The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg?: A Rhetorical Critique of Stephen Covey and the Effectiveness Movement

Abstract

Through his best‐selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (1989, Simon & Schuster), and subsequent publications, Stephen Covey has established himself as the pre‐eminent management guru in North America. While there are clear similarities between the ‘Effectiveness’ movement he has spawned and competing organizational improvement programmes such as excellence, TQM, and re‐engineering, there are also some important differences in how this movement has been rhetorically constructed, the manner in which it has been organized and the ideological roots upon which it is based. The paper draws on Ernest Bormann's fantasy theme analysis to develop a distinctively dramatistic rhetorical critique of this movement. Three primary fantasy themes are identified that, it is argued, underpin the rhetorical appeal of Covey's work to the individuals who follow and the organizations that sponsor him. The paper lends further support to the emerging argument that, in order to properly appreciate the broad appeal of gurus in management and other fields, we need to better understand how their work resonates with the material, existential and spiritual needs of individuals that are peculiar to the late modern age.