Customer Reviews

Goldilocks on Management: 27 Revisionist Fairy Tales for Serious Managers

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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.

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.

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.

As a first-year MBA student, my reading can get a little dry. My mother suggested this book as a fun and easy way to study the big issues. There are fairy tales that cover my marketing material, others for operations, management and technology. It's awesome and will be especially helpful at exam time. Thanks, mom.

...someone understood that the most serious things are better said while joking!!!!! I've read quite a few books that support humour as a powerful means of education, leadership, etc. but none of them actually took their own advice. We all know that simplicity is the best, most effective way to do things. At the same time it is the most dificult, so we usually hide our ignorance (smatter actually) behind fancy terms, long sentences nobody understands, and extremely 'serious' titles. I guess the authors of this book not only know what they are talking about but are very intelligent people as well.

Thank you Gloria Mayer and Thomas Mayer for giving me the pleasure of reading your book. Btw, I loved the title "Implications for Serious Managers"... That was a good one!!

Goldilocks is finally an ibnteresting and entertaining management book with a really good message. Comnbining the modernized fictional stories with an understandable real business case type message reinforcing the story is unique.

this is well worth reading for business/management joriented people, or those who would like to become more so.!

Oldilocks On Management is destine to be a modern classic of business literature. The Mayers have an uncanny touch to combine humor and insight while they interlace modern managment precepts around 27 classicfary tales. A wonderfully entertaining book that leaves you laughing and astonished at hom much you have learned - while laughing at each new story.

Move over Lying With Statistics, Oldilocks is here to claim the title ofthe best business read!