The Archive

Every issue of Exec Edge, from day one. Sharp thinking for leaders, one idea at a time.

78 issues published

Paid sabbaticals are cheaper than turnover

Intel, Buffer, and Automattic all offer paid sabbaticals and have employee turnover rates roughly half the industry average. Here are 5 decisions you need to make to set one up.

4 min read

Is your scorecard measuring work or results?

Research on 2,473 startup OKRs shows teams focused on outcomes outperform those tracking activities. Learn the scorecard audit framework to fix metrics that measure work completed vs results accomplished.

3 min read

Stop chasing new customers

When growth slows, the first instinct is to chase new segments or launch new products. But the faster path is usually selling more to existing customers. Here are 5 questions to help you decide.

3 min read

Advice from thousands of hybrid meetings

New research on thousands of hybrid meetings reveals a troubling pattern: remote workers ask half as many questions. Here's why it happens and how to fix it.

4 min read

Why is cross-border collaboration SO hard?

When Daimler bought Chrysler, cultural clashes cost them $30 billion. Here's the 3-step checklist that prevents cross-border collaboration disasters in any expansion or integration.

3 min read

How AI-fluent is your leadership team?

Most leaders approve AI spending without hands-on experience. This 3-tier assessment helps you evaluate your leadership team's actual AI fluency and strategic readiness.

4 min read

The 10-15% rule

Most companies run the same budget year after year, missing massive growth opportunities. The 10-15% reallocation rule can double your company value over 20 years.

4 min read

Add work or remove work?

Basecamp's decision guide asks one crucial question: Will this decision eliminate future work or create more? Learn how to reduce wasted approvals and accelerate decision-making.

4 min read

What actually predicts renewal

A customer who doesn't renew usually made that decision early. Learn the 4 metrics that predict renewal in the first 90 days and why late-stage signals are too late to act on.

4 min read

The five places profit hides

There's money sitting in your P&L that you're probably not seeing. It hides in five places across cloud bills, contracts, and fees—often adding up to 1-5% of revenue. Here's where to look.

3 min read

What Sam Altman uses instead of Notion (the 3-field decision log)

Sam Altman ditched elaborate productivity systems for a simple 3-field decision log. Learn why this 2-minute approach beats Notion and other complex knowledge management tools.

3 min read

Stop calling it “resistance to change”

Six years of Gartner research reveals why teams really struggle with change - and it's not resistance. Plus a 10-minute capacity check you can run this week.

4 min read