Why do smart organizations keep making bad decisions? Professor Mats Alvesson explores the concept of functional stupidity, revealing how bureaucracy, conformity, and organizational habits can suppress critical thinking, slow learning, and undermine decision quality. Discover practical ways leaders can create cultures that encourage reflection, better judgment, and smarter action.
Professor Mats Alvesson is a Swedish management scholar and Professor of Organizational Studies at Lund University. Widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in organization and management studies, his work focuses on leadership, organizational culture, identity, power, critical management studies, and organizational irrationality. He is best known for developing the concept of functional stupidity: the tendency of organizations to suppress critical thinking and reflection despite employing highly intelligent people. Alvesson has authored more than 30 books and hundreds of scholarly publications, including The Stupidity Paradox, The Art of Less, Changing Organizational Culture, and Constructing Research Questions. He was elected an International Fellow of the British Academy in recognition of his contributions to management and organization studies.
