This book is not going to give you solutions to your functional stupidity. They show you all the ways in which we actively participate in the stupidity and then they're asking you to think and reflect upon it. Sometimes the stupidity is necessary, but often, it is not. It's up to you to decide in your own unique situation what is appropriate.
I loved it because I'm self proclaimed cynic/realist and I was still buying into stupidity. This book really caused me to think hard about so many things that I celebrate and do and it was a somber experience. But I don't mind it when a book cuts me down a peg or two. Often the best criticism is deep self reflection.
But that's just like, my opinion.

I'm an old fann of Mats Alvesson, so I was excited to read this book. As usual, he did not disappoint. This book tells you why there's such a thing as corporate stupidity, even though corporations consistently hire people with advanced degrees and high IQs. How and in what ways does this happen? Alvesson describes the social processes whereby we end up making the same mistakes over and over again. It's well read alongside anything by Chris Argyris, who also provides insight into how individuals make these mistakes. Alvesson's work is more sociological in nature, and shows how group dynamics develop, grow, and perpetuate collective stupidity. Sad read, but worth it. The only complaint I had was the "what to do about it" section. Alvesson, like a lot of academics, doesn't know much about the corporate timescape. Yes, absolutely have post-mortems, but in today's 24/7 world, who has time? He should identify time as one of the real enemies (he doesn't seem to know that it is).

A deeply disturbing book. Easily the hardest and one of the most interesting book read this year , need to re read every couple of years

A sceptical look at how modern organizations work. Some of the points I liked the most:

- a lot of what is called knowledge work isn't in fact very complicated or knowledge-intensive
- fancy titles can make boring jobs bearable
- documenting what you do has become more important than the actual doing and the results
- having a "positive mindset" can mean that problems are ignored
- not questioning what you do, or why, at work can make you feel good about work, and make things run more smoothly (even if what you do is stupid).

Although a bit repetitive, I liked how the others question a lot of established practices in organizations. There are also 285 references to studies illustrating their points.

I will start recommending it as a good book to start a debate about good and not so good company practices. It has value for been able to create debate, as it has some really interesting insights. "One of us studied manager who claimed to do leadership. They said that having coffee with their subordinates, listening to them or engaging them in small talk had a significant impact on them. They saw this as an exercise of leadership. If another person - say their secretary - had done the small talking, no one would have called it leadership, but the managers followed the scripts of leadership and saw trivial acts as full of impressive influencing activity." is one of the many interesting reflections. But with a style that mixes touches of academic book with that of a cynical blog post it loses appeal. The last part of the book, dedicated to how to improve this situation, falls almost as comical as it lists well intended receipts to be followed by that same leaders that the book was mocking some pages before. Is this humorous ending on purpose or just a failed shot to return to a more academical style? It is hard to tell.

This book is not going to give you solutions to your functional stupidity. They show you all the ways in which we actively participate in the stupidity and then they're asking you to think and reflect upon it. Sometimes the stupidity is necessary, but often, it is not. It's up to you to decide in your own unique situation what is appropriate.
I loved it because I'm self proclaimed cynic/realist and I was still buying into stupidity. This book really caused me to think hard about so many things that I celebrate and do and it was a somber experience. But I don't mind it when a book cuts me down a peg or two. Often the best criticism is deep self reflection.
But that's just like, my opinion.