The Stupidity Paradox

Author : Mats Alvesson
Publisher : Profile Books
ISBN 13 : 1782832025
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Stupidity Paradox written by Mats Alvesson and published by Profile Books. This book was released on 2016-06-02 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Functional stupidity can be catastrophic. It can cause organisational collapse, financial meltdown and technical disaster. And there are countless, more everyday examples of organisations accepting the dubious, the absurd and the downright idiotic, from unsustainable management fads to the cult of leadership or an over-reliance on brand and image. And yet a dose of stupidity can be useful and produce good, short-term results: it can nurture harmony, encourage people to get on with the job and drive success. This is the stupidity paradox. The Stupidity Paradox tackles head-on the pros and cons of functional stupidity. You'll discover what makes a workplace mindless, why being stupid might be a good thing in the short term but a disaster in the longer term, and how to make your workplace a little less stupid by challenging thoughtless conformity. It shows how harmony and action in the workplace can be balanced with a culture of questioning and challenge. The book is a wake-up call for smart organisations and smarter people. It encourages us to use our intelligence fully for the sake of personal satisfaction, organisational success and the flourishing of society as a whole.

Author : Mats Alvesson
Publisher : Ips - Profile Books
ISBN 13 : 9781781255414
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.15/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Stupidity Paradox written by Mats Alvesson and published by Ips - Profile Books. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Something strange is happening in our knowledge economy - organisations everywhere are encouraging smart people to do stupid things. At its extremes, this kind of systematic stupidity can be catastrophic - witness the institutional blindness in financial services that led to the crisis of 2008. But we can all relate to more everyday examples of losing touch with the need to question the dubious and criticise the absurd, from unsustainable management fads or the cult of leadership and strategy through to an over-reliance on brand and image. This title tackles head-on the pros and cons of a culture of questioning and challenge in the workplace. Harmony and action at all costs can be attractive and can also bring short-term benefits.

Author : Mats Alvesson
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781781255421
Total Pages : 276 pages
Book Rating : 4.23/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Stupidity Paradox written by Mats Alvesson and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why do smart people do stupid things at work? Welcome to the idea of functional stupidity. Functional stupidity can be catastrophic. It can cause organizational collapse, financial meltdown and technical disaster. And there are countless, more everyday examples of organizations accepting the dubious, the absurd and the downright idiotic, from unsustainable management fads to the cult of leadership or an over-reliance on brand and image. And yet a dose of stupidity can be useful and produce good, short-term results: it can nurture harmony, encourage people to get on with the job and drive success. This is the stupidity paradox. The Stupidity Paradox tackles head-on the pros and cons of functional stupidity. You'll discover what makes a workplace mindless, why being stupid might be a good thing in the short term but a disaster in the longer term, and how to make your workplace a little less stupid by challenging thoughtless conformity. It shows how harmony and action in the workplace can be balanced with a culture of questioning and challenge. The book is a wake-up call for smart organizations and smarter people. It encourages us to use our intelligence fully for the sake of personal satisfaction, organizational success and the flourishing of society as a whole. --Amazon.com.

Author : Lois Kelly
Publisher : "O'Reilly Media, Inc."
ISBN 13 : 1491903910
Total Pages : 182 pages
Book Rating : 4.19/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Rebels at Work written by Lois Kelly and published by "O'Reilly Media, Inc.". This book was released on 2014-11-05 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ready to stand up and create positive change at work, but reluctant to speak up? True leadership doesn’t always come from a position of power or authority. By teaching you skills and providing practical advice, this handbook shows you how to engage your coworkers and bosses and bring your ideas forward so that they are heard, considered, and acted upon. Authors Carmen Medina and Lois Kelly—once rebels themselves—reveal ways to navigate your workplace, avoid common mistakes and traps, and overcome the fears that may be holding you back. You can achieve more success and less frustration, help your organization do better work, and—most important—find more meaning and joy in what you do.

Author : Ziyad Marar
Publisher : Reaktion Books
ISBN 13 : 1861896085
Total Pages : 208 pages
Book Rating : 4.87/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Happiness Paradox written by Ziyad Marar and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2004-01-04 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dream of a happy life has preoccupied thinkers since Plato, and in modern times it has become one of the signature tunes of our age – the rise of therapists, gurus, New Age cults and the use of Prozac are familiar indicators of how ubiquitous the pursuit of happiness has become within Western culture. The Happiness Paradox examines how this modern obsession has evolved. Ziyad Marar shows how the state of mind we seek remains highly elusive, and much of the energy devoted to searching for happiness is wasted or even self-defeating. The author argues that happiness is a deceptively simple idea that will always be elusive because it is based on a paradox: the conflict between feeling good while simultaneously being good. It is the conflict, for example, between the desire to break rules, for adventure or self-expression, and the need to follow them to gain the approval of society; these tensions permeate what Freud called the two central parts of a happy life: love and work. Drawing on a wide and varied range of sources – from psychology, philosophy, history, popular novels, television and films – this book will engage all those who are looking for meaning within their lives. It challenges the conventional search for happiness, while suggesting a bolder way to live with one of the central paradoxes of our time.

Author : Shankar Vedantam
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393652211
Total Pages : 198 pages
Book Rating : 4.15/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain written by Shankar Vedantam and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2021 A Next Big Idea Club Best Nonfiction of 2021 From the New York Times best-selling author and host of Hidden Brain comes a thought-provoking look at the role of self-deception in human flourishing. Self-deception does terrible harm to us, to our communities, and to the planet. But if it is so bad for us, why is it ubiquitous? In Useful Delusions, Shankar Vedantam and Bill Mesler argue that, paradoxically, self-deception can also play a vital role in our success and well-being. The lies we tell ourselves sustain our daily interactions with friends, lovers, and coworkers. They can explain why some people live longer than others, why some couples remain in love and others don’t, why some nations hold together while others splinter. Filled with powerful personal stories and drawing on new insights in psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, Useful Delusions offers a fascinating tour of what it really means to be human.

Author : Carlo M. Cipolla
Publisher : Doubleday
ISBN 13 : 0385546483
Total Pages : 58 pages
Book Rating : 4.85/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity written by Carlo M. Cipolla and published by Doubleday. This book was released on 2021-04-06 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A masterly book" —Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan "A classic" —Simon Kuper, Financial Times An economist explains five laws that confirm our worst fears: stupid people can and do rule the world Throughout history, a powerful force has hindered the growth of human welfare and happiness. It is more powerful than the Mafia or the military. It has global catastrophic effects and can be found anywhere from the world's most powerful boardrooms to your local bar. It is human stupidity. Carlo M. Cipolla, noted professor of economic history at the UC Berkeley, created this vitally important book in order to detect and neutralize its threat. Both hilarious and dead serious, it will leave you better equipped to confront political realities, unreasonable colleagues, or your next dinner with your in-laws. The Laws: 1. Everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals among us. 2. The probability that a certain person is stupid is independent of any other characteristic of that person. 3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person while deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses themselves. 4. Non-stupid people always underestimate the damaging power of stupid individuals. 5. A stupid person is the most dangerous type of person.

Author : André Spicer
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317433289
Total Pages : 212 pages
Book Rating : 4.86/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Business Bullshit written by André Spicer and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-11 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our organizations are flooded with empty talk. We are constantly "going forward" to lands of "deliverables", stopping off on the "journey" to "drill down" into "best practice". Being an expert at using management speak has become more important in corporate life than delivering long lasting results. The upshot is that meaningless corporate jargon is killing our organizations. In this book, management scholar the author argues we need to call this empty talk what it is: bullshit. The book looks at how organizations have become vast machines for manufacturing, distributing and consuming bullshit. It follows how the meaningless language of management has spread through schools, NGOs, politics and the media. Business Bullshit shows you how to spot business bullshit, considers why it is so popular, and outlines the impact it has on organizations and the people who work there. It also outlines what we can do to minimise bullshit at work. The author makes a case for why organizations need to avoid empty talk and reconnect with core activities.

Author : Eliot Sappingfield
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1524738476
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.71/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Problematic Paradox written by Eliot Sappingfield and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2019-02-05 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in this wild, warm-hearted, and hilarious sci-fi adventure about a brainy young girl who is recruited for a very special boarding school. Nikola Kross has given up on living in harmony with her classmates and exasperated teachers: she prefers dabbling in experimental chemistry to fitting in. But when her life is axially inverted by a gang of extraterrestrials who kidnap her dad and attempt to recruit her into their service, she discovers he's been keeping a world of secrets from her--including the school for geniuses where she's sent for refuge, a place where classes like Practical Quantum Mechanics are the norm and where students use wormholes to commute to class. For Nikola, the hard part isn't school; it's making friends, especially when the student body isn't (entirely) human. But the most puzzling paradox of all is Nikola herself, who has certain abilities that no one understands--abilities that put her whole school in greater danger than she could have imagined.

Author : The Oatmeal
Publisher : Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1449437710
Total Pages : 35 pages
Book Rating : 4.18/5 ( download)

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Download or read book My Dog: The Paradox written by The Oatmeal and published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 35 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This eponymous comic became an instant hit when it went live on The Oatmeal.com and was liked on Facebook by 700,000 fans. Now fans will have a keepsake book of this comic to give and to keep. In My Dog: The Paradox, Inman discusses the canine penchant for rolling in horse droppings, chasing large animals four times their size, and acting recklessly enthusiastic through the entirety of their impulsive, lovable lives. Hilarious and heartfelt, My Dog: The Paradox eloquently illustrates the complicated relationship between man and dog. We will never know why dogs fear hair dryers, or being baited into staring contests with cats, but as Inman explains, perhaps we love dogs so much “because their lives aren’t lengthy, logical, or deliberate, but an explosive paradox composed of fur, teeth, and enthusiasm.”