Customer Reviews

Management Malpractice: How to Cure Unhealthy Management Practices That Disable Your Organization

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very insightful book about what happens to noble management principles when they are preached but not practiced. The layout really facilitates the understanding too. Each chapter starts out with a fictitious scenario that captures (very well, I might add) the management principle in question and then discusses it at length. Each chapter describes how a given management principle can devolve into malpractice. But unlike many management books, this one doesn't stop there. Hickman actually offers up solutions and prescribes remedies for such devolvement at the end of each and every chapter. What's more is that they are very practical, reasonable, and fairly simple prescriptions...with explanations of how and why making this or that change can really make a difference. I recommend it highly. I also highly recommmend the accompanying website [...] It is very cool and provides a lot of resources and opportunities for exposing management malpractice.

This book is extremely relevant to today's business environment. I thought Craig Hickman's take was very unique; not at all the usual fare. He argues that the biggest problem facing organizations is the devolvement of noble management principles. Every corporation woud likely claim that they abide by the 25 management principles Hickman discusses (i.e. Respect Others, Challenge Assumptions, Create Trust, Eliminate Organizational Barriers, etc.), but how many of them actually do? The biggest problem isn't a lack of noble management principles, it is the rampant abuse of already existing ones. This devolvement, if left unchecked, could be what we pass on to the next generation.

After reading this book, I decided to stand up against the management malpractice going on in my organization. Thanks to Hickman's persuasive style and dead-on insights, I realized that I don't have to put up with the nonsense that goes on in my organization. This book has given me a number of ideas that I've already started to implement. One way or another, the management malpractice in my organization is going to get exposed. I've had enough. The website that goes along with this book is fantastic and very helpful.

I enjoyed this book a lot. At the end of each chapter, the author lists 4 or 5 best practices for avoiding/ending the malpractice of whichever management principle is being discussed in that chapter. These best practices are some of the best suggestions/ideas I have come across. This book is an important read for executives and managers, but equally useful for line staff.

Using the label of malpractice to describe the management practice of saying one thing and doing another, Hickman segregates his condemnation of leadership hypocrisy into five areas:
1. Innovation and Creative Imaginings
2. Individuals and Employees
3. Corporate Culture and Structure
4. Interpersonal Relationships and Teams, and
5. Visionary Leadership and Strategy.

For each of these areas, the author identifies 5 failures of management and then writes a prescription for the malpractice - in all, giving more than 125 actions to cure 25 unhealthy management practices that disable organizations. As an example, in the area of Corporate Culture and Structure he describes "Malpracticed Principle #11"; "Create an Environment Where People Fell Free to Raise Concerns" as the lie, and describes the truth as: "Raise concerns at your own risk...." The prescription for this malpractice is:
1. Make raising concerns part of your management practice
2. Admit that organizational hierarchies naturally generate opposition between those on top and those at lower levels,..
3. Obtain information on GE's workout session...
4. Challenge your people to find holes and hidden obstacles...
5. Eliminate any behavior or practice that squelches open feedback....

The book is structured so that the reader can turn to any area and find a malpractice of their choosing and thus are not required to read the entire book. This is a good thing, as the malpractices are often repeated with minor distinctions and the prescriptions are much the same. The malpractices are all failures to act consistent with espoused policies, principles, or value statements. The prescriptions are often, "Do what you say" or, "Look in the mirror". While the organizational and leadership errors noted are common occurrences in many organizations, telling leaders to, "Just Stop it!" may not be all that helpful.

Dennis DeWilde, author of
"The Performance Connection"

From all the points covered in the book, "Management Malpractice How to Cure Unhealthy Management Practices That Disable Your Organization" is a very informative book. All individual in any organization should be introduced to these common practices. Knowing and learning how to identify these practices will be beneficial to an employee in understanding the various intricate communications and practices taking place in an organization' environment.

The basic message of this book, which is that most management teams actively and repeatedly abuse their power, needs to be broadcast and discussed openly by people in organizations everywhere. The fact that it's not, disturbs me greatly!