Author: Phillip Cartwright

We’ve all heard the refrain: “Work sucks.” It’s become a common catchphrase, evoking images of long hours, endless emails, and a seemingly futile grind. But does work have to suck? The truth is, for many, work is only dreadful when it feels disconnected from something meaningful. When the purpose behind what we do gets lost…

Ah, management fads—the corporate world’s equivalent of a shiny new diet pill (or trendy fashion if you’re the HBR). They sweep through businesses with promises of miracle transformations, only to vanish faster than your enthusiasm for kale smoothies. One day, OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are the secret sauce to turn your flailing organization into…

Strategic goals are like destinations on a road trip: You’ve packed the snacks, the map is loaded, and everyone’s buckled in, ready for an exciting journey toward organizational greatness. Except, as anyone who’s ever been trapped in a car for hours knows, no road trip goes according to plan. Traffic snarls, “Are we there yet?”…

Let’s start with a story you’ve probably heard a thousand times, but don’t worry—this time, it’s about your business. In the parable, a group of blind men each touches a different part of an elephant—its trunk, tusk, leg, or tail—and proceeds to describe it based on their limited experience. One man holding the elephant’s trunk…

The “hot new thing” at the moment? Artificial Intelligence. More specifically, generative AI (think Large Language Models, image generators, and all that jazz). I have no doubt that these shiny new toys will, like every other tech marvel throughout history, make us more efficient, boost output, and ramp up the value we produce. Fantastic, right?…