Thinkers & Ideas

Andrew McAfee, expert on how technological progress changes the world, discusses the 'geek way' of corporate culture based on science, ownership, speed, and openness. They explore the core tenets of the 'geek way', how it can be applied to any business, and overcoming its limitations. They also discuss the role of strategy, the uniqueness of the 'geek way', and recommend Andrew McAfee's book on the subject.

In Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership, Dr. Kirstin Ferguson provides a practical guide to balancing the rational and emotional components of leadership.Ferguson is an expert on leadership, an experienced leader in the private and public sectors, and a longtime advocate of gender equity. In her new book, she identifies the key attributes of a “head and heart” leader, providing people with the tools to reflect on and adapt their own approach to each situation. She combines vivid stories and extensive research to inspire her readers to become better, more authentic, modern leaders.Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Ferguson discusses the evolution of leadership thinking, what makes a “head and heart” leader, and how leaders can improve their effectiveness and adaptability. They also reflect on how leadership, and particularly the “heart” attributes, will be more crucial than ever with the rise of AI in the workplace.Key topics discussed:02:36 | How has thinking on leadership evolved?06:05 | What are the attributes of a “head and heart” leader?08:25 | How can you improve your “head and heart” leadership attributes?18:24 | Are leaders aging, and is there a need to make space for younger talents?20:05 | How might AI change the art of leadership?Additional inspirations from Dr. Kirstin Ferguson:Certain Uncertainty: Leading with Agility and Resilience in an Unpredictable World (Wiley, 2023)Women Kind: Unlocking the Power of Women Supporting Women (Murdoch Books, 2019)Got a Minute? (Weekly column, The Sydney Morning Herald)

In How to Work with (Almost) Anyone, Michael Bungay Stanier outlines how to set up working relationships for the best chance of success—by following a process of thorough preparation, a keystone conversation, and regular maintenance.Bungay Stanier, founder of coaching firm Box of Crayons, is a world-renowned thought leader on coaching and author of the best-selling coaching book, The Coaching Habit. In his most recent book, he focuses on relationship-building, providing readers with processes and principles, as well as exercises and ample practical advice to sharpen their skills.Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Bungay Stanier discusses how to build the “best possible relationship” and how to maintain and repair it over time. Moreover, they assess how to create a corporate culture conducive to these relationships, and how to make these relationships work in a hybrid or remote setting.Key topics discussed:01:22 | How to make difficult relationships more workable03:39 | Definition of a “best possible relationship” and how to build it05:54 | How to have a keystone conversation12:26 | The impact of corporate culture and different personality types15:44 | How to maintain and repair relationships20:42 | The implications of hybrid and remote work22:31 | How leaders can apply these lessons in their organizations

Rajiv Shah, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, discusses his impactful journey in driving large-scale social change. He emphasizes adopting a 'big bets' mindset to tackle significant global issues like hunger and health crises. Shah highlights the power of public-private partnerships and the need for innovation through collaboration. He also stresses the necessity of including younger leaders in transformative initiatives and navigating the complexities of climate change and social justice through philanthropy for sustainable solutions.

In his new book,  Mixed Signals: How Incentives Really Work,  Uri Gneezy explains why leaders often create incentives that are misaligned with their organization’s goals.Gneezy, the Epstein/Atkinson Chair in Management Leadership at UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management, is one of the world’s leading experts in behavioral economics, and his insights have become a staple in courses around the world. He teaches managers how to be incentive-smart—how to avoid mixed signals and design incentives that are simple, effective, and ethical.Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Gneezy discusses how incentives work, and how we can apply them in the workplace to change habits and spark innovation—he explains why, counterintuitively, successful organizations and initiatives may actually have a greater need to examine their incentives than unsuccessful ones.Key topics discussed:01:11 | How incentives send signals02:08 | Incentives in the workplace09:14 | Incentivizing innovation12:29 | Understanding the use and limitation of incentives18:22 | Changing habits

Mustafa Suleyman, a renowned thought leader on AI and synthetic biology, discusses the threats and opportunities posed by these technologies, the competitive advantage they confer, potential regulatory interventions, and his motivations for writing the book.

In her forthcoming book, Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well, Amy Edmondson offers a new framework to think about, discuss, and practice failure wisely, using human fallibility as a tool for making ourselves and our organizations smarter.Amy Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School and the author of seven books, including The Fearless Organization, which has been translated into more than 15 languages. She was ranked number one on the 2021 Thinkers50 list, a ranking of the world’s most influential management thinkers.Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Edmondson discusses the distinctions that can help us separate good failure from bad, strategies to decrease the cost of learning, as well as practical actions for leaders to establish a culture where intelligent failure is predominant.Key topics discussed: 1:13 | The distinction between failing well and failing badly9:36 | How to avoid the "illusion of knowing" and mistaking a mental model for a fact12:02 | Institutional and leadership-level moves to create an environment where intelligent failure is predominant18:27 | How to decrease the cost of learning19:42 | Can AI help to analyze the potential for failure or identify learnable lessons and failure patterns?

In The Perennials: The Megatrends Creating a Postgenerational Society, Mauro Guillén argues that the traditional, sequential model of life—childhood, education, career, and retirement—is being rendered obsolete.Guillén, a professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, is one of the world’s foremost experts on global megatrends. In his most recent book, he focuses on the combination of rapid technological progress, increasing life as well as health spans, and declining fertility rates—which, together, are creating a society in which arbitrary definitions of generations, based on chronological age, are no longer appropriate.Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Guillén discusses the shortcomings of the sequential model of life and what the new, post-generational society will look like. He also highlights implications for businesses, which will need to adapt their marketing practices to changing patterns in consumption and harness the benefits of intergenerational collaboration in their workforces.Key topics discussed: 01:51 | The sequential model of life and its shortcomings04:17 | The post-generational society and the trends creating it07:31 | Implications for corporations14:13 | How CEOs can prepare for a society of perennials17:14 | Implications for academic institutions

In his new book Power and Progress, Simon Johnson, along with his co-author Daron Acemoglu, challenges the techno-optimistic narrative that technological progress will automatically lead to shared prosperity.Johnson, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, takes us through a millennium of technological progress to show how the gains from advancements such as the agricultural and early industrial revolutions tended to benefit a narrow segment of interests. While technology can enable the kind of equitable growth that is heralded by techno-optimists, this requires an environment that mitigates the natural power imbalance between workers and owners of technology through regulation, labor organizations, and an active civic society. As we stand on the brink of a new wave of innovation from AI, it’s critical that we learn from the history of economic progress to ensure that this time, the gains are shared broadly in society.In this episode of our Thinkers & Ideas podcast, Johnson joins BCG Henderson Institute Chairman Martin Reeves to discuss the incentives for corporate leaders to create technology directed at equitable growth, the potential impact of AI on society, and the effectiveness of government policies aimed at fostering shared prosperity.Key topics discussed: 01:19 | Motivation for the book02:03 | Progress and shared prosperity07:29 | Effectiveness of redistribution09:43 | Directing innovation toward social good16:42 | The impact of AI20:39 | Role of corporate leaders and investors in directing technology

In his new book, LOOK: How to Pay Attention in a Distracted World, Christian Madsbjerg explores the importance of observational skills. Drawing on various fields—science, philosophy, and the arts—as well as his personal experiences, Madsbjerg offers tools and insights to help us better pay attention and extract insights.Madsbjerg was co-founder and senior partner of consulting firm, ReD Associates and was previously a professor of applied humanities at the New School for Social Research in New York City. He works at the intersection of business and the humanities, guiding firms to develop powerful strategies anchored in human perception.Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Madsbjerg discusses how we can learn to observe the world properly—letting go of oversimplifying assumptions and biases—and how this will help firms unlock insights about their customers far beyond the reach of traditional market research.Key topics discussed: [01:25] How to observe properly[06:57] How “total observation” can unlock new insights[13:14] Distractions of modern life and how to tackle them[18:14] Difference between traditional market research and “total observation”[21:30] How to change how we observe things in the corporate context