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Why Smart Executives Fail: Common Mistakes & Warning Signs
  • Level Foundation
  • Duration 17 hours
  • Course by Dartmouth College
  • Offered by

About

We don’t often talk about mistakes and failures, but there’s so much to learn from what goes wrong. In this course, Professor Sydney Finkelstein will teach you why leaders make mistakes, and what you can do to avoid making those same mistakes yourself. Using real-life examples of smart executives who failed, Professor Finkelstein will walk you through scenarios that prepare you to understand, manage, and even take advantage of the continuous change that is inevitable in organizations and in life.

Modules

What Great Strategists Know

    • 11 Videos
    • 4 Readings
    • 5 Assignment
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5 Assignment

  • Case Study Assignment - Your Lessons and Insights from Wang Labs
  • Application Exercise - Analyzing Your Own Organization - Core Competencies
  • Application Exercise - Analyzing Your Own Organization (Round 2)
  • Application Exercise - The Change Notebook
  • Case Study Assignment - Motorola in the Cell Phone Industry

11 Videos

  • Why Smart Executives Fail
  • Wang Labs
  • Lessons from Wang Labs - Competition and Customers
  • Lessons from Wang Labs - Intellectual Honesty
  • Lessons from Wang Labs - A Little History Lesson
  • A Deep Dive on Strategy - From Vision to Value Chains
  • A Deep Dive on Strategy - Going a Little Deeper
  • Why Core Competence Strategies Make Sense
  • Quick Note on Frameworks
  • Primer on Major Strategic Mistakes
  • Debrief - Lessons and Insights from the Motorola Case Study

4 Readings

  • Case Study - Wang Labs
  • Case Study - Motorola in the Cell Phone Industry
  • Of Mice and Mobile Men
  • Too Big to Succeed?

The Delusions of a Dream Company

    • 6 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 5 Assignment
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5 Assignment

  • Application Exercise - Lessons Learned from the Tom Mendoza Podcast
  • Application Exercise - Practicing Feedback
  • Case Study Assignment - Johnson & Johnson in the Stent Business
  • Application Exercise - Learning From Failure
  • Application Exercise - Learning From Others

6 Videos

  • The Firm
  • Delusions of a Dream Company
  • The Perfect Storm
  • Feedback
  • Debrief - Lessons and Insights from the Johnson & Johnson Case Study
  • Practice Exercises

3 Readings

  • Why Corporate Culture Counts
  • Podcast - The Sydcast Episode 91. Tom Mendoza - Technology and Culture from a Silicon Valley Pioneer, May 30, 2021.
  • Case Study - Johnson & Johnson in the Stent Business

The Manager as Master Puzzle Solver

    • 7 Videos
    • 4 Readings
    • 3 Assignment
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3 Assignment

  • Case Study Assignment - Snow Brands
  • Application Exercise - The Power of Incentives for You
  • Application Exercise - Summary

7 Videos

  • The Manager as Master Puzzle Solver
  • Debrief: Lessons and Insights from the Snow Brands Case Study
  • Accountability
  • The Unintended Consequences of Incentives
  • Breaking the Rules?
  • Good Management Requires Good Oversight
  • Knowledge-Sharing Across Boundaries

4 Readings

  • Case Study - Snow Brands Group
  • The Executive Accountability Myth
  • The Third Rail of Management
  • Neanderthals and Learning Rationale

The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful People

    • 9 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 7 Assignment
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7 Assignment

  • Application Exercise - Habit 1 - The Illusion of Personal Preeminence
  • Application Exercise - Habit 2 - The Company is Mine
  • Application Exercise - Habit 3 - All the Answers
  • Application Exercise - Habit 4 - My Way or the Highway
  • Application Exercise - Habit 5 - Obsessed with Image
  • Application Exercise - Habit 6 - Disregarding Major Obstacles
  • Application Exercise - Habit 7 - Inability to Learn

9 Videos

  • The Seven Habits of Spectacularly Unsuccessful People
  • Habit 1 - The Illusion of Personal Preeminence (Travis Kalanick, Uber)
  • Habit 2 - The Company is Mine (Adam Neumann, WeWork)
  • Habit 3 - All the Answers (An Wang, Wang Labs)
  • Habit 4 - My Way or the Highway (Dick Fuld, Lehman Brothers)
  • Habit 5 - Obsessed with Image (Citizen Kane - William Randolph Hearst)
  • Habit 6 - Disregarding Major Obstacles (Iridium)
  • Habit 7 - Inability to Learn
  • Why Smart Executives Fail - Now You Know What You Should Do to Avoid These Mistakes

1 Readings

  • Case Study - Theranos: An Oral History

Auto Summary

Discover why smart executives fail and learn to avoid common pitfalls with Professor Sydney Finkelstein in this engaging Business & Management course. Using real-life examples, you'll gain insights into understanding and managing organizational change. Offered by Coursera, this foundational course spans 1020 minutes and is available through Starter and Professional subscriptions. Perfect for aspiring leaders and managers.

Sydney Finkelstein
Instructor

Sydney Finkelstein