Customer Reviews

Fixing Performance Problems: Common Sense Ideas That Work

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Fixing Performance Problems, by Bud Bilanich (AKA "The Common Sense Guy"), is one of those books that every leader should have, whether they think they have performance problems to fix or not.

Subtitled "Common Sense Ideas that Work," that's just what the book offers. And we all know how uncommon "common sense" really is. As others have noted, it's refreshing that someone with multiple degrees, including a doctorate from Harvard, can sidestep the usual consultant-speak and get right to the heart of the matter.

In addition to being packed with relevant quotes (there are some real gems there, including General Pershing's "A competent leader can get efficient service from poor troops, while on the contrary an incapable leader can demoralize the best of troops" or the Chinese Proverb, "If you are patient on one moment of anger, you can avoid a hundred days of sorrow"), the book offers plain answers to eleven key problems, with a handy summary chapter at the end.

The eleven problems are:
1) People don't know what they are supposed to do.
2) People don't know why they should do what they are supposed to do.
3) People don't know how to do what they are supposed to do.
4) People think the prescribed methods will not, or do not work or believe that their way is better.
5) People think that other things are more important.
6) People think they are performing in an acceptable manner.
7) Non-performance is rewarded.
8) Good performance feels like punishment.
9) There are obstacles to performing that the individual cannot control.
10) There are no positive consequences for good performance.
11) There are no negative consequences for poor performance.

Most of all, I like the fact that the book focuses on the things leaders need to do differently, and doesn't jump to conclusions that performance problems are the fault of the employee. In fact, in many cases it's not, and issuing negative consequences for poor performance is only suggested as a last resort (#11 in the list). Even in that case, Mr. Bilanich suggests that a gentle nudge will often do the trick.

Rather than a book on "correcting bad employees," it's the ultimate handbook on motivation, positive reinforcement, goal setting, communication, and all the things we need to do to proactively avoid poor performance. I highly recommend it to leaders at all levels.

In "Fixing Performance Problems," Bud Bilanich targets, among other things, a sensitive area for attention: Giving Feedback. His six steps of preparing, opening, information sharing, closing and post conversation analysis give you a roadmap for making these difficult conversatins more likely to occur.
My experience supports the need for practical tools to give the manger the confidence to initiate these conversations.
This and the other extremely usable ideas in the book make it fast and impactful reading.

What else would you expect from "The Common Sense Guy" then a practical approach to solving performance problems. Bud's writing style is straight forward and to the point. The ideas he shares are full of wisdom and insight. More importantly they are easily applied. I always have an "aha" moment when reading Bud's material. Bud Bilanich is truly a gifted writer, trainer, mentor and communicator.

Bud Bilanich has done it again! He's taken a die hard cynic - when it comes to "self help business books" - and made a believer in him. What makes Dr. Bilanich unique is his adept storytelling ability. This book is not some dry and pedantic journey through the labyrinthine and often bureaucratic laden realm of business buzz words. Fixing Performance Problems is an intelligent and fluid play-by-play of how to motivate your employees to the best they possibly can be. With the author possessing a doctorate degree from Harvard and many years of worthwhile hands on experience, it's a bleeping wonder that one of the larger presses has not picked this book up. Bilanich elegantly synthesizes the important steps toward increasing productivity and happiness in employees. He dispenses with micromanaging techniques and goes in for a much more humanistic, and effective, technique of treating employees like human beings and not numbers.

This high impact and user friendly tome proves substantial; but also economical, in terms of being able to take it on the plane or read between meetings for maximum benefit without wasting a lot of time.

Definitely keep an eye out for all the books by Bud Bilanich, the Common Sense Guy with the great insights!