Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, is a programmer. When he got the idea to begin posting free online classes, he was able to get the basic infrastructure in place […]
The Taoist idea of wu wei is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Often translated as “non-doing” or “non-action,” it’s an effortless state in which you’re not explicitly aware of yourself […]
Journalist Ronan Farrow says he’s not a great negotiator, but he’s certainly had a unique opportunity to see how one works. Just out of law school, he was recruited by […]
Weijian Shan, chairman of the PAG group, sees a bright future for investors in China, as long as they understand the evolving nature of the country’s economic growth. Though China’s […]
“History is always written by the winners,” goes the saying. It’s also true that history is continually being made, and the identity of the “winner” continually shifts. In his Big […]
Business, on every level, is becoming more multi-cultural. Whether it’s embracing diversity internally, expanding to multiple sites around the world, or entering distant markets such as China, never has it […]
Jody Greenstone Miller is founder and CEO of Business Talent Group. She’s seen companies lose great people simply because of the way management assumes a job must be structured: To […]
As companies begin to recognize diversity as an opportunity — and not just a problem to be solved — you might assume that your natural leadership ability will be obvious […]
It’s a strange situation. In many American workplaces, it’s the sexual predators we protect, not their victims, according to journalist and author Gretchen Carlson. Since her landmark 2016 lawsuit against Fox […]
The confidence and respect that successful executives enjoy isn’t simply conferred upon them by their job title. It’s the knowledgeability they project, the manner in which they conduct themselves, and […]
Cultural psychologist Michele Gelfand says that our attitudes toward rules have a lot to do with who we are and with the type of environment we find most comfortable. She’s […]
As Chief Learning Officer at Degreed and former Chief Learning Officer at LinkedIn, Kelly Palmer has thought a lot about architecting effective learning environments for employees seeking to grow their […]
Diversity without inclusion is largely pointless. Beyond superficially satisfying some hiring metric, bringing on an employee who has little chance of thriving deprives the company of diversity’s benefit and puts […]
Just because you have unconscious bias doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. It just makes you human. Amway’s Claire Groen cites the quote that made her feel better about her […]
This month’s release from Big Think+ is all about diversity and inclusion. These two intertwined objectives are on our minds a lot lately for their importance in the company cultures […]
Key performance indicators, KPIs, are not new: It’s said that way back in the third century, China’s Wei dynasty began using them to rate the behavior of members of the […]
The first response to big, bad news is likely to be widespread panic — it’s human nature. Yet, says risk communication expert David Ropeik, you can actually strengthen a team’s […]
By 2003, General Electric, now better known as GE, had a reputation problem. Its long-time image as a company at the forefront of a sparkling future had been shaken. After […]
Brent Gleeson is a business consultant, author, and former Navy SEAL. In that last role, he’s learned about the importance of resiliency when working through challenges. He’s not just talking […]
Executive coach Alisa Cohn, in her Big Think+ video, “Understand Ownership and Accountability: What It Means to Be In Charge When Things Go Wrong,” uses her experience with a company […]
Failures are going to happen. That’s just the way things are. Beyond the thing that didn’t quite manage to work out, though, there’s more that can go off the rails, […]
Business experts recommend transparency as a way to strengthen engagement by keeping employees in touch with the meaning and value of their work, and to help hold decision-makers accountable for […]
It’s a startling thought, really: “The only person’s face I can’t see in a conversation or a meeting is my own.” That’s a little unnerving. Sheila Heen, founder of Triad […]
We don’t have to tell you that business is complicated. You know. Maintaining productive employee and client relationships, mastering challenges and opportunities, and navigating the future are things that don’t […]
Many people, I find, in business,” says Bill McDermott, CEO and author of Winner’s Dream, “tend to delegate things, whether it’s an email or simply the body language like, “You’ve […]
Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky admits that when you’re on the bottom of a hierarchy, “it sucks whether you are a baboon or a human.” Sapolsky suggests that as a business leader, […]
Lisa Bodell, author and CEO of FutureThink, is an expert at fostering innovation. She’s an advocate of something she calls “Little Bigs,” and they’re pretty brilliant. They’re simple, easy to […]
When people mention the Golden Rule, they’re usually referring to its broad meaning: “I’m going to be as good to you as I want you to be to me.” However, […]
Few people come to work with the intention of doing damage to their company — in fact, quite the opposite. And yet, in a culture where an employee doesn’t feel […]
In his Big Think+ expert class The Astronaut’s Guide to Risk Mitigation, retired NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski discusses the concept, and importance of, “situationally appropriate leadership.” A rigid top-down direction may […]