Innehållsförteckning för Spring 2023 från Rotman Management

WHAT DISTINGUISHES PEOPLE who consistently make smart, confident, data-driven decisions? It’s not just exceptional analytic skills. Instead, these decision-makers balance data, experience and intuition. They apply first-order principles to understand what the decision to be made is, why it must be made and to what end. Only then do they seek the relevant data to help them make that decision. We call this approach to decision-making Quantitative Intuition (QI). QI emphasizes the need to break the allure that an abundance of data is a crystal ball that eliminates all uncertainty and leads to perfect decisions. In this article we will provide a set of tools to enable people to quickly interrogate and integrate data to make quick and effective decisions. Becoming a Data Interrogator We are wired from a young…

What is the goal of Canada’s first-ever National Indigenous Economic Strategy? This initiative began with the release of a 2020 OECD report that recommended that Canada needed an updated National Indigenous Economic Strategy (NIES). Rather than having the federal government develop the strategy, more than 25 National Indigenous Organizations felt it was important that we hold the pen on this initiative on developing this strategy. The National Indigenous Economic Strategy for Canada was released in June 2020 with this vision: socio-economic parity for Indigenous people in Canada. This strategy is a blueprint for achieving that. Everything about this strategy — from translation services, to printing, academic review, writing, translation — was done by Indigenous people and businesses. The NIES is a great opportunity to transform Canada in a positive way…

You have built a successful career investing in emerging economies. Can you describe how these economies have changed over the last 20 years? Today’s emerging markets bear limited resemblance to the markets of decades ago. For one thing, the boom-busts of the 20th century have been replaced with more sophisticated central bank policies and diversified industry bases across many markets, including India. A growing consumer class has driven domestics and fuelled these markets, replacing the dependence on commodities that we saw two decades ago. There have also been great strides in governance standards across both companies and sovereign systems within emerging markets. Today we observe much more promising and standardized approaches to governance structures, which enable these economies to participate in global economic flows. As a result of all this,…

You and your co-authors have written a book about something everyone wishes they could master: deliberate calm. How do you define it? As our world becomes increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA), we are facing never-before-seen challenges without an established toolkit to rely on. Deliberate calm is about recognizing what an external situation is demanding of you and being intentional about your response to it, so that you remain emotionally present under pressure. At its core, achieving this requires a synthesis of four skills: awareness, adaptability, learning agility and emotional self-regulation. Why is this such a difficult ability to master? As we navigate life today, circumstances that push us beyond what is known, safe and predictable are often perceived as a threat. We are biologically wired to react in…

FROM HIS YEARS of experience, Professor Brian Golden is emphatic about what makes a successful healthcare leader: “I’ve never seen a high performing health system that didn’t have significant clinical leadership,” he says. Whereas 30 years ago clinicians who transferred to management roles might be accused of moving to the ‘dark side,’ today doctors and other clinicians know that the system is driven by multiple stakeholders and complex dynamics — finance, regulation, human resources, etc. So as a leader “they need someone who can speak their language, who is on their side.” “There is a bit of ‘trust edge’ when clinicians are in leadership roles, because they have been socialized to the end purpose, to the meta purpose — which is to use resources as effectively as they can to…

You have said the disruption occurring in business today is very different from what came before it. Please explain. Disruption used to take place within industries — discount airlines, online brokerages, steel production. But today’s disruption breaks industry boundaries and redefines entire ecosystems. The digital age has so altered business activities that our traditional approach to strategy and competition has become nearly obsolete. Ecosystem disruption isn’t about new entrants coming into your market and doing the old job in a new way, but rather redefining what that job is. There are multiple games being played simultaneously, so the new risk for leaders is that they could be trying to win the wrong game. Whether it’s in mobility, healthcare or finance, it’s about redefining the nature of the value proposition. How…

You begin your book by describing two concepts: belonging and othering. How do you define these terms? Belonging is the fundamental need for human beings to be recognized for who we are. When we feel we belong, we feel valued. We feel seen. Belonging brings out the best in everyone, regardless of the environment. ‘Othering’ is the opposite: it involves actions that are intended to set people aside. For example, when we project our opinions on someone else, or make a person feel like they are not supposed to be there. The extreme version would be that the other shouldn’t even exist, but there are far more subtle versions. Belonging and othering often come in the form of systemic and institutional structures that are purposely built, which is why I…

I RECENTLY SPOKE at a conference for CEOs in North Carolina, and after I gave my presentation, an enthusiastic gentleman came over to speak with me. He told me how great my presentation was and how he worked with “coloured people” back home and how impressed he was with how “articulate” I was. If this gentleman had approached me like this three or four years ago, I would have ripped him apart for his total and utter offensiveness. But I am an empathetic work in progress, and although in my head I was like, What in the world?!?, I took a breath and listened for understanding, not for accuracy. UNDERSTANDING #1: This CEO was genuinely excited to speak with me about my presentation and wanted to learn more. UNDERSTANDING #2:…

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING, working together in the same space — what is known as ‘co-located’ work — has been fundamental to maintaining managerial authority and control. The manager’s physical presence, the thinking went, helps to ensure that work is completed and meets standards. Take away co-location, and leaders lose their influence. The COVID-19 pandemic challenged this assumption head-on. Organizations the world over turned to remote work out of necessity; and for many, it went remarkably well. So well, in fact, that we now find ourselves in an era of hybrid work, where the majority of office workers split their time between the workplace and their home office. Although on paper, it might seem challenging to lead remotely, managers can do so effectively by following a few key principles. In this article…

WE LIVE IN TURBULENT TIMES. There is a global shift towards populism. Protectionism is on the rise. Trade discussions are heated, and full-blown war has returned to Europe. For the first time in decades, Canadians, and even Americans, are grappling with the fear that the next generation will be worse off than the last. But beyond the dark clouds, reasons for optimism remain. In fact, we believe we are on the cusp of the greatest potential for individual opportunity and wealth creation in human history. Thanks to modern technology, the barriers to prosperity have never been lower, nor markets so connected. And remote collaboration may actually increase innovation by tapping into what has been called ‘the collective brain.’ There is opportunity for literally everyone to unleash their energy, ideas, passion…

AS COVID-19 PANDEMIC RESTRICTIONS have eased, many of us are still working from home. Whether in a hybrid arrangement or working remotely full-time, a lot of people prefer skipping their commute to enjoy a more relaxed working environment. Statistics Canada reports that 80 per cent of those who began working remotely during the pandemic would prefer to continue working at least half of their hours at home. The way that people perceive and experience work has changed drastically over the last two years. But how have marginalized workers, specifically, been affected by the shift to working from home? And what types of work design will best facilitate equity, well-being and opportunity for workers moving forward? Analyzing the dynamics of remote work with an intersectional lens — one that pays attention…

FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS, the battle cry of business has been, ‘Disrupt or die.’ Calls for disruption have rung out across Silicon Valley, major corporate boardrooms, the media and business conferences around the globe. Corporate leaders have continually been warned that the only way to survive, succeed and grow is to disrupt their industries — or even their own companies. Not surprisingly, many have come to see disruption as a near-synonym for innovation. But is disruption the only way to innovate and grow? And is it necessarily the best way? Our research suggests the answer is No, and that the overriding focus on disruption has led us to largely overlook another avenue of innovation and growth — one that we would argue is at least as important. This avenue…

What does the history of the teddy bear teach us about change? Most people don’t know this, but the teddy bear was the subject of a national moral crisis in 1907. It had been created just a few years earlier in Germany, and originally when it was sold in America, it was a toy for boys. It was stuffed with chips instead of cotton, so it had a rougher feel to it. But once it made its way into the home, girls started playing with it, and that was very concerning to people of the time. A preacher in Michigan actually delivered a sermon in which he described the teddy bear as a trigger for the downfall of humanity. The reason, as he explained it, was because when girls play…

IN ANY CREATIVE PURSUIT, there is a delicate balance between novelty and convention. Creative ideas, of course, must be original in some way. But they also aim to provide some sort of value to people, whether that value is aesthetic, entertainment, practical, or financial. Therefore, would-be creatives face a dilemma: in deciding where to dig for that next great idea, how much should they prioritize originality versus areas of proven success? Sometimes we get that balance wrong. Consider a recent review of a Michelin-starred restaurant name Bros. The popular food blogger, Geraldine DeRuiter, describes an excruciating three-hour affair. Twenty-seven courses of what sound more like exhibits at a haunted house than elevated fine dining. Some highlights include an oyster loaf that “tasted like Newark airport,” a squirt of gelee infused…

EVENTS OCCUR UNEXPECTEDLY to all of us at random points throughout our lives. Some of them can spark sudden and drastic changes; others make themselves felt slowly and over time. What about you? Are you hearing the slow, dull murmur of dissatisfaction in some parts of your career or life trajectory? In 2019, I was in a serious car accident and sustained a traumatic brain injury. My life was put on hold as I lay in my bed recuperating, followed by seven months of daily rehabilitation — all of which gave me some time to question how I’d been living my life. Those months led to some permanent changes: I changed how I work by taking frequent breaks from screen time; I committed to stop drinking alcohol for my healing…

For readers who aren’t aware, what are some of the key ways that AI can improve healthcare? Artificial intelligence is all about using computers to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. For organizations of all types, AI presents three interrelated opportunities: information processing, prediction and optimization. When you apply that lens to healthcare, there are numerous ways to be smarter and more targeted about the kinds of healthcare interventions we undertake and to improve the efficiency of our operations. One key way to apply AI to healthcare is by automating menial tasks that are labour-intensive but don’t require sophisticated human intelligence. By doing this we can relieve the burden on the workforce, which is already over-stretched. Simple examples include scheduling staff and inventory management. When we take these tasks…

You have set out to equip business leaders to address mental health issues in the workplace. Why is this so important? While any facet of life can impact our mental health, we spend 30 per cent of our waking hours at work — which means employers have a role to play in helping to address it. The business impact of mental health is also substantial: without mentally healthy workplaces, organizations risk reduced productivity, increased costs and loss of competitive advantage. Work and mental health are closely intertwined, in that a safe and healthy working environment supports mental health while an unsafe or unhealthy environment can undermine it. If left unsupported, poor mental health can interfere with a person’s ability to work. The World Health Organization recently released a report that…

IMAGINE A KIND OF SHADOWY FUTURE, hovering at the edges of the present state of things; a map of all the various ways in which the present can reinvent itself. This, dear readers, is the ever-present state known as the ‘adjacent possible.’ The term was coined by theoretical biologist Stuart A. Kauffman, who used it to describe how evolutionary adaptations often find surprising new uses in At Home in the Universe. For instance, how feathers, evolved for warmth, turned out to be useful for flying; or how the complex jawbones of fish, no longer useful on land, proved useful for hearing. Kauffman went on to apply the term to underscore that although we may perceive a finite world, there are actually infinite possibilities hidden around us. His favourite example is…

THE MAELSTROM THAT IS TODAY’S WORLD poses an existential risk for businesses around the globe. In the past, being adaptable to change was a nice-to-have feature for companies; today, it is a must-have. A ‘get-this-wrong-and-you-might-not-make-it’ requirement. As change rages on and leaders do their best to keep up, it’s important to remember that tried-and-tested solutions are precisely that: They have already been tried and tested. In the past tense. And past-tense solutions will not be effective in today’s environment. New worlds need new solutions. The epic challenges don’t end there for today’s leaders. Even once conceived, vetted and implemented, the vast majority of transformation efforts are unsuccessful. This level of failure is more than an execution gap; it is a signal that we need to embrace a completely different mental…

THE COMBINATION for unlocking the door to a successful career path today is changing. Companies such as Google, Apple and Tesla have become members of a growing club of employers who recognize that predicting candidates’ future successes relies on more than diplomas and test scores. What do they look for in addition? Evidence of unique skills, abilities and know-how cultivated from lived experiences that can be leveraged in the ever-changing marketplace. Reviewing résumés with a deeper curiosity for transferable skills and wisdom gained through unique life experiences gives organizations the opportunity to discover and leverage talent in new ways. Take, for example the background of leaders like Santhi Ramesh, who was recently named by Forbes as one of the world’s most influential Chief Marketing Officers for her contribution to the…

Three ‘impact objectives’ have guided you in your career. Please describe them. I crafted these objectives over the years as I thought about the impact I wanted to have in my career and the principles that meant the most to me. The first objective is to support the development of leaders, particularly racialized leaders. I myself have been the beneficiary of lots of people supporting my growth and development and identifying me for interesting opportunities. There have been people in my life who have helped remove barriers for me and, importantly, have helped give me the tools to remove barriers for others. This commitment has come to me through all of those experiences. The second impact objective is around re-imagining the conception of who and what a leader is. At…

Describe the capability that companies like Netflix, UPS, Amazon and Caesars Entertainment have in common. These are all leading firms in their industries with respect to leveraging analytics as a source of competitive advantage. We now have so much data being generated that companies need to understand what to do with it. ‘Business intelligence’ is the new Holy Grail: it combines business analytics, data mining, data visualization, data tools and infrastructure, and best practices to help organizations make more data-driven decisions. My colleagues and I have created a useful tool that allows companies to see where they fall on the analytics spectrum. The tool classifies you as either a laggard, a striver or a leader, based on your capabilities. Every company should understand its strengths and weaknesses in this area.…

WORLDWIDE FOCUS ON CLIMATE CHANGE, continuing disruptions from the pandemic, social movements and demands for equity have forced companies from every corner of the globe to act on their environment, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. The ESG acronym refers to the non-financial plans made by companies to measure their ecological footprint, equity and social impact. It covers the following metrics: • Environmental indicators such as greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation, water security and climate change risk strategy.• Social indicators such as employee and supplier diversity, data protection and privacy, community socio-economic outcomes, pay equity, worker health, safety, and human rights.• Governance indicators such as board independence and accountability; board oversight of executive performance and compensation; and board oversight of company strategy, risk management, performance and disclosure. Over the past two…

There is widespread worry that growth and innovation in Canada are slowing down. Why is that? If you think back to the early 20th century, with innovations like airplanes, electricity, automobiles and home appliances, the world was changing very quickly. Today, the number of people doing scientific research is much higher, partly because of population growth. As a result, you would think we’d have 10 Thomas Edisons today for every one we had back then; but that is not the case. Per dollar that we spend on R&D, the amount of social value and innovation we are getting is actually lower now than it was in the past. There were some clear examples of widespread innovation and diffusion happening early on in the pandemic: Offices rapidly shifted to telework technology;…