Managing to Stay Out of Court: How to Avoid the 8 Deadly Sins of Mismanagement [Paperback]

Jathan Janove (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 10, 2004

In the past 20 years, the number of employment discrimination cases has increased by more than 2,000 percent. This practical guide helps companies avoid the most common types of employment lawsuits through the development of strong people-management skills. Managing to Stay Out of Court is structured according to eight simple principles contrasting sins and virtues in the workplace - for example, Rationalizing Away Truth (sin) vs. Making Honesty the Only Policy (virtue), or Listening Through Your "I" (sin) vs. Listening Through Your Ears (virtue). A wealth of real-life examples show employers how to move directly from theory to practice by taking the lessons off the page and into the workplace. Included is a guide to adjusting management styles as well as techniques for implementing organization-wide changes. An appendix helps readers identify their own most prevalent management sins, and a complete set of tools and exercises - a sample journal page, memos, self-assessments, and a "Sin-to-Virtue Transfer Plan" - shows how to make the too-often adversarial manager-employee relationship fulfilling for both parties.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jathan Janove, (Member) born Chicago, Illinois. Education: Indiana University (B.A., 1979); Also a member of Utah State Bar (Member, Labor and Employment Section).

Product Details

• Paperback: 230 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (December 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576753182
• ISBN-13: 978-1576753187
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #678,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > Law > Specialties > Labor Law

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars managing to stay out of court, January 14, 2005

By 

Michael T. Walton ",president,walton marine" (salt lake city ,ut.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Managing to Stay Out of Court: How to Avoid the 8 Deadly Sins of Mismanagement (Paperback)

This book is well written and organized.The author's practicle experience is presented so that it is most useful to managers.Legalese is avoided in favor of clear communication.In today's litigious environment this book is invaluable.I believe that businesses that do not make use of this wonderful tool are likely to regret it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent advice for anyone interested in leadership or management, April 1, 2009

By 

J. Rosenberg - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Managing to Stay Out of Court: How to Avoid the 8 Deadly Sins of Mismanagement (Paperback)

"Managing to Stay Out of Court" is helpful not just because of its lessons but because of its organizational structure. I'm no memory expert, but I've lived long enough in my short life to know that good structure helps me memorize things. The organizational structure of the book is conductive to memorizing the lessons and providing a quick reference. This is because the book utilizes strong visual analogies and the writing is clear and concise.

Before reading the book, I expected it to be like some of the self-improvement or self-help books I had read in the past. For example, I used to own a book about how CEO's supposedly think, which was recommended to me by a friend a few years ago. I didn't actually finish that particular book because the writing was lackluster and the information was difficult to visualize and remember. "Managing to Stay Out of Court" succeeds because it doesn't take the reader for stupid. I felt like the author was genuinely interested in helping the reader succeed, which is a key attitude I look for in these kinds of books.

My two favorite parts of the book were (1) the legal nuggets and (2) the anecdotes or stories. I think everyone loves anecdotes and stories. The book's stories add a lot of substance to the pinpoint lessons and really help solidify the book's lessons. They also keep the book moving at a fast pace. I've noticed that the least useful informational books are the dry ones - the ones without stories or analogies. I know it's hard for me to internalize a lesson absent a concrete example. The legal nuggets were also helpful because they gave me a sense of the black letter law surrounding employment disputes. This helped me think in terms of avoiding big problems.

There are many people out there who simply don't know what to do or say in their organization, or they fear taking on a strong leadership role. For those kinds of people, "Managing to Stay Out of Court" would be a helpful reference - it would provide them tools they never had the confidence, guidance, or knowledge to utilize. As someone who has held leadership roles in several organizations, I can say that this book was an effective asset to my ability to prevent and solve organization problems effectively.

5.0 out of 5 stars Avoid common mismanagement errors which lead to court, April 12, 2006

By 

D. Donovan, Editor/Sr. Reviewer "California B... (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Managing to Stay Out of Court: How to Avoid the 8 Deadly Sins of Mismanagement (Paperback)

Plenty of employment-related discrimination issues are before the federal courts yearly - a dilemma which all too easily could have been avoided, in most cases. Learn how to avoid the possibility in your own management position with Jathan Janove, Esq's MANAGING TO STAY OUT OF COURT: HOW TO AVOID THE 8 DEADLY SINS OF MISMANAGEMENT. Chapters based on employment law and legal findings present eight common management principles and a set of workplace problems associated with them which often lead to court, pairing these principles with real-life examples and exercises to help readers identify pitfalls in their own operations. Quite simply: any who would avoid legal problems in business management must read this book.