Let’s Burn Them All

Abstract

This essay provides evidence from the neurosciences that standard Introduction to Management and Introduction to Organizational Behavior textbooks may inhibit, rather than facilitate, learning of the basic concepts and the rudimentary knowledge-basis that underlie the complex skills business students should learn in subsequent coursework and that they must hone in practice as future managers. Specific introductory textbook limitations that are addressed include the following: (a) the nearly total absence of neuroscience findings that have important relevance and application to management and organizational behavior; (b) the ineffective manner in which theories are presented; (c) the use of idiosyncratic, academically derived, or simply spot-invented language; (d) the nonengaging manner in which information (generally speaking) is presented; and (e) the question of whether such textbooks are being read, much less studied. Based on my recent, joyous experience in not using such textbooks, I propose, for readers’ possible consideration, an alternative (hyperlink) practice that is (a) fully compatible with recent neuroscience research on management, learning, and information retention/retrieval and (b) likely to dramatically increase student engagement with assigned readings in Introduction to Management and Introduction to Organizational Behavior courses and their ability to retrieve content and apply it during class discussions.

Educators as Curators: Displaying the Caring Art of Teaching in Management Education

“…Textbook authors as curators have the power to direct our attention in ways we may not even notice, which is one of the ethical issues with curation that we have discovered through examining textbook contentwhat it includes and what it leaves out. Textbooks as those important manifestations of "knowledge" have been critiqued in our pages (e.g., Foster et al, 2014;Snyder, 2014) and so we need to model what those authors have advocated we do: Become our own curators, transparently culling meaningful content that fits what we want students to learn, while simultaneously owning that process of curation. Our curation skills must be honed in an increasingly digital learning world.…”

A Threshold Concept in Managing: What Students in Introductory Management Courses Must Know

“…Students are dismayed at high prices for single texts when they perceive that the same information, available on the Internet, is free. Snyder (2014) describes introduction to management text books as learning inhibitory with the admonition Let’s Burn Them All . He outlines several limitations to these texts including the absence of recent neuroscience findings, ineffective presentation of theories, the use of confusing academic language, and the nonengaging way the material is presented.…”

“…He outlines several limitations to these texts including the absence of recent neuroscience findings, ineffective presentation of theories, the use of confusing academic language, and the nonengaging way the material is presented. More tellingly, Snyder (2014) exposes a striking similarity in content between the most popular introductory management textbooks today—content that also places little emphasis on defining managing work.…”

“…In recent times, the pace of organizational change has seemed to outstrip the ability of higher education to keep up and accordingly, the adaptability of ME to the relentlessly transforming processes of globalization has been challenged (Sheppard, 2015). Recent research has also indicated that introduction to management textbooks are learning inhibitory suggesting that ME courses constitute a poor introduction to management for undergraduate students (Snyder, 2014). Critical management education literature derides ME for its "sustainability paradox," that is, supporting dominant approaches to wealth generation that corrode ecological systems and the network relationships on which their survival depends (Kurucz, Colbert, & Marcus, 2014).…”

Performing Leadership: Use of Performative Inquiry in Teaching Organizational Theories

“…For example, Taber (2007), drawing on Morgan's (2006) metaphors for organizations, suggests using writing activities to introduce organizational theory concepts. Snyder (2014), referring to the current organizational leadership texts, declares, "[L]et's burn them all" (p. 1), instead advocating a pedagogy that incorporates new evidence from learning and neuroscience. This study, too, takes an advocacy approach: we aim not to test the efficacy of newer pedagogical approaches in higher education but rather to promote their wider use so that their utility might be explored in a variety of contexts.…”