© DoDifferentNow.com. This article provides the research and evidence base supporting The Leadership Failure Clinic framework and diagnostic tool.
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The Leadership Failure Clinic: Evidence Base & References
The research foundations behind the Leadership Failure Clinic diagnostic framework.
This post documents the research streams and published work that support the 20 diagnostic factors used in the Leadership Failure Clinic. It is not exhaustive; it is a credibility spine. The intent is to show that each factor reflects well-established findings across leadership, organizational behavior, decision science, and systems research.
Nomenclature:
- Systems: Vision (V), Leadership (L), Team (T)
- Dimensions: V1–V3, L1–L3, T1–T3
- Factors: the 20 observable conditions assessed in the diagnostic
VISION (V)
Factor 1. Purpose Clarity (V / V1)
Definition: The degree to which people understand why the organization exists and what problem it is trying to solve.
Failure pattern: Confusion, disengagement, and inconsistent priorities.
- Collins, J., & Porras, J. Built to Last. HarperBusiness. https://www.harpercollins.com/products/built-to-last-jim-collins
- Grant, A. (2012). “Giving Time, Time After Time.” Academy of Management Journal. https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amj.2010.0104
Factor 2. Stakeholder Understanding (V / V1)
Definition: How accurately leaders understand customers, users, and other critical stakeholders.
Failure pattern: Efficient execution of the wrong priorities.
- Narver, J. & Slater, S. (1990). Market orientation. Journal of Marketing. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/002224299005400403
- Christensen, C. The Innovator’s Dilemma. Harvard Business School Press. https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=46
Factor 3. Differentiation & Positioning (V / V1)
Definition: Clarity about why the organization matters and how it is meaningfully different.
Failure pattern: Commoditization and reactive strategy.
- Porter, M. (1996). “What Is Strategy?” Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/1996/11/what-is-strategy
- Rumelt, R. Good Strategy / Bad Strategy. Crown. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/307529/good-strategybad-strategy-by-richard-rumelt/
Factor 4. Strategy Coherence (V / V2)
Definition: The extent to which goals and priorities reinforce rather than contradict each other.
Failure pattern: Busyness without progress.
- Rumelt, R. (2011). Good Strategy / Bad Strategy. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/307529/
- Kaplan, R. & Norton, D. (2001). Strategy-Focused Organization. https://hbr.org/books/kaplan/strategy-focused-organization
Factor 5. Long-Term Orientation (V / V2)
Definition: Balancing short-term performance with long-term value creation.
Failure pattern: Burnout cycles and strategic fragility.
- Laverty, K. (1996). Economic short-termism. Academy of Management Review. https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amr.1996.9605060213
- Hansen, M., et al. (2010). “How to Build Collaborative Advantage.” HBR. https://hbr.org/2009/12/how-to-build-collaborative-advantage
Factor 6. Ethical Compass (V / V3)
Definition: Whether values genuinely constrain decisions under pressure.
Failure pattern: Rationalized exceptions, cultural erosion, scandal risk.
- Brown, M. & Treviño, L. (2006). Ethical leadership. Academy of Management Review. https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amr.2006.20208684
- Treviño, L., et al. (2014). “Managing Business Ethics.” Wiley. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Managing+Business+Ethics-p-9780470343944
Factor 7. Evidence & Insight Quality (V / V3)
Definition: The quality of data, feedback, and learning used in decision-making.
Failure pattern: Repeating mistakes with growing confidence.
- Kahneman, D. Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374533557
- Lovallo, D. & Sibony, O. (2010). “The Case for Behavioral Strategy.” HBR. https://hbr.org/2010/03/the-case-for-behavioral-strategy
LEADERSHIP (L)
Factor 8. Decision-Making Quality (L / L1)
Definition: The extent to which leadership decisions are timely, evidence-informed, reversible where appropriate, and proportionate to risk.
Failure pattern: Paralysis, over-analysis, impulsive decisions, or excessive escalation; teams compensate with informal workarounds.
- March, J. & Simon, H. Organizations. Wiley. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Organizations-p-9780631223940
- Eisenhardt, K. (1989). “Making Fast Strategic Decisions.” Academy of Management Journal. https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/256434
Factor 9. Communication Transparency (L / L1)
Definition: How clearly leaders explain decisions, trade-offs, uncertainty, and context — not just conclusions.
Failure pattern: Rumors, politicized interpretation, erosion of trust, and loss of situational awareness.
- Men, L. & Stacks, D. (2014). Strategic transparency. Public Relations Journal. https://prjournal.instituteforpr.org/
- Edmondson, A. The Fearless Organization. Wiley. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Fearless+Organization-p-9781119477242
Factor 10. Adaptability & Learning (L / L2)
Definition: Leadership’s ability to update beliefs and behavior in response to new information and changing conditions.
Failure pattern: Clinging to obsolete models; repeated failure explained away rather than examined.
- Argyris, C. & Schön, D. Organizational Learning. Addison-Wesley.
- Senge, P. The Fifth Discipline. Doubleday. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/328012/
Factor 11. Accountability & Fairness (L / L2)
Definition: The consistent application of standards, consequences, and expectations across roles and individuals.
Failure pattern: Cynicism, disengagement, selective enforcement, and gaming of rules.
- Colquitt, J. (2001). Organizational justice. Journal of Applied Psychology. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.386
Factor 12. Conflict Handling (L / L2)
Definition: Leadership’s ability to surface, contain, and resolve productive conflict without escalation or avoidance.
Failure pattern: Toxic conflict, artificial harmony, or suppressed disagreement that resurfaces later as failure.
- De Dreu, C. & Weingart, L. (2003). Task vs. relationship conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology.
- Edmondson, A. Teaming. Jossey-Bass. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Teaming-p-9780470746554
Factor 13. Empowerment & Delegation (L / L3)
Definition: The effective distribution of authority, autonomy, and decision rights.
Failure pattern: Bottlenecks, micromanagement, slow execution, learned helplessness.
- Spreitzer, G. (1995). Psychological empowerment. Academy of Management Journal.
Factor 14. Talent Development & Succession (L / L3)
Definition: Leadership’s commitment to developing future leaders and ensuring continuity.
Failure pattern: Leadership vacuums, brittle succession, overreliance on a few individuals.
- Charan, R., Drotter, S., & Noel, J. The Leadership Pipeline. Wiley. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Leadership+Pipeline-p-9780787988782
TEAM (T)
Factor 15. Psychological Safety & Trust (T / T1)
Definition: The extent to which people can speak up, admit mistakes, and surface risk without fear.
Failure pattern: Silence, late surprises, distorted reporting, and blame cycles.
- Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety. Administrative Science Quarterly.
- Google Project Aristotle. https://rework.withgoogle.com/
Factor 16. Role Clarity & Commitments (T / T1)
Definition: Clear understanding of responsibilities, decision ownership, and commitments.
Failure pattern: Dropped handoffs, duplication, missed deadlines.
- Hackman, J. Leading Teams. Harvard Business School Press.
Factor 17. Cross-Functional Collaboration (T / T2)
Definition: The ability of teams to coordinate across boundaries and incentives.
Failure pattern: Silo behavior, local optimization, friction.
- Lawrence, P. & Lorsch, J. Organization and Environment.
Factor 18. Execution Discipline (T / T2)
Definition: Reliability in turning commitments into delivered outcomes.
Failure pattern: Chronic delays, shifting targets, erosion of credibility.
- Bossidy, L. & Charan, R. Execution. Crown. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/119008/
Factor 19. Feedback & Retrospectives (T / T3)
Definition: Systematic reflection on outcomes to improve future performance.
Failure pattern: Recurring surprises, repeated mistakes.
- Anseel, F., et al. (2015). Feedback intervention theory. Journal of Management.
Factor 20. Continuous Improvement & Innovation (T / T3)
Definition: The ability to experiment, learn, and adapt processes and offerings over time.
Failure pattern: Stagnation, brittleness, inability to respond to change.
- Deming, W. Out of the Crisis.
- Nonaka, I. (1994). Knowledge creation. Organization Science.
Closing note: Taken together, these research streams support a single conclusion: leadership failure is rarely random, personal, or mysterious. It follows identifiable patterns that can be diagnosed, discussed, and improved.
Leadership Failure Clinic — Series Navigation
| Post | Focus | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Post 1 | Why leadership failure is systemic | Read Post 1 |
| Post 2 | The diagnostic framework | Read Post 2 |
| Post 3 | The diagnostic tool | Use the Diagnostic Tool |
| Post 4 | Evidence base & references | You are here |