In their book The Knowing-Doing Gap (1999), Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton examine the phenomenon that although people have all of the knowledge necessary for achieving the desired results, it does not always equate with doing the things necessary for achieveng those results.

In one of the book’s chapters, they discuss the situations that arise “When Talk Substitutes for Action “(9-68). As a subsection of this chapter, they define one of the results as being that “negative people seem smarter.” The authors quote Teresa Amibile from the Harvard Business School in her published study titled Brilliant but Cruel (1983). In this study, she asked people to rate the intelligence of book critics. Reviewers that gave negative critiques of the books were rated as being smarter than those who gave positive reviews. She summarized her findings by stating that “Only pessimism sounds profound. Optimism sounds superficial” (156).

When speaking about instruction, new ideas, and school improvement, how can we place appropriate weight on the beliefs of those opposed to the innovation? How do we make sure that all voices are heard, but decisions are made and acted upon?

Facilitators will frequently espouse the positive aspects of conflict, but how do we move beyond agreement (or disagreement) and into action? For teachers, is disagreement enough? If you disagree with a course of action, are you justified in ignoring it?

Perhaps most importantly, who decides when “enough is enough?” When is it time to stop talking and start doing?

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