Category: Leadership, Productivity & Teams

IBM is synonymous with technological innovation. Under the stewardship of Ginni Rometty, the organization faced a period of profound transformation. She steered the organization through the complexities of shifting towards cloud computing and artificial intelligence, a mission that demanded vision and resilience.

In our exclusive interview with IBM’s former Chairman, President, and CEO, we delve into her experiences at the helm of this tech giant, exploring the realities of leading a legacy company through rapid disruption and the lessons she gleaned from her time there. She offers insights to business leaders navigating today’s ever-evolving landscape.    

Ginni offers these key insights to the modern business leader:

1. Embrace Discomfort to Achieve Growth

 

“Growth and comfort don’t coexist.”

 

At every level – individuals, companies, countries – change is uncomfortable. Rometty stressed the necessity of reframing risk, noting that risk can lead to growth despite how uncomfortable it can be. She explained that the discomfort of being in a new challenge is often temporary, and that thought gives her the courage to take bigger risks.

Rometty’s advice for business leaders who want to grow:

• Actively seek out new challenges and opportunities.
• Reframe your perception of risk; see it as a path to growth.
• Cultivate a mindset that views discomfort as temporary and a catalyst for improvement.

 

2. AI to Augment, Not Replace

 

“For AI, particularly Gen AI, to be successful, you’re going to have to live at the intersection of the business and technology.”

 

On AI deployment, Rometty noted that leaders must live at the ‘intersection of business and technology’ to be successful. Paramount to this is trust. The goal should be using AI to augment and improve the human workforce.

To achieve this, Rometty stressed that leaders must prioritize transparency in AI systems to build trust among users – noting that people often have less tolerance for error when it comes to technology.

 

“If I’ve ever met a technology that you have to learn by experience, it’s this one.”

 

Rometty said leaders should encourage employees to engage with AI technology through hands-on experience by adopting a co-creation approach involving diverse teams and prompting experimentation with the technology. She cautioned against just adding AI to existing workflows. Instead, she advised leaders to look at how they can make the most of AI solutions for their specific challenges.

Rometty encouraged business leaders implementing AI to:

• Prioritize transparency in AI deployments.
• Encourage employees to engage with AI technology through hands-on experience and create diverse teams to develop AI solutions.
• Rethink processes to maximize the potential of AI solutions.

 

3. Focus on How People Work, Not Just What They Build

 

“People are a reflection of the processes and all the things leaders put around them.”

 

During a transformation, the most critical aspect is how people do their work, not just what they create. Rometty explained that people’s work reflects the processes and systems in place. Leaders must ensure that these processes facilitate efficiency and productivity and adopt agile work practices to drive change and serve as role models for the organization.

Rometty urged leaders to:

• Pay close attention to the processes and systems that shape how people work.
• Adopt agile work practices to drive change
• Be an agent of change and role model in the organization.

 

4. Risk-Based AI Regulation is Key

 

When it comes to AI regulations, Rometty opined that a risk-based approach is appropriate, with more stringent regulation for high-risk applications like healthcare and finance, and less for lower-risk applications. Referencing the EU AI Act, she said Europe has the right answer here with its ‘precision regulation’.

Internally, she stressed that companies should self-govern based on potential financial liabilities. She explained that if leaders were to be held financially responsible for a decision made as a company, there would be better self-governance.

 

“In other words, if you’re going to use this technology and you’ll be held financially responsible if it’s wrong, I guarantee you’ll put it in the right places.”

 

Rometty’s advice for business leaders worried about the risk in AI is to:

• Support and adopt risk-based regulatory frameworks for AI.
• Implement internal governance practices that align with potential financial liabilities.

 

5. Believe There Is Always a Way Forward

 

“The role of a leader is to paint reality but give hope.”

 

On the subject of leadership, Rometty noted that one of the most important qualities a leader can possess is the belief that there is always a solution, no matter how challenging the circumstances. Leaders should cultivate a resilient mindset that is solution-oriented, drawing from past experiences to overcome adversity. They should remember to speak to people’s heads and hearts during tough times to give them hope while being honest about the reality of the challenge ahead.

Rometty encouraged leaders to:

• Cultivate a resilient mindset.
• Learn how to communicate with logic and empathy during difficult times.

 

6. Prioritize Learning from Setbacks

 

“The only regret you should have is not learning from something.”

 

Following that, Rometty also emphasized the importance of learning from setbacks. Acknowledging that difficult decisions are a necessary part of leadership – such as layoffs and shutdowns – she said that leaders must have the fortitude to make difficult decisions for the long-term benefit of the organization.

She added that during her time with IBM, they had to shrink before they could grow. In a world demanding growth, she started selling businesses and shrinking. However, she had to have the strength to stick with that difficult decision so that they could invest in the future.

Rometty stressed that leaders should:

• View setbacks as learning opportunities.
• Develop fortitude to make tough decisions for the future of the business.

 

7. Build Skills, Not Buy Them

 

“It’s not about buying skills. It’s about building skills.”

 

When it comes to talent, Rometty said that it’s more effective to focus on people’s readiness to learn rather than their skills alone. After all, current employees will have an invaluable operational understanding but are challenged by tech, while new hires may be more familiar with new tech but have no understanding of how to apply it within the business.

Leaders should adopt a skills-first talent strategy by investing in upskilling and reskilling programs for existing employees and hiring candidates with a high readiness to learn.

Rometty advised business leaders challenged by talent concerns to:

• Invest in upskilling and reskilling programs for employees who are willing to learn.
• Prioritize candidates with a high readiness to learn when hiring.

 

*The insights have been edited for length and clarity.

The most employable skillsets in the next decade will be creativity, intuition, curiosity, and imagination, predicted Duncan Wardle, the former Head of Innovation and Creativity at Disney.

Why? Because these skills are the hardest to program, and the most difficult for AI to replace.

Renowned speaker and best-selling author behind The 5 Second Rule, Mel Robbins, thinks it will be empathy.

Wardle and Robbins addressed some of the biggest challenges leaders face today in connecting with their teams and fostering a culture of innovation and creativity.

Sharing what he learnt from his decades with Disney, Wardle highlighted some of his best tools to foster design thinking and spark creativity by finding ways to make innovation less intimidating and more approachable.

Creativity is the ability to have an idea. Innovation is the ability to get it done.

Duncan Wardle

 

Let’s look at five useful takeaways from Duncan Wardle and Mel Robbins:

1. Be Consumer-led

 

One of the biggest barriers to innovation is that companies are led by quarterly results, instead of consumers and clients. This often leads to ideas getting stuck, diluted, or killed as they move through the approval process. If team leaders and decision-makers approach innovation with the mindset of satisfying only quarterly results, they set themselves up for disappointment.

Wardle notes that one way to foster innovation is to be consumer or client-led when problem-solving, troubleshooting, or brainstorming. Noting that this is the mindset that led Disney to introduce some of their highest revenue-generating ideas such as their MagicBands which guests can use to make purchases, reservations, orders, and move around seamlessly. This improved customer experience which, in turn, led to record revenue growth.

Wardle notes that a key to being consumer-led in mindset is to retain a child-like curiosity and to always ask ‘why?’

2. Engage in Creative Behaviors

 

Innovation relies on creativity. However, the current definition of creativity, which means to come up with big new ideas, can be limiting. Instead, Wardle recommends redefining ‘creativity’ to mean the habit of continually doing things in new ways to make a positive difference in our working lives.

As leaders, there are certain behaviors that can be adopted to create such an environment in a professional setting, starting by Signaling or creating physical signals that you are there to nurture ideas. Some examples include delivering a presentation outside of the boardroom instead of behind a conference table.

Another behavior leaders can adopt is to nurture ideas. Wardle emphasized the importance of nurturing contributions from team members during the ideation stage. The point is to grow the idea, not approve it. One way to do this is adopt the ‘Yes, and’ technique during brainstorming sessions to build upon ideas instead of judging them or shooting them down.

As for how leaders can set the stage for creative thinking among their team members, Wardle notes that playfulness and mindfulness go together. Usually at work, people are focused on accomplishing active tasks, or they are bogged down by urgent matters. Wardle calls this the river of thinking. It is when the conscious brain is in charge.

To tap into the subconscious part of the brain where creativity lies, he recommends starting a session with fun and energetic exercises. The goal is to bring out laughter. Creativity can flow better once a person is relaxed enough to access playfulness.

3. Use tools to foster innovative thinking

 

 During his talk, Wardle presented several tools that leaders can use to get people out of their river of thinking and foster innovation. The chief among them is asking “What if?” This is especially useful for leaders in a heavily regulated industry or surrounded by people who are stuck with tradition and ‘how things are always done’. A simple way to practice this is to write down the rules of the challenge or issue that is being worked on without judgment. After that, simply pick one and propose solutions by asking “what if…”. The more audacious the solution, the better.

Wardle also suggests involving naïve experts in every brainstorming session. A naïve expert is someone who does not work in the same field but is an expert in their own field. The reason for this is that they tend to be more comfortable asking seemingly silly questions that others in the room may be too embarrassed to ask. A naïve expert is there to suggest audacious ideas ungoverned by your river of thinking and to move you out of your river entirely.

Noting that “diversity is innovation”, Wardle emphasized that if someone doesn’t look like you, they can help you think differently. After all, their silly questions and audacious suggestions may end up sparking a truly ingenious idea in someone else.

Some other useful tools to foster innovation according to Wardle is to re-express a challenge from a consumer’s perspective, to tap into empathy, to dig into data and challenge it while being guided by your intuition, and to ensure that team members have time to gather inspiration, stimulus, and fresh ideas.

4. Flip negatives into positives

 

Mel Robbins introduced her highly popular 5-second rule as a tool to help leaders turn thoughts into action. Explaining the mechanism of it, Robbins notes that counting backwards from 5 interrupts the autopilot loop of your subconscious mind and activates your prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is essential in creating behavioral changes and allowing you to think strategically. Leaders who tend to overthink may benefit most from this method.

Crucially, Robbins noted that once an old pattern of overthinking or old behavior is interrupted, it must be replaced with a new one. Here is where the negative ‘what ifs’ should be flipped into positives instead. Thinking about all the ways an idea might fail is a thought pattern led by anxiety and uncertainty. Flipping into a positive mindset paves the way for more fruitful and productive thought processes, which is essential in fostering creativity and innovation.

<H2>5. Leaders must be self-aware

 

Robbins also stressed that the most important skillset in a leader right now is empathy, according to a McKinsey study on leadership. This is critical given the current state of the workforce – as well as the Great Resignation and Great Reshuffle – in which most employees are burnt out, stressed out, and feeling the weight of uncertainty.

However, for leaders to be empathetic, they must first have a sense of self-awareness. Robbins defines this as a leader’s ability to remain clear about an organization’s direction, confident, and manage their own anxiety and stress. If leaders are not able to manage their own stress, they will not be able to empathize with their employee’s stressors in these uncertain times.

Your ability to be effective in leadership is directly impacted by whether you’re ok with yourself. Your own self-awareness.

Mel Robbins

 

Robbins also mentioned trickle-down appreciation and a leader’s ability to create a safe and encouraging space for people to speak up and feel like they belong. Here, she noted the importance of identifying the unique needs of different team members. Some may feel comfortable contributing in a big meeting, others may need to a smaller crowd to feel comfortable voicing their ideas.

Either way, it is up to the leader to find ways to model to their team that everyone is appreciated, heard, and welcomed. This then trickles down to the entire team, fostering an environment that is more motivating and inviting to new ideas.

Decision-making is a critical component of leadership. It’s a skill that continuously needs to be sharpened to lead in an increasingly complex and uncertain business environment. In this exclusive interview, we speak with risk & decision analysis expert Mona Riabacke on the intricacies of decision-making in business, overcoming the top challenges in decision-making, what a good decision looks like, and more.  

 

Mona Riabacke, PhD in Risk & Decision Analysis, has a background as a researcher both in Sweden and internationally. She also worked as a consultant and project manager before starting Riabacke & Co. together with her husband in 2011. She gives speeches, holds workshops, and runs the popular business podcast Beslutspodden. In 2013, her book, Beslutspyramiden – Stegen till bättre beslut, was released and has been published in several languages.  

What was the inspiration behind your book, Beslutspyramiden – Stegen till bättre beslut (Freestyle Decision Making – Surfing the Wave of Information)?

I wrote the book together with my husband and we both have PhDs in Risk & Decision Analysis. After we finished, we started giving speeches about decision-making. I often get the impression that people believe that this knowledge is only beneficial if you’re a business leader. 

We are all leaders of ourselves in one sense, and there is basic knowledge that we can all benefit from when it comes to decision-making. Most books on the market were quite complex and only appealed to managers and business leaders. So, we wanted to write about this topic that we believe is extremely important for everyone in a fashion that is easily accessible.  

A PhD thesis in Sweden is read by a handful of people at best and that’s not how the modern world commonly accesses knowledge. We spent a lot of time thinking about how to present this knowledge in a way that could be read by anyone. When we published our book, one of our daughters who was 9 or 10 at the time read it. Each section is around three pages and has many images so it’s easy to read. Many people have said it’s a good book to read while commuting to work too. 

What is the most common question you get when it comes to decision-making?

The most common question is “How do we make the best decisions?”  

Everyone wants a universal method that applies to all decisions. But I relate that to going to a physician and just asking, “What’s the best medicine for me?” without letting the physician examine me first. Decision-making is more complex than just having one universal rule. We want quick fixes that will make us better decision-makers, but it’s not that easy.  

I think it’s important to ask yourself what your most important decisions are. For those decisions, why are you making them and what do you want to optimize? Also, depending on who’s making the decision, the context is important. For example, is the decision profit-related? Do you need to make the decision quickly? What criteria do you need to prioritize? 

 

What is the hardest part about decision-making?

Many decisions are one-time decisions. The context and the decision itself are not the same if you could go back and do it again. The world changes all the time so we can’t go back and replicate the decision to see whether another option would have been better. 

This brings the question of what a good decision is. Many people instinctively think a good decision leads to profit or good results. A good decision is one where you are as aware as possible of what you’re doing and why, and you have a method to go about it. It’s easier to know what information you need and who to ask for expert advice. However, people often start at the wrong end. They start with alternatives and analyze them. It’s important to be aware of what you’re doing because most of our decisions are made at a subconscious level. 

Emotions also affect how we perceive things. We don’t have an objective view of the world. We don’t see the world as it is, we see the world as we ourselves are. Depending on my education, my experiences, and my needs, I will look at the world from one point of view, and you look at it from another. Combining different perspectives is good when you want to make a more competent, objective decision.  

 

Is the process of combining different perspectives challenging in a business context?

It can be. Many leaders I’ve interviewed said that a number of decisions they face are very complex. The most common method to make complex decisions is to gather people with different perspectives and views. But they also say trying to combine different perspectives is harder than making a decision with people who think the same way you do. In the end, the result is more rational because you have different views. Also, it’s important to be clear about what roles people have in the decision-making process. For example, be clear If their role in the group is to be experts, and whose responsibility it is to make the final decision.   

 

Decision-making in business is a balancing act of being data-driven and instinctive. Is one more important than the other?

It depends on the decision. Data can be very useful, especially in sales and studying people’s behaviors. However, you may not have all the data to make certain decisions. Depending on how important the decision is, perhaps you have to look at some data but also use your experience. The world is constantly changing and there’s a lot of uncertainty, so we can never be 100% sure. That’s why we have to rely on our gut as well. The combination of being data-driven and instinctive is effective. 

In my research, I also found that the more complex the decision, the more we rely on our hunch. You must understand yourself better because we all have biases when we make decisions. For instance, if you don’t like uncertainty, you might subconsciously avoid all the alternatives where there’s a lot of uncertainty. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and having self-awareness are important.  

 

Do you find that male and female leaders approach decision-making differently?

It’s hard to distinguish between male and female decision-making. There’s no approach that applies to everyone. However, when faced with hard decisions, my impression is that women often care more about being judged than men do. They consider how people will accept their decisions and what they think to a greater extent. Many women feel that they are questioned more than male leaders, or risk being questioned.  

Generally, men are perceived as bigger risk-takers, and women as more risk-averse, but I’m not sure this is correct. There are several studies of the risk behavior of men and women, often in gambling situations, but how accurate this is in reality is hard to say. I think it’s more of a stereotype, but we seem to react a bit differently under stress and pressure and therefore, again, I think we need both. Personally, I think many women have a broader view when they approach decisions and often take the feelings of others into consideration, especially if it’s a hard decision that not everyone will be happy with.  

However, going back to group decisions, combining people with different perspectives is the best approach regardless of gender. But we need to look at facts at the same time. There are much fewer women in leadership positions compared to men. Why is that? The question is quite complex, but I think many women feel they have to make sacrifices they’re not happy with. But there’s also a shift in how today’s women see themselves compared to women in my generation. So, I hope to see more female leaders in the future.  

 

*The interview answers have been edited for length and clarity. 

Today’s C-levels and senior leadership not only need to have business acumen and technical prowess but also strong networking skills to build connections both inside and outside the organization. In this exclusive interview, media and communications expert and accomplished public speaker Rob Holub shares observations and insights from his extensive career working with business leaders from large companies on the challenges of building connections, the importance of self-reflection, and steps to create meaningful relationships.  

 

We know you’re passionate about human connection and that it’s a focal point in your keynote speeches. What are the key things business leaders should think about before building connections with others?

Connection is a very broad word and field to talk about. The important questions to ask are: Why do you need to connect and with whom? What kind of connections are you looking for as a business leader? Are you looking for a deeper connection? And if so, then why? Is it the superficial connections you’re looking for? Is it trustworthy, meaningful, or authentic connections? 

Generally, business leaders who prioritize connections set a positive tone for corporate culture and promote values like collaboration and empathy. In essence, connections for business leaders are the backbone of effective leadership and contribute to a positive work environment, foster innovation, and build a strong basis for success as well. Of course, that’s the goal of any business leader, to build a resilient organization that can foster long-term success.   

 

Based on your experience working with business leaders, what are their top challenges in building connections with their employees and peers?

I’m self-employed but I’ve worked for big corporations as well and have come across business leaders on different levels.  

One thing I would say is that business leaders with big responsibilities have time constraints. They often have packed schedules. It’s difficult to make time for networking and building relationships actively. Time constraints are a big challenge more than ever before in today’s digital world and overwhelming workloads. So, can you make the time to build connections? Because building connections, especially trustworthy ones, takes time and effort. I think a lot of business leaders don’t have that time or prioritize other matters.  

Authenticity is also a big challenge. From my personal experience working with business leaders, sometimes they were not accessible. As a colleague or employee, I was questioning why that is. To give access as a business leader and have access as an employee or colleague to the business leader is also very important. That can also be a challenge because you think at a certain point on the corporate ladder you don’t necessarily allow that access. But I think in today’s world where hierarchies are questioned and flattened out more, that access should be given in both ways. That connection allows a business leader to be more authentic because they don’t have to pretend to be somebody different just because they meet different people in different contexts.  

And maybe there’s a fear of rejection as well. When you are afraid to get rejected or not be well-received, that can hinder business leaders from actively seeking new connections because they have a certain identity as a business leader, and maybe want to portray or protect their identity in that way.  

The last challenge is digital overload in today’s world. Social media can help you connect and build connections. On the other hand, it can hinder you from connecting again in a more quality way with people as you are just reaching out to the whole world constantly. You’re overloaded and overwhelmed with digital content. I think there’s a risk there to distract yourself as well, and not build connections that are fruitful for your company.  

In a nutshell, I think every business leader should be mindful of their time and energy. In the end, try to leverage your existing network for introductions and referrals as well. Also, practice being present for your colleagues and co-business leaders. This is to ensure meaningful connections, not just quick and superficial ones. That takes presence, time, and energy. 

 

Does being present become more difficult the higher you are on the corporate ladder?

If you’re working for a big company with 1,000+ employees, even if each of these employees wants to connect with the CEO, it’s impossible for the CEO to connect with all 1,000+ employees. The question will be, again, which connections are important to build or to maintain? I agree that because of the responsibility and working a lot on strategic decision-making levels, it will be a question of how much time you have available to do so. So yes, working higher on the corporate ladder will probably be more difficult for you to allow yourself to invest enough time to do so, that could be true for any employee who struggles to find enough time to finish their jobs each day.  

There are also the expectations of authority. Business leaders are expected to exude authority and confidence. This expectation can create a barrier and make it challenging to approach informal conversations with other people and build networks. If you think that’s true, it limits your sense of self. So, a bit of self-reflection and cracking down on some limiting beliefs will help each individual business leader open up. That’s another experience I’ve had many times in my life, in my 20+ years of experience in the professional world where I think I could not access the business leader. So, because they thought they were an authority, they were not allowed to be available.  

One other aspect is isolation. I think that comes with that authority. For example, maybe they have their own office, and they don’t like to keep their doors open, they isolate themselves. That can also hinder the process of building connections. But that is influenced by the whole organizational culture and work ethic.  

Leadership can create a competitive environment; it’s challenging for business leaders to receive feedback. Maybe people working with them or for them don’t necessarily give enough feedback. Employees need feedback from business leaders and vice versa. So, it’s a question of balancing. The business leader is not a business leader without their employees. It always takes both sides, and both can contribute. I would also say never separate those two entities. Always look at them as a connected field of energy. 

 

Does joining a business network like Aurora Live alleviate those challenges?

100%! If you ask me what the tools are for building new connections for business leaders, one of the first things I would say is attending networking events and actively participating in industry events, conferences, and seminars. On the other hand, it’s a good opportunity to meet new people and expand your professional network, as well as share your struggles and challenges with other business leaders. However, do not overdo it because that itself can be a risk to lose yourself and get networking fatigue. 

 

When building connections, why is self-reflection an important skill for business leaders to have?

It goes back to human nature that we probably tend to blame the outside world for the things that are happening around us or to us. That can be the same for a business. So, the topic of self-reflection or introspection is valuable in any field of life, personal or professional. In addition, business leaders need to take responsibility and accountability for their actions. And to take responsibility means to stand up for yourself in good and bad times. I don’t want to generalize, but I think in certain corporate environments, business leaders don’t necessarily take accountability for their mistakes. It takes courage, authenticity, and self-reflection because maybe they think that it’s not their fault. And that’s your job, you need to take that responsibility because your employees can’t.  

When you do that, you become vulnerable. But through your vulnerability, people will see that you have done some self-reflection. It’s not so much about the business leader as a person but that they’re representing a certain vision and values of their organization. Employees need that and if you don’t have that, then it becomes difficult, and it can fall apart. So, that process of self-reflection is very necessary. It makes you more approachable, human, and credible because nobody’s perfect.  

I think just as much as employees want to get appreciation; you need to show it. So, express that gratitude with a simple Thank You note or email, and be a good listener. Listen to your employees, it’s not just up to them to listen to the business leader. So, you need to live up to these human qualities of communication that are effective for your success in your organization.  

 

Can you share a few practical ways to practice self-reflection, especially if you are a busy business leader?

It starts with being mindful, meaning that you observe yourself. You don’t need to take half an hour to do that, it has a lot to do with awareness. Observe yourself as a business leader. How do you communicate with people when you get certain feedback? If you get rejections, don’t blame the other person but ask yourself whether you have communicated appropriately. That’s already a part of self-reflection.  

When I say self-reflection and becoming mindful, I’m not talking about meditation. A good way to start the day with gratitude is a ritual where you thank your employees for contributing to the success of your company. Maybe 10 years ago, people would have said, “This is spiritual crap.” Nowadays, I think people have gained more access to these tools because they are burning out. Employees and business leaders are burning out not because they work too many hours a day. It’s because they’re not getting appreciation, and they are not giving themselves appreciation. They think they need to perform better and that they’re not good enough.  

Self-reflection has a lot to do with self-love. Don’t crucify yourself for certain things. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Again, it starts with exercises of awareness because we always have certain patterns that we repeat in relationships, both personal and business. And we keep asking ourselves why these things are repeating. If you don’t self-reflect and ask yourself why, you will constantly attract the same problems in life. It takes a lot of effort but it’s very rewarding, because once you start to do that and grow, your environment starts to grow the people around you, and you start to change by looking at things from different perspectives.  

It’s also important to keep a certain lightness in your life. We were all children at one point and then we lost the child within us. So maybe remind yourself that you’ve been this child, full of curiosity and loving everything around you, and to bring back that child in you rather than be a tough businessperson who must be perfect. I think that will help you to be more human and accessible to whoever you work with. Be an empathetic leader. I think there are old schools of business leadership thinking that now are getting questioned or washed away with some new schools with self-reflection and self-awareness.  

 

*The interview answers have been edited for length and clarity. 

Nowadays, leadership is about more than results. Today’s leaders are expected to align business and societal values, inspire trust in their employees, and contribute meaningfully to business transformation and resilience. It’s not enough to master technological advancements, leaders need to also manage with compassion while driving business growth and success.

In our fireside chat with Indra Nooyi, former CEO and Chairman of PepsiCo, we explore the concept of performance with purpose, the importance of purposeful leadership, and the inevitable challenges of pursuing a career in the highest echelons of business.

Here are six key insights from Indra Nooyi:

 

1. Embrace Curiosity and Continuous Learning

 

Nooyi emphasized the importance of being a curious, lifelong learner, especially during rapid change and disruption. She advised leaders to approach new challenges and technologies with excitement and a desire to understand their impact. Stressing the importance of approaching changes with a thirst for knowledge and a love for disruption, Nooyi explained that leaders who continuously expand their understanding can better navigate the rapid transformations shaping the business landscape.

“Look at the next decade or so as a glorious time for the curious, learning individuals, and people who love disruption.”

She also stressed the importance of fostering this culture of curiosity and learning within teams, as it builds a solid foundation for future resilience.

“Everybody has to have a shared understanding. And for those who are not willing to study and get that shared understanding, they don’t belong, because the world demands that everybody invest the time to develop that shared understanding.”

Nooyi advises leaders to:

• Approach new challenges with a desire to learn, rather than fear.
• Continuously expand their understanding and knowledge within their field and beyond.
• Encourage a culture of curiosity and learning within their organizations.

 

2. Align Purpose with Business Outcomes

 

Nooyi introduced the concept of ‘performance with purpose’ during her time at PepsiCo, significantly transforming the organization and generating incredible success. This idea highlights the need for an organization to directly link its purpose and social impact activities to tangible business results. This strategic alignment helps drive real change and ensures that purpose-driven efforts translate into sustainable value creation.

“If you didn’t work on environmental initiatives, there would be a cost to the company, because we’d be denied a license to operate in certain markets, and somebody would penalize us for using too much water or having a carbon footprint that’s too intensive.”

“I think it would be prudent for everybody to link purpose with business outcomes – short-, medium-, and long-term. If you do that, it’s performance with purpose, not performance or purpose.”

Nooyi advises leaders to:

• Understand how purpose-driven actions can impact the company’s operations.
• Approach purpose-driven strategies with a focus on performance, outlining clear business cases and value creation.
• Link purpose initiatives directly to business outcomes.

 

3. Develop a Supportive Ecosystem

 

Nooyi credits much of her success to the support structures she built, including a dedicated spouse and family as well as mentors who were invested in her growth. She advises aspiring business leaders to build a strong support structure to enable their career advancement and lean on those who are generous with their support. She did caution that building this structure may be more challenging when balancing a career with personal goals. Especially for women, cultivating this type of ecosystem can be game-changing.

“If you want to rise to the top, think of the support structure you’re going to build. If you’re not able to build a support structure and you still want to have family and kids, just know the rise may be harder to come by.”

“I was lucky that my bosses were not political. They were just straight shooters. So, I think you’ve got to pick your boss carefully if you have that choice.”

Nooyi advises leaders to:

• Find people who can be your support structure, including friends, family, and professional peers.
• Carefully choose the company and managers you work with because the right environment makes a big difference.
• Recognize and accept that even with a strong support system, the path to the top may be tougher for women.

 

4. Focus on Output, Not Gender

 

Speaking directly to women in leadership, Nooyi reiterated the need to focus on delivering high-quality work and contributions rather than getting distracted by gender-related discussions. While it is inevitable in business spaces, Nooyi encourages women to position themselves as capable, competent professionals first and foremost. The work will speak for itself.

“I think the bar for women is higher than men only because everybody knows the leadership model for males. They didn’t know what the female model was for leadership. So, anybody new coming in would have to outperform the men to earn a seat at the table.”

Nooyi was also candid about how tough it is for any leader the higher up the ladder they go. Leaders who want to reach the top must be prepared to sacrifice and forget “balance”.

“If you want to be in the top two or three layers of a company, all bets are off when it comes to balance because the effort it takes to get to the top of a big company is enormous. On the other hand, if you want to have a good job and maintain it, you can have a decent balance. You have help at home, predictable hours, not too much travel, not too much stress. But you should also realize that somebody from below might want to take your job.”

“Especially with technology changing, you must remain updated with everything. As you move to the top of the organization, the whole ball game changes. It’s a punishing schedule, and anybody who thinks it’s not can think again.”

Nooyi advises leaders to:

• Focus on delivering their best, high-quality work, and making an impact.
• Be mindful of how your mannerisms and behaviors might distract from your message and competence.
• Be prepared to make sacrifices as you climb the corporate ladder.

 

5. Embrace Tough Decisions for the Greater Good

 

Nooyi shared that she had to make many difficult decisions during her time as CEO of PepsiCo, such as workforce reductions, that were ultimately necessary for the company’s long-term success. She emphasized the importance of making these tough calls with plenty of compassion and focusing on the greater good.

Elaborating on this painful decision of layoffs, Nooyi said: “For the sake of productivity, especially when you introduce new technology, there is going to be a reduction in workforce. Now you can approach it objectively and say, ‘Hey, tough luck, I want to reduce the workforce’, or you can look at it with a little bit of compassion and say, think about how to retrain the workforce for new jobs.”

“Don’t sit here wringing your hands about the 10,000 who have to leave the company. Think of the 145,000 people who are left behind; they have to be successful too,” she added.

Nooyi stressed that tough decisions must be made when running a company and delivering financial results. These decisions are painful and not everyone will like them, but a leader must focus on the bigger picture.

Nooyi advises leaders to:

• Approach tough situations with compassion, and a focus on supporting impacted team members.
• Accept that leaders must make tough decisions that may not be popular but are necessary for the organization’s success.
• Maintain a focus on long-term goals rather than getting bogged down by short-term pains.

 

6. Leave a Lasting Legacy Through Mentorship

 

Mentorship features heavily in Nooyi’s professional narrative. She places great emphasis on finding a suitable mentor and being a mentor to others. Nooyi takes great pride in the leaders she has personally mentored and developed over the years. Many of them have gone on to become CEOs themselves. Nooyi sees this as a key aspect of her legacy.

She pointed out that leaders who want to be effective mentors must be ready to let their mentees outgrow them and possibly take over their jobs – it is, after all, a form of succession planning. Nooyi also advised that leaders who want to be mentors should be generous with their time. This led her to stress the importance of mentors choosing their mentees. If they’re going to spend the time and effort to mentor someone, they need to be selfless about it.

“Mentorship is an unselfish act because if you mentor somebody very well, they could take your job. When you start thinking about mentoring people, which is your job as a leader, approach it with the company in mind, not your job security.”

Leaders can create a lasting impact far beyond their tenure by investing in the next generation.

Nooyi advises leaders to:

• Take pride in mentoring and developing the next generation of CEOs.
• Be unselfish in their mentorship, invest time, and provide honest feedback to help mentees grow and succeed.
• View mentorship as a key element of your legacy and responsibility as an experienced leader.

*The insights in this article have been edited for length and clarity.

Storytelling has become a powerful tool in modern business, playing a pivotal role in shaping vision, building trust, and guiding organizations through the complexities of digital transformation. As businesses increasingly turn to digital solutions, strong leadership is critical to ensure successful transitions. Research shows that only 20% of organizations achieve more than three-quarters of expected revenue gains, while only 17% achieved more than three-quarters of expected cost savings from digital transformation projects (McKinsey).

 

Markus Gull, founder of The New Story Academy, is a renowned expert in storytelling and leadership, with decades of experience helping businesses craft narratives that drive change and innovation. In this interview, Markus shares his insights on how great storytelling and effective leadership can drive effective digital transformation and empower businesses to thrive in an evolving digital landscape.

 

What should leaders keep in mind when crafting a story in a business context?

 

First, a story is the natural way humans think. It’s how we explain the world and our relationship to the world and each other. We even build stories when we sleep – we call it a dream. Stories create images in our mind which feeds our growth because we always believe the stories we tell. So, if you have an internal story of a wonderful future, your brain will grow a positive view. If you have a dystopian picture, your brain will grow into that. We also always tell the same stories from different perspectives.

Leadership is about story. It’s about decisions and transformation because if you don’t move, you don’t need a leader. As the philosophers say, leadership is about potestas and auctoritas. Potestas is your title – chief, hero, C-suite. Auctoritas is the skill, charisma, and power of story; how you can get people excited for something. Stories are the best way to explain, engage, and make an endeavor part of everyone’s life. This is the pivotal point of why leaders need stories.

 

Plato said, “Those who tell the stories rule society.”
If you have the right story, you can bring motion into people, and people into motion.

 

Another giant, John Steinbeck said, “If the story is not about the hearer, he will not listen.” Make your audience the hero of the story, not the company. Make the goal you want to achieve and the meaning behind it part of your team’s lives. That’s leadership.

As a leader, you are not responsible for the outcome, you are responsible for the people who are producing the outcome. You are responsible for setting their potential free, being the interpreter between the goal and the team, and telling the big story.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

Success is not about building ships; it’s about using our tools and skills to leave the island and sail towards freedom. Great speakers and leaders like Barack Obama and Steve Jobs know how to frame a purpose and make it everyone’s purpose to lead them into a better future. They were good storytellers.

 

How can good storytelling help with digital transformation, particularly with AI?

 

Digital transformation is huge, including AI and the problems we have with it. The principles are universal and apply to digital transformation as much as anything else. The overriding principle is to turn those affected by change into participants of change. They are not victims but drivers of change for their own good. Make them a hero in their own story and your mutual story.

Another principle is that change never happens by fighting the status quo, but by always offering a new option that makes the current one obsolete. It’s about framing. People hate change for a simple reason: change is always dangerous. Our brains are programmed to keep our bodies safe, and we are safe in what we know. That’s why people are averse to change.

The next principle is that the story changes before the change itself happens. For example, if you get a new job, you are telling a different story about this new job before you start. In other words, the story you must change is: What will be better for me as the participant? What will be better for me if I jump on the train of transformation? How will my status improve? What can I do about it?

There are 10 parameters for status improvement including possibility, economic status, sense, and intelligence. Choose at least one and frame the change around it.

 

If you can’t enhance a status, you have no change, no transformation, no story.

 

It’s the core of every story. If you don’t have a different picture at the beginning than at the end, then you have no story. Storytelling is simple but hard to do.

 

You’ve said that AI teaches us about the importance of questions. How does that relate to business?

 

AI is a blessing and a curse, like Pandora’s Box. What we can learn from AI as humans is that when we use it as a tool, the better our outcomes. However, the quality of questions defines the outcome.

That’s a wonderful metaphor for leadership because the best leaders lead with questions. We have many answers but ask too few good questions. This is what we can learn from AI: how to ask good questions.

In my company and workshops, we use the technique of questions when giving feedback. People giving feedback are not allowed to comment or make suggestions. They are only allowed to ask questions. Those presenting are not allowed to answer the questions. Instead, they have to go back and think about it. That enhances the outcome of a project.

 

In one of your articles, you wrote that the direct path to self-inflicted immaturity is a dependence on profit as a purpose. Could you expand on that?

 

There are two big schools on how to run a business. One is driven by shareholder value and the other is driven by purpose. To clarify, the latter is not about charities or philanthropy. I’m talking about a business-driven purpose.

Businesses are about profit, but if you are directed and driven only by profit, everything goes astray. Anyone – and every company – whose only goal is profit will sooner or later have an exhausted soul – also known as burnout. You no longer know why you’re there because there is no sense of purpose anymore.  You’ve lost your meaning – if you ever had one – and are looking for happiness on the outside. People buy things or distract themselves with pleasure, companies look for a substitute for meaning in growth. Neither works. There’s nothing wrong with consumption and growth, but as a substitute for meaning they are extremely dangerous. This is how the poison of the unlived life arises – for people and companies alike.

We see it everywhere – people have more money. People have never been better off, material-wise, than they are now. But the numbers of mental illnesses are exploding. It’s because our world started to become profit-, money-, and material-oriented. We lost our meaning and purpose.

The story is wrong. We have a lot of wrong stories and one of them is that we must grow every second, every day, every year. It’s growth for the sake of growth – like a cancer.

An effective brand or company story has a positive effect, both internally and externally. The company has a deep, important purpose that is not only profit. People we admire so much for their careers, be it Steve Jobs or Jane Goodall, had no career. They had a purpose that they fulfilled and that fulfilled them.

 

Profit is never the goal but a result of meaning, purpose, and excellent work.

 

*The interview answers have been edited for length and clarity.

In today’s world of business, every small action and decision carries the weight of success or failure. For business leaders, both personal and professional habits require careful consideration to maximize their own potential and that of their teams.

In this article, bestselling author and renowned speaker James Clear shares practical insights and strategies to help leaders form habits that align with their goals and unlock the power of tiny gains for a sustainable future.

 

James Clear is a world-renowned speaker and bestselling author of the Atomic Habits, one of the most consequential books on habit formation in recent history. Focusing on habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement, Atomic Habits has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 50 languages.

 

James is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work has been featured in TIME magazine, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

 

THE AGGREGATION OF MARGINAL MEANS

 

This idea was put forth by the performance director for the British Cycling Team, Dave Brailsford. When he was hired in 2003, the team had never won the Tour de France, which had been around for 110 years.

What set Brailsford apart was the idea of the aggregation of marginal gains – the 1% improvement in nearly everything the team was doing related to cycling. This included getting lighter tires and more ergonomic seats, finding the right massage gels, painting the inside of the bike tire white to better spot dust that would get into the gears, hiring a surgeon to teach the team how to properly wash their hands to avoid getting sick, and even finding the best pillow for each rider.

The British Cycling Team ended up winning the Tour de France 3 years later. They then won another 4 times over the next five years.

James notes: “1% improvements are not just nice to have, they’re not just a bonus on top of your performance, but they can be the pathway to unlocking exceptional levels of performance and elite levels of success.”

 

Excellence is not about radical change; it’s usually about accruing small improvements over time.

 

Visualizing this power of tiny gains, James explains the compounding effect that small behavioral changes can have over time.

 

 

It’s important to remember that habits are a double-edged sword – they can build you up or cut you down.

 

Time will magnify what you feed it. If you have good habits, time becomes your ally. If you have bad habits, time becomes your enemy.

 

Emphasize Trajectory Rather Than Position

 

James notes: “The idea of getting 1% better each day is about emphasizing trajectory rather than position. Ask yourself, ‘Am I getting 1% better or worse? Is the arrow pointed in the right direction?’ Because if you’re on a good trajectory, all you need is time. But if you’re on a bad trajectory, even if you’re in a strong position right now, it’s not going to end well.”

James also emphasizes that if you’re struggling to improve, the problem isn’t you; the problem is your system.

 

You don’t rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.

 

The difficult part isn’t the goal itself; it’s building the system of behaviors or a collection of habits that would inevitably carry you to that desired outcome. When there is a gap between a goal and the collection of habits, habits always win.

Accounting for the possibility of luck and randomness in life, James’ advice is that habits are under our control whereas luck and randomness are not.

James adds: “So the only reasonable approach in life is to focus on the elements of the situation that are within your control. You want alignment between your desired outcome and daily habits.”

 

How to Identify 1% Improvements

 

On how to identify where to make these 1% improvements, James explains that it’s usually the things that seem trivial or a waste of time. However, it’s important to remember that these small improvements and adjustments accumulate and can compound to make a meaningful difference over time.

The questions to ask are:

• Does this action accumulate?
• Does this action layer on top of a previous effort?
• Will this action persist throughout time?
• What will keep working for me once it’s done?

James elaborates: “If you take that [last] question seriously, you start to realize where you should be directing those 1% improvements or little adjustments. You should be directly pointing them toward the things that accumulate.”

 

THE FOUR STAGES OF HABIT FORMATION

 

On how to change a habit, James walked through the four stages of habit formation. Understanding these foundations will inform the process of making and breaking habits.

 

 

An addendum about reward: Not every behavior is rewarding. Some things come with a cost or consequence, sometimes it’s neutral. But if a behavior is not rewarding or doesn’t feel positive or enjoyable in some way, it will be difficult to sustain it as a habit.

 

The Four Laws of Behavior Change

 

Each stage of habit formation comes with a corresponding law. This is how each stage can be operationalized:

 

 

These laws will help you form a habit. However, if you’re looking to break a habit, James suggests inverting the four laws:

• Obvious -> Invisible
• Attractive -> Unattractive
• Easy -> Difficult and full of friction
• Satisfying -> Unsatisfying consequences

 

Never Miss Twice

 

When asked about how to deal with set backs when it comes to habit formation, James pointed out that falling off course of a habit is usually indicative of something – perhaps you’re in a different season or different place in life. This could mean adjusting the habit a little to accommodate.

However, if you still want to stick to a habit but just happened to be distracted for a day or two, James offers this mantra:

 

Never miss twice.

 

He notes: “If the reclaiming of a habit is fast, the breaking of it doesn’t matter that much. I think we have all seen this in our lives, which is it’s very rarely the first mistake that ruins you. It’s the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. It’s letting slipping up become a new habit. That’s the real problem. So if you can reclaim a habit quickly, then mistakes doesn’t matter that much. So never miss twice.”

 

THE POWER OF PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS

 

James outlines the importance of creating a physical and social environment that would sustain your desired habits because the spaces in which you live and work each day influence your actions.

James suggests: “One interesting thing you can do is hold a habit in the back of your mind that you’re trying to build, and then walk into the rooms where you spend most of your time each day. Look around those spaces and ask yourself, ‘What is this space designed to encourage? What behaviors are obvious here? What behaviors are easy here?’”

 

If you want a habit to be a big part of your life, make the cue a big part of your environment.

 

In terms of social environment, James suggests that you consider the people you surround yourself with.

He says: “From a practical standpoint, join groups where your desired behaviors and habits are normal. Because if you join groups where your desired behavior is the normal behavior, you’re going to be much more likely to stick with it yourself.”

He points out that people have a need to fit in, so we tend to stick to behaviors that are “normal” for our social environment. If that is in opposition to the habits you want to build, it is less likely to stick.

James explains: “A lot of the time the desire to belong will overpower the desire to improve. So as best as possible, you want to get those two things aligned.”

 

THE TWO-MINUTE RULE

 

As James explains in his book, The Power of Atomic Habits, scaling it down is key. This means taking a habit you want to create and scaling it down to something that takes two minutes or less.

For example, wanting to read 30 books a year can become reading one page. Trying to do yoga four times a week becomes taking out the yoga mat.

James explains: “Something that often gets overlooked is that a habit must be established before it can be improved. It has to become the standard in your life before you can scale it up and optimize it.”

It’s often said that the heaviest action is the first one and the hardest step is the first movement. The two-minute rule pushes back on the perfectionist tendency or desire to have it all figured out ahead of time. It encourages you to master the art of showing up, scaling down, and getting started today. Once you’ve gained that foothold, you can use it to advance to the next level.

 

IDENTITY-BASED HABITS

 

The core to the idea of atomic habits is that it’s not about little habits – it’s about believing in something new about yourself. It’s about shifting the story you have about who you are, what is normal for you, and why you do the things you do.

 

True behavior change is identity change.

 

James points out: “Where we’re trying to get to is this place where you take pride in being that kind of person. We want to get to this point where you feel like [you] want to embody this identity with [your] behavior.”

While it’s true that habits can be driven by external results like making money or being more productive or losing weight, James argues that the real reason habits matter is that every habit is a vote for the type of person you want to be.

For example, writing one sentence won’t finish a novel, but it casts a vote that you’re a writer. Individually, these are small actions but collectively, you start to build up this body of evidence that shifts the weight of the story of you.

James adds: “My suggestion is to let the behavior lead the way to start with one sales call or one-minute meditation, or one email or one page, or whatever it is, and let that small action, be evidence that at that moment you are that kind of person.”

 

BONUS: IN BUSINESS, ALIGN THE INCENTIVES

 

When it comes to implementing these insights toward collective habits and tapping into the power of tiny gains within the business environment, James suggests getting the incentives aligned.

Giving the example of Boeing’s strategy in the early 90s requiring software engineers to be on the first test flights, James explained the power of having the outcome of someone’s work impact them in a certain way.

The questions to ask here are:

• Who is doing the work?
• Who bears the consequences?
• Who reaps the rewards?

James notes: When the incentives aren’t that well aligned, somebody else is doing the work, somebody else is bearing the consequences, and somebody else is reaping the rewards. So, you have to think about how your business is designed and adjust the model so that the incentives are aligned. If they are, people’s behavior naturally falls in line. People naturally want to do the same things because that’s how they get the incentives and avoid the consequences.

For today’s modern business leaders, innovation is key to success. 

“We live in a rapidly changing world with more uncertainty than ever before. This means we need to be better and faster at rethinking our assumptions.”

Innovating in a continuously developing tech environment requires leaders to challenge the status quo, rethink their assumptions, and be open to learning new skills. In this article, world-renowned organizational psychologist and best-selling author Adam Grant shares practical and actionable strategies to help leaders unlock the hidden potential in themselves and the people around them.  

 

1. BUILD A CHALLENGE NETWORK

 

Although a support network filled with mentors and sponsors is valuable, Grant introduces another kind of network that is critical for success.  

“Your challenge network is the group of thoughtful critics who you trust to hold up a mirror so you can see your own blind spots more clearly. They’re the people who have the courage to tell you the unpleasant truths.” 

However, Grant observes that many leaders around the world don’t have a challenge network. “That is a scary world to live in. So how do you get people to challenge your assumptions?” He shares a dynamic he’s been studying his whole career, the act of observing your network and identifying the givers and takers.  

GIVERS: “People who are constantly figuring out what they can do for you.” 

TAKERS: “People who want to know what you will do for them.” 

There is also the personality trait of agreeableness. “Agreeable people are warm, friendly, polite, and welcoming. Disagreeable people are more critical, skeptical, and challenging. For a long time, I assumed that agreeable people were always givers.” 

Grant then gathered data from 30,000 people around the world from different cultures and industries. The findings were surprising. “I found a zero correlation between how far you lean toward giving versus taking at work, and where you stood on that spectrum from agreeable to disagreeable personality.” He realized that the level of agreeableness was only a surface-level trait. On the other hand, giving and taking present an individual’s inner motives. “What are your real values and intentions when you deal with others?” 

To understand people more accurately, Grant categorizes people in the table below. “This is an oversimplification of all the complexity of human nature. But when you do this, you will find two combinations you recognize quickly, and maybe two that you overlook.”  

 

 

Ultimately, disagreeable givers are assets in a challenge network. “We need to do a much better job of valuing these people, as opposed to writing them off as prickly and a selfish taker.” Grant encourages business leaders to reach out to the disagreeable givers they know as a first step to building their challenge network. He has reached out to disagreeable givers in his network too. “As I’ve had those conversations, I’ve gotten much better, not only in constructive criticism but also coaching.” 

“I see honesty as the highest expression of loyalty. The more candid you are with me, the more I will know that you’re trying to help me grow.” 

 

2. CREATE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY

 

Coined by Amy Edmonson, psychological safety is the sense that you can take a risk and speak up without being punished or fearing reprisal. People with psychological safety can freely admit their errors, study what caused them, and rethink routines to prevent them.  

“When organizations build psychological safety, people are not only more willing to think again, they’re also more courageous in telling you what you need to rethink.” 

Grant adds that in tech companies when people lack psychological safety, they bite their tongues. But when they have it, they let their ideas fly. “I see leaders do this by accident constantly, and they don’t even realize they’re doing it. One of the ways I catch it is when I hear leaders say, ‘Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.’ I get why leaders say it. You want people to take initiative and not whine and complain.” 

However, Grant says that this is a dangerous philosophy. If people only speak up when they have a solution, leaders will never hear their biggest problems which are too complex for any one person to solve.  

“The foundation of building psychological safety is encouraging people to raise problems, even if they don’t know how to fix them yet.”  

How can business leaders build psychological safety? “It’s really helpful to create a structure where people are rewarded for telling you what the problems are.”  

He gives an example of a Kill the Company exercise given by a consultant. “She divides the leadership team into small groups, and she says, ‘Your job is to put your own company out of business’. I’ve never seen a more energized group of executives in my life. The power of this exercise is people are more creative on offense. Psychological safety is built in when your job is to tell people how you would destroy your company. There is no problem that is unsafe to voice. So, I like to see leaders run this exercise twice a year because inevitably, the threats and opportunities will change.” 

Grant refers to these exercises as premortem exercises “where you imagine that one of your big decisions or your key strategies is going to fail in the next few years. And then you consider the most likely reasons why.” 

“You get better at seeing around corners, rethinking assumptions that are no longer true, and then evolving to improve your practices. We need to bake this into our interactions with people on a daily basis.” 

In addition, he advises business leaders to be more open to admitting their mistakes. It’s not enough for leaders to ask their team for criticism because they don’t know whether their leaders can handle the truth. “It’s often more effective for leaders to say, ‘Here are my mistakes.’ When leaders put their own weaknesses and imperfections on the table, their team has more psychological safety to speak up.  

In addition to claiming to want to hear criticism, leaders are proving that they can take it. “A simple way of doing this is to take your own review from your board or from your boss and share it with your team. I’ve seen a lot of leaders hesitate to do this; they don’t want to be too vulnerable. They’re trying to prove their competence.” 

“The people around you already know what you’re bad at. You can’t hide it from them. So, you might as well get credit for having the self-awareness to see it, and the humility and integrity to admit it out loud.” 

 

3. GET THE BEST IDEAS ON THE TABLE  

 

Grant also challenges the age-old practice of brainstorming. “There’s a strong tendency when we need creative ideas or make a critical decision to say, ‘Hey, let’s bring a group of people together to brainstorm because we know that five heads are better than two.’ Except for just one tiny wrinkle. It doesn’t work.”  

He explains that there is over 40 years of evidence that better ideas are generated if people work alone. In addition, he highlights three things that can go wrong in brainstorming groups:  

• Production blocking: “We can’t all talk at once and some ideas get lost.” 
• Ego threat: “I don’t want to look stupid, so I hold back on my most unconventional ideas.” 
• Conformity pressure: “I want to jump on the bandwagon of the idea that the boss likes best or what’s most popular in the room.” 

To avoid the above from happening, Grant presents the idea-generating tactic of brainwriting.  

“You give people the problem or the topic and advance. You let them generate their own ideas independently. You collect them and then you have everyone in the group rate them. Once you have everybody’s independent ideas and judgment, you bring everyone together to figure out which possibilities are worth pursuing.” 

Why is brainwriting better than brainstorming?  

• Individuals are more creative than groups but “they’re also terrible at judging their own ideas.” 
• There is more variety of ideas that can be “adjusted and filtered by group wisdom, the wisdom of crowds should come in after we get all the possibilities on the table.” 
• It works in a hybrid setting “where the chat window is made for brainwriting. The first 10 minutes is to type out your thoughts and then use the group’s judgment to assess and vet the potential in the room.” 
• Provides a platform for the quieter voices “who might not be that comfortable selling and pitching their ideas but are the ones who have actually dreamed up the best ideas.”  

“[While] group brainstorming tends to record the loudest talker and the most extroverted person, brainwriting allows you to hear from the deepest thinker and the most creative voices.” 

 

4. RETHINK YOUR MINDSET 

 

After leaders have collected everybody’s independent ideas in a brainwriting process, how do they figure out which ideas work? Grant says it boils down to the mindset they bring to the table. “I’ve been studying the mental models that cause leaders to resist change, refuse to think again, and stymie the hidden potential in their organizations.”  

Those mental models can be organized into: 

• Preacher: “You’re proselytizing your own views.” 
• Prosecutor: “You’re attacking somebody else’s views.” 
• Politician: “You don’t bother to listen to people unless they already agree with your views.

“I think it’s worth reflecting on which is your biggest vice of these three mental models. I’ll tell you that mine is prosecutor mode. If I think you’re wrong, I believe it’s my professional and moral responsibility to correct you. I know that when I go into prosecutor mode, I shut down and become less open to new ideas.” 

“Whether you’re preaching, prosecuting, or politicking, you’ve already concluded that you’re right and other people are wrong. That means you stop learning.” 

How can business leaders release themselves from those mental models? Grant suggests leaders approach new ideas like a scientist and not let ideas become a part of their identity. “We know that good scientists have the humility to know what they don’t know, and the curiosity to constantly seek new knowledge.” 

“We have a growing body of evidence that if you teach leaders to think more like scientists, they make better decisions.” 

Grant recalls his favorite demonstration of this approach in an experiment done with start-up founders in Italy. Hundreds of entrepreneurs were randomly assigned to a control group or a scientific thinking group. In the scientific thinking group, participants were asked to view their hypotheses as strategies and decisions as experiments. “Over the next year, the founders who have been randomly assigned to think like scientists brought on average more than 40 times the revenue of the control group.” 

As for the participants in the control group, Grant says, “When their product launch bombs, they still preach they were right. They prosecute their critics for being wrong, and they politic by lobbying the board to support the status quo.” 

“Learning to think like a scientist frees leaders from those traps. They start to listen to the ideas that make them think hard instead of just the opinions that make them feel good. They surround themselves with disagreeable givers who challenge their thought processes.”