This month marks the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of my “What do you think?” column. The Working Knowledge website was the brainchild of a faculty and staff committee organized in 2000 by then Dean Kim Clark to communicate the results of faculty research to a wide community of alumni and friends.
As a member of the committee, I was asked to write a monthly column highlighting management research findings by HBS faculty members and colleagues at other schools. It occurred to me that the column might represent an opportunity to emulate, in some small way, what goes on in our classrooms. Daily we ask students what they think as part of a process of teaching and learning for students and faculty alike. Many of us then try to sum up what was said as part of a process of wrapping up each class; hence a second column each month that attempts to summarize comments submitted by readers.
For years, it was the only regular blog on the site; in recent years, other members of the faculty have begun posting thoughts about their own research. Sources of ideas for columns have included the HBS classroom, my own research and that of my colleagues, and a lot of reading. (I long ago ran out of space on my bookshelf.) The objective has been to connect information from multiple sources to give a different twist to a current topic. Many columns over the years have dealt with the management implications of current events from 9/11 to the New Economy to the Great Recession to COVID-19.
In response to 240 monthly blogs and counting, readers have posted thousands of comments, many extremely thoughtful, over the years. Those responding anonymously have found that their comments—offered up under the cover of anonymity--aren’t included in these summaries. Too often they have tended to be among the least thoughtful among each month’s responses.
To the extent possible, I have tried to maintain a focus on management and business-related topics, avoiding topics further afield. Political bias is out; it tends to detract from the focus on management issues. In addition, I have tried to avoid gratuitous politically incorrect comments. In return, I’ve never been asked by the School to change the subject of a column.
Over much of this time, I’ve benefitted from the outstanding help of Sean Silverthorne, whom I regard as my “editor.” Sean has done everything from catching typos to suggesting topics for consideration. Of course, I’m the beneficiary of the loyalty and thoughtful work of tens of thousands of readers and thousands of respondents to the blog (and its inevitable question, “What do you think?”) to whom we’ve tried to bring the field of management and the work and feel of HBS a bit closer. Thank you.
