The Knowing-Doing Gap

1	Knowing “What” to Do Is Not Enough

WHY DO SO MUCH EDUCATION and training, management consulting, and business research and so many books and articles produce so little change in what managers and organizations actually do?

In 1996, more than 1,700 business books were published in the United States,¹ and more are published each year. Many of these books are filled with the same analyses and prescriptions, albeit using different language and graphics, as could be found in similar books published the year before. In fact, many of the ideas proclaimed as new each year can be found in similar books printed decades earlier.² Yet these books find a ready market because the ideas, although often widely known and proven to be useful and valid, remain ...