We generally believe that human behavior in a corporate setting is rational, a game with deterministic rules. The implication is that if we can just study the rules well enough, especially by learning them from the right guru, any reasonably talented person will know how to win. An enormous management training industry in books, tapes, seminars, consultants, etc. exists to teach various versions of the rules.
"Management of the Absurd" aims to show how such logical, conventionally-wise approaches to management are just too simplistic, in that they do not take into account the paradoxes inherent in human nature. In much the same way that the financial decisions of real people, taken individually, are much more complicated and unpredictable than the simple-minded 'homo economicus' which basic economics requires for its explanations, the workplace behavior of real people is much more complex than typical management theories are able to capture.
Parent-child and boss-employee relationships are hardly analogous, but a parallel can be usefully drawn between management training and parenting manuals. No one expects to become a good parent just by reading a book. Similarly, the many aspects of working together successfully in an organizational context are too subtle to effectively systematize. So this book's intent is to describe, not prescribe.
I did not give the book a fifth star because some of the illustrative examples were uninspired: the tired old "lower the truck by letting air out of the tires" anecdote as an example of seeing things from a different angle, the popularity of both fast food and gourmet cookbooks as an example of coexistence of opposites, and a few others. Also some of the observations seemed trite, e.g., "nothing is as invisible as the obvious" and "every great strength is a great weakness". Having said that though, I did find most of the observations to be genuinely thought-provoking. They are listed below in chapter order.
1. the opposite of a profound truth is also true
2. nothing is as invisible as the obvious
3. the more important a relationship, the less skill matters
4. once you find a management technique that works, give it up
5. effective managers are not in control
6. most problems that people have are not problems
7. technology creates the opposite of its intended purpose
8. we think we invent technology, but technology also invents us
9. the more we communicate, the less we communicate
10. in communication, form is more important than content
11. listening is more difficult than talking
12. praising people does not motivate them
13. every act is a political act
14. the best resource for solving any problem is the person or group that presents the problem
15 organizations that need help most will benefit from it least
16. individuals are almost indestructible, but organizations are very fragile
17. the better things are, the worse they feel
18. we think we want creativity or change, but we really don't
19. we want for ourselves not what we are missing, but more of what we already have
20. big changes are easier to make than small ones
21. we learn not from our failures but from our successes -- and the failures of others
22. everything we try works, and nothing works
23. planning is an ineffective way to bring change
24. organizations change most by surviving calamities
25. people we think need changing are pretty good the way they are
26. every great strength is a great weakness
27. morale is unrelated to productivity
28. there are no leaders, there is only leadership
29. the more experienced the managers, the more they trust simple intuition
30. leaders cannot be trained, but they can be educated
31. in management, to be a professional, one must be an amateur
32. lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for
33. my advice is don't take my advice
