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
Gaining an Edge With a Data Science Bridge
Strain between business operations and data science teams did not originate with the rise of data science. These tensions demand structural solutions, and the way forward is through a data science bridge — an organizational structure and leadership commitment to develop better communication, processes, and trust among all stakeholders.
Position Your Business to Win Tech Talent
A new analysis pinpoints seven key “clusters of need” in the tech talent capabilities that will matter most in the next few years, including data management, automation, and DevOps. To close the talent gap in these areas, companies will need to deploy strategies for hiring, reskilling, reallocating, and sourcing employees.
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The Board’s Role in AI Risk Management
Whether organizations build or buy AI tools, their use of the technology exposes them to new risks as well as benefits. Boards must be prepared to provide adequate oversight of how AI is developed and deployed.
To Address Workplace Sexism, Men Need to Speak Up and Out
While 77% of men believe they are doing all they can to support gender equality, only 41% of women agree. That means men must do more to speak up and speak out on behalf of women. Actively confronting other men for sexism, bias, harassment, and inappropriate behavior may be the toughest part of male allyship, but it’s also utterly essential.
Promoting Responsible AI
We’ve all become increasingly aware of the risks of deploying AI systems, but a survey of individuals tasked with promoting responsible-AI efforts at their workplaces indicates that their work is in its early days. Organizations will need to add formal governance processes and offer employees incentives to comply with responsible-AI principles.
What Else We’re Reading This Week
- Findings from the 2020 Artificial Intelligence Global Executive Study and Research Project, a collaboration between MIT SMR and BCG: “Expanding AI’s Impact With Organizational Learning”
- The costs of a company culture that promotes “fitting in”
- Wanted: Online gamers to help build a more stable COVID-19 vaccine
Quote of the Week:
“The time management system isn’t just the responsibility of the individual but rather the team or the organization. We know from the psychological literature that there are these ideal worker norms that prevent us from protecting our time.”
— Ashley Whillans, Harvard Business School professor and author of Time Smart: How to Reclaim Your Time and Live a Happier Life, in a Q&A with Behavioral Scientist