Christine Haskell, Ph.D.'s Blog, page 3

The Power of AI in Meeting Management

Project managers are constantly seeking ways to streamline their workflows and boost productivity. One area ripe for improvement is meeting management. By leveraging AI-enhanced tools, project managers can transform their meetings from time-sinks into powerful drivers of progress and collaboration.

AI-powered voice recording, transcription, and analysis tools are revolutionizing how we conduct and follow up on meetings. As graduate faculty for project managemen...

The Trilemma of Modern Data Warehousing: Owned, Migrating, and Acquired

The landscape of data warehousing has undergone a profound transformation since its inception in the 1970s. What began as a concept for centralizing corporate data has evolved into a complex ecosystem of technologies, languages, and architectures. This evolution reflects not only advancements in technology but also changing business needs and the exponential growth of data as an asset.

As we stand at the crossroads of traditional centralized warehouses and emerging specialized systems, it's cruci...

Part 5: The Ethical Imperative: Redefining Organizational Culture in the Age of AI

As we conclude our exploration of the evolving data culture in corporate America, we find ourselves at a critical juncture. The pendulum swings we've observed—from the data-driven efficiency focus of the 1990s to the purpose-driven revolution of the 2010s—have set the stage for a new era of complexity. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) is not just another technological advancement; it represents a fundamental shift in how organizations must approach skill development and organizational ...

Part 5: Beyond Ambidexterity: The Transdisciplinary Future of Data Culture

As we conclude our exploration of data culture's evolution in corporate America, we find ourselves at a critical juncture. The journey from the metrics-obsessed era of Welch and Ballmer to today's purpose-driven organizations has revealed a central challenge: how can companies balance data-driven decision-making with purpose-driven cultures in an increasingly complex technological landscape?

The Promise and Peril of Organizational Ambidexterity

The concept of organizational ambidexterity, long tou...

Part 4: Paradox of Purpose: How the Quest for Meaning Reshaped Data Culture and Leadership

As we entered the 2010s, corporate America underwent a seismic shift. The relentless pursuit of efficiency that characterized the 1990s and early 2000s gave way to a new paradigm—one that prioritized purpose and profit. While addressing crucial issues of employee burnout and societal expectations, this transformation inadvertently set in motion a chain of events that would profoundly impact data culture and leadership across organizations.

The Data-Driven Years & the Purpose Revolution

In the late...

Part 4: The Trilemma of Modern Business: Navigating Data, Purpose, and Ethics in the AI Era

In the rapidly evolving landscape of 21st-century business, organizations face a complex trilemma: balancing data-driven decision making, purpose-driven cultures, and ethical considerations in the age of AI. This challenge is reshaping the roles of Human Resources (HR), Chief Data Officers (CDOs), and other C-suite executives, forcing a reevaluation of organizational structures and cultural paradigms. This article explores the intricate interplay between these factors and the quest for an integr...

Part 3: The Purpose Revolution: Redefining Success in the 21st Century

As we entered the 21st century, the landscape of corporate America began to shift dramatically. The relentless pursuit of efficiency and shareholder value that characterized the late 20th century gave way to a new paradigm that placed purpose at the center of business strategy. This transformation, called the “Purpose Revolution,” was driven by a complex interplay of social, economic, and generational factors. Human Resources (HR) played a pivotal role behind the scenes. In this article, we'll e...

Part 3: The Pendulum Swings - From Burnout to Purpose

The Breaking Point

In our previous installments, we explored the rise of data-driven management under leaders like Jack Welch and Steve Ballmer and the unintended consequences of this “metric mania.” Now, we focus on a new force reshaping corporate America: the push for purpose-driven business models and its complex implications.

The Breaking Point

In 1998, I pulled into the Yahoo! parking lot at 7:30 a.m., having gotten home from work at 11 p.m. the night before...

Part 2: The Dark Side of Data: Unintended Consequences and Ethical Dilemmas

As the new millennium dawned, the data-driven paradigm that emerged in the 1990s had become firmly entrenched in corporate America. Organizations across industries were collecting, analyzing, and acting on data at an unprecedented scale. However, as with any transformative shift, the rise of data-driven management brought with it a host of unintended consequences and ethical challenges. This article explores the darker side of the data revolution, examining the limits of metrics-based management...

Part 2: The Dark Side of Data - Unintended Consequences of Metric Mania

In the previous installment, we explored how Jack Welch of GE and Steve Ballmer of Microsoft spearheaded a data-driven revolution in corporate America. While their approaches initially led to remarkable success, the long-term consequences of this “metric mania” would prove more complex and, in many cases, deeply problematic.

The GE Fallout: When Efficiency Becomes Myopia

GE’s relentless pursuit of efficiency through Six Sigma and other data-driven initiatives initially propelled the company to unp...