HBR's 10 Must Reads 2024 : The Definitive Management Ideas of the Year from Harvard Business Review (with bonus article "Democratizing Transformation" by Marco Iansiti and Satya Nadella)

Must Read and for me happy reading

The first two decades of the twenty-first century have been profoundly different from what the world has experienced in recent history, led by information technologies, social media and stakeholder capitalism. With globalization of almost every conceivable process, businesses are no exception to the effects of this paradigm shift.This book highlights four key defining business movements or waves namely : Process Re-engineering (eliminating bureaucracy and boosting operational efficiencies), Digitization (democratization of information and managers losing power, control and status), Agile movement (shorten timelines, turbocharge innovation and constantly shifting teams, further diluting the traditional hierarchical power of the manager) and finally the fourth wave in 2020 with the arrival of the pandemic (flexible work and greater range of job options, no longer tied to the physical workplace). These waves have changed the role of the manager along three dimensions: Power, Skills and Structure. ‘Managers Can’t Do It ALL’ by Dianne Grayson and Lynda Graton is the perfect opening chapter of this book, which is a great collection of articles from HBR, certainly not to be missed.I view this book as comprising three logical parts:1. The new role of the manager (with bifurcation of roles between Leaders of People and Leaders of Work), Managing in the Age of Outrage (managing angry stakeholders, outrage flashpoints, understanding power to mobilize others and renewing resilience) and prioritizing employee development through one-on-one meetings.2. Social Skills of managers. Technical expertise, superior administrative skills and successfully managing financial resources are necessary but not sufficient. Ability to motivate diverse, technologically savvy global workforce, effectively managing external stakeholders including sovereign governments, NGOs and playing the role of a corporate statesman is the new what is seen and the most essential qualities of today’s C-suite executive. Job descriptions mentioning strength in managing financial and material resources is relatively been de-emphasized (as a given), while descriptions of social skills is of utmost importance. This includes ability to appreciate and integrate DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), Harnessing the Power of Age Diversity, and integrating these along with a clear ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance criteria) with Business Strategy, along with financial goals.3. Embrace cutting edge technologies: The emergence of Web 3.0, Live-stream commerce and Space becoming a new potential source of value for business, are disruptive in nature and cannot be ignored. Companies need to learn, invest and collaborate across value chains, keeping these trends in mind. The final chapter (bonus article) discusses the digital transformation of successful organizations where the intensity of use digital technology (AI and data science for innovation across the organization) has significant impact on the firm’s financial success and market valuation.In summary, this book is an excellent collection of powerful ideas, written by the most brilliant minds.

Great read and must read!

Great book for those that want to have a birds eye view of mid to senior level management.

Very interesting case studies or managerial personal experience records that illustrate learning points in each chapter. A must read for all Managers.

Covered a great range of topicsRecommended for all leaders in a growing organisationI'll probably revist this book again

I have been reading this collection for a number of years. It distills the most important management thinking and trends. I would recommend it as a must read at every beginning of your year