| | |  | | June 21, 2017 | | |  | | | | Read online | | | | Meeting Madness, Pep Talks, and Climate Change | | | | | | From Amy Bernstein
Editor, Harvard Business Review | | | Do you hate meetings as much as I do? It turns out that executives spend an average of 23 hours a week trapped in meetings. No wonder so many of us feel overwhelmed by them. As Leslie Perlow, Constance Noonan Hadley, and Eunice Eun note in the new issue of HBR, the fact that most meetings are badly run makes them all the more soul-crushing. In “Stop the Meeting Madness,” they describe the toll a meeting-heavy culture takes on creativity and efficiency. The problem, they say, is usually a lack of thoughtful preparation. To help leaders address that, they've laid out a five-step process for reducing the pain and ensuring that meetings are productive and positive.
One quality of a great leader is the ability to fire up a team, but doing it well is not as easy as it sounds. In “The Science of Pep Talks,” HBR senior editor Dan McGinn digs into the surprisingly large body of motivating language theory and finds that effective pep talks tend to include three elements: direction giving, expressions of sympathy, and meaning-making language. Mastering these elements can be the difference between merely meeting your numbers and blowing through them.
On a more serious note, a lot of business leaders were appalled that the U.S. pulled out of the Paris climate accord. That global warming continues to be a topic of debate absolutely baffles me. How can there still be any doubt that our use of coal, oil, and gas is making the world a hotter place — and that the consequences will be catastrophic? In “Managing Climate Change: Lessons from the U.S. Navy,” Harvard Business School professors Forest Reinhardt and Michael Toffel describe how the navy is already hard at work dealing with the realities of rising sea levels and increasingly extreme weather.
Reinhardt and Toffel also point out that prolonged droughts and other weather-related calamities are expanding demand for military and humanitarian assistance around the world. As the Arctic ice melts, new opportunities for oil and gas extraction and new shipping lanes will require the navy's attention — especially if they lead to conflict. The navy is tackling these emerging challenges head-on. Its ongoing efforts hold lessons for managers of any organization.
Until the next issue,
Amy Bernstein | | | | In the Issue: | | | | | | | | | We all joke about how painful meetings are, but that pain has real consequences. Every minute spent in a wasteful meeting eats into solo work that's essential for creativity and efficiency. Chopped-up schedules interrupt deep thinking, so people come to work early, stay late, or use weekends for quiet time to concentrate. Dysfunctional meeting behaviors are associated with lower levels of market share, innovation, and employment stability. | | | | | | | | | | | | | Few managers receive formal training in how to give a good pep talk. They mostly learn by emulating inspirational bosses, coaches, or even fictional characters. However, research shows there is a science to psyching people up for better performance. Once leaders understand the key elements involved, they can learn to use them more skillfully. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The U.S. Navy is clear-eyed about the challenges climate change poses. It manages tens of billions of dollars of assets on every continent and on every ocean, which take many years to design and build. It knows that the effects of a warmer world will expand the geographic scope of its mission and increase demand for its military and humanitarian services. Climate change will also decrease its capacity to deliver those services, as the risk of damage to its bases and ports increases. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | HBR’s Emotional Intelligence Collection features smart, essential reading on the human side of professional life from the pages of Harvard Business Review. Each book in the series offers proven research showing how our emotions impact our work lives, practical advice for managing difficult people and situations, and inspiring essays on what it means to tend to our emotional well-being at work. Uplifting and practical, these books describe the social skills that are critical for ambitious professionals to master. This specially priced four-volume set includes Happiness, Resilience, Mindfulness, and Empathy. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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