How Change Aversion Can Derail a Transformation

Achieving change is difficult. Organizations spend more than $10 billion annually on change transformations, but more than 50% of efforts fail to meet objectives. To better understand why, despite our best intentions, change efforts tend to fail, we looked to the literature—and found that “loss aversion” presents a helpful point of reference.

To better understand this phenomenon, we surveyed more than 200 people across the US … [ Read more ]

Why Hierarchies in Organisations Aren’t All Bad

Hierarchical structures can be useful even for teams that need to be agile.

The Goldilocks Effect and How to Harness Social Influence

Even after years of research, Jonah Berger is surprised at how people are so quick to identify the effects of social influence on others, but fail to see those same influences at work on themselves. A Wharton professor and bestselling author of Contagious and Invisible Influence, Berger has spent over 15 years studying how social influence works and how it leads products, services and ideas to catch … [ Read more ]

A Better Way to Recognize Your Employees

Although most great managers want to recognize their people, the challenge, which has only been made more difficult in the hybrid world, is finding meaningful things to recognize them for. The limitation to our typical approach to praise is that we can only recognize what we see, observe, or learn about from others and our recognition focuses on what we appreciate, which is not always … [ Read more ]

The Organization of the Future Is Fractal

Scale isn’t dead. But it’s critical to find the right balance between scale and fractal principles—and to do it before your competitors do.

The Problem With Being Too Easy-going

Failure to express your preferences in everyday situations can make you seem less likeable and even slightly less human.

Class Takeaways — The Human Factor

Five lessons in five minutes: Professor Szu-chi Huang on how humans make decisions and get motivated.

Can Blockchain Manage Trust in Organizations

David De Cremer and Yan Pang illuminate both the limitations and the potential of blockchain technology as the new currency of trust in organizational life. They have found that building trust within organizations requires leaving room for vulnerability, which makes blockchain unsuitable. For building trust between organizations, however, blockchain technology shows more promise because it acts as a regulatory middleman.

Does your culture fit your strategy?

A big culture–strategy disconnect can be catastrophic. Only a formal assessment based on objective data can tell you if your organization is ready to transform.

The Secret to Happiness at Work

Your job doesn’t have to represent the most prestigious use of your potential. It just needs to be rewarding.

Why People Crave Feedback—and Why We’re Afraid to Give It

How am I doing? Research by Francesca Gino and colleagues shows just how badly employees want to know. Is it time for managers to get over their discomfort and get the conversation going at work?

Gender Pay Gap: Valuing Women’s Work

A new study published in Nature Human Behaviour sheds light on the role of within-job pay differences in the gender pay gap.

What’s Next in Organization Design?

Most organizations are set up for productivity and predictability. However, in today’s environment, where volatility and opportunity reign, this seems counterintuitive at best.

As the saying goes, it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks, even if you have the best leadership and capabilities at your disposal. But everything we are seeing today, along with certain shifts that we have been tracking for some years, … [ Read more ]

Does Hybrid Work Actually Work? Insights from 30,000 Emails

It’s a pandemic debate raging at companies everywhere: How often should employees come to the office? In the first large-scale study of its kind, Prithwiraj Choudhury finds that hybrid schedules might offer the best answer for everyone.

The Five Cs Of Trust

Creating a high-trust environment isn’t easy, but applying these five principles on a day-to-day basis will get you there—and closer to real resiliency.

When Leaders Say They Are Aligned—But Aren’t

Five key practices can unify leaders up, down, and across the organization—and spark concerted action.

The Biggest Problem With Remote Work

Companies need a new kind of middle manager: the synchronizer.