Business schools and cutting-edge firms are beginning to think seriously about managing by the facts. Note my comment, "beginning to think about . . ." Having consulted all across the country, it's normal to rub shoulders with managers who don't manage by the facts. The few who do are definitely in the minority.
That's why Sutton and Pfeffer call their book, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense. In their book as well as Atul Gawande's Complications, the point is made that in almost every field, including business and medicine, many practitioners and their advisers are unwilling or unable to observe the world systematically. Trapped by their beliefs and ideologies, their observations are "contaminated by what they expect to see, or because they aren't logical enough."
If you'd like to know why fact-based decision making in business is important, Stanford Business School's Sutton and Pfeffer have a post here. Their work is all about evidence-based management, a process long overdue.
But when it comes to the use of solid research for personal development, there's even less being accessed by business professionals. That's a shame, because there's a ton of development research just waiting to be picked off the vine. The new neuroscience and the research in org behavior are ready to go, but they're still hidden away from more than 95% of professionals. And there's no thoughtful rationale for evidence-based personal development like Sutton and Pfeffer's essay on business development.
Why is that?
I think it's because though we expect engineers or marketing research professionals to use mathematical formulas and hard data, we don't expect the same when it comes to smart people skills (better name for the so-called soft skills). Sometimes, the attitude seems to be "my people skills are just as good as anyone else's people skills." Pop-psych is also part of the problem. But face-to-face with a demanding client, or leading a team with demanding objectives, negotiating a large contract or having to deal with employees who don't seem to be motivated can force you to ask whether there aren't some better people skills than your intuition dredges up.
What's distinctive about research or fact-based skill development is that it travels. It works in every business setting. You don't have to rely on conventional wisdom or personal intuition for most development issues because the research is out there. For example, check out the study I've posted on getting a new job by "bluffing." In this economy, you may need every skill imaginable to stay employed. A practical--and ethical--approach to bluffing can be very useful.
Got fears about gaining sustained advantages for your career? Look at the research on getting "yanked around." Chalk one advantage up for research-based development--real knowledge in the form of empirical analysis of results is the shortest path to the best personal development.
