Goldilocks on Management: 27 Revisionist Fairy Tales for Serious Managers [Hardcover]

Gloria Gilbert Mayer (Author), Thomas Mayer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 1999

Fairy tales have been handed down from generation to generation, from culture to culture. This volume creates a whole new audience for these magical, entertaining tales - businesspeople. It revises classic fairy tales to reveal the illuminating management principles they contain. Readers will learn sales and negotiation strategies from Goldilocks herself; how to handle consultants from the Pied Piper; rumour control techniques from Chicken Little; and more. Each fairy tale is followed by a business lesson, applications of the tale for serious managers, and a case study that parallels the story.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you're like most people, you probably have at least two different book piles: the vocational and the recreational. The books from the first pile you read for information, guidance, professional advancement, and, hopefully, inspiration. The books from the second you read for pleasure. Some overly dry business writers seem to think the two piles should never mix, but not so the Mayer and Mayer team.

Goldilocks on Management is an entertaining primer for managers, a fictional romp through the past that simultaneously illustrates important management strategies and techniques firmly rooted in the present. The authors have taken time-honored fairy tales and rewritten them in a contemporary style, often with an ironic, humorous twist. Goldilocks, for instance, does sales and marketing for an institutional food products firm, and, when discovered in the three bears' living quarters, grabs an inopportune moment to make a pitch. The infamous new-clothes-seeking emperor is persuaded by foreign investors, two charming and flattering fashion designers, to buy an expensive royal outfit made of "Spinlight." Each fairy tale is followed by an interpretation and advice on how its lessons can be applied by serious managers in less fantastical situations, together with a real-world business example. Though the authors sometimes sound trite, using such overused management-speak as win-win situations and thinking outside the box, their points are useful reminders of common-sense ideas, presented in an unusual but readable format. This is a book with which to wind down, have a quiet chuckle, and hopefully relearn a thing or two to take back to the office. --S. Glass

From Booklist

Business writers show no sign of running out of notable and notorious figures to illustrate their theories of leadership and management. In the recent past, we have had Winnie-the-Pooh, Star Trek's Fleet Command, and W. C. Fields held up as models. The Mayers are consultants who both hold executive positions with the Institute for Health Care Advancement, and who cowrote The Health Insurance Alternative. They turn to Jack and his beanstalk, the Three Little Pigs, Snow White, Cinderella, and Chicken Little and friends for inspiration and insight into contingency planning, negotiation techniques, nurturing employees, continuous learning, and other management strategies. While some authors might be tempted to resort to parody with these examples, the Mayers mean for their lighthearted proposition to be taken seriously. After all, they point out, "fairy tales offer us fundamental truths that have persisted across generations . . . and define the underlying beliefs of any society." David Rouse

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; 1 edition (August 31, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814404812
• ISBN-13: 978-0814404812
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,491,983 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fluff disguised as business savvy, December 16, 1999

By 

A. C. Shellhase (California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Goldilocks on Management: 27 Revisionist Fairy Tales for Serious Managers (Hardcover)

When I read the reviews for this book, I wonder if we are all talking about the same book. All the praise sounds like paid endorsements from friends of the authors.

Getting the idea that I didn't like this book? Not at all. Actually I loved it. It was fun to read & quick.

But, that's all it was -- animated & entertaining.

Goldilocks is purely ephemeral with management insights added in order to convince you that what you're reading has substance. The so-called 'business principles' are nothing more than short, shallow blurbs.

Here's how the book is arranged. There are 27 different fairy tales. There are two I'm not familiar with. Ever hear of the "Bremen Town Musicians?" Or "The Old Woman & Her Pig?"

Each tales is modernized and reflects a business theme. For example, The Three Bears operate a budget motel deep in the forest and Chicken Little reads the Wall Street Journal because she follows the prices on corn commodities.

The story follows with details concerning a business issue such as:

=> marketing => team building => sales => cash flow => hiring employees => customer service

A shaded box follows called * Basic Lesson *. Sometimes there's more:

=> how the tale applies to serious managers => a real-life story => a conclusion, called the 'bottom line'

What I found is that most of the time the 'lesson' wasn't what I thought it was. It might be me, but I think the tale's outcomes aren't clear.

Let's talk 'Sleeping Beauty'. You all know the basic story. In the Mayer's version Beauty's parents are wealthy beyond imagination. Think Bill Gates. She has everything she could want -- wealth, beauty, intelligence.

The curse put on her by the uninvited guest is: "Nothing worldly will ever satisfy you. All this wealth is going to bore you, enervate you, exhaust you. It will all seem so tawdry and meaningless that you won't be able to stay awake." (p.67)

The Mayer's lesson is that you shouldn't leave people out of your planning process because it results in poor outcomes.(read Wicked Witch)

My take, from the way the tale is written, is this: when you give someone all they need in worldly goods, when they have everything, then you remove all motivation to excel at anything. They have nothing to strive for.

Or how about the 'Ugly Duckling'? In this version the lesson is to nurture and tolerate your staff's innate skills & differences.

Yet the story makes it clear that the swan (ugly duckling) was forced to leave the ducks because he didn't fit in with the corporate culture. The way he looks doesn't adhere to the duck dress code & he trumpets when he should quack.

In most of these tales the conclusions don't support the story examples.

Who's right? I don't know. Maybe it doesn't matter.

What does matter is the authors came up with a neat gimmick then made the tales fit their pre-conceived business lesson. At least that's my conclusion.

If you come across this book when you're browsing the bookstore & you have time, read some of it. If you see it at the library, check it out. Buy it only if you have extra money around & are looking for some business fluff to break up the day's work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Business through fairy tales - WHAT A CONCEPT!!!, September 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Goldilocks on Management: 27 Revisionist Fairy Tales for Serious Managers (Hardcover)

Who would have known that everything I needed to know about business I learned before kindergarten? I caught a review of "Goldilocks on Management" in an airline magazine last week. Fortunately, I was able to pick up a copy on a layover. I was amazed to see some of the very foundations of business management revealed throught children's stories . . . stories that I have known for as long as I can remember. Now, through this unique twist on classic tales, I have a new and more complete understanding of what goes on in my office, the boardroom and beyond.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sound lessons for business with relevance for managers, February 27, 2000

By 

Azlan Adnan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Goldilocks on Management: 27 Revisionist Fairy Tales for Serious Managers (Hardcover)

Though kids would never suspect it, behind all the huffing and puffing, the golden eggs and glass slippers, our beloved fairy tales are chockfull of sound lessons for business. This book brings those magical yarns again to life-but with new force and relevance for grown-up managers.

The book is the brainchild of Gloria Gilbert Mayer and Thomas Mayer, avid fairy tale fans with thriving careers as consultants. During their three decades of involvement in management, the Mayers watched many trends come and go. They also came to a startling realization: the best business practices reflect time-honored principles-in fact, the very stuff of classic children's stories.

"Fairy tales offer us fundamental truths that have persisted across generations," the Mayers point out. "They are simple, direct, fun, and enduring."

Liberally sprinkled with whimsical line drawings, Goldilocks On Management revisits 27 enchanting stories we all know and love. Without sacrificing the cherished staples, the Mayers tell each tale with a distinctive twist to make it more adult, entertaining, and reflective of today's on-the-job realities. (For example, Goldilocks is recast as "a highly compensated professional woman with a serious attitude problem.")

But this fairy tale collection is no mere humorous parody. The "moral" of each story is crystallized as a one-line basic business lesson. Each yarn is accompanied by an in-depth discussion of its applications for serious managers. And every imaginative tale is complemented by a parallel real-world business example-a contemporary case study with striking similarities to the storybook fiction.

A wonderfully playful resource packed with thoughtful insights and practical strategies, Goldilocks on Management takes a fresh and winning approach to excelling in the big bad world of business.

Gloria Gilbert Mayer and Thomas Mayer are corporate consultants, speakers, and writers specializing in issues of concern to health care professionals. They have collaborated on numerous articles, as well as a consumer's guide to HMOs, The Health Insurance Alternative. This book was inspired by their mutual love for classic children's stories and a lesson reinforced throughout their three decades in management. Gloria holds a Doctorate in Education from Columbia University. Tom holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and is also board-certified in Family Practice from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Reviewed by Azlan Adnan, Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group, an education and management consulting practice based in Kota Kinabalu. Azlan has a MA in International Business and Management from the University of Westminster.