Innovation increasingly depends on partnerships. As complexity and specialization rise and technologies such as AI reshape workflows and product portfolios, no single team or company has all the capabilities, tools, or authority needed to move ideas from prototype to scale. Organizations must “partner or die,” as one executive told us. But sharing the driver’s seat is difficult. […]

For decades, businesses have been trapped in a cycle of painful, episodic change, launching massive re-engineering projects and investing in new IT systems, only to find their organization’s fundamental metabolism remains sluggish. Immense transaction costs—the friction of coordinating people, managing information, and aligning complex work—have made deep, continuous transformation prohibitively expensive and risky. According to […]

A recent Financial Times analysis of S&P 500 filings found that 374 companies mentioned AI on their earnings calls last year—and nearly nine out of 10 described it in glowing terms. When pressed to explain the upside, however, most leaders fell back on vague promises of still unrealized “productivity gains.” Not only that, their annual reports were far […]

Leadership is the ability to coordinate collective human activity. When it functions well, it can turn a group of people into a high-performing team. This requires significant expertise, intelligence, and self-awareness, not to mention the right combination of personality traits. Despite a well-established science of identifying leaders and no shortage of reliable tools to assess leaders’ potential, half of senior […]

Periods of organizational transformation—such as acquisitions, strategic pivots, and reorgs—create a paradox for leaders. While they’re focused on navigating big changes, employees often feel uncertain about their futures. Research from KPMG, for example, shows that attrition rates can double after an acquisition announcement. In industries facing cost pressures and shifting skill needs, this uncertainty doesn’t just […]

They’ve finally made it: They’re in a senior executive role. Whether they’re an SVP, EVP, or C-level executive, the assumption is clear: They’re a master of their craft and the kind of leader who no longer needs handholding. But that’s the paradox of being a senior leader: The higher you climb, the thinner the air […]

Every day, in every organization around the globe, people disagree about everything from pricing strategies to hiring decisions to major acquisitions. And disagree they should. Research across every social science shows that disagreement offers important benefits: Divergent perspectives spark creativity, prevent costly errors, and drive better decisions. But, of course, there is also risk: Disagreement handled poorly […]

How often has your team changed lately? A new member joins. A key player exits. Roles shift. Strategy evolves. A conflict brews. Performance dips. Today’s teams are in constant flux—reshaped by both internal dynamics and external pressures. And yet many leaders push forward without pausing to reset after a team change. The best leaders know that […]

Many workers are anxious, worn down, and demoralized. Headlines about AI displacing jobs dominate the news while CEOs publicly tout layoffs and cost-cutting. Economic uncertainty from trade wars, tariffs, and inflation only adds to their concerns. The numbers are stark. Employee engagement at companies around the world has risen overall since 2008, but according to Gallup dated in April, it’s still […]

Senior executives have to deal with a constant stream of what seem like urgent challenges, more than they can possibly deal with. But it’s not always clear when they need to jump in. When can they delegate? And what can they ignore? Last year, HBR published a framework from Nitin Nohria, a professor at and former dean of […]