Young people don’t want to work for companies that ignore their climate responsibilities — Ten years ago, I launched a one-week Master’s module on the future of business. The idea was to get students out of a lecture theatre (where no business has ever been conducted) and take them to meet real people working in active companies. The students’ mission was to assess how…

In England, people think I’m American and in America, people see me as British. I’ve been asked if I’m a corporate shill and challenged as to whether I’m a communist. I love technology and am deeply hostile to it. I’m a Professor but I’m not an academic. I’ve worked in…

The Genius of Piers Plowright Nobody becomes a radio drama producer because they want to be famous. Many use it as a springboard to theatre or television, but the ones who stay appreciate a medium that is so cheap and quick that there’s always been freedom to take risks, to…

Ten years after its publication, the late anthropologist’s deconstruction of economics is more valuable than ever — In the beginning was debt. In David Graeber’s sprawling epic on the history of money, he charts its shape-shifting from credit to coinage, to credit again, then bullion and finally to virtual currencies. …

Malcolm Gladwell’s 2000 bestseller was naive about the dark side of the ideas it championed, but taught readers that books about ideas could be cool — When The Tipping Point was published in 2000, it marked a sea change in the world of books. Selling over a million copies, Malcolm Gladwell’s “biography of an idea” convinced publishers that, told well, readers could and would read serious books about economics and social change and history and science…

Six members of the group Extinction Rebellion were cleared of all charges by a jury. Here’s what they said and why it matters. — The six people up in court for the last week, on trial for criminal damage to the London headquarters of Shell, have been found not guilty. This was not foreseen; indeed the Judge Gregory Perrins said that even if their actions were “morally justified”, that did not provide a lawful…

Environmental activists are on trial in London for vandalizing Shell headquarters — On the face of it, the court case of the Shell 7, taking place in London this week, is simple. Two years ago, in April 2019, seven supporters of Extinction Rebellion smashed the front doors of Shell’s headquarters on the South Bank, painted the building with graffiti and hung a…

Two decades after Jim Collins’ business bestseller was published, what lessons does it really hold? — “I’m a Level 5 leader.” It’s a phrase I hear frequently from CEOs and senior executives, each assuming familiarity with Jim Collins’ Good to Great. It’s a safe bet; with sales of over four million copies, Collins’ 2001 work is one of the most widely read business books of the…

Problem 3: Distance and Dehumanization When CEO of Lehman Brothers, Richard Fuld was driven from his home to a heliport, then helicoptered into Manhattan, driven in another limo to the bank’s offices where a private elevator sent him up to his office. This ornate commute ensconced him in a physical…