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People today are under intense pressure to be "ideal workers"-totally committed to their jobs and always on call. But after interviewing hundreds of professionals in many fields, the authors have concluded that selfless dedication to work is often unnecessary and harmful. It has dysfunctional consequences not only for individuals but also for their organizations. The authors discuss three typical strategies for coping with demanding workplaces, and the risks associated with each: Accepting involves prioritizing the job above all else and remaining available 24/7. Because accepters fail to cultivate outside interests, they're often slow to recover from professional setbacks. And they may be too focused on their own responsibilities to mentor others-a drawback for their organizations. Passing involves portraying oneself as an ideal worker while quietly pursuing a life beyond the office. But passers may feel isolated from their colleagues because they are hiding parts of themselves, and their perpetuation of the ideal-worker myth keeps the pressure on everyone. Revealing involves openly embracing nonwork commitments. Revealers may unwittingly put their careers at risk, however, and bosses who penalize them may drive away talent. So how can organizations build a healthier-and more productive-culture? Managers can act as role models by leading multifaceted lives themselves. They can reward employees for the quality and results of their work rather than the time put into it. And they can enforce reasonable work hours, require vacations, and take other steps to protect employees' personal lives.

Not long ago, the ability to create smart data visualizations (or dataviz) was a nice-to-have skill for design- and data-minded managers. But now it's a must-have skill for all managers, because it's often the only way to make sense of the work they do. Decision making increasingly relies on data, which arrives with such overwhelming velocity, and in such volume, that some level of abstraction is crucial. Thanks to the internet and a growing number of affordable tools, visualization is accessible for everyone--but that convenience can lead to charts that are merely adequate or even ineffective. By answering just two questions, Berinato writes, you can set yourself up to succeed: "Is the information conceptual or data-driven?" and "Am I declaring something or exploring something?" He leads readers through a simple process of identifying which of the four types of visualization they might use to achieve their goals most effectively: idea illustration, idea generation, visual discovery, or everyday dataviz. This article is adapted from the author's just-published book, "Good Charts: The HBR Guide to Making Smarter, More Persuasive Data Visualizations."

With longevity increasing and thousands of Baby Boomers turning 65 every day, the face of retirement is changing. Interviews with executives and managers conducted by the authors show that very few people now follow the tradition of ditching the job and embracing a life of leisure in their midsixties. This article describes the different paths being taken and offers four principles that will help you navigate your late-career journey: (1) Prepare to go off-script. Careers end in many ways--often unpredictably. Most of us will have little control over our exit, so we must be ready to adapt. (2) Find your metaphor. Do you see retirement as liberation from the grind, the loss of your professional identity, or a chance for transformation? The language that resonates most with you can signal your best way forward. (3) Create a new deal. Many are stepping back gradually or staying on at their firms with redesigned schedules and responsibilities or as contractors. Explore the possibilities. (4) Make a difference. Shelving your expertise at retirement no longer makes sense. The new model is to apply your talents to improve your community and the world.

Yolk-ay, a United Arab Emirates restaurant chain specializing in traditional Indian egg dishes, recently opened its eighth location in 10 years--but turnover is flat, and competitors are gaining market share. Should Yolk-ay go after new customers by adding vegetarian and chicken dishes to the menu? Or stick to what it's known for rather than risk diluting its brand identity? The chain's father-son owners are on opposite sides of the issue. This case includes expert commentary from Rajiv Meherish, the founder of the Dubai-based restaurant group Raju Omlet, and Anthony Ackil, a cofounder of the U.S. fast-casual chain b.good.

The renowned cellist on collaboration, risk taking, and childhood fame.

Yolk-ay, a United Arab Emirates restaurant chain specializing in traditional Indian egg dishes, recently opened its eighth location in 10 years--but turnover is flat, and competitors are gaining market share. Should Yolk-ay go after new customers by adding vegetarian and chicken dishes to the menu? Or stick to what it's known for rather than risk diluting its brand identity? The chain's father-son owners are on opposite sides of the issue. This case includes expert commentary from Rajiv Meherish, the founder of the Dubai-based restaurant group Raju Omlet, and Anthony Ackil, a cofounder of the U.S. fast-casual chain b.good.

Yolk-ay, a United Arab Emirates restaurant chain specializing in traditional Indian egg dishes, recently opened its eighth location in 10 years--but turnover is flat, and competitors are gaining market share. Should Yolk-ay go after new customers by adding vegetarian and chicken dishes to the menu? Or stick to what it's known for rather than risk diluting its brand identity? The chain's father-son owners are on opposite sides of the issue. This case includes expert commentary from Rajiv Meherish, the founder of the Dubai-based restaurant group Raju Omlet, and Anthony Ackil, a cofounder of the U.S. fast-casual chain b.good.

David Lee is a highly motivated individual who overcame some setbacks in his life to rise through the ranks quickly, and at the age of 27, became the country manager of the NZ Foods' representative office in Singapore. However, Lee soon begins to encounter problems upon stepping up to his new role.

This Reading examines the challenge of achieving sustained, superior profitability. It begins by considering some trends in financial returns that raise the question of whether sustained profitability is feasible. The Reading then explores seven mechanisms that can lead to extraordinary long-term performance, including switching costs, network effects, and learning. Finally, the author considers forces outside the market that can undermine superstar firms. Overall, the author argues that a long-lasting advantage is difficult, but not impossible, to achieve.

For over five years, the third generation (G3) of Valley Pulp & Sawdust Carriers, Ltd. had been laying the foundation for the professionalization of the family firm. However, it was met with resistance from the second generation (G2). G3 had no ownership in the family business, and no true leadership role. At the management meetings, only four votes counted-the four votes of G2 members who were shareholders of the business. G3 members needed a commitment and clarification regarding their roles and future in the company. The question was how to approach G2. The G3 cousins knew that the challenge for them to garner G2's respect and to have G2 understand G3's roles and contribution to the family business would be nothing short of daunting.

Supplement to case W16326.

Supplement to case W16326.

In 2014, the chief executive officer (CEO) and owner of Pak Sweets was worried about diversity issues in his organization. The sweets-making factory, once a one-room business and now a full-fledged factory in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, was highly dependent on blue-collar workers. Each production process required workers with diverse skills, so the company hired employees from different provinces of Pakistan, representing multiple ethnicities. The ethnicities were fundamentally diverse with different languages, cultures, and codes of conduct. As the company grew, conflicts increased between employees of different ethnicities. This everyday minor problem turned into a major challenge when it caused property damage, financial losses, and a decline in productivity. Pak Sweets was unable to meet demand, and the company's reputation was at stake. The CEO believed that firing the troublemakers was not an option; it would only address the problem temporarily and might result in union strikes and lockouts. The CEO needed a plan to resolve the ethnic-based conflicts in the factory and their negative impact on the company.

In 2010, the recently appointed chief executive officer of VOSS Water (VOSS), a Norwegian luxury bottled water company, had been given an opportunity to take the brand in a new direction. He knew that take-home retail markets represented a huge opportunity for growth for a company that was used to selling its water in on-premises, luxury locations such as resorts and restaurants; however, the company's past attempts to grow into the retail space had produced dismal results. VOSS's new leader understood that he would have to work hard to unite his team behind his vision. How could he learn from the steps of his predecessors and use hindsight to create an opportunity for the luxury water brand?

Sprint Corporation, a major U.S. wireless carrier, had been losing customers and suffering financially since its merger with Nextel in 2005. Sprint was also ranked the lowest among major U.S. carriers in terms of network speed and data performance. But a new opportunity emerged when the SoftBank Group acquired Sprint in 2013. The new chief executive officer (CEO), appointed in August 2014, publicly gave himself three to five years to turn around this major telecommunication company. The new CEO had a plan; however, he faced many challenges. Sprint had national brand recognition, but customers demanded improvements in network quality and service reliability, and the turnaround plan needed to be implemented in a capital-intensive industry with a saturated market. The optimistic CEO admitted that he faced the biggest challenge of his career. Would he be successful in turning around Sprint's fortunes in this competitive industry?

In 2014, the general manager of the established and successful Hong Kong-based company Hung Fook Tong, which produced and sold herbal teas, wondered how his company could profitably expand to mainland China. After Hung Fook Tong's recent initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, its shareholders' equity had tripled. The initial public offering committed Hung Fook Tong to expanding its business in mainland China; however, that market posed many challenges, in part because it represented a far larger market. The general manager knew it was critical to determine a suitable and successful expansion strategy.

Nissan's resilience strategy had been considered an exemplary response to the triple disaster in Japan in March 2011. The Japanese automobile industry made their respective recovery efforts to resume production and delivery of vehicles after suffering damage from an earthquake, tsunami, and a nuclear crisis, but it took months before they could reach pre-disaster levels of operations. Nissan's resilience practices and supply chain disruption management were acknowledged as superior to those of their peers and were appreciated by experts and analysts. Nonetheless, it took Nissan more than a month to resume production, and each day of lost production cost Nissan $25 million.

In May 2015, a managing partner in an Australian venture capital firm faced a major dilemma. As one of five partners, he held the deciding vote on whether his firm, KTN Capital, would take an entrepreneur's idea for a solar-powered water filter and build a new company around it, or instead, invest in the entrepreneur's company. The venture capital firm would not be doing anything illegal by taking the entrepreneur's idea because the entrepreneur had not properly protected his intellectual property through patents, but the decision-maker was struggling with the ethics of that choice. To further complicate the situation, the entrepreneur was very difficult to deal with, and the investment firm was facing pressure from the fund's investors to find investments that would yield big returns. The managing partner had many business and ethical considerations to factor into his decision, and it seemed there would be no easy choice.