Into the Storm

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The Research Challenge

In his provocative book The Halo Effect,¹ Phil Rosenzweig lists nine “delusions”—errors in logic or judgment—that can lead to a distorted understanding of organizational performance. In my experience, three of these are particularly problematic.

Was It Just Luck?

The first barrier that gets in the way of drawing conclusions concerns the role of luck. We all want to learn from success, so we look at the victors and draw conclusions. We do it with organizations, with successful executives, and with winners of ocean races. We all want to be winners. But a lingering question concerns the role of luck in winning performance. ...