The Cure for Corporate Stupidity: Avoid the Mind-Bugs that Cause Smart People to Make Bad Decisions Kindle Edition

I got this book from Larry's PR folks. Unlike so many business books I receive or buy, this one was refreshing and illuminating. So many times, I find myself reading, and thinking, "Well, yes, that's true, but what can my clients do with this? How can I put this to work today, to help someone?" This one is different. This one is well worth reading.Larry has identified the common "mind bugs" - his trademarked phrase - that cause well-meaning, smart business leaders to make stupid decisions. He has thought this through; he quotes interesting research on the subject; but mostly he has obviously had a lot of experience observing and applying what he's learned.The book feels a little repetitive, but even when Larry revisits a subject, he adds value. I think he is very aware that people learn different ways, and by providing a little more depth on each area, or looking at it slightly differently, it helps people incorporate his new - and I think very valid - way of thinking.I found myself underlining so many passages in this book. It's really a book about improving the quality of your thinking, by becoming more mindful, and by changing - ever so slightly but quite effectively - the process you use to think.He lists four types of Mind-Bugs: Sufficiency Dimension; Accuracy Dimension; Beliefs Dimension; and Social Dimension. For example, the Sufficiency Dimension Mind-Bugs include:- Informed leader fallacy - the assumption that a leader is better informed just because he/she is a leader- Source Influence - assigning importance to data just because of the source (so common!)- Assumption Error - assuming without challenging- Snap Judgment Defense - self-explanatory- Shooting the Critics - dittoI do feel he might have been able to bring these up to a higher conceptual level, to make it easier to remember and avoid the bugs, but no matter. It's worth studying the descriptions and realizing how easy it is to fall into these traps. Plus, Larry really takes two tracks in this book - a description of the bugs, and then advice on how to change your thinking. This is the more prescriptive part of the book, and is at a higher level conceptually. More refined.I highly recommend this book to any manager or manager wanna-be. There is a lot of wisdom in these pages.

If you have a job in an Office currently or if you have ever held one, you should watch the movie OfficeSpace at the earliest opportunity! It depicts Corporate Stupidity in very funny ways!This week I read the book The Cure for Corporate Stupidity by Larry J. Bloom! It's one of the best books I have read recently!Larry J Bloom's claim is that corporations make stupid decisions and become stupid. He attributes this to a number of Mind-Bugs they have and that makes them do stupid things!I was in a company, Digital Equipment Corporation in 1986 when it made many of the dumb decisions that Larry is talking about and consequently did not do so well, bought and absorbed by Compaq and then that was bought by HP! The biggest mind bug that DEC had was that mini-computers were there to stay and they did not have to worry about SUN and their even less expensive UNIX workstations. Ironically, SUN Microsystems had the same mind bug that they did not have anything to worry about PC based servers from Dell and HP and now they are part of Oracle as of this writing!Larry identifies different kinds of mind bugs like the Sufficiency one (assuming that some people or information are sufficient to make the right decisions), the Accuracy one (information or people are accurate), the Beliefs one (wrong beliefs), and the Social One (decisions imposed by social structure within the company). He then prescribes a number of steps to carefully avoid these mind bugs and make the right decision!Great book with some great information! Now the only mind bug any corporation needs to avoid is that this advice does not apply to them!

I am not working in the corporate world myself, but I do have opportunity to coach my son who isquickly moving up in this world. Reading the book has definitely armed me with some new and very valuableinsites of corporate America. I will most certainly pass this book along to my son who should benifit fromthe new way of looking at the common problems and finding solutions to them. I highly suggest reading this book.