Lecture Notes: Interview with Amy Edmondson and Adam Grant

Introduction

• Host: Des Deerlove, co-founder of Thinkers 50
• Guests:
  • Amy Edmondson: Harvard professor, expert in psychological safety, author of The Fearless Organization and The Right Kind of Wrong
  • Adam Grant: Organizational psychologist, author of Think Again, Give and Take, and Hidden Potential

Key Themes

1. Hidden Potential (Adam Grant)

• Core Idea: Many underestimate their own capabilities and are underestimated by others.
• Late Bloomers: Success often doesn't depend on being a prodigy; motivation and passion play significant roles.
• Character Skills for Growth:
  • Embrace discomfort
  • Be a "sponge" for information
  • Accept imperfection and mistakes
• Failure Budget: Launch projects knowing some may fail to encourage risk-taking.

2. The Right Kind of Wrong (Amy Edmondson)

• Intelligent Failures: Failures that are:
  • In pursuit of a goal
  • In new territory
  • Hypothesis-driven
  • As small as possible
• Types of Failures:
  • Basic Failures: Preventable with available knowledge
  • Complex Failures: Multicausal, e.g., Challenger disaster

3. Leaders and Risk-Taking

• Celebrating Failure: Normalize failure as part of learning and innovation.
• Context Matters: Understand the situation before deciding how to proceed (familiar vs. new territory).

Discussion Points

• Adam's Approach: Encourages embracing mistakes to fuel learning, not aiming for intentional failure.
• Amy's Perspective: Stresses intelligent risks and destigmatizing failure.
• Feedback vs. Advice: Adam suggests asking for advice instead of feedback to gain actionable insights.

Application in Leadership

• Psychological Safety: Important for encouraging innovation and learning.
• Creating a Culture: Leaders should be open to criticism and model transparency.
• Listening Skills: Critical in new, uncertain situations to foster innovation.

Lessons Learned

• For Leaders:
  • Recognize different contexts and adjust strategies accordingly.
  • Foster an environment of psychological safety.
  • Embrace and learn from failures intelligently.
• Personal Growth:
  • Seek a variety of perspectives for balanced advice.
  • Practice what you teach or preach.

Conclusion

• Takeaways: Discussed the importance of embracing failure, fostering psychological safety, and leveraging diverse perspectives for growth.
• Final Thought: Leaders and individuals should aim to improve continuously by learning from both successes and failures.