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Management Maxims,
Volume I
Deconstructing
Management Maxims,
Volume I
A Critical Examination of
Conventional Business Wisdom
Kevin Wayne
Deconstructing Management Maxims, Volume I: A Critical Examination
of Conventional Business Wisdom
Copyright Business Expert Press, LLC, 2017.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Keywords
business plan, competitive advantage, consen sus decision making,
contrarian, customer satisfaction, diversity, English language, failure,
Holly Klump for her diligent efforts with interlibrary loans and Alan
Witt for his work in acquisitions related to my needs. The staff of the
Pollard Memorial Library, the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium,
and Harvard U niversitys Widener Library have also been helpful and
responsive. It should be noted that any errors in this bookbe they with
regard to grammar, syntax, data, or attributionsare mine and mine
alone. My personal opinions expressed in this book do not necessarily
reflect the beliefs of any of the fine people or organizations that have as-
sisted me.
I subjected many of my former students to draft chapters, and I am
grateful for the feedback in their reflective essays and in-class discussions.
Additionally, since many of my positions in this work have been ruminat-
ing for several years, I am grateful to past coworkers and superiors that
I have learned fromof which there are far too many to name.
It has been a pleasure working with everyone at Business Expert Press
and S4Carlisle. From editing to production, the entire team helped make
the final stages of the project a smooth and rewarding experience.
Lastly, there are many ups, downs, and late nights involved in this
type of project. I have been fortunate to count on my wife, Leanne, for
her support and encouragement throughout this long process. For all that
and more, I am most grateful.
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Deconstructing Management Maxims
Its partly true, too, but it isnt all true. People always think somethings
all true.
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Tidy absolutes and truisms have always been problematic for those
of us afflicted with healthy skepticism. However, if presented with
objective data and other credible evidence, Ill drop my guard and em-
brace the o ccasional maxim, aphorism, proverb, carbon-dated factoid, or
immutable law of physics or chemistry. For instance, I dont question that
under normal conditions the freezing temperature and boiling point of
water are, respectively, 0C and 100C, or that force equals mass times
acceleration (F=ma), or the principle of Boyles Law (the volume of a gas
varies inversely with the applied pressure).
But in the less precise realms of management and the behavioral
sciences, it is unsettling to hear business people confidently dispense
phrase-length wisdom that makes a Twitter post read like a Tolstoy novel.
The impetus for this book stems from repeatedly witnessing common
business axioms incorrectly presented as truisms. Many of these menda-
cious sayings have transcended our business lexicon by jumping species
from management speak to the mundane language of our larger culture.
2 DECONSTRUCTING MANAGEMENT MAXIMS, VOLUME I
become conditioned to the general belief systems and lingo of their par-
ticular disciplines. Author Chris Mowles, in Rethinking Management,
alludes to a form of managerial peer pressure, warning of a universal and
dominant currency of management language one must accumulate to be
recognized.3 Buttressed by the writings of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu,
Mowles views leadership theories and trends through the lens of manage-
rial social capital. Mowles acknowledges the difficulty with going against
the prevailing winds of management thought, speaking about fashionable
leadership practices with:
Men have to live before they think; and to one who would live
efficiently, peace of mind is of vastly greater consequence than
logical consistency. If peace of mind can be obtained only by sacri-
ficing logic, then logic goes by the board, not merely unregretted,
but unnoticed by its generally quite unconscious sacrificer.6
clear competitive advantage. As for the holy grail of strategy, the sustain-
able competitive advantage, that rare and exotic creature belongs on the
endangered species list.
The sacrosanct saying that a Business plan is necessary for entrepreneurial
success is our maxim du jour in Chapter Six, the final chapter of Volume
One. How important is it for a fledging entrepreneur to write a formal
business plan? Once thought unassailable by mere mortals, there has been
a great deal of research looking into the need, use, and effectiveness of
business plans. A brief review of the research literature and select case
studies are provided to illuminate the false certitude commanded by the
business plan requirement. The list of both the freakishly and modestly
successful entrepreneurs sans business plan is a long one indeed.
Notes
1. Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed. (Springfield, MA:
Merriam-Webster, Inc., 2003). s.v. maxim.
2. Aristotle, Rhetoric Book II, Chapters 2022, in The Complete
Works of Aristotle, 2nd ed. Jonathan Barnes, 22232224 (Princeton,
NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984).
12 DECONSTRUCTING MANAGEMENT MAXIMS, VOLUME I
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