Musings about Leadership, Decision Making, and Competitive Strategy
Fidji Simo, CEO of Applications, recently said, “Companies rarely become bureaucratic all of a sudden. It happens one unnecessary meeting, one extra approval, one small frustration at a time. Each makes it only 1 or 2% harder to do your job, which is why they’re easy to ignore, but those frictions compound.” She offered this quote in the context of an article about OpenAI's process for identifying…
Several years ago, former Market Leader and Likewise CEO Ian Morris spoke to my students at Bryant University (where Ian graduated with a Bachelor's degree in the early 1990s before completing his MBA at HBS). Ian offered a few wonderful pieces of career advice. First, he always told the students to "leave well" when changing jobs. Give extra notice, help train your successor, and preserve…
This summer, my wife and I have traveled quite a bit. We have had the privilege of some amazing customer service experiences. One thing, in particular, has stood out. Some customer service professionals got to know us, remembered our names and our preferences, and anticipated our needs and desires before we articulated them. Sometimes, they remembered our favorite drink order. In other cases, they…
What's the key ingredient to high performance when teams function in demanding, high-stress environments? Mary Waller and her co-authors have studied this question in the context of airplane cockpit crews. They published a paper recently titled "More than a feeling: rapport and complex task performance in teams." They examined three elements of rapport within these teams while they worked in…
Do constraints and limits enhance creativity and innovation? Yes, David Epstein argues that they can, bringing together several strands of research, coupled with some amazing stories, in his terrific book titled Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better. For example, Epstein tells the story of the terrific young pianist, Keith Jarrett, who was scheduled to play a concert in Cologne, Germany.…
Former Baxter International CEO and current Kellogg Professor Harry Kraemer has written a terrific column titled, " What Every New CEO Should Do In Their First 30 Days. " His lessons apply to people who take on new leadership roles at all levels. My favorite piece of advice focuses on finding the right sounding board. You need to keep a few truth-tellers close to you. These are the people who will…
Are you listening to me? This thought comes to mind for many of us during conversations. How can we tell that someone is listening? Conventional wisdom is that body language and non-verbal cues indicate attentiveness. Is the counterparty nodding in agreement, making good eye contact, and leaning forward into the conversation? If so, they must care about what I'm saying. If not, then they are…
CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images This year, the United States, Mexico, and Canada will host the World Cup to much fanfare. Soccer enthusiasts are excited about the competition. They look forward to some thrilling games and the prospect of their country coming out on top. Off the field, an economic issue bears examination: Does hosting the World Cup make financial sense? Holy Cross Professor…
I recently encountered an organization with two main business units: the large core business and a smaller adjacent unit. The enterprise as a whole was doing quite well, though it competed in a market that was becoming increasingly challenging. Senior executives and board members lamented that the core business, while quite healthy, lagged behind several industry-leading competitors. They pointed…
https://esheninger.blogspot.com/ I didn't have time. I was too busy. My schedule became too hectic. We have all made these excuses when we didn't achieve our goals. Of course, these explanations included more than a bit of truth. Competing priorities and packed schedules do, in part, become an obstacle to achieving our goals. However, new research suggests that how we talk about time might really…
Source: Fox Sports Great luxury brands such as Brunello Cucinelli, Patek Philippe, Hermes, and Ferrari use deliberate scarcity and exclusivity to optimize brand equity, enhance willingness-to-pay, and distinguish themselves from the competition. Most people would not consider the National Football League (NFL) a luxury brand. Yet, the NFL traditionally benefited from scarcity and exclusivity .…
When we were young students, we often remarked to our teachers: "This subject is useless to me. When am I ever going to use this knowledge in the real world?" Teachers everywhere cringe at this comment. Today, many people are questioning the value of higher education as a whole. Schools are scrambling to demonstrate their graduates' return on investment. Institutions should be focused on helping…
As I teach college students, I notice that some cope with adversity with a steady hand, demonstrating calm and resilience. They ask for help when needed, but they don't make excuses. They push through difficult situations. Others become overwhelmed when something goes wrong in one facet of their life, and they allow those challenges to disrupt other aspects of their life. They struggle to…
Conventional wisdom suggests that we should ask AI chatbots to adopt an expert persona to elicit better answers. According to this advice, prompts will yield better responses if they include statements such as "Imagine that you are a world class statistician" or "Think like an expert engineer." Some of the major models (such as Claude and ChatGPT) advise users to engage in this type of prompt…
I'm pleased to announce the publication of newest strategic management case study, Costco Wholesale Club: The Gas Station Strategy. The case explores the company's business model and the decision to open its first standalone gas station in the nation. The case study also examines the psychological principles at play when people shop at Costco. The case study was published by the William Davidson…
Some people dread small talk. They just want to get on with the business at hand. Why bother with the chit-chat about the weekend, the kids, or last night's episode of Rooster? Research, however, demonstrates that small talk has value , helping us build relationships that facilitate more effective collaboration. Moreover, small talk can enhance well-being. In a recent Inc. article, Henna Pryor…
We love those wonderful stories about how people learn from failure. We champion the practices in certain industries (such as healthcare, the military, and commercial aviation) in which organizations improve based on systematic reflection. Yet, in a new study, Suresh Muthulingam and Kumar Rajaram find that Hollywood production teams do not seem to learn from failure effectively . Perhaps we should…
Several months ago, I wrote about how many professional sports coaches do not win a championship in their first gig as a head coach . Instead, they win in their second tenure, or even later. I suggested that we don't see many CEOs in business get a second chance if they fail during their first tenure as a chief executive. Today, however, I read about one leader who is thriving during her second…
Remember when Allbirds became the "cool" shoe that offered comfort and plenty of virtue signaling about sustainability. People such as Larry Page and Barack Obama wore the sneakers. The company went public in 2021, reaching a valuation at one point of more than $4 billion. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that the company sold its intellectual property and other assets and liabilities to…
Why do we get caught by surprise at times? A competitor catches us off guard with an innovative new product launch. A new social trend emerges that shifts consumer tastes substantially. A sudden shift in workforce engagement and employee turnover stuns us. How can we avoid getting surprised by such changes? In a new study, Nir Halevy, Elizabeth Miclau, and Serena Lee argue that the traditional…
Source: https://chatmaxima.com/ Cover letters used to provide insight to hiring managers and helped them identify which candidates to select for an interview. A well-written cover letter signaled something about the quality of a candidate. Moreover, a well-tailored letter also could signal that a candidate was serious about the particular job opening. Do cover letters still have signaling value in…
Have We Failed to Prepare Gen Z Properly for the Workforce? NYU Professor Tessa West tackles this question in today's Wall Street Journal. She argues that many recent college graduates do not have the social skills required to communicate clearly, manage conflict, and respond well to constructive feedback. She argues that they lack these skills for three main reasons: 1. West points out that a…
Lately, we hear a great deal about the value of radical transparency. Consultants argue that leaders need to share information broadly with members of their organization. They argue that radical transparency builds buy-in, trust, and commitment. Sounds sensible, right? Is there a downside though? What risks does this approach create? Martin Gutmann and Antoni Lacinai examine this issue in a new…
Twenty-three years ago, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board issued its comprehensive report on the 2003 Space Shuttle Accident. My colleagues Amy Edmondson, Richard Bohmer, and I began an intensive research project about the tragedy, and we published a case study , book chapter , and Harvard Business Review article with our analysis. We argued that the failed mission demonstrated how and why…
You would like to learn about a particular topic. You have two options. You can search online for information, which AI tools and search engines summarize quickly for you. Alternatively, you could dig deeper, read an article or two, listen to a podcast, and... maybe even read a book on the subject! How much do we rely on the easy route to knowledge, and how confident are we that we have become…