Monthly Archives: September 2010

Featured Guest: Beth Comstock, chief marketing officer of General Electric and coauthor of the HBR article Unleashing the Power of Marketing. Download this podcast

In our last post, we discussed cloud computing, one of the building blocks of the digital infrastructure that is driving the changes described by the Big Shift. This time we explore a second building block, social software. Social software is … Continue reading →

Service providers, like product sellers, must innovate constantly to keep their edge in the marketplace. But a very common problem prevents many from achieving innovation breakthroughs: They tend to be held back by their very zeal to achieve unsurpassed service. … Continue reading →

Fear can be a good thing, if it doesn’t paralyze us completely from taking action. Fear reminds us of our humanity, keeps us from stepping in front of moving cars, and can activate “fight or flight” reactions so we are … Continue reading →

When I have time, I enjoy cooking chili. But I’m no chef. In fact, only recently have I started to ignore recipes and experiment a bit. I’ve learned that if you cut back on the cayenne pepper, you might actually … Continue reading →

Editor’s Note: This blog was written with Kartik Vittal, a student with the master of engineering management program at Dartmouth College. India has a whopping 60 million senior citizens, even though it’s a young country overall. (That 60 million represents … Continue reading →

Best of British luck to Bob Dudley, who formally takes over as chief executive of BP on October 1st. He will need it. As a sign of intent, the new boss made some big announcements this week ahead of his … Continue reading →

It was a beautiful, sunny day in New York City as I rode my bike into Central Park. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, pumping my legs hard to work up speed, excited to join the … Continue reading →

Quick: what would you call a business whose apathetic, listless — and sometimes irate — customers are starting to walk away, whose former blockbuster is becoming today’s lower and lower margin snoozer, whose most promising firebrands would rather eat a … Continue reading →

The MacArthur Foundation has just named its new crop of MacArthur Fellows, 23 creative achievers who have each been given a half-million-dollar “genius grant.” The Foundation has been giving such awards for 30 years now, and every year’s announcement seems … Continue reading →