Follow Professor Anthony Montgomery on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-montgomery-7a048612?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app" target="_blank">LINKEDIN</a>Read Professor Montgomery articles on football and dysfunctional organisation <a href="https://theconversation.com/man-utd-the-myth-of-the-all-powerful-football-manager-is-why-so-many-of-them-get-the-sack-242625" target="_blank">HERE</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-easy-to-scoff-at-claims-elite-footballers-are-at-breaking-point-from-workload-but-their-burnout-speaks-for-the-rest-of-us-too-231534" target="_blank">HERE</a>.
If you are visually impaired or blind, or if you know someone who is, and would like to take part to the series of Martial Attitude Voice podcast interviews exploring touch, confidence and blindness or if you would like to join in the Martial Attitude Training workshops now running in London every Sunday, please do keep in touch via <a href="https://www.instagram.com/martialattitude/" target="_blank">Instagram </a>or according to your communication preferences, all available &nbsp;<a href="https://linktr.ee/MartialAttitude" target="_blank">HERE</a>. &nbsp;&nbsp;Sincerely,Mathias AlbertonFounder CEO at Martial Attitude C.I.C.BPS trainee Sport Psychologist&nbsp;MSc in Applied Sport Psychology at St. Mary's University, Twickenham, London, UK.

Professor Anthony Montgomery is a leading scholar in occupational and organizational psychology and a Full Professor at Northumbria University. Together, we unpack why even the smartest organizations, including elite sports clubs, keep making foolish decisions.

From functional stupidity and skilled incompetence to the illusion of expertise and the myth of heroic leadership, this conversation explores how culture, conformity, and systemic pressures shape bad choices. Professor Montgomery also reflects on the power, and limits of reflexivity, and why sports organizations often repeat the same mistakes despite all their resources and data.

Along the way, they discuss powerful examples, including football’s obsession with scapegoating managers, the contradictory demands of modern sport as both business and community anchor, and how short-term pressures crush thoughtful decision-making.

If you’ve ever wondered why clubs hire the “best” managers who still fail, or why organizations so often avoid asking hard questions, this episode will challenge your assumptions.

Listen now to explore how stupidity isn’t just an individual flaw, but a systemic issue woven into how we organize, lead, and compete.

#230: Stupidity as the limit of organizational efficiency - Professor Anthony Montgomery

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