New books, from saying sorry to improving your collective intelligence

Tim Banfield considers the why and how of apologising well, while Dee Tamlin enjoys Matthew Syed’s treatise for cognitive diversity

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I first came across Matthew Syed when he closed the 2015 APM annual conference. He was as impressive then as he is in his latest book, which looks at the trade-off between excellence and diversity, and the power of bringing people together who think differently from one another, with the whole greater than the sum of its parts. His thesis is that diversity is the basic ingredient of collective intelligence, which in itself is smarter than the individual brain.

While identity diversity (race, age, gender, religion) plays a part, it is cognitive diversity (perspective, experience and thinking styles) that dominates. What I really enjoy is how Syed weaves academic research in with anecdotes that bring it to life. He explains in detail how teams interact and explores why some are more successful. The point is also made that innovation is not just about creativity, but about connections and networking to avoid information getting trapped within institutional boundaries. He warns that it is not sufficient for organisations to be aware of unconscious bias when recruiting diverse teams – they also need to optimise cognitive diversity.

Rebel Ideas is an interesting read. My key takeaways are: 1) Homogeneity creates blind spots. If a team is made up of people who have had similar backgrounds (even if they look different), blind spots should be expected. 2) Team commitment is not sufficient in complex situations if diverse perspectives are suppressed by a dominant leader. 3) Brainwriting (anonymously providing a possible solution) rather than brainstorming produces high-quality ideas as it gives everyone a voice.

Review by Dee Tamlin, head of client and legal project management at Pinsent Masons.

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This book, by two McKinsey consultants, is about delivering ‘change at scale’. The change is organisational transformation and the scale relates to enterprise-level in large corporates. The original Beyond Performance book was written almost a decade ago about change leadership, whereas ‘2.0’ focuses on ‘Five Frames of Performance and Health’. The ‘Five Frames’ are not that distinct from most methods, but will interest APM members involved in transformational change.

What separates the authors’ methodology from others is the ‘Health’ component. This relates to organisational health and how effectively an organisation works together on common goals. They argue that many programmes have an over-focus on performance (results) and overlook health (culture). This invariably leads to long-term issues. Put simply, good health leads to long-term good performance. The key considerations for each step cover both ‘Health’ and ‘Performance’ factors.

Although examples given are of multinational corporates, the methodology is a thought process that guides analysis, design and implementation, so would also apply more widely.

Review by Andy Murray, a chartered director and management consultant at RSM UK

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Have you ever wondered why so many businesses apologise for the most trivial things, but withhold apologies when things go really wrong? This fascinating book explores outrage culture and why it has left businesses unable to sincerely say sorry. Fear of mass disapproval driven by social media means they instead routinely apologise for trivial transgressions, issuing ‘fauxpologies’ and baffling customers with jargon. The authors examine why people quickly demand apologies and why businesses are so hasty to give them, often in a way that undermines their reputation.

Are the lessons relevant to project professionals? Well, projects are definitely not immune from criticism. Sometimes it’s fair, sometimes it’s not. Criticism, anger and alternative presentations of facts by those with different perspectives are a fact of life – witness HS2! So, what to do? Acceptance of an apology is often conditioned by whether the cause is operational or cultural. People tend to be far more accepting of operational shortfalls – KFC running out of chicken hasn’t affected its long-term prospects. Cultural shortcomings are another matter. They are harder to deal with because they mess with the delusion that organisations genuinely care. This is an important distinction for a project professional operating to high ethical standards.

We also need to remember that contrition is a spectrum. Over-egging the atonement can rob future apologies of much-needed credibility. Keep your apology short and use simple language. For a project professional, being seen as authentic is key.

But the best advice in the book is the most obvious: have a plan to deal with adverse commentary and don’t rush into reactive apologies. They are seldom seen as sincere. Far better to take time to reflect, plan and implement an appropriate response – music to any project manager’s ears! The Apology Impulse made me think differently about responding to criticism and the adverse coverage most projects receive.

Review by Tim Banfield, director at The Nichols Group

Skimmed - Top reads at a glance

Teams Unleashed
Phillip Sandahl and Alexis Phillips

Team coaching is the way forward for more productive results, and this gives a clear and practical framework for team leaders searching for the right path.

Align
Jonathan Trevor

Why do some businesses thrive, while many more struggle? Alignment may be the answer. It’s often the organisations that most cohesively align their constituent elements to serve a long-term strategy that are the best performing.

Indistractable
Nir Eyal

Eyal tackles how to control your attention so that technology doesn’t distract you from what really matters in your daily life: work and looking after yourself and your family. The trick? Use your tech time purposefully.

My Bedside Books

David Worsley, associate director, transport planning, WSP

Doughnut Economics
Kate Raworth

Criticism of orthodox economics is not new. Any A-level student will realise Paul Samuelson’s circular flow model excludes issues such as humanity’s impact on the natural environment. Raworth rectifies this, imagining a new economics. She proposes replacing economists’ preoccupation with equilibrium with analysis borrowed from biology’s concepts of reinforcing and balancing feedback loops in which a stable state is not necessarily achieved. Forces investigated are widened to include environmental and social ones, such as natural resources and unpaid work. The resulting model is more comprehensive and realistic.

Office Politics
Oliver James

This book focuses on the organisational harm caused by staff exhibiting three related personality disorders: narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism. James is a psychologist who illustrates the behaviour of this ‘dark triad’ with examples ranging from the comedic (eating all the sandwiches ordered for a meeting, then shamelessly denying their delivery) up to hacking a rival’s email and sending racist messages to get them fired. These types have no empathy, viewing colleagues as chess pieces in their game. A decade ago, I would have thought these examples outlandish, but now I see some workplaces really are that toxic.

17 Equations that Changed the World
Ian Stewart

I wish I had read a book like this at age 18. I gave up maths after school, only to find that I had to pick it up again in my 30s to progress in my chosen fields of project risk and value management, and transport economics. Stewart succeeds in injecting human interest into the equations that he covers by describing the history and personalities behind the algebra. This includes Pythagoras, Newton and Einstein, alongside some familiar to risk professionals, including Abraham de Moivre. Further interest is added by explaining equations related to subjects such as topology and information theory, which are little known outside the sphere of specialists.

This article is brought to you from the Winter 2019 issue of Project journal, which is free for APM members.