Abstract
Guest Editor: Robert Gustafsson, Aalto University
Empirical positioning for the proposed book chapter: Paradox of being stuck
Why is it that highly trained seasoned executives and their successful organizations fail? On the surface, this doesn’t make sense because they are very successful; yet research in the organization sciences provides no shortage of evidence to prove just that. From the classic Mann Gulch fire disaster of Weick’s famous collapse of sensemaking study, to studies of myopia of learning, escalation of commitment, threat-rigidity, dominant logic, architect of
simplicity, the Icarus Paradox, to core competencies turning into core rigidities, and navigating new competitive markets using “old” cognitive maps, and many more such examples point to a ubiquitous phenomena where highly trained and experienced professionals find themselves “stuck” in the heat of battle, unable to move and progress. At these trying moments, they have a tendency to cling onto their past habitual practices, their visions of the world shrink, and they oversimplify the complexity of the situation. In moments like these: DROP YOUR TOOLS and UNLEARN! This proposed book chapter introduces a framework that has had consistent success in helping seasoned executives and key decision makers open up the alternatives whenever they get stuck with a burning unsolved problem, issue of challenge.
Empirical positioning for the proposed book chapter: Paradox of being stuck
Why is it that highly trained seasoned executives and their successful organizations fail? On the surface, this doesn’t make sense because they are very successful; yet research in the organization sciences provides no shortage of evidence to prove just that. From the classic Mann Gulch fire disaster of Weick’s famous collapse of sensemaking study, to studies of myopia of learning, escalation of commitment, threat-rigidity, dominant logic, architect of
simplicity, the Icarus Paradox, to core competencies turning into core rigidities, and navigating new competitive markets using “old” cognitive maps, and many more such examples point to a ubiquitous phenomena where highly trained and experienced professionals find themselves “stuck” in the heat of battle, unable to move and progress. At these trying moments, they have a tendency to cling onto their past habitual practices, their visions of the world shrink, and they oversimplify the complexity of the situation. In moments like these: DROP YOUR TOOLS and UNLEARN! This proposed book chapter introduces a framework that has had consistent success in helping seasoned executives and key decision makers open up the alternatives whenever they get stuck with a burning unsolved problem, issue of challenge.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | NEW HORIZONS IN MANAGERIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL COGNITION |
| Publication status | In preparation - Jun 2022 |
Publication series
| Name | NEW HORIZONS IN MANAGERIAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL COGNITION |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Emerald |
