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Management

  • Algorithms Trap Us in the Familiar. Can They Also Spark Breakthroughs?

    Gary Waters/Ikon Images Algorithmic tools promise to democratize access to knowledge and thus spark creativity and innovation, but research we conducted revealed a hidden risk: Those tools may be silently narrowing organizations’ creative potential by suppressing the value of expertise. The fault lies not with the experts but with the hidden architecture of the tools…

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  • The Five Inclusive Behaviors Board Chairs Overlook

    Curt Merlo/theispot.com Many companies around the world have made significant progress in adding a higher proportion of board directors from traditionally underrepresented groups, such as women and people of color. But despite the increased diversity, many boards lag on inclusivity — that is, ensuring that diverse voices are actually heard and that all board members…

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  • What Gets Your Best Employees to Stay

    Chris Gash/theispot.com A recent battle for AI talent illustrates how difficult it is for companies to retain key employees. In 2025, OpenAI’s stock-based compensation averaged roughly $1.5 million per employee — unprecedented for a pre-IPO company — yet OpenAI still experienced high-profile defections. Rivals such as Meta were reportedly extending offers in the hundreds of…

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  • The Power of Opportunity Mindset in Hiring

    Patrick George/Ikon Images Every organization, and every hiring manager, wants to know how to hire the best people. And every company wants to feel like it has an edge over its competitors. But let me ask you a personal question: Can you think back to a moment when someone in a decision-making position took a…

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  • Why Water Management Is a Strategic Concern

    Dante Terzigni/theispot.com We live on a blue planet where water appears to be plentiful. But there are strong warning signs indicating that our reliance on the fresh water we perceive to be abundant will need to change. Although water covers 70% of the Earth’s surface, only 0.5% of it is effectively usable. Further, global water…

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  • Leveling Up the Helpfulness of Online Reviews

    You can find online reviews for just about everything these days.  Restaurants get five-star reviews on Yelp for quality food and service. Popular videos on YouTube and TikTok get likes. Even service providers like medical doctors, real-estate agents, and plumbers get reviewed on websites like Google and Trustpilot.  Online reviews have an obvious benefit, says…

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  • How to End Things Well

    Aad Goudappel/theispot.com Most leadership advice is written for beginnings — how to launch initiatives, build momentum, scale ideas, and manage new projects. Far less attention is given to the work of ending something well. Yet endings are everywhere in organizational life. A team is disbanded. A project is closed. A product is retired. A partnership…

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  • AI Could Help Researchers Get Funding—But at What Cost?

    From helping business students with their homework to assessing people’s empathy, large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Claude are having a meaningful impact on more and more aspects of our lives.  While many of us are just starting to get comfortable with AI’s role in our work, scientists have actually been leveraging AI to…

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  • How to Avoid Innovation One-Hit Wonders

    Andy Carter/Ikon Images Innovation leaders often know how to manage success well. A fairly good idea is recognized, a strong contributor is rewarded, and the lessons from the win are carried into the next team project. In many cases, that is exactly the right organizational response.   But, sooner or later, most organizations have a…

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  • Stop Prompting AI. Start Directing It

    James Yang/theispot.com The Research The authors drew on two streams of research for this article. The first was a qualitative study of AI-assisted discovery that identified four pathways by which AI generates surprising insights during analytical work.i The second stream was an examination of how organizations function as algorithmic assemblages; it showed that algorithmic systems…

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