108 of 116 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not surprising, not accurate, not the latest brain science and not worth the money, July 8, 2009
When I first saw heard about the book, Management Rewired: Why Feedback Doesn't Work and Other Surprising Lessons from the Latest Brain Science, I got excited. There's been a lot of research in the last decade about how we perceive the world and how our sensory systems and brains work. I expected the book to be about what we've learned.
The subtitle and publicity material make some very provocative claims. We're told that "feedback doesn't work" and that "setting measureable objectives often backfires on managers" to name two. I expected the book to support those assertions.
But this book doesn't do either of those things. Instead it's filled with selectively chosen research that is more from the last century than the latest brain research.
The author claims that "feedback doesn't work." The way he supports that assertion seems characteristic of the book.
To quote the book:"a landmark study at General Electric found that the company's performance appraisal system didn't work, it produced results that were virtually the opposite of what was intended."
First, it's not a "landmark study" within any common meaning of the term. The article is cited only six times in scholarly literature
The researchers did not study feedback. They studied the performance appraisal system in place at GE. Their comments on feedback were about feedback as delivered in an annual performance appraisal and a system where it was common that the annual appraisal was the only time a worker received feedback. GE has since changed this procedure in several ways.
The study (named "Split Roles in Performance Appraisal") was based on the analysis of less than one hundred questionnaires. Not a real big or broad sample.
This is not "the latest brain science" either. The study in question was reported in the Harvard Business Review issue for January-February 1965.
So the conclusion that "feedback doesn't work" turns out to be based primarily on a small study of one company's performance appraisal system as it existed almost half a century ago.
Other studies are also offered to support this "surprising lesson." There is one by Leon Festinger that is mentioned but not cited. It deals with cognitive dissonance produced when people are paid to lie.
Elliot Aronson is one of the greatest of psychologists. But his studies cited here involve children solving puzzles and playing or not playing with toys based on the reward system used. They don't relate to management and they aren't "the latest brain science."
The author also cites research by George Homans on how people respond when they do not get a reward they expect. Homans says they get angry. This is not exactly cutting edge, either.
So, let's review. The research cited is not "the latest brain science." This is old stuff.
The only study that involves the workplace involves a small sample in one company four decades ago. And the study was on the performance appraisal system, not feedback.
The other studies are the kind of laboratory psychology that is difficult to translate into practical actions you can take in the workplace. Even so, they are selectively quoted. If you read only this book, you would never know that there's a lot of solid academic research that comes to very different conclusions.
Weasel wording abounds in the book. Jacobs says, "Setting measurable objectives often backfires on the manager." But when you read that text it turns out that the real finding is that "setting measurable objectives without team member participation often backfires." Any manager who's ever tried that could have told you.
There are lots of other findings that just don't' seem all that "surprising." Here are some.
"Smaller rewards tend to be more motivational that larger rewards." This is not news. My grandmother knew it which is why she always gave us lots of small presents instead of fewer big ones.
"Being competitive is often the best way to encourage cooperation." This is a workplace staple when one team or shift or plant competes with another.
"Pay increases don't motivate." We've known for decades that for most people most of the time pay is a hygiene factor, not a motivation factor.
There you have it. The "surprising lessons" in this book are only sketchily supported by carefully selected "evidence." Other lessons really aren't that surprising. And only a pinch of those lessons have anything to do with the latest brain science.
Don't waste your time or money on this book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, February 11, 2010
This review is from: Management Rewired: Why Feedback Doesn't Work and Other Surprising Lessons from the Latest Brain Science (Hardcover)
I, as did several other reviewers, thought this book might be a little deeper in its discussion regarding management and its workings. It can be a little tough to read in some sections. At first I was disappointed with what was presented. However, after I finished the book I began to realize that I actually had started to think defferently about management and how it was to be practiced. It did not give me many case studies and examples as I might have liked, but it does sow enough seeds to get you thinking. The Author even said near the end that these seeds were planted and now it was time for the Reader to find the best way to water and nuture the seeds. It also reinforces that idea that there is no one best way to manage, but there is a preferred methodology of thinking about how to manage.
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