1166 Posts found for Source: McKinsey Quarterly

This idea that all that mattered was your income relative to others was an idea known as the Easterlin paradox. So we did the simplest possible thing an economist could do, which is we gathered as much data as we could from all around the world. And we confirmed it’s absolutely true that within a country at a point in time, richer people are happier … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Justin Wolfers | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Economics

There are a large number of people who say the measure of a country is not its GDP—it’s the smiles, it’s the hugs, it’s the joy. It’s more than just that. It’s the meaning. And that’s true. But that doesn’t make economics irrelevant. It just says we should measure those things.

Content: Quotation | Author: Justin Wolfers | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Economics

Middle managers may have a reputation for being bureaucratic, but in reality they aren’t so much the cause of bureaucracy as a barometer for it.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Brooke Weddle, Bryan Hancock, Emily Field, Stephanie Smallets | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Bureaucracy, Management, Organizational Behavior

Managers do not wake up and automatically know what great looks like, nor do they learn through osmosis. Instead, managers exhibit these [strong] behaviors when multiple factors are present: they have clear expectations, are given targeted training, understand why their actions matter, see inspiring leaders behaving similarly, and have support systems in place such as structure, role design, and rewards.

When any number of these factors … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Brooke Weddle, Bryan Hancock, Emily Field, Stephanie Smallets | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Personal Development

Effective leaders continually adapt their priorities, roles, time, and energy practices to stay ahead of new realities. Here’s why you need to do the same.

Content: Article | Authors: Arne Gast, Suchita Prasad | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Leadership, Management, Personal Development

A great innovator knows when something that’s being asserted is actually an assumption. Understanding the difference is important, because when you’re dealing with a certainty, you’re less likely to challenge it. It’s an assertion, and, therefore, you may follow it blindly and it may run you into a ditch. A great innovator will treat that same statement as an assumption, which lets them respond differently. … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Erik Roth | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Innovation

The value of working together is intuitive to most leaders. Capturing the full value of operating as one firm, however, is elusive for most. Those who drive integration and standardization from the top down often stifle business-level innovation, entrepreneurship, and client responsiveness, which can further create talent attraction and retention issues. Those who emphasize local autonomy, however, often create massive inefficiencies, competing priorities, and inconsistent … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Authors: Blair Epstein, Caitlin Hewes, Scott Keller | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Talent pipeline failure and its impact on DE&I should be treated like the significant business problems they are. Organizations need to tackle them the same way they take on any significant business challenge, such as increasing revenue or global expansion. It needs to be looked at as a large change program, but [that’s often not] the way it’s being handled right now. Organizations need to … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Sandrine Devillard | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Diversity, Human Resources

If we have measurables that are not connected to elements of purpose, then we need to ask ourselves, “Is there an opportunity to better align these?”

Content: Quotation | Author: Ted Iverson | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Management

Most great CEOs rely on a set of guiding mindsets. This checklist helps them turn mindsets into practices that can steer their companies to great heights.

Content: Article | Authors: Carolyn Dewar, Kurt Strovink, Scott Keller, Vikram Malhotra | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Corporate Governance

Many organizations ask employee resource groups (ERGs), which are voluntary, employee-led groups where people who share a mutual characteristic can come together in a safe space, to be responsible for DE&I projects.

ERGs are critical parts of organizations. But successful organizations don’t make advancing equity the responsibility of ERGs. They are largely not funded and they don’t necessarily include decision-makers and sponsors from the highest levels … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Maria McKay | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Diversity, Human Resources

Innovation, at its simplest, is identifying a valuable problem to solve, using a technology to solve that problem, and putting it inside a business model that allows it to scale as quickly as possible to create value. If you have that mental model in mind, how easy or difficult is it for those pieces to come together end to end in your organization? We often … [ Read more ]

Content: Quotation | Author: Erik Roth | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Innovation

McKinsey research found that workplace relationships account for 39 percent of employees’ job satisfaction. Moreover, relationships with management, in particular, account for 86 percent of workers’ satisfaction with their interpersonal ties at work. Yet, despite the importance of these manager–employee relationships, surveyed managers report spending almost three-quarters of their time on tasks not directly related to talent management.

Content: Quotation | Authors: Bill Schaninger, Bryan Hancock, Emily Field, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Human Resources, Management, Organizational Behavior

Creating effective teams depends on multiple factors, including high levels of trust and communication, and understanding team context. A new approach helps elevate performance and create value.

Content: Article | Authors: Aaron De Smet, Anaïs Fifer, Gemma D’Auria, Kim Rubenstein, Liesje Meijknecht, Maitham Albaharna | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Organizational Behavior, Teamwork

Take your jobs and your responsibilities very seriously, but don’t take yourselves too seriously.

Content: Quotation | Author: Judith Persichilli | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Career, Personal Development

Sometimes borrowing makes sense, to borrow to invest into something productive. But if you borrow just to consume, then eventually you get in trouble and your debt ratios become too high relative to your need to pay back your debts over time. It could be a problem for households, for the business sector, financial institutions, for governments, for a country as a whole.

Content: Quotation | Author: Nouriel Roubini | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Economics, Finance

Whenever you position something so that there’s going to be a winner and a loser, very rarely have I seen that be to anybody’s benefit.

Content: Quotation | Author: Ginni Rometty | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Management, Organizational Behavior

Resilience is the most important characteristic, along with curiosity, for any leader. It’s not exactly about what you know; it’s about those two dimensions. I think there are two ways to develop resilience: one is through the relationships you have… The second way is through your attitude.

Content: Quotation | Author: Ginni Rometty | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subject: Leadership

Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness, because you’re acknowledging what you or the organization know or don’t know… It takes a strong person to do that, to ask for help. When people won’t ask for help when they need it, I get very nervous. To me, that’s a great sign of weakness.

Content: Quotation | Author: Ginni Rometty | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Career, Organizational Behavior, Personal Development

We’ve got to move the whole country to a skills-view, not just degree-view, of jobs, and then hire for that and reward for that. This accomplishes many things. First, as an employer, I need more people with the right skills. Second, there are so many people left out of economic opportunity. This brings more people back into our workforce.

Content: Quotation | Author: Ginni Rometty | Source: McKinsey Quarterly | Subjects: Hiring, Human Resources