1️⃣ Team friction needs a trait map Across eight years and hundreds of teams, MIT SMR’s authors found that shared traits can disrupt work. One executive team kept reopening decisions because all its members were highly curious.
💡 Why it matters Before changing roles or replacing a leader, map the personality mix against the behaviour that is blocking the work.
☕ Coffee talk How many reopened decisions are strategy problems, and how many are the same curious people enjoying another lap?
2️⃣ Do not make employees defend a black box In a six-year bank study, AI made loan decisions that officers could not override but still had to justify. Some masked the model’s role with plausible explanations; customers noticed the confusion and some left.
💡 Why it matters Accountability needs access to evidence, a route to challenge the model and regular contact with its developers and users.
☕ Coffee talk Would your loan officer admit the model makes no sense, or invent a reason that sounds bankable?
3️⃣ Measure the future, not just last quarter BCG’s 2026 Vitality Index covers more than 3,500 companies and 10 million data points. Firms above the median recorded annual revenue growth 5.2 percentage points higher over the next five years.
💡 Why it matters Add leading indicators such as R&D momentum, workforce stability and decision friction to the performance review.
☕ Coffee talk Which number next Monday says whether the core can still grow in three years?