The Nine Most Significant Shifts Transforming Organizations Today

March 16, 2026

Good morning! It’s one battle after another. Before we begin, which photog should we use at the bottom? Feast or famine… I try to use the Pulitzer-quality Photog o’ the Week, but sometimes there are several candidates — and sometimes none. Make your prediction before taking a peak.

• Get them addicted and then increase the price.
  • Oldest trick in the book.
  • The amazonians — and others — are fed up with free (we’ll have it to you by yesterday) logistics and will soon be charging you for your impatience.
  • We didn’t do the math on this one, but more than 22,500,000,000 packages were shipped last year.
• If you’ve enjoyed reading Patricia Cornwell for the last 30+ years, you might enjoy the new television series, Scarpetta.
• According to CBS News, purchasing a ticket and watching a movie in a traditional movie theatre peaked in popularity a quarter century ago and hasn’t recovered since.
  • It went wayyyyy down during the plague, of course, and has rebounded since, but not to the all-time 2002 high.
• “When bad (people) combine, the good must associate, else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”  (Burke)
  • From a very young age I watched people I admired being generous with gratuities.
  • They taught, “If you can afford to go out to eat, you can afford to express gratitude to the person who served you.”
  • However, (you knew there was a butt!) I’ve been struggling as of late with the pre-set 28%, 25%, and 22% options thrust in front of me on various machines.
  • I usually calculate 20% on my own, but I like to do the math and write-in the number… or punch it in.
  • I’m feeling manipulated, ladies and gentlemen of the restaurant industry.
• “To keep your marriage brimming with love in the loving cup, whenever you’re wrong, admit it.  Whenever you’re right, shut up.”  (Nash)
• It’s rare to discover an author — late in life — who turns your literary world upside down.
  • Enter Brian Doyle (Mink River, The Plover).
  • “Brian Doyle writes with Melville’s humor, Whitman’s ecstasy, and Faulkner’s run-on sentences… Few contemporary novels shimmer like this one.”  (Doerr)
  • Here!  Here!
• Interesting:  Fewer clinical trials are happening in North America and Europe while medical research has doubled in Asia.  (ClinicalTrials.gov)
• Here’s one from M.I.T. Sloan, but you can get the abbreviated version right here:
  • “… the challenge for leaders is not to attract attention but to deserve it — by behaving consistently and with integrity.”  (Manita, Etc., et al.)
    • (Now, what would that have cost you in Cambridge?)
  • Transforming visibility from a superficial display into a (leadership) asset — a means of reinforcing trust and accountability.
    • Internal Recognition
    • External Reputation
    • Digital Trust
• “While leaders remain focused on driving performance, the emphasis has moved from short-term resilience to sustained productivity and long-term impact…… powered by technology with artificial intelligence at the core…”  (Krivkovich, Etc., et al.)
• The nine most significant shifts transforming organizations today:
  1. Unlocking the artificial intelligence-enabled organization
     • 88% of organizations are experimenting with artificial intelligence while 81% report no bottom line gains
  2. Humans and artificial intelligence partnerships; i.e., collaboration
  3. Leveraging artificial intelligence to to rewrite the future of shared services
     • The question is no longer IF, but how fast
  4. Finding value in a new geopolitical contexts
     • Balance global scale with regional adaptability
  5. Reaching the next productivity frontier
  6. Focusing on the core
     • Doing the right thing with more intensity
  7. Aiming higher with a new performance edge
     • Leaders are still missing the importance of intrinsic motivators, management practices, systems, culture, and employee health and wella-being
  8. Sharpening the focus on diversity and inclusion
     • 80% of organizations are expanding their programs in spite of the shifting landscape
  9. Leadership reinvented
     • Needs to be redefined in more human-centric — with readers reflecting on, and communicating the why