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

Los mejores estudios/insights vienen del siglo pasado, este fascinante libro nos muestra que el problema más grande en los negocios es la disyuntiva entre lo que decimos y lo que realmente hacemos y su gran mensaje es que para que un negocio logre sus objetivos debe simplificar sus procesos y lenguaje y debe estar orientado a probar hipótesis y no validar creencias u opiniones, para esto es necesario tener una cultura del aprendizaje y disminuir el miedo que pueden sentir nuestros colaboradores para actuar y probar nuevas alternativas. Una lectura obligada para este siglo donde premiamos la complejidad y la charla inteligente en vez de los resultados reales.

The main premise of this book as the authors best summarize it is: "Why knowledge of what needs to be done frequently fails to result in action or behavior consistent with that knowledge. We came to call this the knowing-doing problem - the challenge of turning knowledge about how to enhance organizational performance into actions consistent with that knowledge. This book presents what we learned about the factors that contribute to the knowledge doing gap and why and how some organizations are more successful than others in implementing their knowledge."The book then analyzes the reasons and causes of this gap through numerous examples and presents eight main recommendations: "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."A very applicable, educational and action oriented book. One that echoes the fundamentals of execution and its importance as the ultimate benchmark of success. A must read in the area of management!Below are key excerpts from the book:1- "...although knowledge creation, benchmarking, and knowledge management may be important, transforming knowledge into organization action is at least as important to organizational success."2- "Attempting to copy just what is done - the explicit practices and policies - without holding the underlying philosophies at once a more difficult task and an approach that is less likely to be successful."3- "Talk is also valued because, as noted earlier, the quantity and "quality" of talk can be assessed immediately, but the quality of leadership or management capability, the ability to get things done, can be assessed only with greater time lag."4- "It is possible, albeit difficult, to build strong cultures founded on principles and philosophy that can also innovate and change. But doing so requires much thought and attention. Otherwise, firms are readily trapped by their history, even if, or particularly if, that history has many positive elements in it, as Saturn's does."5- "Conversely, fear is an enemy of the abilitiy to question the past or break free from precedent."6- "It is clear to us that merely knowing what measurement practices should be used does not, by itself, cause leaders to implement measures that produce intelligent, mindful, learning behavior rather than the reverse."7- "In each of the instances in which effective measurement practices were used, knowing what to do, why it needed to be done, and having the persistence and courage to do it helped leaders turn knowledge about how to enhance performance into organizational action."8- "As Dean Tjosvold, a researcher and writer on the subject of competition and cooperation, noted, "Competition stimulates, excites, and is useful in some circumstance, but those situations do not occur frequently in organizations, and the widespread use of competition cannot be justified.""9- "Harlow Cohen, the president of a Cleveland, Ohio, consulting firm, has called this gap between knowing and doing the performance paradox: "Managers know what to do to improve performance, but actually ignore or act in contradiction to either their strongest instincts or to the data available to them.""10- "Knowing about the knowing-doing gap is different from doing something about it. Understanding causes is helpful because such understanding can guide action. But by itself, this knowing is insufficient - action must occur."

The Knowing-Doing Gap is an insightful book for anyone that works as a management professional. As many of us have experienced in our careers, the knowing-doing gap can be a gargantuan issue for management to overcome. The main purpose of the book is to explain the dilemma of knowing what should be done,sharing it, and putting it into action. It presents real world examples of companies experiencing the knowing-doing gap and provides analysis on why companies find themselves in these situations, how they get there, and what they should be doing to eliminate the gap.There are eight issues discussed and analyzed in detail, which are:Knowing “What to” Do is Not EnoughThe beginning of the book explains how knowing what to do just isn’t enough, and yet, most business books we read cover just that topic.When Talk Substitutes for actionThe authors point out how often upper level management will hold meetings to discuss new ideas and make decisions without discussing how to implement these changes. How to avoid using talk as a substitute for action is also discussed.When Memory is a Substitute for Thinking The authors explain how companies continue using old practices and ways of thinking simply because “that’s the way things have always been done”. This chapter also presents ways to overcome this “trap”, including to create a new organizational division or sub-unit, which the authors claim may be the most reliable way to ensure that people will use active thinking rather than precedent as a basis for action.When Fear Prevents Acting on KnowledgeThis section of the book discusses the topic of fear as a barrier to translating knowledge into action. It provides evidence that distrust and fear of management are problems today in many organizations.When Measurement Obstructs Good JudgmentSome examples from the book are firms focusing on short-term financial performance and overly complex measurement philosophies. The book also goes on to explain how companies like The Men’s Wearhouse and SAS Institute have used measures for positive results.When Internal Competition Turns Friends into enemiesThis section uses examples from real companies to explain the importance of teamwork in successful companies, and also how some organizations continue to foster dysfunctional internal competition. Additionally, information on how to overcome destructive internal competition is abundant, such as implementing measures to assess cooperation in various business units.Firms That Surmount the Knowing-Doing GapPfeffer and Sutton provide specifics on how many well known companies have successfully surmounted the Knowing-Doing Gap. British Petroleum and it’s Virtual Teamwork Program, and Barclays Global Investors overcoming its challenges of global expansion and growth in personnel are two examples.Turning Knowledge into ActionThe final chapter details how to turn knowledge into action with through eight guidelines for action such as the importance of philosophy, overcoming fear, and proper measurement.The book was a noble effort to critically explain a prevalent problem in today’s business world. The authors were successful in dissecting a complex issue. Despite this, a better subtitle for the book would be, “Why Companies Don’t Turn Knowledge into Action.” The authors spent a great deal of effort explaining the reasons why companies are unable to turn knowledge into action. What was lacking was a clear roadmap on how to overcome obstacles that prevent us from making real changes. The authors provided solid examples of successes some companies have found. It was clear that these strategies would work, except when they wouldn’t. As with most things in life, everything is situational and this book seemed to have its own “knowing-doing gap.”

Great book that cuts through all the management-theory bull**** and tells you you have to ACT and actually DO THE WORK. It is a most welcome attack on overplanning and over-analysis. Relevant for business and personal issues.

This book is something else, The Knowing-Doing Gap opens up about what you need to accept as a provider. Everyone has bad and good qualities, we all should learn to accept negative and positive feedbacks to become a better leader in this healthcare field. Team work is a must to succeed.

A brilliant book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It provides an in-depth explanations on why people procrastinate and postpone important stuff while being fully aware of it, and it goes further to discuss whether there are any practical ways of solving this. Although the book talks mostly about firm environments and a mass of people it is very applicable at a personal level too.

None better than Pfeffer for this.

As usual Pfeffer provoques and forces us to rethink our habits that prevent organizational excellence! Thumbs up for this book!

The Knowing Doing Gap is an essential read for every business professional. This book is an interesting read, hitting on many reasons why companies fail to take what they know and put it into action. The author easily guides the reader to solutions to overcome the knowing doing gap in todays business world.

"I know kung fu."In the Matrix, when Neo wants to learn kung-fu all he has to do is upload a fighting module. A few seconds later and he's sparring with Morpheus in a virtual dojo. Living in a computer simulation and being bred as an energy source for a machine master-race has its disadvantages, but at least you get to learn stuff fast. Here in the real world, much knowledge is gained the hard way - by doing. You can't just upload it. Or store it, index it or e-mail it around.This is one of the factors behind what Jeff Pfeffer and Bob Sutton call 'the knowing-doing gap'. In this book, Pfeffer and Sutton examine why companies don't do what they know they should. The first problem is language. 'Knowledge' is a noun, so we treat knowledge as a concrete object we can manipulate, like steel or books. In reality, it's a process; the process of riding a bike, speaking French or running a company. Hence companies don't truly know what they claim they do. They might have their mission statements written down on small, laminated cards; and they might say - and even believe - that people are their most valuable assets, but this isn't true knowledge, and won't become so until they act.Pfeffer and Sutton give plenty more reasons too. Here are just a handful:An emphasis on talk, rather than action. It's easier to judge people on what they say than what they actually do, and that's often how we hire, reward and promote. The guy with the quick put-downs, rapid-fire banter and sarcastic comments is perceived as smarter than the quiet one in the corner who bothers nobody, knuckles down and gets stuff done.If action is harder than talking, then mindless action is harder than thoughtful action. When organisations hit a problem, rather than think it through afresh they tend to follow the path laid down before, often by people long-gone and in circumstances lost in history. Processes fossilize and are never challenged. Sacred cows get fat when they should be slaughtered, just because "that's how we do things round here".Internal competition, whether it's bonuses determined by forced-ranking or having an employee of the month, is often a zero sum game that benefits some individuals but that harms entire organisations. In such competitions, there are two ways to succeed. The hard way is to out-perform your coworkers. The easy way is to sabotage them, or belittle their achievements. It's no surprise that many people settle for the easy option.This is a fantastic book. Like most of Pfeffer and Sutton's work, and as you'd expect from two Stanford professors, it's based on solid research. Case studies are used to illustrate theories and bring them to life, rather than to 'prove' them as many business books do. As well as explaining why the knowing-doing gap exists, the book gives ideas on how to fix them. Is your organisation paralysed by internal fighting? Then find an external enemy to focus on - that's what Apple did with IBM when they launched the first Macintosh in 1984. Is your company trapped by its history? Examine, make explicit and challenge the assumptions that lie behind its sclerotic procedures. Are your people afraid to make mistakes? Make it explicit - with your deeds and not just your words - that there is a soft landing available for those who try and fail.The beauty of this book - like other works of Pfeffer and Sutton - is that much of it seems like common sense once you've read it. Pfeffer and Sutton have a knack of articulating ideas that you feel you already half know, but that are just - but only just - out of your grasp. As you read, you can sense them coming into focus, crystallizing out of the fog of your mind. Of course concentrating purely on short-term financial success can kill a company's culture. Of course you should commit to metrics that reflect, and don't contradict, your underlying philosophies. Of course pitting colleagues against each other is going to backfire, and of course the absurd idea that this could ever work is based on sloppy sporting analogies. But it's only once Pfeffer and Sutton have made these points - and many others - lucid that they become obvious.Although excellent, the book - as Pfeffer and Sutton acknowledge explicitly throughout - contains one flaw. A text whose thesis is that knowledge can only be earned through action, and then hopes to teach it through words, is bound to have only partial success. Read this book - and if you're running, or working in, any organisation larger than a handful of people then you should - and you will only have taken the first step to learning about the knowing-doing gap and how to fix it. The next step?Action

Excellent book