I create warning labels for management decisions.  I often find myself wondering what kind of warning labels the FDA would attach to some of the decisions that businesses make every day.

In creating this website, I've taken a skeptical perspective. In consequence, I often focus on the downsides, the shortcomings, the pitfalls, the drawbacks, the unintended consequences, the dangers, and all the things that can go wrong. However, such skepticism should not be mistaken for rejection!  Just as the FDA only attaches warning labels to drugs it eventually approves, I only feature management concepts and decisions that I agree with – at least in principle. So, these warning labels are best thought of as premortems[i], they tell you everything that could go wrong by imagining that it will go wrong. Some of you may think that only paranoids think that way. You might be right, but as Andy Grove writes, “Only the paranoid survive.” These warning labels will help you make informed decisions so that you run into fewer unwanted surprises and unintended consequences.

I draw mostly on rigorous research from various disciplines, but I also take into account well-investigated journalism and social sources such as Wikipedia and Quora. I always try to be transparent about my sources, since the main idea behind this blog is to diffuse great research and spark further interest in it. In addition to public sources, I often invite experts to lend their ideas and expertise. I also work with colleagues and writers to keep my writing sharp and my topics focused. Most importantly, I benefit from the feedback and comments I receive from you - the readers!

If you have an idea for a new warning label or an improvement to an existing one, please simply contact me or comment on the label.

If you want to learn more about me, feel free to check out my website or find me on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Best

Henning

[i] To the best of my knowledge, Gary Klein was the first to introduce this wonderful term in an HBR article.