Difficult Conversations - Publications - Faculty & Research

23 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research: May 23, 2017

difficult to understand and implement. We introduce the 4 Minds framework as a practical tool for understanding and applying the science of decision-making in the marketplace. We synthesize previous research on decision-making into four... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

28 Aug 2006
Research & Ideas

Online Match-Making with Virtual Dates

variation of online shopping. Rather than just study the problem, they also came up with a possible solution: Virtual Dates. The researchers began their work by talking to online-dating-site users about their experiences, supplementing these View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Publishing

Web

Live from Klarman Hall - Alumni

crucial distinctions that separate good failure from bad, resulting in difficulties for best practices to take hold in most organizations. Despite happy talk, most people would rather do anything but fail. Failure, it seems, is fine in theory, and fine for other... View Details

22 Jul 2020
Blog Post

Why We Started the HBS Black Investment Club

institutional racism to become so entrenched in American life. Although the past few months have been difficult on myself and other members of the Black community, I am cautiously optimistic that the BLM movement can create lasting and... View Details

06 Oct 2023
Book

Yes, You Can Radically Change Your Organization in One Week

solve difficult problems. Denouncing Mark Zuckerberg’s informal Facebook motto, “move fast and break things,” partners Frei and Morriss combine their decades of consulting experience—Frei as the UPS Foundation Professor of Service... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

Program

Rising Generation in the Family Enterprise

significant wealth Analyze options and choose the right role for you in the family enterprise, while honoring and supporting others' choices Engage in difficult conversations with family members, including... View Details

31 Aug 2020
Blog Post

Five Important Steps before Taking the Entrepreneurial Leap

that pioneered conversational commerce. At Hilma, Hilary leverages her personal passion for consumer products and integrative health with her Harvard MBA, and impressive professional history of launching new consumer brands, to build and... View Details

14 Dec 2021
Op-Ed

To Change Your Company's Culture, Don't Start by Trying to Change the Culture

something you fix Consider Vince Forlenza’s experience, as former CEO of medical technology maker Becton Dickinson, in developing a more innovative culture to meet the changing competitive landscape. He recently told me, “The barrier that was most View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer

Web

Technology & Operations Management - Faculty & Research

marketplaces that connect sellers and buyers. The presence of numerous third-party sellers leads to a proliferation of listings for each product, making it difficult for customers to choose between the available options. Online... View Details

Web

Podcast - Business & Environment

policies like extended producer responsibility (EPR) and provides advice for those pursuing careers in circular economy innovation. Designing for Circularity at Scale: A Conversation with Karen Pflug of Ingka Group 21 MAY 2025 | Climate... View Details

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

the way to work, gyms, housecleaners—are shuttered or more difficult to access. Masks must be found and worn and cleaned. Simple conversations require managing new technologies and protocols. Even walking... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

16 May 2023
HBS Case

How KKR Got More by Giving Ownership to the Factory Floor: ‘My Kids Are Going to College!’

One thing that stuck with Pete Stavros from the dinner-table conversations of his youth was that capitalism seemed fundamentally broken for his father, who earned an hourly wage working construction. The incentive was not there for... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

03 Oct 2023
Research Event

Build the Life You Want: Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey Share Happiness Tips

coauthor of the new book Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier, for an intimate, powerful conversation that touches on: the mistake people make in thinking that money, power, and fame will bring them happiness;... View Details

Keywords: by HBS Staff

17 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

How Entrepreneurs Can Find the Right Problem to Solve

“Our conversion rate from click to sign-up was 50 percent.” “We interviewed a bunch of people and they said they’d use our product if we built it.” These quotes suggest the entrepreneurs may have found an audience interested enough to... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

31 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

Where Can Digital Transformation Take You? Insights from 1,700 Leaders

but also themselves. Everything is changing and technology is a key driver When we asked executives to join our roundtable conversations about “digital leadership,” they warned us that the term was too narrow: “leadership in the digital... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

24 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

Passion at Work Is a Good Thing—But Only If Bosses Know How to Manage It

the workplace. "We argue that it can be difficult for employers to recognize that their understanding of passion can at times create challenges for employees,” says Jachimowicz, suggesting that this may require a rethinking of the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

30 Sep 2019
Book

6 Steps to Building a Better Workplace for Black Employees

hiring Companies should train managers to root out racial bias from their hiring and recruitment processes. They should also invest in retaining black professionals, in part by reinforcing the message that race will not be a barrier to advancement. "Some of the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

29 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

Time Pressure and Creativity: Why Time is Not on Your Side

employees, and how difficult was that process to manage? A: We wanted to do what few researchers have ever attempted: "trap creativity in the wild" in organizations, by observing it as it was happening within teams who are... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education; Fine Arts

07 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

How Teams Work: Lessons from the Pandemic

more senior people assume that the more junior people understood the meeting because they were there.” In reality, while technology makes it possible to invite more and different people to virtual meetings, the lack of spontaneous “huddle time”—quick post-meeting View Details