The Knowing-Doing Gap

How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action

by Robert I. Sutton and Jeffrey Pfeffer

Harvard Business Review Press, 1999

Summarized by permission of Harvard Business School Press
Copyright 1999 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College
ISBN: 9781578511242
Pages: 314

Category: Leadership & Management

In this summary you will learn

• Why companies and managers fail to act on what they know to be true
• What factors contribute to this "Knowing-Doing Gap;"
• How to use eight axioms that will help your company translate its knowledge into action

Why you should read The Knowing-Doing Gap

Comedian Bill Cosby once sang a metaphorical ditty about a man who sat on the railroad tracks each day, only to be hit by a train. He knew when the train was coming, but he just couldn’t apply that knowledge to get out of the way. That circumstance will sound hauntingly familiar to corporate consultants. Consider the experience of two consultants conducting deregulation research for a Latin American utility company. They stumbled over an excellent 500-page report completed years previously by a prior consultant. The document had all the information and analysis the company was seeking, but it had never been utilized. Authors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton expose the alarming gap between what senior managers know and what they actually implement. After four years of intensive research into this issue, they uncover valuable lessons on how to make sure your organization doesn’t talk itself to death. Today’s companies are struggling to overcome inertia and become more nimble. That’s why getAbstract.com strongly recommends this book for managers at every level; if nothing else, you’ll know what you ought to be doing.

About the Authors

Jeffrey Pfeffer is a professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a seminar leader and a former Harvard Business School visiting professor. His previous books include The Human Equation, Managing with Power and Competitive Advantage through People. Robert I. Sutton is professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University’s School of Engineering, a consultant and a seminar leader. He is the co-director of Stanford’s Center on Work Technology and research director of the Technology Ventures Program.

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