Books published by Harvard Business Review Press

To lead is to live dangerously. It's romantic and exciting to think of leadership as all inspiration, decisive action, and rich rewards, but leading requires taking risks that can jeopardize your career and your personal life. It requires putting yourself on the line, disrupting the status quo, and surfacing hidden conflict. And when people resist and push back, there's a strong temptation to play it safe. Those who choose to lead plunge in, take the risks, and sometimes get burned. But it doesn't have to be that way say renowned leadership experts Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky. In Leadership on the Line, they show how it's possible to make a difference without getting "e;taken out"e; or pushed aside. They present everyday tools that give equal weight to the dangerous work of leading change and the critical importance of personal survival. Through vivid stories from all walks of life, the authors present straightforward strategies for navigating the perilous straits of leadership. Whether you're a parent or a politician, a CEO or a community activist, this practical book shows how you can exercise leadership and survive and thrive to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Are your employees meeting their goals? Is their work improving over time? Understanding where your employees are succeeding-and falling short-is a pivotal part of ensuring you have the right talent to meet organizational objectives.In order to work with your people and effectively monitor their progress, you need a system in place. The HBR Guide to Performance Management provides a new multi-step, cyclical process to help you keep track of your employees' work, identify where they need to improve, and ensure they're growing with the organization.You'll learn to:Set clear employee goals that align with company objectivesMonitor progress and check in regularlyClose performance gapsUnderstand when to use performance analyticsCreate opportunities for growth, tailored to the individualOvercome and avoid burnout on your teamArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, with the most trusted brand in business. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Ten years ago, world-renowned professors W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne broke ground by introducing "e;blue ocean strategy,"e; a new model for discovering uncontested markets that are ripe for growth. In this bound version of their bestselling Harvard Business Review classic article, they apply their concepts and tools to what is perhaps the greatest challenge of leadership: closing the gulf between the potential and the realized talent and energy of employees. Research indicates that this gulf is vast: According to Gallup, 70% of workers are disengaged from their jobs. If companies could find a way to convert them into engaged employees, the results could be transformative. The trouble is, managers lack a clear understanding of what changes they could make to bring out the best in everyone. In this article, Kim and Mauborgne offer a solution to that problem: a systematic approach to uncovering, at each level of the organization, which leadership acts and activities will inspire employees to give their all, and a process for getting managers throughout the company to start doing them. Blue ocean leadership works because the managers' "e;customers"e;--that is, the people managers oversee and report to--are involved in identifying what's effective and what isn't. Moreover, the approach doesn't require leaders to alter who they are, just to undertake a different set of tasks. And that kind of change is much easier to implement and track than changes to values and mind-sets.The Harvard Business Review Classics series offers you the opportunity to make seminal Harvard Business Review articles a part of your permanent management library. Each highly readable volume contains a groundbreaking idea that continues to shape best practices and inspire countless managers around the world--and will have a direct impact on you today and for years to come.

A leader's singular job is to get results. But even with all the leadership training programs and "e;expert"e; advice available, effective leadership still eludes many people and organizations. One reason, says Daniel Goleman, is that such experts offer advice based on inference, experience, and instinct, not on quantitative data. Now, drawing on research of more than 3,000 executives, Goleman explores which precise leadership behaviors yield positive results. He outlines six distinct leadership styles, each one springing from different components of emotional intelligence. Each style has a distinct effect on the working atmosphere of a company, division, or team, and, in turn, on its financial performance. Coercive leaders demand immediate compliance. Authoritative leaders mobilize people toward a vision. Affiliative leaders create emotional bonds and harmony. Democratic leaders build consensus through participation. Pacesetting leaders expect excellence and self-direction. And coaching leaders develop people for the future. The research indicates that leaders who get the best results don't rely on just one leadership style; they use most of the styles in any given week. Goleman details the types of business situations each style is best suited for, and he explains how leaders who lack one or more of these styles can expand their repertories. He maintains that with practice leaders can switch among leadership styles to produce powerful results, thus turning the art of leadership into a science.The Harvard Business Review Classics series offers you the opportunity to make seminal Harvard Business Review articles a part of your permanent management library. Each highly readable volume contains a groundbreaking idea that continues to shape best practices and inspire countless managers around the world-and will have a direct impact on you today and for years to come.

Conventional wisdom today says that to survive, companies must move beyond incremental, sustaining innovation and invest in some form of radical innovation. "e;Disrupt yourself or be disrupted!"e; is the relentless message company leaders hear. The Power of Little Ideas argues there's a "e;third way"e; that is neither sustaining nor disruptive. This low-risk, high-reward strategy is an approach to innovation that all company leaders should understand so that they recognize it when their competitors practice it, and apply it when it will give them a competitive advantage.This distinctive approach has three key elements:It consists of creating a family of complementary innovations around a product or service, all of which work together to make that product more appealing and competitive.The complementary innovations work together as a system to carry out a single strategy or purpose.Crucially, unlike disruptive or radical innovation, innovating around a key product does not change the central product in any fundamental way.In this powerful, practical book, Wharton professor David Robertson illustrates how many well-known companies, including CarMax, GoPro, LEGO, Gatorade, Disney, USAA, Novo Nordisk, and many others, used this approach to stave off competitive threats and achieve great success. He outlines the organizational practices that unintentionally torpedo this approach to innovation in many companies and shows how organizations can overcome those challenges.Aimed at leaders seeking strategies for sustained innovation, and at the quickly growing numbers of managers involved with creating new products, The Power of Little Ideas provides a logical, organic, and enduring third way to innovate.

Why do so many world-changing insights come from people with little or no related experience? Charles Darwin was a geologist when he proposed the theory of evolution. And it was an astronomer who finally explained what happened to the dinosaurs.Frans Johansson's The Medici Effect shows how breakthrough ideas most often occur when we bring concepts from one field into a new, unfamiliar territory and offers examples of how we can turn the ideas we discover into path-breaking innovations.Clayton M. Christensen, bestselling author of The Innovator's Dilemma, has described The Medici Effect as "e;one of the most insightful books about managing innovation I have ever read. Its assertion that breakthrough principles of creativity occur at novel intersections is an enduring principle of creativity that should guide innovators in every field."e;Now with a new preface and a discussion guide, and a foreword by Harvard Business School professor Teresa Amabile, The Medici Effect is a timeless classic that will help you reach your innovative peak.

When Business and Personal Values CollideDefining moments occur when managers face business decisions that trigger conflicts with their personal values. These moments test a persons commitment to those values and ultimately shape their character. But these are also the decisions that can make or break a career. Is there a thoughtful, yet pragmatic, way to make the right choice?Bestselling author Joseph Badaracco shows how to approach these dilemmas using three case examples that, when taken together, represent the escalating responsibilities and personal tests managers face as they advance in their careers. The first story presents a young manager whose choice will affect him only as an individual; the second, a department head whose decision will influence his organization; the third, a corporate executive whose actions will have much larger, societal ramifications. To guide the decision-making process, the book draws on the insights of four philosophersAristotle, Machiavelli, Nietzsche, and Jameswho offer distinctly practical, rather than theoretical, advice. Defining Moments is the ultimate managers guide for resolving issues of conflicting responsibility in practical ways.

In the new freelance, independent, work-from-wherever-you-are economy, millions of professionals of all stripes are looking for ways to increase their impact, make more money, diversify their revenue streams, and shape their careers as they see fit. This book provides a blueprint for doing just that.

A Practical Guide in Five StepsMost executives will lead or be a part of a reorganization effort (a reorg) at some point in their careers. And with good reasonreorgs are one of the best ways for companies to unlock latent value, especially in a changing business environment.But everyone hates them.No other management practice creates more anxiety and fear among employees or does more to distract them from their day-to-day jobs. As a result, reorgs can be incredibly expensive in terms of senior-management time and attention, and most of them fail on multiple dimensions. Its no wonder companies treat a reorg as a mysterious process and outsource it to people who dont understand the business. It doesnt have to be this way.Stephen Heidari-Robinson and Suzanne Heywood, former leaders in McKinseys Organization Practice, present a practical guide for successfully planning and implementing a reorg in five stepsdemystifying and accelerating the process at the same time. Based on their twenty-five years of combined experience managing reorgs and on McKinsey research with over 2,500 executives involved in them, the authors distill what they and their McKinsey colleagues have been practicing as an art into a science that executives can replicatein companies or business units large or small. It isnt rocket science and it isnt bogged down by a lot of organizational theory: the five steps give people a simple, logical process to follow, making it easier for everyoneboth the leaders and the employees who ultimately determine a reorgs success or failureto commit themselves to and succeed in the new organization.

Make every minute count.Your calendar is full, and yet your meetings don't always seem to advance your work. Problems often arise with unrealistic or vague agendas, off-track conversations, tuned-out participants who don't know why they're there, and follow-up notes that no one reads-or acts on. Meetings can feel like a waste of time. But when you invest a little energy in preparing yourself and your participants, you'll stay focused, solve problems, gain consensus, and leave each meeting ready to take action.With input from over 20 experts combined with useful checklists, sample agendas, and follow-up memos, the HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter will teach you how to:Set and communicate your meeting's purposeInvite the right peoplePrepare an achievable agendaModerate a lively conversationRegain control of a wayward meetingEnsure follow-through without babysitting or haranguingArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

Many of the most dynamic public companies, from Alibaba to Facebook to Visa, and the most valuable start-ups, such as Airbnb and Uber, are matchmakers that connect one group of customers with another group of customers. Economists call matchmakers multisided platforms because they provide physical or virtual platforms for multiple groups to get together. Dating sites connect people with potential matches, for example, and ride-sharing apps do the same for drivers and riders. Although matchmakers have been around for millennia, theyre becoming more and more popularand profitabledue to dramatic advances in technology, and a lot of companies that have managed to crack the code of this business model have become todays power brokers.Dont let the flashy successes fool you, though. Starting a matchmaker is one of the toughest business challenges, and almost everyone who tries to build one, fails.In Matchmakers, David Evans and Richard Schmalensee, two economists who were among the first to analyze multisided platforms and discover their principles, and whove consulted for some of the most successful platform businesses in the world, explain how matchmakers work best in practice, why they do what they do, and how entrepreneurs can improve their chances for success.Whether youre an entrepreneur, an investor, a consumer, or an executive, your future will involve more and more multisided platforms, and Matchmakersrich with stories from platform winners and losersis the one book youll need in order to navigate this appealing but confusing world.

Take the stress out of giving feedback.To help your employees meet their goals and fulfill their potential, you need to provide them with regular feedback. But the prospect of sharing potentially negative news can be overwhelming. How do you construct your message so that it's not only well received but also expressed in a way that encourages change?Whether you're commending exemplary work or addressing problem behavior, the HBR Guide to Delivering Effective Feedback provides you with practical advice and tips to transform any performance discussion-from weekly check-ins to annual reviews-into an opportunity for growth and development. You'll learn to:Establish trust with your direct reportsAssess their performance fairlyEmphasize improvement, even in criticismReact calmly to a defensive feedback recipientRecognize and motivate star performersCreate individualized development plansArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

How to Innovate and ExecuteLeaders already know that innovation calls for a different set of activities, skills, methods, metrics, mind-sets, and leadership approaches. And it is well understood that creating a new business and optimizing an already existing one are two fundamentally different management challenges. The real problem for leaders is doing both, simultaneously. How do you meet the performance requirements of the existing businessone that is still thrivingwhile dramatically reinventing it? How do you envision a change in your current business model before a crisis forces you to abandon it?Innovation guru Vijay Govindarajan expands the leaders innovation tool kit with a simple and proven method for allocating the organizations energy, time, and resourcesin balanced measureacross what he calls the three boxes: Box 1: The presentManage the core business at peak profitability Box 2: The pastAbandon ideas, practices, and attitudes that could inhibit innovation Box 3: The futureConvert breakthrough ideas into new products and businessesThe three-box framework makes leading innovation easier because it gives leaders a simple vocabulary and set of tools for managing and measuring these different sets of behaviors and activities across all levels of the organization. Supported with rich company examplesGE, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hasbro, IBM, United Rentals, and Tata Consultancy Servicesand testimonies of leaders who have successfully used this framework, this book solves once and for all the practical dilemma of how to align an organization on the critical but competing demands of innovation.

Digital networks are changing all the rules of business. New, scalable, digitally networked business models, like those of Amazon, Google, Uber, and Airbnb, are affecting growth, scale, and profit potential for companies in every industry. But this seismic shift isnt unique to digital start-ups and tech superstars. Digital transformation is affecting every business sector, and as investor capital, top talent, and customers shift toward network-centric organizations, the performance gap between early and late adopters is widening.So the question isnt whether your organization needs to change, but when and how much.The Network Imperative is a call to action for managers and executives to embrace network-based business models. The benefits are indisputable: companies that leverage digital platforms to co-create and share value with networks of employees, customers, and suppliers are fast outpacing the market. These companies, or network orchestrators, grow faster, scale with lower marginal cost, and generate the highest revenue multipliers.Supported by research that covers fifteen hundred companies, authors Barry Libert, Megan Beck, and Jerry Wind guide leaders and investors through the ten principles that all organizations can use to grow and profit regardless of their industry. They also share a five-step process for pivoting an organization toward a more scalable and profitable business model.The Network Imperative, brimming with compelling case studies and actionable advice, provides managers with what they really need: new tools and frameworks to generate unprecedented value in a rapidly changing age.

Your company is turning in regular profits every year, and its market share is only getting bigger. Competitors cant touch you. So why is your stock price so sluggish? The answer is as simple as it is cruel: investors arent interested in history, and they already know youre profitable and competitivethat knowledge is baked into your stock price.The hard reality is that a competitive advantage just isnt enough. Investors want companies to surprise them with unexpected value, which means that you can outperform market expectations only if you as a leader know how to find, create, and deliver a series of multiple competitive advantages.This is why a corporate theory is so important. A good corporate theory provides a compass for those at the strategic helm, guiding their decisions about what assets and activities to pursue, what investments to make, and what strategies to adopt. Behind every long-term corporate success story lies a basic theory about how that company creates value.In Beyond Competitive Advantage, strategy professor Todd Zenger describes what makes a great corporate theory and helps readers understand the many tensions and trade-offs theyll face as they apply the theory to meet the challenge of market expectations.Based on years of research and analysis, Beyond Competitive Advantage provides managers and executives with a framework for both sustaining value and creating growth.

What does it take to lead and manage your companys tech?Becoming an effective IT leader and manager presents a host of challengesfrom anticipating emerging technologies, to managing relationships with senior executives, vendors, and employees, to communicating with the board. A good IT leader must also be a strong business leader.This booknow thoroughly updated with a new preface by the authors and current tech details and terminologyinvites you to accompany new CIO Jim Barton as he steps up to leadership at his company. Youll get a deeper understanding of the role of IT in your own organization as you see Jim struggle through a tough first year, handling (and fumbling) all kinds of management challenges. Although fictional, the scenarios are based on the authors long experience working with real-life companies across industries and sectors.The Adventures of an IT Leader is both an insightful story and an instructive guidebook. You can read it from beginning to end or treat it as a series of cases, skipping around to different chapters that address your most pressing needs. (For example, if you need to learn about crisis management and security, read chapters 1012.) You can also test yourself and think about how to use the books lessons in your own company by reading the authors Reflection questions at the end of each chapter.This book is your indispensable manual for IT management and leadership, no matter what business youre in.

an excellent new book Paul Krugman, The New York TimesHistory, not ideology, holds the key to growth.Brilliantly written and argued, Concrete Economics shows how government has repeatedly reshaped the American economy ever since Alexander Hamiltons first, foundational redesign.This book does not rehash the sturdy and long-accepted arguments that to thrive, entrepreneurial economies need a broad range of freedoms. Instead, Steve Cohen and Brad DeLong remedy our national amnesia about how our economy has actually grown and the role government has played in redesigning and reinvigorating it throughout our history. The government not only sets the ground rules for entrepreneurial activity but directs the surges of energy that mark a vibrant economy. This is as true for present-day Silicon Valley as it was for New England manufacturing at the dawn of the nineteenth century.The authors argument is not one based on abstract ideas, arcane discoveries, or complex correlations. Instead it is based on the factsfacts that were once well known but that have been obscured in a fog of ideologyof how the US economy benefited from a pragmatic government approach to succeed so brilliantly.Understanding how our economy has grown in the past provides a blueprint for how we might again redesign and reinvigorate it today, for such a redesign is sorely needed.

You have to talk with a colleague about a fraught situation, but you're worried that they'll yell, or blame you, or shut down. You fear your emotions could block you from a resolution. But you can communicate in a way that's constructive--not combative. Difficult Conversations walks you through:Uncovering the root cause of frictionMaintaining a positive mind-setUntangling the problem togetherAgreeing on a way forwardDon't have much time? Get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with HBR's 20-Minute Manager series. Whether you need a crash course or a brief refresher, each book in the series is a concise, practical primer that will help you brush up on a key management topic. Advice you can quickly read and apply, for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives--from the most trusted source in business. Also available as an ebook.

Forget about the hard bargain.Whether you're discussing the terms of a high-stakes deal, forming a key partnership, asking for a raise, or planning a family event, negotiating can be stressful. One person makes a demand, the other concedes a point. In the end, you settle on a subpar solution in the middle-if you come to any agreement at all.But these discussions don't need to be win-or-lose situations. Written by negotiation expert Jeff Weiss, the HBR Guide to Negotiating provides a disciplined approach to finding a solution that works for everyone involved. Using a seven-part framework, this book delivers tips and advice to move you from a game of concessions and compromises to one of collaboration and creativity, resulting in better outcomes and better working relationships. You'll learn how to:Prepare for your conversationUnderstand everyone's interestsCraft the right messageWork with multiple partiesDisarm aggressive negotiatorsChoose the best solution

Great teams don't just happen.How often have you sat in team meetings complaining to yourself, "e;Why does it take forever for this group to make a simple decision? What are we even trying to achieve?"e; As a team leader, you have the power to improve things. It's up to you to get people to work well together and produce results.Written by team expert Mary Shapiro, the HBR Guide to Leading Teams will help you avoid the pitfalls you've experienced in the past by focusing on the often-neglected people side of teams. With practical exercises, guidelines for structured team conversations, and step-by-step advice, this guide will help you:Pick the right team membersSet clear, smart goalsFoster camaraderie and cooperationHold people accountableAddress and correct bad behaviorKeep your team focused and motivated

Where should I live? Is it time to get a new job? Which job candidate should I hire? What business strategy should I pursue?We spend the majority of our lives making decisions, both big and small. Yet, even though our success is largely determined by the choices that we make, very few of us are equipped with useful decision-making skills. Because of this, we often approach our choices tentatively, or even fearfully, and avoid giving them the time and thought required to put our best foot forward.In Smart Choices, John Hammond, Ralph Keeney, and Howard Raiffaexperts with over 100 years of experience resolving complex decision problemsoffer a proven, straightforward, and flexible roadmap for making better and more impactful decisions, and offer the tools to achieve your goals in every aspect of your life.Their step-by-step, divide-and conquer approach will teach you how to: Evaluate your plans Break your potential decision into its key elements Identify the key drivers that are most relevant to your goals Apply systematic thinking Use the right information to make the smartest choiceSmart Choices doesnt tell you what to decide; it tells you how. As you routinely use the process, youll become more confident in your ability to make decisions at work and at home. And, more importantly, by applying its time-tested methods, youll make better decisions going forward.Be proactive. Dont wait until a decision is forced on youor made for you. Seek out decisions that advance your long-term goals, values, and beliefs. Take charge of your life by making Smart Choices a lifetime habit.