Coaching Tip

MARCH 25, 2011

Canadian Malcolm Gladwell in his book, " Outliers ," tells us that the way Canadians select hockey players is a beautiful example of what the sociologist Robert Merton famously called a "self-fulling prophecy" a situation where a "false definition, in the beginning.evokes a new behavior which makes the original false conception come true.".

Merton 97

Merton Maturity Definition Class 97

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 10, 2014

The yacht was perfect, of course, and most of the bridesmaids were there as planned. But of course! And then, of course, the usual self-assured act later on, as if to say, “All part of the plan.”. Of course, once he believed, then others would too, making his vision more likely to come true. So what was the problem?

Merton 12

Merton Taylorism Taylor Course 12

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 17, 2012

Of course, HBS hopes to educate leaders who make a positive difference in the world, but that's harder to do than it might seem. Gerstner, of course, led IBM to a historic turnaround. They can reject advice and they can listen and reverse course when they are wrong. Another key strategy is to match the person to the situation.

Company 16

Company Champy Merton Leadership 16

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

I was thinking about that story by Thomas Merton during a recent board meeting. Of course, underlying all that.does anything need to be said at all? It was said of Abbot Agatho that for three years he carried a stone in his mouth until he learned to be silent. The CEO and CFO were marching through their 112-slide presentation.

Merton 17

Merton Groupthink CFO Cost 17

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 16, 2015

It’s been more than 50 years since Nobel prizewinners Franco Modigliani and Merton Miller identified return on investments as a major component of value creation (and value destruction). This, of course, raises an obvious question: Why are so few CEOs skilled at capital allocation? It is, in fact, the salt in the value recipe.

CEO 8

CEO ROIC Cost of Capital Merton 8

Harvard Business Review

AUGUST 23, 2011

What ambitious, smart, enterprising young student, who aspires to be the next Bill Gates, would trade the kind of say Gates has in dictating the course of tens of billions of philanthropic dollars for the chance to work for a sacrificial wage? has abandoned desire in order to achieve the highest fulfillment of all desire."

Merton 15

Merton Self-aware Rate of Return Class 15

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 29, 2014

Although many business executives sat through one, or perhaps several, courses in economics while in school, most probably took away little more than the supply and demand graphs to which they were introduced early in their first course. Admittedly, better pricing of options has been a mixed blessing.

Strategy 15

Strategy Black-Scholes Airlines Price 15