Explore every episode of the podcast Thinkers & Ideas
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How Great Things Happen with George Newman | 16 sept. 2026 | 00:32:08 | |
In How Great Ideas Happen: The Hidden Steps Behind Breakthrough Success, George Newman argues that great ideas are not conjured from within but discovered outside of us, already present in the world, and that finding them is a methodical search anyone can run rather than a flash of genius reserved for a gifted few. Newman is a cognitive scientist and psychologist, and an associate professor of organizational behavior and human resource management at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, having previously held joint appointments in management, psychology, and cognitive science at Yale. In his first book, he draws on research across the arts, science, and business to recast creativity as an archeological dig: survey the terrain for fertile ground, grid the site, dig for volume, and only then sift for what is worth keeping. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Institute, he discusses why organizations "turtle up" under pressure when they should be looking outward, why our best ideas arrive after we think we have run out, where AI genuinely helps the creative process and where it flattens it, the roughly 95/5 balance between proven ground and original twist, and why breakthrough ideas often feel uncomfortable at first. Key topics discussed: 01:01 | Reframing creativity as discovery rather than inspiration 02:38 | The archeology method: survey, grid, dig, sift 04:33 | Why organizations "turtle up," and how to stay outward-looking 06:13 | The creative cliff illusion: why the best ideas come last 08:35 | AI as an excavator: when it helps and when it doesn't 10:49 | Transplanting ideas from other domains 13:08 | The 95/5 balance of proven ground and original twist 16:13 | Ideas versus execution, and Steve Jobs' rock tumbler 19:36 | Creative hot streaks, from Jackson Pollock to Mondrian 25:14 | Why good ideas often feel uncomfortable at first 27:28 | How Newman applies his own research to his work | |||
| Manage the Machine with Paula Goldman | 01 sept. 2026 | 00:29:56 | |
In Manage the Machine: How to Harness Human-AI Collaboration at Work, Paula Goldman argues that AI has crossed over from being a tool to being a partner, and that the companies that win will not be the ones automating the most or the fastest, but the ones that deliberately design around where humans still need to lead. Goldman is the first-ever chief ethical and humane use officer at Salesforce, where she is also EVP of Product, and previously led the Tech and Society Solutions Lab and impact investing at Omidyar Network. She has served on the US National AI Advisory Committee, chairing its generative AI working group. Her new book is a practical guide to integrating AI across functions from sales to HR to legal, setting out how to decide which tasks can safely be delegated to AI, which should stay with people, and what guardrails keep either from going astray. In her conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Institute, she discusses her "human at the helm" model of AI adoption, the role customer emotion plays in deciding where AI belongs, whether AI erodes the very human judgment it depends on, how to measure AI ROI beyond time saved, and what it takes to move from pilots to enterprise-wide rollout. Key topics discussed: 01:01 | What changes for leaders once AI shifts from tool to partner 02:28 | The "human at the helm" model in practice 07:09 | How the chief ethical and humane use officer role fits into AI governance 09:43 | Customer and employee emotion as a design input 12:39 | Skill decay: does the model erode itself over time? 15:54 | The jagged technological frontier and where to deploy AI 18:32 | Calculating AI ROI: cost savings versus new products 22:14 | Navigating two moving frontiers, better and cheaper 27:09 | Getting from successful pilot to enterprise rollout | |||
| Global by Design with Vijay Govindarajan | 18 août 2026 | 00:29:23 | |
In Global by Design: How to Create Innovations That Scale, Travel, and Transform, Vijay Govindarajan argues that the most powerful innovations are designed from the ground up for emerging markets like rural China or India, and then travel back to disrupt wealthy ones. Govindarajan is the Coxe Distinguished Professor at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business and one of the world’s foremost experts on strategy and innovation, most known for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Reverse Innovation. In his new book, co-authored with MIT engineer Amos Winter, he fuses business strategy with engineering science to show how high-value, low-cost products built for poorer countries can win there first and then upend established markets abroad, offering a roadmap for innovators across engineering, business, NGOs, and government. In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses how GE built a $15,000 ultrasound machine for rural China; why most multinationals chase only the thin top slice of emerging markets; the three phases of his innovation framework; the difference between serial and parallel reverse innovation; and why globalization behaves like gravity even in a fragmented, multipolar world. Key topics discussed: 03:29 | How reverse innovation works: GE’s ultrasound machine for rural China 06:39 | Why most multinationals aren’t global by design 08:01 | The mistake of serving only the thin top slice of emerging markets 10:00 | Phase 1, elucidating requirements: P&G’s 3,000 hours redesigning a razor 13:00 | Phase 2, closing the innovation gap: GE’s low-cost CAT scanner 16:48 | Phase 3, serial vs. parallel reverse innovation 20:20 | Value-driven innovation, the Segway cautionary tale, and where the biggest opportunities lie 24:14 | Global by design in a geopolitically fragmented world Additional inspirations from Vijay Govindarajan:
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| Blue Ocean Strategy with Renée Mauborgne | 04 août 2026 | 00:30:42 | |
In Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant, Renée Mauborgne argues that lasting growth does not come from winning market share in crowded existing industries, but from creating entirely new market space that no one is competing in yet. Mauborgne is a professor of strategy at INSEAD and co-director of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. Blue Ocean Strategy, co-written with W. Chan Kim has sold more than 4 million copies and is recognized as one of the most iconic and impactful strategy books ever written. The new 20th anniversary edition tests the original theory against today’s market realities and is enhanced with fresh cases, including NVIDIA’s three successive market-creating moves, a new preface that highlights the book’s ongoing global impact, and a curated list of over fifty blue ocean cases across diverse industries that expand far beyond those in the original version. In her conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Institute, Mauborgne discusses when a company should stop competing and start creating, why the search for new demand begins with non-customers rather than customers, how NVIDIA chases “zero-billion-dollar markets,” why differentiation and low cost need not be a trade-off, whether AI’s commoditizing effect makes advantage harder to defend, and how to reconcile bold commitment with the case for keeping options open. Key topics discussed: 01:12 | Why beating the competition is the wrong goal 02:34 | How to know when it’s time to shift from competing to creating 05:26 | Finding a blue ocean: value innovation and the role of non-customers 07:02 | Where the process starts inside an organization 09:25 | NVIDIA and the pursuit of zero-billion-dollar markets 12:46 | Breaking the trade-off between differentiation and low cost 16:21 | What prompted the new edition 18:33 | Will blue oceans stay defensible as AI commoditizes capabilities? 24:17 | Why using AI only for speed and efficiency is a trap 25:36 | Reconciling bold commitment with the need for optionality Additional inspirations from Renée Mauborgne:
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| From the Archive: Making Sense of Chaos with Doyne Farmer | 21 juil. 2026 | 00:31:16 | |
As uncertainty continues to define the business landscape, we’re revisiting our conversation with economist and complexity scientist Doyne Farmer on why conventional forecasting often falls short in a world shaped by interconnected, dynamic systems. Drawing on decades of research, he explains how complexity science offers a more realistic way to think about prediction, risk, and decision-making—and how leaders can navigate uncertainty with greater confidence. Whether you’re hearing this conversation for the first time or revisiting it with fresh perspective, Doyne’s insights remain as relevant today as ever. | |||
| Crisis Engineering with Matthew Weaver and Mikey Dickerson | 07 juil. 2026 | 00:43:10 | |
In Crisis Engineering: Time-Tested Tools for Turning Chaos Into Clarity, Matthew Weaver and Mikey Dickerson argue that organizational crises are not problems to be survived but are rare windows in which rapid, directed transformation becomes possible within days rather than years. Weaver was a founding Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) at Google and later established the Defense Digital Service at the U.S. Department of Defense. Dickerson, also a founding SRE at Google, led the rescue of healthcare.gov, an effort that landed him on the cover of Time magazine. President Barack Obama subsequently appointed him deputy chief information officer of the United States, where he created the United States Digital Service. Together with their co-author Marina Nitze, the three are partners at the crisis engineering firm Layer Aleph. Drawing on decades of experience inside some of the most complex systems in government and industry—from the healthcare.gov rescue to wildfire response and pandemic logistics—the writers deliver a practical framework for identifying the five signals of a genuine crisis, and how to use that moment to drive lasting change across tech, government, healthcare, and beyond. In their conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, they discuss why breakdowns in sensemaking cause well-trained operators to make situations worse, what the healthcare.gov rescue reveals about co-location and shared urgency, how crisis disrupts normal incentive structures to surface the organization’s real map, the concept of bracketing as a tool for directing team attention, and how AI integrations are creating the conditions for larger and harder-to-manage crises ahead. Key topics discussed: 01:24 | What “crisis engineering” means and what conditions define a true crisis 05:28 | Sensemaking: the invisible force driving decisions under pressure 10:38 | The 2013 healthcare.gov collapse: arriving on the crisis scene 14:05 | Why physical co-location is essential in a crisis 17:18 | Using a crisis to remap how the organization actually works 20:17 | Bracketing: deliberately defining the beginning and end of a crisis 25:33 | Why organizations struggle to define an exit condition 27:34 | Capturing crisis learning before returning to normal operations 30:22 | How AI is changing (and likely multiplying) crisis situations 35:51 | Advice for business leaders on building crisis readiness before a crisis hits | |||
| The Irrational Decision with Ben Recht | 23 juin 2026 | 00:26:45 | |
In The Irrational Decision: How We Gave Computers the Power to Choose for Us, Benjamin Recht argues that the optimization and mathematical rationality we apply to every corner of modern life—from dieting to hiring to strategy—often fails when encountering the messy realities of life. Recht is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at UC Berkeley. In his new book, he traces how a narrow conception of rationality, born from 1940s wartime computing, came to dominate decision-making across society—and shows that this approach works brilliantly in closed, controlled systems like microchip design but breaks down in the complex, unpredictable domains where most real decisions are made. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the origins of mathematical rationality, why optimization works for microchips but not for diets, why game theory fails to describe how humans actually behave, and how leaders should think about the boundary between human and machine intelligence in the age of AI. Key topics discussed: 01:02 | What is mathematical rationality and where do we encounter it? 02:49 | The origins of rational thinking in the 1940s 07:18 | Where optimization works: microchips, logistics, controlled systems 09:13 | Where it fails: Chernobyl, Waymo, and the limits of control 13:17 | When human “qualitative irrationality” is the right answer 14:59 | A framework for assigning decisions to machines vs. humans 17:45 | How the boundary between human and machine decision-making will evolve 19:14 | Why game theory fails to describe how humans actually behave 22:07 | Kahneman vs. Klein: two views on human decision-making 24:30 | What we risk losing as we outsource more decisions to AI | |||
| AI Needs You with Verity Harding | 09 juin 2026 | 00:37:54 | |
In AI Needs You: How We Can Change AI’s Future and Save Our Own, Verity Harding argues that AI governance is too important to be left to technologists alone—and that the rest of us need to join the conversation to shape this technology’s future. Harding is the director of the AI and Geopolitics Project at the Bennett School of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge and the founder of Formation Advisory. She spent more than a decade at Alphabet, first as head of Security Policy at Google, then as DeepMind’s first global head of Policy. In her book, she draws on historical case studies to show that democratic societies have successfully governed transformative technologies in the past. In her conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, she discusses why the nuclear arms race is the wrong analogy for AI, what the 1967 Outer Space Treaty can teach us about cooperation between rivals, how Britain’s regulation of IVF became a gold standard by depoliticizing the technology, and what business leaders get wrong about their own role in shaping AI governance. Key topics discussed: 01:56 | Why the framing of AI as “too complex for nonexperts" is harmful 07:46 | Why the nuclear arms control analogy is counterproductive for AI 12:25 | The Space Race and the 1967 Outer Space Treaty as a model for cooperation 17:11 | IVF, the Warnock Committee, and why a philosopher led the regulation effort 20:38 | The internet: from open ideals to commercialization and surveillance 26:41 | What business leaders can do to shape AI governance 30:50 | Four principles for AI: peaceful intent, embrace limitations, purpose over profit, societal trust 35:25 | If you could mandate one thing for global AI governance, what would it be? | |||
| Incorruptible with Eric Ries | 26 mai 2026 | 00:36:15 | |
In Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Companies Stay Great, Eric Ries argues that mission-driven companies face an invisible pressure that pushes them toward short-termism and conformity, no matter the intentions of their stakeholders. Ries is the best-selling author of The Lean Startup, founder of the Long-Term Stock Exchange, and advisor to startups around the globe. In his new book, he traces a recurring pattern across two centuries of business: principled founders build something exceptional, only to watch it be corrupted—not by greedy individuals, but by systemic forces baked into how capitalism is structured. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, Ries discusses how corporate corruption starts, why shareholder primacy became the norm, the concept of financial gravity, and the structural protections companies can put in place to defend their mission. Key topics discussed: 01:09 | How corporate corruption starts 03:50 | The rise of shareholder primacy 08:18 | Why mission-driven companies outperform but don’t dominate 11:06 | Are private equity and activist investors always destructive? 15:31 | Financial gravity: the invisible force that pulls companies off course 19:31 | Structural defenses: purpose, coherence, and integrity 27:06 | Can mature companies still be corrupted or still protect themselves? 31:14 | What Eric Ries would add to The Lean Startup if he could Additional inspirations from Eric Ries:
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| Inside the Box with David Epstein | 13 mai 2026 | 00:30:16 | |
In Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better, David Epstein argues that constraints—not freedom—are what drive creativity, clarity, and focus. Epstein is a number one New York Times–best-selling author, known for Range and The Sports Gene. In his new book, he draws on psychology, economics, and case studies from NASA to Pixar to Dr. Seuss to show that our brains default to the path of least resistance—and that blocking that path is the only reliable way to force genuinely new thinking. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses why freedom is the enemy of creativity, how leaders can set constraints that unlock rather than stifle their teams, why creativity is not the same as originality, and how Herbert Simon’s idea of “satisficing” can improve both decisions and well-being. Key topics discussed: 01:03 | Why constraints drive creativity and freedom doesn’t 04:06 | What kinds of constraints to use and when they backfire 09:30 | Constraints in innovation vs. execution 13:08 | How to set constraints that maximize creativity without killing autonomy 16:34 | Why creativity is not the same as novelty or originality 19:29 | “Preregistering hypotheses” and how it applies to business 23:19 | Herbert Simon’s “satisficing”: choosing good enough over endless optimization 26:13 | How Epstein applies constraints in his own life and writing process Additional inspirations from David Epstein:
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| Genius at Scale with Linda A. Hill | 28 avr. 2026 | 00:34:42 | |
In Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation, Linda A. Hill argues that innovation fails not because companies lack ideas, but because they struggle to scale those ideas across the enterprise—and that the solution lies not in structure or processes, but in leadership. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, faculty chair of the Leadership Initiative, and one of the top ten management thinkers in the world as ranked by Thinkers50. In her new book, co-authored with Emily Tedards and Jason Wild, she draws on deep case studies of organizations from Mastercard to Pfizer to Pixar to show that scaling innovation requires three distinct but complementary leadership roles: architects, bridgers, and catalysts. In her conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, she discusses why innovation labs alone don’t work, the ABCs of innovation leadership, how to build a culture of creative abrasion, and why even senior leaders need coaching to get innovation right. Key topics discussed: 01:28 | Why innovation fails at the point of scaling, not ideation 03:59 | The ABCs of innovation leadership: architects, bridgers, catalysts 06:29 | Getting metrics and incentives right for innovation 10:42 | What bridgers do and why organizations don’t have enough of them 14:33 | Is innovation leadership a team sport or a solo act? 18:48 | How to know which role you’re best suited to and how to learn the others 24:04 | How incumbent leaders can create urgency without being the new CEO Additional inspirations from Linda A. Hill:
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| Design Love In, with Marcus Buckingham | 14 avr. 2026 | 00:35:38 | |
In Design Love In: How to Unleash the Most Powerful Force in Business, Marcus Buckingham argues that love—not engagement, satisfaction, or motivation—is the only feeling that reliably changes the behavior of employees and customers, and that it can be deliberately designed into business. Buckingham is one of the world’s foremost researchers on human performance. He is a former senior vice president at Gallup turned New York Times–best-selling author, having written First, Break All the Rules. In his new book, he draws on decades of research to show that the relationship between experiences and outcomes is not linear—only experiences so positive that people describe them as “love” actually drive loyalty, productivity, and advocacy. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses why love is categorically different from engagement, the five feelings that make up a loving experience, three disciplines leaders can use to design love into their organizations, and why common practices like outsourcing and large spans of control are fundamentally unloving. Key topics discussed: 01:16 | Why love is categorically different from engagement or satisfaction 04:43 | The nonlinear relationship between experiences and outcomes 08:24 | How experiences drive behaviors that drive outcomes 12:34 | Designing love in: the five feelings and three disciplines 16:00 | Can love be designed into products, not just experiences? 19:13 | The three disciplines: walk the stage, equip the people, sequence the scenes 27:39 | Spans of control and the one-to-12 rule 30:17 | The limits of artificial experience–making Additional inspirations from Marcus Buckingham:
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| BHI Presents: Winning the Rest of the 20s | 31 mars 2026 | 00:27:22 | |
In this special episode, Rich Lesser, BCG’s global chair, and Martin Reeves, former chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, reflect on the shocks and surprises that shaped the first half of the decade and what they reveal about the future. They explore the traits leaders need today: building trust, staying geopolitically aware, and adopting AI in a people-centered way. | |||
| The Transformation Economy with B. Joseph Pine II | 17 mars 2026 | 00:28:04 | |
In The Transformation Economy: Guiding Customers to Achieve Their Aspirations, B. Joseph Pine II argues that an economic shift is underway, in which transformations—not commodities, goods, services, or experiences—will become the highest form of value creation. Pine is an internationally acclaimed author, known for having coined the term “experience economy” in the 1990s. He works as a speaker and advisor to Fortune 500 companies. In his new book, he suggests that most companies compete by improving what they sell, while missing what customers actually want: to become different people. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, Pine discusses the evolution of economic value creation, the North Star for transformation businesses, and how to scale from one to many transformation journeys. Key topics discussed: 01:01 | The evolution of economic value creation 03:35 | How to get into the transformation business 10:35 | The North Star for transformation businesses 15:07 | Scaling beyond individual transformation journeys 16:46 | Different types of transformation journeys 20:37 | Making transformations last 24:12 | Taking the first step toward the transformation economy Additional inspirations from B. Joseph Pine II:
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| The Doom Loop with Eswar Prasad | 03 mars 2026 | 00:28:49 | |
In The Doom Loop: Why the World Economic Order Is Spiraling into Disorder, Eswar Prasad argues that we are caught in a destructive feedback loop between economics, domestic politics, and geopolitics. Prasad is a professor of Trade Policy and Economics at Cornell University, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. In his new book, he explores how globalization, international institutions, the rise of “middle power” countries, and technological innovations had the potential to promote shared prosperity—but instead are driving global instability. In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the breakdown of the rule-based system, implications for trade policy in Europe and elsewhere, and the role AI plays in driving global instability. Key topics discussed: 01:20 | The doom loop driving global instability 06:41 | The positive aspects of globalization and middle powers 12:02 | Implications for European trade policy 15:51 | The breakdown of the rule-based system 18:36 | The role of AI and other technologies in the doom loop 23:57 | Reasons for remaining optimistic Additional inspirations from Eswar Prasad:
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| The New Geography of Innovation with Mehran Gul | 17 févr. 2026 | 00:33:35 | |
In The New Geography of Innovation: The Global Contest for Breakthrough Technologies, Mehran Gul examines how innovation works in different countries around the globe—diving deep into the ecosystems that produce great technology companies. Gul is a writer and leading technology thinker, having served as the Lead for the Digital Transformation of Industries at the World Economic Forum. His book, which was nominated as a Financial Times best business book of 2025, he discusses why the United States remains at the world’s technological frontier, with only China being a true challenger. In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, Global Leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, he talks about how innovation ecosystems are converging, the role of statecraft in fostering innovation ecosystems, and the main forces that will shift the global innovation landscape in the coming decade. Key topics discussed: 01:22 | Attributes of successful innovation ecosystems 06:57 | US vs. China talent pool 10:26 | What China gets right about innovation 13:20 | Why Europe lags behind on innovation 18:54 | The role of intentional statecraft in fostering innovation 23:31 | The convergence of innovation ecosystems around the globe 26:34 | Implications for businesses 28:56 | How the global innovation landscape will evolve in the next decade | |||
| Flourish with Daniel Coyle | 03 févr. 2026 | 00:31:51 | |
In Flourish: The Transformative Power of Creating Community, Daniel Coyle investigates the ecosystems in which humans do their best work—from sports teams, to the boardroom, and our daily lives. Daniel Coyle is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers, in which he explores how people and groups grow, perform, and flourish. He combines immersive field reporting with behavioral science to create practical frameworks for building skill, culture, and meaningful connection. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses his definition of flourishing, how to find moments of stillness in our turbulent world, and how leaders can balance efficiency with the disorder that fosters creativity. Key topics discussed: 01:03 | The definition of flourishing 09:13 | Finding moments of reflection and stillness 16:41 | Crisis as a trigger for flourishing 19:52 | Messiness and creativity 26:39 | Balancing disorder and efficiency 29:40 | A starting point for leaders Additional inspirations from Daniel Coyle:
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| Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World with Dani Rodrik | 20 janv. 2026 | 00:30:58 | |
In Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World: A New Economics for the Middle Class, the Global Poor, and Our Climate, Dani Rodrik proposes new modes of cooperation and policy experimentation to address our greatest global challenges. Rodrik is the Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School. He codirects both the Reimagining the Economy Program at Harvard and the Economics for Inclusive Prosperity network. In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the trilemma between democracy, prosperity, and sustainability, how hyper-globalization contributed to this struggle, and his proposed framework for resolving it. Key topics discussed: 01:06 | The trilemma of democracy, prosperity, and sustainability 03:50 | The shortcomings of hyper-globalization 10:33 | Why manufacturing is no longer an escape from poverty 14:47 | Services as drivers of development 18:33 | The new framework of productivism 23:25 | The power of unilateral climate actions 27:26 | Implications for business leaders Additional inspirations from Dani Rodrik:
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| The Seven Rules of Trust with Jimmy Wales | 16 déc. 2025 | 00:20:36 | |
In The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things that Last, Jimmy Wales explains how he turned an impossible idea—creating an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit—into a global institution. Wales is the founder of Wikipedia. In his new book, he distills two decades of lessons from building one of the world’s most trusted collaborative projects. He argues that trust isn’t a soft virtue but a practical system—a set of design principles that allow people and organizations to cooperate effectively, solve problems honestly, and endure. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses whether Wikipedia could still be created today, how it can retain its trusted status in an age of polarization, and what we can learn from Wikipedia to rebuild trust within society. Key topics discussed: 01:02 | How to scale interpersonal trust 04:02 | The importance of assuming good faith 07:13 | Could Wikipedia still be created today? 09:06 | How Wikipedia can retain its trusted status in an age of polarization 10:30 | The impact of AI on trust 15:40 | How institutions can reclaim lost trust 18:01 | Reasons to remain optimistic about rebuilding societal trust | |||
| How to Be Bold with Ranjay Gulati | 09 déc. 2025 | 00:35:02 | |
In How to Be Bold: The Surprising Science of Everyday Courage, Ranjay Gulati argues that being bold is something you can learn—not a trait you have to be born with. Gulati, a professor at Harvard Business School, is a leading organizational sociologist and management scholar. In his new book, he explores the science and psychology of courage—showing that bravery is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the difference between uncertainty and risk, strategies for building courage at the individual and corporate level, and why we shouldn’t be worried about boldness leading to excessive risk-taking. Key topics discussed: 00:58 | The definition of courage 05:11 | Boldness and excessive risk-taking 06:34 | Strategies for building courage as an individual 14:51 | The power of sense-making 18:16 | Risk management systems 21:13 | How to build a culture of courage 31:40 | One thing executives should do differently Additional inspirations from Ranjay Gulati:
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| The Land Trap with Mike Bird | 25 nov. 2025 | 00:29:12 | |
In The Land Trap: A New History of the World’s Oldest Asset, Mike Bird shows why land remains the ultimate currency of power. Bird is the Wall Street editor at The Economist, where he leads coverage across the American financial industry and cohosts the magazine’s flagship podcast Money Talks. In his new book, he presents a bold new framework explaining how land exerts influence over the modern world, shaping housing, banking, and geopolitics. In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, Bird discusses the history of land usage and ownership, how land is related to modern economic crises, and different governance models for land. Key topics discussed: 01:01 | What makes land unique, and why is it a trap? 04:58 | The history of land ownership 11:38 | The relation between land and economic crises 16:00 | The role of “superstar cities” 19:08 | How land could be governed 23:36 | Business implications of land | |||
| SuperAdaptability with Max McKeown | 11 nov. 2025 | 00:33:13 | |
In SuperAdaptability: How to Transcend in an Age of Overwhelm, Max McKeown argues that the key to thriving under uncertainty is adaptability—being able to change with your environment, again and again, getting better each time. McKeown is a leading strategy thinker, coach to Fortune 100 companies, and an award-winning author. In his new book, he reveals how figures as different as Frida Kahlo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Simone Biles all relied on the same pattern of thinking to adapt to radically changing circumstances. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the difference between adaptability and resilience, and how to scale adaptability from one person to a team to an entire organization. Key topics discussed: 01:14 | The power of adaptive intelligence 03:03 | Adaptability vs. resilience 05:15 | The RUN loop: Recognize, understand, necessary action 09:08 | How to help others become more adaptable 11:57 | How to make your company more adaptable 16:19 | Applying the loop logic to innovation 23:56 | Real life stories of adaptability 29:23 | Bringing adaptability to life with illustrations Additional inspirations from Max McKeown:
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| Capitalism and its Critics with John Cassidy | 28 oct. 2025 | 00:38:18 | |
In Capitalism and Its Critics: A Battle of Ideas in the Modern World, John Cassidy offers a multi-century history of global capitalism, told through the eyes of its dissenters. Cassidy is a staff writer at The New Yorker and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. His new book blends biography, history, and economic analysis to reveal the roots of urgent debates the business world and society face today, as AI, climate change, and inequality are forcing us to reexamine the economic system. In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, Cassidy discusses the main historical themes of capitalism critique, why the system continues to endure, how it is being, and what its future may be in the current context of assaults on the system from both the political left and right. Key topics discussed: 01:44 | The main themes of capitalism critique 04:17 | Why capitalism endures 09:15 | The paradox of state capitalism 14:21 | The misunderstood Luddites 19:09 | Trade tensions and global economic asymmetry 24:45 | The role of unpaid domestic labor in driving the capitalist system 28:50 | The most surprising insights in writing the book 31:33 | The future of capitalism Additional inspirations from John Cassidy:
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| Warhead with Dr. Nicholas Wright | 14 oct. 2025 | 00:28:38 | |
In Warhead: How the Brain Shapes War and War Shapes the Brain, Nicholas Wright argues that war and competition are rooted in human biology—in our drives for survival, fairness, territory, and belonging. Wright is a neuroscientist who researches the brain, technology, and security at University College London; Georgetown University; and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, where he also advises the Pentagon. In his new book, he explores how each region of the brain is linked to a certain dimension of conflict—explaining why war seems inevitable, yet also why peace is possible. In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses why neuroscience is a powerful lens to understand conflict, how it helps military leaders make decisions, and why we need to give AI a prefrontal cortex to ensure it makes wise decisions in conflict situations. Key topics discussed: 01:27 | Neuroscience as a lens to understand conflict 04:10 | The role of prediction error in the psychology of war 07:29 | The clash between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex 12:46 | How AI and its interaction with humans may influence the future of conflict 18:55 | How neuroscience insights help military leaders make decisions 22:13 | Training political and business leaders based on neuroscience insights | |||
| After the Spike with Dean Spears and Michael Geruso | 30 sept. 2025 | 00:34:57 | |
In After the Spike: Population, Progress, and the Case for People, Dean Spears and Michael Geruso argue that the defining demographic risk of this century is global depopulation. Spears and Geruso are both professors at the University of Texas at Austin, focusing on economic demography and development economics. In their new book, they explore the trend of falling birth rates, how it threatens human progress, and what actions may reverse this trend. In their conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, they discuss projections for global depopulation, why advances in AI and robotics will not replace humans, why fewer people may not be good for the planet, and what the implications of all this are for business leaders. Key topics discussed: 01:06 | Projected global population levels 06:11 | The impact of depopulation 11:00 | The potential for AI and robotics to replace humans 17:00 | The environmental implications of depopulation 21:24 | Potential solutions to falling birth rates 26:02 | Implications for business leaders 28:26 | Reasons to remain hopeful Additional inspirations from Dean Spears:
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| How Progress Ends with Carl Benedikt Frey | 16 sept. 2025 | 00:28:37 | |
In How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations, Carl Benedikt Frey argues that progress, throughout history, has not just depended on technological innovations but also on the flexibility of our institutions. Frey is the associate professor of AI & Work at the University of Oxford, where he directs the Future of Work program. In his new book, he explores how technological progress has unfolded throughout history, from the Qin Dynasty to Silicon Valley. He argues that progress is always fragile, resting on achieving a delicate balance between decentralized innovation and centralized scaling of new technologies. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses how to achieve institutional flexibility, the hurdles we must overcome to turn AI into progress, and what lessons history holds for business leaders looking to navigate the conundrum of innovating versus scaling. Key topics discussed: 01:15 | The fragility of progress 05:35 | The role of decentralization and centralization 11:24 | How to achieve institutional flexibility 17:29 | The hurdles to overcome for turning AI into progress 21:04 | How business leaders can navigate the conundrum of innovating vs. scaling 25:00 | Why progress might not yet end Additional inspirations from Carl Benedikt Frey:
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| Anointed with Toby Stuart | 02 sept. 2025 | 00:31:58 | |
In Anointed: The Extraordinary Effects of Social Status in A Winner-Take-Most World, Toby Stuart dives deeply into the power that social status holds over us. Stuart is the Leo Helzel Chair in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. In his new book, he explores how social status shapes everything—from who we trust and what we value, to which ideas and innovations change the world and who gets credit for their success. In his conversation with Adam Job, Senior Director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the cumulative effects of social status, whereby small initial differences can snowball into outsize effects. He also outlines why the social status system persists despite a prevailing distrust in elites—and how AI may yet be poised to change the system. Key topics discussed: 01:44 | The importance of social status 05:15 | The role of anointment in modern times 13:23 | The cumulative effects of social status 19:18 | Why the social status system persists 21:23 | How AI may change the role of social status 24:45 | The downsides of high social status, and how to deal with them | |||
| Reshuffle with Sangeet Paul Choudary | 26 août 2025 | 00:30:29 | |
In Reshuffle: Who Wins When AI Restacks the Knowledge Economy, Sangeet Paul Choudary explores common misconceptions about how AI will change work, organizations, and business ecosystems. Choudary is the founder and CEO of Platformation Labs and a senior fellow at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. An expert on AI, platforms, and the economics of big tech, he has sold more than half a million books on these topics. In his latest work, he explores how new forms of coordination—rather than automation and augmentation—are the true superpower of AI. In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses how AI will supercharge coordination, move us towards a more modular, on-demand economy, and how companies can account for all of this in their strategies. Key topics discussed: 01:31 | How AI will impact jobs 04:38 | Assessing the value of jobs 09:25 | AI’s power to supercharge coordination 14:23 | Unlocking “coordination without consensus” 19:00 | Moving towards a modular, on-demand economy 25:56 | Crafting a strategy for the age of AI Additional inspirations from Sangeet Choudary:
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| The Eurasian Century with Hal Brands | 12 août 2025 | 00:23:00 | |
In The Eurasian Century: Hot Wars, Cold Wars, and the Making of the Modern World, Hal Brands illuminates the historical patterns we must understand in order to better navigate the geopolitical rivalries of the present. Hal Brands is the Henry A. Kissinger Distinguished Professor of Global Affairs at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He is also a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. In his new book, he traces the arc from World War I to today’s rivalries between the United States and China, and between NATO and Russia. In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses why the 20th and 21st centuries are the Eurasian (rather than the American) Era, how today’s rivalries among great powers differ from those of the past, and what global business must pay attention to in navigating current geopolitical tensions. Key topics discussed: 01:28 | The 20th and 21st centuries as the Eurasian era 05:32 | The “historic achievement” of the Cold War 08:34 | How today’s rivalries among great powers are different 13:14 | The future of Eurasia 15:59 | How global businesses can operate in a polarized geopolitical world 20:13 | Reasons to be optimistic vs. pessimistic about the future Additional inspirations from Hal Brands:
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| The Measure of Progress with Diane Coyle | 06 mai 2025 | 00:22:31 | |
In The Measure of Progress: Counting What Really Matters, Dame Diane Coyle argues that traditional measures like GDP no longer capture economic realities. Coyle is the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge. She is also the director of the Productivity Institute, a fellow of the Office for National Statistics, and a member of the UK’s Competition Commission. Drawing on her deep expertise, she proposes an alternative framework for measuring productivity that enables better policymaking. In her conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, she discusses the shortcomings of GDP—such as a lack of accounting for immaterial goods or natural capital, alternative measures of progress, and how corporate leaders should rethink their approach to measurement. Key topics discussed: 01:32 | The shortcomings of GDP as a measure of productivity 09:14 | The issues of inflated GDP statements 11:12 | Alternative measures of productivity and progress 13:47 | A time-based approach to measuring productivity 16:39 | How productivity measurement works in practice 18:57 | Implications for corporate leaders Additional inspirations from Diane Coyle:
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| Chokepoints with Eddie Fishman | 22 avr. 2025 | 00:34:40 | |
In Chokepoints: American Power in the Age of Economic Warfare, Edward Fishman argues that the nature of international power has fundamentally shifted from military might to economic statecraft. Fishman is a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy and an adjunct professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia. Previously, he served at the US State Department, leading work on economic sanctions. In his new book, he examines how governments—particularly the US’s—are increasingly using financial tools, regulatory measures, and targeted sanctions to shape international relations, secure strategic advantages, and resolve conflicts. In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the history of sanctions, how the US came to wield them so powerfully, how diplomatic back channels are navigated in applying them—and what is important for making them effective in enforcing the desired governance changes. Key topics discussed: 02:05 | The history of chokepoints and US dominance over them 08:45 | The role of businesses in economic diplomacy 12:17 | Navigating diplomatic back channels 15:32 | The role of technology and export controls 19:45 | Oil price caps as an innovation in sanctions design 23:10 | The effectiveness of sanctions in enforcing governance changes 27:44 | On the origins of this book Additional inspirations from Edward Fishman:
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| There's Nothing Like This with Kevin Evers | 08 avr. 2025 | 00:24:43 | |
In There's Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift, Kevin Evers examines the singer-songwriter's remarkable career success from a business strategy perspective. Evers is a senior editor at Harvard Business Review, where he has edited bestselling and award-winning books on high performance, creativity, innovation, digital disruption, marketing, and strategy. In discussion with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, they cover the scale and longevity of Swift's success, the strategic moves and innovations that have driven her rise and staying power, her ability to reinvent herself and connect with fans in new ways, and lessons for strategists and companies. | |||
| Space to Grow with Matthew Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau | 04 mars 2025 | 00:30:46 | |
In Space to Grow: Unlocking the Final Economic Frontier, Matthew C. Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau discuss the discuss the history, the present, and the future of the space economy. Weinzierl is the Joseph and Jacqueline Elbling professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and founder of the Economics of Space project at HBS. Rosseau is an Orbital Launch strategy manager at the American space technology company Blue Origin. Together, they provide in-depth academic and practitioner perspectives on the space economy. In their conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, they discuss the central governance vs. market-driven models of the space economy, the geopolitics of space, and whether the first trillionaire will be an asteroid miner. Key topics discussed: 02:03 | The three phases of the space economy 05:28 | Central governance vs. market-driven model of the space economy 08:23 | Geopolitics of space 11:33 | The market structure of the space economy (on Earth) 17:14 | Space junk 21:03 | Asteroid mining 23:47 | How to make space interesting again | |||
| The Corporation in the Twenty-First Century with John Kay | 18 févr. 2025 | 00:27:40 | |
In The Corporation in the Twenty-First Century: Why (Almost) Everything We Are Told About Business Is Wrong, John Kay provides a novel perspective on the evolution of the contemporary corporation. One of the UK’s leading economists, Kay is a fellow of St John’s College, Oxford. He was the first dean of Oxford’s Saïd Business School and has held chairs at London Business School, the University of Oxford, and the London School of Economics and director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. In his conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Kay discusses the essence of the modern corporation, the changing relationship of capital and labour, the gap between the our historic concept of the corporation and the current reality and the forces that have and will further shape the corporation including sustainability, geopolitics, and technology. Key topics discussed: 01:56 | The essence of a 21st century corporation 05:53 | The changing roles of workers and capital 12:26 | Limits to corporate scale 16:00 | Forces that will shape the future of corporations sustainability, geopolitics, technology 21:50 | The impact of AI on the nature of the corporation 24:12 | Implications for managers Additional inspirations from John Kay:
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| Uncertainty and Enterprise with Amar Bhidé | 04 févr. 2025 | 00:26:02 | |
In Uncertainty and Enterprise: Venturing Beyond the Known, Amar Bhidé revisits and modernizes the concept of Knightian uncertainty. Introduced more than 100 years ago, the concept offers great potential for better understanding corporate decision-making. A renowned expert on innovation, entrepreneurship, and finance, Bhidé is a professor of Health Policy at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, as well as a professor emeritus of Business at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. In his conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Bhidé discusses the important distinction between repeated and unique events, the relationship between uncertainty and imagination, how corporations can use persuasive narratives and social routes to navigate the future, and whether AI will help or hinder these practices. Key topics discussed: 01:16 | The definition of uncertainty 04:49 | The relation between uncertainty and imagination 09:32 | The power of corporate routines 15:57 | The changing nature of uncertainty 17:25 | How AI impacts uncertainty 21:02 | Corporate implications 22:38 | Implications for business education Additional inspirations from Amar Bhidé:
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| The M&A Failure Trap with Baruch Lev and Feng Gu | 21 janv. 2025 | 00:26:22 | |
In The M&A Failure Trap: Why Most Mergers and Acquisitions Fail and How the Few Succeed, Baruch Lev and Feng Gu provide a wealth of evidence on the success and failure factors of acquisitions. Lev, professor emeritus of Accounting and Finance at NYU’s Stern School of Business and Gu, professor of Accounting and Law at the State University of New York, have analyzed more than 40,000 acquisitions over the past four decades. This has not only allowed them to understand the reasons why 75% of deals fail but also to develop a scorecard that can help decision-makers assess the likelihood of acquisition success ex ante. In their conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Lev and Gu discuss how to measure acquisition success, how to curb overconfidence on the side of the acquirer, and key lessons for CEOs seeking inorganic growth. Key topics discussed: [02:45] How mergers and acquisitions have changed [05:00] Judging the success or failure of acquisitions [08:16] Drivers of acquisition failure [14:41] Patterns of successful acquisitions [17:27] Overconfidence and its causes [19:51] Managerial implications | |||
| Mindmasters with Sandra Matz | 07 janv. 2025 | 00:31:23 | |
In Mindmasters: The Data-Driven Science of Predicting and Changing Human Behavior, Sandra Matz explores what our digital footprints reveal about us and how these insights are used to influence our daily decisions. Matz is the David W. Zalaznick Associate Professor of Business at Columbia Business School, where she also serves as co-director of the Center for Advanced Technology and Human Performance. Using her background in psychology and computer science, Matz investigates the intricate connections between our digital and real lives and how these are shaped by technology. In her conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Matz discusses the power of psychological profiling, highlights the harms as well as benefits of the personalization it enables, and outlines implications for businesses and regulators, including the possibility of entirely new business models. Key topics discussed: [01:10] Power of psychological profiling [05:05] Scale and impact of big data–based psychological profiling [09:06] Benefits and harms of personalization [16:05] Challenges of regulating profiling and personalization [17:57] Ramifications of the AI-driven content revolution [23:20] Implications for businesses [28:37] How to manage your data footprint Additional inspirations from Sandra Matz: | |||
| The Unaccountability Machine with Dan Davies | 17 déc. 2024 | 00:27:48 | |
In The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions and How the World Lost Its Mind, Dan Davies examines why companies and governments systematically generate outcomes that everyone involved claims they do not want. Davies is an economist, writer, and former investment banker known for his insightful analysis of finance, corporate governance, and decision-making systems. He has written extensively on topics such as financial fraud, accountability in organizations, and the intersections of economics and management. His latest book combines cybernetics theory and real-world examples to explain how decisions are increasingly made not by accountable individuals, but by systems. In his conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Davies describes the pathologies of failing decision-making systems, explains why we tend not to learn from past mistakes, and outlines why he worries that AI might not improve our capability to make decisions unless we carefully redesign decision systems to tap its potential. Key topics discussed: 01:03 | Unintended outcomes generated by decision-making systems 07:08 | What we can learn from the theory of cybernetics 09:49 | Pathologies of failing information systems 11:49 | Why we make the same mistakes again and again 14:41 | How AI may impact decision-making 16:39 | Steps toward improving our decision-making systems Additional inspirations from Dan Davies:
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| AI Snake Oil with Sayash Kapoor | 03 déc. 2024 | 00:27:47 | |
In AI Snake Oil: What AI Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference, Sayash Kapoor and his co-author Arvind Narayanan provide an essential understanding of how AI works and why some applications remain fundamentally beyond its capabilities. Kapoor was included in TIME’s inaugural list of the 100 most influential people in AI. As a researcher at Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy, he examines the societal impacts of AI, with a focus on reproducibility, transparency, and accountability in AI systems. In his new book, he cuts through the hype to help readers discriminate between legitimate and bogus claims for AI technologies and applications. In his conversation with Martin Reeves, chair of the BCG Henderson Institute, Kapoor discusses historical patterns of technology hype, differentiates between the powers and limitations of predictive versus generative AI, and outlines how managers can balance healthy skepticism with embracing the potential of new technologies. Key topics discussed: 01:05 | Examples of AI “snake oil” 04:42 | Historical patterns of technology hypeand how AI is different 07:26 | Capabilities and exaggerations of predictive AI 11:42 | Powers and limitations of generative AI 17:11 | Drivers of inflated expectations 20:18 | Implications for regulation 23:26 | How managers can balance scepticism and embracing new tech 24:58 | Future of AI research Additional inspirations from Sayash Kapoor:
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| The Age of Outrage with Karthik Ramanna | 12 nov. 2024 | 00:32:00 | |
In The Age of Outrage: How to Lead in a Polarized World, Karthik Ramanna provides a framework for leaders to navigate outrage—the intense, polarized reactions to perceived social injustices, political stances, and misaligned corporate actions—by addressing root causes, engaging stakeholders, and building resilience. Ramanna, a professor of Business and Public Policy at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, specializes in business-government relations and corporate accountability. In conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Ramanna discusses the three causes of outrage (fear of the future, past injustices, and ideologies of othering), common instincts that mislead leaders, and his five-step framework for navigating the age of outrage. Key topics discussed: 01:08 | Managing in the age of outrage 4:21 | Three causes of outrage: fear of the future, past injustices, and ideologies of othering 5:48 | The five-step framework for navigating the age of outrage 19:04 | Instincts which mislead companies into taking the wrong stance or making the wrong analysis 20:45 | The impact of “temperate leadership” and leadership attributes 25:22 | Key factors impacting the age of outrage Additional inspirations from Karthik Ramanna:
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| The Corporate Life Cycle with Aswath Damodaran | 29 oct. 2024 | 00:25:52 | |
In The Corporate Life Cycle: Business, Investment, and Management Implications, Aswath Damodaran presents the corporate life cycle as a universal key for demystifying business finance, strategy and company valuation. Damodaran is a professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University. Known as “the Dean of Valuation,” he has published extensively in academic journals, written many books for students and practitioners, and remains the world’s foremost expert on the subject of corporate valuation. In his latest book, he outlines how corporations age, describes the characteristics of each stage of their life cycle, and discusses implications for managers and investors. In his conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Damodaran outlines how to determine where in the life cycle your company is at, what leadership skills and behaviors are required at each stage, and how the distribution of life cycle stages has changed over recent decades. Key topics discussed: 00:56 | The stages of the corporate life cycle 02:21 | How to determine your stage in the life cycle 03:36 | The importance of acting your age 10:06 | Balancing capital allocation across the portfolio 11:27 | Leadership skills for different stages in the life cycle 16:56 | Creating value at any stage of the life cycle 20:21 | How the distribution of life cycle “shapes” is changing 22:58 | The art of communicating complex ideas in simple ways Additional inspirations from Aswath Damodaran:
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| Big Bet Leadership with John Rossman | 15 oct. 2024 | 00:28:45 | |
In Big Bet Leadership: Your Transformation Playbook for Winning in the Hyper-Digital Era, John Rossman provides a playbook for becoming an innovation and transformation winner. Rossman was previously an executive at Amazon, responsible for launching their Marketplace business. Now, he is the managing partner of Rossman Partners, advising leading enterprises on large-scale change, and author of the best-selling books The Amazon Way and Think Like Amazon. In his latest book, he examines why high-stakes change efforts fail and how to frame and manage them more effectively. Companies need to think in terms of “big bets,” which will require executives to adopt the right mindset, tactical steps, and leadership habits. In his conversation with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Rossman explains why we need to work in prose, not in PowerPoint; how to think big, while betting small; and how to make the critical decisions to “continue, pivot, or kill” a project. Key topics discussed: 01:19 | What makes a “big bet” 04:10 | Thinking in outcomes 06:49 | Prose over PowerPoint 12:51 | Thinking big, but betting small 16:21 | Thinking in systems 19:21 | How to decide to “continue, pivot, or kill” – and avoid confusion 22:45 | Where “big bet” thinking can be applied Additional inspirations from John Rossman:
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| Critical Systems Thinking with Michael C. Jackson | 01 oct. 2024 | 00:30:22 | |
In Critical Systems Thinking: A Practitioner's Guide, Michael C. Jackson emphasizes the need for integrating diverse systems methodologies to navigate complexity and uncertainty. Jackson, an emeritus professor of management systems and former dean of the University of Hull Business School, has also served as president of several prominent systems thinking organizations, including the UK Systems Society, the International Federation for Systems Research, and the International Society for the Systems Sciences. His most significant contribution to the field is his development of Critical Systems Thinking (CST), which emphasizes the combined use of different systems approaches to deal with the complexity that leaders face. In a conversation with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Jackson introduces the EPIC process (Explore, Produce, Intervene, and Check), a four-stage, sequential framework to help leaders deploy systems methodologies. Their discussion includes how different systems perspectives can be combined, how theory informs interventions, how organizations are embracing system thinking, barriers to adoption, and the relevance of systems thinking to today’s business environment. Key topics discussed: 2:40 | What systems thinking can offer the traditional MBA toolkit 5:20 | Systems thinking in contemporary business scenarios 6:37 | The EPIC process: Explore, Produce, Intervene, and Check 16:52 | Characteristic tools of systems thinking 17:34 | The five lenses of systems thinking 21:54 | Advancing the agenda of systems thinking Additional inspirations from Michael C. Jackson:
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| Deep Utopia with Nick Bostrom | 18 sept. 2024 | 00:26:02 | |
There is no shortage of technologists touting the promise of AI, but the frontier of AI fervor is a noted philosopher who thinks the economy could double every few months—and that space colonization by self-replicating machines may not be hundreds of years away. Enter Nick Bostrom, who previously authored the 2014 bestseller Superintelligence about the dangers of AI, and now considers what can go right with AI in his new book Deep Utopia. Bostrom was formerly a professor at Oxford University, and currently principal researcher of the Macrostrategy Research Initiative. In this episode, he joins Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, Chief Economist of BCG, who is skeptical of AI narratives and thinks technology’s economic impact has long-lagged expectations. They discuss different takes on the likely size and speed of AI’s impact on the macroeconomy, and why they disagree about the prospect of tech-driven mass unemployment. Bostrom also explains key themes from Deep Utopia, including stages of utopia, “shallow and deep” redundancy, implications for policy, as well as the unique rhetorical style of the book. Key topics discussed: 01:45 | Is tech jumping ahead or behind schedule? 03:24 | Is Deep Utopia really a book about AI or about philosophy? 04:39 | Technological unemployment: Real or fallacious 10:54 | Taxonomy of utopia 13:59 | What about public policy, such as UBI? 15:47 | Concept of shallow and deep redundancy 18:50 | Concept of “interestingness” 21:07 | Rhetorical style of book 23:29 | AI regulation and policy Additional inspirations from Nick Bostrom:
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| The Great Disconnect with Marco Magnani | 04 sept. 2024 | 00:27:37 | |
In The Great Disconnect: Hopes and Fears After the Excess of Globalization, Marco Magnani explores the factors that are driving the crisis of globalization we are currently experiencing. Magnani teaches international economics at LUISS University in Rome and Università Cattolica in Milan. Previously, he was a senior research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and worked in investment banking for two decades. In his new book, he discusses the history of internationalization and the benefits that modern globalization has brought—as well as the drawbacks that have become increasingly apparent. Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Magnani discusses the causes of the increasing global disconnect—beyond U.S.-China tensions. He also lays out four scenarios for how globalization may play out, as well as practical tips for how executives can prepare for these different futures in a time of deep uncertainty. Key topics discussed: 01:19 | The great disconnect 04:13 | The benefits and downsides of modern globalization 07:21 | Future scenarios for globalization 13:28 | What the history of internationalization reveals about where we are heading 15:25 | Implications of AI for globalization 16:33 | How globalization or de-globalization might play out in practice 21:10 | Implications for businesses Additional inspirations from Marco Magnani:
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| Assembling Tomorrow with Scott Doorley and Carissa Carter | 06 août 2024 | 00:28:23 | |
In Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future, Carissa Carter and Scott Doorley explore the intangible forces that make it hard to anticipate how new technologies create impact and what we can do about this challenge during the design process for new applications. Carter is the Director of Teaching and Learning at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford – also known as the Stanford d.school. Doorley is a Creative Director at the d.school, having previously worked in the film industry for more than a decade. Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, they discuss how designers, technologists, and corporate leaders can more effectively harness transformative technologies like AI and artificial biology by giving more weight to non-technical factors like emotions, perceptions, imagination, and serendipity. Key topics discussed: 01:23 | The problem of runaway design 03:16 | The forces that make technology impact unpredictable 09:17 | The role of emotions in design 11:59 | Why we are not thinking about unpredictability in designing technologies 15:17 | Potential solutions to new design problems 22:22 | Applying these solutions to AI 24:20 | Implications for businesses Additional inspirations from Scott Doorley: Additional inspirations from Carissa Carter:
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| How to Become Famous with Cass Sunstein | 23 juil. 2024 | 00:41:04 | |
In How to Become Famous: Lost Einsteins, Forgotten Superstars, and How the Beatles Came to Be, Cass Sunstein reveals why some individuals become celebrities—and others don’t. Sunstein has long been at the forefront of behavioral economics. He is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School and served as the administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration. He has authored numerous best sellers, such as Nudge and The World According to Star Wars. In his new book, he explores the roles played by skill, luck, and social processes in the achievement of fame and success—based on recent research on informational cascades, reputation cascades, network effects, and group polarization. Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Sunstein discusses how a better understanding of these mechanisms can help businesses make better decisions in marketing, talent management, and innovation - and why the greatest composer of all time may not be J S Bach, but rather Taylor Swift. Key topics discussed: 03:18 | How to prove whether or not fame is driven by merit 06:08 | The importance of quality and skill to fame 09:33 | Enduring vs. transient fame 11:36 | The greatest composers of all time: Bach vs. Taylor Swift 14:44 | Social factors driving fame 19:54 | The role of group polarization and network effects 28:48 | Implications for businesses: Marketing, talent, innovation 33:19 | The art of manipulating information cascades Additional inspirations from Cass Sunstein:
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| The Ritual Effect with Michael Norton | 09 juil. 2024 | 00:26:01 | |
In The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness the Surprising Power of Everyday Actions, Michael Norton explores how the little things we do can create big impact. Norton is the Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he also leads the unit for negotiation, organization, and markets. A well known and respected researcher on behavioral economics and well-being, his new book demonstrates the power of small acts—and how a subtle shift of turning habits into rituals can add purpose and pleasure to life. Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Norton discusses how we can use rituals deliberately and effectively in our life and work, why it is important that rituals evolve over time, and how COVID changed our rituals as individuals and as teams. Key topics discussed: 00:52 | Ritual vs. habit 03:39 | The power (and pitfalls) of rituals 07:08 | Deliberately using rituals (in private life and the workplace) 13:41 | The importance of evolving rituals 18:22 | How COVID changed our rituals 21:20 | How CEOs can harness the power of rituals Additional inspirations from Michael Norton:
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| Survive, Reset, Thrive with Rebecca Homkes | 25 juin 2024 | 00:31:01 | |
In Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times, Rebecca Homkes guides leaders on how to turn uncertainty into opportunity. Homkes teaches business strategy at the London Business School, is on the faculty of Duke Corporate Education, and consults major companies on strategy. She has developed a framework for leading through uncertainty based on three principles: setting up the firm for continuity through shocks (survive), making strategic choices for growth as the situation changes (reset), and ensuring implementation of the new business model (thrive). Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Homkes discusses how to thrive under uncertainty and how her framework applies in the context of the AI revolution. Key topics discussed: 02:11 | How uncertainty affects strategy 03:40 | The survive, reset, thrive framework 05:20 | How to survive a shock 09:20 | How to reset for a new environment 14:42 | How to execute so you can thrive in the long term 19:12 | The creative vs. competitive aspects of strategy 24:11 | How algorithms and AI will affect strategy and the strategy process 27:49 | Applying this framework in your personal life | |||
| Perspectives on the Future with Esther Dyson, Rita McGrath, and Gary Shteyngart | 11 juin 2024 | 00:37:52 | |
At the BCG Henderson Institute, we aim to bring forward-looking leaders the ideas and inspirations that will shape their next game. To honor this mission—and celebrate the 100th episode of our Thinkers & Ideas podcast—we welcomed three leading futurists to discuss the evolution of business and society. Rita McGrath is a professor of management at Columbia Business School, and has been ranked among the top 10 management thinkers globally by Thinkers50 for years. Gary Shteyngart, a professor of writing at Columbia University is also a New York Times bestselling author of science fiction novels. Esther Dyson, founder of Wellville, is an investor, writer, and expert on all things tech, space, and health. Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, they discuss their complementary perspectives on the future. They also divulge their methods for making predictions, providing valuable hints for how business leaders can use similar approaches to shape their perspectives and strategies. Key topics discussed: 02:06 | Revisiting past predictions about the future 05:08 | The digital age 08:16 | Social media and a technology-centred society 12:47 | Methods for sensing the future” 17:23 | Harnessing the power of science fiction 22:31 | Using metaphors 24:41 | Bringing together these future-sensing methods 31:07 | Predictions about what is coming next Additional inspirations from Rita McGrath, Gary Shteyngart, and Esther Dyson:
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