Some resources
The Smart-Talk Trap.
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Pfeffer, Jeffrey; Sutton, Robert I
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. Harvard Business Review, May/Jun99, Vol. 77 Issue 3, p134-142
This article reports that many companies are plagued by a gap between knowing too much and doing too little about problems that face their organization. The authors call this space the "knowing-doing" gap. This gap can be traced to a basic human propensity to let talk substitute for action. Talk, and especially smart talk, is highly rewarded in organizations because speaking with intelligence and confidence has been reinforced in people. Five characteristics have been found in companies that have avoided the smart-talk trap, which include having leaders who understand their work, have a bias for plain language and simple concepts, frame questions by asking "how," not just "why," have strong mechanisms that close the loop, and believe that experience is the best teacher in business. Listed companies that use talk productively include IDEO Product Development, Bayport Terminal, Continental Airlines, Macintosh, and Merrill Lynch.
An online version of this article at CIO Insight
blog posts on it: http://photoncourier.blogspot.com/archives/2005_07_01_photoncourier_archive.html#112214675699901548
A blog post that links the idea to Why Great Leaders Don't Take "Yes" for an Answer, by Michael Roberto of Harvard Business School
Sutton explaining the ideas in a short video
Notes from a talk by Robert Sutton on The Smart Talk Trap
Key points
- Decisions on their own are useless for changing the world. To make a difference you must take action
- Too often, organizations pay, and reward, people for saying smart things, rather than for actually doing smart things.
- It's easier – and much faster – to verbalize decisions and analyze issues than to implement pretty much anything. Hence the smart talk trap: talking instead of doing.
- Simplicity in words and actions are very important in business.
Ideas to implement
- If you think your company is suffering from the 'smart talk trap' you should encourage better communication so that people in the organization actually understand their role. Establishing quarterly reviews of individuals' job descriptions can facilitate this. Ask staff to write their interpretation of their 'job spec' and discuss it with team leaders - this is also an opportunity to set objectives and ensure focus for the next three months.
- Place a team leader in charge of monitoring the time horizon between making a decision and completing the resulting action over a period of three to six months. Analyze the data and findings with senior colleagues and establish a goal of reducing this time horizon over the following three to six months. This will inevitably slip with time, so there should be continual monitoring.
- Initiate a 'no jargon' rule in meetings and communications throughout your organization. Reprimand people when they are over-relying on jargon and encourage a more simplistic communication: tell people to 'get straight to the point' and avoid over-complication.
- Ensure decisions are followed up by asking staff to take it in turns to take minutes in meetings and circulate to everyone with action points and deadlines. Always address what should have been done and by who at the next meeting.
- Don't put people in charge who do not understand the company and know nothing about how it works, but instead support your staff and business by rewarding local knowledge.
Questions to ask yourselves
- Why are people allowed to get away with over-relying on jargon rather than actually getting anything done? As a leader, how would you approach this issue with a member of staff?
- Is the 'smart-talk trap' a purely American phenomenon?
- List the 'business phrases/jargon' you repeatedly hear around your office.