In The Perennials: The Megatrends Creating a Postgenerational Society, Mauro Guillén argues that the traditional, sequential model of life—childhood, education, career, and retirement—is being rendered obsolete.

Guillén, a professor of management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, is one of the world’s foremost experts on global megatrends. In his most recent book, he focuses on the combination of rapid technological progress, increasing life as well as health spans, and declining fertility rates—which, together, are creating a society in which arbitrary definitions of generations, based on chronological age, are no longer appropriate.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Guillén discusses the shortcomings of the sequential model of life and what the new, post-generational society will look like. He also highlights implications for businesses, which will need to adapt their marketing practices to changing patterns in consumption and harness the benefits of intergenerational collaboration in their workforces.

Key topics discussed: 

01:51 | The sequential model of life and its shortcomings

04:17 | The post-generational society and the trends creating it

07:31 | Implications for corporations

14:13 | How CEOs can prepare for a society of perennials

17:14 | Implications for academic institutions

In his new book Power and Progress, Simon Johnson, along with his co-author Daron Acemoglu, challenges the techno-optimistic narrative that technological progress will automatically lead to shared prosperity.

Johnson, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, takes us through a millennium of technological progress to show how the gains from advancements such as the agricultural and early industrial revolutions tended to benefit a narrow segment of interests. While technology can enable the kind of equitable growth that is heralded by techno-optimists, this requires an environment that mitigates the natural power imbalance between workers and owners of technology through regulation, labor organizations, and an active civic society. As we stand on the brink of a new wave of innovation from AI, it’s critical that we learn from the history of economic progress to ensure that this time, the gains are shared broadly in society.

In this episode of our Thinkers & Ideas podcast, Johnson joins BCG Henderson Institute Chairman Martin Reeves to discuss the incentives for corporate leaders to create technology directed at equitable growth, the potential impact of AI on society, and the effectiveness of government policies aimed at fostering shared prosperity.

Key topics discussed: 

01:19 | Motivation for the book

02:03 | Progress and shared prosperity

07:29 | Effectiveness of redistribution

09:43 | Directing innovation toward social good

16:42 | The impact of AI

20:39 | Role of corporate leaders and investors in directing technology

In his new book, LOOK: How to Pay Attention in a Distracted World, Christian Madsbjerg explores the importance of observational skills. Drawing on various fields—science, philosophy, and the arts—as well as his personal experiences, Madsbjerg offers tools and insights to help us better pay attention and extract insights.

Madsbjerg was co-founder and senior partner of consulting firm, ReD Associates and was previously a professor of applied humanities at the New School for Social Research in New York City. He works at the intersection of business and the humanities, guiding firms to develop powerful strategies anchored in human perception.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Madsbjerg discusses how we can learn to observe the world properly—letting go of oversimplifying assumptions and biases—and how this will help firms unlock insights about their customers far beyond the reach of traditional market research.

Key topics discussed: 

[01:25] How to observe properly

[06:57] How “total observation” can unlock new insights

[13:14] Distractions of modern life and how to tackle them

[18:14] Difference between traditional market research and “total observation”

[21:30] How to change how we observe things in the corporate context

In his latest book, Magic Words: What to Say to Get Your Way, Jonah Berger breaks down the science of language. The right words can influence actions and happiness, and reveal insights about those who say or write them.

Berger, an associate professor of marketing at the Wharton School, is an expert on change, social influence, and word-of-mouth communication. Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Berger discusses how we can use the language of agency and identity to incite action, how to best balance concreteness and abstraction, and how to harness the power of emotions—drawing on decades of experimental research.

He also speculates how large language models will change the production and deployment of language. The book is a broad and practical guide to how we can use language more effectively.

Key topics discussed: 

01:07 | The power of language and six types of magic words

03:57 | Leveraging the language of agency and identity to spark action

06:58 | Balancing concreteness and abstraction

10:53 | Harnessing the power of emotions

13:27 | Limitations of magic words and the importance of authenticity

17:41 | The role of ChatGPT and other large language models

21:00 | Using magic words in your personal and professional life

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

In this special episode of the Thinkers & Ideas podcast, we invited Sir Partha Dasgupta and Simon Levin – co-authors of the forthcoming report "Economic Factors Underlying Biodiversity Loss" – and Georg Kell to discuss a topic often overlooked in sustainability discussions: biodiversity. They discuss gaps in our current thinking, a potential path forward, how to measure our progress along it – and the role corporations must play in all this.

Sir Partha Dasgupta is the Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge. He is widely regarded as the world's most influential expert on development economics and ecological economics, and is the author of The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review (2021).

Simon Levin is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University and a recipient of the National Medal of Science, for his international leadership and critical contributions to environmental science and ecology.

Georg Kell is the founding Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative, and Chairman of Arabesque Partners.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, they discuss the importance of ecosystem services to our well-being and the impacts of human activity on biodiversity. Moreover, they discuss inclusive wealth and other measures that can be used to change incentive structures and track our progress on sustainability issues. Finally, they point out what businesses and governments must do to increase awareness and engagement on biodiversity matters.

Key topics discussed: 

02:28 | How are humans impacting nature, specifically biodiversity?

04:08 | The distinction between natural goods and natural services

07:02 | Is biodiversity and the natural impact issue on the radar screens of business?

09:03 | Are we at a point of no return? How would we know if we are?

10:50 | Do we in fact look after biodiversity by looking after the climate?

12:42 | Inclusive wealth vs. GDP

18:18 | How can governments and companies begin to act on the problem of the encroachment on natural systems?

26:41 | What can we learn from our limited successes on massive collective action problems and how we might practically orchestrate this agenda?

Bent Flyvbjerg has a sobering statistic to share: 99.5% of major projects fail to deliver their targeted results on time and on budget. His new book How Big Things Get Done, coauthored with Dan Gardner, explores this phenomenon—from infrastructure projects to major sporting events to corporate transformations.

Flyvbjerg, the first BT Professor of Major Programme Management at Oxford’s Saïd Business School and VKR Professor of Major Program Management at the IT University of Copenhagen, is the world’s foremost expert on megaproject management—a subject on which he has published prolifically.

He recently joined Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, to discuss the patterns and drivers of the failure of big projects, as well as potential solutions that can help executives overcome these dramatic odds. For example, cognitive biases, particularly at the C-suite level, cause leaders to act too spontaneously—when they would be better off acting fast only after first thinking slowly and deliberately. They explore not only conventional project success but also how the thinking can be applied more broadly – from personal projects to climate change.

Key topics discussed: 

01:16 | The Iron Law of megaprojects

04:03 | Patterns of failure

09:02 | Solutions (think slow but act fast, think from right to left, reference class forecasting)

17:28 | Continuous vs. episodic change

20:47 | Tackling climate change: a megaproject?

23:03 | Impact of technology

25:46 | Practical recommendations

In a new book with longtime collaborator W. Chan Kim, Beyond Disruption, Renée Mauborgne describes an alternative path to pursue innovation and growth. Non-disruptive creation taps into a new market outside or beyond the boundaries of existing industries, to not only drive economic growth but also have a positive impact on society by avoiding the negative aspects of disruption, like job displacement.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Mauborgne discusses the rising importance of non-disruptive creation given increased sensitivity to the social impact of business. She explains the differences between non-disruptive creation, disruptive creation, and blue ocean strategy and provides tools for companies to identify and unlock non-disruptive opportunities.

Mauborgne, a professor of strategy at INSEAD, is also the co-author of the influential Blue Ocean Strategy and has been recognized by Thinkers50 as one of the World’s Most Influential Management Thinkers.

Key topics discussed: 

00:53 | What is non-disruptive creation (NDC)

08:27 | How companies can identify and invent NDCs

16:01 | The role of disruptive creation

21:08 | Challenges and capabilities needed for NDC

23:53 | AI and NDC

26:22 | Renee on coining NDC

A “microstress,” as defined by Rob Cross and Karen Dillon in their new book of the same name, is a small amount pressure from our everyday interactions that is hardly perceived in the moment. But when many microstesses pile up, they become debilitating.

Cross, the Edward A. Madden Professor of Global Leadership at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., has studied the underlying networks of effective organizations and the collaborative practices of high performers for more than 20 years. Dillon is a former editor of Harvard Business Review and the author of such books as How Will You Measure Your Life? and Competing Against Luck.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, they discuss the microstresses that drain capacity, deplete emotional reserves, and challenge identity. Although these pressures are impossible to eliminate, there are strategies—building resilience, leading a healthy life, and finding purpose—that can mitigate the impact, enabling people to reshape their interpersonal interactions and live more satisfied lives.

Company leaders, the authors argue, should also be aware of microstress triggers hiding in plain sight: the burdens levied by our agile, collaborative way of working that can have damaging ripple effects.

Key topics discussed:

01:11 | The gravity of microstress

07:29 | Types of microstress

12:26 | Solutions to microstress

19:04 | Microstress in organizations

25:35 | Positive aspects of microstress

29:14 | Where to start with countering microstress

About the BCG Henderson Institute

The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group’s think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS, our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

In her book Think Bigger: How to Innovate, Sheena Iyengar dispels the notion that the best way of coming up with a good idea is to have a group brainstorm or to rely on the unpredictable intuitions of special gifted individuals.

Iyengar is the S. T. Lee Professor of Business at Columbia Business School and an expert on decision-making and choice. Drawing on advances in brain science, she argues that creativity is not mysterious, but is instead quite similar to analytical thinking.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Iyengar discusses her six-step methodology to help people unlock their ability to create useful new ideas, illustrating this with many examples from business.

Key topics discussed:

• 00:58 | What neuroscience says about innovation
• 07:43 | A six-step method for ideation
• 19:22 | Limitations of the method
• 24:21 | The role of groups and technology
• 28:51 | Implementing the method at your company

About the BCG Henderson Institute

The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group’s think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS, our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.