HBR’S 10 MUST READS2021
THE DEFINITIVE MANAGEMENT IDEAS OF THE YEAR FROM
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
BY HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
Contents
The Right Way to Help Colleagues Excel 3 How to Ask Good Questions 4 Which Connected Strategies Should You Use? 5 Gender Identity and Expression: A Glossary 6 The Grass Is Always Greener… 7 Organizing AI for Scale 8 Alarming Forecast: Current Climate Policies Are Grossly Inadequate
9
Rising Temperatures, Rising Risks: Flooding Cities 10 Rising Temperatures, Rising Risks: Food Shortages 11 Rising Temperatures, Rising Risks: Nature’s Collapse
12
Rising Temperatures, Rising Risks: Heat Waves 13 Rising Temperatures, Rising Risks: Water Uncertainty
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Instead of Try
Can I give you some feedback? Here’s my reaction.
Good job! Here are three things that really worked for me. What was going through your mind when you did them?
Here’s what you should do. Here’s what I would do.
Here’s where you need to improve. Here’s what worked best for me, and here’s why.
That didn’t really work. When you did x, I felt y or I didn’t get that.
You need to improve your communica-tion skills.
Here’s exactly where you started to lose me.
You need to be more responsive. When I don’t hear from you, I worry that we’re not on the same page.
You lack strategic thinking. I’m struggling to understand your plan.
You should do x [in response to a re-quest for advice].
What do you feel you’re struggling with, and what have you done in the past that’s worked in a similar situation?
The Right Way to Help Colleagues Excel
IF YOU WANT to get into the excellence business, here are some examples of language to try.
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3
How to ask good question s
Common pitfalls Eff ective inquiry
Start with yes-or-no questions. Start with open-ended questions that mini-mize preconceptions. (“How are things going on your end?” “What does your group see as the key opportunity in this space?”)
Continue asking overly general ques-tions (“What’s on your mind?”) that may invite long off -point responses.
As collaborations develop, ask questions that focus on specifi c issues but allow people plenty of room to elaborate. (“What do you know about x ?” “Can you explain how that works?”)
Assume that you’ve grasped what speakers intended.
Check your understanding by summarizing what you’re hearing and asking explicitly for corrections or missing elements. (“Does that sound right—am I missing anything?” “Can you help me fi ll in the gaps?”)
Assume the collaboration process will take care of itself.
Periodically take time to inquire into others’ experiences of the process or relationship. (“How do you think the project is going?” “What could we do to work together more eff ectively?”)
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Conn
ecte
d st
rate
gy
Des
crip
tion
Ke
y ca
pabi
lity
Wor
ks
best
whe
n W
orks
bes
t fo
r
Resp
ond
to d
esir
e Cu
stom
er e
xpre
sses
wha
t sh
e w
ants
and
whe
n Fa
st a
nd e
ffi ci
ent
resp
onse
to o
rder
s Cu
stom
ers
are
know
ledg
eabl
e Cu
stom
ers
who
don
’t w
ant
to s
hare
too
muc
h da
ta a
nd
who
like
to b
e in
con
trol
Cura
ted
off e
ring
Fi
rm o
ff ers
tailo
red
men
u of
opt
ions
to c
usto
mer
M
akin
g go
od p
erso
naliz
edre
com
men
datio
ns
The
uncu
rate
d se
t of o
p-tio
ns is
larg
e an
d po
ten-
tially
ove
rwhe
lmin
g
Cust
omer
s w
ho d
on’t
min
d sh
arin
g so
me
data
bu
t wan
t a fi
nal s
ay
Coac
h be
havi
or
Firm
nud
ges
cust
omer
to a
ct
to o
btai
n a
goal
Unde
rsta
ndin
g cu
stom
er
need
s an
d ab
ility
to
gath
er a
nd in
terp
ret
rich
data
Iner
tia a
nd
bias
es k
eep
cust
omer
s fr
om a
chie
ving
wha
t’s
best
for t
hem
Cust
omer
s w
ho d
on’t
min
d sh
arin
g pe
rson
al d
ata
and
gett
ing
sugg
estio
ns
Aut
omat
ic e
xecu
tion
Fi
rm fi
lls
cust
omer
’s n
eed
with
out
bein
g as
ked
Mon
itorin
g cu
stom
ers
and
tran
slat
ing
inco
min
g da
ta in
to a
ctio
n
Cust
omer
beh
avio
r is
very
pre
dict
able
and
co
sts
of m
ista
kes
are
smal
l
Cust
omer
s w
ho d
on’t
min
d sh
arin
g pe
rson
al d
ata
and
havi
ng fi
rms
mak
e de
cisi
ons
for t
hem
Whi
ch c
onne
cted
str
ateg
ies
shou
ld y
ou u
se?
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Gender Identity and Expression: A Glossary
PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERING LANGUAGE to describe who they are and how they want to label their identities. The terms below are frequently used, but we acknowledge that these and other defi nitions are constantly evolving. Further, it’s important to note that individuals know their own identity best and should always be consulted about how they’d like to be referred to. (For more, see the Human Rights Campaign’s glossary of terms.)
Cisgender: A gender identity that aligns with the sex assigned at birth.
Gender expression: The ways in which people—trans or not—choose to convey their gender identity through dress, verbal communication styles, and other outward behavior.
Gender fl uid: Refers to people who feel more male, more female, or some combination of the two at various times, and who therefore express their gender identity more dynamically over time.
Gender identity: How one understands one’s own gender, regardless of the sex assigned at birth.
Genderqueer: A gender identity and expression that are not tied to a tra-ditional male/female view of the gender spectrum. Those who identify as genderqueer may identify as men or women, as neither, or as some combi-nation of the two.
Trans: An umbrella term for cases in which gender does not align with societal expectations regarding the sex assigned at birth. Some people who fall under the umbrella decide to transition; others do not, because they don’t defi ne themselves according to the traditional male-female binary or because they have a more fl uid view of their identity over time.
Transgender: A gender identity that does not align with the sex assigned at birth. For example, a transgender woman is someone whose sex assigned at birth was male.
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The grass is always greener . . . Organizations are much more interested in external talent than in their own employees to fi ll vacancies.
Top channels for quality hires
48%
46%
40%
34%
28%
Employee referrals
Third-party websites or online job boards
Social or professional networks
Third-party recruiters or staffing firms
Internal hires
Source: LinkedIn, based on a 2017 survey of 3,973 talent-acquisition decision makers who work in corporate HR departments and are LinkedIn members.
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Organizing AI for scale AI-enabled companies divide key roles between a hub and spokes. A few tasks are always owned by the hub, and the spokes always own execution. The rest of the work falls into a gray area, and a fi rm’s individual characteris-tics determine where it should be done.
Spoke
Hub
Governing coalitionA team of business, IT, and analytics leaders that
share accountability for the AI transformation
HubA central group headedby a C-level analyticsexecutive who alignsstrategy
Responsibilities● Talent recruitment
and trainingstrategy
● Performancemanagement
● Partnershipswith providers ofdata and AIservices andsoftware
● AI standards,processes, policies
Gray areaWork that could be ownedby the hub or spokes orshared with IT
Responsibilities▲ Project direction,
delivery, changemanagement
▲ Data strategy,data architecture,code development
▲ User experience▲ IT infrastructure▲ Organizational
capabilityassessment,strategy, funding
SpokeA business unit, function,or geography, which assignsa manager to be the AIproduct owner and abusiness analyst to assisthim or her
Responsibilities■ Oversight of execution
teams■ Solution adoption■ Performance tracking
Execution teamsAssembled from the hub,spoke, and gray area forthe duration of the project
Key roles● Product owner▲ Analytics translator▲ Data scientist▲ Data engineer
▲ Data architect▲ Visualization specialist▲ UI designer● Business analyst
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Alarming forecast: current climate policies are grossly inadequate To hold global warming to 1.5° Celsius above preindustrial levels and prevent the worst impacts of climate change, the world must cut carbon emissions to zero by midcentury. Yet emissions are still rising, and under existing policies re-ductions won’t begin to approach what’s needed. If we stay on the current path, temperatures will probably increase by about 3° C, with catastrophic eff ects.
Historical Projected
1990–10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070
Emissions reductionrequired to limitwarming to 1.5° C
Emissions underexisting policies
Glo
bal c
arbo
n em
issi
ons
(gig
aton
s pe
r ye
ar)
Source: Climate Action Tracker.
Note: Bandwidths represent high and low emissions estimates.
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Rising temperatures, rising risks: fl ooding cities If the global temperature were to increase by . . .
+3.5° C
+3.0° C
+2.5° C
+2.0° C
+1.5° C
+1.0° C
1+ meters of sea-level rise by 2080
$11.7 trillion in flood-damage lossesper year from sea-level rise
$10.2 trillion in flood-damage lossesper year from sea-level rise
Source: World Resources Institute.
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Source: World Resources Institute.
Rising temperatures, rising risks: food shortages If the global temperature were to increase by . . .
+3.5° C
+3.0° C
+2.5° C
+2.0° C
+1.5° C
+1.0° C
Global food-supply disruptions
400 million-plus people exposedand vulnerable to crop-yield losses
7%–10% loss of rangelandlivestock globally
6% decline in global averagemaize crop yield
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Rising temperatures, rising risks: nature’s collapse If the global temperature were to increase by . . .
+3.5° C
+3.0° C
+2.5° C
+2.0° C
+1.4° C
+1.0° C
Permafrost collapse; rain forest dieback
18% fewer insects, 16% drop inplants, 8% decrease in vertebratesdue to significant range reductions
70%–90% decline in coral reef
Source: World Resources Institute.
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Rising temperatures, rising risks: heat waves If the global temperature were to increase by . . .
+3.5° C
+3.0° C
+2.5° C
+2.0° C
+1.5° C
+1.0° C
74% of the global population exposed to20+ days a year of deadly heat by 2100
54% of the global population exposed to20+ days a year of deadly heat by 2100
48% of the global population exposed to20+ days a year of deadly heat by 2100
Source: World Resources Institute.
Note: According to research published in Nature Climate Change, “deadly heat” is the thresh-old beyond which air temperatures, humidity, and other factors can be lethal.
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Rising temperatures, rising risks: water uncertainty If the global temperature were to increase by . . .
+3.5° C
+3.0° C
+2.5° C
+2.0° C
+1.5° C
+1.0° C
10-month droughts, on average
36% increase in frequencyof rainfall extremes over land
271 million people exposedto water scarcity
Source: World Resources Institute.
Note: According to the NOAA, “extreme rainfall” can be loosely defi ned as a month’s worth of rain for a given region falling in a single day.
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