How top performers use innovation to grow within and beyond the core

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Brought to you by Andy West (Andy_West@McKinsey.com) and Michael Birshan (Michael_Birshan@McKinsey.com), global leaders of McKinsey’s Strategy & Corporate Finance Practice

New from McKinsey Quarterly

From the three stacked boxes protrudes a bouquet of about ten light bulbs, each with a base shaped like a pencil, leaving a distinct black line that resembles a flower stem. One bulb sits higher than the others, radiating a bright, glowing light.

How top performers use innovation to grow within and beyond the core

While innovation is critical to all companies’ growth, the most successful organizations use it to both expand their lead within their industries and disrupt new ones, even in uncertain times.

See the findings

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by "McKinsey & Company" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 10:13 - 24 Feb 2025

A leader’s guide to supporting high-performing teams

Leading Off

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ESSENTIALS FOR LEADERS AND THOSE THEY LEAD

Brought to you by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Axel Karlsson, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms

Welcome to the latest edition of Leading Off. We hope you find our insights useful. Let us know what you think at Alex_Panas@McKinsey.com and Axel_Karlsson@McKinsey.com.

—Alex and Axel

It’s a timeless truth that strong leadership teams are vital to overall business performance. But of course, team effectiveness is not only important at the top. At all levels of an organization, good teamwork can help improve productivity, resilience, decision-making, and innovation—all of which are required to successfully navigate shifting workplace norms and a fast-moving business environment. This week, we look at ways that leaders and their organizations can crack the code of building and supporting high-performing teams.

AN IDEA

An image linking to the web page “Go, teams: When teams get healthier, the whole organization benefits” on McKinsey.com.

Bust team-building myths

Leaders often depend on their experience and intuition as they seek to build great teams. But sometimes their hunches can be wrong, according to new research from McKinsey’s Aaron De Smet , Gemma D’Auria , Liesje Meijknecht, and Maitham Albaharna . Their findings help to debunk common myths about how teams operate at their best—such as the notion that top-notch teams are stacked with top talent. The authors note that a team full of “superstars” may underperform if those stars don’t mesh well with others. The research indicates that teams with above-average scores in four areas—trust, communication, innovative thinking, and decision-making—are more likely to be efficient and innovative and produce better results. “Although individual performance does matter, it’s not enough for each person to perform at their personal best,” the authors say. “The dynamics of how those individuals interact are equally (if not more) important—they make the difference between operating as an individual team and operating as a team of individuals.”

A BIG NUMBER

4

That’s the number of actions organizations can take to unleash the potential of their teams to power organizational transformations. McKinsey’s Arne Gast , Erik Mandersloot , Kai Grunewald, and Neil Pearse note that transforming large organizations requires a unit-by-unit strategy. They suggest that organizations identify their highest-value teams, activate those teams, lift leaders so they can support their teams, and scale this approach to all teams that create value. “Widening this scope means figuring out how to measure and spread the story of success so that enthusiasm grows for new ways of working,” the authors say.

A QUOTE

“[Gen AI] can prompt even the hardest-edged managers with information that makes them likelier to help their teams feel seen and heard.”

That’s McKinsey’s Bryan Hancock on how gen AI can help improve middle managers’ jobs. Managers play a key role in organizational health by coaching and empowering their team members. But McKinsey’s Emily Field, Hancock’s coauthor of Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work, says that few have enough time to focus on the people part of their jobs. Enter gen AI, which can help give managers insights into their coaching abilities and prompt them to pay more attention to their team members at the right times. “You need managers to make sure people know that they matter,” Hancock says.

A SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

An image linking to the web page “Author Talks: Unleash your team’s full potential” on McKinsey.com.

Tension can be a good thing, especially when it comes to building a thriving team culture. Daniel Coyle, author of The Culture Playbook: 60 Highly Effective Actions to Help Your Group Succeed, has studied an array of top-performing group cultures, including Pixar, the Navy SEAL Team Six, the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, and even a gang of jewel thieves. He says that tension is common in strong cultures where team members embrace problem-solving. “In bad cultures, a problem comes up, and people kind of turn away from it, right?” Coyle says in an episode of Author Talks. “In good cultures, they get super interested and turn toward it. They will have vibrant arguments about which idea is best because those arguments are taking place in the bounds of safe connection. It’s a different kind of fun.”

MEETINGS, MEETINGS, MEETINGS

An image linking to the web page “If we’re all so busy, why isn’t anything getting done?” on McKinsey.com.

It’s a common complaint that people are spending more time than ever in meetings , especially as technology has made it easier for far-flung teams to gather digitally. If more meetings are a must, can they be more productive ? McKinsey’s Aaron De Smet , J. R. Maxwell , and coauthors suggest that leaders can improve collaborative interactions by categorizing them into three types—decision-making, creative solutions and coordination, and information sharing—and shifting their approach to each one. In decision-making meetings, for instance, leaders should clarify exactly which team members have a voice, a vote, and veto power. According to the authors’ research, it’s often helpful to involve more people in decision-making, but one individual should be the decider. “Don’t underestimate the difficulty of implementing this,” they say. “It often goes against our risk-averse instinct to ensure everyone is ‘happy’ with a decision, particularly our superiors and major stakeholders. Executing and sustaining this change takes real courage and leadership.”

Lead by strengthening teams.

— Edited by Eric Quiñones, senior editor, New York

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by "McKinsey Leading Off" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 04:43 - 24 Feb 2025

Why Digital Transformations Are Like a Trip to Vegas



Hi MD Abul, I hope everyone is having a great start to the week. I’ve been out at the US office for a few weeks while Colorado has been going through a little cold spell. Although the state gets 300 sunny days per year, a few of those sunny days are pretty cold – as I write this note, it’s 19F or -7C outside and it’s about as high as it will get today. That doesn’t mean I was successful in convincing my two boys that they needed to wear a coat for school though – I’m not sure if this is a Colorado thing or a wider teenager stance, but unless there’s heavy snow or rain, the coat stays in the house. Oh to be that young and carefree again! At the time of this email going out, I’ll be lucky enough to be meeting some friends and family in Las Vegas for a quick break. As I was thinking through topics for this week's email, I wondered if there was any way to link my vacation/holiday plans with some content. As is typical when you work at Third Stage, it’s a pretty good assumption that Eric has probably produced a video on the topic you’re thinking of, which led me to this weeks video link, where Eric talks through what Las Vegas taught him about Digital Transformations and ERP Implementations. Take a look and let me know if you’re in the process of taking a big gamble with your implementation! Cheers, Aaron Patterson


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by "Aaron Patterson" <aaron.patterson@thirdstage-consulting.com> - 04:31 - 24 Feb 2025

How companies can innovate to win

On McKinsey Perspectives

DELIVERING ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS ON THE DAY’S NEWS

Brought to you by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Axel Karlsson, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms

Welcome to the latest edition of Only McKinsey Perspectives. We hope you find our insights useful. Let us know what you think at Alex_Panas@McKinsey.com and Axel_Karlsson@McKinsey.com.

—Alex and Axel

Innovate to grow

In the news

•

Imagine that. AI may be transforming how people get their work done, yet humans still surpass the technology in the realm of imagination (at least, for now), Fast Company notes. Although the thought of being innovative might seem daunting, and not all companies promote merriment at work, opportunities to be playful can spur creativity. An innovation expert says that engaging in creative behaviors, such as routinely practicing mindfulness and paying attention to one’s intuition, can spark the imagination. [Fast Company]

•

Focus on fun. Want to be more creative at work? Have more fun. Inc. reports that 150 years ago, Thomas Edison’s casual, collaborative “innovation factory” stood in sharp contrast to today’s highly controlled, carefully organized plants. Edison’s laboratory—where more than 1,000 patents were produced for inventions such as the lightbulb and movie camera—imitated the rowdy, intense, and informal workrooms used by European artisans. Similarly, one software company CEO says that a relaxed, amusing environment stimulates innovation, whereas a fearful culture suppresses it. [Inc.]

In McKinsey research, top-performing companies were 78% more likely than their peers to build new businesses in different industries.

On McKinsey.com

•

Innovation and growth. An organization’s ability to grow is linked to its ability to innovate, and companies that build new businesses and develop new offerings, processes, and business models are better able than those that don’t to capture opportunities to expand. According to new research from Senior Partner Marc de Jong and coauthors, nearly four in ten leaders cite their organizations’ capacity to innovate as the most important strategic factor for generating growth in the coming 12 months.

•

A more expansive approach. In each of the seven industries represented in the authors’ global survey of 1,039 companies, respondents consistently rank a company’s potential for innovation as a top three source of competitive advantage. The research also suggests that top economic performers take a broader approach by seeking to innovate both within and outside of their current industries and geographies. For instance, leading companies are 50% more likely to expand geographically compared with their peers. Discover the innovative activities companies are performing to grow, even in an uncertain economic environment.

Pursue the principles of innovation

—Edited by Belinda Yu, editor, Atlanta

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by "Only McKinsey Perspectives" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 03:20 - 24 Feb 2025

Saving your purchasing cost for quality heat recovery ventilation units

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by "Ingvar Berlich" <ingvarberlich669@gmail.com> - 03:37 - 23 Feb 2025

Meet the partners behind the leadership issue of McKinsey Quarterly

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New from McKinsey & Company

Meet the partners behind the leadership issue of McKinsey Quarterly

The McKinsey Quarterly’s yearlong 60th-anniversary celebration continues with a special issue on the future of leadership, available now. Meet the authors of the issue’s articles including the cover story “The art of 21st-century leadership: From succession planning to building a leadership factory ,” and “Developing a resilient, adaptable workforce for an uncertain future .” Plus, check out the new interactive, “The future of the office ,” which brings data to life with visualizations of office space evolution in San Francisco, Tokyo, and London. This, along with yearlong “Q60” content and other bonus digital offerings are available to you with a free digital Quarterly membership .

Get to know these partners

To see more essential reading on topics that matter, visit McKinsey Themes.

— Edited by Joyce Yoo, editor, New York

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by "McKinsey & Company" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 03:25 - 23 Feb 2025

A guide to fulfilling your full career potential

Readers & Leaders

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THIS QUARTER’S PAGE-TURNERS ON BUSINESS AND BEYOND

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Brought to you by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Axel Karlsson, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms

Top of your college class? Check. Five years of mentorship and relevant experience on your resume? Check. Still stuck in an entry-level job while your male colleagues advance? You’re not alone.

That initial career setback—the phenomenon that impedes women’s progress on the career ladder when they miss their first promotion—is known as the “broken rung.” It hinders women from acquiring on-the-job skills, earning power, and future promotions. Indeed, while 48 percent of women begin their careers in entry-level positions, fewer than one in three make it to the C-suite.

In this edition of Readers & Leaders, McKinsey Senior Partners Kweilin Ellingrud, Lareina Yee, and María del Mar Martínez share highlights from their upcoming book, The Broken Rung: When the Career Ladder Breaks for Women—and How They Can Succeed in Spite of It (Harvard Business Review). The book outlines the professional challenges that women face in their career journeys and what they can do to overcome them. Read on to learn more about the broken rung and how women can find success in moving up the corporate ladder.

Look out for our next edition of Readers & Leaders—now a quarterly newsletter—in spring 2025.

IT BEARS REPEATING

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“If you join a company that invests in you—in training, developing, and in giving you opportunities for mobility—you start developing that experience capital early in your career so that you have more time to accumulate those learnings over the journey.”

— María del Mar Martínez, McKinsey senior partner, in a January edition of Author Talks

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Why is the broken rung so pervasive, and what can women do to transcend it? Explore our eight-part video series, How women can climb over the broken rung, to learn more.

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Choose the company, not the job

Mentorship versus sponsorship

The power of connection

TURN BACK THE PAGE

The barriers to advancement that women face aren’t just a women’s issue—allyship, investment in women employees, and valuing “feminine” leadership skills can all help overcome these challenges. Read these interviews to learn more.

1. The fight for fairness at work
2. How working women can shatter the glass ceiling
3. Lead like a girl
4. Where are the women who are missing from the workforce?

BOOKMARK THIS

The Broken Rung: When the Career Ladder Breaks for Women—and How They Can Succeed in Spite of It

McKinsey’s latest book hits stores in the United Kingdom and the United States on March 11. But you don’t have to wait until then. Find out how women can reach their full career potential by preordering your copy today.

Preorder now

McKinsey on Lives & Legacies

As National She’s the BOSS Day and International Women’s Day are fast approaching, learn more about influential women leaders and their global impact.

The first female CEO of an NYSE-listed company and two lives that bookended an era

In this edition, our obituaries highlight former CEOs of Ford and Boeing, a mathematician-turned-trader who put quants on the map, and a Caribbean-born titan of francophone literature.

Explore the obituaries

A tech titan, a literacy leader, and a cookie magnate

In this edition, our obituaries also include a legal trailblazer, an innovative ophthalmologist, and a publishing pioneer who forged a path for women authors.

Explore the obituaries

BUSINESS BESTSELLERS TOP

8

Catch up on the latest and greatest reads for the month. Explore business bestsellers, prepared exclusively for McKinsey by Circana; the full selection is available on McKinsey on Books.

business overall

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear (Penguin Group USA)

BUSINESS hardcover

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear (Penguin Group USA)

economics

Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy by Thomas Sowell (Hachette Book Group)

decision-making

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
(Hachette Book Group)

organizational behavior

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear (Penguin Group USA)

workplace culture

Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements by Tom Rath and Jim Harter (Simon & Schuster)

COMPUTERS AND AI

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Yuval Noah Harari (Random House)

sustainability

Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society by Arun Gupta, Gerard George, and Thomas J. Fewer (Two Rivers Distribution)

McKinsey Quarterly: Digital Edition

We’re celebrating McKinsey’s Quarterly’s 60th birthday with a year of special issues, interactive experiences, and bonus compilations. “The future of leadership,” focused on how leaders can inspire their teams and organizations to thrive amid today’s disruptions, is out now.

Sign up to read

If you’d like to propose a book or author for #McKAuthorTalks, please email us at Author_Talks@Mckinsey.com. Due to the high volume of requests, we will respond only to those being considered.

—Edited by Emily Adeyanju, editor, Carolinas

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by "McKinsey Readers & Leaders" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 11:11 - 23 Feb 2025

The week in charts

The Week in Charts

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ALL THE WEEK’S DATA THAT’S FIT TO VISUALIZE

The Week in Charts series offers data visualizations that help explain a changing world—as we strive toward sustainable and inclusive growth. In case you missed them, this week’s graphics explored Europe’s B2B energy market and workplace well-being scores.

FEATURED CHART

Europe’s energy evolution

A chart titled “The power supply and services value pool is expected to double by 2035 with demand shifting from off-site to on-site solutions.” Click to open the full article on McKinsey.com.

This week’s other selected charts

Happy workplaces outperform indexes

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by "McKinsey Week in Charts" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 03:50 - 22 Feb 2025

EP151: 24 Good Resources to Learn Software Architecture in 2025

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

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EP151: 24 Good Resources to Learn Software Architecture in 2025

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This week’s system design refresher:

24 Good Resources to Learn Software Architecture in 2025
SOAP vs REST vs GraphQL vs RPC
SQS vs SNS vs EventBridge vs Kinesis
Top 5 common ways to improve API performance
xAI’s Grok-3 One-Pager
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24 Good Resources to Learn Software Architecture in 2025

The resources can be divided into different types such as:

Software Design Books
Some books that can help are DDIA, System Design Volume 1 & 2, Clean Architecture, Domain-Driven Design, and Software Architecture: the Hard Parts
Tech Blogs and Newsletters
Read technical blogs by companies like Netflix, Uber, Meta, and Airbnb. Also, the ByteByteGo newsletter provides insights into software design every week.
YouTube Channels and Architectural Resources
YouTube channels like MIT Distributed Systems, Goto Conferences, and ByteByteGo can help with software architecture and system design. Azure Architecture Center and AWS Architecture Blog are other important resources.
WhitePapers
For deeper insights, read whitepapers like Facebook Memcache Scaling, Cassandra, Amazon DynamoDB, Kafka, and Google File System.
Software Career Books
A Software Architect also needs to develop holistic skills. Books about software career aspects such as Pragmatic Programmer, The Software Architect Elevator, The Software Engineer's Guidebook, and Philosophy of Software Design can help.

Over to you: Which other resources will you add to the list?

SOAP vs REST vs GraphQL vs RPC

The diagram below illustrates the API timeline and API styles comparison.

Over time, different API architectural styles are released. Each of them has its own patterns of standardizing data exchange.

You can check out the use cases of each style in the diagram.

SQS vs SNS vs EventBridge vs Kinesis

No alternative text description for this image

AWS SQS: It is a fully managed message queuing service that helps decouple communication between distributed components.
AWS SNS: A fully managed publish/subscribe messaging service using topics to send messages to multiple subscribers or endpoints (such as email, Lambda, SQS, and so on).
AWS EventBridge: It is a serverless event bus that facilitates the routing of events between AWS services, and applications based on specific routing rules and filters.
AWS Kinesis Data Streams: A real-time data streaming service that captures, processes, and analyzes data in near real-time.

How can you choose which service to use?

Here are some basic tips and examples:

For massive amounts of events like a clickstream from an application use Kinesis Data Stream
For events processed by a single consumer like an image processing job, SQS is a better choice.
For sending messages and notifications, SNS is a great choice.
For system events such as a new user registration that multiple services must receive and react to, use EventBridge.

Over to you: Have you used SQS, SNS, EventBridge, or Kinesis?

Top 5 common ways to improve API performance

Result Pagination:
This method is used to optimize large result sets by streaming them back to the client, enhancing service responsiveness and user experience.

Asynchronous Logging:
This approach involves sending logs to a lock-free buffer and returning immediately, rather than dealing with the disk on every call. Logs are periodically flushed to the disk, significantly reducing I/O overhead.

Data Caching:
Frequently accessed data can be stored in a cache to speed up retrieval. Clients check the cache before querying the database, with data storage solutions like Redis offering faster access due to in-memory storage.

Payload Compression:
To reduce data transmission time, requests and responses can be compressed (e.g., using gzip), making the upload and download processes quicker.

Connection Pooling:
This technique involves using a pool of open connections to manage database interaction, which reduces the overhead associated with opening and closing connections each time data needs to be loaded. The pool manages the lifecycle of connections for efficient resource use.

Over to you: What other ways do you use to improve API performance?

xAI’s Grok-3 One-Pager

Grok 3 was unveiled on February 17. According to Elon Musk, it is “the smartest AI on Earth.”

But what makes it so powerful?

Grok 3 has been trained on the Colossus supercomputer with 100K Nvidia H100 GPUs. According to one stat, it has been trained for 200 million GPU hours. The key capabilities of Grok 3 are coding, science research, problem-solving, creating marketing campaigns, personalized assistance, and API integration.

Some special features of Grok 3 are:

DeepSearch: Allows Grok to search the web and X posts for real-time data and information.
Think Mode: Decompose complex queries into steps just like human problem-solving.
Big Brain Mode: A heavy-duty mode for intensive tasks like simulations, data analysis, or reasoning.

Here’s how Grok 3 possibly works:

Grok 3 supports multi-modal inputs. The user can ask questions as text, upload images, or talk to Grok. The inputs are tokenized to initiate processing.
Synthetic data training enhances the query interpretation.
This is fed to the core transformer model that analyzes the input.
The core transformer issues a search directive to DeepSearch to retrieve necessary information from the web or real-time X data.
Next, a self-correct process ensures accuracy through an internal feedback loop.
Depending on the user’s input, the Think Mode or Big Brain Mode refines the responses as required. It might again use DeepSearch to find more information.
The answers are delivered to the user in a multimodal manner.

Note that these details are based on piecing together information from xAI blogs about Grok and new feature announcements. More details may be revealed in the coming days.

Over to you: Have you used xAI’s Grok 3?

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by "ByteByteGo" <bytebytego@substack.com> - 11:35 - 22 Feb 2025

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Jun Gao
Beijing Holtop Air Conditioning Co.,Ltd

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by "Apolloder Frimmel" <apolloderfrimmel@gmail.com> - 04:22 - 21 Feb 2025

Are deals so back?

The Shortlist

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OUR BEST NEW IDEAS FOR THE C-SUITE

Curated by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Axel Karlsson, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms

Welcome to the latest edition of the CEO Shortlist, a biweekly newsletter of our best ideas for the C-suite. This week, we’re sharing key findings from the latest edition of our annual report on global M&A. We appreciate the opportunity to connect and hope you find our perspectives novel and insightful. Please let us know what you think! You can reach us at Alex_Panas@Mckinsey.com and Axel_Karlsson@Mckinsey.com. Thank you, as ever.

—Alex and Axel

An image linking to the web page “M&A Annual Report: Is the wave finally arriving?” on McKinsey.com.

Green grass and high tides? M&A growth in 2024 may have been relatively modest—globally, deal value was up 12 percent to $3.4 trillion. But the market dynamics that stymied dealmaking in the postpandemic years, including increased regulatory scrutiny and economic uncertainty, seem to be receding. As a result, we expect M&A markets to accelerate dramatically in the next six to 12 months.

But dealmakers won’t benefit equally from the fair winds. The big winners will be those who have a clear vision of their M&A strategy, a clear understanding of the roles of transactions and organic growth, and the distinct capabilities they need to pursue M&A effectively.

We hope you find these ideas helpful. See you in a couple of weeks with more McKinsey ideas for the CEO and others in the C-suite.

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by "McKinsey CEO Shortlist" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 04:38 - 21 Feb 2025

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by "Hina Liu" <gt06@gtran.net> - 02:11 - 21 Feb 2025

The future of people management

On McKinsey Perspectives

DELIVERING ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS ON THE DAY’S NEWS

Brought to you by Alex Panas, global leader of industries, & Axel Karlsson, global leader of functional practices and growth platforms

Welcome to the latest edition of Only McKinsey Perspectives. We hope you find our insights useful. Let us know what you think at Alex_Panas@McKinsey.com and Axel_Karlsson@McKinsey.com.

—Alex and Axel

People management’s next era

In the news

•

Improving employee experience. With growing pressure on human resources to keep up with the business’s evolving priorities, HR leaders recognize the need to transform their functions—and how they support other employees, HR Dive notes. Hybrid work practices and increased workplace flexibility mean that technology is key to how companies engage their workers. Since staffers are likelier to job hunt if they dislike the technology their companies provide, HR leaders should focus on tech projects that improve the employee experience and seek feedback from business and HR stakeholders. [HR Dive]

•

Hiring challenges. A mismatch between the skills employers want and the ones that job applicants list on their resumes may be hampering HR leaders’ ability to recruit the right candidates, even when more people are applying for jobs. As Fortune reports, a new survey reveals that about one in five HR professionals say they spend up to five hours each day reviewing job applications. It’s essential that HR leaders don’t dismiss employees who might not meet all the criteria, since they may have applicable skills, according to the study. [Fortune]

McKinsey research finds that only a handful of organizations—roughly 5%—are successfully incorporating new technologies in their people management functions.

On McKinsey.com

•

A new operating model. As rapid technological developments and other disruptions are changing the nature of day-to-day work, people management is also ready for a vital shift, say McKinsey Partners Asmus Komm and Sandra Durth and their coauthors. Companies’ increasing investments in gen AI and other technologies mean they could soon deliver personalized employee experiences, redefine work as a symbiotic relationship between human and machine, and continuously measure their organizational health and performance.

•

More strategic. The people function of tomorrow will be significantly more focused on strategy and business, the authors say. McKinsey estimates that two-thirds of current HR tasks can be largely automated, potentially giving HR leaders more time to focus on improving the organization: for instance, developing a higher-performing organizational design and culture. Learn more about how organizations are moving toward the new, tech-enabled era of people management.

Envision HR’s future

—Edited by Belinda Yu, editor, Atlanta

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by "Only McKinsey Perspectives" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 01:33 - 21 Feb 2025

My FHL 10 keynote inside! (listen now)

OK, I just got back from Vegas, and that was the most amazing FHL ever!

Like, I knew it was going to be memorable, but I had no idea just how incredible the whole week would be!

So many ‘a-ha’ breakthrough moments… so many amazing marketing tactics… and SOOOO many emotions!!

Ah, it was amazing. I can't stop thinking about it and yet I’m trying to relax (...and for someone like me, that can be tough! ;)

Now, if you missed FHL 10… the last dance… I have some ways for you to hear all the presentations - coming out soon, so keep an eye on your email inbox. ;)

But, before that hits your inbox…

I want to make sure you get a chance to listen to my latest podcast episode!!!

Actually…

This is more than a podcast episode.. It’s my intro speech and final Funnel Hacking LIVE 10 keynote!

LISTEN TO MY FHL 10 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION ON APPLE HERE →

Or on Spotify HERE →

After ten years, thousands of entrepreneurs, and countless life-changing moments, I had one last chance to stand on that stage and deliver the message I felt mattered most.

And trust me, I thought about this for months…

If I could leave you with just one thing, it’s this…

LISTEN TO MY FHL 10 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION ON APPLE HERE →

Or on Spotify HERE →

Here’s just a quick sneak peek:

The hero’s journey every entrepreneur must take if you TRULY want to step into your purpose and change the world!
Why fear always shows up before a breakthrough… and how to transform that fear into a steely-eyed determination that’ll get you what you WANT!

The little-known (and perhaps backward way) to discover YOUR definite purpose and pursue it with INTENSE, obsessive conviction!
Marketing “Sherpa”?? Why THIS type of “guide” can change everything for your business… and how to locate YOUR specific ‘mentor.’
What it really means to “serve” - and how you can tell WITHIN YOU that you’re exactly where you need to be… surrounded by YOUR people you’re meant to serve.
AND SO MUCH MORE!! Including how to destroy the dreaded "Entrepreneur Hesitation” that plagues almost every entrepreneur or marketer who’s about to make some MAJOR strides in their business!

LISTEN TO MY FHL 10 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION ON APPLE HERE →

Or on Spotify HERE →

So, whatever you’re doing right now… pause for a sec… go ahead and throw your buds/headphones on.

I promise you this – give it a listen and I bet you’ll walk away with at least 3 big ‘a-ha’s’ you can apply to your business and experience results FAST!

LISTEN TO MY FHL 10 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION ON APPLE HERE →

Or on Spotify HERE →

(And while you’re there, make sure to subscribe to my podcast so you’ll always be on top of the latest strategies for growing your business!)

Those who you’ve called to serve are waiting for your message.

So, step into your calling…

Russell Brunson

P.S. - Don’t forget, you’re just one funnel away…

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by "Russell Brunson" <newsletter@marketingsecrets.com> - 09:43 - 20 Feb 2025

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by "OFfield Byrn" <byrnoffield@gmail.com> - 07:23 - 20 Feb 2025

Returning to the office? Focus more on practices and less on the policy

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Icon headshots of Alexis Krivkovich and Dana Maor

Brought to you by Alexis Krivkovich (Alexis_Krivkovich@McKinsey.com) and Dana Maor (Dana_Maor@McKinsey.com), global leaders of McKinsey’s People & Organizational Performance Practice

New from McKinsey Quarterly

Returning to the office? Focus more on practices and less on the policy

The working model is far less important than the work environment leaders create. Five core practices can help organizations implement a policy that best fits their culture.

How companies are doing

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by "McKinsey & Company" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 02:54 - 20 Feb 2025

Non-Functional Requirements: The Backbone of Great Software - Part 2

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

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Non-Functional Requirements: The Backbone of Great Software - Part 2

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Feb 20

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Non-functional requirements (NFRs) are as critical as functional requirements because they define a system's qualities and operational parameters.

Functional requirements specify what a software product should do (for example, “users must be able to log in”). However, non-functional requirements define how well it must accomplish these tasks under real-world conditions (for example, “the login process should respond within two seconds under peak load” or “all user credentials must be encrypted and stored securely”).

Together, functional and non-functional requirements create a foundation for building great software systems.

In Part 1 of this topic, we also looked at trade-offs in non-functional requirements and the architectural impact of these requirements. Some key learning points from Part 1 were as follows:

Non-functional requirements determine a system's performance in areas such as scalability, response time, performance, security, etc., ensuring it meets quality standards and user expectations beyond mere functionality.
Functional requirements focus on what the system should do, while non-functional requirements define how well it operates under real-world conditions.
Optimizing one NFR (for example, performance) can negatively impact others (for example, maintainability), requiring a balanced approach based on project goals and constraints.
Non-functional needs (like scalability and availability) heavily influence architecture choice. For example, choosing microservices for high availability or plugin-based designs for modifiability.

In this article (Part 2), we’ll go further and look at some of the most important NFRs that should be considered while building systems.

Key NFRs to Consider

Some key non-functional requirements that should be considered while designing an application are as follows:

Response Time/Latency...

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by "ByteByteGo" <bytebytego@substack.com> - 11:34 - 20 Feb 2025

Cafe POS System

Hi.

We have released our latest Cafe POS System Product Analysis.

This report studies the Cafe POS System Capacity, Production, Volume, Sales, Price and future trends in global market. Focuses on the key global manufacturers, to analyse the product Characteristics, Product Specifications, Price, Volume, Sales revenue and market share of key manufacturers in global market. Historical data is from 2020 to 2024 and forecast data is from 2025 to 2031.

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by "Edith" <edith@vic-salesmarket.com> - 11:17 - 20 Feb 2025

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API governance: The missing piece in your stack?

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