Guru Madhavan is the Norman R. Augustine Senior Scholar and senior director of programs at the National Academy of Engineering. His new book is Wicked Problems: How to Engineer a Better World (W.W.

Reflecting on a recent conversation, I was asked a deceptively simple but powerful question: “Are we building the right solution?” At first glance, it feels straightforward, but the more I thought ...

While having coffee with an old friend, we talked about our observations with companies lately. He talked about complacency. About people taking short cuts. This was a typical conversation I’ve had ...