PC INNOVATION by Edgar H. Schein

“The computer designers at DEC who tried to develop products competitive with the IBM PC never changed their standards of evaluation for what a customer expected. They over-designed the products, made them too expensive, and included far too many bells and whistles. The designers were embedded in their old way of thinking, and the organization did not have a change program powerful enough to help them cognitively redefine what the new marketplace needed. . . .

. . . Cognitive shifts are possible if the organization manages to create enough psychological safety—especially if it involves the people who are the targets of change in the learning process. Then the learning takes place through either trial and error (based on the learner’s scanning of the work environment to locate possible options for new behaviors) or a more formal training process (which usually involves imitating role models and psychologically identifying with them).”