There is a large chasm between what academics study and write about in business academia and what practitioners are eager and hungry to learn about. Interestingly, however, both sides are curious about what motivates and… Read more »
Thought Sparks
Thought Sparks, the brainchild of Rita McGrath, are insightful actions, strategic ideas, actionable suggestions and innovative approaches that help organizations and leaders master the future with less fear and more confidence. New episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast are released every other Tuesday at 11am Eastern. Prior to 2025, episodes of the Thought Sparks Podcast were known as Fireside Chats.
Staying Ahead of the Curve: How Mobility Clubs Are Driving Innovation
I was thrilled to attend the 2019 FIA Conference in South Africa earlier this year, where I shared insights into how clubs can forge a new path to success by quickly seizing opportunities, exploiting them decisively, and… Read more »
The Effect of Disruption on Hiring and Reskilling
When Amazon is prepared to invest $700 million to retrain its workers for more demanding jobs in technology, you know that something big is afoot. I would argue that this is a looming inflection point… Read more »
Digitization and Disruption in the Construction Business
$12.7 trillion! That’s the projected size of the global construction industry in 2022, according to one recent analysis. In the US alone, construction employs some 10 million workers. And while it’s a relatively slow-growth… Read more »
Building a Proficiency for Game Changing Innovation and Growth: Mastering the Opportunity Portfolio
When you ask why large companies have a problem building an innovation proficiency, you get back all the usual suspects: “We have silos.” “It’s nobody’s job.” “We’re afraid of failure.” “It’s unpredictable.” And what do all… Read more »
The Changing Business of People
HR has always wanted a seat at the table. That day may finally be here. Be careful what you wish for! HR Challenges in a Tour of Duty Context HR used to be pretty straightforward. … Read more »
Big Food and the Revolution in the Ingredients Business
The rules of the game used to be pretty simple for large food companies: Make massive quantities of tasty and inexpensive (if not particularly nutritious) food products, create memorable brands around them, and use their… Read more »
Finding your arena – a new book and new toolkit
I was delighted to read Steve Blank’s great post featuring the work of my friend and colleague Marc Gruber. Marc and I have been colleagues since my days in the entrepreneurship program at Wharton and… Read more »
How to Stop Making Assumptions—and Start Seeing Around Corners
Last month, I was thrilled to attend Parliament’s PowerShift, a gathering of diverse opinion leaders, change-makers, creatives, and corporates seeking to find interesting solutions to some of today’s biggest challenges. At the event, I had… Read more »
Let’s Go Back to Boring Banking
After the Great Depression and through the 1980s, the financial sector was regulated to serve the rest of the economy. Today, it serves mostly itself. It’s time that changed. When even Larry Fink is talking… Read more »
Taking a Human-Led Approach to Navigating Technological Change
With technology’s modern pace of change, how can companies (and humans) best adapt? In March, I had the pleasure of leading a workshop with Tracey Zimmerman, President of Robots & Pencils, to answer this very… Read more »
How Inflection Points in the Hotel Business Change Where You Lay Your Head
In 1977, James Eyster, then a Ph.D. student at Cornell, published a book that would completely change the nature of the hotel business worldwide. His idea could not sound more boring—unless you saw the impact… Read more »