Learning from the Links: Mastering Management Using Lessons From Golf

Hurst takes to task the current "head-down" instructional model used to teach golf and management. He addresses the huge gulf between knowing what to do in a given situation and knowing how to do it. This chasm is an ever-present hazard both on the course and in an organization: it keeps people from solving their problems and achieving their goals. By examining golfers' and managers' struggles for improvement, Hurst shows us why complex systems are so hard to change and how to set about changing them -- systematically.

Using the latest thinking from fields as diverse as neuroscience, artificial intelligence, art, and anthropology, Hurst's primary purpose is to help his readers make sense of their own experience -- to help them learn more effectively. His practical advice is profusely illustrated with examples from both golf and management, allowing the reader to move back and forth between his or her experiences in both activities. Part business management book, part strategy guide, these are more than just lessons for one's game or one's office: these are lessons for life.

Hurst mission is to make complex systems theory (a close relative of chaos theory) accessible to managers; accessible in ways that affect their thinking and their actions. This is no small task. One can easily fall into the trap of being overly theoretical and academic, or going to the other extreme and dumbing-down the theory so much that its insights and relevance are lost. Hurst does neither. He uses the golf analogy to very effectively draw out actionable insights from complex systems theory for managers. Stories relating the experiences of golfers and managers are used to illustrate the points, but the book is not a series of anecdotes. The stories are artfully crafted to convey the messages in the underlying theory while at the same time making the book an enjoyable read.

Should managers who are not golfers read this book? Being an unaccomplished golfer I think not. The golf analogy is a core element and allows the reader to related, at a visceral level, to the messages in the book. The possible exception would be prospective readers who are not golfers but have an abiding interest in systems theory. Those looking for simplistic solutions to complex problems will not find them in this book. It is for the serious reader who wants a richer appreciation of the systemic relationships that result in exceptional performance, both on the golf course and in business.