LESSONS FROM HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

One of our board members was nice enough to buy my youth program a one-year subscription to Harvard Business Review. Over the holidays, I’ve gotten a chance to plow through the first issue. Having matriculated from b-school undergrad ten years ago, reading the case studies and surveys flooded my mind with memories. How I love learning about business.

For all of the complexities of the modern business world, it is interesting how a few key nuggets of wisdom can carry you far. So while this space is a bit full – 7 Habits, 5th Discipline, Level 5 Leaders, etc ad nauseum – here are some guiding principles that I have found useful in a variety of settings, all of which I saw in motion in the pages of this issue of HBR:

1. There are arbitrage opportunities when you take the road less traveled. Examples: sports betting, bargain hunting, predicting trends.

2. When it’s set up for everyone to win, everyone usually wins. Examples: joint ventures, management-labor relations, leadership development.

3a. Fuss about the numbers . . . 3b. but remember that people are people, too. Examples: employee incentives, program design, team-building.

4. The best way to deliver a product is to listen to the customer. Examples: marketing, ministry, event planning.

5. The best budgeters know when to spend 10% more in resources to get 50% more in impact, and when to be OK with 10% less in impact in exchange for 50% less in resources spent. Examples: advertising, IT, hiring.