The Times Glossary: Leadership and Learning, A to Z

Every field has its words that travel faster than their meaning. Here we collect the terms from leadership, learning and AI that come up in meetings, books and job ads, with where they come from, how they tend to get bent, and what we can do with them immediately. The list keeps growing, with new terms added regularly.

70-20-10A rule of thumb about where leaders learn. Useful, as long as nobody treats the numbers as law.Read the entry →AndragogyThe art and science of helping adults learn, starting with what they already know.Read the entry →Automation BiasOur tendency to go with the machine's answer, even when the evidence points elsewhere.Read the entry →Circle of InfluencePut your energy where you can make a difference. The idea is old, and Stephen Covey gave it its best-known picture.Read the entry →Circles of GrowthFive circles show where developing others starts, how far it reaches, and where we mostly listen and learn.Read the entry →Cognitive OffloadingUsing notepads, calendars and now AI to lighten the load on our minds. Smart, up to a point.Read the entry →Desirable DifficultiesSome of what makes learning feel harder makes it stick longer.Read the entry →Double-Loop LearningFixing the problem is one loop. Questioning the assumptions that produced it is the second.Read the entry →Dunning-Kruger EffectThe skills we need to do something well are often the skills we need to judge how well we're doing.Read the entry →Forgetting CurveA German psychologist memorized nonsense for months so we could see how memory fades.Read the entry →Golem EffectPygmalion's quiet twin: when we expect little, performance tends to follow.Read the entry →Goodhart's LawOnce a number becomes a target, people optimize the number. What it used to tell you quietly disappears.Read the entry →GroupthinkWhen a close-knit group wants agreement more than it wants the right answer.Read the entry →Growth MindsetThe belief that abilities can be developed. Easy to announce, harder to practice.Read the entry →Impostor PhenomenonFeeling like a fraud despite clear evidence of success. Widespread, and worth talking about.Read the entry →Jagged Technological FrontierAI shines at some tasks and stumbles on others that look just as hard. The line between them is hard to see.Read the entry →Level 5 LeadershipHumble about themselves, relentless about results. Jim Collins's name for the leaders behind lasting turnarounds.Read the entry →Little GreatsThe tiny leaps that make people grow, and why leaders should celebrate them.Read the entry →Parkinson's LawWork expands to fill the time available. A 1955 joke about bureaucracy that still describes most calendars.Read the entry →Peter PrincipleIn a hierarchy, people tend to rise until they land in a job they can't do well.Read the entry →Protégé EffectWe learn more, and work harder at it, when we expect to teach someone else.Read the entry →Psychological SafetyThe shared belief that you can ask, disagree or admit a mistake without paying a price for it.Read the entry →Pygmalion EffectWhat we expect of people tends to shape what they achieve.Read the entry →Servant LeadershipLeading by putting the growth of others first. Serving, with a spine.Read the entry →Set-Up-to-Fail SyndromeWhen a boss decides someone is weak, the boss's own behavior can make it come true.Read the entry →

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