Tag: culture

Latest Read: HBR’s 10 Must Reads 2025

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date January 1, 2025

HBR’s 10 Must Reads 2025: The Definitive Management Ideas of the Year from Harvard Business Review.

In the closing days of 2023 I was reading HBR’s 10 Must Reads for 2024. This was a good indicator of management ideas for the coming new year. A year later, closing 2024 seems perfect to begin 2025 with HBR’s annual refresh.

This book is for both new and experienced leaders seeking insights, inspiration, and advice to propel their organizations forward in the new year.

Perhaps no other topic is the continuing role of AI impacting organizations last year and the coming impact of AI Agents. Perhaps their 2026 Must Reads will expand upon the growth of agents we will engage this year.

Why? The chapter ‘Reskilling in the Age of AI’ acknowledged ChatGPT’s impact was not predicted. As a result computer automation was already set to displace and transform the global workforce. Now LLMs, Agents, and ML will perhaps drive those numbers even higher. The message: Reskilling will be a focal point for organizations to thrive in an AI-driven environment. Yet the advice includes the challenge that organizational ups killing simply will not be enough. Worth the read alone especially for colleges and training centers.

Tags Artificial Intelligence, culture, Innovation, Management Ideas, tipping point, trends

Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: OKRs for All

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date September 25, 2024

OKRs for All: Making Objectives and Key Results Work for your Entire Organization by Vetri Vellore

Vetri holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Iowa and MBA from the University of Washington. Today he is CEO and co-Found of Rhythms and previously served as a Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, focusing on driving strategic initiatives. His prior company Ally.io, an OKR-based business execution platform was acquired by Microsoft.

OKRs for All is addressing actionable guides on how to use OKRs. His approach is more than quarterly, executive-level reviews. Organizations can learn how to deploy OKR systems that draws strategy and projects together. To achieve success organizations must understand this must be rolled out from top to bottom across your organization. Once deployed managers and their teams can organize task decisions around shared and agreed upon goals.

You can certainly move your organization forward, specifically since the pandemic and set the foundation for getting your entire workforce moving in the same direction by embracing the benefits of OKR’s which are in sync with today’s modern business demands rather that the continued struggle to maintain outdated KPIs.

Tags culture, KPIs, OKRs, tipping point

Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date June 8, 2024

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni.

Pat holds a BA in Economics and Spanish from Claremont McKenna College. He is President of the Table Group, and previously worked at Bain & Company, Oracle Corporation and was a former Vice President of Organizational Development at Sybase.

Regardless of where you work, even if your are a one person consultant or new startup, you will benefit from Pat’s book. This is about engaging people to achieve outcomes. Should this be your consultancy or new product, your future will in part be influenced by the people you engage.

This is a long time bestseller for a damn good reason. In fact, we see teams as a group of individuals striving to achieve success in perfect sync with one another and their individual daily tasks. However Pat is able to analyze the fundamental causes of why teams fail, their projects do not result in closure and the impact of organizational politics

Pat outlines identifies five interrelated dysfunctions that can undermine team performance which hinder team effectiveness and performance:

Absence of Trust:
Perhaps the most difficult to confront within any team is their unwillingness to trust one another regardless of how long they have worked together.

Fear of Conflict:
Teams without trust will result in limited discussions on their project contributions. The free flow of conversations is required to be successful. You must engage your team at 100 percent.

Tags change, culture, Innovation, Management Ideas, tipping point

Artificial Intelligence Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: Teaching with AI

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date June 1, 2024

Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning by Jose Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson.

Bowen holds a PhD from Stanford in musicology and humanities. Watson holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Tech.

The general aim of the book is to address AI in education. Regrettably the book takes very broad brush stokes on a fast moving technology. As a result, they have missed an opportunity. It appears to many that a rush of books addressing AI in education has been underway since the introduction of ChatGPT.

Unfortunately the book misses key, critical requirements for AI integration into workflows, business thinking, and how practical strategies for faculty to leverage AI within the classroom.

The book is divided into three sections:
First, Thinking with AI is very much a basic AI 101 course with broad overviews to how work, literacy and creativity will be shaped by AI. Second, Teaching with AI is focusing on how AI will assist faculty but is not able to address how facutly at a private four year college would be for factuly teaching at a public two year college. Again, lots of broad brush strokes. Finally, Learning with AI is exploring the feedback and how AI can design assignments for students, how AI will change student writing and also assessments.

Tags AI, ChatGPT, culture, teaching

Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter

Post author By Don Kasprzak
Post date May 28, 2024

HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter by Harvard Business Review.

Do you work within an organization that is meeting driven? Sometimes it can seem that every decision regardless of place in a project requires a face to face meeting, in person or online. Many times however results can be addressed via email.

Yet when meetings are indeed the best course of action, this book provides the overlooked simplicity to transform the ‘regular’ meeting (which is often ineffective into very productive working sessions.

This book does in fact address very common challenges employees face. In fact many can say first hand they have experienced meetings that felt made little effort for the amount of time set aside for multiple employees.

There are very valuable lessons to learn that can empower employees to move the needle. If you feel this sounds a bit off, then perhaps you cannot recall how a well planned meeting by anyone well verses in running meetings and controlling the discussions by simply presenting an agenda will leave you wondering why have you not engaged well run meetings all long?

Tags culture, meeting, organizational leadership, tipping point