Business

A crucial realization for me is that the management styles of the West and East are not mutually exclusive. In fact, blending the best elements of each can be highly effective. Western management, particularly in Silicon Valley, is often seen as a triumph of capitalism, primarily focused on maximizing shareholder value. Contrastingly, my experience with NTT revealed a different approach, one that prioritizes stakeholders, sometimes even more than shareholders.

In my role, I assess new investments and innovations not just through financial lenses but also considering their societal and environmental impacts. This broader perspective is a key difference from the shareholder-centric approach. Another notable distinction is the focus in Silicon Valley on technological superiority, whereas in Japan, there's an intense emphasis on delivery quality and the customer and employee experience.

In the realm of experts, intuition, anchored in a substantial reservoir of experience and knowledge, becomes an invaluable asset. It's essentially a dialogue with your unconscious. However, for it to be constructive, your unconscious necessitates a good measure of education. An uneducated unconscious is a perilous entity.

Author of "The Tipping Point" & Popular Cultural Theorist

Projects often don't just go wrong; they start wrong. The seeds of failure are often sown right at the beginning, leading to problems later on. Recognising this, successful project leaders invest in thorough planning and simulation upfront, understanding that a project's success is largely determined by how it starts.

Leading researcher on megaprojects, planning, and governance expert

The greatest risk often lies in people's biased perceptions of risk itself. These biases, both psychological and political, tend to lead to a dangerous underestimation of risk. Our advice, backed by data and methodologies we've developed, is focused on debiasing risk.

Leading researcher on megaprojects, planning, and governance expert

They should foster a culture where bad news is welcomed, not just good news. Unfortunately, many leaders shy away from negative updates. However, if a leader inadvertently suppresses bad news, creating a culture where the messenger is punished, it results in a dysfunctional governance structure.

Leading researcher on megaprojects, planning, and governance expert

While optimism is essential and beneficial in many aspects of life, it can become a hindrance in the realm of large-scale, costly projects. As highlighted in our book, misplaced optimism in multi-billion-dollar investments is particularly problematic. It often signals impending financial shortfalls.

Leading researcher on megaprojects, planning, and governance expert

They don't just dive into a project; they begin by exploring its purpose. If they're working with a client, their first question is often, 'Why are you undertaking this project?' They don't move forward until they have a clear understanding of this 'why', dedicating considerable time to uncover its various facets.

Leading researcher on megaprojects, planning, and governance expert

Only 8.5% of projects meet or exceed their time and budget expectations. This means that a staggering 91.5% fail to stay within budget or meet deadlines. However, the situation becomes even more pronounced when we consider the primary goal of these projects: delivering promised benefits. Shockingly, a mere 0.5% achieve this goal within the allocated budget and timeframe.

Leading researcher on megaprojects, planning, and governance expert

It's baffling that $1.8 trillion is still being invested in harmful sectors. As a member of the B-Team of business leaders, we've identified that $1.8 trillion a year is spent subsidizing industries that harm us, predominantly fossil fuels. Redirecting a significant portion of these funds could dramatically accelerate our transition.

First Female President of Ireland & UN Human Rights Commissioner

Performance, in my eyes, hinges on the consistent delivery of high results by individuals. However, what truly elevates a performance culture beyond mere output is effective communication. A common shortfall in many performance-driven environments is the prevalence of talking without listening, a significant issue.

If you're aiming to compete for the same clientele as major banks like JP Morgan Chase, you're entering a highly competitive arena with slim profit margins. However, targeting a segment that such banks deem too risky or uninteresting presents a lucrative opportunity. We considered focusing on demographics or small-medium enterprises that were essentially deemed un-fundable by mainstream financial institutions. The idea was to make these groups profitable and easier for any entity, including banks, to underwrite.

It's this natural propensity to analyse and optimize everything around me, turning mundane tasks like loading a dishwasher into a strategic game of Tetris, that highlights how my brain operates. It's an instinctive approach to life, viewing the world through the lens of systems and structures.

Founder of Electronic Arts (EA) and 3DO Company

Early customers are animated by belief, not utility. They buy for aesthetic reasons, not practical ones. There's an aesthetically superior future they co-create with the founders. You only want to talk to people who are primed to move to that different future with you.

Venture capitalist and early-stage investor, founder of Founders Fund

Many great startup ideas fall into the 'sounds like a bad idea, is a good idea' category. In fact, most of them do. These are the most dangerous ideas—the ones that sound plausibly good but aren't. There was nobody desperate for a social network for sports fans, so it failed.

Venture capitalist and early-stage investor, founder of Founders Fund

So, without thinking it through, I got a tourist visa and flew to Moscow. I didn't consider the repercussions or how risky it could be—I just did it. If Stein could go to Moscow, so could I. Others had gone there, and I knew tourists were allowed. So I went as a tourist, and we'd figure things out from there.

Tetris video game rights holder & Blue Planet Project founder