The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action Hardcover – January 15, 2000

The main premise of this book as the authors best summarize it is: "Why knowledge of what needs to be done frequently fails to result in action or behavior consistent with that knowledge. We came to call this the knowing-doing problem - the challenge of turning knowledge about how to enhance organizational performance into actions consistent with that knowledge. This book presents what we learned about the factors that contribute to the knowledge doing gap and why and how some organizations are more successful than others in implementing their knowledge."The book then analyzes the reasons and causes of this gap through numerous examples and presents eight main recommendations: "Eight Guidelines for Action: 1) Why before How: Philosophy Is Important 2) Knowing Comes from Doing and Teaching Others How. 3) Action Counts More Than Elegant Plans and Concepts. 4) There Is No Doing without Mistakes. What Is the Company's Response? 5) Fear Fosters Knowing-Doing Gaps, So Drive Out Fear. 6) Beware of False Analogies: Fight the Competition, Not Each Other. 7) Measure What Matters and What Can Help Turn Knowledge into Action. 8) What Leaders Do, How They Spend Their Time and How They Allocate Resources, Matters."A very applicable, educational and action oriented book. One that echoes the fundamentals of execution and its importance as the ultimate benchmark of success. A must read in the area of management!Below are key excerpts from the book:1- "...although knowledge creation, benchmarking, and knowledge management may be important, transforming knowledge into organization action is at least as important to organizational success."2- "Attempting to copy just what is done - the explicit practices and policies - without holding the underlying philosophies at once a more difficult task and an approach that is less likely to be successful."3- "Talk is also valued because, as noted earlier, the quantity and "quality" of talk can be assessed immediately, but the quality of leadership or management capability, the ability to get things done, can be assessed only with greater time lag."4- "It is possible, albeit difficult, to build strong cultures founded on principles and philosophy that can also innovate and change. But doing so requires much thought and attention. Otherwise, firms are readily trapped by their history, even if, or particularly if, that history has many positive elements in it, as Saturn's does."5- "Conversely, fear is an enemy of the abilitiy to question the past or break free from precedent."6- "It is clear to us that merely knowing what measurement practices should be used does not, by itself, cause leaders to implement measures that produce intelligent, mindful, learning behavior rather than the reverse."7- "In each of the instances in which effective measurement practices were used, knowing what to do, why it needed to be done, and having the persistence and courage to do it helped leaders turn knowledge about how to enhance performance into organizational action."8- "As Dean Tjosvold, a researcher and writer on the subject of competition and cooperation, noted, "Competition stimulates, excites, and is useful in some circumstance, but those situations do not occur frequently in organizations, and the widespread use of competition cannot be justified.""9- "Harlow Cohen, the president of a Cleveland, Ohio, consulting firm, has called this gap between knowing and doing the performance paradox: "Managers know what to do to improve performance, but actually ignore or act in contradiction to either their strongest instincts or to the data available to them.""10- "Knowing about the knowing-doing gap is different from doing something about it. Understanding causes is helpful because such understanding can guide action. But by itself, this knowing is insufficient - action must occur."

Great book that cuts through all the management-theory bull**** and tells you you have to ACT and actually DO THE WORK. It is a most welcome attack on overplanning and over-analysis. Relevant for business and personal issues.

The Knowing-Doing Gap is an insightful book for anyone that works as a management professional. As many of us have experienced in our careers, the knowing-doing gap can be a gargantuan issue for management to overcome. The main purpose of the book is to explain the dilemma of knowing what should be done,sharing it, and putting it into action. It presents real world examples of companies experiencing the knowing-doing gap and provides analysis on why companies find themselves in these situations, how they get there, and what they should be doing to eliminate the gap.There are eight issues discussed and analyzed in detail, which are:Knowing “What to” Do is Not EnoughThe beginning of the book explains how knowing what to do just isn’t enough, and yet, most business books we read cover just that topic.When Talk Substitutes for actionThe authors point out how often upper level management will hold meetings to discuss new ideas and make decisions without discussing how to implement these changes. How to avoid using talk as a substitute for action is also discussed.When Memory is a Substitute for ThinkingThe authors explain how companies continue using old practices and ways of thinking simply because “that’s the way things have always been done”. This chapter also presents ways to overcome this “trap”, including to create a new organizational division or sub-unit, which the authors claim may be the most reliable way to ensure that people will use active thinking rather than precedent as a basis for action.When Fear Prevents Acting on KnowledgeThis section of the book discusses the topic of fear as a barrier to translating knowledge into action. It provides evidence that distrust and fear of management are problems today in many organizations.When Measurement Obstructs Good JudgmentSome examples from the book are firms focusing on short-term financial performance and overly complex measurement philosophies. The book also goes on to explain how companies like The Men’s Wearhouse and SAS Institute have used measures for positive results.When Internal Competition Turns Friends into enemiesThis section uses examples from real companies to explain the importance of teamwork in successful companies, and also how some organizations continue to foster dysfunctional internal competition. Additionally, information on how to overcome destructive internal competition is abundant, such as implementing measures to assess cooperation in various business units.Firms That Surmount the Knowing-Doing GapPfeffer and Sutton provide specifics on how many well known companies have successfully surmounted the Knowing-Doing Gap. British Petroleum and it’s Virtual Teamwork Program, and Barclays Global Investors overcoming its challenges of global expansion and growth in personnel are two examples.Turning Knowledge into ActionThe final chapter details how to turn knowledge into action with through eight guidelines for action such as the importance of philosophy, overcoming fear, and proper measurement.The book was a noble effort to critically explain a prevalent problem in today’s business world. The authors were successful in dissecting a complex issue. Despite this, a better subtitle for the book would be, “Why Companies Don’t Turn Knowledge into Action.” The authors spent a great deal of effort explaining the reasons why companies are unable to turn knowledge into action. What was lacking was a clear roadmap on how to overcome obstacles that prevent us from making real changes. The authors provided solid examples of successes some companies have found. It was clear that these strategies would work, except when they wouldn’t. As with most things in life, everything is situational and this book seemed to have its own “knowing-doing gap.”

Los mejores estudios/insights vienen del siglo pasado, este fascinante libro nos muestra que el problema más grande en los negocios es la disyuntiva entre lo que decimos y lo que realmente hacemos y su gran mensaje es que para que un negocio logre sus objetivos debe simplificar sus procesos y lenguaje y debe estar orientado a probar hipótesis y no validar creencias u opiniones, para esto es necesario tener una cultura del aprendizaje y disminuir el miedo que pueden sentir nuestros colaboradores para actuar y probar nuevas alternativas. Una lectura obligada para este siglo donde premiamos la complejidad y la charla inteligente en vez de los resultados reales.

A brilliant book which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. It provides an in-depth explanations on why people procrastinate and postpone important stuff while being fully aware of it, and it goes further to discuss whether there are any practical ways of solving this. Although the book talks mostly about firm environments and a mass of people it is very applicable at a personal level too.

This book is something else, The Knowing-Doing Gap opens up about what you need to accept as a provider. Everyone has bad and good qualities, we all should learn to accept negative and positive feedbacks to become a better leader in this healthcare field. Team work is a must to succeed.