In her new book The Case for Good Jobs, Zeynep Ton explains why creating good jobs, particularly for frontline workers, will help companies thrive. Ton, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and president and co-founder of the Good Jobs Institute, has long been an advocate of investing in employees. Traditional bad jobs systems—characterized by low pay, high turnover, and poor operational execution—harm customer satisfaction and undermine a company’s ability to differentiate, innovate, and adapt. In a good jobs system, she explains, leaders unlock a virtuous cycle of employee engagement, which improves operational performance and will ultimately benefit employees, customers, and shareholders. Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Ton discusses various aspects of the good jobs system—how it works, how to implement it, how to measure the value of good jobs, and what good jobs mean in an age in which labor is under threat of substitution by AI. Key topics discussed:  01:06 | The business value of good jobs 03:54 | What makes the good jobs system work? 12:21 | Data and metrics 17:10 | AI and labor substitution 20:29 | Good jobs beyond the frontline 24:48 | How to implement the good jobs system

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The Case for Good Jobs with Zeynep Ton

Inspiring and thought-provoking conversations with leading thinkers about influential ideas on business, technology, economics, and science. Hosted by Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, and Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, Global Chief Economist of BCG.

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In Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There, Cass Sunstein, together with his co-author Tali Sharot, discusses the importance of reevaluating the familiar to discover new insights. 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 effects of habituation—ceasing to notice the familiar. Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Sunstein discusses the perils of habituation and how to see the unseen. He also identifies ways that company leaders can strategically avoid habituation to ensure their organizations do not get stuck in mental models that limit adaptability to new trends and challenges. Key topics discussed:  01:09 | How habituation works 04:25 | What dishabituation is 08:18 | How to see the unseen 13:51 | How corporations should think about (dis-)habituation 22:08 | Breaking free from a mental model 24:21 | Personal strategies for dishabituation Additional inspirations from Cass Sunstein:Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment; co-authored by Daniel Kahneman and Olivier Sibony (Little Brown Spark, 2021)The World According to Star Wars (Dey Street Books, 2016)Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness; co-authored by Richard Thaler (Penguin Books, 2009)


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Look Again with Cass Sunstein

In Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and the Quest for Immortality, Venki Ramakrishnan explores the current research on and prospects for human longevity. Ramakrishnan leads a group at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. For his research on the structure and function of ribosomes, he won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. From 2015 to 2020, he served as president of the Royal Society. In his new book, Ramakrishnan explains the mechanisms of aging and their potential impacts on life expectancy, health span, and lifespan. Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Ramakrishnan discusses the likely social, economic, and ethical implications of increasing longevity as well as the specific efforts researchers are making to prolong healthy life—and how close they are to achieving a breakthrough. He shines a light on a set of technologies which could be every bit as impactful as artificial intelligence, which therefore also deserve our attention. Key topics discussed:  02:28 | Life expectancy vs. health span vs. maximum lifespan 08:21 | Mechanisms of aging 13:25 | Potential interventions for promoting longevity 18:27 | How close are we to a longevity breakthrough? 24:02 | Societal and ethical implications 28:48 | The art of communicating complex idea Additional inspirations from Venki Ramakrishnan:The Most Promising Ways to Stop Ageing (New Scientist Interview, 2024)The Story of Deciphering the Ribosome (The Royal Society Talk, 2020)Gene Machine: The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome (Basic Books, 2018)


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Why We Die with Venki Ramakrishnan

In Making Sense of Chaos: A better economics for a better world, J. Doyne Farmer challenges traditional economic models, which rely on simplistic assumptions and fail to provide accurate predictions. Farmer, a complex systems scientist at the University of Oxford and the Santa Fe Institute, argues that with technological advances in data science and computing, we are now able to apply complex systems thinking to build models that more accurately capture reality and enable us to make better predictions about the economy. Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Farmer discusses the limitations of standard models of economics as well as the consequences of such limitations. He proposes an alternative based on complex systems thinking and agent-based modeling—and describes how it can be applied in various fields, including business. Key topics discussed:  01:42 | Limitations of the standard model of economics 04:44 | How complex systems thinking works 09:01 | Consequences of using inadequate economic models 12:44 | Agent-based modeling as a powerful alternative 19:02 | Leveraging alternative modeling techniques in business 24:59 | How CEOs can start embracing complexity thinking

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Making Sense of Chaos with Doyne Farmer

In Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, Ethan Mollick explains how to engage with AI as a co-worker, a co-teacher, and a coach. Mollick is a professor of management at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studies and teaches innovation and entrepreneurship. In his new book, he discusses the profound impacts AI will have on business and education, using many examples of AI in action. His book challenges us to utilize AI’s enormous power without losing our human identity, to learn from it without being misled, and to harness its gifts to create a better human future. Together with Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Mollick discusses how to train people to use AI effectively, whether AI will substitute or complement workers, and how businesses can move beyond a short-term efficiency gains perspective to generate value with AI in the long term.  Key topics discussed:  02:27 | The four rules for living with AI 09:04 | Educating people to use AI effectively 10:47 | What experiments reveal about where AI adds (and destroys) value at work 12:45 | Substituting (vs. complementing) workers with AI 14:14 | Generating value with AI in the long-term 17:10 | Bringing about the social change in organizations alongside the tech change 20:48 | AI regulation 27:18 | How AI will transform education Additional inspirations from Ethan Mollick:One Useful Thing (Substack)The Unicorn’s Shadow: Combating the Dangerous Myths That Hold Back Startups, Founders, and Investors (Wharton School Press, 2020)Changing the Game: How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business - Co-authored by David Edery (FT Press, 2008)


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Co-Intelligence with Ethan Mollick

In The Intelligence of Intuition, Gerd Gigerenzer challenges a commonly held view of intuition—namely, that it is somehow inferior to logical rationality. Gigerenzer is director of the Harding Center for Risk Literacy at the University of Potsdam, director emeritus of the Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, and an expert on human decision-making. He argues that intuition is a form of unconscious intelligence shaped experience and evolution in dealing with uncertain and dynamic situations—situations for which logic and algorithms are often ill-fitted. As leaders deal with uncertainty and complexity and embrace new AI technologies, they must not forget the power of intuition. Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Gigerenzer explores the power of intuition, when to use it in business, and how to cultivate and employ it. Key topics discussed:  01:23 | Difference between intuition and rationality 04:49 | Role of heuristics 06:29 | Why intuition is often looked down upon 08:06 | Power of intuition 15:21 | How to use intuition in business 18:45 | Distinguishing right intuition from wrong intuition 25:12 | Considering how AI use intuition Additional inspirations from Gerd Gigerenzer:How to Stay Smart in a Smart World: Why Human Intelligence Still Beats Algorithms (The MIT Press, 2022)Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious (Penguin Books, 2008)Calculated Risks: How to Know When Numbers Deceive You (Simon & Schuster, 2003)


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The Case for Good Jobs with Zeynep Ton

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