On the New York Times bestseller list for 77 weeks, this book presents the author’s life recollections. After describing her upbringing in a remote corner of Idaho where she spent a tumultuous time in an orthodox Mormon culture, Westover takes us to her time at Brigham Young University in Utah, and later to Cambridge (UK), where she got her PhD in 2014. Despite the book not directly relating to business as such, it nevertheless contains several important messages any business-savvy reader should know.
Dr. Tara Westover, the author of Educated, is a remarkable woman. Bill Gates commented, “An amazing story, and truly inspiring. The kind of book everyone will enjoy. It’s even better than you’ve heard.” The Economist called her book “astonishing,” in the sense that she thrived as much as she did in spite of the circumstances she grew up in. . According to the Financial Times, this book is about “how dysfunction of any kind can be normalized even within the most conventional family structure, and the danger such containment can do. The central tension that the author copes with is how to follow her own ambitions and desires for education without alienating her family.”
We could spend the entire article reporting this book’s praises. Instead, let us cover some key business implications of the author’s autobiographical stories; even though we shall not review the autobiographical side of the book, we nevertheless strongly urge you to read it! It is simply fascinating.
The setting of the book’s first part relates to the author’s upbringing in a remote corner of Idaho within a dogmatic and sometimes violent religious setting. She and her six siblings never attended school and were not registered in the “system.” The book shows us that ideology and culture can easily become too static and fixated, a tendency experienced by businesses as well. We also see how fear of not conforming to culture plays a key role – nonconformists run the risk of being excluded. Conformity is expected! Opposition to such strong ideology and culture typically provokes significant conflicts. The world of business is full of these issues too.
Constructive dialogue is hard to have in such repressive settings. When a set ideology is allowed to dominate, it is hard to see how any meaningful innovations can happen. Extraordinarily strong individuals, such as the author, are the only ones who might have the strength to break with cultural conformity and thus spearhead innovation. Regrettably, veering away from conformity often comes at a high personal cost. We are, of course, familiar with the same phenomena in business. The organizational culture might be so firmly set that it becomes nearly impossible for any individual to pursue innovations that might threaten the status quo. Fear, friction, even violence are often commonplace. Many family businesses regrettably fit into this typology.
The book’s second part covers Westover’s time at BYU in Utah. At least four business implications stem from this period of her life:
Hard work is always called for – stretch yourself! This finding is a key way to gain respect and support from higher levels in an organization through good recommendations and positive reviews.
Paradoxically, a severe crisis might change key individual actors in several positive ways – for instance, a better ability to listen or to give positive feedback – as a result of broadening/strengthening self-confidence.
Tolerance of sexual or racial discrimination is highly dysfunctional in any organization, even if presented as humor, and people on the receiving end of such comments are typically more sensitive to such behavior than one might think.
Making use of the latest commercially available technology is crucial. However, here again we often experience that a set organizational culture might lead to resistance against such adaptations.
The book’s last section covers Westover’s experience at Cambridge, presenting three critical lessons for business:
Employees must have a strong sense of control over their own work and their career direction. Proponents of a more traditional culture may find it hard (if not impossible) to allow for such control, possibly necessitating management reshuffles. We often see a mushrooming staff size in firms; e.g., due to the fact that executives might have been sidelined – but not fired – to open the possibility of innovation.
Favoritism should be avoided at all costs. Similarly, established processes associated with an outdated culture might have to be modified. (This reviewer stresses that this must not be confused with the virtues of hard work and the development of positive opinions regarding hard-working individuals higher up in an organization.)
While we know that “the customer is king,” perhaps a balance is needed here, too, between established, often customer-blind culture, and a new customer focus. How far might an executive be expected to go before encountering too much conflict with his/her family when it comes to this? One might be able to build on experiences from other firms when it comes to coping with this type of dilemma.
All in all, this remarkable book can provide us with an abundance of insights relevant to good business practices. Although the author does not explicitly focus on any of these, instead reporting on key episodes from her life, this exceptional book is indeed relevant for all of us interested in business. I thus strongly recommend this book!
Comments