Don’t Get an MBA: Focus on Unlearning

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Thinking about getting an MBA? Here’s my advice: Don’t! For starters, it is a waste of money for the majority of students. As Dale Stephens writes in this piece (“A Smart Investor Would Skip the M.B.A.), your time would be better spent taking free online courses and using the savings to instead pursue unique training and [...]

Joy’s Law of Management

“No matter who you are, most of the smartest people work for someone else.” This quotation is widely attributed to Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. Whenever you begin thinking that unlearning may no longer be necessary just remember this quotation. If nothing else, it should help keep you humble and open to the idea [...]

25 Questions for the Truly Innovative Company or Organization

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“Sometime over the next decade your company or organization will be challenged to change in a way for which it has no precedent.” –Gary Hamel in The Future of Management Most companies and organizations claim creativity and innovation hold the keys to future success. As a business forecaster, futurist and change management professional, I agree. [...]

Beware the Confident Forecaster

Stay Humble, My Friends

Nate Silver in his new book, The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail—But Some Don’t, makes a profound point: Certainty is actually correlated with making worse forecasts. Let me repeat that: Certainty is actually correlated with making worse forecasts. In other words, the more certain you are of your forecast or prediction, the less likely you are to [...]

Create a Mental Detour

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For the past six months a local bridge in my neighborhood has been undergoing a major renovation. Initially, I considered it quite a hassle because the bridge served as a link to my favorite grocery and liquor stores (and this summer has been very hot and I enjoy a cold beer!) Over time, I’ve adjusted. I [...]

A Board of Reverse Mentors

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I’ve written about the importance of getting a “reverse mentor” on numerous occasions. I recently happened upon this article highlighting Tesco’s decision to create an advisory board of children ages 9 to 12. To be sure, the board’s directive is focused on a narrow area but the idea of tapping into the creative energy of [...]

The Business of Unlearning

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Dear Readers: I was recently interviewed on the concept of unlearning by a reporter from The Economic Times. I understand that he’ll only end up using a sentence or two from my lengthy written responses so rather than allow all of my thoughts to languish unread on my hard drive, I thought I’d share them [...]