The Knowing-Doing Gap
Working my way through the Knowing-Doing Gap. Came across this helpful checklist on how to tell when you are substituting talk for action.
You’re likely to find talk substituting for action when
When talk substitutes for actions when
- No follow-up is done to ensure that what was said is actually done
- People forget that merely making a decsion doesn’t change anything
- Planning, meetings, and report writing become defined as “action” that is valuable in its own right, even if it has no effect on what people actually do
- People believe that because they have said it and it is in the mission statement, it must be true and it must be happening
- People are evaluated on how smart they sound rather than on what they do
- Talking a lot is mistaken for doing a lot
- Comlext language, ideas, processes, and structures are thought to be better than simple ones
- There is a believe that leaders are people who talk, and others do
- Internal status comes from talking a lot, interrupting, and being critical of others’ ideas
