Semler Brossy's Contributions to Harvard Business Review

While some have described the Covid-19 pandemic as a black swan event, in reality it should be treated as a “black elephant” — a cross between a black swan event and the elephant in the room.

A new wave of innovation, centered on artificial intelligence, big data analytics, and the internet of things, is now intensifying the pace and magnitude of disruption.

The ground is shifting for executive compensation, from a focus on shareholder metrics to a more intentional longer-term approach that better supports key stakeholders: workers, suppliers, communities, and customers. To make the shift, companies need to prioritize their key stakeholder issues, then identify which ones actually belong in a compensation package.

CEO turnover is surging in 2025, and it’s not just struggling companies making changes. New research from The Conference Board, Egon Zehnder, and Semler Brossy shows that high performers are also proactively swapping leaders to stay ahead of relentless market volatility. To ensure stronger transitions, boards must make succession planning an ongoing process, strengthen internal pipelines while staying open to external talent, and reconsider whether their current CEO profiles address...

There are five steps to designing sustainability incentives that effectively address myriad challenges.

By pushing the top team to go on the offense strategically, this change brings the work of advancing sustainability from the periphery of the business to its heart.

Despite conflicting messages about climate change from U.S. government leaders, sustainability is getting more and more attention at American companies.

Many companies have a one-size-fits-all mindset toward metrics, which makes it hard to use that judgment when allocating resources from the top.

To hear long-term investors tell it, company executives have embraced short-term thinking like never before. Two obvious pieces of evidence: The use of earnings for share buybacks that cost more than they're worth, and dividend increases that divert cash from long-term investment.