Harvard Business Review’s Most Popular Blog Posts of 2011

Katherine Bell

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Katherine Bell for the Harvard Business Review blog. To read the complete article, check out the wealth of free resources, and sign up for a subscription to HBR email alerts, please click here.

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As 2011 comes to a close, the editors of HBR.org are taking a look back at the most popular blog posts of the year to find out what most preoccupied you, our readers. These 11 posts all hit a common nerve and went viral; it’s no surprise that most of them contain advice about how to succeed and be happy at work. We can’t resist including another 11 posts, a hard-to-agree-upon sampling of the ideas we were proudest to publish and discussions we most enjoyed hosting this year. If you have some free time during the holidays to catch up on your reading, we hope you’ll find this list a good place to start.

[Here are four of the 11. To read the complete article, please click here.]

1. Nine Things Successful People Do Differently
by Heidi Grant Halvorson

Talent plays only a tiny role in your success; what really matters is what you do. This post has stayed on our most popular list for months.

2. I Don’t Understand What Anyone Is Saying Anymore
by Dan Pallotta

We all hate business jargon, but we can’t stop using it. More people commented on this post than on any other in HBR.org’s history.

3. The Best Cover Letter I Ever Received
by David Silverman

Silverman’s basic philosophy on cover letters? Don’t bother. This was originally posted in 2009, and it remains one of our most popular posts.

4. Four Destructive Myths Most Companies Still Live By
by Tony Schwartz

Do you perpetuate these productivity-destroying falsehoods at your company?

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And, in No Particular Order, [three of] Our Editor’s Picks

Was Marx Right?
by Umair Haque