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“Knowledge is
what you still know after you have forgotten all the facts”.
A notable statement from the famous American scholar, Howard
Gardner, professor of cognitive psychology and pedagogy at
Harvard University. As the author of sixteen books and
hundreds of scientific articles about intelligence and
education, you could mistakenly put him among intellectuals
who complain bitterly about the lack of factual knowledge
amongst many people. Gardner, however, does exactly the
opposite. He expressly points out the danger of giving
greater value to factual knowledge than insight and
understanding. “I would much prefer that visitors to the
Anne Frank House appreciate and understand how terrible it
is to have to go into hiding than that they exactly remember
afterwards when the Frank family was betrayed and picked up
by the Gestapo. This date can always be looked up. Insight
and understanding, on the other hand, cannot”.
When we examine existing literature that covers
management, it seems as if this idea has not yet
trickled through. Innumerable thick books focus on
bundling together as many facts as possible. Few strive
for simplicity and good organisation. It should,
however, be stressed that this is not an easy thing to
do. In con-trast to older sciences such as mathematics
and biology, few seem to bother about a standard
framework of terminology that everyone can agree to. A
consequence of this is that a multitude of terms is
doing the rounds that essentially mean the same
(examples are terms such as output, outcome, result,
product and service). Another issue is that knowledge is
often fragmentarily presented. Many subdisciplines are
involved that continue to develop within their own
frameworks often without further harmonisation while the
domains are linked to each other to a large extent (such
as, for example, information management, knowledge
management, communication management and human resources
management).
And yet, many managers feel the need for a simple,
cohesive and consistent picture of the most important
fundamentals of the management profession. Where a
multitude of loose facts is not the important issue but
good access and immediate applicable knowledge modules
are. This book makes an attempt to fill this gap.
In a world in which people, and most certainly
managers, have less and less time to read and acquire
knowledge, we use a number of starting points with
regard to the organisation of The Art of Management.
We are most interested in simplicity. We constantly
strive to make things as easy as possible while still
guarding that we do not represent issues too simply. We
also base ourselves on cohesion. We use known and
recognised models as the consistent reference framework
as much as possible. We also strongly believe in using
graphical representation. An effective picture or
figures is often a powerful tool to show the essence in
a succinct way.
The combination of the book and the digital
publications on the Internet is special in relation to
the organisation of The Art of Management. We believe
that books and the Internet are different media and that
both have their strengths. They do not mutually exclude
each other but, on the contrary, they supplement each
other. A book as you have currently in front of you, is
large and well-organised, can be easily taken with you
and is comfortable to read. The Internet, on the other
hand, is not. The Internet, however, does provide a lot
more information, is often faster and more accurate and
can be better used as a reference or search instrument
in relation to specific details. We have also set up a
website to ensure we use the strengths of both media.
Our site contains relevant links and literature that has
been classified using the same method as the sections of
this book. You can, moreover, also ask questions and
make remarks that the authors and co-visitors will see.
To conclude, this book should not be didactical in a
pedantic way but should inspire. Often it is not the
smartest teachers who teach best, but those who know how
to inspire their students. This is why we are sometimes
told that “learning is not about filling the gaps but
about passion”. We hope that this book will provide be a
ray of hope in the turbulent world of the modern
manager.
Dr. Marcel Nieuwenhuis |
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