Decision Making

Everyone agrees? Uh-oh!

June 27, 2017
For three months, James Reinertsen grappled with a tough question: Should we restructure the company? Everyone enthusiastically agreed they should combine forces and form a tight system. Yet in the weeks that followed, problems erupted.

Sometimes, Don Quixote wins

April 7, 2017
Some people thought A. Philip Randolph was crazy in 1930 when he turned down a job offer from New York City’s mayor, Fiorello La Guardia.

Churchill’s probing questions

March 29, 2017
Without trust and mutual respect, less sharing of information and more obfuscation can lead to tragically wrongheaded decisions.

Apple manager: ‘We cannot launch’

March 12, 2017
During the final testing of Apple’s PowerBook, Anthony Soohoo discovered a small flaw that could harm its performance.

That feeling you’d die for

January 24, 2017
Jed Ortmeyer kept playing hockey while his family begged him to stop.

Michael Phelps’ stylish exit

September 26, 2016
Capping your career, or a segment of it, can be hard to pull off on your own terms.

Walt Disney’s keen eye for talent

September 14, 2016
Part of Walt Disney’s genius was recognizing talented people and giving them the freedom to innovate. The more passion they brought to the job, the more Disney admired them.

Promote learning by letting go

September 13, 2016
A much-loved Harvard Business School professor, Hrand Saxenian (1924-2014) influenced thousands of students over the years—including management guru Stephen Covey.

Relying on predictions? Beware reality

September 12, 2016
Strategic planning involves analyzing trends, foretelling events and predicting the repercussions of such events. But you can get caught in a crisis if you put too much stock in predictions that prove faulty.

How Google’s decision-making works

August 15, 2016

Eric Schmidt joined Google as its CEO in 2001. Even though the company was already a smashing success, he knew his job wouldn’t be easy. Schmidt, 61, understood the risk that founders take when hiring an outsider as CEO. Clashes can occur as founders chafe at the CEO’s decisions.