Our attitude toward kids and social media has shifted dramatically. Here’s what that can teach us about change
Photo by iStock Content originally published by Fast Company. When social psychologist Jonathan Haidt published The Anxious Generation in March 2024, his core proposal—that children should be kept off social […]
The drone delivery business has a ground problem
Photo by rawpixel Content originally published by Fast Company For more than a decade, the story of drone delivery was about improving the technology and getting federal permission for the […]
What the Tilly Norwood moment should teach us
Photo by LA Times Content originally published by Fast Company From July 14 to November 9, 2023, the American actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, representing 160,000 people, went on strike over a […]
Apocalypse or golden opportunity? Why the AI Freakout Might Be Useful
Photo by Aqua Cloud Content originally published by Fast Company I was profoundly struck by the Wall Street Journal’s reporting from Amrith Ramkumar, Angel Au-Yeung and Lindsay Ellis on the […]
Sneak peek: your meetings are the worst product your company ships
Dear Subscribers, As ever, subscribers get an early heads up when a Thought Sparks Podcast interview is released. If your meetings were a product, would you ever ship them? My […]
Sneak Peek: Rory Sutherland and the Galápagos Islands of Human Behavior
Dear Subscribers, Here’s this week’s sneak peek at a podcast that will drop tomorrow. My guest this week is Rory Sutherland. He’s an advertising legend, the president emeritus of Ogilvy […]
Sneak peek: The CEO who wasn’t told what his new owners wanted him to do!
Dear friends, Imagine this. You have presided over a long, sad stretch of corporate “meh.” #5 in your category. Unbeloved by your parent organization. Spurned by every potential acquirer, even […]
A Sneak Peek for My Substack Subscribers: Charlene Li on Winning with AI
Dear subscribers, There are some guests who I suspect are being a little careful about what they think. Charlene Li is not one of them! Charlene — fellow Silicon Guilder, […]
Meet The CEO Who Used My Research to Turbocharge his Company’s Success
Every academic secretly wonders whether the work goes anywhere. You publish, you get the citations, you hope. And then, once in a while, the universe hands you a full-circle moment. […]
Reframing Corruption as Making Money Without Adding Value
Most of you know Eric Ries from The Lean Startup and his other books, and maybe from his efforts to create the Long Term Stock Exchange. He helped launch a […]
A sneak peek at my conversation with Jennifer Moss: Why are we actually here?
Why are so many people — talented, accomplished people — quietly checking out of work? And what can leaders actually do about it? This week’s guest on the Thought Sparks […]
Farewell to the Sloan Management Review: Now What for Management Ideas?
The news landed quietly, tucked into a letter from MIT Sloan’s dean to colleagues: after 67 years, the MIT Sloan Management Review is shutting down. Future insights, the letter explained, […]
?? Tomorrow on Thought Sparks: A Not-so-Quiet Management Revolution – and if you hate budgeting, you’re going to love this!
Quick, when I say “annual budget,” what emotions does that invoke? All too often it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of dread and disinterest. In most companies, it’s pretty dysfunctional. But […]
Monica Nassif and the Story Behind Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day — Dropping April 28th
Did you know that the category-creating “Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day” cleaning products were named after an actual Mrs. Meyer? Moreover, that she happened to be the mother of the company’s […]
The Surprising Realities of Retirement: Sneak Peek of My Podcast Conversation with Harvard’s Teresa Amabile
Dear subscribers, Thanks for reading Thought Sparks! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This week’s Thought Sparks Podcast episode is one I’ve been looking forward […]
Vivienne Ming on Building Robot-Proof Humans
This conversation is one I’ve been looking forward to for literally years. I first became aware of “mad scientist” Vivienne Ming when she was doing fascinating work on the tax […]
When A Tugboat Steers Us Toward A Golden Age
It’s easy to be cynical about the typical large firm in today’s economy. Many seem motivated by serving only investors, they’re laying off staff, they pay poorly and they’re skimping […]
Your Human Magic: A Conversation with Johan Roos
I’ve known Johan Roos for close to thirty years. We first crossed paths when he was developing LEGO Serious Play with his colleague Bart Victor — a concept that turns […]
A Public Service Offering for Those Lacking Fluency in Corporate-Speak and Jargon
Image via Google Dear friends, In the frenzied world of corporations buying emergent companies in their hundreds, and consultancies trying to differentiate themselves in the face of AI-induced desperation, we […]
Sneak Peek: This Week’s Thought Sparks Podcast — Johan Roos on Human Magic
Dropping Tuesday, March 31 — but you’re getting this first. If you’ve been wrestling with how to think about AI — genuinely excited by its possibilities, but nagged by a […]