Wonder, Adventure, and Learning

The late, great Warren Bennis believed that leaders need two essential attributes: emotional intelligence and an ability to keep learning. “The executives who don’t get ousted,” he said in a 2001 interview with Ivey Business Journal, “are those who continue to keep their eyebrows raised in wonder and adventure, and are learning all the time.” Bennis, who died two years ago, would have loved “Why Organizations Don’t Learn,” an HBR article from last November by Francesca Gino, of Harvard Business School, and Bradley Staats, of the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. The authors analyzed why companies struggle to become or remain “learning organizations.” They found that deeply ingrained biases often get in the way, causing employees to focus too much on success, take action too quickly, try too hard to fit in, and depend too much on experts. And they suggested ways to counter those biases and “unleash the power of learning.” I’m happy to announce that the piece was just named the winner of the 2016 Warren Bennis Prize, which honors the previous year’s best HBR article on leadership. The award is presented jointly by HBR and the USC Marshall School of Business, where Bennis taught for many years and founded the Leadership Institute. Here’s to Bennis’s memory—and to our readers, hoping they will forever keep their eyebrows raised.

Wonder, Adventure, and Learning

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