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Positive Links Speaker Series - The Science of Failing Well: How to Change Your Thinking to Lead (and Thrive) in an Uncertain World

  • 1.  Positive Links Speaker Series - The Science of Failing Well: How to Change Your Thinking to Lead (and Thrive) in an Uncertain World

    Posted 11 days ago
    Positive Links logoAmy C. Edmondson
    Positive Links Speaker Series
    The Science of Failing Well: How to Change Your Thinking to Lead (and Thrive) in an Uncertain World
     
    Amy C. Edmondson
    Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Harvard University
     
    Thursday, February 26, 2026
    3:00 - 4:00 p.m. ET
    Free, registration required
    In-Person and Online Options
    Register here
    About Positive Links
    Presented by the Center for Positive Organizations, the Positive Links Speaker Series has run for over 22 years, with 165 sessions, and is one of the most-watched speaker series at Michigan Ross. Positive Links features distinguished scholars sharing leading ideas in the science of thriving. Learn how to ignite organizational excellence built on a foundation of human thriving together with our community of researchers, students, staff, and leaders.
    About the talk
    This session explores a mindset shift that supports effective action in the face of uncertainty. This shift is well captured by the short phrase, "think like a scientist," offered as a deliberate contrast to thinking like a (command-and-control) manager. Classically, managers supplied answers and plans and evaluated how well others executed on them.  In contrast, successful leaders of scientific labs offer direction and questions that empower action and help others make sense of data. This is not about being more lenient or laissez-faire, but rather about a new type of discipline. Their model provides an analogy that leaders in any industry today can learn from. In short, today's leaders must abandon the discipline of control to embrace the discipline of learning. Key concepts covered include psychological safety, intelligent failure, and interpersonal skills for high-quality conversations. 
    About Edmondson
    Amy C. Edmondson is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of society. 
     
    Edmondson has been recognized by the biannual Thinkers50 global ranking of management thinkers since 2011, and most recently was ranked #1 in 2021 and 2023; she also received that organization's Breakthrough Idea Award in 2019 and Talent Award in 2017.  She studies teaming, psychological safety, and organizational learning, and her articles have been published in numerous academic and management outlets, including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Harvard Business Review, and California Management Review.
     
    Her 2019 book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation and Growth, has been translated into 15 languages. Edmondson's latest book, Right Kind of Wrong, builds on her prior work on psychological safety and teaming to provide a framework for thinking about, discussing, and practicing the science of failing well. First published in the US and in the UK (Penguin) in September 2023, the book is due to be translated into 24 additional languages and was selected for the Financial Times and Schroders Best Business Book of the Year award. 
    Host
    Monica Worline, Faculty Director, Center for Positive Organizations
    Series Sponsors
    The Center for Positive Organizations thanks the Sanger Leadership Center, Tauber Institute for Global Operations, and the Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurship for their support of the 2025-26 Positive Links Speaker Series.
    Promotional Partners
    Additionally, we thank Ann Arbor SPARK, the Managerial and Organizational Cognition (MOC) Division of the Academy of Management, and the Organization Development and Change (ODC) Division of the Academy of Management for their Positive Links Speaker Series promotional partnerships.
    Center for Positive Organizations
    Stephen M. Ross School of Business | University of Michigan
    701 Tappan Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1234
    positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu


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