Untested Beliefs and Half-Truths Pass as Management Gospel

Untested Beliefs and Half-Truths Pass as Management Gospel

"If doctors practiced medicine the way many companies practice management, there would be far more sick and dead patients, and many more doctors would be in jail, argue Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty members Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton in their new book Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management (Harvard Business School Press, 2006)".[Video] 45 mins.

LOL, I love their no-asshole rule, I think every company should have one.

Here's additional information on the subject of biases.

Book Description:

"The best organizations have the best talent. Financial incentives drive company performance. Firms must change or die. Popular axioms like these drive business decisions every day. Yet, too much common management "wisdom" isn't wise at all--but, instead, flawed knowledge based on "best practices" that are actually poor, incomplete, or outright obsolete. Worse, legions of managers use this dubious knowledge to make decisions that are hazardous to organizational health. Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton show how companies can bolster performance and trump the competition through evidence-based management, an approach to decision making and action that is driven by hard facts rather than half-truths or hype. This book guides managers in using this approach to dismantle six widely held--but ultimately flawed--management beliefs in core areas, including leadership, strategy, change, talent, financial incentives, and work-life balance. The authors show managers how to find and apply the best practices for their companies, rather than blindly copy what seems to have worked elsewhere. This practical and candid book challenges leaders to commit to evidence-based management as a way of organizational life--and shows how finally to turn common
sense into common practice."