Posted by Reilly Atkinson on December 13, 1999 at 01:47:23:

In Reply to: Comment white paper EIlabs posted by Ron de Weijze on December 10, 1999 at 21:22:00:

Ron -- With all due respect, I submit that the White Paper you reference is serious Snake Oil.

All the stuff about modern management and the apparent neglect to notice the importance of knowledge in human afairs is absurd. There is no monolithic "modern management", rather are countless forms, running from Mom & Pop stores to ossified corporations like GM, Amtrack and so forth. There are numerous organizations that utilize knowledge as their key resource, law firms, medical clinics, many smaller consulting firms, export-import, arbitragers,... and so on. The two-tier jazz, sorry again, it just ain't so.
To be sure there are organizations that fit the highly opportunistic "consultant's" view of how things work. The problems they set up (strawmen) do not apply to much of American business - nor business elsewhere, I presume. Who do they think they are kidding?

The concept that many possible innovations or creative ideas don't work; well that's certainly a big surprise -- maybe this problem has something to do with the fact that most new businesses fail. Whoever wrote this gem conveniently neglected to mention that people have for centuries been trying to increase the efficiency and efficacy of innovation. I've had a lot of personal experience with generating innovative ideas & whatever, have managed people tasked with being inovative, and have worked with people to help make the success hit rate greater. IMHO the only game in town is education, training in problem solving, general knowledge, and help in developing an "out front" personality, - take no prisoners, so to speak.

Finally he/she ascribes the notion of "complex adaptive systems" to John Holland. My goodness, doesn't anyone do their homework and more?

You want to buy from these people-- well, I got a bridge or two I'd like to sell. Maybe a package deal....

Reilly Atkinson

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Follow Ups:

• Re: Comment white paper EIlabs - Snake Oil KK Aw 08:45:39 12/14/99 (1)
  • Re: Comment white paper EIlabs - Snake Oil Martyn R Jones 15:59:10 12/29/99 (0)

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