Table of contentsIntroductionThe concept, role and consequences of functional stupidityThe paradox of stupidity and the idea of ​​​​decision making , leadership and organizational cultureHow to deal with stupidityConclusionIntroductionThe stupidity paradox is written by Mats Alvesson and Andre Spicer. Alvesson is a professor at Lund University, Sweden, and is also associated with the University of Queensland and Cass Business School. Andre Spicer is Professor of Organizational Behavior at Cass Business School, University of London. This was an interesting book to read because it talks about the impact of stupidity on the way organizations are managed. Authors Mats Alvesson and Andre Spicer spoke from their own experiences to explain how organizations hire smart people and make them do stupid things. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay They believe that rather than encouraging talent and rationality, organizations cultivate conformity, obedience, and conformism. They supported their points of view by illustrating practical examples from real companies to attract the reader's attention. The book explains how smart organizations encourage stupidity among smart workers, which could lead to long-term difficulties. As an example, the authors discussed the financial crisis of 2008. According to the author, the financial crisis was the result of "smart people doing stupid things at work" that produce short-term results but cause long-term disasters. The Concept, Role, and Consequences of Functional Stupidity As Alvesson and Spicer have pointed out, the phenomenon of functional stupidity plays a large role in getting smart people to buy into stupid ideas. This makes the vision narrow and as a result the worker focuses only on the technical aspect of the idea without focusing on the broader aspect. This means that the work will be done but its larger purpose will be neglected. Functional stupidity makes people do things that seem good. Rather than asking questions and focusing on results, people look for ways to do their jobs and obey the orders they are given. The irony lies in the fact that most of the time these stupid ideas are even encouraged and applauded and they are carried out by the most intelligent people who possess high intellectual abilities and educational skills and are considered gifted people. great leadership skills. The authors point out that organizations foster functional stupidity by creating an action-oriented culture. Employees are encouraged to ignore uncertainties to ensure processes run smoothly and this is how convenience is valued before questioning problematic aspects of thoughts and ideas. Neglecting different issues in the short term can lead to problems for organizations in the long term as stakeholders will develop a lack of trust in the organization. The 2008 financial crisis has been cited as an explanation for how small problems accumulate to cause major disasters in the long term. The book is divided into three parts. The first part talks about the role of stupidity in the workplace, the different intellectual pitfalls in professional life and the consequences of functional stupidity. In part two, five different types of functional stupidity arediscussed. Which are broadly categorized into leadership-induced stupidity, structure-induced stupidity, stupidity caused by unbridled enthusiasm for brands and images, stupidity resulting from imitating other organizations and finally, stupidity caused by corporate culture. business. The third part of this book talks about the different ways in which stupidity can be managed in organizations. The book highlights assumptions about how smart workers are supposed to be. To engage the readers, the authors explained it using the idea introduced by a management thinker, Peter Drucker. He talks about a type of employee called a “knowledge worker.” The job of knowledge workers is to apply their abstract knowledge to practical situations and seek solutions to these practical problems. He expects to see a change in society where true authority lies in the control of information rather than in the control of the factors of production. Post-industrialization society was seen as an information society in which knowledge workers would use abstract models and principles. Knowledge had to become the key resource. Innovation, improvement of the education system and information technologies are necessary. But in reality this did not happen and workers expected to get good grades for minimal work and effort. Likewise, the number of researchers has increased, but the main conclusions of research articles have decreased. Additionally, the role of technology was also discussed. Internet can make a country knowledge intensive, but at the same time it has misguided people and given them an opportunity to engage in mindless activities that result in wasting time. As a result, we are seeing a decline in innovation. To explain how the education system contributes to this stupidity, the authors cited a US study in which 2,300 undergraduates from 29 different colleges were tested at the start of their programs, and again after two and four years. After 2 years of study, 45% of students showed no improvement in their cognitive abilities. After 4 years of study, 36% of students showed little or no improvement in their analytical skills. The authors explained the concept of “knowledge-intensive” business. They explained that it was more about creating a sense of community among employees and attracting customers. But knowledge workers are mostly uncertain about the problems businesses face and the information relevant to solving those problems. For example, IBM employees focus on meeting their performance goals rather than thinking about the real innovation challenges. This means that instead of focusing on being knowledgeable, workers focus on demonstrating that they know and, as a result, miss opportunities to learn. Based on what is explained in the book, the few ways in which workers try to act are mentioned. intelligent but it only leads to stupidity. Another stupid practice the authors talk about is turning a blind eye to things that don't bring positive results. Rather than looking for reasons why things went wrong and how the situation could be improved, workers choose to make their lives easier by ignoring the situation. These workers are carefully selected based on their IQ, but their practical intelligence is often overlooked. The authors talked about the rational and analytical thinking skills of workers by mentioningthe study of the two psychologists Daniel and Amos. Their work proved that the initial information provided to us shapes our perception of other information which is defined as an anchor. The paradox of stupidity and the idea of ​​decision-making, leadership and organizational culture. Alvesson and Spicer analyzed the decision-making style of these organizations. organizations. There are jobs where workers have the power to make decisions about how they want to work to encourage them, but they choose not to put in the work. This happens because people focus on achieving satisfactory rather than optimal results. It was surprising to read that stupidity can be an integral part of a person's professional life. The Ford Pinto case was cited as an example to support the idea that workers often adapt to norms and avoid asking questions to ignore potential problems. a usual practice in organizations. This point was explored further and the reasons for it were discussed. One of the main reasons was that asking questions would lead to problems and relationships with other workers or management could be affected. The authors further explained three main aspects of stupidity defined as reflexivity, justification and substantive reasoning. The absence of reflexivity leads to accepting what is commonly thought and not questioning assumptions. Justification talks about following standards without asking the reasons why something should be done. The absence of substantive reasoning leads to ignoring the main consequences of actions and decisions. Functional stupidity occurs when people stop questioning working patterns and when people are not curious and unwilling to learn new things. Lack of emotional reasoning also causes stupidity, as people resist thinking or listening to possible flaws in their work. Another form of functional stupidity occurs when an employee's thinking is limited by the company's moral beliefs. My favorite quote from the book is: “By mindlessly adhering to leadership ideas, organizations can become overcommitted to practices that don’t work. "" was a thought-provoking phrase because, according to this quote, organizations encourage stupidity because they have a misplaced obsession with leadership. Following formal rules and routine procedures encourages stupidity if compliance with structures and rules is seen as a guarantee of productivity and efficiency. This narrows the horizon and people end up doing specialized work and avoid looking at results. In the short term, this is a good practice because it helps keep operations running smoothly, but in the long term, it creates problems. The book explains how culture impacts the way people behave and how it creates stupidity. Culture shapes the behaviors of employees and management as a whole. It helps people connect by providing them with a common purpose and identity. When organizational culture is strong, people often think alike, without thinking outside the box, without questioning norms, and without challenging established patterns of behavior. This means there are no conflicts and employees feel comfortable and safe. As an example, the culture of the Nokia mobile phone manufacturing company is discussed. The culture was dominated by the preference for optimism. People preferred to talk about the good things..