In the news. Work is now moving faster than many management systems were designed to handle. Harvard Business Review reports that as AI compresses execution timelines from weeks to hours, leaders are struggling to review work, make decisions, and provide feedback fast enough to match their teams’ pace. The result is a new paradox: AI creates an abundance of ideas and output while making managerial time and attention scarcer than ever. To keep up, managers may need to shift from overseeing tasks to setting direction and goals, helping teams streamline decision-making, and using AI to identify the work that matters most. [HBR]

The real value of AI isn’t doing the same work faster. It’s the ability to amplify the efforts of individuals with agents that function as genuine team members.

On McKinsey.com. The organizations seeing the greatest returns from AI are redesigning how work gets done. After studying 15 AI-native organizations, McKinsey’s Fabian Metzeler, Melanie Krawina, Paul Jenkins, Philipp Hillenbrand, and Alexander Ringler found that the biggest obstacle to capturing value from AI may be organizational, not technical. The organizations making the most of AI treat it as a teammate rather than a productivity tool. They are changing how work is organized, decisions are made, and knowledge flows through the business. Instead of concentrating AI expertise in a central team, they give business units ownership of AI-enabled problem-solving and support the adoption of new ways of working across the organization.

Build an organization ready for AI

In the news. Leading organizational change increasingly depends on people as much as process. The Financial Times reports that business schools are updating their approach to change management as companies grapple with AI, workforce shifts, and a more volatile operating environment. Educators are placing greater emphasis on adaptability, coalition building, and employee engagement—reinforcing a broader message that leaders should seek commitment, not compliance. As change becomes continuous, leaders may need to rely less on following a playbook and more on building organizational commitment. [FT]

On McKinsey.com. The challenge for CEOs, however, is not simply helping people accept change—it’s getting them to move in the same direction. McKinsey’s Kurt Strovink, Mathew Lee, Meagan Hill, and Michael Bucy argue that transformation efforts often stall because of “collective-action problems”: behaviors that make sense for individuals or teams but undermine broader organizational goals. Their research identifies five recurring obstacles, including information hoarding, teams prioritizing their own objectives over enterprise goals, and overreliance on a small circle of trusted leaders. The CEO’s role, they contend, is to foster transparency, align incentives, and turn individual effort into collective progress.

Learn how CEOs drive transformation

Beauty’s new growth playbook

In the news. Drawing on insights from more than 600 products reviewed for its annual Beauty Awards, Good Housekeeping identified four trends shaping beauty in 2026: the mainstreaming of K-beauty, a booming fragrance category, growing demand for scalp and hair-health solutions, and a greater focus on accessibility. The article points to innovations such as braille labeling, refillable packaging, and accessibility-focused product design as evidence that beauty brands are rethinking the user experience. For beauty brands, the opportunity lies in meeting growing demand for products that are effective, personalized, and easy to use. [Good Housekeeping]

On McKinsey.com. Those consumer preferences are reshaping where growth comes from and how brands compete. McKinsey’s Alexis Wolfer, Gemma D’Auria, Kristi Weaver, Sara Hudson, and Andreas Zampouridis project the global beauty market will grow 5% annually through 2030, with fragrance emerging as a major growth engine and digital discovery increasingly influencing purchase decisions. As social commerce, creator-led content, and AI-powered shopping tools transform how consumers find and evaluate products, companies have an opportunity to turn emerging consumer behaviors into new sources of relevance, loyalty, and competitive advantage.

Compete in beauty’s next chapter