Thinkers & Ideas

In The Friction Project: How Smart Leaders Make the Right Things Easier and the Wrong Things Harder, Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao share insights on friction—the forces that make it harder, slower, more complicated, or even impossible to get things done in organizations.

Sutton is an expert on organizational psychology at Stanford University and a best-selling author. His latest book is a culmination of a seven-year research effort on how effective organizations function without driving employees and customers crazy.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Sutton explores what friction is, where it comes from, and its effects - both positive and negative. They discuss the practical steps leaders and employees can take to remove and add friction in the right places. They also discuss broader implications, like whether the nature and consequences of friction will change in a world increasingly characterized by machine-machine and machine-human, rather than only human-human interactions.

Key topics discussed:

00:54 | What is organizational friction

04:30 | The negative consequences of friction

08:42 | What does good friction look like?

14:14 | How to remove friction

17:22 | What creates friction

19:11 | Removing friction and creating problems

22:04 | Is friction less problematic in a world of AI?

25:26 | How can ideas about friction be applied in academia?

In Permacrisis: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World, Mohamed El-Erian and Michael Spence, along with their coauthors, Gordon Brown and Reid Lidow, consider how we’ve arrived at this state of constant instability and insecurity—and suggest concrete ways to break the cycle.

Mohamed El-Erian, president of Queens’ College Cambridge University, was previously the chair of President Obama’s Global Development Council, a Deputy Director at the International Monetary Fund, and CEO and co-CIO of PIMCO.

Michael Spence, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Philip H. Knight Professor and dean, emeritus, at Stanford Graduate School of Business, was awarded the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Together with Martin Reeves, the Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, El-Erian and Spence discuss new approaches to thinking about growth, economic management, and managing a global order, as well as how leaders could unlock the full potential of technologies that could drive growth, and ensure that the benefits of technological advancements, like AI, are widely distributed to avoid exacerbating national tensions.

Key topics discussed: 

01:59 | Defining permacrisis

08:58 | The essence of how we need to think differently about growth and value

10:32 | Unlocking the full potential of technologies that could drive growth

14:09 | How to ensure that the benefits of technological advancements, like AI, are widely distributed to avoid exacerbating national tensions

19:40 | Anticipating or managing similar crises (COVID-19) in the future

25:15 | Reforming multilateral institutions

In The Worlds I See, Dr. Fei-Fei Li provides a personal and deeply insightful depiction of two convergent journeys. One describes her own life and career; Li immigrated to the U.S. from China at age 15, and within a few years had launched into research in computer vision and AI. The other is a history of AI, which has involved many breakthroughs over the past 70 years, culminating in a technology that is now changing life and business.

Li is one of the world’s foremost experts on AI and was named by Time magazine as one of the top 25 most influential thinkers in AI in 2023. She previously served as Google’s chief AI and machine learning scientist.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Li discusses critical inflection points in the history of AI, emerging AI technologies businesses must be aware of, and what implications AI will have for competitive advantage.

Key topics discussed: 

01:19 | Is our education system fit for the future?

07:13 | What were the key milestones in the history of AI?

11:48 | Which emerging AI technologies do businesses need to be aware of?

13:38 | How should we be thinking about ethical issues surrounding AI?

20:39 | How will AI transform business? Where will it create competitive advantage?

In his new book The Secret of Culture Change: How To Build Authentic Stories That Transform Your Organization, Jay Bryan Barney discusses why changing company culture is sometimes necessary but always challenging—and how the power of stories can help leaders mobilize their employees around a new strategy.

Jay Barney, a professor of strategic management and the Pierre Lassonde Chair of Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, is one of the world’s leading strategists and the father of so-called resource-based competition.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Barney explores the connections between the realms of strategy and culture—discussing the power of stories to change culture and support a new strategy, and identifying the key characteristics of great stories and story-making, such as being authentic and putting the leader at the heart of the narrative.

Key topics discussed: 

01:10 | How do you define culture and why do we sometimes need to change it?

03:31 | What are some examples of successful culture change?

08:01 | What are the key characteristics of culture-changing stories?

16:33 | How do leaders navigate social/political “culture wars” in their own culture?

22:20 | Are stories and culture change something that can be shaped or are they emergent?

25:40 | How do stories and culture change apply to a business school setting?

In The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset that Drives Extraordinary Results, Andrew McAfee describes how a new approach to corporate culture based on science, ownership, speed, and openness, is driving value creation in the 21st century.

McAfee is an expert on how technological progress changes the world, being named to both the Thinkers50 list of top management thinkers and the Politico 50 group of people transforming American politics. In his new book, he outlines how the giants of Silicon Valley found success not just because they are at the center of the digital technology revolution, but also because they are revolutionizing the way business is done—what McAfee describes as the “geek way.”.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, McAfee explores the core tenets of a corporate culture that embraces the “geek way” and explains why it works, drawing on insights from the science of cultural evolution. They also discuss how traditional, non-tech firms can embrace this new culture and operating system.

Key topics discussed:

02:12 | What are the core tenets of the “geek way”?

08:55 | How could these tenets be applied to any businesses?

11:31 | How can we overcome the limitations of the “geek way” (e.g., negative corporate culture aspects, retaining culture as a firm grows)?

15:05 | Is the “geek way” unique to American firms? What can we learn from the Chinese tech sector?

17:46 | What is the role of strategy in a “geek way” company?

20:11 | How might the “geek way” culture change in the future, given new challenges (e.g., elevated costs of capital)?

23:01 | What are the first steps a CEO should take to establish the “geek way” in their firm?

Additional inspirations from Andrew McAfee:

• More From Less: How we Finally Stopped Using Up The World - And What Happens Next (Simon & Schuster UK, 2019)
• Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future (Brilliance Audio, 2017)
• The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies (Brilliance Audio, 2014)
• Race Against the Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy (Digital Frontier Press, 2012)

In Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership, Dr. Kirstin Ferguson provides a practical guide to balancing the rational and emotional components of leadership.

Ferguson is an expert on leadership, an experienced leader in the private and public sectors, and a longtime advocate of gender equity. In her new book, she identifies the key attributes of a “head and heart” leader, providing people with the tools to reflect on and adapt their own approach to each situation. She combines vivid stories and extensive research to inspire her readers to become better, more authentic, modern leaders.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Ferguson discusses the evolution of leadership thinking, what makes a “head and heart” leader, and how leaders can improve their effectiveness and adaptability. They also reflect on how leadership, and particularly the “heart” attributes, will be more crucial than ever with the rise of AI in the workplace.

Key topics discussed:

02:36 | How has thinking on leadership evolved?

06:05 | What are the attributes of a “head and heart” leader?

08:25 | How can you improve your “head and heart” leadership attributes?

18:24 | Are leaders aging, and is there a need to make space for younger talents?

20:05 | How might AI change the art of leadership?

Additional inspirations from Dr. Kirstin Ferguson:

• Certain Uncertainty: Leading with Agility and Resilience in an Unpredictable World (Wiley, 2023)
• Women Kind: Unlocking the Power of Women Supporting Women (Murdoch Books, 2019)
• Got a Minute? (Weekly column, The Sydney Morning Herald)

In How to Work with (Almost) Anyone, Michael Bungay Stanier outlines how to set up working relationships for the best chance of success—by following a process of thorough preparation, a keystone conversation, and regular maintenance.

Bungay Stanier, founder of coaching firm Box of Crayons, is a world-renowned thought leader on coaching and author of the best-selling coaching book, The Coaching Habit. In his most recent book, he focuses on relationship-building, providing readers with processes and principles, as well as exercises and ample practical advice to sharpen their skills.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Bungay Stanier discusses how to build the “best possible relationship” and how to maintain and repair it over time. Moreover, they assess how to create a corporate culture conducive to these relationships, and how to make these relationships work in a hybrid or remote setting.

Key topics discussed:

01:22 | How to make difficult relationships more workable

03:39 | Definition of a “best possible relationship” and how to build it

05:54 | How to have a keystone conversation

12:26 | The impact of corporate culture and different personality types

15:44 | How to maintain and repair relationships

20:42 | The implications of hybrid and remote work

22:31 | How leaders can apply these lessons in their organizations

In his new book, Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens, Rajiv Shah, President of the Rockefeller Foundation recounts his experiences and lessons learned over decades of effecting large-scale social change. He shares how addressing humanity’s thorniest challenges requires a big bets mindset – pushing to solve, rather than merely improve, problems; and going for “big enough”, rather than settling for “good enough”.

Prior to his current role, Shah was the Administrator of USAID and a Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He successfully led many transformative change efforts around the globe – including advancing the immunization of children, fighting against hunger and energy poverty, and providing relief for humanitarian disasters.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Shah discusses insights from his new book, including a mindset he sees crucial to making change possible, the need for public-private partnerships, and the role of businesses in addressing social and environmental issues. The conversation also touches on the importance of continuous experimentation, the involvement of younger leaders in change projects, and the challenges of planning in complex and unpredictable situations.

In his new book,  Mixed Signals: How Incentives Really Work,  Uri Gneezy explains why leaders often create incentives that are misaligned with their organization’s goals.

Gneezy, the Epstein/Atkinson Chair in Management Leadership at UC San Diego’s Rady School of Management, is one of the world’s leading experts in behavioral economics, and his insights have become a staple in courses around the world. He teaches managers how to be incentive-smart—how to avoid mixed signals and design incentives that are simple, effective, and ethical.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Gneezy discusses how incentives work, and how we can apply them in the workplace to change habits and spark innovation—he explains why, counterintuitively, successful organizations and initiatives may actually have a greater need to examine their incentives than unsuccessful ones.

Key topics discussed:

01:11 | How incentives send signals

02:08 | Incentives in the workplace

09:14 | Incentivizing innovation

12:29 | Understanding the use and limitation of incentives

18:22 | Changing habits

In his new book, The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and The Twenty-First Century’s Greatest Dilemma, Mustafa Suleyman discusses the new technologies that will transform society—chief among them AI and synthetic biology.

Suleyman is a renowned thought leader on this topic, having co-founded Inflection AI and DeepMind, and having served as VP of AI product management and AI policy at Google.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of BCG Henderson Institute, Suleyman discusses the threats and opportunities posed by AI and synthetic biology, whether and how they will confer competitive advantage, and how governments and companies can collaborate to contain their negative effects while ensuring that society reaps their benefits.

Key topics discussed:

01:28 | The threats of the coming wave of technologies

06:43 | A modern Turing Test for AI

10:14 | The competitive advantage conferred by AI

15:25 | The benefits and limitations of AI

18:34 | Containing the next wave of technologies

22:09 | Potential regulatory interventions

23:46 | Motivations for writing the book