>Oh yes! Finally some comments on the worthlessnes of so many of the "fad"
>books of the last few decades, especially the last ten years. Isn't it funny
>that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
>The few theories of any merit will remain. Unfortunately, the damage of the
What makes Senge's The Fifth Discipline any different? Are you
prepared to do a study on the real, rather than imagined, effects
these books have had?
Is it not possible that the proliferation of management books has
helped American Management remain the leading source of ideas,
techniques and performance in the World? Hmmmm. Peter's book as
well as Hammer & Champy were written by a former academics making it
big in consulting. If you get paid for your advice time and time
again for years, you can't be totally full of it. The market for
ideas is not that different than the market for products so that
differentiation doesn't apply.
Without evidence that the books are damaging then the original
assertion that many management books are damaging is a fleeting one.
Likely there is a continuum of usefulness with factors such as who
reads it, are they in a position to change behavior because of it,
and how much discontent with existing systems caused by reading the
book, affect the usefulness of a certain book.