"All know the way, but few actually walk it." ~ Bodhidharma
If we all know what to do, then why don't we do it?
Why is it that our knowledge does not align with our actions? Could it be that our knowledge is far superior to our capacity to act on it? Is our failure to act purely a flaw in human design or could it be that this seemingly lazy behavior is learned or even rewarded?
Ironically, we already "know" the answers to these questions. We just need to make a few observations...
In the 2007 Harvard Business Review article, "The Smart-Talk Trap," authors, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, observed the cause and effect of the knowing-doing gap in the world of business. As if our flawed DNA were not enough of a hurdle in itself, we are also implicitly taught in school and the workplace that "smart talk" is a substitute for action. Our misalignment of knowledge and action is learned behavior:
Smart talk is the essence of management education at leading institutions in the United States and throughout the world. Students learn how to sound smart in classroom discussions and how to write smart things on essay examinations. A substantial part of students' grades is usually based on how much they say and how smart they sound in class...
[Students] learn that they need only to deliver an intelligent insight -- or an intelligent critique of someone else's insight -- to impress their professors. They don't have to actually implement the recommendations or act on the insights that emerge in the conversation.
"But this is that which will indeed dignify and exalt knowledge, if contemplation and action may be more nearly and straitly conjoined and united together than they have been..." ~ Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning
Most of us can draw on immediate experience to recall examples of smart-talk and the knowing-doing gap. In my graduate and MBA studies, I recall "class participation" was, indeed, a significant portion of the final grade.
What about in the business world? How many mission statements are actually carried out? How many ideas hatched in committee meetings actually make it past the meeting minutes?
What about the CEOs and managers? They may "dress for success" and appear knowledgeable, but do they even know what their smart talk means? Consider some further observations cited in the same article by Pfeffer and Sutton:
People will try to sound smart not only by being critical but also by using trendy, pretentious, or overblown language...
Sometimes managers don't know what they're talking about when they use complex language, as we discovered when we asked a number of them to define some of the terms they used frequently -- such as 'learning organization,' 'business process re-engineering,' 'chaos theory,' and 'paradigm.'
Does this remind you of anyone? Have you ever worked for a CEO or manager that actually turned their smart-talk into action? How many of them do you feel were smarter than you? Did they obtain the leadership positions because of real action or was it a resume full of positions and certificates achieved via the path of smart talk?
I can certainly appreciate the value of a visionary leader who is a gifted smart-talker but only when they effectively put their words into action or if the leader is at least wise enough to delegate the doing to their managers and employees. I have seen evidence, both anecdotal and scientific, that corporations can only go so far on the "fake it 'til you make it" premise. Making matters worse, most organizations and their leaders are not even aware of their knowing-doing gap.
"Between the conception / And the creation / Between the emotion / And the response / Falls the Shadow." ~ T.S. Elliot, The Hallow Men
As you may have already guessed, my direction here is that the knowing-doing gap can only be closed by some form of awareness. This applies, of course, not only to organizations but to individuals as well.
Knowledge is power but it certainly is not wisdom. The smart-talkers seeking short-term rewards will frame questions by asking "why" while corporate leaders and individuals seeking long-term goals and lasting success will frame questions by asking "how."
The path to self-awareness, furthermore, will have us ask the more difficult questions, such as "Who am I?" and "Where am I going?"
"There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
While the physical world certainly rewards smart-talkers, and I will not say that smart talk is purely negative, but my objective here is to help others awaken to their own path -- the path that ideally originates from the inner world. This awakening, if you will, almost certainly requires the shattering of conventional wisdom and the undoing of what we have been taught -- that our knowing does not need to align with our doing and, more importantly, our being -- that we are somehow smaller than our dreams.
These teachings are simply and categorically not healthy. The knowing-doing gap must be closed...
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Related Posts:
Mind vs. Brain Part I: We are only Human
Mind vs. Brain Part II: Priorities, Pursuits & Productivity
Mind vs. Brain Part III: Habits of the Reflective Mind
I offer a question regarding cause and effect. If knowing is rewarded regardless of doing why do at all?
Maybe the awareness exists in the form of knowing=better marketing=promotion=let someone else take the blame for my poor results? Maybe the incentives are all screwed up?
From my experience the knowing-doing gap is strongest in bureaucratic organizations where processes take so long you’re usually long gone by the time they end.
Closing the knowing-doing gap one day at a time...
Posted by: Dorian Wales @ The Personal Financier | May 28, 2008 at 03:41 PM
Dorian:
Your question, "If knowing is rewarded regardless of doing why do at all?," strikes at the core of the dilemma presented in this blog post.
I have personally "succeeded" in the business world where knowing is "rewarded regardless of doing." While others may see this differently, I view those values as empty, pretentious and absent of meaning.
In the short space of a blog post, it is difficult to communicate the larger picture, but to answer your question, the reason for aligning our "knowing" with our "doing" is to live a meaningful and purposeful life.
Success, as defined by social convention, is quite obtainable with little or no skills, and you are right, the knowing-doing gap tends to be wider in larger, beaurocratic structures, such as government and institutional-level business. This is where knowing absent of doing is rewarded, if not highly regarded.
Success, as defined by those of us seeking meaning and purpose, will likely be measured by the degree to which we know ourselves (knowing) and how we leverage that knowledge to align our ideal self or who we are (being) with what we do and how we act (doing).
Thanks for the thought-provoking comment and for adding to the discussion. I will visit your site and hope to hear from you again...
Kent
Posted by: The Financial Philosopher | May 28, 2008 at 04:37 PM
This is an absolutely wonderful post. "Smart talk" has always annoyed me, but I've always known it as "bullshitting", to be a little less PC. Nothing bothers me more in a work environment than endless meetings and hot air.
Subscribing to your blog. Found your from GRS. Looking forward to reading!
Posted by: Heidi | May 29, 2008 at 09:55 AM
Heidi:
Smart talkers are certainly rewarded in school and in the business place but I believe the "rewards," such as higher grades, better jobs and more money only perpetuate the rat race mentality.
Once the "reward" is reached, it is quickly consumed and the hunger returns. This is why I believe it is important to differentiate between rewards and goals.
Let the smart-talkers continue their rat brain pursuits while you sit in the conference room quietly confident in your own meaningful pursuits.
Instead of finding frustration in the meetings, now perhaps you will smile and be entertained by the "bullshit..."
Thanks for subscribing!
Please join in the conversation again. I'll watch for you over at GRS, too...
Posted by: The Financial Philosopher | May 29, 2008 at 01:02 PM
Thank you for the welcome! I've been perusing your blog for the last hour or so and it has been very enlightening for me, this topic especially. My husband spends alot of time humoring my "What are they saying?!" exclamations while watching television or reading the news. Especially if it involves politicians, businessmen, or pastors. I truly can't process anything meaningful from most of the garbage they speak.
Thank you again for a wonderful post and looking forward to reading more of you!
Posted by: Heidi | May 29, 2008 at 01:10 PM
Kent,
I'm working pretty hard right now to close this gap. I fell into the trap of talking a lot more about what I wanted to do than actually completing tasks, and now I'm trying the opposite. I've hacked away at distractions, and its a relief for me to say its beginning to work.
My new philosophy in this area: focus to the point where your creations are doing the talking for you.
Posted by: Jeremy Welch | June 02, 2008 at 11:16 PM
Jeremy:
You make some great points. Since you are aware of the gap, then I believe you have already done half the work. Also, I believe there is a time for smart-talk and "knowing absent of doing" as long as the "doing" soon follows.
It is difficult, if not counter-productive, to struggle with the perfect balance where our knowing and doing are always in proportion and aligned.
In a business setting, and most personal pursuits, knowing will precede doing anyway.
It's good to hear from you. It sounds as if you are doing well...
Kent
Posted by: The Financial Philosopher | June 03, 2008 at 09:30 AM
Hi Kent,
Great post. As a recent MBA graduate I can't tell you how much I have thought about this exact topic. I even read The Knowing-Doing Gap in grad school.
I am guilty as charged in being full of "smart talk" without action. Luckily I have a few friends that help me to live up to what I say.
And that's the key. If your going to talk the talk, you got to walk the walk. Once you say it, if you are a person of integrity, you have to do it. That is why I don't make promises lightly. It is also why once I decide to do something, I tell everyone, so they hold me accountable.
As much as I hate to say it, the only way to get people to do what they say they are capable of doing is to start holding them 100% accountable. That's the answer in my book.
Cheers,
Jeremy
Posted by: Jeremy Day | October 20, 2008 at 08:46 PM
This is not a criticism of this worthy information, but just curious about the apparent misuse of the word "their" in the sentence "Sometimes managers don't know what their talking about" excerpted from the Harvard Business Review article, "The Smart-Talk Trap," authors, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton? I'm not sure if the error is in the original article.
Posted by: Neill | December 29, 2008 at 07:29 AM
The mistake was mine and I've corrected it! I appreciate your sharp eye...
Posted by: Kent @ The Financial Philosopher | December 29, 2008 at 10:38 AM