Sublime

Paul Lawrence and Nitin Nohria,

the most compelling mechanisms to me are those that deal with uncertainty, instability, lack of candor, and the

This question eventually led O’Brien to Chris Argyris, whose writings resonated with Hanover’s managers’ experience. Argyris’s “action science,” offered theory and method for examining “the reasoning that underlies our actions.”9 Teams and organizations trap themselves, he says, in “defensive routines” that insulate our mental models from

change. Edgar Schein, former professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, said: “Learning only happens when survival anxiety is greater than learning anxiety. Learning anxiety comes from being afraid to try something new for fear that we will look stupid in the attempt. It can threaten our self-esteem and even our identity.”

In each case, a brilliant man put his company in jeopardy because measuring himself and his legacy outweighed everything else.

Project Aristotle,

Sometimes people hold back from leading adaptive change because they just cannot tolerate knowing that they might fail. When

Fear inhibits learning.

It’s actually the employees in the growth-mindset companies who say that their organization supports (reasonable) risk-taking, innovation, and creativity.