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'Knowledge' is a noun, so we treat knowledge as a concrete object we can manipulate, like steel or books. Read this book - and if you're running, or working in, any organisation larger than a handful of people then you should - and you will only have taken the first step to learning about the knowing-doing gap and how to fix it. As well as explaining why the knowing-doing gap exists, the book gives ideas on how to fix them. Then find an external enemy to focus on - that's what Apple did with IBM when they launched the first Macintosh in 1984. In reality, it's a process; the process of riding a bike, speaking French or running a company. Pfeffer and Sutton have a knack of articulating ideas that you feel you already half know, but that are just - but only just - out of your grasp. In such competitions, there are two ways to succeed. The first problem is language.
Living in a computer simulation and being bred as an energy source for a machine master-race has its disadvantages, but at least you get to learn stuff fast. The guy with the quick put-downs, rapid-fire banter and sarcastic comments is perceived as smarter than the quiet one in the corner who bothers nobody, knuckles down and gets stuff done.If action is harder than talking, then mindless action is harder than thoughtful action. Is your organisation paralysed by internal fighting. Sacred cows get fat when they should be slaughtered, just because "that's how we do things round here".Internal competition, whether it's bonuses determined by forced-ranking or having an employee of the month, is often a zero sum game that benefits some individuals but that harms entire organisations. Here in the real world, much knowledge is gained the hard way - by doing.
"I know kung fu."In the Matrix, when Neo wants to learn kung-fu all he has to do is upload a fighting module. Or store it, index it or e-mail it around.This is one of the factors behind what Jeff Pfeffer and Bob Sutton call 'the knowing-doing gap'. But it's only once Pfeffer and Sutton have made these points - and many others - lucid that they become obvious.Although excellent, the book - as Pfeffer and Sutton acknowledge explicitly throughout - contains one flaw. Case studies are used to illustrate theories and bring them to life, rather than to 'prove' them as many business books do. Here are just a handful:An emphasis on talk, rather than action. Hence companies don't truly know what they claim they do.
When organisations hit a problem, rather than think it through afresh they tend to follow the path laid down before, often by people long-gone and in circumstances lost in history. They might have their mission statements written down on small, laminated cards; and they might say - and even believe - that people are their most valuable assets, but this isn't true knowledge, and won't become so until they act.Pfeffer and Sutton give plenty more reasons too. You can't just upload it. Like most of Pfeffer and Sutton's work, and as you'd expect from two Stanford professors, it's based on solid research. Examine, make explicit and challenge the assumptions that lie behind its sclerotic procedures. Is your company trapped by its history. It's easier to judge people on what they say than what they actually do, and that's often how we hire, reward and promote. A text whose thesis is that knowledge can only be earned through action, and then hopes to teach it through words, is bound to have only partial success.
As you read, you can sense them coming into focus, crystallizing out of the fog of your mind. A few seconds later and he's sparring with Morpheus in a virtual dojo. Make it explicit - with your deeds and not just your words - that there is a soft landing available for those who try and fail.The beauty of this book - like other works of Pfeffer and Sutton - is that much of it seems like common sense once you've read it. Are your people afraid to make mistakes.
It's no surprise that many people settle for the easy option.This is a fantastic book. Of course concentrating purely on short-term financial success can kill a company's culture. The easy way is to sabotage them, or belittle their achievements. In this book, Pfeffer and Sutton examine why companies don't do what they know they should. Of course pitting colleagues against each other is going to backfire, and of course the absurd idea that this could ever work is based on sloppy sporting analogies.
Processes fossilize and are never challenged. The hard way is to out-perform your coworkers. Of course you should commit to metrics that reflect, and don't contradict, your underlying philosophies. The next step.Action
This book is a good read. It can take a little time to get to the point sometimes, but the points that are made are valid and helpful.
There have been a lot of books published on what it takes to "execute" strategy or to "implement" organizational change since Pfeffer & Sutton first published this book in 1999. I still think it is the best, as it shows why gaps between knowledge and organizational happen, and offers detailed suggestions about how to overcome problems like the smart-talk trap, dysfunctional competition, and overly complex measurement systems.
I bought the book with much expectation, as the idea (knowing-doing gap) was quite fascinating. The book does a good job of sensitizing readers to the issue of the knowing-doing gap which is a pervasive problem in a variety of walks of life. However, in the end, the authors suffer from the same problem that they are describing - they do a good job of "knowing what the problem is", but fail to provide concrete guidance on how to close this gap.
This book hits the nail on the head. It's straight forward, easy to read format makes it a must read for every business leader who wants to get out from under knowing what to do and move to DOING the things that need to be done to move their organization forward.
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