Praising Hammer and Champy's book Reengineering the Corporation a few years ago, Peter Drucker wrote, "Reengineering is new . and it has to be done." But was it really new? Did it have to be done? Did it have to be done because it was new?

No one will deny that the quest for the new that characterizes the U.S. approach to business is healthy, but so, too, is a small dose of skepticism. The next time you or your colleagues meet an apparently new idea that demands your attention, apply these seven rules of thumb:

1 Distinguish between materials and people. An idea based on changes in knowledge or materials is more likely to be genuinely new than one based on changes in human beings.

If some new management methodology obliges you and your colleagues to think in a fundamentally different way from the way humans have thought for the last 5,000 years, question it very closely. If people really need to adapt to new environments and technologies, they can and will. Your staff need not be lobotomized with the scalpel of some new paradigm.

2 Check the perspective. Ask, "What part of this claim is really new? The whole thing or just one aspect?" Compared with copper wire, fiber optics was new, but the need for some sort of medium to transmit signals wasn't. The current emphasis on organizing employees into teams may seem new, but it certainly isn't. But, even if it were, the need for organizational basics like accountability will never be new.

3 Identify the idea's parentage. Few ideas are truly original. Most of them come from somewhere and can be traced like a family tree. When you trace an idea, try also to trace the research on which it was founded.

Although much valuable work has been done in personality research, the fact remains that we still have no single agreed-upon way of dividing up what we call personality. So if someone claims your business will improve if your employees take a new "personality" test, ask, "Whose opinions is this test based on?"

And what applies to personality applies to science in general. When someone says, "Scientists say ." ask, "Which scientists say it, and where is it published?" What passes for science may be an idea taken out of context or a modern myth that has been making the rounds for years. This is particularly true of statistics. Statistical literacy has not grown as fast as conventional literacy, and consequent ignorance may prove dangerous.

4 If it really is new, it may be no big deal. It is not that difficult to dream up seemingly new management ideas. Have you noticed how many are simple matrixes, i.e., high and low something, plotted against high and low something else? These charts may look impressive and offer a moment of insight, but that doesn't mean that they will inevitably help your colleagues or your bottom line.

5 If the idea is not murky, something is missing. Simplicity is seductive. Wouldn't life be great if there really was an "it" that clearly cut to the heart of all management problems? But most managers are eclectic -- and for good reason. There is no simple "it." Eclecticism has proved the best response to the complexity of management.

6 Reduce the buzzwords to plain English. So-called new ideas are often old ones disguised in the finery of new jargon. Check what is really being asserted. These regurgitations may be caused by poor thinking, ignorance or the desire to make money by repackaging.

7 When a new book is published, read an old one. This advice, attributed to 19th-century English poet Samuel Rogers, is invaluable. When many books are published, including business books, only a few are likely to stand the test of time. A classic novel may tell you more about motivation than the latest theory. And read originals when possible. If you must read a book called "The Tao of This or That," read the original work on Taoism by Lao Tze.

I hold no brief for the past. Many ideas have been consigned to much-merited oblivion. But the important criterion is not whether an idea is old or new, but whether it is any good. A little prudence in the face of breathless novelty will save a lot of sweat.

About the author

Theo Brooks helps organizations improve practices and add value to their work by re-examining familiar concepts. He is the author of Accountability: It All Depends On What You Mean. He can be contacted at (303) 771-1091 or by e-mail at tbrooks@qualitydigest.com .