Argyris tackles the question of why managers continue to be drawn to the latest management advice offered in books and articles in spite of the fact that a great deal of it is flawed. He attempts here to clue readers in on how to tell the difference between good and bad advice. He warns against embracing any "Wow!" type advice from top-selling gurus. Too often with this type of stuff, Argyris argues, managers use external advice rather than base their management on getting a read of the internal commitment of employees. As a result, managers lose credibility. Argyris takes on big-name gurus like Stephen Covey and calls into question the true validity of his work ups, will bring out the best in people." One of the take-aways from this book is the need to continually test and challenge management approaches and not to rest of what's successful, since success, Argyris writes "can breed conservatism which in a fast-changing, competitive environment can cause failure."

Chris Argyris once again illuminates the never ending task of closing the gap between Espoused- Theory and Theory-in-Use plagueing so many organizations today. The cover-ups, the politicing, the back-stabbing, and useless meetings that go on are largely a result of the inability of individuals to surface assumptions and question the mental models that shape behavior. Argyris provides a usefull set of tools for surfacing mental models to ensure that theories are actionable and not perpetuating the counterproductive behaviors mentioned above. I found the example of a consulting project gone sour quite amusing, having recently left a firm with quite similar dysfunctional behavior.

I recommend this book to those unfamiliar with Agryris and his work as a great introduction to some of his thinking on learning organizations (Agryris' work provides some of the foundation for Senge's "The Fifth Discipline") and a humorous roast of some popular advice from authors like Stephen Covey, Doyle & Strauss, John Katzenbach, notable CEOs, and other "successful leader's".