Passion has long been championed as a key to workplace success. However, scientific studies have found mixed results: On the one hand, some studies find evidence that passionate employees tend to perform better, while other research has documented null or even negative effects on performance. What’s the root of these inconsistent findings surrounding passion? And how can we reap the benefits of passion without falling prey to its downsides? Through a series of studies with more than 1,000 employees from the U.S. and China, researchers shed light on these questions by showing that passion is associated with overconfidence in our own performance. Although this passion-driven overconfidence is not necessarily harmful — and in certain contexts, it may even be helpful — their findings suggest that managers should take steps to mitigate the potential negative consequences of the overconfidence that may go hand in hand with passion.

Harvard Business Review

26.07.2024

4 Ways to Meaningfully Support New Mothers Returning to Work

Interviews and surveys of hundreds of women in the U.S. who recently returned to work after giving birth reveals four key support mechanism they value most: help navigating the HR infrastructure, creating spaces for key motherhood activities, having their identity as a worker validated, and having their identity as a mother validated. The research also explores why these four actions are particularly helpful, emphasizes that anyone can be a good ally, and recommends ways to better support non-birthing parents, too.

Harvard Business Review

26.07.2024

Can AI Help Your Company Innovate? It Depends

Companies need new ways to innovate quickly, cheaply, and productively. Many, quite reasonably, wonder how deploying AI might help. To investigate, we researched how companies are using AI for innovation and found that tools are just tools — success depends on how organizations use these new tools now at their disposal. To investigate what kinds of innovation AI worked with, the authors performed two studies: first, a survey of 331 firms for practices on process improvement and new technology development, and second, an archival analysis of patent data on new technology development for a broader sample of more than 2,000 publicly traded firms. The results of these studies suggest that firms that have historically focused on specific types of innovation — process innovation and innovation by diverse recombination, in which companies combine a wide variety of technology elements in new ways — may benefit most from using advanced data capabilities of machine learning and AI. Firms that use AI analytics to generate wide recombinations are 3 to 7% more productive than firms that do not. Furthermore, when a firm’s existing knowledge is spread throughout the firm, advanced AI capabilities can further boost firm innovation by about three more new patents a year. Conversely, using AI is less helpful for incremental innovation and making small improvements to existing products, and is almost no help at all for radical innovation.

Harvard Business Review

26.07.2024

To Make Your Pitches More Engaging, Appeal to Multiple Learning Styles

When idea pitches fail to resonate, it doesn’t always have to do with the merit of the idea, your presentation style, or charisma; the problem could stem from a deeper disengagement in your organization. To make pitches more appealing and increase the chances of ideas resonating, the author recommends engaging three main learning styles that may be in your audience: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Drawing from his experience at Disney, the author uses examples of successful presentations in each style and gives tips on engaging each. For visual learners, use images, charts, and visual aids; for auditory learners, employ compelling narratives, varied tones, and relevant sounds; and for kinesthetic learners, include hands-on elements and physical activities.

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Harvard Business Review

Economy

Research: How Passion Can Backfire at Work

4 Ways to Meaningfully Support New Mothers Returning to Work

Can AI Help Your Company Innovate? It Depends

To Make Your Pitches More Engaging, Appeal to Multiple Learning Styles

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