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While the world races ahead into the metaverse, education remains rooted in the era of neat orderly rows of desks and lesson plans. In this wide-ranging conversation, Leila Hoteit, the managing director and senior partner who leads BCG’s education, employment, and welfare work, argues for a lifelong approach to learning inside and outside the classroom—one that teaches people to solve hard problems and develop soft skills. She talks about why students should think about the fairytale “Little Red Riding Hood” from the perspective of the wolf, how the technology that treats autism can help others learn better, and why people from different cultures may come up with different answers to the famous trolley problem. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Over the past two years, the world has seen what happens when supply and procurement chains seize up and shortages in such staples as infant formula and sunflower oil become commonplace. Daniel Weise, leader of BCG’s global procurement business, explains how companies can move beyond a cost-cutting mentality to treat their supply chain as a strategic imperative—the way that Apple did when it promoted Tim Cook, an operations and supply chain executive, to CEO. Unfortunately, most CEOs spend only minutes a day on their supply chain and procurement issues, and these topics are far too important to be relegated to corporate Siberia, Weise is a coauthor of Profit from the Source, published by Harvard Business Review Press. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

A Pride@BCG leader talks about how a supportive culture unlocks creativity. For Dakota Santana-Grace, being out at work is a professional necessity as much as a personal choice. When Santana-Grace once hid his queer identity from a client, he was stressed and exhausted, and his work suffered. The weight of his secret lifted after Santana-Grace, BCG’s Northeast lead for Pride@BCG, casually mentioned his boyfriend. Santana-Grace also talks about the time a straight ally called him out for deepening his voice in meetings--and why he invited a drag queen to the Boston office. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Corporate leaders often view sustainable products as a series of technical challenges—how to decarbonize the supply chain, reduce waste in manufacturing, eliminate plastic packaging, and so on. But what about the human dimensions? Shalini Unnikrishnan, a leader on social impact at BCG, discusses the importance of designing, marketing, and pricing products through the lens of the consumer. She also discussed the need to create ecosystems of like-minded companies and institutions and to connect sustainability to a company’s core purpose. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Nan DasGupta played soccer in her youth and worked as an engineer at GE early in her career, so she has firsthand experience breaking into male-dominated realms. DasGupta, BCG people and organization expert and Women@BCG leader, talks about the difficulties in breaking down bias at work, how bias prevents men from assuming more caregiving responsibilities, the importance of role models, and why nobody wants to talk about menopause. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Businesses that lead on climate and sustainability will have tailwinds at their back, says Rich Lesser, BCG’s global chair. Reaching net zero will require investments of $3 trillion to $5 trillion per year for the next 30 years—and it is much smarter to participate in this massive industrial transformation than to fight it. To succeed, businesses will need to engage deeply with other businesses, their customers, and governments. The challenge is too large to go it alone or to view government as an impediment. For businesses that want to do the right thing, Lesser says, “getting government policies that raise the standard for everyone is in their interest.” Lesser also talks about his own evolution in understanding the climate crisis, how purpose can drive performance, and why the job of CEO today is harder but more rewarding than it was a decade ago.  This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Pay, promotion, and benefits have been the traditional carrots for hiring and retaining employees. But what happens when they are not enough? During the Great Resignation, companies have watched well-paid, decorated employees walk out the door. They have watched front-line workers who had just received raises walk. Why? The emotional needs of employees are as critical as their functional needs, says Gabi Novacek, a BCG Henderson Institute fellow researching diversity, equity, and inclusion. Feeling safe, challenged, and valued at work can be even more important as a paycheck. Novacek, an archeologist by training, also discusses how a family medical emergency shaped her thinking about what really matters at work.    This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

As the travel industry slowly awakens from the pandemic-induced slumber, airlines, hotel chains, and cruise lines face a highly uncertain and volatile future in which the past is unlikely prologue. Jason Guggenheim, BCG’s global leader of travel and tourism, explains that these companies can sharpen their ability to sense subtle shifts in demand. Will business travel, for example, ever fully return? Leaders in the industry, especially airline and cruise line executives, are facing mounting calls to forcefully address climate change. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Neveen Awad, the daughter of an engineer, learned early in life “how fun it was to make machines do something.” As the only computer science major in her graduating class at college and later a PhD, she eventually realized that she did not want to spend her days coding. Awad became a professor and now runs BCG’s Detroit office. She’s spent the past few years researching gender diversity in technology. She talks about why the first and second promotion for women are so critical, how paternity leave can be for a boon for women in leadership—and more.    This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Why do CEOs struggle with the act of imagination when it comes naturally to 5-year-olds? And what happens when people and organizations seemingly lose their ability to imagine? Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, argues that imagination is an untapped and essential resource for organizations. This is particularly true in an error when competitive advantages that once lasted a decade can disappear in as quickly as a year--and as companies see their growth potential decays as they grow and age. Reeves, coauthor of https://theimaginationmachine.org/ (The Imagination Machine), explains how organizations can regain the art of imagination. Hint: it takes practice.   This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Organizations often view inclusion, along with its cousins diversity and equity, as a goal. But what if they start viewing it as a practice, an active commitment, and a way of doing business? Kedra Newsom Reeves, a BCG partner and co-lead of BCG’s North America Center for Inclusion and Equity who works for financial and social sector clients alike, argues that organizations must deeply embed inclusivity into their business practices. Otherwise banks and other financial institutions will not meaningfully play their part in closing the racial wealth gap. And other organizations will also fall short of whatever aspirations they set. Inclusion must be treated as an innovation—as a break from the past—because “for hundreds of years, we were not making decisions to be inclusive.”    This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Cell phones, social media, messaging software, and multitasking are robbing our attention, as our monkey minds jump from one notification to another. Mickey McManus, a BCG senior advisor and leadership coach, explains how these distractions strip our cognitive capacity and even our ability to make ethical decisions. Is this the price of “progress,” or is there something to be done? McManus offers tips for everyone from the board and C-suite to the front line to enable companies and employees to regain control of our cognition. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Ashley Grice finds great joy, meaning, and sometimes peril in words. As the CEO of BCG BrightHouse, Grice helps organizations find their purpose. Words are her instruments of trade. They can help bring strategy to life and inspire imagination and wonder. But by choosing words that are impersonal, flat, and cold, CEOs and other leaders frequently miss the chance to connect with their people. Grice explains how leaders can use language more effectively and what to do when their words are misunderstood. She also reads two poems—her own. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

The So What from BCG is taking a short break over the holidays - if you’re celebrating, I hope you’re having a lovely time. We’ve been hard at work arranging a host of exciting guests and topics for our upcoming episodes from the 5th of January. We’ll be talking about the beauty and power of language; wealth equity; the emotional value of work; how to protect your brain from distractions, and much much more. Happy holidays - and we’ll see you next year. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

As the pandemic rumbles on, many countries have been suffering shortages and panic buying as global supply chains wobble. Much of that will likely ease over the coming months, but systemic challenges remain.  In this episode, Dustin Burke, one of BCG’s leaders in manufacturing and supply chains, urges companies to use the experience of the last 18 months to build resilience and reliability into their operations without adding cost and redundancy. How do companies achieve better access to real-time data for greater visibility into potential shortages and risks? Could we see greater cooperation within—and even across—industries to protect supply chains of essential components? And looking to the long term, how can we expect automation and artificial intelligence to help ease labor shortages? This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

The pandemic has exposed fissures in the way we work, which is stuck in the industrial age. Deborah Lovich, who leads BCG’s people strategy topic, and Brian Elliott, executive leader and senior vice president of Future Forum, talk about why leaders want to return to the office and many workers don’t, why water coolers are not the source of inspiration, and how organizations can start to recalibrate their outdated approach to leadership, work, culture, and purpose. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

How can organizations become more experimental? Julia Dhar, the cofounder and leader of BeSmart, BCG’s behavioral economics and insights initiative, says identify a big problem, start small, and do not overly worry that academics may criticize your experiment. As a bonus, Dhar provides her three favorite nudges for everyday living. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Lil Miquela, a 19-year-old TikTok influencer with more than 3 million followers, has promoted Calvin Klein, Prada, and other top fashion brands. She also happens to be an avatar, an online robot created by a startup with venture funding. Sarah Willersdorf, BCG’s global head of luxury, explores the somewhat wacky but very real intersection of fashion and the metaverse, explaining what the virtual world holds in store for consumers and brands. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Most transitions are hard—the transition to net zero is especially so. But with political will, new business models, and major investments, saving the planet does not have to break the bank. In fact, Jens Burchardt, BCG’s global expert on climate impact and cofounder of its Center for Climate and Sustainability, argues that companies and countries that aggressively address climate issues will grow more swiftly than their slower counterparts. Many consumers, he says, would gladly pay 2% extra for net-zero products and services, a modest premium that would allow many companies today to go green. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

Uncertainty is not a dirty word. While it may be impossible to predict the future, preparing for it is possible. Alan Iny, BCG’s partner and director of creativity and scenarios, explains that scenario planning and other exercises leave us better able to harness the future, whatever shape it takes. Iny acknowledges that this is hard work. Albert Einstein once doubted that atomic energy could be harnessed. But doubt itself is key to breaking free of stale business models and unlocking creativity. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy