Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images Picture this: You’re rappelling down the side of a burning building. Flames are everywhere. People are shouting for help. You look up to see who’s holding the rope — who’s keeping you from falling hundreds of feet to the concrete sidewalk below — and it’s … you, yourself! Feeling…
Marie Montocchio/Ikon Images Workplace developments like hybrid working and artificial intelligence have brought a cascade of sometimes destabilizing changes that many people have struggled to keep up with. Such changes can leave employees feeling as if the rug has been pulled out from under them. How can leaders stop change from undermining workers’ morale and…
As generative AI becomes more capable, it becomes more potentially valuable to both organizations and each of us individually. And yet how to best use large language models and the GenAI tools based on them continues to be a puzzle. Despite its ubiquity, generative AI is still young. So it’s no surprise that many leaders…
Every year, when Nobel season arrives, the world waits in suspense to see which scientists, discoveries, and nations will capture global acclaim. As Indian biologist Venkatraman Ramakrishnan once observed, “Prizes are more than honors for scholars; they celebrate civilization itself—what makes humanity unique.” Yet beyond the fanfare, critics have questioned whether these awards truly recognize…
Matt Harrison Clough / Ikon Images In an age where innovation reigns supreme, it’s easy for leaders to believe that a novel business model equals a ticket to success. The logic is appealing: Be the first to offer something new, or something familiar in a new way, and the profits will follow. This idea becomes…
“If the product is free, you are the product.” This phrase gained popularity as a description of the trade-off at the heart of many modern platforms—you use their service without paying, and they profit by selling your data. But there are other business models available to social-media companies, streaming services, and apps. Some platforms have…
It’s estimated that over 160 million global workers are registered on online gig economy platforms but only a small fraction of them are working at any point in time. Dr Catherine Thomas writes that despite this, gig workers who are hired capture a significant share of market surplus. These findings challenge calls to reclassify freelancers…
When a top performer confided that she was experiencing an intolerable level of burnout and was job hunting, it was a wake-up call about team leadership for Lauren Dreyer. The 20-year veteran of Fidelity Investments had had no idea that burnout was an issue for anyone on her team. And only later did Dreyer realize…
Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images The amount of change coming at leaders right now may feel unprecedented, given today’s political and technical landscape. But amid significant disruptions, such as artificial intelligence tools, deep-tech innovations, novel fintech platforms, and geopolitical shifts, an organization’s capacity to grow depends on its capacity to change constantly. Success also…
The past ten years have seen some encouraging gains for women in business leadership: the percentage of C-suite roles held by women increased from 17 percent to 29 percent between 2015 and 2024. But that still leaves a stubborn workplace-achievement gap, where these leadership roles are twice as likely to be filled by men. The…