A reading of an era from the perspective of Harvard Business Review

This week, my guest on the Netizen program on Medyascope TV was Serdar Turan, Editor-in-Chief of Harvard Business Review. In the program, we discussed the last twenty-five years of the internet, the business world, and thought leadership in Turkey; we debated how an era began, how it evolved, and what threshold we have reached today.

It was a long-overdue meeting for two people who have been observing the same transformations from different fronts for over twenty years to finally come together on the same program. We laid out a story that began in the early 2000s, when the dot-com bubble was sweeping the world and the concept of the “new economy” was repeated in almost every sentence. Those were the years when technology and the business world were intertwined in such a visible way for the first time.

Serdar Turan’s publishing journey, which began with İnfomag, was not just an attempt to launch a magazine. It was an effort to systematically understand the link between technology and the business world in Turkey. While hundreds of pages of management and technology magazines were being published in the West, he told me about the excitement of establishing a similar intellectual foundation here.

The years that have passed have changed not only publishing formats but also ways of doing business. We discussed the evolution of corporate systems like ERP and CRM from the “what is this?” stage to becoming corporate necessities; how the mobile revolution redesigned the business world; and how analytical thinking and artificial intelligence took a seat at the strategy table. But what is remarkable is this: The tools change, the speed increases, the terms are renewed; yet the fundamental questions of the business world do not change much.

Looking at the first issue of Harvard Business Review from 1923, a significant portion of the topics covered are still valid today. People, productivity, leadership, central banks, modes of production… At that time, the transformation of electricity and industry was being discussed; today, artificial intelligence and automation are being discussed. The set of concepts changes, but the fundamental questions remain the same...

In the program, we especially underlined the “why” question. Why are we implementing a system? Why do we continue a way of doing business? As a solution to which problem did that method emerge, and is that problem still valid? The most intellectual reflex of the business world is the courage to question its own habits.

We went down to the root of the concept of a company. Serdar reminded me that the word “company” means companionship, walking together. He continued that the initial purpose of a company was not just to produce capital; it was to accompany a need. Over time, some functions drifted away from their essence. As in the case of human resources, a structure born with the claim of maintaining the balance between the employee and capital could drift into a different position. It is no coincidence that concepts such as human-centricity, compassionate leadership, and human value are on the agenda again today. The system feels the need to return to its essence.

We also talked about the point Harvard Business Review Turkey has reached today. The issue is no longer just about publishing a magazine. It is about building an ecosystem that centers on content. The magazine, digital articles, video content, podcasts, summits, and thought leadership projects are united on a single axis: Producing in-depth content. Acting not with a news reflex, but with the ambition of producing analysis and frameworks.

When the subject came to the chaotic moments we are currently experiencing, perhaps the most important finding of the program emerged: Uncertainty is the norm. Stability is the exception. This idea, which was voiced during the pandemic, is critical to understanding today. The world has never been truly static. We have only built temporary areas of order within the cloud of uncertainty.

The era transition we are experiencing today stands at a similar threshold. The past has not yet completely disappeared. The future has not yet been fully established. We are living in two realities at the same time. We oscillate between the reflex of clinging to old methods and the tendency to exaggerate the new.

What needs to be done in this period is not to surrender to fear, but to consciously build balance. Relationship, trust, reality, and balance do not form on their own. They are built, and if they are not managed, they deteriorate. This is the primary task facing the business world, the media, and society.

What we talked about on the Netizen program this week was not nostalgia. It was an accounting of an era. With the accumulation of twenty-five years, we discussed how we will look at the next twenty-five years. Because every era transition can be overcome not by denying the past, but by understanding it. I recommend that you watch this enjoyable program as well.