The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action

Rating:
Summary: Contemporary Update on Change Management
Review: 'The Knowing-Doing Gap' describes the barriers to turning knowledge or strategy into action based upon surveys, interviews, and case-study evidence spanning many sectors. The problem: US companies annually spend over US$100 billion on training and consulting often failing to improve operations.

The well-referenced and presented chapters span:

* knowing "what" is not enough- evidence, measuring & significance of the knowing-doing gap, and knowledge management projects.

* when talk substitutes for action- presentations, documents, mission statements, planning, smart-talk, smart negative people, business school 'bad' training, and complexity & jargon (remedies described include working leaders, simplicity, vocabulary).

* when memory is a substitute for thinking- convention & consistency, culture, history, and need for cognitive closures.

* when fear prevents acting on knowledge- fear as management and the remedies.

* when measurement obstructs good judgement- problematic measures, short-term financial focus, over-complexity, and in-process versus outcome measures (remedy- simplicity & focus on critical elements).

* when internal competition turns friends into enemies- undermining loyalty & teamwork & knowledge sharing, and significance of interdependence.

* firms that surmount the knowing-doing gap- British Petroleum, Barclays Global Investors, and New Zealand Post.

* turning knowledge into action- 8 guidelines including- company philosophy, knowing from doing and teaching others how, action counts more than elegant plans & concepts, forgiving mistakes from action, drive out fear, fight external competitors, measure what matters, and lead by example.

Weakness include the subjectively dry "unemotional/unengaging" style of writing; the verbatim repetition of some sections in different chapters (perhaps a re-edit could reduce page count by 25% without losing content); occasional errors in use of sector-specific jargon; and relatively shallow treatment of significant subject- perhaps a deeper follow-up text with case-study evidence of whether the recommendations actually work together is due? Also the book neglects attention to dot.com enterprises- which are through self-fulfilling prophecies- transforming the global business landscape.

Overall a timely text, addressing a real-problem, that is worth shelf-space. Despite that, to this reviewer there were no new 'aha' moments- as the findings/recommendations repeated many already existing in change management business texts spanning the last 3 decades.

Rating:
Summary: too lengthy but good ideas
Review: I like the writings of Bob Sutton and had high expectations when I read this book but was somewhat disappointed for a couple of reasons. First, the book is about a number of (very good) ideas, which could have been brought across in much fewer pages. After some pages, the same couple of thoughts about the same couple of companies become repetitive. Secondly, as with many management books, there tends to be black and white but not much gray (eg where the authors interview employees and where you get a sense that the output is very one-sided). But in business, there's a lot of gray, and true understanding is often about the nuances.
Nevertheless, the book is strong where it's about unconventional approaches and makes good, albeit sometimes light, reading.

Rating:
Summary: What keeps firms from implementing what they know?
Review: Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I Sutton are Professors of Organizational Behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford's School of Engineering, respectively. Jeffrey Pfeffer is a well-known author on management issues. This book consists of 8 chapters, plus a short appendix.

Chapter 1 - Knowing "What" to Do Is Not Enough serves as an introduction to the book. It introduces the 'knowing-doing problem' - "the challenge of turning knowledge about how to enhance organizational performance into actions consistent with that knowledge." They discuss the methods they used during a 4-year crusade, whereby the authors have examined a wide range of organizational practices to learn about the knowing-doing gap. In chapters 2 to 6 they discuss the various issues that block organizations from implementing their knowledge. These are respectively: Talk as a substitute for action; memory as a substitute for thinking; fear preventing action; measurement obstructing good judgment; and internal competition resulting into fighting. Although the authors give some advice on methods to decrease the knowing-doing gap in these chapters, they do not really start providing solutions until chapters 7 and 8. Chapter 7 introduces case information on three firms (BP, Barclays Global Investors, and The New Zealand Post) that have been successful at either avoiding the knowing-doing gap or transcending barriers to turning knowledge into action. The final chapter is probably the most useful chapter of the complete book. Pfeffer and Sutton provide us with eight guidelines for action: (1) Why before how; (2) knowing comes from doing and teaching others how; (3) action counts more than elegant plans and concepts; (4) there is no doing without mistakes; (5) fear fosters knowing-doing gaps, so drive out fear; (6) beware of false analogies; (7) measure what matters and what can help turn knowledge into action; and (8) what leaders do matters.

Yes, I do like this book. It discusses a difficult but important issue in management and business - turning knowledge into action. The only disappointment of this book is that the authors spend about 200 pages discussing the issues that stop firms/managers/people from taking action and only 60 pages on methods for converting knowledge into effective action. In all honesty I would have rather seen it the other way around. The authors do have a very academic background and this is therefore visible in their writing style (business US-English).

Rating:
Summary: Turn knowledge and talk into action.
Review: Pfeffer and Sutton caught my interest immediately in The Knowing-Doing Gap by telling the story of a major U.S. Bank who had hired 5 consulting firms in six years who made the same recommendation based on the same data. But, the recommendations had never been implemented. With billions spent on consulting, and countless M.B.A.'s in the workforce, it is amazing how much we know as compared to what we actually deliver.

As an HR person, I often struggle to find out why some people and organizations are able to get things done while others simply talk about things and cannot deliver results. It is often our role to lead the leaders and to help build the capability of our people. The authors examine the reasons why we often fail to do what we know needs to be done. We substitute talk for action, we rely on imitation or memory of the past as a substitution for new thinking, an atmosphere of fear prevents acting on what we know, we rely too heavily on measurement systems that obstruct judgment and common sense, and we compete internally instead of externally.

Several examples of companies who have demonstrated the ability to turn knowledge into action are described including British Petroleum, Barclays Global Investors, and the New Zealand Post.

After establishing that the knowing-doing gap is an important problem that must be overcome, the authors give eight guidelines for action:

1. Why before How: Philosophy is Important.
2. Knowing Comes from Doing and Teaching Others How.
3. Action Counts More Than Elegant Plans and Concepts.
4. There is No Doing without Mistakes. What is the company's Response?
5. Fear Fosters Knowing-Doing Gaps, So Drive Out Fear.
6. Beware of False Analogies: Fight the Competition, Not Each Other.
7. Measure What Matters and What Can Help Turn Knowledge into Action.
8. What Leaders Do, How They Spend their Time and How they Allocate Resources, Matters.

An easier read than Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan's Execution, The Knowing-Doing Gap gives us a better understanding of organizational processes that stand in the way of real results. The solution relies on actually turning knowledge into action. Each chapter gives solid advice which if followed will yield actionble results.

While written for the general business reader, Human resources professionals will find many ways to assist our business partners in overcoming lots of talk and no action or results. There are suggestions for overcoming obstacles, communication, leadership behavior, driving a productive corporate culture, and overcoming past behavior that is counter productive.

Rating:
Summary: Good Advice, But "Management by Vice" Fills in the Gap!
Review: The key question this book addresses is: "given that knowledge of best practices is actually nearly ubiquitous, why is it that so few organizations are able to actually implement these practices?". Pfeffer and Sutton itemize some of the the key reasons, which are behavioral in nature. For example, many business cultures implicitly reward criticism of ideas and decisions more than the actual implementation of ideas. This produces a "do-nothing" situation. Also talking is often rewarded more than the actual doing. Failure of leaders to "walk the talk" is another key reason for failure to do. The book outlines some common sense approaches to overcome these barriers to action -- the key is to choose and retain the kind of people that are willing to cooperate and share knowledge, and to put in place metrics and human performance systems that encourage these behaviors. This book is a valuable complement to IT-driven based approaches to knowledge management, which by themselves are typically insufficient to yield real results.

Rating:
Summary: Knowledge alone is a watseful Investment
Review: The only book on the very important subject I know off. The authors share their views on the their a well researched topic.
The key issues in Knowing Doing gap are 1. Top management 2. The culture 3. Aura of being knowledgable 4. Focus on sounding great with less emphasis on performance 5. Faulty Measurements 6. Fear.

They also cite exeample of companies that have less of this gap by focussing on simplicity, communcation that is imlementation oriented, simple plans that work rather than complex issues such as balance score cards. They indirectly bring out the fact that Top management gap in understanding of the ground realities, has a direct bearing on knowing doing gap.

Going by their own emphasis to help readers in reducing the knowing doing gap, they could have reduced the descriptive nature of the book. They could have inserted an overview chart, showing the various symptoms of knowing doing gap in one column, ccauses, remedies, good co examples in another column. Subsequesnt revisions of this book may consider this feedback.

Rating:
Summary: Good Advice, But "Management by Vice" Fills in the Gap!
Review: There are many examples of solid practical advice on how to turn knowledge into action, such as overcoming fear of taking action, substituting talk for action, internal competition turning friends into enemies etc. Yet, I felt that there is one important part to this workplace scenario, which is missing. And that is negative management behavior, which can run counter to employee productive actions. I have experienced that numerous times in my long years in industry and it has never been so well shown as in the fast-moving and frank episodes of the side-splitting American satire,"MANAGEMENT BY VICE". The book is obviously written by a scientist/author with personal experience, which I think explains the real-life feel to the book. "Management by Vice" filled in the gaps in the "Knowing-Doing Gap" and fairly placed some of the responsibility for lack of action on poor management practices. I therefore feel it should be a must-read companion to the good practical advice in the "Knowing-Doing Gap" book.

Rating:
Summary: No explanation for knowing doing gaps in small companies
Review: This book is not so much about knowing-doing gap as about how things are done in big traditional hierarchical organization. I doubt that there are many small entrepreneurial companies that have similar problems.

When talk replaces action - when there are too many people in the company whose sole job is "analyzing", "monitoring" and "controlling". No wonder that their performance is measured by talking, presenting and writing. In a company of 10 people nobody would tolerate a "talker" for more than several days.

When memory replaces thinking - on the whole that's not a bad thing because we are talking about experience and intuition here. Big corporations have so much "memory" that they don't need to think much about anything. Actually in such cultures as Japanese intellect and formal knowledge are almost synonyms.

When measurements prevent good judgment - measurements are needed when real-life results and actual work are set too much apart. In small companies you simply deliver or not.

All other major key points of the book are also applicable mostly to big companies and don't explain why in small companies knowing - doing gap exists. Maybe because thinking replaces memory?

Rating:
Summary: A repair manual and a road map
Review: This book, by Stanford professors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I Sutton, provides a much needed new perspective for anyone in business. The last decade has brought a flood of business books, articles, consultants, and even IT salesmen--all hyping the importance of "knowledge" and "knowledge management." And yet after the dust has settled, it isn't what you know (or thought you knew) but what you do that makes a difference.

In the long run, the individuals and organizations that succeed are those that can act and learn from those actions. The Knowing-Doing Gap describes the forces at work in organizations that encourage people to avoid thoughtful action: how talk quickly replaces action; how organizational memory (in the form of culture, standard operating procedures, and other superstitions) reinforces mindless behaviors; how fear inhibits people from experimenting with new behaviors; and how performance measurements displace judgment in guiding action. Yet even this bit of wisdom isn't worth much if it doesn't lead to concrete changes in behavior, and that's why the authors also describe specific ways that managers have been able to overcome these forces.

For managers in large organizations this book acts like a repair manual, making it easier to diagnose when and how your team, department, or entire organization has fallen into the gap between knowing and doing--and what to do about it. For those in small organizations this book acts more like a roadmap, showing how cultural norms, procedures, and rewards systems that seem like a good idea for supporting growth have a way of morphing over time into obstacles for thoughtful action.

Rating:
Summary: too lengthy but good ideas
Review: With few exceptions, the most valuable business books are those in which their authors share the results of efforts to answer especially important questions. That is certainly true of this book. As Pfeffer and Sutton explain, "We wrote this book because we wanted to understand why so managers know so much about organizational performance, say so many smart things about how to achieve performance, and work so hard, yet are trapped in firms that do so many things they know will undermine performance." Obviously, knowing what to do is not enough. Inorder to identify the causes of what they refer to as the "knowing-doing gap," Pfeffer and Sutton embarked on a four-year research project.

What they learned is shared in this exceptionally informative and thus invaluable book. They organize their material within eight chapters, followed by an appendix in which they provide "The Knowing-Doing Survey." This survey of restaurant managers all by itself is worth far more than the cost of the book. The items to which participants respond can easily be modified to accommodate any other kind of business. Moreover, even in small privately-owned companies, it will enable decision-makers to measure the nature and extent of their own "knowing-doing gap."

Pfeffer and Sutton correctly point out that knowing (in italics) about that gap is different from doing (in italics) something about it. "Understanding causes is helpful because such understanding can guide action. But by itself, this knowing is insufficient -- action must occur." Most executives may not be able to eliminate the gap entirely but, guided and informed by what Prefer and Sutton reveal in this book, they can at least reduce the gap. Moreover, those with supervisory responsibilities will also be able to help reduce the gap for each of those for whom they are responsible.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Sydney Finkelstein's Why Smart Executives Fail...and What You Can Learn from Their Mistakes as well as Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan's Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done.