On the evolution of a behavioral theory: an interview with James G. March (Journal of Organization Design, 2017)

James G. March · c. 2013

The piece opens with

Ordinary learning from experience makes organizations abandon things after early failure, so good things are dropped too soon

Their wordsI think the big secret in this is to recognize that normal learning, under samples failure, normal learning makes you abandon things in which you fail before you know much about them. Therefore, you are likely to abandon good things too soon.

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James G. March did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
Ordinary learning from experience makes organizations abandon things after early failure, so good things are dropped too soon

Their wordsI think the big secret in this is to recognize that normal learning, under samples failure, normal learning makes you abandon things in which you fail before you know much about them. Therefore, you are likely to abandon good things too soon.
Our reading
The deepest problem with novelty is that most novel ideas are bad ones

Their wordsThe deepest problem with novelty is that most novel ideas are bad ones. If you specialize in novel ideas, you specialize in bad ideas, and that’s not a good way to survive.
Our reading
Behavioral theory beats economic theory on justice, because economic theory produces people who are greedy and unconcerned about social welfare

Their wordsWith respect to justice, I would say that the behavioral theory clearly has an advantage. Economic theory generates people who are greedy and unconcerned about social welfare.
Our reading
People need heroes and the belief that human action makes a difference, and leaders are part of that story

Their wordsWe need heroes. We need to imagine that human actions made a difference. Leaders are part of the classic story by which we come to imagine that.
Our reading
A leader should be decisive but skeptical, acting firmly without being very sure of acting correctly

Their wordsThe thread that runs through Chinese philosophy that fascinates me is the thread that says the leader should be decisive, but skeptical. They should act firmly, but not be very sure that he’s acting correctly.
Our reading
In organization studies, the pursuit of relevance makes scholars abandon the pursuit of knowledge too fast

Their wordsIn our field, the pursuit of relevance leads you to abandon, too fast, the pursuit of knowledge and to become a kind of second rate consultant.
Our reading
Interdisciplinary work requires full qualification in each discipline, so the people who go into it are underqualified

Their wordsIn order to do interdisciplinary work, you have to be a fully qualified person in both or all three or all four disciplines, and that’s not very easy for most people. As a result, the people who go into interdisciplinary work are underqualified for the work.
Our reading
Students of organizations need to explore the implications of efforts to take the humans out of human organizations

Their wordsBeyond that, I think students of organizations need to explore the implications of contemporary efforts to take the humans out of human organizations.

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