Flawed Advice and the Management Trap: How Managers Can Know When They're Getting Good Advice and When They're Not [Hardcover]

As a management consultant, I always begin assignments by asking our clients what has worked well and what has not worked well with past assignments that consultants have done for them. Almost all of the problems are associated with so-called experts who espoused a theory, had a few examples of where the theory seemed to fit, and left the client with no idea of how to use the advice.

Recently, I had a chance to read Simplicity, which points out that most employees would love to implement new directions, but they almost never receive the information, learning opportunities, or tools to make it possible. As you can imagine, this can lead to a lot of frustration. One of my hypotheses about why this occurs is because the executives espousing the change don't know how to provide the information, learning opportunities, or tools needed.

As someone who reads and reviews a lot of business books, I am constantly struck by the flaws in the arguments that the authors propose. You can imagine how pleased I was to see that Chris Argyris (one of the best management thinkers around) was bothered by many of the same flaws. You will get a chance to see obvious errors in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and Managing Change by John Kotter, just to mention two examples from the book.

Argyris argues that the authors of these flawed theories are themselves unaware of the flaws. Essentially, all useless management theories have problems in one or more of these areas: the executive is in unilateral control of whatever is going to happen next (rather than letting everyone participate in a meaningful way), the executive focuses on winning instead of losing, the executive suppresses her/his negative feelings as well as those of others, and action is based on rational principles. The result of this approach is to discourage communication, and to make everyone feel defensive. This habit reinforces two of the most common sources of stalled progress in organizations.

Argyris proposes an alternate approach which feature relying on valid information that can be independently verified (99 out of 100 business books have no such grounding); detailed information about what needs to be done; and free and open discussion of the subject and process. Books like Harnessing Complexity and The Soul at Work would applaud these points as well.

Essentially, Argyris says that consultants and authors are proposing command-and-control solutions based on rhetoric that the proposers do not really believe in and apply themselves. That's a pretty big indictment. If you go back and read the early books on subjects like reengineering, TQM, and Economic Value Added, look for the independently verifiable data, encouragement for all to discuss, and directions for how each person in the organization should apply the ideas. If you are like me, you won't find them. Hmmmm! Something to think about!

Argyris indirectly points out that companies discourage people from raising fundamental questions, like what are our objectives in this situation, how are we supposed to reconcile conflicts, and how can we get back on track. That's an essential part of the stalled mindset like so concerns me in my writing and consulting.

In fact, Argyris points out that success can reinforce complacency and command-and-control management by creating the presumption that everything the company does is perfect.

If you can learn to avoid and ignore flawed advice, you'll be on your way to becoming an irresistible growth enterprise! A great step in that process is to help everyone in your organization to learn ways to locate actions that will leave you better off, regardless of what happens next with important forces beyond your control. Get growing faster by helping everyone grow their capabilities in your organization in this critical skill set!

I recommend this book to those unfamiliar with Agryris and his work as a great introduction to some of his thinking on learning organizations (Agryris' work provides some of the foundation for Senge's "The Fifth Discipline") and a humorous roast of some popular advice from authors like Stephen Covey, Doyle & Strauss, John Katzenbach, notable CEOs, and other "successful leader's".