I by IMD - First-person Business Intelligence from the Brightest Thinkers

Latest insights

small, deliberate steps can create momentum and help overcome procrastination

5 surprising ways to spark your motivation

14 hours ago • by Francesca-Giulia Mereu in Brain Circuits • 3 min read

Unlock motivation with five small actions: boost focus, reduce procrastination, and finish tasks faster....

Oil painting of a sale boat in the dark ocean

What if volatility became your competitive advantage?

September 23, 2026 • by Nadya Zhexembayeva in Strategy • 9 min read

Protecting against disruption is no longer enough. In a post-stability economy, businesses need to reinvent continuously – and learn how to profit from volatility....

A leader navigates a maze, representing the decision traps that can prevent effective leadership decisions

How to avoid six leadership decision traps

September 23, 2026 • by Michael Watkins in Brain Circuits • 3 min read

Explore six common leadership decision traps and proven remedies to improve outcomes, from precise problem framing to securing lasting team buy-in....

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Will prediction markets lead to disaster? It’s a safe bet

September 22, 2026 • by Jerry Davis in Finance • 9 min read

While the stock market effectively harnesses the wisdom of crowds, prediction markets are little more than high-stakes casinos with powerful political backing, warns Jerry Davis...

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radical federalism: connected teams adapting independently, balancing local autonomy with shared organizational goals to respond more effectively to rapid change

Radical federalism: The way to tackle the AI velocity problem

September 22, 2026 • by Michael Yaziji in AI • 3 min read

Question central planning: why a unit-focused hybrid approach may outperform both centralized control and chaotic AI adoption....

“CHRO, stay in your lane.” Why I’m ignoring this outdated wisdom

September 22, 2026 • by I by IMD in Human Resources • 5 min read

VP of Human Resources Tessa Boshoff explains why CHROs should reject outdated leadership advice and play a central role in business strategy....

Can leadership be delegated to a digital self?

September 21, 2026 • by Michael Watkins in Artificial Intelligence • 4 min read

Can a CEO's leadership be delegated to an AI avatar? Explore benefits, risks, and guardrails shaping digital leadership....

Modern Train coming to the end of an old railway, showcasing the limitations of technology

Access to tools, not training, is stifling AI value

September 18, 2026 • by Mauro Macchi, Tim Good, Dominic King, Mamta Kapur in Artificial Intelligence • 5 min read

Europe’s AI ambitions are stalling, but not due to a skills gap. Limited access to tools and outdated work design are holding companies back....

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Windworks: The challenge of turning a novel technology into a viable business

September 18, 2026 • by Jim Pulcrano in Innovation • 2 min read

Explore Windworks' breakthrough smart vertical-axis wind turbines and the funding-milestone strategy to turn novel tech into a viable energy business....

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The commitment gap: Why climate-linked pay incentives can only go so far

September 17, 2026 • by Christos Cabolis, Karl Schmedders in Sustainability • 9 min read

Climate-linked pay cannot, on its own, solve Mark Carney’s ‘tragedy of the horizon’. Christos Cabolis and Karl Schmedders explain why the gap between intent and reality is structural, and what action boards...

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Three things sport can teach leaders

September 17, 2026 • by Matthijs Büchli, Susan Goldsworthy in Brain Circuits • 2 min read

Olympians Matthijs Büchli and Susan Goldsworthy show how to apply principles from elite sport to achieve your leadership goals with less stress....

The I by IMD Safety Clock Countdown 11:45

IMD AI Safety Clock moves to 15 minutes to midnight as AI risks accelerate

September 16, 2026 • by Michael R. Wade, Konstantinos Trantopoulos in Artificial Intelligence • 12 min read

The AI Safety Clock enters the critical risk zone as autonomous agents gain authority, military AI expands, and AGI-related risks accelerate....

Why CFOs need people to speak up: The business case for psychological safety

September 16, 2026 • by Zhike Lei in CFO Horizons • 6 min read

Psychological safety is essential for better leadership decisions. Learn how inviting challenge improves information quality and value....

High-angle aerial view of a person walking along a curved pathway split by lush greenery, symbolizing conscious leadership choices and navigating organizational change

Is your leadership energizing or enervating?

September 16, 2026 • by Shelley Zalis in Brain Circuits • 2 min read

Is your leadership empowering or draining? A concise guide to humane, effective transformation that sustains performance....

Business persons arm pulling an alarm in an office

AI leaders are pulling the safety alarm. Here's what that means for business leaders

September 15, 2026 • by Michael R. Wade, Howard H. Yu, Amit Joshi, Naomi Haefner, Faisal Hoque, José Parra Moyano, Mark J. Greeven in Artificial Intelligence • 10 min read

Amid warnings from industry insiders that AI will soon outpace human control, IMD's experts break down where business leaders should be focusing their attention....

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The boomerang buccaneers

September 15, 2026 • by Nongfei Pan in Innovation • 18 min read

How established companies can create a successful spin-off and then bring it back home. OPPO’s experiment with OnePlus offers a blueprint for established enterprises seeking to sustain performance through breakthrough innovation. ...

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Cybersecurity resilience depends on more than technology

Why cybersecurity starts with your people

September 15, 2026 • by Naomi Haefner in AI • 3 min read

Discover why cybersecurity begins with people: continuous training and psychological safety that harden defenses beyond technology alone....

Blue wall being painted with orange paint

Lessons from AkzoNobel on collaborative innovation

September 14, 2026 • by Murat Tarakci, David Williams in Innovation • 9 min read

How to avoid being disrupted? Partner with your disruptor, argue AkzoNobel Chief Innovation Officer David Williams and IMD Professor of Innovation Strategy Murat Tarakci, as they unpack how to identify collaborative innovation...

Time out need not be time wasted: The real value of executive learning

September 11, 2026 • by Johanna Leppävirta in Leadership • 6 min read

IMD’s Johanna Leppävirta shares a framework for measuring the impact of learning. ...

How to survive disruption?

September 10, 2026 • by I by IMD in Leadership • 1 min read

How can established businesses innovate without undermining their core operations? Issue 24 of I by IMD explores corporate self-disruption, global innovation ecosystems, and the workplace behaviours that influence productivity, risk-taking, and renewal....