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Absence-Neglect and the Origins of Great Strategies

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  • Thomas C. Powell

    (Said Business School, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 1HP, United Kingdom)

Abstract

Great business strategies originate in a top management worldview that seeks to implement bold strategic change in the external world. This worldview generates confident strategic actions capable of producing extreme success. However, it also generates catastrophic failures and lower returns on average. This is because action-oriented managers pay abnormal attention to the observables of sense experience while neglecting the world of absence, a bias I refer to as absence-neglect. Absence-neglect is the cognitive tendency to notice presence more than absence—for example, movement more than stillness and noise more than silence. This paper examines the origins of absence-neglect and its consequences for strategy formation, firm performance, and social welfare. I argue that societies can reduce the economic and moral risks of “great” strategies by cultivating a more balanced discernment of presence and absence.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas C. Powell, 2018. "Absence-Neglect and the Origins of Great Strategies," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(1), pages 306-312, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orstsc:v:3:y:2018:i:1:p:306-312
    DOI: 10.1287/stsc.2017.0037
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Giovanni Gavetti & Joe Porac, 2018. "On the Origin of Great Strategies," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(1), pages 352-365, March.

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