As economist Carlota Perez so eloquently lays out, systemic changes in technologies always lead to systemic changes in society. The winners in an old regime become the losers in a new one. With many predicting… Read more »
Insights and ideas
What the world needs now… is love and AI?
Paul LeBlanc, in his thought-provoking book “Broken,” shows how scaling removes humanity from many of our systems of care. AI might be the great unlock that would allow us to flood our systems with quality… Read more »
Revisiting the baby bust: Is “The Children of Men” prophetic?
“The Children of Men” is a dystopian 1992 novel by P. D. James about a world in 2021 when humanity is experiencing mass infertility. While we seem to have so far avoided such a dramatic… Read more »
Just add water? The fascinating prospect of “instant intimacy.”
For humans to create high-performing teams, traditional assumptions are that it takes a long time and goes through a predictable process (forming, storming, norming and performing). But in many of today’s most vital activities, time… Read more »
Thought Sparks Wrap Up — April 2024
Is 2024 going to be remembered as the year CHRO’s got a seat at the table? In the way that things seem to work post-pandemic, it’s wild to remember that just a month ago the… Read more »
Digital Slime, the Dead Internet, and Cory Doctorow’s great phrase
Much of the user excitement in the early years of the Internet came from the medium’s powerful way in which it eliminated constraints on human communication. You could find your friend from high school, let… Read more »
If it acts like a bubble, and sounds like a bubble, when will we realize it’s a bubble?
When inflated beliefs about future value come into conflict with actual underlying value, conditions are right to create a bubble. Housing prices will always go up! Having a dot.com in your name will always increase… Read more »
If you want a guarantee, buy a refrigerator!
The concept of purpose has been having quite a moment – from books heralding its importance to claims that it holds the key to the hearts and minds of Gen Z workers to claims from… Read more »
Welcome to the world, SparcHub!
After 8 years since founding Valize, 4 changes of software approaches, more than 50 iterations of my Columbia Executive Education program “Leading Strategic Growth and Change” and 5 books, the software designed to make managing… Read more »
When you miscalculate the value of brands – a rare cautionary tale from Warren Buffett
Some things in strategy are thought to be eternally valuable. Among them? Big global brands with years of mass-market advertising and great name recognition behind them. But as investors 3G and Warren Buffett have learned,… Read more »
Beyond the doomscrolling – movement building for positive change
Some additional thoughts from the Powershift conference that took place in February in California – guests included artists, business leaders and even some legends (hello, Ed Catmull of Pixar fame)! This post touches on Peter… Read more »
The Drugs Have Won and the Smart Money Knows It (credit to Jake Novak for this great line)
What do you do when your most visible and notable spokesperson basically declares that what you’re doing is ineffective? We’re about to find out how WW (formerly Weight Watchers) navigates. The rise of Weight Watchers… Read more »