Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success to Achieve Extraordinary Results

10

Unlearning Incentives

The iron rule of nature is: You get what you reward for.—Charlie Munger

I can vividly remember the day not that long ago when I had the opportunity to sit in on an executive strategy team meeting of one of the world’s largest banks. I was invited to give my perspective on the necessary conditions for creating high-performing organizations, specifically the required leadership mindset and behaviors, and compare and contrast it with what the bank was doing. The meeting ran two hours, but the first 90 minutes or so were devoted to the attendees trying to outdo one another in terms of how well their businesses were performing, and the exceptional figures they were getting—evidenced by their perfect records and positive indicators ...