Book Review: The Knowing-Doing Gap
I was hoping that this book - The Knowing-Doing Gap, by Pfeffer and Sutton - was going to be great. I mean, really great – the kind that makes me stay up late one night finishing it, and then another week of nights writing and re-writing my own book.
It is not. I don’t recommend it.
I thought that it was going to talk about something that I’ve been noticing for years. So many companies (managers within them, of course) talk about what to do, and seem to know what to do, but when one peeks inside, there doesn’t seem to be the evidence that they’re actually doing it. I suspect you've felt this too.
Mr. Pfeffer is a brilliant management thinker and consultant, and I routinely love his work. And I’m not saying here that he didn’t do exactly what his title suggested. But it still was a great disappointment. [Although the sub-title, "How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge Into Action" is misleading, in my opinion.]
The reason I was disappointed is that (almost) ALL the book does is catalog the gap. It basically says, yes, there’s a gap – companies seem to act as if they “know†what to do, but don’t seem to be doing it. They mention reasons such as fear, memory as a substitute for thinking, internal competition, and measurement.
But the book does not tell us what the solution is, or what we should do about it. This felt quite academic, and not terribly valuable to most managers. Remember: utility is what I’m looking for. What do you want me to do? How do I use this? There are two chapters at the end of the book that try, but they don’t get there, in my opinion.
If you want to know whether (according to their survey/research) there is a gap, this book is for you. If you already know that, and I suspect you do, save the time and money.
And a small caveat: Mr. Pfeffer is very good at what he does. Do not put other or future books of his in this category as a heuristic response to my comments on this one book.
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So could you maybe recommend some books
So could you maybe recommend some books to address this problem of the gap. I find this to be THE biggest problem any human organistaion faces and one that both my company and the charity I cooperate with could do with some help.
Well, we do have a really good reading
Well, we do have a really good reading list... You can find it here.
http://www.manager-tools.com/favorite/
Mark
I've read that book and I agree Mark. I
I've read that book and I agree Mark. I was really disappointed in not only the content, but the lack of actionable ideas. It should be retitled "How Much, How Many, What, and Why Companies Don't Use What They Know."
I'd suggest "Execution: Plain and Simple" by Bob Neiman from www.rhsa.com. That firms "Breakthrough Project" or what they now call "Rapid Results Project" was years ahead of "BHAGs".
I too read the book. It took me about 2
I too read the book. It took me about 2 years as I got bored with it and put it down. Finally, I returned to it and finished it. I did appreciate it for identifying the problem, but I agree with Mark.
Thanks Mark, I am fairly new to your
Thanks Mark, I am fairly new to your place (fantastic place btw!), and didn´t know about the reading list.
No worries! We've gotten feedback that
No worries! We've gotten feedback that it's not as prominent as it should be from even our veteran members.
Glad you're getting value from what we're doing. It's our privilege.
Mark
Any chances of posting links to other
Any chances of posting links to other Amazons for us international buyers being able to still give you a referral fee? Amazon.co.uk for me :-)
Gidday Mark and the others, I beg to
Gidday Mark and the others, I beg to disagree. I felt that the solution was said to be "execution". Don't they say that action should replace words - i.e. by doing you know and therefore the gap no longer exist.
RKautar- Well, I suppose so, though
RKautar-
Well, I suppose so, though reading an entire hardback book that boils down its value to "execution" seems like a steep price to pay.
Mark
Mark, I'm a new listener to the podcast
Mark, I'm a new listener to the podcast and love the show. Have you read anything by Chris Argyris? (I'm sure you have given that you recommend the Fifth Discipline and read 200 books a year!) He talks about espoused theories vs theories-in-action that speak to the things you may have been looking for in this book. - Adam
I have read all of Chris's books, and
I have read all of Chris's books, and he's routinely excellent. A brilliant thinker. I think theories in action are just models, like Senge, but again... it ends up being about behavior and actions anyway.
Mark
Hello Gentlemen, Long time listener,
Hello Gentlemen,
Long time listener, first time poster.
I just moved into a management position recently and have been a big fan of your casts. My current boss is a believer in coaching and I'm sure I'll be reading some of these in the next few months.
I was wondering if you had any more books you'd recommend that you wouldn't necessarily find in the business section of your local Barnes&Nobel? These would be books that may have only provided some tangenital insight to managment, but are also good reads. I had to ask because some management books are such aweful reads that I think I should ease the suffering and just gouge my eyes out.
For instance, I found Malcolm Gladwell's - Blink to be a book I could not put down and was extremenly applicable to business organizations (well, mine at least). Heck, I've even dusted off my The Analects of Confucius before one of my one on ones last week.