Alot of things have been said about management over the years: that it's an art, not a science; that it's a science, filled with "best practices" and systematic steps anyone can use to get great results; that it's the fuel that powers successful organizations. Only one thing is for sure: there is no one, easy definition of whatever it is that managers do! Henry Mintzberg, one of today's most respected and controversial thinkers on management, has joined forces with other leading business figures to provide a provocative and unusual mix of writing on management. Management? It's Not What You Think! gets readers thinking as they never have before about the practice of management. Readers will find differing perspectives and plenty of food for thought--on topics in clud ing management terminology and buzz words; myths and maxims; MBAs; management fads; leadership; strategy; and much more. Presenting articles, book and journal excerpts, letters, web selections, and musings, these pieces will have readers pondering, laughing, and sometimes even crying (for poor old manage ment itself!). This irreverent, highly relevant, and insightful book will inspire managers of all types, spark debate, and renew their passion and interest in doing what they do best! managing.
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“…collection of business nuggets…skewers jargon, game leaders and business school players, and various fads that are repackaged to become new fads." -IE Industrial Engineer
“It’s a collection of short, opinionated, often-funny pieces from a wide variety of sources that throws cold water on a lot of fashionable management theory with a bracing dose of reality.” – Accounting Today
"...cold water on a lot of fashionable management theory with a bracing dose of reality."-Accounting Today
"...the most down-to-earth management book that I have laid hands on...I loved it!" - Advance for Medical Laboratory Professional magazine
Book Description
A lot of things have been said about management over the years: that it’s an art, not a science; that it’s a science, filled with “best practices” and systematic steps anyone can use to get great results; that it’s the fuel that powers successful organizations. Only one thing is for sure: there is no one, easy definition of whatever it is that managers do!
Henry Mintzberg, one of today’s most respected and controversial thinkers on management, has joined forces with other leading business figures to provide a provocative and unusual mix of writing on management. Management? It’s Not What You Think! gets readers thinking as they never have before about the practice of management. Readers will find differing perspectives—and plenty of food for thought—on topics including management terminology and buzz words; myths and maxims; MBAs; management fads; leadership; strategy; and much more.
Presenting articles, book and journal excerpts, letters, web selections, and musings, these pieces will have readers pondering, laughing, and sometimes even crying (for poor old management itself!). This irreverent, highly relevant, and insightful book will inspire managers of all types, spark debate, and renew their passion and interest in doing what they do best… managing.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a highly unusual collection of articles. It is rather short as books go - 126 pages. But it has some powerful concepts that deserve our attention. It also has some delightful articles that poke fun at the buzz words some folks in management are so fond of using.
In my opinion, the very best article discusses the damages that MBAs have done to business and society. The book raises some troubling questions about the case study method of educating MBAs. It questions the value of most MBA programs and in particular the gold standard - Harvard's. The authors make a valid point that management must be on the ground floor, based on experience not academic theory.
While the questions are extremely general and a lot of conclusions are drawn regarding the value of MBA programs, all you need to do is look at the most recent economic meltdown to realize that we have some fundamental problem(s) with the way we view management.
I love the way the authors take a pot shot at the corporate speak, buzz word filled vocabulary of management consultants. There is an extremely clever "Systematic Buzz Word Generator". This has three columns of ten words. To generate a meaningless but impressive buzz word, you simply pick a three digit number at random and then look up the words. If I picked the number 125, the buzz words from the generator would be "total monitored concept". It is delightful to play with and shows how silly we can get using buzz words.
The book also does a real great job of pointing out the problems with executive compensation and how most compensation is in direct conflict with the stated goals of most companies. Executive compensation is a problem which must be fixed. This books does a great job of highlighting the problem.
The authors do a good job of discussing what we think management is and why our definition is incorrect. The final chapter goes into what management should be to work effectively.
If you are a C-level executive or aspire to be one, this book will probably raise a few questions which will make you uncomfortable. But it seems to me that these are important questions. I am not sure we have the luxury of continuing the mismanagement practices we have been following.
A quick easy read with some very fun articles. But the serious underlying concepts presented in this book will certainly step on more than a few toes.
There are some great quotations scattered throughout the book. One in particular I loved was from Confucius, "Only the very wisest and the very stupidest never change." I doubt if many of us qualify as the very wisest, so it is probably safe to assume that we need to embrace more change in our notion of good management.
Best read with an open mind.
In my opinion, the very best article discusses the damages that MBAs have done to business and society. The book raises some troubling questions about the case study method of educating MBAs. It questions the value of most MBA programs and in particular the gold standard - Harvard's. The authors make a valid point that management must be on the ground floor, based on experience not academic theory.
While the questions are extremely general and a lot of conclusions are drawn regarding the value of MBA programs, all you need to do is look at the most recent economic meltdown to realize that we have some fundamental problem(s) with the way we view management.
I love the way the authors take a pot shot at the corporate speak, buzz word filled vocabulary of management consultants. There is an extremely clever "Systematic Buzz Word Generator". This has three columns of ten words. To generate a meaningless but impressive buzz word, you simply pick a three digit number at random and then look up the words. If I picked the number 125, the buzz words from the generator would be "total monitored concept". It is delightful to play with and shows how silly we can get using buzz words.
The book also does a real great job of pointing out the problems with executive compensation and how most compensation is in direct conflict with the stated goals of most companies. Executive compensation is a problem which must be fixed. This books does a great job of highlighting the problem.
The authors do a good job of discussing what we think management is and why our definition is incorrect. The final chapter goes into what management should be to work effectively.
If you are a C-level executive or aspire to be one, this book will probably raise a few questions which will make you uncomfortable. But it seems to me that these are important questions. I am not sure we have the luxury of continuing the mismanagement practices we have been following.
A quick easy read with some very fun articles. But the serious underlying concepts presented in this book will certainly step on more than a few toes.
There are some great quotations scattered throughout the book. One in particular I loved was from Confucius, "Only the very wisest and the very stupidest never change." I doubt if many of us qualify as the very wisest, so it is probably safe to assume that we need to embrace more change in our notion of good management.
Best read with an open mind.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
With tips on everything from leadership style to what to tell those above you
December 11, 2010
Format:Hardcover
There's more to management than barking orders at people. "Management?: It's Not What You Think!" is a detailed analysis and guide to management and the many different chains of thoughts into what makes a truly good manager. With a bit of humor, the authors cover a variety of management topics and what they mean to the big picture of business and company futures. With tips on everything from leadership style to what to tell those above you, "Management?" is a solid and very highly recommended piece of writing not to be missed by any stumbling upon a new management position.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
What we have here is a collection of highly unconventional perspectives, presented within a highly unconventional format, one that initiates a collective assault on conventional wisdom about management. Henry Mintzberg is the master of revels and has enlisted an impressive of group of iconoclasts, notably Bruce Ahlstrand and Joseph Lampel. Throughout the narrative of eight chapters, they and others share their thoughts about what management is...and isn't, about what effective management is...and isn't, and about the challenges that managers face today that are unprecedented in terms of peril and complexity.
The material certainly achieves its specified objective: "to get us all thinking again. Opening perspectives on this fascinating business of management, for managers themselves, those who work with managers, and anyone who aspires to join their ranks." Some of the chapter titles correctly indicate a tone of irreverence that pervades the text:
"Accenture's next champion of waffle words," Lucy Kellaway
"PowerPoint is evil," Edward Tufte
"The opposite of profound truth is also true," Richard Farson
"Why most managers are plagiarists," Kellaway again
"'Change management' is an oxymoron," Jim Clemmer
"Ye gods, what do I do now?" Ian Hamilton
"Managing without managers," Ricardo Semler
In Semler's contribution, excerpted from his HBR article (September/October 1989), he explains that his company in Brazil, Semco "doesn't have systems or staff functions or analysts or anything like that. What we have people who either sell or make, and there's nothing in between. Is there a marketing department? Not on your life. Marketing is everybody's problem. Everybody knows the price of the products. Everybody knows the cost. Everybody has the monthly statement that says exactly what each of them makes, how much bronze is costing us, how much overtime we paid, all of it. And the employees know that 23% of the after-tax profit is theirs.
"...Employees can paint the walls any color they like. They can come to work whenever they decide. They can wear whatever clothing makes them comfortable. They can do whatever the hell they want. It's up to them to see the connection between productivity and profit and act on it."
I think Mintzberg and his collaborators thus end the book in an especially appropriate way, deferring to Ricardo Semler and then to an observation by Aesop (620-560 BC); "After all is said and done, more is said than done." In less than 130 pages, the reader is provided with a wide variety of perspectives and a wealth of unconventional insights such as those found in the Semler contribution.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out the resources provided as a "References" section at the end of each chapter. There are some real "gems" among them, many of which I was previously unaware.
The material certainly achieves its specified objective: "to get us all thinking again. Opening perspectives on this fascinating business of management, for managers themselves, those who work with managers, and anyone who aspires to join their ranks." Some of the chapter titles correctly indicate a tone of irreverence that pervades the text:
"Accenture's next champion of waffle words," Lucy Kellaway
"PowerPoint is evil," Edward Tufte
"The opposite of profound truth is also true," Richard Farson
"Why most managers are plagiarists," Kellaway again
"'Change management' is an oxymoron," Jim Clemmer
"Ye gods, what do I do now?" Ian Hamilton
"Managing without managers," Ricardo Semler
In Semler's contribution, excerpted from his HBR article (September/October 1989), he explains that his company in Brazil, Semco "doesn't have systems or staff functions or analysts or anything like that. What we have people who either sell or make, and there's nothing in between. Is there a marketing department? Not on your life. Marketing is everybody's problem. Everybody knows the price of the products. Everybody knows the cost. Everybody has the monthly statement that says exactly what each of them makes, how much bronze is costing us, how much overtime we paid, all of it. And the employees know that 23% of the after-tax profit is theirs.
"...Employees can paint the walls any color they like. They can come to work whenever they decide. They can wear whatever clothing makes them comfortable. They can do whatever the hell they want. It's up to them to see the connection between productivity and profit and act on it."
I think Mintzberg and his collaborators thus end the book in an especially appropriate way, deferring to Ricardo Semler and then to an observation by Aesop (620-560 BC); "After all is said and done, more is said than done." In less than 130 pages, the reader is provided with a wide variety of perspectives and a wealth of unconventional insights such as those found in the Semler contribution.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out the resources provided as a "References" section at the end of each chapter. There are some real "gems" among them, many of which I was previously unaware.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read by all managers who want to practice management and...
A must read by all managers who want to practice management and leadership. Powerfull lessons which are not normally taught in business schools. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mohamed F
4.0 out of 5 stars
There is no right answer
This book is a collection of articles on leadership and management. The theme tends to center around the messiness of management. Read more
Published on January 2, 2011 by Jim Estill
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