Only 10% of job opportunities are filled with internal lateral hires which represents a missed opportunity for employers and employees alike. Existing workers' institutional knowledge can help them quickly contribute in their new roles. Workers can also gain new skills that align with their career goals, leading to increased retention. Based on their research, the authors offer four practical insights to help companies that are currently underutilizing internal talent.

As companies struggle with chronic skills shortages and changing labor demographics, a new generation of talent platforms, offering on-demand access to highly trained workers, has begun to help. These platforms include marketplaces for premium expertise (such as Toptal and Catalant), for freelance workers (Upwork and 99designs), and for crowd­sourcing innovation (Kaggle and InnoCentive). Almost all Fortune 500 firms use such platforms. But most do so in an ad hoc, inefficient way, according to a Harvard Business School/BCG study. Companies need to get much more strategic about their engagement with talent platforms and fully embrace their ability to increase labor force flexibility, speed time to market, and facilitate business model innovation. That will require rewiring policies and processes and redefining working norms. Most important, leaders must inspire the cultural shift needed to realize the platforms' transformative potential.

In 2010 the Memphis City School District merged with the neighboring Shelby County School system under the supervision of a single board of education and superintendent. It promised much more than just administrative synergies-it was an opportunity to change a culture, as well as policies and practices that had existed for decades. By 2010 Shelby County school system had about 50,000 students, approximately 55 percent white and 37 percent economically disadvantaged. The Memphis student body, which numbered around 100,000, was about 85 percent black and 87 percent economically disadvantaged. In 2010, residents from within and outside the city each contributed about 50 percent of the tax revenue for the two systems, but, based on enrollment, two-thirds of the budget was allocated to Memphis City schools. Pitt Hyde and the Hyde Family Foundation saw the merger as a once-in-a-lifetime fresh start for public education in Memphis and he was determined to do what he could to make sure the merger realized its potential. Many interests, practices and players were deeply entrenched in the Memphis schools. But Hyde and his wife had encountered like-minded reformers-educators, government officials, business people and not-for-profit leaders who were willing to put a shoulder to the wheel. Prior to the merger, the Hydes had notched some considerable successes, starting with the legislation that permitted establishment of the state's first charter schools. They had established valuable partnerships, and developed performance standards and accountability for teachers and administrators. They had helped inaugurate pay-for-performance for teachers and a teacher evaluation system based on student outcomes. Building relationships, raising the money, getting others involved were critical steps along the way. They had brought new voices into the campaign.

AdMob's CEO is deciding between international expansion and increasing the number of publishers to strengthen the company's advantage in the mobile advertising industry. AdMob displayed advertising on global devices, powered 6,000 websites and 1,000 applications, and served over 6 billion advertising impressions a month to 25 million unique visitors. AdMob's success attracted numerous competitors, such as Millennial Media and Quattro Wireless, both of which were expanding quickly and had raised considerable capital. The company now needs to allocate its limited resources wisely to position it for long-term success.