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What did she study?
She introduced the concept of learning direction, particularly focusing on downward learning orientation—the belief that mentors can and should learn from those lower in the hierarchy (their mentees), not just upward or laterally
Her work examines how this belief influences mentor engagement, effectiveness, and outcomes for mentees.
Why interesting for a company (the paradox)?
Traditional view: Mentorship is a one-way street: mentors teach, mentees learn. Mentoring is often seen as a “costly burden” by mentors.
Paradox: If mentors value learning from the bottom-up that mentees offer valuable knowledge they become more engaged and effective.
Organizational value: This flips mentorship from a duty into a reciprocal, motivating process, enhancing both mentor satisfaction and mentee success.
What did she identify? / What is the main result?
Mentor engagement: Belief in downward learning strongly predicts greater mentor engagement because mentors perceive mentoring as an opportunity to learn themselves (Studies 1, 2A-B)
Mentee outcomes: Field study at an online coding academy showed that mentors with a downward learning orientation produced more hireable, appealing mentees in the labor market (Study 3)
Interventions & causality: In an experiment (Study 4), prompting mentors to reflect on past downward learning experiences increased their engagement and improved mentorship quality, demonstrating that learning direction can be influenced.
Broader mechanism: Additional studies found that downward learning promotes psychological safety, which further enhances mentor engagement and effectiveness..
Managerial implications
Reframe mentorship: Encourage mentors to view mentoring as a two-way learning opportunity rather than a duty.
Training interventions: Incorporate reflection exercises where mentors recall a time they learned from a mentee or someone junior - this can boost engagement and mentorship quality (per Study 4).
Culture-building: Foster a culture of reciprocal learning, where knowledge flow is multi-directional, encouraging openness to ideas regardless of hierarchy.
Benefits:
Higher mentor motivation and satisfaction.
Improved mentee learning, performance, and employability.
Enhanced innovation and knowledge exchange within the organization.
Boundary conditions
Requires contexts where mentees indeed possess fresh, relevant knowledge - e.g., new technologies, generational perspectives, or innovative approaches.
May be less effective where organizational culture is strictly hierarchical or devalues input from lower-status individuals.
Mentors must be open-minded and receptive; those resistant to learning from juniors may not benefit.
If mentee contributions are minimal or not applicable, downward learning orientation has limited impact.
She introduced the concept of learning direction, particularly focusing on downward learning orientation—the belief that mentors can and should learn from those lower in the hierarchy (their mentees), not just upward or laterally
Her work examines how this belief influences mentor engagement, effectiveness, and outcomes for mentees.
Why interesting for a company (the paradox)?
Traditional view: Mentorship is a one-way street: mentors teach, mentees learn. Mentoring is often seen as a “costly burden” by mentors.
Paradox: If mentors value learning from the bottom-up that mentees offer valuable knowledge they become more engaged and effective.
Organizational value: This flips mentorship from a duty into a reciprocal, motivating process, enhancing both mentor satisfaction and mentee success.
What did she identify? / What is the main result?
Mentor engagement: Belief in downward learning strongly predicts greater mentor engagement because mentors perceive mentoring as an opportunity to learn themselves (Studies 1, 2A-B)
Mentee outcomes: Field study at an online coding academy showed that mentors with a downward learning orientation produced more hireable, appealing mentees in the labor market (Study 3)
Interventions & causality: In an experiment (Study 4), prompting mentors to reflect on past downward learning experiences increased their engagement and improved mentorship quality, demonstrating that learning direction can be influenced.
Broader mechanism: Additional studies found that downward learning promotes psychological safety, which further enhances mentor engagement and effectiveness..
Managerial implications
Reframe mentorship: Encourage mentors to view mentoring as a two-way learning opportunity rather than a duty.
Training interventions: Incorporate reflection exercises where mentors recall a time they learned from a mentee or someone junior - this can boost engagement and mentorship quality (per Study 4).
Culture-building: Foster a culture of reciprocal learning, where knowledge flow is multi-directional, encouraging openness to ideas regardless of hierarchy.
Benefits:
Higher mentor motivation and satisfaction.
Improved mentee learning, performance, and employability.
Enhanced innovation and knowledge exchange within the organization.
Boundary conditions
Requires contexts where mentees indeed possess fresh, relevant knowledge - e.g., new technologies, generational perspectives, or innovative approaches.
May be less effective where organizational culture is strictly hierarchical or devalues input from lower-status individuals.
Mentors must be open-minded and receptive; those resistant to learning from juniors may not benefit.
If mentee contributions are minimal or not applicable, downward learning orientation has limited impact.
Ting Zhang
1. What did she study? One concept/idea
Ting Zhang studies wisdom in everyday decision-making, with a focus on how people can make better judgments by adopting different perspectives (e.g., “wise reasoning”). She also looks at interventions that improve decision quality, like reflecting from a third-person perspective or revisiting past experiences.
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2. Why interesting for a company?
Organizations constantly face complex, high-stakes decisions. Zhang’s work is useful because it shows how managers and employees can overcome cognitive biases and make more balanced, less ego-driven decisions. This has direct impact on leadership, negotiations, conflict resolution, and strategic planning.
________________________________________
3. What did she identify? What is her main result?
One of her key findings:
• People often reason more wisely about other people’s problems than their own.
• By adopting a “fly-on-the-wall” perspective (third-person viewpoint), individuals show more humility, foresight, and balance in decision-making.
Main result: Psychological distance can improve the quality of reasoning and lead to wiser outcomes.
________________________________________
4. Managerial implication
Leaders and teams should:
• Use perspective-taking exercises before making critical choices.
• Encourage employees to frame challenges as if advising someone else.
• Design processes that foster reflection and distancing (e.g., scenario planning, post-mortems).
This reduces overconfidence and improves long-term decision outcomes.
________________________________________
5. Boundary condition
Her findings hold most strongly when:
• People have time to reflect (quick, high-pressure decisions reduce the benefit).
• Problems are open-ended/complex, not trivial.
• Cultures or individuals value humility and perspective-taking — in highly individualistic or fast-paced environments, distancing strategies may be underused.
________________________________________
👉 In short: Ting Zhang shows that shifting perspective unlocks wiser choices, which is highly relevant for companies aiming to improve leadership and decision-making quality.
By Saar Dayers & Martina Ritacco
1. What did she study? One concept/idea
Ting Zhang studies wisdom in everyday decision-making, with a focus on how people can make better judgments by adopting different perspectives (e.g., “wise reasoning”). She also looks at interventions that improve decision quality, like reflecting from a third-person perspective or revisiting past experiences.
________________________________________
2. Why interesting for a company?
Organizations constantly face complex, high-stakes decisions. Zhang’s work is useful because it shows how managers and employees can overcome cognitive biases and make more balanced, less ego-driven decisions. This has direct impact on leadership, negotiations, conflict resolution, and strategic planning.
________________________________________
3. What did she identify? What is her main result?
One of her key findings:
• People often reason more wisely about other people’s problems than their own.
• By adopting a “fly-on-the-wall” perspective (third-person viewpoint), individuals show more humility, foresight, and balance in decision-making.
Main result: Psychological distance can improve the quality of reasoning and lead to wiser outcomes.
________________________________________
4. Managerial implication
Leaders and teams should:
• Use perspective-taking exercises before making critical choices.
• Encourage employees to frame challenges as if advising someone else.
• Design processes that foster reflection and distancing (e.g., scenario planning, post-mortems).
This reduces overconfidence and improves long-term decision outcomes.
________________________________________
5. Boundary condition
Her findings hold most strongly when:
• People have time to reflect (quick, high-pressure decisions reduce the benefit).
• Problems are open-ended/complex, not trivial.
• Cultures or individuals value humility and perspective-taking — in highly individualistic or fast-paced environments, distancing strategies may be underused.
________________________________________
👉 In short: Ting Zhang shows that shifting perspective unlocks wiser choices, which is highly relevant for companies aiming to improve leadership and decision-making quality.
By Saar Dayers & Martina Ritacco