Bosses matter. They matter because more than 95 percent of all people in the workforce have bosses, are bosses, or both. They matter because they set the tone for their followers and organizations. And they matter because many studies show that for more than 75 percent of employees, dealing with their immediate boss is the most stressful part of the job. Lousy bosses can kill you—literally. A 2009 Swedish study tracking 3,122 men for ten years found that those with bad bosses suffered 20 to 40 percent more heart attacks than those with good bosses.

Bosses matter to everyone they oversee, but they matter most to those just beneath them in the pecking order: the people they guide at close range, who constantly tangle with the boss’s virtues, foibles, and quirks. Whether you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or the head chef at a restaurant, your success depends on staying in tune with the people you interact with...

I don't mean to pick on these companies; they're just particularly clear examples of how all organizations talk about their people. I've never come across a modern enterprise that publicly states anything like "We want our people to put their heads down and do only the jobs that have been assigned to them. We want their thinking to stay 'inside the box.' When we want their opinions, we'll ask for them. Our machines and business processes are our most important assets; our people just keep them running." Instead, virtually all organizations stress the empowerment of their people.

We're at a very interesting juncture just now: we're about to find out how many of these companies really mean it....

Is your work as engaging, inspiring, and fulfilling as it could be? Do you (and the people you know) get enough meaning, freedom, energizing challenge, and fun from your job? Does your organization have a smart design for unleashing the best gifts of every individual inside it?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, we could use your help. If you answered no to any of the above, you're not alone—and the good news is, we've designed a new contest to accelerate the process of making all organizations as adaptable, innovative, and inspiring as the people who work inside them. It's called Tweet a Hack , and It’s one of the quickest, easiest (not to mention rewarding) ways to participate on the MIX.

For the inaugural contest, we want your ideas for “ taking the work out of work .” That’s one of the MIX’s 25 “ management moonshots ”—make-or-break challenges we must tackle if we’re going to build organizations that are truly fit...

Was there more to Mark Hurd's exit from HP last week than the claims of sexual harassment and expense code improprieties? In his Talking Business column in Friday's New York Times , Joe Nocera digs deeper into the reasons for the decision by HP's board to send their CEO packing. Hurd led a remarkable turnaround at what became the world's biggest computer company under his stewardship, making HP what Fortune write Adam Lashinsky called "the benchmark for efficiency in an industry known more for its whiz-bang appeal than its operational excellence.” So why was the board quick to end his tenure?

Nocera suggests that, in addition to bad feelings dating back to HP's pretexting scandal in 2006 (when it pursued corporate leaks with excessive zeal), Hurd's lack of support from those he managed may have contributed to his downfall. He writes,

"Then there were the company’s employees. The consensus in Silicon Valley is that Mr. Hurd was despised at H.P., not just by the rank and file, but even by H.P.’s top executives. ... 'He was a cost-cutter who indulged himself,' was one description I heard. His combined compensation for just his last two...

But beyond the cheers, the Likes, the thumbs-up, lies a sadder reality: so many people empathize with Slater's stress, his long-squelched feelings of being trapped in a situation where he was compelled to endure the abuse of irate travelers, that they openly cheer his bizarre (and possibly reckless) departure. Slater is already being compared to Howard Beale, the anchor (played by Peter Finch) in the 1976 film Network , whose on-air tirade declaring, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" became a...

Bold innovations often take time. That’s why progress must be judged both in relation to the starting point as well as the final destination. For example, in America’s space program, the first successful docking of two orbiting spacecraft, the Gemini VIII capsule and the unmanned Agena target vehicle, took place on March 16, 1966. While this was an important milestone, it was still just an intermediate step in the long journey to land a human being on the moon. While the commander of Gemini VIII, Neil Armstrong, would ultimately walk on the moon, that wouldn’t happen until 1969.

In my experience, fundamental management innovation is also a multi-stage, multi-year process. This is true for several reasons. First, in a company that has been around for a while, it’s impossible to start from scratch and hazardous to move too quickly. Innovators in a decades-old company don’t have a clean sheet of paper. Moreover, they have to make sure that the business keeps running while they’re developing and testing their new management practices. That’s why the transformation at HCL is still a work in progress, and needs to be judged as such.

Second, radically-minded management...

We have all been witness to the tremendous contributions that business and markets have made in creating wealth over the last few decades, raising the standard of living for millions. This can be seen in the development of medicines, enhanced food production techniques, broad proliferation of communication technologies, and a host of other life-affirming advances. Yet, in the face of these accomplishments and a dramatic economic downturn, we are also keenly aware of inequities and promises that remain unmet.

In the wake of the financial crisis we are now confronted with evidence that confidence in business and markets has been profoundly shaken. This is seen in the tremendous destruction of wealth, a surge in government and regulatory activities, and heightened social and environmental challenges that are now in stark relief from Columbus to Copenhagen. Add to these developments those trends have been gaining momentum well before crisis—a growing talent shortage, the rise of Asia, climate change, demographic shifts, and others that I and my colleagues at the McKinsey Global Institute have been studying and you have the makings of a perfect storm.

This storm is the coming together of many events, and portends...