The Best of This Week
The week’s must-reads for managing in the digital age, curated by the MIT SMR editors.
Topics
Weekly Recap
What Explainable AI Means for Talent Development
Explainable AI, which author Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic considers “the quality of a system to provide decisions or suggestions that can be understood by their users and developer,” can play an important role in fair, accurate talent assessment. Used alongside ethical human judgment, this form of AI can help employers make less-biased decisions and develop their own potential.
Knowing the Difference Between ‘Leader’ and ‘Manager’
When it comes to leadership, too many organizations focus on power and traditional hierarchies rather than on leaders’ ability to inspire followers. But to meet the demands of the future of work and society, businesses need leaders (at any level) who can be true change makers — people who will innovate and challenge the status quo.
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New MIT Research Report: The Impact of COVID-19 on Our Digital Economy
For the past year, researchers at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy have provided timely, accurate, and data-informed analysis of the pandemic and its effects. Their analysis of the vast impact of COVID-19 on society, technology, and the global economy — and actionable solutions for policy makers, business leaders, and citizens — is available in a new report.
Seven Best Practices From Learning Organizations
Research into companies building workforce skills to compete in a tech-driven future finds that the most-committed organizations model learning and development best practices that others can follow. Companies committed to building workforces equipped for the future apply seven key principles to training and development.
What Else We’re Reading This Week
- Three ways to encourage schedule flexibility: availability hours, weekend swap days, and four-day workweeks (Source: Entrepreneur)
- Leaders need to start thinking of new ways of designing work and organizing talent for an era of “work without jobs” (Source: MIT SMR)
- Sitting in the same chair in the same room staring at the same computer for over a year has left many of us feeling like burned-out approximations of our once-productive selves (Source: The New York Times)
Quote of the Week:
“Contrary to popular belief, people of color want to be recognized and hired for their skills and ability, just like everyone else. Quotas are disliked by people of color because nobody wants to work for a company that is being forced to hire them.”
— Stacey Gordon, CEO of Rework Work and author of UNBIAS: Addressing Unconscious Bias at Work, in “How to Address Signs of Unconscious Bias in Your Recruiting Process”