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The Stupidity Paradox: The Power and Pitfalls of Functional Stupidity at Work
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Functional stupidity can be catastrophic. It can cause organisational collapse, financial meltdown and technical disaster. And there are countless, more everyday examples of organisations accepting the dubious, the absurd and the downright idiotic, from unsustainable management fads to the cult of leadership or an over-reliance on brand and image. And yet a dose of stupidi
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Start your review of The Stupidity Paradox: The Power and Pitfalls of Functional Stupidity at Work
Quite often at work I've pretended to be more stupid than I am. I don't like to do this as it's intellectually dishonest, but from time to time the alternative - looking clever - was clearly the worse choice.
The most obvious reason for pretending to be stupid at work is to make the boss look good and I'm sure anyone who has been in a job for more than a few months has done this.
A less obvious but almost equally common reason for strategic stupidity is to keep a low profile. Some people, early in ...more
The most obvious reason for pretending to be stupid at work is to make the boss look good and I'm sure anyone who has been in a job for more than a few months has done this.
A less obvious but almost equally common reason for strategic stupidity is to keep a low profile. Some people, early in ...more
I'm not a big fan of books on organisations, and there are several reasons for this. Perhaps the most pertinent is that I'd been in workplaces and/or organisations for nearly 20 years before I read one and a number of thoise years were spent wandering in and out of them as a customs officer where I observed a fair amount of incompetence, hubris and success, sometimes all three in the same visit. So when I studied (and later taught) organisations, my experience (as well as other studies) made me
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Though the title implies that there are both benefits and drawbacks to Functional Stupidity (otherwise known as doing what someone tells you to, or obviously wants from you), the book deals almost exclusively with the latter, enumerating the many aggravating, depressing forms of kool-aid foisting and drinking occasioned by a world of interacting with other people, mostly at work.
If you are someone for whom swallowing guff about 'core values' or whatever the current passive-aggressive management ...more
If you are someone for whom swallowing guff about 'core values' or whatever the current passive-aggressive management ...more
How is it possible that organizations filled with the best and brightest so often end up doing stupid things? Professors and organizational theorists Mats Alvesson’s and André Spicer’s explanation is that there are actually short-term benefits to stupidity both to organizations and to employees – although in the longer term the folly will often prove to be detrimental. Absolutely everyone that has been engaged in the inner life of large organizations will – with a sardonic smile – recognize nume
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Every now and again a book comes along that makes you sit up and say: “This explains a lot.” As one of the few people to serve on the management team of a Children’s Aid Society, public hospital and a Children’s Mental Health Centre, I feel that way about the Stupidity Paradox. So much in this book rang true. Alvesson and Spicer bring a rare glee and accessible prose to their discussion of how functional stupidity pervades our public and private sector organizations. They note how organizations
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This is a good book, it also aligns well with my grumpy side. I recognise and have experienced a lot of the functional stupidity explained in this book. My favourite quote from the book:
"When specialism rules, we get the problem of people who only have a hammer in their toolbox, and as a result are inclined to treat everything as if it were a nail.
As a consequence, organisations are full of specialists who work on problems as they know them. However, most problems are not isolated. Having many e ...more
"When specialism rules, we get the problem of people who only have a hammer in their toolbox, and as a result are inclined to treat everything as if it were a nail.
As a consequence, organisations are full of specialists who work on problems as they know them. However, most problems are not isolated. Having many e ...more
Don’t mind its populist and “attention seeker” title, It is a solid and clever book, dedicated for a good cause (which is progression for masses and shaming the mediocrity), decently structured and offering its own solutions in the end against the case that it’s written for.
Had troubling time -failing to concentrate- during reading process, facing and reminding in each different paragraph all the stupidity experiences I had during my own career; which proved me that it’s a well written one as we ...more
Had troubling time -failing to concentrate- during reading process, facing and reminding in each different paragraph all the stupidity experiences I had during my own career; which proved me that it’s a well written one as we ...more
I will start recommending it as a good book to start a debate about good and not so good company practices. It has value for been able to create debate, as it has some really interesting insights. "One of us studied manager who claimed to do leadership. They said that having coffee with their subordinates, listening to them or engaging them in small talk had a significant impact on them. They saw this as an exercise of leadership. If another person - say their secretary - had done the small talk
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Liked the analyses of why “functional stupidity” works and thrives in some cases. Alvesson and Spicer do a good job articulating some issues I’ve had a hard time articulating: higher-Education inflation, why “knowledge-intensive” firms are often a confidence game, why economies of persuasion feel so empty, why transformational leadership is often neither. They identify some “tricks of the trade” in “stupidity management” and also some suggestions for resisting stupidification. Wisely, though, th
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Loved the title of the book, more importantly the contents of the book. The moment is started reading it, felt like it was a ghost written auto-biography of my work life. The best part is, i could see the same pattern being followed in both military as well as civilian organizations that i have worked in. I felt, that these guys heard us and were talking to me. Started the book with lot of happiness at being felt empathetic. Then it ended from the second chapter. What started off as beautiful st
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This book is not going to give you solutions to your functional stupidity. They show you all the ways in which we actively participate in the stupidity and then they're asking you to think and reflect upon it. Sometimes the stupidity is necessary, but often, it is not. It's up to you to decide in your own unique situation what is appropriate.
I loved it because I'm self proclaimed cynic/realist and I was still buying into stupidity. This book really caused me to think hard about so many things t ...more
I loved it because I'm self proclaimed cynic/realist and I was still buying into stupidity. This book really caused me to think hard about so many things t ...more
A deeply disturbing book. Easily the hardest and one of the most interesting book read this year , need to re read every couple of years
This was a fun - and at times funny - book to read. Drawing upon their own academic expertise and the studies of companies undertaken by themselves and others, Alvesson and Spicer draw into the stark light of public awareness the phenomenon they name as 'functional stupidity', that propensity for otherwise smart and intelligent people to not "use cognitive and reflective capacities in anything other than narrow and circumspect ways".
This functional stupidity that Alvesson and Spicer describe sho ...more
This functional stupidity that Alvesson and Spicer describe sho ...more
This is one of those books you wished you read when you left university but didn't. You then realize that you probably wouldn't have got the message anyway and made all those mistakes that formed you as a manager, leader and human. Now when reading it is painful to watch all that stupidity in retrospective.
I'm grateful for all my experience in all my areas of expertise but I'm also sad that we have created a society that is so stupid that we hinder our internal drive for excellence due to our in ...more
I'm grateful for all my experience in all my areas of expertise but I'm also sad that we have created a society that is so stupid that we hinder our internal drive for excellence due to our in ...more
The authors make many excellent points about how rules and routines, following the lead of other companies, adopting programs without considering fit or customization, branding where nuances just aren’t—and more—lead to individual and organizational stupidity. There are advantages—fast decisions, uniform cultures, and so on. But without critical thinking, problems will arise...
But the authors also frequently write in terms of either/or rather than both/and when discussing certain issues. I may b ...more
But the authors also frequently write in terms of either/or rather than both/and when discussing certain issues. I may b ...more
A sceptical look at how modern organizations work. Some of the points I liked the most:
- a lot of what is called knowledge work isn't in fact very complicated or knowledge-intensive
- fancy titles can make boring jobs bearable
- documenting what you do has become more important than the actual doing and the results
- having a "positive mindset" can mean that problems are ignored
- not questioning what you do, or why, at work can make you feel good about work, and make things run more smoothly (even ...more
- a lot of what is called knowledge work isn't in fact very complicated or knowledge-intensive
- fancy titles can make boring jobs bearable
- documenting what you do has become more important than the actual doing and the results
- having a "positive mindset" can mean that problems are ignored
- not questioning what you do, or why, at work can make you feel good about work, and make things run more smoothly (even ...more
Alvesson and Spicer do an amazing job expounding on all the ways stupidity is enabled and flourishes in the working world. They articulate well why stupid people get ahead, and critical thinkers are frustrated. A smart person might read this and do well to learn to pick their battles and go with the flow to avoid shooting themselves in the foot career-wise, while stupid people--let's face it, those mostly in middle and upper-management--should learn to allow thoughtful people to express their im
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A great book about paradoxes in organisations. Well documented, great examples from companies but also excellent references to various domains. It changed my perspective on how things happen inside organisations and not always taking “everything” for granted. Question, interpret, reflect and only after start solving the situations. Apparently smart people’s tendency is to jump to conclusions too fast. More than this being used with how things are done, you might just go with the flow, which on t
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While quite rant-y, this book still provides a good guide on how to "learn to see" functional stupidity, and thereby becoming able to decide on to which degree it's actually functional or not. And, I agree with the authors, it is way more prevalent in today's organizations than it should be (the degree to which people report themselves 'actively disconnected' from their work is a solid indicator).
So, I'm going to keep fighting against it, and this book will be part of my field guide library. ...more
So, I'm going to keep fighting against it, and this book will be part of my field guide library. ...more
Great study into the stupidity that plagues the corporate world
As a young man navigating his first career steps in the corporate world,I was always puzzled by the stupidity that over run any organization i worked for.
I was amazed and how ppl who seems intellgent , navigate situations so poorly.
This book manages to articulate and put into words the phenomena called cultural stupidity.
As a young man navigating his first career steps in the corporate world,I was always puzzled by the stupidity that over run any organization i worked for.
I was amazed and how ppl who seems intellgent , navigate situations so poorly.
This book manages to articulate and put into words the phenomena called cultural stupidity.
A wake-up call to all of us who have ever worked!
This book is well argued provocative, enlightening and constructive. The concept of stupidity management as a double edged sword is well balanced and provide a way of thinking about how we as managers, teachers, employees develop a constructive stance and approach to what we do.
This book is well argued provocative, enlightening and constructive. The concept of stupidity management as a double edged sword is well balanced and provide a way of thinking about how we as managers, teachers, employees develop a constructive stance and approach to what we do.
I wanted to highlight the entire book. So many things jumped off the page about how things are done in corporations and schools. Guaranteed to make you feel vindicated if you've ever endured corporate nonsense.
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Oh how true what is described. One star deducted for being slightly repetitious and not providing solutions. But then that would be an act of rational stupidity, we have to work it out for ourselves!
Interesting and worthwhile argument, but felt like they could have conveyed it in much fewer words. Would have been worth the read if it was the length of an article, but instead they stretched it out into a whole book.
A great part of the book is spent on describing different systematic stupidities in the corporate setting. I found the last chapter offering good advice on how to circumvent these malaises. However, it seems to end on a rather cautionary tone than positive.
Enjoyable Deconstruction of Management Myths
Entertaining romp through Stupidity at Work, but not just a mindless attack. Encouraging to read that thinking should be done at work, but expect resistance!
Entertaining romp through Stupidity at Work, but not just a mindless attack. Encouraging to read that thinking should be done at work, but expect resistance!
this was a fun read. It should probably be read along with "Bullshit Jobs" by David Graeber for a full cynical perspective.
It does provide some good suggestions to avoid workplace "stupidity". Overall, an enjoyable read. ...more
It does provide some good suggestions to avoid workplace "stupidity". Overall, an enjoyable read. ...more
This book offers an interesting perspective on how the world currently functions and how it works to hinder creativity while promoting uniformity.
Good but feels like too much repetition
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“Most of the time, it is not imbeciles or bigots who do the most stupid things. Some of the most problematic things are done by some of the smartest people.”
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“We think that most apparently knowledge-intensive organisations can be pretty stupid.”
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