Insights

Field notes on leadership & change.

Essays on AI, accountability, transformation, product-led growth, high-performing teams, and operating with clarity through change.

Featured · June 16, 2026

The Science of Accountability: How to Make It Drive Performance

Accountability drives performance — but most leaders capture almost none of it. The research on why it backfires, and the three conditions that make it work.

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March 17, 2026

Two of the Smartest Research Shops on Wall Street Disagree on AI. They Are Both Missing the Point.

Citrini and Citadel reach opposite conclusions on AI. Both miss the point — and the peer-reviewed neuroscience for why original human thought may be a permanent ceiling AI cannot reach.

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June 17, 2025

The Hidden Costs of Unintegrated Strategies for Sustainable Business Growth

A Proven Approach That Goes Against Conventional Scaling Wisdom Let me share something I’ve learned the hard way: Despite what most advisors...

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June 17, 2025

Win the AI Game: Your Practical Guide to Mastering Gen AI Now

Look, let’s cut to the chase. AI is no longer coming—it’s here, radically transforming how we work. And make no mistake, this isn’t...

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April 11, 2025

The Human-AI Synergy: Redefining Process Excellence in the Digital Age

Beyond the AI Hype: Transforming Core Operations with Human-AI Collaboration In my work advising Fortune 500 corporations and private equity...

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November 19, 2024

Why Leadership Teams Fail—and How to Fix It

Have you ever felt like you’re driving a high-performance car, but someone else is holding the steering wheel? You’re heading in the right direction,...

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October 27, 2024

M&A Success Is No Longer the Exception—It’s the Rule

Why Bolt-On Acquisitions Are Thriving in Today’s Business Environment When it comes to M&A, the game has changed. Years ago, most mergers...

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October 16, 2024

Transformation Is a Team Sport – And AI Is the Biggest Game Changer Yet

How AI is Transforming Businesses: A People, Process, and Technology Revolution Anyone remember all the failed public cloud adoptions and digital...

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June 4, 2024

The Pitfalls of Treating Your Company as a Family: Lessons from Airbnb, Netflix, and Beyond

In the competitive world of business, the idea of treating your company as a family has gained traction, especially among tech giants. However, as Air…

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May 20, 2024

Harnessing AI to Propel Private Equity Portfolio Companies to New Heights

Introduction In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, private equity (PE) portfolio companies face a myriad of challenges, including the impera…

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May 20, 2024

How High Performing Teams Work: Unlocking the Secrets of Success

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." - African Proverb Introduction In today's fast-paced business environment, the…

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May 20, 2024

Transforming Product and Engineering Teams for High Performance: Insights and Solutions

In my extensive work with product and engineering teams across various industries, I've consistently observed common challenges that hinder optimal pe…

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May 20, 2024

Unlocking Acquisition Success: Leveraging External Expertise to Achieve Your Strategic Goals

In today's dynamic business landscape, acquisitions have become a powerful tool for companies seeking transformation, growth, and competitive advantag…

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April 18, 2024

Are You a Manager or a Leader? The Difference Impacts Everything

Ken Gavranovic at Thinkers50 Thinkers50 – global meeting of the world top business thinkers Subir Chowdhury Ken Gavranovic By Ken Gavranovic, with ins…

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February 7, 2024

Navigating Leadership Frontiers: Insights from Thinkers50, the global awards event for the best business management leaders.

In leadership thought and practice, platforms like Thinkers50 stand as pivotal gatherings where today’s foremost thinkers in management share...

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August 29, 2023

Product-Led Growth or Customer Nurturing?

Product-Led Growth or Customer Nurturing? For Chief Product Officers, understanding the nuances of your product and the time required for customers to…

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June 2, 2023

Business Breakthrough 3.0 Out Now! Don't Wait, Buy Now

Business Breakthrough 3.0 has Arrived “BUSINESS BREAKTHROUGH 3.0 offers practical insights to drive structure affects decision-making speed and...

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September 11, 2022

The Difference Between Leaders and Managers: What Makes One a Leader?

Leadership and management are frequently spoken of as if they are synonymous, yet they are distinct concepts. It's a common misconception that manager…

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May 15, 2022

Product-led Growth: Is it right for your company?

Product-led Growth: Is it right for your company? The world is changing. As product-centric, market-led companies feel the pressure to take a customer…

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April 2, 2022

Stop the big quit. More than 2/3s of US employees are not actively engaged at work. Boost your employees’ engagement by 30% with 7 powerful questions.

Stop the Big Quit More than 2/3s of US employees are not actively engaged at work. Boost your employees’ engagement by 30% with 7 powerful questions.…

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March 28, 2022

Boost Your Enterprise Agility by Following the Three Rs

In the first article in this series, I made the case for enterprise agility – not just saying you’re a digital business but truly operating like one.…

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March 21, 2022

It’s Not Enough to Call Yourself a Digital Business – Here’s How to Operate Like One.

When your organization faces scary numbers – a weak quarterly report, low customer satisfaction, sluggish time-to-market – the natural instinct is to…

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March 17, 2022

You Call Yourself a Digital Business. But Do You Truly Operate as One?

It’s 2022. All businesses are digital, right? That assumption is not only not as safe as you think it is, it’s downright dangerous to the health of a…

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March 11, 2022

Are You Measuring Success by Outcomes Achieved or Activity Complete?

The difference is critical to your company’s success. Download the full deck here. For years, companies used to make annual plans to drive more Enterp…

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March 9, 2022

Risk Management-Reduce downtime, security vulnerabilities, and more with a risk matrix. Do you know your company’s Risk?

It doesn’t matter if your company is in the Fortune 100 or a small business that you operate from your home, Risk Management needs to be an integral p…

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August 21, 2021

Code Story Podcast Interview

Ken Gavranovic on Noah Labhart's Code Story podcast: learning assembly at ten in Galveston, building what became web.com, and running product and engineering at New Relic.

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April 27, 2021

No-Code Doesn’t Mean No Software Engineers

Among software development and tech professionals, there’s a lot of buzz and hype around no-code platforms. No-code has enormous potential to...

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