Nine Lies About Work book club questions

1. 1.

   Buckingham and Goodall say performance ratings reveal more about raters than ratees. Has your experience with performance reviews supported or challenged that claim?

2. 2.

   The book argues that engagement is a team-level phenomenon. How would your organization's approach to engagement change if it took that seriously?

3. 3.

   Which of the nine lies feels most embedded in your current organization, and what would it cost to stop believing it?

4. 4.

   The idiosyncratic rater effect suggests that 360-degree feedback is measuring rater style, not employee competence. What would you use instead to make people development decisions?

5. 5.

   Buckingham and Goodall argue that the best leaders are highly idiosyncratic, not paragons of some universal model. How does that sit with your organization's leadership development program?

6. 6.

   The book makes a distinction between work and the experience of work. Which lie, in your view, most damages the actual daily experience of the people in your organization?

7. 7.

   They argue that organizational culture is largely irrelevant to how people experience work — what matters is their immediate team. Do you believe that? What evidence do you have either way?

8. 8.

   Cascading goals are described as a ritual that rarely produces alignment. What alternative does your organization use, and how well does it actually work?

9. 9.

   The authors' research comes largely from Deloitte and ADP. What limitations does that sample impose on the book's claims?

10. 10.

    Which of the nine lies do you think is most fiercely defended by senior leaders in organizations you've worked in, and why?

11. 11.

    The book is polemical — the authors are making a case, not just reporting research. Which arguments feel most persuasively supported, and which feel most overstated?

12. 12.

    If you accepted all nine of the book's arguments, what would you stop doing in your organization tomorrow, and what would you start doing instead?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.