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Communication Intention and MeaningRemove Communication Intention and Meaning →

New research on communication intention and meaning from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including the influential power of music to help or hurt fundraising campaigns, how to save your good idea from critics, and the pros and cons of a frank leader.
Page 1 of 10 Results

Feeling Separation Anxiety at Your Startup? 5 Tips to Soothe These Growing Pains

by Julia Austin

As startups mature and introduce more managers, early employees may lose the easy closeness they once had with founders. However, with transparency and healthy boundaries, entrepreneurs can help employees weather this transition and build trust, says Julia Austin.

How Leaders Can Navigate Politicized Conversations and Inspire Collaboration

by Kristen Senz

Francesca Gino discusses the psychology of conversation in politicized workplaces and how managers can improve their conversation styles to create high-quality collaboration. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Open Your Organization to Honest Conversations

by Dina Gerdeman

When company leaders can't hear the voices of their workers, serious strategic mistakes are likely. Michael Beer discusses ways organizations can build powerful communication channels in new video. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

When Your Passion Works Against You

by Dina Gerdeman

Passion is supposed to be the secret sauce that transforms average managers into dynamic leaders. The reality is more complicated, says Jon M. Jachimowicz. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Lazy Prices

by Lauren Cohen, Christopher J. Malloy, and Quoc Nguyen

The most comprehensive information windows that firms provide to the markets—in the form of their mandated annual and quarterly filings—have changed dramatically over time, becoming significantly longer and more complex. When firms break from their routine phrasing and content, this action contains rich information for future firm stock returns and outcomes.

Using Language to Build a Global Company

by Sean Silverthorne

In her new book The Language of Global Success, Tsedal Neeley describes Japanese tech giant Rakuten's five-year effort to adopt English as its lingua franca of business. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Ominous Background Music Is Bad for Sharks

by Carmen Nobel

Experimental research reveals the influential power of music to help or hurt fundraising campaigns. Elizabeth Keenan and Andrew P. Nosal discuss how the scary music associated with sharks gives them a bad rap, which may hinder conservation efforts. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The Surprising Benefits of Oversharing

by Michael Blanding

In a social media culture that encourages sharing of embarrassing information, revealing too much can benefit individuals but hurt businesses. New research papers from Leslie John and Michael Luca help explain why. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

John Kotter: Four Ways to Kill a Good Idea

by John Kotter & Lorne A. Whitehead

Every visionary knows the frustration of pitching a great idea, only to see it killed by naysayers, say HBS professor emeritus John P. Kotter and University of British Columbia professor Lorne A. Whitehead. In an excerpt from their new book, Buy-IN: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down, the authors reveal strategies used by your critics—and how to defend against them. Key concepts include: Fear mongering involves creating infectious anxiety, scaring others into believing that a good idea is far too risky to pursue. Death by delay entails stalling an idea with never-ending questions, straw polls, and meetings—until the idea eventually loses momentum and peters out. Confusion consists of peppering a conversation with a stream of irrelevant facts and convoluted questions, making it nearly impossible for the innovator to keep the discussion on track. Ridicule is a direct attack on the character of the person who proposed the idea, creating indirect doubts about the idea itself. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

How Frank or Deceptive Should Leaders Be?

by Jim Heskett

HBS professor Jim Heskett sums up comments to this month's column. Given the possibility that a naturally pessimistic (or perhaps more realistic) CEO might adversely affect everything from market reactions to employee morale, HBS Working Knowledge readers' comments are full of advice for honesty, candor, and an optimistic bias. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.