Publications

05 Sep 2023
Book

Thriving After Failing: How to Turn Your Setbacks Into Triumphs

they do stumble, their instinct is to hide their mistakes, rather than openly acknowledge them. Yet to unlock potential success, Edmondson says, people need to be honest about failures, so they can learn from them. Likewise, at a time... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Research Summary

Overview

By: Amy C. Edmondson

My research examines psychological safety and cross-boundary teaming within and between organizations. I am particularly interested in how leaders enable the learning and collaboration that are vital to performance in a dynamic environment. In one stream of my... View Details

2013
Book

Judgment in Managerial Decision Making

By: Max Bazerman and Don A. Moore

Is your judgment influenced by personal biases? In situations requiring careful judgment, we're all influenced by our own biases to some extent. But, with Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, you can learn how to overcome those biases to make better... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Managerial Roles; Performance Improvement; Prejudice and Bias

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

A Perfect Fit: Aligning Organization & Strategy

Monday morning. Eight managers, handpicked by their superiors, face one another in the middle of a room. Seated in a semicircle behind them is the company's top management team. As the members of the inner circle report what they have View Details

Keywords: by Judith A. Ross

16 May 2017
News

The Enduring Work of David A. Garvin

December 1987 (Revised August 1990)
Case

Florida Power & Light's Quality Improvement Program

Describes a major electric utility's highly successful effort to institute a comprehensive quality improvement program throughout the organization. Designed to be used in a comparative analysis of the quality improvement effort described in Paul Revere Insurance Co.... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Quality; Performance Productivity; Utilities Industry; Florida

Educators

Blog

Leading in Tough Times: HBS Faculty Member Amy C. Edmondson on Psychological Safety

be afraid of sharing their opinion, insights, and concerns. A leader can start to shift the way employees think by framing the work ahead as a learning problem and making it clear that the group needs everyone's brains and voices in the... View Details

1994
Book

Contrived Competition: Regulation and Deregulation in America

By: Richard H. K. Vietor

This book explains how four major firms--American Airlines, El Paso Natural Gas, AT&T, and Bank America--and their respective managements were challenged by the deregulation of markets starting in the late 1970s. The four stories illustrate the dynamic process of... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States

2020
Working Paper

Draw Near to Go Far: The Role of Convergence in Capitalizing on Exploration

By: Carolyn Fu

Organizations are often advised to engage heavily in exploration in order to succeed – to cast a wide net for diverse solutions that are superior to what they currently exploit. However, what is the organization to do when the fruits of its exploration are inconsistent... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Learning; Knowledge Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions

Read Now

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Breaking the Code of Change

Two dramatically different approaches to organizational change are being employed in the world today, according to our observations, research, and experience. We call these Theory E and Theory O of change. Like all managerial action,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer & Nitin Nohria

26 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

High-Stakes Decision Making: The Lessons of Mount Everest

demonstrates a more holistic approach to learning from large-scale organizational failures. It suggests that we cannot think about individual, group, and organizational levels... View Details

Keywords: by Michael A. Roberto

January 2023
Article

Psychological Safety Comes of Age: Observed Themes in an Established Literature

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Derrick P. Bransby

Since its renaissance in the 1990s, psychological safety research has flourished—a boom motivated by recognition of the challenge of navigating uncertainty and change. Today, its theoretical and practical significance is amplified by the increasingly complex and... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Risk and Uncertainty; Leadership; Working Conditions; Research; Performance; Learning; Organizational Culture

03 Oct 2017
Sharpening Your Skills

7 Effective Ways to Lead Teams

following articles from our archive address several topics: why "teaming" is so important; the types of managers who make the best team leaders; temporary teams versus standing teams; what we can learn from sports teams; what... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2006
Book

Science Business: The Promise, the Reality, and the Future of Biotech

By: Gary P. Pisano

Why has the biotechnology industry failed to perform up to expectations—despite all its promise? In Science Business, Gary P. Pisano answers this question by providing an incisive critique of the industry. Pisano not only reveals the underlying causes of... View Details

Keywords: Science; Business Ventures; Biotechnology Industry

June 1997
Teaching Note

Innovation in Action: Product Development Projects and Action-Based Learning, Instructor's Note

By: Marco Iansiti

As a project-based course, Managing Product Development has been carefully designed so that classroom discussion and students' project team activities infuse each other: learning from course materials enhances project activities, which in turn enrich subsequent... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Product Development; Projects; Groups and Teams