Thinking Allowed

medical / technology / education / art / flub

Just finished reading Edgar Schein's Humble Inquiry: the gentle are of asking instead of telling. Edgar Schein is the Professor

Just finished reading Edgar Schein's Humble Inquiry: the gentle are of asking instead of telling.

Edgar Schein is the Professor of Management Emeritus at MIT Sloan School of Management. This simply written and short book communicates his life's work on organisational psychology. Very well written.

The case study exploring communication and leadership in a cardiac surgery team (based on Amy Edmondson's work) is particularly well written. It highlights why perhaps some teams (given the same knowledge, skills, and motivations / rewards) seem to do better than others. It opens up an insight into that intangible called 'culture'.

Schein also introduces his ORJI cycle for reflecting on opportunities to listen and not ask as an individual, a team, or an organisation.

Source: www.amazon.co.uk

schein written edgar management team well motivations intangible