In this video, economist and author Tim Harford teaches an important lesson about succeeding at failure through the story of psychologist Leon Festinger’s infiltration of a cult led by Dorothy […]

Groups of people make more effective decisions when diverse viewpoints are brought to the table. Learn the psychology of non-conformity and how it applies to your team in this lesson excerpt from economist Tim Harford. The full lesson is available on Big Think+.

Economist Tim Harford on what prison camps can teach you about the economy.

We need to push decision making authority as far down the organization as possible. Then people can try new things.

Present clear, crisp evidence that people can believe about whether an idea is working. 

Get straight to the criticism, but express it very positively: "Wouldn’t it be even better if we did X, wouldn’t it be even better if we did Y?" 

Try a few new things and yeah, sometimes it will be embarrassing. But maybe that is not such a bad thing. Maybe it’s worth it.

In disagreeing, be specific, targeted, focused and also positive.

All organizations make mistakes. The economist Tim Harford argues that organizations need to create a culture where these mistakes are revealed, exposed and corrected as soon as possible.

Kennedy realized that people were agreeing with him and with each other because they didn’t want to feel out of place.

Examples of military leadership in Iraq show us the limitations of leadership that stomps out dissent.