Economic downturns don't just shrink revenue, they quietly reshape how people think. Research across 51 countries and nearly 60,000 respondents shows downturns trigger zero-sum thinking: the belief that someone else has to lose for you to win. Collaboration collapses at exactly the moment leaders need it most. Here's how to name the pull, disarm it, and keep your team playing an infinite game.

Every leader talks about learning. Almost no one talks about unlearning — the willingness to stop doing what used to work but doesn't anymore. Two research studies from 2007 and 2016 spell out why unlearning is the capability that turns upheaval into creative destruction. Post-COVID gave every business a once-in-a-generation chance to see itself freshly. The real question: what are you ready to let go of?