Leaders LoopWhy companies are becoming a series of loops | Anish Acharya (a16z)
Listen now (79 mins) | Anish Acharya on why the permanent-underclass fear is wrong, how every job function becomes a loop, and where consumer AI is headed
Reading List
The Leadership Reading List
We don't write everything worth reading. This is where we collect the best leadership and business writing from other publications and blogs, so you don't have to go looking for it.
The lab, the factory and the dentist
At the lab, they don’t know the right answer. They are explorers and scientists. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough. The work at the lab requires mutual support, shared information and a commitment to the process of discovery. At the factory, the answer is known. It’s productivity that’s being pursued. Do it […]
🧠 Community Wisdom: Driving AI adoption when habits are the bottleneck, leveling up from APM to a mid-level PM role, converting a wave of new users to subscription, and more
A community advice column addressing practical product management challenges: overcoming user habit resistance to AI features, advancing from associate to mid-level PM roles, and converting new users into paying subscribers.
Homo Habilis
We called them this because they used tools. The first proto-humans to clearly do so. The question that we need ask ourselves today, “Are you a tool user or a tool maker?” Everyone uses tools. But only a few people, even with access to AI and systems of leverage, choose to make tools. Part of […]
Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better
WE don’t need more freedom; we need more helpful boundaries. David Epstein, author of Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better, says we don’t need to work outside the box as much as we need to be working inside the right box. We instinctively add to solve a problem when the best course of action is to subtract. Boundaries provide clarity. Ideas are plentiful. Figuring out what not to do is t
The Hidden Financial Risks of the AI Boom
Joao Gomes, Wharton professor of finance and senior vice dean of research, centers, and academic initiatives, explains why the Federal Reserve needs to pay closer attention to how the massive AI boom is being financed. … Read More
An end to fully open networks
If you have a phone, you can call anyone you like. The recipient doesn’t have to answer, but the network is an open API, available to anyone. The Bell System began as an actual networked system–many companies, using the same protocol, shared calls with each other. When Bell got greedy and stopped interconnecting, phone use […]
GPT-6 Astra is a banger - here’s everything I’ve built
Watch now | 🎙️ My hands-on GPT-6 Astra review covers real production work in Figma, Flora, and Adio, one-shot coding wins 5.6 and Fable couldn’t match, and a hardware hack I’ve chased for months
Leading Thoughts for September 3, 2026
IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with: I. Jenna Nicholas on hope: “Hope is more than a lofty ideal; it's a lifesaving force. Ultimately, hope encourages us to think expansively while integrating our vision into our daily actions, both big and small. It also challenges us to remain realistic and gr
What it is like to be a dog?
We have no idea. Of course, there’s plenty of behavioral data. Say this phrase, or offer that treat, and this particular dog is likely to act in a certain way. But our inclinations about what it’s actually like to be a dog are all inventions, reverse-engineered to give us a clue about what they might […]
When Teammates Become Competitors
Henning Piezunka, Wharton associate professor of management, explores how competition between colleagues can damage collaboration and reshape workplace relationships. … Read More
What Analytics Reveal About College Football’s Top Teams
Bill Connelly, ESPN staff writer and creator of SP+, previews the college football season through playoff odds, schedule strength, roster stability, and conference depth. … Read More
Grok Bot vs. OpenClaw: How I replaced my entire agent stack
Watch now | 🎙️ I’ve been running Grok Bot for several weeks, and I’ve killed every OpenClaw I had. Here are the nine bots doing real work across my inbox, my kids’ school pickups, my PR queue, and my wardrobe
Enrollment and learning
“Why are you taking this class?” That seems like a fair question. After tenth grade or so, it’s a choice, after all. One honest answer is, “I have to get a good grade to get to where I want to go.” That means certification, compliance, regurgitation. It means enrollment in the outcome, not the process. […]
The Hidden Rules of Workplace Opportunity
Judd Kessler, Wharton professor of business economics and public policy, explains how hidden market rules shape access to top projects, leadership attention, and career advancement. … Read More
The Four Essential Elements of Successful Situations
In an excerpt from her new book, ‘Situated,’ Wharton’s Angela Duckworth explains the four critical elements of situational agency. … Read More
Can AI Productivity Grow Fast Enough to Justify Big Tech’s Spending?
New Wharton research finds that Big Tech’s $1 trillion AI bet may require productivity to nearly triple or risk becoming history’s largest capital misallocation. … Read More
Cookstove Subsidies Fight Climate Change at a Lower Cost
Clean cookstove subsidies are more cost-effective at reducing carbon emissions than subsidies for EVs or solar panels, according to a new study from Wharton’s Susanna Berkouwer. … Read More
Over and Out
For this final issue of MIT Sloan Management Review, Benjamin Laker and Maria Papacosta offer advice on ending things well. In that spirit, we want to reflect on the impact our editorially independent publication has had in its 67 years. Over the past few months, we’ve been buoyed by many messages and online comments validating […]
What Kind of Chief Purpose Officer Does Your Company Need?
Rob Dobi The Research The authors identified 56 individuals with purpose leadership roles who were representative of a variety of industries, company sizes, and regions. Of the CPOs interviewed, 60% identified as female and 40% as male. They conducted semi-structured interviews online from 2022 to 2025 to explore participants’ role experiences, strategic practices, and key […]