Thread by @william_r_kerr

Our @HarvardHBS MBA course on #ManagingTheFutureOfWork is underway!

I share a few key ideas from each class that sparked conversation.

Class 18 considered management in the future of work context, including how to build stronger talent pipelines (HBS primer forthcoming).

Businesses often create their own problem: by imposing unnecessary barriers to employment (eg, degree inflation, not having "care culture"), they drive up the cost of their own labor.

Instead, firms should adopt supply chain principles in thinking about how they develop talent.

Class debated challenges to adopting this mindset. Does investing in training pay off, or does it subsidize competitors who poach upskilled employees? Is the data to systematically assess and develop talent available? Here's @josephbfuller on the issue: uschamberfoundation.org/sites/default/…

Class also considered three key questions relating to their future work. The first: what, as business leaders, is the most important lesson you've drawn from the course thus far? The most important, by a margin: the importance of investing in and retaining workers.

Our second discussion area: what are the biggest open questions on managing businesses internally? Talent-related issues were again dominant - how to forecast skills needs, training for the future of work, managing talent in the new context, etc.

We also considered ethical dimensions of the future of work. Class agreed that businesses have a responsibility to their employees and communities. We look forward to the solutions our students (who graduate next month!) will implement to honor this responsibility.