chapter
6
Myths in management
No stranger to fiction
T
his chapter deals with management practices – stuff that
companies do to make their organizations work better,
which they often copy from others – and there are lots of
them. Many of these practices, however, have unintended con-
sequences. This chapter exposes the unexpected consequences of
several of these practices. The good news is that these effects are
not all bad! For example, did you know that an R&D department
that never comes up with anything new can still be useful? Yes,
it can.
On the other hand, some of these management practices . . . how
can I put it mildly . . . well . . . they don’t do a fricking thing at all.
Really, they don’t work! And don’t think that just because every-
body’s doing them, and telling you great stories about them, they
are any good. Some of them are just plain useless – at best.
In this chapter, I will introduce you to a number of well-known
management practices, which are widely used throughout the
world of business, and then tell you what we actually know about
their effects from scientic research. It requires the temporal
suspension of disbelief, a good dose of management demysti-
cation, and the occasional bout of corporate exorcism. Hence,
this chapter, like Chapter 5, relies heavily on hard research facts.
It details how practices (in spite of sometimes dubious effects)
can still spread and become popular. Prepare to be exposed to
bandwagons, self-fullling prophecies, and patent sharks.
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