HBR IdeaCast

Julia Dhar, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group and founder of BCG’s Behavioral Science Lab, brings behavioral science to organizational change. She discusses why many transformations stall, the gap between leaders and employees, how emotions shape adoption, the power of stories and symbols, and practical ways to measure and sustain momentum.

Nilofer Merchant, leadership expert, author, and former Apple executive, explores what it really takes to thrive through constant change. She digs into shared ownership over control, slowing down to solve the right problem, competence over performative confidence, and how curiosity, better meetings, and healthier team norms can unlock smarter innovation.

Charles Duhigg, journalist and bestselling author of Supercommunicators and The Power of Habit, explores why teams stay silent. He digs into psychological safety, ostentatious listening, and meeting tactics that draw out every voice. He also gets into rewarding candor, handling public pushback, letting junior people speak first, and debating hard before committing.

Ron Friedman, a social psychologist and founder focused on high-performing teams, explores what makes superteams click. He talks about why experimentation beats perfection. How better questions uncover roadblocks. Why feedback should be frequent and future-focused. Plus, how cutting meetings, protecting focus time, and building belonging help teams keep improving.

Marcus Buckingham, a researcher and bestselling author on strengths and leadership, explores why companies should aim for love, not just satisfaction. He digs into five-star moments, Disney’s detail obsession, the feelings that drive loyalty, why even ordinary products can inspire devotion, and where AI helps or weakens human connection.

Stefan Volk, a management professor at the University of Sydney Business School, explores how chronotypes shape energy, focus, and teamwork. He digs into why one-size-fits-all schedules create errors and burnout. Expect talk on flex time versus flex place, mapping team rhythms, protecting peak hours, and coordinating collaboration when people perform best.

Andrew McAfee, MIT principal research scientist focused on digital transformation, dives into why AI demands action even when the future is fuzzy. He explores agile experimentation over rigid planning, how power users can spread winning practices, why AI may widen competitive gaps, how to manage software agents with guardrails, and why cutting entry-level hiring could backfire.

Goutam Challagalla, IMD professor and coauthor on customer-first sustainability, explores why most buyers will not pay more for green products. He looks at weak returns from feel-good efforts, how waste and hardship can drive innovation, why scaling means winning over indifferent customers, and how leaders can turn sustainability into real customer value.

Julia Minson, Harvard Kennedy School professor who studies conflict and conversational receptiveness, digs into why teams need real disagreement. She explores how leaders accidentally silence dissent, why behavior matters more than intent, how status changes every clash, and why the real aim is keeping the conversation alive.

What changes need to be made for an organization to truly succeed with their AI strategy? In this four-part special series, we'll share conversations from the recent HBR Strategy Summit to help you get ahead. In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Tsedal Neeley shares what she's learned about successful AI implementation and organizational transformation, from the minimum technological capabilities needed to what it takes to overcome silos to how to transform workflows and processes to add real value. HBR editor in chief Amy Bernstein facilitates, bringing in audience questions.