The fundamental question of why humans are the only species on the planet that build spaceships is answered by the field of Cultural Evolution, pointing out that humans cooperate intensely with non-relatives and learn quickly, enabling rapid cultural evolution. This concept is applicable to companies, as they consist of unrelated people striving to improve their culture, artifacts, technologies, and practices over time, aiming for rapid cultural evolution.
The secret to success for many Silicon Valley tech companies isn’t necessarily that they’re ultra-nimble startups, or that they’re led by tech-savvy geniuses. Andy McAfee says their success often has more to do with a specific type of corporate culture that focuses on finding unconventional solutions to hard business problems.
McAfee is a principal research scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and he’s the author of The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset That Drives Extraordinary Results.
In this episode, he explains why business leaders need to think more like geeks and explains why it’s important to center your culture on company norms, rather than organizational structure. He also offers tips for finding that delicate balance between human judgement and data-driven insights.
Key episode topics include: strategy, technology, start-ups, innovation, competitive strategy, Silicon Valley.
HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week.
· Watch the original HBR New World of Work episode: How the Geeks Rewrote the Rules of Management (2023)
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