Is your social venture losing its homegrown talent — often to other social ventures? In the past two years, only 30% of open management positions in the nonprofit sector were filled by an internal candidate. And almost half of their replacements came from other nonprofits. This comes at a significant financial and productivity cost to…
More than once you’ve probably looked at some new digital or technological development and asked yourself, “How did we miss that?” Here are some tech trends to note for 2016. — Algorithmic personality detection. Did you know that some life insurance underwriters are attempting to assess your personality — via your magazine and website subscriptions,…
Employee loyalty and engagement are hot topics, and for good reason. Companies want to attract and retain talented people who really dig into their work. But most employers ignore two of the most powerful tools for making that happen. Tool No. 1 is enabling employees to build real ownership in the business. Many large corporations…
A new study on the effects of automation on the job market points to data that shows an increase in the number of bank tellers despite the pervasiveness of automated teller machines. The fear that technology is poised to kill jobs in unprecedented numbers is widely prevelent these days. Nothing is likely to ease that…
Mark Zuckerberg did not donate $45 billion to charity. You may have heard that, but that was wrong. Here’s what happened instead: Mr. Zuckerberg created an investment vehicle. Sorry for the slightly less sexy headline. Mr. Zuckerberg is a co-founder of Facebook and a youthful megabillionaire. In announcing the birth of his daughter, he and…
It’s frustrating and painful to fight with a colleague when you’re not in the same office or time zone. What’s the best way to solve a disagreement with someone who’s in a different location? “The two main things that get in the way are the lack of shared understanding about how you work and lack…
The sense of being pushed and pulled every which way, without having any broader context or a sense that you’re getting somewhere, is something I see all too often in organizations, as executives try to keep up with new competitors or business trends. For example, one CEO of a large technology firm oscillated between major…
Few psychological traits are as desirable as creativity — the ability to come up with ideas that are both novel and useful. Yet it is also true that creativity has been associated with a wide range of counterproductive qualities. Being aware of these tendencies is important for anyone trying to better understand their own creativity,…
We all aspire to work better together. Technology is making some of that effort easier, but digital tools are only part of the answer. It’s people who ultimately make the difference. The problem is that technologies for collaboration are improving faster than people’s ability to learn to use them. What can be done to close…
It’s harder to stay on top than to get there. For every Apple, there is an Atari; for every Fuji, a Polaroid; and for every Zara, an American Apparel. In today’s dynamic business environment, leaders of large established companies need more than ever to run and reinvent the business at the same time. This requires…
