Despite what workers may think, findings show almost every job will be impacted by robots. Rapid leaps in artificial intelligence (AI) are putting entire professions and industries on the chopping…
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The Olympics are costly, risky megaprojects, infamous for blowing budgets out of the water. Are yours? When the Rio Games open Friday they will have exceeded initial budget estimates by…
Middle children. Middle class. Middle market. None of them get enough attention – but according to Tom Stewart, it’s the American middle market that matters most to your growth.
What if we could grow delicious, nutrient-dense food, indoors anywhere in the world? Caleb Harper is doing it. Food is in crisis. By 2050, the world won’t have enough food…
Most of us believe we know what purpose our products serve. We assume we understand, we really know, our customers – what they want, and how and where they want…
American health care is caught in a vise, squeezed from the positive gains in life expectancy on one side and unsustainable medical costs on the other. Meanwhile, the pace of…
It’s pretty much fact: the world around us is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. These VUCA forces are recasting industries, companies and entire societies with lightning speed. Leadership, however, is…
Collaborative consumption. On-demand services. The gig economy. Peer-to-peer business. Numerous names describe the same phenomenon: the rise of technology-enabled sharing. The likes of Uber, Airbnb, TaskRabbit, Lending Club and Rent…
Virtual reality (VR) and hype have a long-standing relationship. After more than two decades, the long-promised future of VR is finally here. Oculus – Facebook’s $2 billion bet on VR…
The cost of Boston’s “Big Dig” ballooned to $14.8 billion – five times the original estimate – before its completion in 2007, eight years behind schedule. Europe’s infamous “Chunnel” project…
Why do the vast majority of innovations fall so far short of ambitions? Companies have never had more sophisticated tools and techniques in their arsenal. More resources than ever –…
On the surface, China’s dominance seems a given. The country’s GDP is likely to surpass that of the U.S. (though not until at least 2028). It’s already the world’s largest…
Are we making computers that are smarter and better than us? Will algorithm-enabled machines and ubiquitous tracking eventually win, taking over our jobs, our lives and eventually the world? This…
Giggles and pitter-patters of little feet aren’t what you’d expect to echo through the halls of an elderly care community. Then again, fragile, silver-haired men and women, many in wheelchairs,…
By the end of the decade, every company will be a software company, predicts Robert Tercek, business futurist and digital media pioneer. We’re entering a new era defined by data…
Our cars are getting smarter. They dictate (and recalculate) directions, sync with our phones, help us park or switch lanes, and brake if we don’t before it’s too late. The…
When people ask what I do for a career, they usually have follow up questions to my answer of, “I’m an agent at a speaker’s bureau.” So I dive right…
There was a time not long ago when commerce flowed linearly. Companies produced products, shipped them out and sold them to consumers. Single product lines were profitable. Today, not as…
We all talk about it. Most of us aspire to it; few of us, if any, ever achieve it. Some believe it’s something granted by employers. Others see it as…
In life, you can do everything right and still fail. Same goes for business. A well run, seemingly thriving company nose dives, succumbing to disruption. It’s the classic innovator’s dilemma…
Congressional testimony is underway in Apple’s stand-off with the U.S. government over the FBI’s request for what the tech titan equates to a master key for its devices. The issues…
It’s a service-driven world. The vast majority of the global workforce provides services. We rely on them; every day, we engage with any number of value-based services, from airlines and…
The first line of Robert Kaplan’s 1996 seminal book reads, “Imagine entering the cockpit of a modern jet airplane and seeing only a single instrument.” The analogy suggested it should…
It’s a sticky subject. Is business education really necessary? Many believe such higher learning still matters – and so do those who teach it. Prominent professors (and their institutions) prepare…
Hint: the answer is not “be smart” or “work hard.” Decades of research and reflection have convinced Howard Gardner, a renowned cognitive psychologist, that believing wit and grit equate to…
Companies find it increasingly challenging to justify long-term, risky R&D investments. Innovation and strategy expert Gary Pisano believes it’s time to consider a different financing model, and he draws inspiration…
The way we think about it and get it done, how businesses organize it, and its impact on global competitiveness and quality of life – “work” is undergoing a sea…
Entrepreneurial opportunity isn’t exclusive to the Apples and eBays of the world. The vast majority of successfully scaled ventures aren’t mythical unicorns with billion-dollar paper values; they’re workhorses that plug…
It’s no secret large organizations have an innovation problem. With deep resource pools and even deeper pockets, they should be breakthrough masters. But when it comes to execution, complexity and…
First introduced in 1995 by Harvard Business School Professor Clayton Christensen, disruptive innovation theory is a zeitgeist of modern management thinking. It has inarguably and fundamentally changed how the world…
Ideas have the power to transform – industries, economies, communities and lives. It’s a mantra that propels organizations and individuals alike to innovate, push boundaries, and stimulate change and progress….
As Big Data continues to change the way we live and work, companies are recognizing the importance of analyzing and communicating data findings with business leaders across the company. To…
Despite their socio-economic significance, megaprojects (projects in excess of $1 billion, ranging from massive infrastructure and large-scale IT, to new bombers for the Department of Defense and blockbuster pharmaceuticals) have…
Since Stern + Associates (1985) and Stern Speakers (2006) were founded, the public relations and lecture firms have grown in every way – in office square footage, regional presence, headcount,…
Robots aren’t coming – they’re already here, and have been for quite some time, though mostly behind-the-scenes in manufacturing and factory contexts. Today, they’re entering different and more personal facets…
Small businesses signify the American Dream, and start-ups are the movers and shakers, embodying entrepreneurial spirit. Then there are the large, billion-dollar enterprise corporations – household names with deep pockets…
Surviving disruption – major, game-changing innovation – is one of the greatest challenges managers in established firms face. On one hand, we’ve been warned disruption can sneak up and quickly…
We’re used to being connected all the time. Yet, we’re uncomfortable with conversation – at least conversation that isn’t aided by technology; conversation that is open-ended and spontaneous. And it’s…
Smart thermostats control an array of home devices, transmitting usage data back to manufacturers. Networked industrial machines autonomously coordinate and optimize work. Cars send virtual software upgrades to enhance performance…
At home, families sit in silence at the dinner table. We text (and shop and tweet) during class and while on dates. At work, executives email during meetings. We live…
By the middle of this century, global population will reach nearly 10 billion people, consuming ever more resources and leading increasingly complex lives. What will our cities be like? What…
Familiar things are disappearing before our eyes. Remember photo albums, audio CDs and DVDs? Maps or road atlases? Even the trusty GPS unit has been replaced by an app that…
NFL training camp 2015 is in full swing, but it’s not just players who are practicing their skills. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently visited the Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL)…
There is perhaps no greater force for change than a powerful idea. Thousands of ideas have come to life through the Aspen Ideas Festival, commanding the attention – and inspiring…
Technology is quickly infiltrating almost every part of healthcare, creating a need for policymakers to examine the implications for patient safety, quality and the future of the U.S. healthcare system….
The world is enamored with setting records: biggest bridge, tallest skyscraper, longest tunnel, fastest rail line. No matter the industry – construction, IT, energy, defense, oil and gas – more…
Whether hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is a force for good or evil is one of America’s most divisive issues. Backers emphasize the economic value and future promise of energy independence; critics…
Meetings that accomplish little. Committees that take two steps back for every one forward. Project units that engage in wishful groupthink rather than honest analysis. Everyone who is part of…
It is a rare CEO who doesn’t list innovation as a top priority. But innovation remains an elusive beast for most. Massive R&D investments have been made, processes built, training…
As the U.S. infrastructure crisis reaches a fever pitch in news coverage, public opinion and the next election cycle, Harvard’s Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s new book Move: Putting America’s Infrastructure Back…
