I'm Sorry I broke Your Company

Resource A: A Measure of Truth

You didn’t expect to read a book by a management consultant and not have some sort of scorecard, did you? I thought I would summarize what I know to be true about conventional management wisdom based on my decades-long career, which includes reading tons of business books and research. I have to put a disclaimer on the accuracy of this information because I cant be expected to be familiar with all the research in all these areas, but I am putting a stake in the ground in the hopes that this will become a living document. Oops, I slipped. Sorry about that; old habits die hard. Let me rephrase: you can find this scorecard on the web at imsorryibrokeyourcompany.com and add any research or other theories you think should be included.

The Truthometer

Resource В: The Method of Truth

Although management is not a science, we can still learn from science. In fact, I love science, and I love learning from it. What science can most offer to businesses is not theories but the method in which science is conducted. The purpose of science is to derive the truth. Physics seeks to find the underlying laws governing the physical world, from atomic particles to the origins of the universe. Biology seeks to understand life. Chemistry seeks to understand how molecules interact. Science is not about creating a set of laws; It's about understanding how things work and changing the laws based on new information. Many people seem to confuse ideologies with scientific theories. Theories change, while ideologies do not. Astrology and creationism are not science. They are static belief systems that don't seek to find underlying truths. They try to bend theories to conform to the beliefs. Our current state of management «science» also doesn't seem to be very interested in finding the truth.

Although I have spent most of this book debunking popular methodologies, one proven method should be used much more often in businesses, a method that could be used to derive the truth about how people work — the scientific method.