That seems so obvious: the leadership elite within an organization will set the cultural tone for the organization, for better or for worse. But it seems so often ignored. Longtime readers know I am fond of citing one of the few things from political theory class that my abused brain cells retained: Schumpeter’s observation that over time, elites will come to believe, falsely, that the interests of the organization or institution that they lead are identical with their personal interests.

It is damned difficult to be a truly independent thinker, and to account for the biases of your information environment, which includes all your social and professional cues. How’s that saying go? “Do not count on a man to see something when his livelihood depends on his not seeing it”?