I wrote several articles for Harvard Business Review.

A line of women in swimsuits with yellow swim caps standing at the edge of a swimming pool, their reflections visible in the water.

Cracking the Code of Sustained Collaboration.

Why the best companies teach collaboration as a skill instead of simply celebrating it as a value.

A fluffy white cat with a serious expression sitting next to a happy Pomeranian dog with its tongue out against a plain white background.

Disagreement Doesn’t Have to Be Divisive.

Research-backed strategies for engaging productively with people who see the world differently.

Illustration of three stylized playing cards with characters representing leadership or leadership styles. The first card features a woman with glasses, a headband, and a sword, in red, symbolizing the heart suit. The second card shows a man in a police uniform holding a magnifying glass, in blue, symbolizing the diamond suit. The third card depicts a chef with a beard and chef hat, holding a sausage, in green, representing the club suit.

Know when to take charge and when to get out of the way.

Why effective leaders shift between empowering their people and taking charge, and how they do so.

A magazine article titled 'The Business Case for Curiosity' with a subtitle mentioning research on higher performance of adaptable firms. The page features a partial image of a gray cat peeking over a cardboard box labeled 'N3' against a white background.

Make curiosity a competitive advantage.

Why leaders suppress curiosity even if they say they value it, and how to foster it to drive learning, adaptability, and long-term success.

A person with short brown hair wearing a gray sweatshirt and covering their face with the sweatshirt, standing with arms crossed against a plain muted background.

Failures get a postmortem. Triumphs should get one too.

Why success can sabotage great companies and how to avoid it by learning to question their wins as rigorously as their failures.

Illustration of the Tower of Babel engulfed in clouds and smoke, with a beam of light shining on a tree, and city buildings in the background.

Overcome the hidden biases that block learning and growth.

Why success obsession, constant action, conformity, and overreliance on experts hold companies back and how leaders can counter them to drive continuous improvement.

Design workplaces that prevent mistakes before they happen.

Why unconscious bias training often fails and how organizations can drive real change through sustained practice.

Two fencers in white gear; one in a lunge position, the other preparing to defend, behind a white fencing screen.

Turn disagreement into a driver of stronger teams.

Why managing opposing views is hard and how leaders can foster productive debate while preserving trust and collaboration.

Colorful mural on the side of a building depicting children playing with building blocks amidst cityscape illustrations, with the quote "Leaders as Decision Architects."

Design workplaces that prevent mistakes before they happen.

Why cognitive biases and low motivation lead to poor decisions and how leaders can reshape the environment to drive better outcomes.

Francesca Gino 4/10/26 Francesca Gino 4/10/26

Why the Smartest Person in the Room Stops Learning

The leaders who sustain their effectiveness over time, I found, know a lot. But they are able to maintain a wide gap between what they know and what they're willing to question. That’s curiosity.