Thinkers & Ideas

In The New Geography of Innovation: The Global Contest for Breakthrough Technologies, Mehran Gul examines how innovation works in different countries around the globe—diving deep into the ecosystems that produce great technology companies.Gul is a writer and leading technology thinker, having served as the Lead for the Digital Transformation of Industries at the World Economic Forum. His book, which was nominated as a Financial Times best business book of 2025, he discusses why the United States remains at the world’s technological frontier, with only China being a true challenger.In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, Global Leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, he talks about how innovation ecosystems are converging, the role of statecraft in fostering innovation ecosystems, and the main forces that will shift the global innovation landscape in the coming decade.Key topics discussed: 01:22 | Attributes of successful innovation ecosystems06:57 | US vs. China talent pool10:26 | What China gets right about innovation13:20 | Why Europe lags behind on innovation18:54 | The role of intentional statecraft in fostering innovation23:31 | The convergence of innovation ecosystems around the globe26:34 | Implications for businesses28:56 | How the global innovation landscape will evolve in the next decade

Daniel Coyle, author and researcher on group culture and performance, shares his take on flourishing as joyful, community-rooted growth. He discusses finding stillness and teaming rituals. Crisis as a clarifying force, productive messiness that sparks creativity, and how leaders can balance disorder with efficiency are key themes.

Dani Rodrik, Harvard political economist and author focused on globalization and development. He tackles the trilemma of democracy, prosperity, and sustainability. He critiques hyper-globalization, explains why manufacturing no longer guarantees development, and spotlights services, national climate action, and experimental productivist policies.

Join Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and author of The Seven Rules of Trust, as he shares insights from two decades of building one of the world’s most trusted platforms. He discusses how scaling interpersonal trust is essential for collaboration and addresses whether Wikipedia could thrive today amid online toxicity. Wales emphasizes the importance of assuming good faith and how organizations can reclaim lost trust. He also examines AI's impact on trust, advocating for transparency and human oversight while remaining optimistic about society's ability to rebuild trust.

In a dynamic conversation, Ranjay Gulati, a Harvard Business School professor and author of How to Be Bold, discusses the learnability of courage. He emphasizes that courage isn't the absence of fear but mastering it, sharing insights on building a culture of boldness in organizations. Gulati dives into the importance of narratives and self-efficacy, illustrating how personal and corporate stories shape action. He also contrasts risky decisions with corporate caution, advocating for calculated risks to drive innovation and purpose in leadership.

Mike Bird, Wall Street editor at The Economist and author of The Land Trap, discusses the complex dynamics of land as the ultimate asset. He explains why land is unique and poses a 'trap,' linking it to systemic economic risks and inequality. The conversation explores the historical evolution of land ownership and its ties to major financial crises, such as the 2008 subprime collapse. Bird examines the rise of superstar cities and innovative governance models, shedding light on how businesses leverage land value in today's economy.

In SuperAdaptability: How to Transcend in an Age of Overwhelm, Max McKeown argues that the key to thriving under uncertainty is adaptability—being able to change with your environment, again and again, getting better each time.McKeown is a leading strategy thinker, coach to Fortune 100 companies, and an award-winning author. In his new book, he reveals how figures as different as Frida Kahlo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Simone Biles all relied on the same pattern of thinking to adapt to radically changing circumstances.In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the difference between adaptability and resilience, and how to scale adaptability from one person to a team to an entire organization.Key topics discussed: 01:14 | The power of adaptive intelligence03:03 | Adaptability vs. resilience05:15 | The RUN loop: Recognize, understand, necessary action09:08 | How to help others become more adaptable11:57 | How to make your company more adaptable16:19 | Applying the loop logic to innovation23:56 | Real life stories of adaptability29:23 | Bringing adaptability to life with illustrationsAdditional inspirations from Max McKeown:The Strategy Book: How to Think and Act Strategically to Deliver Outstanding Results (FT Publishing International, 2024)

John Cassidy, a staff writer at The New Yorker and Pulitzer Prize finalist, engages in a thought-provoking discussion about his book on capitalism's critics. He explores the enduring critiques of capitalism, such as inequality and instability, while highlighting its surprising adaptability. Cassidy reframes the Luddites as protesters against misuse, rather than technology itself. He addresses the impact of unpaid domestic labor, and shares surprising insights from his research, suggesting capitalism may be facing a political crisis amid rising tensions.

Dr. Nicholas Wright, a neuroscientist at University College London and Georgetown University, unveils how our brain influences warfare in his fascinating insights. He discusses the evolutionary roots of conflict driven by survival instincts and how prediction error shapes military strategies. The interaction between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex plays a crucial role in decision-making during crises. Wright also emphasizes the importance of advancing AI for better decision-making in combat and argues that understanding neuroscience could lead to more effective leadership in both military and political realms.

In After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People, Dean Spears and Michael Geruso argue that the defining demographic risk of this century is global depopulation.Spears and Geruso are both professors at the University of Texas at Austin, focusing on economic demography and development economics. In their new book, they explore the trend of falling birth rates, how it threatens human progress, and what actions may reverse this trend.In their conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, they discuss projections for global depopulation, why advances in AI and robotics will not replace humans, why fewer people may not be good for the planet, and what the implications of all this are for business leaders.Key topics discussed:01:06 | Projected global population levels06:11 | The impact of depopulation11:00 | The potential for AI and robotics to replace humans17:00 | The environmental implications of depopulation21:24 | Potential solutions to falling birth rates26:02 | Implications for business leaders28:26 | Reasons to remain hopefulAdditional inspirations from Dean Spears:Air: Pollution, Climate Change and India's Choice Between Policy and Pretence (Harper Collins Publishers India, 2019)Where India Goes: Abandoned Toilets, Stunted Development and the Costs of Caste, co-authored by Diane Coffey (Harper Collins Publishers India, 2017)