Extractive summaries of and key takeaways from the articles curated from TOP TEN BUSINESS MAGAZINES to promote informed business decision making | Week 243|May 6-12, 2022
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Wearable technology promises to revolutionise health care
The Economist | May 5, 2022
It is a stealthy killer. When the heart’s chambers beat out of sync, blood pools and clots may form. Atrial fibrillation causes a quarter of more than 100,000 strokes in Britain each year. Most of those would never happen if the heart arrhythmia were treated, but first it has to be found. Tests are costly and inaccurate, but Apple Watches, and soon Fitbits, can detect it, are far cheaper and can save those whose lives are in danger.
This is just one example of the revolution about to transform medicine. Smartwatches and -rings, fitness trackers and a rapidly growing array of electronically enhanced straps, patches and other “wearables” can record over 7,500 physiological and behavioural variables. Some of them are more useful than others, obviously, but, as the Economist Technology Quarterly in this week’s issue explains, machine learning can filter a torrent of data to reveal a continuous, quantified picture of you and your health.
These are early days for the quantified self, and for investors in digital health it is still a wild ride. Witness the recent collapse in the share price of Teladoc, which provides online consultations, a worrying sign for other would-be disrupters. But for patients the innovation in wearable devices has just begun. Individual firms may come and go, but wearables and artificial intelligence look set to reshape health care in three big ways: early diagnosis, personalised treatment and the management of chronic disease. Each promises to lower costs and save lives.
The scale of all these benefits promises to be vast. Just how vast will become clearer as wearables create data, leading to innovation. The reason for optimism is that the technology is ripe. As wearables acquire more features, users are less likely to lose interest in them and shove them into the back of a drawer. As with any technology, wearables bring worries. Health data are valuable; they could be abused by device-makers, insurers or governments interested in social control. The technology may not reach the poor and those who lead chaotic lives—the people who need it most. But the greatest worry is that the bureaucracy of health care gets in the way.
3 key takeaways from the article
- Smartwatches and -rings, fitness trackers and a rapidly growing array of electronically enhanced straps, patches and other “wearables” can record over 7,500 physiological and behavioral variables – promising to transform medicine.
- Wearables and artificial intelligence look set to reshape health care in three big ways: early diagnosis, personalized treatment and the management of chronic disease. Each promises to lower costs and save lives.
- The reason for optimism is that the technology is ripe. But it also brings worries. Health data are valuable; they could be abused by device-makers, insurers or governments interested in social control. The technology may not reach the poor and those who lead chaotic lives—the people who need it most. But the greatest worry is that the bureaucracy of health care gets in the way.
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Topics: Medical Industry, Technology, Data, Wearables
Securing Europe’s future beyond energy: Addressing its corporate and technology gap
By Sven Smith et al., | McKinsey & Company | May 4, 2022
Europe as it is today has been forged in times of crisis. Most recently, the Russian invasion of Ukraine not only is a humanitarian catastrophe but has exposed a range of fragilities, from food security and energy to defense. The war has accentuated the reality that resilience depends on a strong economy with strategic autonomy in these critical areas that has long been taken for granted.
Technology is pivotal, too. Unless Europe catches up with other major regions on key technologies, it will be vulnerable across all sectors on growth and competitiveness—compromising the region’s relatively robust record on sustainability and inclusion—as well as security and strategic strength, hindering long-term resilience.
Although Europe has many high-performing companies, in aggregate European companies underperform relative to those in other major regions: they are growing more slowly, creating lower returns, and investing less in R&D than their US counterparts. This largely reflects the fact that Europe missed the boat on the last technology revolution, lagging behind on value and growth in information and communications technology (ICT) and on other disruptive innovations.
ICT and other tech sectors have spawned a range of transversal technologies, which are spreading horizontally across sectors and determining competitive dynamics. The authors’ research looks at ten transversal technologies and finds that Europe leads on only two of the ten. These technologies are: next level process automation, future of connectivity, distributed infrastructure, next generation computing, applied AI, future of programming, trust architecture, bio revolution, next generation materials, and future of clean technology. If Europe is not successful in competing in these technologies, it could also lose its strongholds in traditional industries. Unless tackled, this crisis will handicap Europe on many dimensions, including growth, inclusion, and sustainability, and its strategic autonomy and voice in the world.
In this context, a range of challenges put Europe at a disadvantage. Among them, four stand out and mutually reinforce one another. These are: fragmentation and lack of scale; lack of established technology ecosystems; less developed risk-capital funding; and a regulatory environment that could be more supportive of disruption and innovation.
Even if policy and regulation create a more enabling environment in which European firms can compete, they, too, need to step up, developing scale and agility in order to grow and succeed not only on the national and regional levels, but globally. Options to consider include the following: set stretch long-term targets and adjust incentives, leverage programmatic M&A and alliances to acquire the scale and capabilities needed, and invest in innovation and technology governance and capabilities at scale and pace.
3 key takeaways from the article
- Europe as it is today has been forged in times of crisis. Most recently, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has exposed a range of fragilities, from food security and energy to defense. The war has accentuated the reality that resilience depends on a strong economy with strategic autonomy in these critical areas that have long been taken for granted.
- Unless Europe catches up with other major regions on key technologies, it will be vulnerable across all sectors on growth and competitiveness—compromising the region’s relatively robust record on sustainability and inclusion—as well as security and strategic strength, hindering long-term resilience.
- Options to consider include the following: set stretch long-term targets and adjust incentives, leverage programmatic M&A and alliances to acquire the scale and capabilities needed, and invest in innovation and technology governance and capabilities at scale and pace.
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Topics: Europe, Global Economy, Technology, Competition
Leading & Managing Section
Act Like a Scientist
By Stefan Thomke and Gary W. Loveman | Harvard Business Review Magazine | May–June 2022 Issue
Every day, managers make decisions about products, customers, resource allocation, employee pay, and more, basing them on assumptions that have never been critically examined, much less challenged. But when skeptics show that ideas underlying practices are wrong, confounding, or even costly, leaders grasp the importance of systematically testing assumptions.
If challenging assumptions is so valuable, why don’t managers make it a standard operating procedure? After decades of studying and practicing innovation and decision-making, the authors concluded that the fundamental reason is that most business leaders don’t think or act like scientists. But acting like a scientist is difficult for leaders because it can challenge their legitimacy. The scientific method, in contrast, requires intellectual humility in the face of difficult problems and relies on an objective, evidence-based process, rather than predominantly personal insight, to frame and address decisions.
When we think scientifically, we recognize that human beings make cognitive and judgmental errors and can drift into a complacency built on flawed assumptions. When we act scientifically, we relentlessly probe our assumptions and change them if evidence shows that they’re wrong. The authors suggested five elements of the scientific method that they found to be particularly useful in management practice. These are:
- Be a Knowledgeable Skeptic: When business leaders adopt this mindset, their biases and errors won’t get in the way of finding the truth. They will employ reason, demand evidence, and be open to new ideas. In scientific practice this means seeking independent confirmation of facts, placing more value on expertise than on authority, and examining competing hypotheses.
- Investigate Anomalies. In science the study of anomalies has been instrumental in identifying questionable assumptions. Anomalies are things that are unexpected, don’t look right, or seem strange, and they’re noticeable because they don’t cohere, or fit, with sought-after outcomes. Managers should watch for and explore them because they can lead to new business insights.
- Articulate Testable Hypotheses. To be effectively challenged, assumptions must be framed as hypotheses that can be quantifiably confirmed or disproved.
- Produce Hard Evidence: An endeavor’s underlying assumptions shouldn’t be based solely on the feelings, experiences, guesses, or status of those holding them. They should also stem from conclusive evidence. If such proof doesn’t already exist, disciplined experiments can provide it. This tenet should be a pillar of a company’s culture.
- Probe Cause and Effect. Asking what-if questions and thinking about counterfactuals is a powerful way to examine scenarios under different assumptions and arrive at insights about cause and effect.
3 key takeaways from the article
- Every day, managers make decisions about products, customers, resource allocation, employee pay, and more, basing them on assumptions that have never been critically examined, much less challenged. But when skeptics show that ideas underlying practices are wrong, confounding, or even costly, leaders grasp the importance of systematically testing assumptions.
- If challenging assumptions is so valuable, why don’t managers make it a standard operating procedure? The fundamental reason is that most business leaders don’t think or act like scientists. And acting like a scientist is difficult for leaders because it can challenge their legitimacy.
- Five elements of the scientific method that can be particularly useful in management practice are: be a Knowledgeable Skeptic, Investigate Anomalies, Articulate Testable Hypotheses, Produce Hard Evidence, and Probe Cause and Effect.
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Topics: Leadership, Decision-making, Science
How Organizations Can Balance Authenticity With Propriety
By Denise Hamilton | MIT Sloan Management Review | May 09, 2022
It has become a common complaint from executives and HR teams that inappropriate, sometimes even disturbing, behavior at work in the name of “authenticity” has become increasingly prevalent. The recent push for authenticity in the workplace can be tricky to navigate. People should feel free to speak up when they see a problem, ask for help when they need it, and share their perspectives at work. After all, self-censorship in which people hold back on important ideas can damage organizations.
Also, being a truly diverse and inclusive organization means welcoming people to be their true selves rather than expecting them to conform to a personality type and stifling their originality. Many minorities already find it difficult to be authentic at work, knowing that some people’s biases (including unconscious ones) can be triggered when we simply act, speak, dress, or do our hair naturally. Encouraging authenticity can be a crucial way to free people from these kinds of worries. But sometimes authenticity becomes incivility. In his work advising businesses on how to approach this issue, the author found that the following three steps can make a big difference in creating a culture that values authenticity and respect.
- Define ‘Authenticity’ Clearly. Each business needs to be specific about what it means when it encourages employees to be themselves. Make clear that sharing one’s experiences and speaking one’s mind are important as long as they help advance the company and the employee experience. Authentic self-expression must take place within the confines of a corporate culture that calls for respect, civility, listening, and consideration.
- Provide Training With Real-Life Scenarios. Training and workshops can help managers learn how to handle complex situations that can pit authenticity against other corporate values.
- Make Psychological Safety Everyone’s Responsibility. For years, business leaders have been told that it’s crucial to make sure employees feel psychologically safe to speak their minds. What often gets less attention is that everyone in an organization must be part of ensuring a psychologically safe environment. When discussing inappropriate behavior with an employee, emphasize the ways that their behavior, no matter what their intention, could affect their colleagues’ sense of psychological safety.
3 key takeaways from the article
- It has become a common complaint from executives and HR teams that inappropriate, sometimes even disturbing, behavior at work in the name of “authenticity” has become increasingly prevalent.
- The recent push for authenticity in the workplace can be tricky to navigate. People should feel free to speak up when they see a problem, ask for help when they need it, and share their perspectives at work. After all, self-censorship in which people hold back on important ideas can damage organizations. But sometimes authenticity becomes incivility.
- Three steps can make a big difference in creating a culture that values authenticity and respect: define ‘Authenticity’ clearly, provide training with real-life scenarios, and make psychological safety everyone’s responsibility.
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Topics: Organizational Behavior, Authenticity, Psychological Safety
Entrepreneurship
11 Entrepreneurial Strengths That Can Become Weaknesses As A Business Grows
By Expert Panel | Forbes Magazine | May 10, 2022
Some of the qualities that make for a successful entrepreneur—qualities that are essential when someone is first building a business all on their own—can become less effective, or even cause setbacks, once their business starts to grow. 11 of such entrepreneurial strengths that, as a business changes, can turn into weaknesses, and how a new leader can evolve to best support their growing business are:
- Multitasking. One key strength of entrepreneurs is the ability to multitask (as a generalist). But when you start to grow, you need to bring in people who are specialists to focus on and multiply the effectiveness and efficiency of their domain expertise.
- Personal Reputation And Experience. Often, entrepreneurs build their businesses based on their reputation and experience. As the business grows, it’s critical to institutionalize values and articulate standards so that your team can replicate what clients expect.
- ‘Stakeholder Savvy’. Many entrepreneurs have what is called as “stakeholder savvy,” which is a deep knowledge of the priorities of their key stakeholders. But as the business grows, it is common for entrepreneurs to focus more on operations while losing focus on the changing needs of their target audiences. Entrepreneurs can avoid this trap by ensuring they have weekly or monthly activities to study industry trends and review customer feedback.
- Technical/Creative Ability. An entrepreneur’s technical or creative ability often becomes their Achilles’ heel as they start to grow. This is because they want to deliver the work themselves, when they need to hire and develop other deliverers so they are freed up to run the strategic growth plan, attract talent and business partners and build out a scalable infrastructure. Trusting others, delegating and elevating are keys to growth.
- High Energy And Flexibility. High-energy, risk-tolerant, flexible people are drawn to a startup. As a business grows, newer employees are usually more interested in predictability, security and clarity.
- Speed And Decisiveness. Entrepreneurs often make decisions quickly and get things done fast. As the business grows, making decisions is still important, but there are now data points as well as new challenges and trends. Entrepreneurs, therefore, need to have an incubation period by sitting down with a “slower” mind, introspecting, reprioritizing business priorities and innovating solutions.
- Perfectionism. Entrepreneurs often want to make everything perfect. However, constantly trying to improve can become a weakness. Acknowledging all of the great strategies you’ve formulated and used to find your success will build a foundation that allows you to continue to serve.
- Willingness To Work Fast And Hard. Though a strength, over time, this pace may not be sustainable as a business grows. Learning to train others, delegate and manage “from the top” instead of managing “everything” is a key to ensuring a business grows at a strong, steady pace.
- Exacting Attention To Detail. Exacting detail orientation can be an incredible individual strength, but growth requires a team. When their pursuit of perfection causes a leader to limit how team members approach problem-solving, it can backfire, both lowering morale and stifling growth. Instead, leaders should set clear standards of excellence and be careful to hire team members they trust to also continually raise the bar
- From Reliance On Instinct to start depending on data and research to predict the next level of growth.
- High Risk Tolerance. As a business grows, it is essential for founders to explore innovation while also mitigating risk by engaging their teams, stakeholders and external advisors.
2 key takeaways from the article
- Some of the qualities that make for a successful entrepreneur can become less effective, or even cause setbacks, once their business starts to grow.
- 11 entrepreneurial strengths that should be changed are: instead of multitasking bring people with specialized skills; build up an organizational brand instead of relying on your personal reputation and experience; study industry trends and review customer feedback instead of drawing in operations; instead of doing delegate; leave high energy and flexibility focus on predictability, security and clarity; instead of speedy decision making go for incubation period by sitting down with a “slower” mind; stop following perfectionism try to focus on growth strategies; understand that willingness to work fast and hard may not be sustainable; instead of exacting attention to detail by yourself hire the team; from reliance on instinct to start depending on data and research; and high-risk tolerance.
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Topics: Entrepreneurship, Growth, Creativity
4 Principles to Develop Next-Level Leadership at Your Company
By Scott Miker | Entrepreneur | May 10, 2022
For a company to be successful, it must find a way to develop talent. It isn’t always possible to hire leadership from the outside. Being able to develop leaders within the ranks will help the company to grow and fill future needs that come about organically. Four principles to develop next level of leadership are:
Principle 1: Take ownership. Leaders needed to own their tasks. They had to own the processes and procedures. They had to own the outcomes and the production output. This is different than being in charge. If they are in charge but don’t own it, they will always find others to blame when things go wrong. They search for ways to improve the team and catch mistakes early to prevent them from turning into major problems.
Principle 2: Use next-level thinking. For leadership, we needed to shift our thinking. Most people rely on linear thinking. They see a problem and want to point it back to one factor. Linear thinking follows quick, snap decisions without much analysis. Instead, we needed to use systems thinking. We had to see the interconnection between various parts of the system. We had to see that the decision for our team to increase production caused a problem downstream. Systems thinking helps see the full business systems, not just the individual parts.
Principle 3: Respect time (your time and others’ time). The third principle revolved around time management. Leaders needed to respect their time enough to have efficient time-management systems in place. They couldn’t let others drag them down. They needed the ability to work with others to be efficient, so the work got done. Part of this training involved learning to prioritize.
Principle 4: Focus on progress not perfection. Nobody is perfect. Chasing perfection means that we forego experimenting or trying new things because we don’t want to mess up. Trial and error, by definition, means there will be errors. We had to, instead, keep making progress. This meant continuous improvement. It didn’t mean people were afraid to try. It meant we addressed flaws and obstacles and kept moving forward. We changed the measuring stick. We didn’t look for the small mistake to criticize. We looked at the patterns to see if we were getting better over time.
2 key takeaways from the article
- For a company to be successful, it must find a way to develop talent. It isn’t always possible to hire leadership from the outside. Being able to develop leaders within the ranks will help the company to grow and fill future needs that come about organically.
- Four principles to develop next level leadership are: leaders need to own their tasks, use system thinking instead of linear thinking, respect time (your time and others’ time), and focus on progress not perfection.
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Topics: Leadership, System-thinking, Linear thinking
5 Key Drivers of Influence Will Improve Your Power of Business Persuasion
By Martin Zwilling | Inc Magazine | May 6, 2022
According to the author’s experience, the most successful business leaders and entrepreneurs are the best persuaders, not necessarily the ones with the best solutions. They know how to communicate what they have to the best advantage, and generate more results and satisfaction for all parties. This is a different skill from problem-solving, but one that can be learned and honed over time. Top five ways you can amplify your influence as a leader, business professional, entrepreneur, or executive are:
- Credibility: Highlight Your Real-World Experience. In business, your personal brand is key. You need to build it every day by networking to add connections, using social media to build followers, industry event participation, and gathering customer anecdotes to show your presence and understanding of the relevant domain. Confidence adds leverage. Another key to credibility is to let your actions speak louder than your words. These actions should include a record of delivering results, and holding yourself accountable as you would anyone else.
- Emotion: Create Empathy With a Personal Story. Perceived vulnerability is the key to getting emotional buy-in from others. Your ability to convincingly share a struggle, or even humor, is what matters, not your success. Emotions drive business behaviors, as well as personal ones. Effective storytelling requires practice and time, so start today.
- Logic: Have More Convincing Facts and Figures. In business, logic is critical and is what remains after emotion wears off. Without logic, you may leave behind buyer’s remorse and no plan or details to achieve the goal. Unfortunately, logic alone often will not close the negotiation, but in business, it is always a key element. Do your homework.
- Timeliness: Take Advantage of the Perfect Moment. Always tailor your message to your audience based on their current needs, and who they are. It helps to draw on current events to show that you are not out of touch, and your argument is not dated. Be aware that demographics or location always changes the impact of your argument.
- Purpose: Relate Arguments to a Shared End Game. Every negotiation or message must have a purpose for all parties involved. Never let yourself be distracted by side issues, or other topics of interest. Keep the focus on the primary objective, including the end-game value to you as well as them. Win-win discussions are particularly valuable.
2 key takeaways from the article
- Most successful business leaders and entrepreneurs are the best persuaders, not necessarily the ones with the best solutions. They know how to communicate what they have to the best advantage, and generate more results and satisfaction for all parties. This is a different skill from problem-solving, but one that can be learned and honed over time.
- Top five ways you can amplify your influence as a leader, business professional, entrepreneur, or executive are: highlight your real-world experience, create empathy with a personal story, have more convincing facts and figures, take advantage of the perfect moment, and relate arguments to a shared end game.
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Topics: Leadership, Communication, Persuasion
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