Psychological Essentialism - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Jul 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Super Stretch Goals Only for the Very Young?

further growth, and essentially the loss of control of the company by the board, which was even required to remake its composition. At Volkswagen, eerily similar things happened, this time with engineering practices and goals. This sad... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Oct 2009
What Do You Think?

Can the “Masks of Command” Coexist with Authentic Leadership?

mask." What do you think? Original Article In a new retrospective of his work titled The Essential Bennis, leadership guru Warren Bennis raises questions about the nature of leadership that are related to some we considered several... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

25 Nov 2013
Research & Ideas

Hiding From Managers Can Increase Your Productivity

you." At the factory, the workers were essentially "managing up" by protecting their managers, themselves, and their company from unproductive attentional capture. The findings indicate that it may behoove managers to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Manufacturing

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance

ranging from subtle suggestion to social ostracism, if not outright retaliation. Absentee and anonymous shareholders are unlikely to experience such influences. Thus, as a practical matter, shareholders cannot be made more accountable because they are, in many cases,... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

14 Aug 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 14, 2018

forthcoming Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth By: Edmondson, Amy C. Abstract—The Fearless Organization offers practical... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

23 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 23, 2008

mode of governance in the American economy: business schools became essential sites for the development of tools and methods for the management of the new large, diversified conglomerates (input-output approaches, linear programming,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

25 Oct 2004
Research & Ideas

Planning for Surprises

so common? A: Our research shows that there are psychological, organizational, and political factors that conspire to keep us from dealing with problems that are worthy of our attention. Psychological vulnerabilities have to do with... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

27 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on 2010’s Biggest Business Developments

From a leadership perspective, social networking is making authentic leadership a reality and a necessity for 21st century leaders. You can't hide on your social network when you're revealing who you are and what you really believe. Transparency is View Details

Keywords: by Staff

04 Jan 2010
Research & Ideas

Best of HBS Working Knowledge 2009

companies batten down the hatches, we need leaders who don't compromise on standards and values that are essential in flush times. Fortunately, such leaders do exist. Their insights can help other organizations weather the current crisis,... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

10 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Encouraging Entrepreneurs: Lessons for Government Policy

(50 percent) of people adversely affected by the tax reform were high wealth individuals who had low levels of human capital. In other words, these would-be entrepreneurs lacked the skills, experience, and people power so essential to the... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

02 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Casino Payoff: Hands-Off Management Works Best

have to learn, some organizations may still lean toward this model. "Clearly there are some benefits to tighter control. If your goal is control and minimizing risk, that's going to perform well because people will stick to the script," Campbell says. "If you see each... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Entertainment & Recreation

26 Sep 2024
HBS Case

If a Car Can Drive Itself, Can It Make Life-or-Death Decisions?

people, about consequences and risks and benefits for other people, and also in a murkier but important sense, the ethics of an organization’s culture and its values.” Elon Musk and Tesla are at the center of a recent HBS case study that View Details

Keywords: by Tom Quinn; Auto; Technology

16 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How to Compete Like a Judo Strategist

nearly sinking CNET by diverting essential resources into Snap!, "Know your limits. Only enter markets where you have a strong competitive advantage. Don't ever risk your core, unless you have to." "Singularity of... View Details

Keywords: by David B. Yoffie & Mary Kwak

16 Dec 2008
First Look

First Look: December 16, 2008

Publication:Annual Review of Psychology 60 (2009): 475-499 Abstract As technology has simplified meeting basic needs, humans have cultivated increasingly psychological avenues for occupying their consumption... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

19 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Do I Dare Say Something?

survival) to "flee" too often from threats that weren't really there than to not flee the one time there was a significant risk. So, we've inherited emotional and cognitive mechanisms that motivate us to avoid perceived risks to our View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

19 Nov 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching The Moral Leader

through her decision to publish. So it probably seemed like a no-brainer to send 2 fairly junior reporters to follow up on the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington. But that decision led to a 2-year hunt in... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Education

15 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 15, 2018

negotiation. Yet unlike professionals such as litigators, journalists, and doctors, who are taught how to ask questions as an essential part of their training, few executives think of questioning as a skill that can be honed—or consider... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

17 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 17

under the Rug: How Unethical Actions Lead to Forgetting of Moral Rules Authors:Lisa L. Shu and Francesca Gino Publication:Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (in press) Abstract Dishonest behavior can have various View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

17 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 17

http://journals.aomonline.org/InPress/main.asp?action=preview&art_id=1065&p_id=2&p_short=AMLE Honest Rationales for Dishonest Behavior Authors:F. Gino and S. Ayal Publication:In The Social Psychology of Morality: Exploring the... View Details