Frances Frei: Fixing hard problems fast

Fixing problems is often seen as a slow, complex process but it doesn’t need to be this way. You can solve the hardest problems your organisation faces at speed; you just need to know how.

In this episode I am joined by Harvard Business School professor Francis Frei. She talks about what it takes to build trust fast, and how to focus on the hard problems. She also shares how to scale an idea to create real change and how to build a more inclusive environment that enables it.

Frances counters many management practices and mindsets we’ve heard of, so get ready to be challenged and indeed surprised.

You’ll hear about:

• How to combine the long and short term
• Identifying the big problems
• Tackling a deficit of trust
• Making the right new friends
• Moving from prototype to scaling
• The power of storytelling
• Judgement and curiosity don’t sit well together
• What makes a more inclusive environment?
• What is Frances most proud of?
• The impact Frances wants to have on the world
• Finding inspiration

The best bits of these conversations are captured in my newsletter Strategic Leader.

More about Frances

Frances is a professor of Technology and Operations Management at Harvard Business School. A global thought leader on organisational change, Frances is widely recognised for her dynamic teaching style and breakthrough insight into how to move fast and fix things. Her research investigates how leaders create the context for organisations and individuals to thrive by designing for excellence in strategy, operations, and culture. In 2017, she took a leave from HBS to serve as Uber’s first senior vice president of leadership and strategy to help the company navigate its very public crisis in leadership and culture.

• Frances’ LinkedIn and HBS profile
• Frances’ services
• Frances’ book Move Fast & Fix Things
• The Fixable podcast