The Management Myth: Why the Experts Keep Getting it Wrong
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Review
A devastating bombardment of managerial thinking and the profession of management consulting. As a former management consultant, Mr. Stewart lived long enough in the belly of the beast to know its nature.--Philip Delves Broughton
Product Description
Fresh from Oxford with a degree in philosophy and no particular interest in business, Matthew Stewart might not have seemed a likely candidate to become a management consultant. But soon he was telling experienced managers how to run their companies. Striking fear into the hearts of clients with his sharp analytical tools, Stewart lived in hotel rooms and got fat on his expense account - until he decided to turn the consultant's merciless, penetrating eye on the management industry itself. Alongside his devastating critique of management 'philosophy', Stewart provides a bitingly funny account of his days in a consulting firm. Combining hands-on experience with the theoretical underpinnings of contemporary fads in efficiency improvement, empowerment and strategy, Stewart knows his stuff and lays bare how little consultants have done for the business of others - while making a killing for themselves.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Drucker was right - there are so many management gurus simply because charlatan is harder to spell
14 Dec 2009
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
As a management consultant, I was intrigued when I read the review of the book in the Wall Street Journal - it certainly promised amusement. That it delivered in spades, although it is not meant as only a personal account in the sense that Liar's Poker (Hodder Great Reads) or Bombardiers are. It mixes the author's personal experiences with his view on the consulting and management practices more broadly in alternating chapters, which largely reads well but is occasionally slightly annoying.
The author is surprisingly well read for a management consultant and very honest - his descriptions of the industry, its shortcomings and the driving forces behind it all ring true. The exposes of Taylor and Mayo and their complete fabrication of facts supporting their theories came as a bit of a surprise - we were certainly still taught that their word was gospel in my management education. As for the other gurus he criticises (from Drucker, Porter, Peters, Collins), he is also pretty much spot on but there I found less of a surprise, having been through the issues with some of their work before. He is pretty even handed overall - commending some of the authors' work (like Drucker's Managing For Results (Drucker series)) but pointing out the methodological, as well as practical shortcommings of most other of their work, which often reads as a nice fable, where one should not look to closely, lest the mirage be destroyed by ugly reality.
The history of management education in nicely intertwined with the rest, as is a basic history of management consulting as a profession. If you are looking for exhaustive discourse on any of those topics, the book is not for you - this is done more from the author's personal perspective, where examples are used to support his overall story (they ring true for sure but the author does not purport to conduct a comprehensive analysis of everything mentioned in the book).
What would make the book a bit better in my opinion is to include a page or so on the uses management consultants get put to - i.e. why they are hired in the first place, where the author falls a bit short, compared to his quite up to the point analysis of the purpose of positioning management as a science, as well as of the motivations behind business schools.
Finally, the book will probably appeal to management consultants (the ones who do not have overly inflated views of themselves), and those who were - or alternatively to those executives who do not hire consultants and with good reason. For the ones who buy into the myth lock stock and barrel, there is little hope and they will not seek it out here to begin with.
The author is surprisingly well read for a management consultant and very honest - his descriptions of the industry, its shortcomings and the driving forces behind it all ring true. The exposes of Taylor and Mayo and their complete fabrication of facts supporting their theories came as a bit of a surprise - we were certainly still taught that their word was gospel in my management education. As for the other gurus he criticises (from Drucker, Porter, Peters, Collins), he is also pretty much spot on but there I found less of a surprise, having been through the issues with some of their work before. He is pretty even handed overall - commending some of the authors' work (like Drucker's Managing For Results (Drucker series)) but pointing out the methodological, as well as practical shortcommings of most other of their work, which often reads as a nice fable, where one should not look to closely, lest the mirage be destroyed by ugly reality.
The history of management education in nicely intertwined with the rest, as is a basic history of management consulting as a profession. If you are looking for exhaustive discourse on any of those topics, the book is not for you - this is done more from the author's personal perspective, where examples are used to support his overall story (they ring true for sure but the author does not purport to conduct a comprehensive analysis of everything mentioned in the book).
What would make the book a bit better in my opinion is to include a page or so on the uses management consultants get put to - i.e. why they are hired in the first place, where the author falls a bit short, compared to his quite up to the point analysis of the purpose of positioning management as a science, as well as of the motivations behind business schools.
Finally, the book will probably appeal to management consultants (the ones who do not have overly inflated views of themselves), and those who were - or alternatively to those executives who do not hire consultants and with good reason. For the ones who buy into the myth lock stock and barrel, there is little hope and they will not seek it out here to begin with.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Matthew Stewart has certainly ruffled a few feathers with this book. It is an easy read, each chapter alternating between a potted history of management consulting according the the author and an account of his personal experiences in the field.
It is largely about management consulting in the financial services sector and, taken as such, does offer a glimpse into why that sector combined to lead the whole world into a global credit crunch, perhaps also offering a glimpse of why that sector remains unbloodied and unbowed.
Many consultants have taken it as a personal attack on their profession, which perhaps speaks more about their current lack of security in their own tenure than anything contained in the book does.
Matthew Stewart makes a good case for managers needing to learn how to manage themselves by studying philosophy and applying a little common sense but I doubt it will stem the tide of MBA knocking at corporate doors. People want to believe there is a science of management and maybe there is, but it is still a science in its infancy as Stewart exposes.
It is largely about management consulting in the financial services sector and, taken as such, does offer a glimpse into why that sector combined to lead the whole world into a global credit crunch, perhaps also offering a glimpse of why that sector remains unbloodied and unbowed.
Many consultants have taken it as a personal attack on their profession, which perhaps speaks more about their current lack of security in their own tenure than anything contained in the book does.
Matthew Stewart makes a good case for managers needing to learn how to manage themselves by studying philosophy and applying a little common sense but I doubt it will stem the tide of MBA knocking at corporate doors. People want to believe there is a science of management and maybe there is, but it is still a science in its infancy as Stewart exposes.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I thought I was the only person who was suspicious that an MBA qualification might not confer business infallibility on a manager. I have suffered under their misguided and failed strategies and thereafter observed them adeptly avoid taking responsibility and hiding behind those 3 letters after their name.( one commentator calls them; Mediocre But Arrogant!!)Enough! this is not an attack on all MBA holders.
Stewart deconstructs the myth of some of the best known management theories. He acknowledges correctly the randomness of the world we live in; he questions the standard business education and the motives of some of the institutions providing the curriculum.
He tells his own story in alternating chapters and the only criticism I would have of this book is that at times, I wanted to skip a chapter to follow his own unfolding drama!
There is a good argument that our "elite" by their self serving application of "strategies" and blind trust in their flawed judgement have contributed greatly to the current global economic crisis.
This is a really good read, thorough and thought provoking.
Stewart deconstructs the myth of some of the best known management theories. He acknowledges correctly the randomness of the world we live in; he questions the standard business education and the motives of some of the institutions providing the curriculum.
He tells his own story in alternating chapters and the only criticism I would have of this book is that at times, I wanted to skip a chapter to follow his own unfolding drama!
There is a good argument that our "elite" by their self serving application of "strategies" and blind trust in their flawed judgement have contributed greatly to the current global economic crisis.
This is a really good read, thorough and thought provoking.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A harsh critique of the management consulting world
Based on the author's personal experience when he worked as a management consultant, this book delivers a very harsh critique to the management consulting world in general, and to... Read more
Published 15 months ago by M.I.
Management Theories Debunked
I am one of those Management Consultant who often came across similar experiences in his career as those that Matthew Stewart so aptly describes in his brilliant book. Read more
Published 19 months ago by The Flying Dutchman
At last
Every CEO and manager should have to read this. Thinking about an MBA? Read this. Wondering what management is about? Read this. Want to be a manager? Read this. Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2010 by M Nasrudin
Brilliant but blinkered
Michael Stewart has lifted up the stone of modern corporate management, and it's not a pretty sight. Read more
Published on 11 Oct 2009 by T. Burkard
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