IndexIntroductionThe concept, role and consequences of functional stupidityThe stupidity paradox and the idea of ​​​​decision making, leadership and culture of organizationsHow to manage 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 a professor of organizational behavior at the University of London's Cass business school. This was an interesting book to read as it talks about how stupidity affects the way organizations are run. 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 Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay They hold a view that instead of encouraging talent and rationality, organizations cultivate conformity, obedience, and conformity. They supported their opinions by illustrating practical examples from real companies to attract the reader's attention. The book talks about how smart organizations encourage stupidity among smart workers, which could cause long-term difficulties. For example, the authors talked about 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 an important role in causing intelligent people to buy into stupid ideas. It narrows the vision 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 the larger purpose of the work would be overlooked. Functional stupidity causes people to do things that seem cool. Rather than asking questions and focusing on results, people look for ways to get work done and obey the commands given to them. The irony lies in the fact that, in most cases, these stupid ideas are even encouraged and applauded and they are carried out by the smartest people who possess high intellectual abilities and educational abilities and are considered to be people who have great leadership skills. The authors point out that organizations promote functional stupidity by creating a culture centered on action orientation. Employees are encouraged to ignore uncertainties to ensure processes run smoothly and this is how convenience is weighed against challenging problematic aspects of thoughts and ideas. Neglecting several short-term issues can lead to creating problems for organizations in the long term as stakeholders will develop a lack of trust in the organization. The 2008 financial crisis has been discussed to explain that minor problems accumulate to cause major long-term disasters. The book is divided into three parts. The first part talks about the role of stupidity in the workplace, different intellectual traps in working life and the consequences of functional stupidity. In the second part, five different types of functional stupidity are discussed. Which are generally classified as leadership-induced stupidity, structure-induced stupidity, stupidity caused by unlimited enthusiasmfor brands and images, stupidity resulting from imitation of other organizations, and finally, stupidity caused by corporate culture. The third part of this book talks about the different ways through which stupidity can be managed in organizations. The book sheds light on assumptions about what smart workers should look like. To engage readers, the authors explained it using the idea introduced by management thinker, Peter Drucker. We are talking about a type of worker called "knowledge worker". The job of knowledge workers is to apply their abstract knowledge to practical situations and seek solutions to those practical problems. He is expected to see a change in society where real authority lies in the control of information rather than the control of factors of production. The postindustrialization society was considered an information society in which knowledge workers used abstract models and principles. Knowledge was expected to become the key resource. Innovation, improvements in the education system and information technology were needed. But in reality this did not happen and workers expected to get good grades for a minimum level of hard work and effort. Likewise, the number of researchers has increased, but the key information from research articles has decreased. Apart from this, the role of technology was also discussed. Internet can make a country knowledge intensive but at the same time it has misled people and given them an opportunity to engage in senseless activities which result in waste of time. As a result, we are seeing a decline in innovation. To explain how the education system contributes to stupidity, the authors cited a US study in which 2,300 undergraduate students from 29 different universities were tested at the beginning of their programs and then after two and four years. After 2 years of education, 45% of students showed no improvement in cognitive abilities. After 4 years of education, 36% of students showed little or no improvement in analytical skills. The authors explained the concept of a "knowledge-intensive" company. They discussed that it's more about creating a sense of community among employees and attracting customers. But knowledge workers are mostly uncertain about the problems companies face and the information relevant to addressing them. For example, IBM employees focus on achieving their performance goals rather than thinking about real innovation challenges. This means that instead of focusing on being informed, workers' focus is on demonstrating that they know and, as a result, they miss out on learning opportunities. Based on what is explained in the book, the few ways in which workers try to act smart but it only leads to stupidity have been mentioned. Another stupid practice that the authors talk about is turning a blind eye to things that do not bring positive results. Instead of looking for reasons why things didn't work 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 practical intelligence is often ignored. The authors spoke about the rational and analytical thinking skills of workers by citing the study of two psychologists, Daniel and Amos. Their work demonstrated that the initial information we are given shapes our perception of other information which is defined as anchoring. The paradox of stupidity and the idea of ​​decision making, leadership and culture of organizations Alvesson and Spicer haveanalyzed the decision-making style in these organizations. There are jobs where workers are given the authority to make decisions about how they want to work to encourage them, but they choose not to engage. This happens because people focus on achieving satisfactory results rather than optimal ones. It was surprising to read that stupidity can be a normal part of a person's work life. The Ford Pinto case was discussed as an example to support the point that workers often adapt to norms and avoid asking questions to ignore potential problems and this is a usual practice in organizations. This was further elaborated and its reasons discussed. One of the main reasons is that asking questions will cause problems and relationships with other workers or managers may be affected. The authors further explained three main aspects of stupidity defined as reflexivity, justification and substantial reasoning. The absence of reflexivity translates into accepting what is commonly thought and not questioning assumptions. Justification talks about following norms without asking for reasons why something should be done. The lack of substantive reasoning leads to ignoring the main consequences of actions and decisions. Functional stupidity comes when people stop challenging working models and when they are not curious and not open to learning new things. Lack of emotional reasoning also causes stupidity as people resist thinking about or listening to possible flaws in their work. Another form of functional stupidity occurs when the employee's thinking pattern is limited by the company's moral beliefs. My favorite quote from the book is: “By mindlessly buying into leadership ideas, organizations can overcommit 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 following structures and rules is considered a guarantee of productivity and efficiency. This narrows the horizon and people end up doing specialized jobs and avoid looking at the results. In the short term, it is a good practice as it helps the smooth running of operations, but in the long term it creates problems. The book talks about how culture impacts the way people behave and how it creates stupidity. Culture shapes the behaviors of employees and management as a whole. Help people connect by giving them a common purpose and identity. When organizational culture is strong, people often think alike, without thinking outside the box, without challenging norms, and without questioning established patterns of behavior. This means there are no disputes and employees feel comfortable and safe. For example, the culture of the mobile phone manufacturing company Nokia is discussed. The culture was dominated by a preference for optimism. People preferred to talk about the good things and ignore the negative aspects. But in the long run this created serious problems for Nokia and it was eventually taken over by Microsoft. Another aspect of the culture that promotes stupidity is management's focus on the present and near future, while completely ignoring the past and distant future. In the third and final part of the book, the authors discuss ways to manage and counteract stupidity. It summarizes that culture, branding initiatives, organizational structures, leadership and culture play an important role in increasing stupidity in the workplace. Challenge the.