and engagement»

Time is your most valuable resource. Spend it carefully.

«Most of us are incredibly careful about how we spend our money. But when it comes to our time, we hardly give it a second thought.»