Research Thread · Harvard Business Review, August 2026
“Leadership Drift” Is Stalling Your AI Strategy
What the research says
Perhaps the most interesting finding is that stalled AI adaptation may not begin with employee resistance at all. Studying leadership teams, the researchers found executives often privately recognized difficult changes that were needed — yet collectively softened, deferred, or abandoned those conclusions when they came together.
Why it matters for adaptivity · Institute interpretation
Organizational adaptivity depends not only on insight, but on whether leaders can face uncomfortable implications together.
A question worth sitting with
What does our leadership team already know — but keep avoiding saying out loud?
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