Demystifying Organizations

Tom Davenport is a professor of information technology and management at Babson College, the co-founder of the International Institute for Analytics, a Fellow of the MIT Initiative for the Digital Economy, and a Senior Advisor to Deloitte Analytics. He has written or edited twenty books including "The AI Advantage" and over 250 print or digital articles for Harvard Business Review (HBR), Sloan Management Review, the Financial Times, and many other publications.

Will Dudley is the president of Washington and Lee University. He was previously the provost and professor of philosophy at Williams College. He is the author of two books, "Understanding German Idealism" (2007) and "Hegel, Nietzsche and Philosophy: Thinking Freedom" (2002). He is the editor of volumes on Kant and Hegel and has published numerous scholarly articles.

Tricia Griffith is the CEO and president of Progressive Insurance, the 3rd largest auto insurance company in The United States. In 2018, Tricia became the first women to be named Fortune’s Businessperson of the year. She leads Progressive’s 33,000 employees. We discuss a range of issues including culture, managing executives, diversity, technology and leadership.

Peter Singer has been dubbed by many as the “world’s most influential living philosopher.”  Singer is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University.  He has written co-authored, edited or co-edited more than 50 books, untold number of articles and his writings have appeared in more than 25 languages. Singer is the founder and board chair of The Life You Can Save, a nonprofit that fights extreme poverty.

Stephen P. Willams and Jeff Schatten discuss the promise of blockchain, some of the attributes and challenges inherent in cryptocurrencies and the ways in which blockchain might change the world.  

Barry Schwartz and Jeff Schatten discuss why we work, what motives excellence, the and role that money plays in performance.         

Nicolaj Siggelkow, Professor at the Wharton School of Business, and Jeff Schatten discuss a wide range of topics addressing "connected strategies" and some of the related opportunities and challenges for companies that achieve a tighter, more profound connection with customers.

Roger Martin, the world’s #1 management thinker according to Thinkers50, and Jeff Schatten discuss the role of corporations in a capitalist economy, how to improve executive compensation, and some of the shortcomings of placing the shareholder at the center of the business universe.

Celeste Headlee and Jeff Schatten discuss all things conversation. They explore how to be a better conversationalist, how to handle aggressive bosses and what to do when someone tells you a story with too many tangents.

Marty Latz and Jeff Schatten discuss Donald Trump as a negotiator. They look at some of his negotiations from the 80’s and try to make sense of his approach to negotiations with North Korea and China.

Renée Mauborgne and Jeff Schatten discuss Renée's book Blue Ocean Shift.  They explore a wide range of topics relating to strategy, market creation and how organizations can discover newfound opportunities by leveraging decision making frameworks.

Adam Grant and Jeff Schatten discuss the Grant’s recent article “The Surprising Value of Obvious Insights” and the challenge that many managers have in adopting “best practices.”  They also discuss how to give constructive feedback. Adam Grant has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for seven straight years. He has been recognized as one of the world's 10 most influential management thinkers and Fortune's 40 under 40.

Nancy Koehn and Jeff Schatten discuss why some leaders are able to excel in crisis situations.  They address key leadership issues such as whether leaders are born or created, how leaders navigate between values and strategy, and the leadership legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Nancy Koehn is a historian at the Harvard Business School. Her book, Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times, is an enthralling historical narrative filled with critical leadership insights. 

Edgar Schein, Peter Schein and Jeff Schatten discuss the benefits and potential challenges of “humble leadership,” when leaders establish a personal relationship model with subordinates instead of basing interactions on a quid pro quo mindset.  Edgar Schein is a Professor Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management.  Peter Schein is the co-founder and COO for the Organizational Culture and Leadership Institute. 

Eugene Soltes and Jeff Schatten have a wide ranging discussion about white-collar crime and the complex motivations and factors that underlie corporate criminal behavior.    Eugene Soltes is the Jakurski Family Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School.  Eugene has has been widely quoted by the media including in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Bloomberg.  His latest book is Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal.