Point Lookout: a free weekly publication of Chaco Canyon Consulting
Volume 3, Issue 24;   June 11, 2003: Conventional Foolishness

Conventional Foolishness

by

Every specialization has a set of beliefs, often called "conventional wisdom." When these beliefs are so obvious that they're unquestioned and even unnoticed, there's an opportunity to leap ahead of the pack — by questioning the conventional wisdom.

Everything that we consider "conventional wisdom" was once a radical new idea — the gene, monotheism, and relativity, to name a few. Each innovative concept that becomes a piece of the conventional wisdom either displaces, covers over or extends something that was already there. But often, an idea becomes so solidly accepted that nobody ever questions it again. When that happens in management, it creates an opportunity.

To achieve leadership,
question conventional wisdom
When people question what we all accept without question, they sometimes create something new, useful, and even powerful. For instance, many once believed that for an organization to be a leader, it needed a powerful mainframe computer, and a terminal on every desk to connect everyone to it. They also believed that people had to work in the office, not at home.

To achieve leadership, first identify, and then question the conventional wisdom. Here are some examples of conventional wisdom in brainwork. They're from different perspectives, but often their adherents believe them completely. All of them are sometimes true, but all of them are questionable.

  • People work better under pressure
  • With today's technology, there's no advantage to working in the same building (city, country, …)
  • We must lower costs because we can't raise revenue
  • Numeric performance ratings are meaningful
  • Cubicles are cheaper than offices
  • This is a young person's game
  • Only a seasoned veteran can handle this
  • People can't manage others who are more experienced
  • An abacus We can get this done with 10% fewer people
  • We can save money by keeping our computers one more year
  • We can't afford training
  • Contractors are the cheapest way to go. No, wait, outsourcing is.
  • People are most motivated by money
  • The most qualified person is someone who's done it before
  • Adding features increases market share
  • Charging more decreases unit sales
  • Being first is more important than getting it right
  • We have to because customers are pressing us
  • Competition is the best way to stimulate creativity
  • If we add people (reduce requirements, increase the budget, announce it publicly) they'll finish sooner
  • If we tell them they have to do it, they'll find a way
  • If we tell them we can't do it, we'll be fired
  • Product Development people are clueless about Marketing and Sales
  • Marketing and Sales people are clueless about Product Development
  • HR is just clueless
  • We need the most modern technology

Although these dogma constrain our industries, our companies, and ourselves, the constraints are effective only to the extent that we don't notice the dogma. Becoming aware of the assumptions we make, and questioning them, is the first step along the path to higher performance and achievement. Sometimes. And sometimes not. Go to top Top  Next issue: Demanding Forgiveness  Next Issue

101 Tips for Managing ChangeIs your organization embroiled in Change? Are you managing a change effort that faces rampant cynicism, passive non-cooperation, or maybe even outright revolt? Read 101 Tips for Managing Change to learn how to survive, how to plan and how to execute change efforts to inspire real, passionate support. Order Now!

For a careful look at one of the more commonly-invoked "truths" of organizational life, see "Definitions of Insanity," Point Lookout for January 17, 2007.

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This article in its entirety was written by a human being. No machine intelligence was involved in any way.

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More articles on Organizational Change:

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When we change organizational culture, we often stumble over unexpected obstacles. Sometimes the tangle can be so frustrating that we want to start the company over again. Here are some tips for managing large-scale cultural change.
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Fads in business come and go, like fads anywhere. In business, though, their effects can be so expensive that they threaten the enterprise. Still, the ideas and methods that become fads can have intrinsic value. Where does that value come from? Where does it go?
The United States curling team at the Torino Olympics in 2006Motivation and the Reification Error
We commit the reification error when we assume, incorrectly, that we can treat abstract constructs as if they were real objects. It's a common error when we try to motivate people.
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954Way Too Much to Do
You're good at your job — when you have enough time to do it. The problem is that so much comes your way that you can't possibly attend to it all. Some things inevitably are missed or get short shrift. If you don't change something soon, trouble is sure to arrive.

See also Organizational Change and Virtual and Global Teams for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

A meeting in a typical conference roomComing April 3: Recapping Factioned Meetings
A factioned meeting is one in which participants identify more closely with their factions, rather than with the meeting as a whole. Agreements reached in such meetings are at risk of instability as participants maneuver for advantage after the meeting. Available here and by RSS on April 3.
Franz Halder, German general and the chief of staff of the Army High Command (OKH) in Nazi Germany from 1938 until September 1942And on April 10: Managing Dunning-Kruger Risk
A cognitive bias called the Dunning-Kruger Effect can create risk for organizational missions that require expertise beyond the range of knowledge and experience of decision-makers. They might misjudge the organization's capacity to execute the mission successfully. They might even be unaware of the risk of so misjudging. Available here and by RSS on April 10.

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