HBR's 10 Must Reads 2024 | William Meller

Hey there!

Welcome to my ‘Reading Insights’ series. Here, is where I share simple takeaways and personal thoughts from articles, papers, and other readings that called my attention.

Together, we’ll explore ideas beyond the “Book Notes” series that help us to improve how we think about management, leadership, and personal growth.

So grab a cup of coffee, and let’s dive into some interesting insights!

And what are we reading today?

Today we will talk about the publication from Harvard Business Review, HBR’s 10 Must Reads 2024.

The Harvard Business Review Must Reads series is like a “greatest hits” album for business and leadership ideas.

Each publication in the series organize the best and most impactful articles from HBR, handpicked by experts with a special touch of the moment we are living and the challenges facing leaders and managers.

Each edition brings the most impactful HBR articles, offering insights on topics like strategy, innovation, and self-management—all curated to help us to navigate the year’s biggest challenges.

Managers Can’t Do It All – Diane Gherson and Lynda Gratton
What Is Web3? – Thomas Stackpole
Selling on TikTok and Taobao – Thomas S. Robertson
Managing in the Age of Outrage – Karthik Ramanna
The Five Stages of DEI Maturity – Ella F. Washington
The Essential Link Between ESG Targets and Financial Performance – Mark R. Kramer and Marc W. Pfitzer
Make the Most of Your One-on-One Meetings – Steven G. Rogelberg
Harnessing the Power of Age Diversity – Megan W. Gerhardt, Josephine Nachemson-Ekwall, and Brandon Fogel
The C-Suite Skills That Matter Most – Raffaella Sadun, Joseph Fuller, Stephen Hansen, and PJ Neal
Your Company Needs a Space Strategy. Now. – Matthew Weinzierl, Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Alan MacCormack, and Brendan Rosseau
Democratizing Transformation – Marco Iansiti and Satya Nadella

What are the key takeaways from HBR’s 10 Must Reads 2024?

Managers are at a turning point: The role has evolved, demanding new skills and a balance between coaching and overseeing work.

Web3 is both promising and risky: Understanding blockchain and its implications is essential, as it’s evolving quickly and transforming the web experience.

Leveraging social commerce is a must: Experimenting with platforms like TikTok and Taobao can provide unique marketing opportunities.

Addressing societal outrage requires new leadership strategies: Managing outrage effectively requires empathy and a deep understanding of current societal tensions.

DEI efforts must be systematic: Understanding the stage of your organization’s DEI efforts can guide more effective change.

Linking ESG to financial performance matters: Integrating sustainability into core business objectives is key for future success.

Effective one-on-one meetings can transform team dynamics: Regular, well-structured conversations are crucial for employee engagement.

Age diversity is an asset: Harnessing diverse generational skills can strengthen teams and foster mutual learning.

Soft skills are critical for C-Suite success: Modern leaders need emotional intelligence alongside technical skills.

Space is the next business frontier: Companies should start exploring how space technology can offer new value, even if indirectly.

Managers Can’t Do It All

By Diane Gherson and Lynda Gratton – full article

👉 The Big Idea: Managers today face new expectations—they’re coaches, mentors, and strategists. Companies must redesign managerial roles and provide better support systems for managers to succeed.

📌 The Summary: Imagine you’re Jennifer—once an award-winning manager but now struggling because the job keeps changing. It’s no longer about overseeing tasks but guiding, empowering, and strategically supporting teams amid rapid organizational shifts.

Companies like IBM and Telstra tackle this challenge through certifications and splitting managerial roles between people-focused and workflow-focused managers. Managers need clear support and training to adapt to these evolving demands effectively.

💡 Key Takeaways:
✔ Managers should focus on coaching and growing their team members.
✔ Companies must empower managers with training and defined roles.
✔ Traditional managerial roles must evolve to meet new workplace realities.

What Is Web3?

By Thomas Stackpole – full article

👉 The Big Idea: Web3 is reshaping the internet using blockchain, promising decentralization and user control—but also raising significant risks and challenges.

📌 The Summary: Remember the Bitcoin buzz? Web3 expands this idea, aiming for a decentralized internet driven by blockchain. It’s about giving users genuine ownership of their data, identity, and digital assets, through tools like NFTs and decentralized finance (DeFi).

But Web3 isn’t perfect—environmental issues, security risks, and regulatory uncertainty remain. Companies exploring Web3 must carefully weigh its benefits against these challenges.

💡 Key Takeaways:
✔ Web3 decentralizes control, emphasizing user ownership of data and assets.
✔ Blockchain offers transparency and security but faces environmental and regulatory challenges.
✔ Businesses should carefully evaluate Web3 before adoption.

Selling on TikTok and Taobao

By Thomas S. Robertson – full article

👉 The Big Idea: Social commerce and live-streaming on platforms like TikTok and Taobao are reshaping retail. Brands that master these platforms gain deeper customer engagement and increased sales.

📌 The Summary: Imagine shopping via live-streaming, where influencers directly interact with viewers. Robertson highlights that this new social commerce model is reshaping retail, similar to a modern QVC tailored specifically to digital consumers.

Success in social commerce means integrating live-streaming strategically into existing marketing efforts and carefully selecting influencers. Companies that engage effectively in this new model reach consumers where they truly spend their time.

💡 Key Takeaways:
✔ Social commerce through platforms like TikTok and Taobao drives customer engagement.
✔ Live-streaming and influencer marketing can significantly boost sales.
✔ Effective integration of social commerce is crucial to leveraging its power.

Managing in the Age of Outrage

By Karthik Ramanna – full article

👉 The Big Idea: Leaders need strategies to manage societal outrage effectively, combining empathy with strategic actions to address the root causes of anger.

📌 The Summary: Imagine dealing with a crowd of angry stakeholders. It’s increasingly common, reflecting deep societal frustration. Ramanna calls this the “Age of Outrage” and offers leaders a five-step framework to handle it strategically.

This approach blends empathy with analysis, understanding the deeper issues fueling outrage. Leaders must listen genuinely, address root causes, and communicate transparently to maintain trust amid polarization.

💡 Key Takeaways:
✔ Outrage arises from perceived injustice and deep dissatisfaction.
✔ Leaders should use empathy and clear communication to manage stakeholder anger.
✔ Trust and genuine engagement are vital to defusing societal tensions.

The Five Stages of DEI Maturity

By Ella F. Washington – full article

👉 The Big Idea: DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives evolve through five stages. Recognizing your organization’s stage helps focus efforts effectively toward meaningful change.

📌 The Summary: Big DEI promises aren’t enough—real progress requires a clear understanding of your current maturity level. Washington outlines five DEI stages, from compliance to fully integrated practices.

Knowing your stage helps target efforts. Consultant Lily Zheng emphasizes changing systems, not just individual attitudes. Real DEI progress means reshaping policies and culture for lasting impact.

💡 Key Takeaways:
✔ DEI progresses through clear stages; recognizing your position is essential.
✔ Systems, not just individual behaviors, need changing to advance DEI.
✔ Effective DEI integrates deeply into organizational culture.

The Essential Link Between ESG Targets and Financial Performance

By Mark R. Kramer and Marc W. Pfitzer – full article

👉 The Big Idea: Integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets deeply into business strategies leads to stronger financial and environmental performance.

📌 The Summary: Sustainability isn’t just PR—it’s key to business success. Kramer and Pfitzer emphasize embedding ESG goals directly into core operations. Companies must select ESG issues material to their business and align them closely with strategic operations for sustainable profitability.

Organizations effectively integrating ESG into their DNA outperform competitors by addressing both financial and social goals simultaneously.

💡 Key Takeaways:
✔ ESG should align with core business strategies for real impact.
✔ Companies must identify ESG issues material to their industry.
✔ Effective ESG integration improves profitability and sustainability.

Make the Most of Your One-on-One Meetings

By Steven G. Rogelberg – full article

👉 The Big Idea: One-on-one meetings can drive engagement and growth—but only if done intentionally. Leaders must prioritize these conversations and ask meaningful questions.

📌 The Summary: One-on-one meetings often get skipped or mishandled. Rogelberg highlights their critical role in employee engagement. Effective one-on-ones involve consistent scheduling, meaningful questions, and genuine conversations about career growth, obstacles, and well-being.

Preparation and thoughtful questions help these meetings become impactful moments that foster trust, clarity, and motivation within teams.

💡 Key Takeaways:
✔ Regular, meaningful one-on-one meetings drive employee growth and engagement.
✔ Ask open-ended questions about growth, challenges, and needs.
✔ Preparation transforms these conversations into powerful team-building opportunities.

The C-Suite Skills That Matter Most

By Raffaella Sadun, Joseph Fuller, Stephen Hansen, and PJ Neal – full article

👉 The Big Idea: Modern executives need strong soft skills—empathy, communication, and cultural awareness—as much as technical expertise.

📌 The Summary: Top leadership today demands more than technical ability. Post-pandemic, companies value soft skills, such as empathy and communication, essential for motivating diverse, global teams and driving innovation.

Successful C-suite leaders create environments where employees feel valued and engaged. These human-centric skills differentiate leaders who effectively navigate modern challenges.

💡 Key Takeaways:
✔ Soft skills like empathy and communication are crucial at executive levels.
✔ Effective leaders connect emotionally, motivating diverse teams.
✔ Empathy and communication are key differentiators for leadership success.

Your Company Needs a Space Strategy. Now.

By Matthew Weinzierl, Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna, Alan MacCormack, and Brendan Rosseau – full article

👉 The Big Idea: Businesses must start considering space as a new strategic frontier. Declining costs and emerging technologies are creating untapped opportunities across industries.

📌 The Summary: Space isn’t just for astronauts anymore. With falling costs, space-based opportunities—from data analytics to new markets—are becoming accessible across many sectors. Companies proactively incorporating space strategies position themselves ahead of competitors.

Businesses don’t have to launch rockets; leveraging satellite data alone can drive significant competitive advantage.

💡 Key Takeaways:
✔ Space technology offers new business opportunities across industries.
✔ Proactively exploring space-related strategies can enhance competitive advantage.
✔ Companies can benefit significantly without investing directly in space technology.

Democratizing Transformation

By Marco Iansiti and Satya Nadella – full article

👉 The Big Idea: This article looks at the importance of democratizing digital transformation within organizations. True transformation requires involvement across all levels, not just isolated tech teams.

📌 The Summary: Digital transformation isn’t something you can delegate to a department—it needs to be a company-wide movement. Marco Iansiti and Satya Nadella argue that transformation has to involve everyone, from the boardroom to the front line, if it’s going to succeed. This means giving more employees the tools and training they need to understand and use digital technologies in their day-to-day work.

The authors describe a model where digital transformation is not just a project but an operating architecture, accessible and actionable at every level. The goal is to deploy AI and digital tools across a distributed workforce, making innovation part of everyone’s job.

The result? Faster decision-making, better problem-solving, and a more adaptive organization. Think of it like teaching the whole orchestra to play instead of just focusing on the conductor. That’s how you make transformation sustainable, scalable, and truly impactful.

The Stages of Digital Maturity

Digital maturity is a critical benchmark for organizations as they evolve their structures, processes, technology architectures, and deployment strategies. The journey to maturity can be divided into five distinct stages: Traditional, Bridge, Hub, Platform, and Native. Each stage highlights the increasing integration of data, agility, and AI capabilities.

1. Traditional: This is the starting point where organizations operate in silos: Business units are disconnected, limiting collaboration. Decision-making and applications are localized. Data is isolated, preventing comprehensive analysis. Machine learning (ML) models are developed independently within business units.

2. Bridge: Here, companies start building connections and creating scalable systems: A centralized data science team is introduced to unify data efforts. Agile development teams are established for iterative improvements. Cloud-based platforms become elastically scalable to meet demands. APIs enable data sharing across units, improving collaboration.

3. Hub: At this stage, real-time insights and modular platforms become key: Insights are shared across business units, breaking silos. Departments gain ownership of applications, aligning solutions with their needs. Data is centralized in a unified, modular platform for consistency. ML models become advanced and automated, supporting decision-making.

4. Platform: Organizations achieve advanced capabilities through integrated systems: Applications deliver mature insights and are deeply tied to operations. Citizen developers and distributed innovation are encouraged, empowering non-technical employees. A strong foundation of software, data, and AI ensures scalability. AI development capabilities become robust, enhancing innovation and efficiency.

5. Native: The most advanced stage of digital maturity reflects a fully integrated, data-driven organization: Innovation is democratized and powered by deep AI expertise. Agile culture and end-to-end solution ownership are embedded across the organization. Customized, self-maintained tools and platforms are optimized for business needs. AI and machine learning technologies are highly automated and continuously improve operations.

💡 Key Takeaways:
✔ Digital transformation requires engagement across the entire organization.
✔ Providing universal access to digital tools democratizes innovation.
✔ A distributed approach to digital capabilities enhances organizational agility and responsiveness.

HBR’s 10 Must Reads 2024 reminds us that being a great leader doesn’t mean knowing everything (thankfully!).

Whether it’s empowering your team through better one-on-ones, embracing age diversity, or setting your sights beyond the atmosphere with a space strategy, the key takeaway is simple: leadership today means staying adaptable, human, and ready to rethink old ways.

The business world keeps changing, and our success lies in how we embrace that change—together, with empathy and a willingness to grow.

Let’s keep learning, experimenting, and moving forward.

The future is what we make of it, one idea at a time.

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