Professor Mats Alvesson on corporate stupidity and what to do about it

Discussion in 'Other Off-Topic Chat' started by Durandal, Apr 26, 2017.

  1. Durandal

    Durandal Well-Known Member Donor

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    Fascinating reading. “We need to simplify reality in order to get by,” says Alvesson -- this, sadly, applies to politics also! Especially partisan politics!

    http://www.afr.com/brand/boss/the-e...-says-professor-mats-alvesson-20170309-guu5b8

    Ever wondered why corporate language is so empty, or why organisations often put high importance on tasks which, by any objective measure, are pointless?

    It turns out there’s a reason: organisations are stupid.

    This is the contention of Swedish business professor Mats Alvesson, who’s built a theory of corporate behaviour and written a successful book based on the idea.

    Corporations may be dumb but they are not dumb without reason, he says, because stupidity is a trait which has a superficial allure. It’s easier for people in large organisations not to rock the boat.

    “A lot of us would experience this dilemma,” he told a recent seminar at the University of Sydney. “I should really speak up but it’s difficult and tricky.”


    So instead people let stupidity happen. They don’t question decisions which they believe are wrong and they allow themselves to get caught up in group think that has no real basis.

    “It is stupid but it leads to a lot of positive consequences, at least in the short term. Such as comfort and trust. There are smooth relations [in the organisation]. You are not making people embarrassed or uncomfortable,” he says.

    Stupidity may not make sense, but it makes organisations work more smoothly. It makes them functional. That’s why he called his book, written with André Spicer, The Stupidity Paradox.

    Defence mechanism
    He says that both employers and managers often adopt stupidity as a defence mechanism when they are confronted by complex problems. It makes them appear to be easily solved when, in fact, they are not.

    “We need to simplify reality in order to get by,” says Alvesson who is based at Sweden’s Lund University but spends two months each year at the University of Queensland Business School.

    Typically organisational leaders will adopt a positive mantra – be optimistic, see the challenge – which disguises the real problems.

    Alvesson says the failure of mobile phone giant Nokia is a case study in functional stupidity.

    .... Read on at the link.
     
  2. GrumpyCatFace

    GrumpyCatFace Active Member

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    Paywall. I actually want to read this though.
     

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