A book I’m currently reading pokes a little fun at the general belief among managers, especially in the United States, that they must read only the “latest” “research” on management. Anything not excruciatingly current runs the risk of leading them down dangerously out-of-date side paths. It’s as if management “science” is equivalent to quantum physics, continuously transforming our view of reality as new facts are uncovered.
Have you read anything lately that uncovered any new “facts” about management?
This is a standard fallacy, one that we all fall victim to at one time or another, and that is only really problematic if we really believe that our understanding of management is continuously being transformed by each “latest” “research” that whizzes by. But a related problem can be just as troublesome.
It is the tendency to try to distinguish some of these notions from their ever-proliferating brethren by grafting “respectable” intellectual pedigrees onto them. Indeed, sometimes the suggestion is not-so-subtly made that an idea’s veracity is not established by demonstrating its inherent value, but arming its adherents with its intimidatingly ivy-choked lineage.
Of course, the fact is that the inherent value of an idea is everything. Not its shiny newness, not its venerable maturity, and certainly not its often-incestuous ancestry – not even, actually, its origin.
The only thing that matters is that it leads you to a more realistic understanding of the nature of your work, and helps you do it better. Evaluate what you are reading according to that test.
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Today’s tips: Speaking of assessing value on the basis of its true contribution, please see this piece by John Phillips on how important it is to do that – and how often we fail.
And speaking of lasting – rather than continuously transforming – values, please also see this week’s “Face Value” column from The Economist, about trust.
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