The Knowing-Doing Gap

"Did you ever wonder why so much education and training, management consultation, organizational research, and so many books and articles produce so few changes in actual management practice?"

"When knowledge is transferred by stories and gossip instead of solely through formal data systems, it comes along with information about the process that was used to develop that knowledge."

"One of the best ways of sounding smart is to be critical of others' ideas."

"At the end of the day, what consultants provide is advice?talk?and only occasionally do they get involved in the details of doing something. "

"When people do something even a single time, this past action often becomes an automatic, or mindless, guide for future action, even when the action undermines a person's performance."

"The better and more competent central staff functions are, the worse it is for the organization"

"Many management systems also presume that people cannot be trusted and that monitoring for compliance to organizational requirements, and punishment for violating those requirements, is important for keeping organizations under control."

"The model of behavior implicit in the measurement systems used by most firms is that individuals are atomistic and economic, rather than social, creatures."

"Beliefs in the benefits of competition are largely taken for granted in U.S. Business culture."

"The knowing-doing gap arises from a constellation of factors and it is essential that organizational leaders understand them all and how they interrelate."