The Knowing-Doing Gap

The so-called knowledge advantage is a fallacy — even though companies pour billions of dollars into training programs, consultants, and executive education. The reason is not that knowledge isn't important. It's that most companies know, or can know, the same things. Moreover, even as companies talk about the importance of learning, intellectual capital, and knowledge management, they frequently fail to take the vital next step of transforming knowledge into action. The Knowing-Doing Gap confronts the paradox of companies that know too much and do too little by showing how some companies are successful at turning knowledge into action.

1. Knowing "What" to Do Is Not Enough
2. When Talk Substitutes for Action
3. When Memory Is a Substitute for Thinking
4. When Fear Prevents Acting on Knowledge
5. When Measurement Obstructs Good Judgment
6. When Internal Competition Turns Friends into Enemies
7. Firms That Surmount the Knowing-Doing Gap
8. Turning Knowledge into Action

• Appendix: The Knowing-Doing Survey

This should be mandatory reading in the last year of an MBA. It talks about why people talks so much and do so little, in reference to what they talk about. No real guidelines on what to do about it in reality, but it will make the problem visible.