Blog

Category: Management Theory

  • Not Very Thoughtful Thought Leadership

    I love terrible visuals, especially when they are used by consultants. Alex Usher (@http://higheredstrategy.com/) is brutal in criticizing a recent Deloitte report doing “big thinking” about the future of the workforce. (Post written in 2017). The report seems to be a great example of not very thoughtful thought leadership. Not Very Thoughtful Thought Leadership Usher…

  • The Language Of Leadership

    Simon Lancaster’s Winning Minds is a very pleasant read. He was a special adviser working in UK politics and wrote speeches for a living which comes through in the entertaining prose style that he uses. His book discusses the language of leadership. The Right Language Matters He talks about how important it is for leaders…

  • The Failure Of Markets

    I very much enjoyed John Cassidy’s How Markets Fail. It is an ambitious piece in which he tries to describe how economic thought has impacted real-world markets. He has a special focus on the collapse of the financial markets in 2007/8 and the economic thought behind the failure to regulate the markets properly. What does he say about the failure…

  • Food Lessons From An Economist

    Tyler Cowen’s “An Economist Gets Lunch” is pretty self-indulgent. In this book we get food lessons from an economist. Self-Indulgence Firstly, Cowen really loves his food and is happy to share his enthusiasm for high-quality meals. The second sense of self-indulgence is of an academic doing what he loves. I don’t mean to imply this negatively. When people do…

  • The Red Queen And Implications For Best Practice

    It is hard to spend any time at a business school without hearing the phrase best practice. We teach students best practice. Junior professors seek hints from senior folk on best practice. Even schools regularly go through bouts of benchmarking to see if they are adopting best practice. Best practice essentially is something that gets the most…

  • A Secret To Being Productive?

    Charles Duhigg’s book are always entertaining. The central thesis make me dubious. That isn’t important though as the stories are full of interesting observations. This is true of Smarter, Faster, Better. Duhigg shares a secret to being productive. Great Stories I’m not a fan of some of the literature at the basis of the book. As such, it…

  • You’re An Original

    The study of creativity seems worthwhile but challenging. Creativity seems hard to consistently measure. Given it is hard to assess what is actually creative, it must be even harder to work out what drives creativity. Adam Grant tries this in Originals. I doubt his is the last word on the topic but it is worth a read. What is the message: You’re An Original. The…

  • Are Free Markets Discovered Or Created?

    A key social science question is: Are Free Markets Discovered Or Created? This has surprisingly large political consequences. For example, what is the role of government? How much does it create the conditions for prosperity, or should it just get out of the way? Market Design Market Design is the study of what makes for…

  • Experimenters And Economists

    Advocates for more behavioural approaches to understanding economics often use experiments. These typically show people acting in strange ways. Or at least that violate the principles of traditional economics. (Maybe the people are normal and the principles weird). A key thing is that experimenters and economists can be the same people. There is much potential uniting these…

  • Is The Leadership Industry Just Nonsense?

    I’m pretty cynical about “Leadership”. A such, I enjoyed Jeffrey Pfeffer’s attack on the Leadership industry. He suggests that the leadership industry is built on un-researched platitudes. What is more every retired leader who writes a book doesn’t necessarily tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So is the leadership industry just nonsense? Testing…

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