David McRaney | Bulldozer00's Blog

Ooh Ooh, Pick Me, Pick Me!

December 11, 2011 bulldozer00 Leave a comment

Quiz time! Who’s this kid….

In “You’re Not So Smart“, David McRaney describes how to overcome the debilitating scourge of “groupthink” in hierarchical organizations:

True groupthink depends on three conditions—a group of people who like one another, isolation, and a deadline for a crucial decision. It turns out, for any plan to work, every team needs at least one asshole who doesn’t give a shit if he or she gets fired or exiled or excommunicated. For a group to make good decisions, they must allow dissent and convince everyone they are free to speak their mind without risk of punishment.

Tome Peters said much the same thing is one of his bazillion books: “Put someone on your staff you don’t like“.

Semi-enlightened orgs hire consultants to fill the asshole role. Even though that’s a viable alternative, it’s only going half-way. The fact that an inside employee (or rotating employees) isn’t (aren’t) placed in the role says as much about the org’s culture as not “allowing” the role at all.

BD00 just had an epiphany! He’s concluded that he was put on this earth to fulfill “The Yes Asshole Rule“, and he’s willing to take job offers from far and near to fulfill his destiny. How many offers do you think will be forthcoming?

You Are Not So Smart: A Field Guide to the Psychology of Our Stupidity (brainpickings.org)
Clanthink, Groupthink, Spreadthink (bulldozer00.com)

Categories: management Tags: company culture, David McRaney, groupthink, Horshack, linkedin, organizational behavior, postaday2011, Tom Peters

Misconceptions And Truths

November 21, 2011 bulldozer00 2 comments

In the modern world the stupid (like BD00) are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. – Bertrand Russell

Thanks to multi-fish-name dude, I was introduced to the hilariously serious work of David McRaney. In his terrific book, “You Are Not So Smart“, David starts off each chapter with a pair of misconception-truth assertions. He then proceeds to make his case by skillfully citing and summarizing a multitude of psychological studies.

Here’s a sampling of several misconception-truth pairs that I hope will get you to consider helping David out and buying his book:

Of course, being the self-smug, smarty-pants, know-it-all that he is, BD00 held none of the misconceptions and knew all of the truths before buying the book. Mr. McRaney’s work simply added another layer of concrete to the sarcophagus that holds the BD00 UCB comfortably in place.

Full disclosure and hidden agenda: The real reason I’m promoting Dave’s work is because he’s got the funniest web site marquee on the planet: