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I can prove anything in management thinking. Watch me!

 August 17, 2019 |  Accountability, Behavioural Economics, Communication, Corporate pathologies, General, Management Education, Management Thinking and Innovation, Performance |  Get Daily Thoughts by Email |  Email This!
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I can’t remember where I saw this. This is part of the point. It could have been anywhere. But I am sure it was in a prestigious business journal, one of the few must reads for fear of missing that important business wisdom assertion, that could change the route of your business forever. I am sure the statement is correct because I noted it down: ‘Companies that outperform have strong values, sense of purpose and excellent execution’. There you are. Strong, unequivocal findings from that Research on the Most Whatever Companies Global Study. I found it in a note in an old, small yellow notepad which tells me it must have been written down in a US airport on one of my recent travels.  Then I wrote something below, this time from my own thinking and to add to the ‘findings’ (to improve them…!)  ‘They also have toilets, car parks and a coffee shop’. It must have been my irritation with the so called ‘research’ that floods management thinking. Anything can be proven, anything that suits your need for logic. Ephemeral findings such as this, dominate ‘management’. ‘Strong values, sense of purpose and excellent execution? Sure, I’ll take it. Outperform the ones with weaker values, no sense of purpose and bad execution? Sure! And your point is? I am sure there is a case study coming up. After all business case studies are a bad form of journalism. Oh, people in the outperforming companies have mostly two legs.

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