For any enterprise to be competitive, continuous learning and
improvement are key—but not always easy to achieve. After a decade of
research, the authors have concluded that four biases stand in the way:
We focus too heavily on success, are too quick to act, try too hard to
fit in, and rely too much on experts. Each of these biases raises
challenges, but each can be curbed with particular strategies. A
preoccupation with success, for example, leads to an unreasonable fear
of failure, a mindset that inhibits risk taking, a focus on past
performance rather than potential, and blindness to the role of luck in
successes and failures. Managers therefore need to treat mistakes as
learning opportunities, recognize and foster workers’ capacity for
growth, and conduct data-based project reviews. To counter the bias
toward action—and the unthinking perpetual motion and exhaustion that
ensue—leaders can schedule more work breaks and make time for
reflection. They can redress the tendency to conform, which stifles
innovation, by encouraging workers to cultivate their individual
strengths and to speak up when they have ideas for improvements. And
they can develop and empower their employees to solve problems instead
of turning automatically to outside experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]