Pioneers are at the forefront of innovation and can be seen as pushing the boundaries. They are often those who dare to dream, inspire, and motivate. They are also the ones who fail first and fail often. These failed attempts can be seen as the greatest form of risk a pioneer can take. Failing in what they are trying to do will set them back to the start, maybe even further than before; but failing in an attempt to push their own boundaries will unearth hidden pathways and enhance existing ones.
Magda Osman, Head of Research and Analysis at the University of Cambridge, pushes her boundaries every day while finding the answers to our decision-making, unconscious processes, control, and pro-social behaviors.
In this Exclusive Interview, she talks about the early entrance of psychology in her life and how she became a pioneer in the industry.
What according to you makes one a pioneering leader? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?
There are lots of worthy words that could be used to describe a pioneering leader (e.g. brave, honest, humble, principled, scrupulous), but also seemingly pejorative terms (e.g. disruptive, antagonistic, strategic, contentious, vehement, resolute).
Any pioneering leader, someone that does something new that others can learn from, confronts two judgments. A judgment of how good the new thing is, and a judgment about how good they are at making that new thing happen.
So, a pioneering leader inevitably faces greater scrutiny on both fronts because, by definition, they are going to be doing something that others haven’t thought to do. This means the standards by which they can be seen to fail is greater both in terms of their leadership, and the innovations they are establishing.
I have a strong conviction in the work that I’ve done and I’m doing. To get to that point I learnt to enjoy being in the line of fire. If I wasn’t prepared to hear where I was going wrong, then I wouldn’t be confident when I thought I was doing something right. The difficulty has come in striking the balance in persisting with something that others don’t agree with, while at the same time knowing to pay attention when others are telling me that what I’m persisting with is just plain wrong.
Talk to us about your growing up years. What is your earliest memory as a leader that you can remember?
During the last year of elementary school, we were asked to put on a show. We could choose to sing, or dance. I decided to write a play. It was a riff on an Agatha Christie novel. I managed to convince my friends to act in the play, and I directed it. I don’t know why I decided to do it, and didn’t really question it. I just know I enjoyed bringing people together to do something I thought was worthwhile.
What sparked your interest and subsequently your foray into the field of psychology?
I had been interested in psychology since I was in my teens, and I’d set my sights on being an academic at that time. My mother had bought me a book on Freud and a book by Johnson-Laird, both pioneers in psychology, and that set me on the path I’m on now.
As the Head of Research and Analysis at University of Cambridge, what does your research seek to answer?
How do we know we’ve asked a good question? At the heart of science and policy (in the public and private sector) is a question. One group seeks to answer it by understanding the issue and the mechanisms behind it, and the other has to decide how to use that understanding to practically solve a problem. So, the research projects I oversee are designed to figure out how best to ask a question that maximizes the knowledge to find a good solution to a real world issue.
Based on your years of research on decision and behavior, what would be your advice for business leaders and entrepreneurs facing challenging situations/environments?
Great question! The most valuable findings that speak to this are that when facing challenging situations/environment people respond to the fluctuations of an environment in ways that can inhibit learning from it.
When things are stable there is a tendency to either make changes for the sake of being seen to be doing something – when the optimal response is doing nothing, or to make minor incremental changes that don’t progress anything meaningfully.
When things are unstable there is a tendency to either make wild and dramatic changes, or persist with the same actions despite the outcomes suggesting that isn’t working.
People do eventually learn what to do well, it is just that without prompts to reflect on the strategies taken, it takes that much longer to figure out a less sub-optimal strategy for learning.
In short, people need to be encouraged to evaluate what they are doing instead of only explaining what they are doing. Why is it better than what?
What has the journey been like for Magda Osman over the years?
I had a clear idea of what I thought I ought to expect from my career, but later down the line I realized that, either because the circumstances forced me to, or I got wise to myself, nothing about my career choices had to be set in stone. Once I realized that I didn’t have to adopt the conventions of what is expected from being an academic, more opportunities to do things differently came my way.
Looking back at this journey, what would you have done differently?
I wouldn’t have done anything differently because I don’t judge what I did in terms of success and failures, the journey for me is always going to be a process of learning whatever path I have taken or could have taken differently. Everything that was challenging and difficult was useful in some way. So long as I get to do things that are useful for people and I can make a contribution, I’ll just keep trying to do that.
Finally, in the coming years, what does the future look like for you?
I don’t know. I don’t want to prohibit the opportunities that could come my way so I’m not going to expect anything, because one can never know. What I can say is that I’m always going to be challenging what is assumed because that seems to be the thing that defines my approach to research, and I’m lucky if along the way people also think what I’m doing is of value.
