Harvard Business Review

APRIL 18, 2012

Thomas Merton, the Christian Mystic, wrote, "There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence to which the idealist fighting for peace by non-violent methods most easily succumbs: activism and overwork." Merton was right, and not just about nonviolent protests. His thinking applies to every idealistic cause.

Merton 14

Merton Influence Commitment Construction 14

Harvard Business Review

DECEMBER 15, 2016

My parents embodied a distinction that the sociologist Robert Merton made in the 1950s studying a small American town. Born out of the rubble of nationalism, it was primarily a humanistic project—not an economic one. Up to Merton’s time, however, locals and cosmopolitans, remained strange bedfellows.

Merton 8

Merton Globalization Politics Learning-by-Doing 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 27, 2014

The first question to answer is how much of the success in a given field, or for a given project, is due to chance. Evidence of the role of chance often comes in the form of high variance of performance – a right-skewed distribution of project outcomes. Here are three answers. The role of chance in determining performance .

Career 8

Career Planning Kahneman Uncertainty 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 25, 2011

Merton and Elinor Barber.). The DNA molecule was never their "official" project. Finally, as for the presence of a pregnant woman, a combination of carnal desires on the part of the princes, and imprints of hands on the ground sufficed to bring about this final deduction. The princes did far more than make chance observations.

Merton 15

Merton Creativity Skills Innovation 15

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

In slightly more formal terms, Id suggest that they were able to take on, at least in tiny part, five of Robert Merton and Zvi Bodies six standard functions of a financial system: settling payments, providing information, setting incentives, pooling resources, and transferring resources.

Banking 15

Banking Crisis Merton Guidelines 15

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 29, 2010

In slightly more formal terms, I'd suggest that they were able to take on, at least in tiny part, five of Robert Merton and Zvi Bodie's six standard functions of a financial system: settling payments, providing information, setting incentives, pooling resources, and transferring resources.

Banking 15

Banking Crisis Merton Decentralization 15