Ideas & Culture - Dr Robert N. Winter (Page 3)

The Dangers of Leaders Who Don't Know What They Don't Know

“They don’t know what they don’t know” captures a core leadership risk. Unaware managers make poor decisions and damage morale. Organisations that embrace learning, critical thinking, and ethical judgment build more resilient and just systems.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 7 Jul 2024

The Dangers of Leaders Who Don't Know What They Don't Know

How to Think Better: A Shallow Dive into a Deep Topic

Critical thinking is vital but demanding. It isn’t fixed; it’s built through practice. Time for deep thought, less multitasking, patience, writing, and wide reading sharpen judgment, creativity, and the development of original, valuable ideas.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 26 May 2024

An artist's illustration of artificial intelligence ai this image depicts ai safety research to prevent the misuse and encourage beneficial uses it was created by artist khyati trehan

Look!, there is a Tiger in that Grass

The first in a series on learning from history and its value for organisational decision-making. Today, those who draw lessons from the past risk being labelled “on the wrong side of history,” much as dissenters in business face exile for challenging dominant narratives.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 12 May 2024

Fixed and Growth, Twin Aspects of our Mindset

A fixed mindset breeds stagnation and toxicity; a growth mindset supports learning, collaboration, and innovation. But it isn’t blind optimism or effort alone. Real growth requires self-awareness, discipline, and balancing the fixed and growth impulses within us.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 28 Apr 2024

Fixed and Growth, Twin Aspects of our Mindset

Calling Time on Sunk Costs

Reframing so-called “negative” people as pragmatists exposes unchecked optimism as a driver of the sunk cost fallacy—loss aversion, ego, and false hope. Drop the Kool-Aid, face reality, and better decisions come into view.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 18 Feb 2024

A Fallacy of Resourcing

When managers fall into the sunk cost fallacy, more data rarely helps because the problem is emotional, not rational. Biases like ego, loss aversion, and optimism drive persistence. Awareness, governance, and decisive leadership matter more than analysis alone.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 10 Feb 2024

How to Sabotage a Meeting

Ever get the sense that the meeting you are in is more about appearances than actions? Find that people keep on raising decision items that were already settled? Notice irrelevant issues dominate the agenda? Quite possibly an aspiring CIA operative is sabotaging your meeting.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 3 Feb 2024

The Ties of Informal Leadership

Informal leadership works best through small, closed ties of three people, combining trust and task focus. When ties are only bilateral or too numerous, informal leadership weakens and can undermine organisational effectiveness.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 26 Nov 2023

Are Hierarchies Healthy for Organisations?

Hierarchy itself doesn’t harm performance; knowledge hoarding does. Teams can thrive with deep hierarchies if information flows openly. When managers hide knowledge or deflect with “above your pay grade,” performance and culture quickly erode.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 8 Oct 2023

Image of a pile of rocks on a beach. Emblematic of a hierarchy.

Leading Psychological Safety in Teams

The challenges in creating psychological safety are in some ways more complex for managers because they not only need to lead the process, but also lead themselves in the initiation of the process.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 16 Sep 2023

A Psychological Safety Primer

Going against the grain may make people feel unsafe, yet it is through this process that true psychological safety is ultimately achieved—because people feel safe to feel unsafe and to challenge the status quo.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 20 Aug 2023

Epochs Within Epochs

While our own short lives may lack the eternality of the Holy Spirit we can transcend events by our choices. Choices which, religious or not, have deep and long lasting moral implications.

By Dr Robert N. Winter

/ 8 Apr 2023