Triumph of Emptiness Summary

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talks about educational fundamentalism as a state of mind that most people are in, where education may not ever be questioned. He is also very critical to the supposed correlation between education and economic growth. He does not deny that there seems to be some kind of correlation, but he reminds us that correlation does not necessarily imply causation. Our standpoint is that it may be that there is no strong empirical evidence of causation (this is at least stated in the book as a fact), but in our opinion it seems quite probable that there would be causation. As the old saying goes; “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”. The lack of proof in causation may be due to that it is a complicated subject to analyze, and not that there is no proof. It may be a straightforward and simple way of reasoning, but it seems probable that in order to gain new knowledge (and through more knowledge - more informative education), economic growth is essential due to the need for investments, and knowledge is a by-product of such economic growth.

With that said, many of his views about education is probably true. The grandiose claims of a lot of schools or educations very likely can´t live up to the promises, and they are only trying to position themselves. We find it important and good that Alvesson also reminds us that his criticism is directed towards the grandiosity and positional aspects of education. There are a lot of other positive offsprings of education, for instance critical thinking and the like.

Another view that we agree with Alvesson on is how some other working places that don’t have a need for a higher education is more and more looked down upon, and stigmatized. In our experience we find this quite accurate. This is most probably stemming from the increasing grandiosity in society itself, and is of course a very bad thing, as those professions are equally important as the professions that require higher education for the functionality of society as a whole.

As with most subjects in this book, we do agree with Alvesson in many aspects. It just seems as if he takes his views to the extreme, maybe to prove a point.

3. What are the implications for managers/consultants? Should they cultivate or avoid grandiosity?

The implications for managers and consultants are dependent on the role they are expected to take and, by extension, their responsibility as a whole. One could argue that the optimal situation would be one where managers and consultants eschewed all forms of grandiosity in favour of objectivity and, in some cases, simple honesty. If nothing else it might reallocate resources previously spent on maintaining appearances and creating hollow tiers of achievement. Stripping away the grandiosity would also mean consumers and potential employees could make decisions based solely on objective information.

There is, however, a reason why grandiosity is so ingrained in today’s society and that is because it works. It appears that people are willing to pay more and receive less as long as the perceived value of the brand remains high. In an economy built largely on persuasion, not cultivating grandiosity would make market penetration that much harder. As a consultant you are essentially selling your competence, and if you do not persuade the buyer that you will bring something unique to the table then someone else will. The same principle can be applied to the manager. Cultivating a certain amount of grandiosity, in titles or job descriptions might help attract candidates who in turn will want those titles on their resume. Therefore it might be said that grandiosity, for all its perceived lack of value, is a necessity of business.

It is important to note however that grandiosity might be double edged. No matter the strength of the brand one builds it will need to be at least partially backed up by what is delivered. Therefore in cultivating it, it is important not to go too far beyond what customers might reasonably expect, or they will just be doubly disappointed when their expectations are not met. Hence, the sweet spot would arguably be where you cultivate grandiosity just enough to reach a point where it doesn’t produce overwhelming expectations.