Robert Wood is a Professor at the Melbourne Business School, Director of the Accelerated Learning Laboratory and Associate of Waypoint Learning Solutions. He has been an advisor to many companies and government agencies on leadership, problem solving and strategy issues, including Dubai Ports World, the Hong Kong Civil Service, Telstra, Qantas, Amcor and many others. Robert is the author of many research papers on leadership, motivation, decision-making and problem solving, which has been recognised with various awards, including the Award for Excellence in Research at the AGSM and fellowships in several learned academies (ASSA, SIOP, ANZAM and IAAP). Besides being a serious researcher, he is keen on developing practical applications from research, hence his contributions to this book.

Julie Cogin is an Associate Professor in Organisation and Management at the Australian School of Business, UNSW. She is course leader for ‘Managerial Skills’ and ‘Approaches to Change’ in the AGSM’s MBA program. Julie has received both the UNSW Vice Chancellor’s award for teaching excellence and a national citation from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (previously the Carrick Institute) for contributions to tertiary education. Julie currently chairs the UNSW HRM Advisory Board and is a panel judge for the Australian HR Awards. She has published widely across a range of fields in HRM and organisational behaviour, and her interests are primarily concerned with deviant behaviour in the workplace and its impact on employees, corporate culture and firm performance.

Jens Beckmann is Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Accelerated Learning Laboratory in the Australian School of Business. He also holds an honorary appointment at the University of Sydney. Jens has worked at several universities in Europe (University of Leipzig, University of Bonn), North America (Yale University) and Australia (University of Sydney, University of New South Wales). The focus of Jens’s research has mainly been on the study of intellectual abilities related to learning, knowledge acquisition and problem solving. In his attempts to apply research findings to real-world settings he developed innovative assessment techniques, which offer significant benefits over traditional, static perspectives on intellectual capabilities and personal characteristics. His list of publications also includes research on feedback effects on performance as well as mental flexibility.