Article in Stanford Social Innovation Review Urges Managers to Act on Facts, Not Faith.

STANFORD, Calif. -- "Despite the wealth of research on what makes organizations and people more effective, there isn't yet an evidence-based movement in management," bemoan two faculty members of the Stanford Graduate School of Business in their article in the spring 2006 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review.

In much the same way that bloodletting doctors inadvertently harmed their patients with the use of leeches two centuries ago, many managers inadvertently harm their organizations and stakeholders with management practices based on dangerous half-truths and untested assumptions, according to professors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton. Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; Sutton is professor of organizational behavior, by courtesy, at Stanford Graduate School of Business, and professor of management science and engineering at Stanford School of Engineering. Their Review article titled, "Act on Facts, Not Faith," is based on their new book Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management (Harvard Business School Press, 2006).

While much of the professors' research is in the business sector, evidence-based management is just as applicable in the nonprofit and government sectors, they assert. Steps toward the evidence-based path, they write, include: Demand the facts, beware of your own preconceived ideas, rethink your assumptions, avoid casual benchmarking, know when the past has passed, and adopt an attitude of wisdom.

In addition, a sidebar offers seven rules to keep in mind when evaluating or developing business ideas: 1) make sure the cause came before the effect; 2) remember that correlation does not mean causation; 3) don't rely on success (and failure) stories; 4) be suspicious of gurus and breakthroughs; 5) take a dispassionate approach to ideologies and theories; 6) treat old ideas as if they are old ideas; and 7) admit uncertainties and drawbacks.

More information on this and other articles is available online: www.ssireview.com.

The Stanford Social Innovation Review is published by the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Building on the Business School's 35-year commitment to public and nonprofit management, the Center promotes solutions to social problems through a unique combination of interdisciplinary research and teaching that extends beyond the classroom. The Center dissolves traditional sector boundaries to bring together nonprofit leaders, corporate executives, government officials, and philanthropists to discuss, debate, analyze, and take action to strengthen our communities.