Customer Reviews

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

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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.

"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.

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.

The relationship between employee and employer has never been smooth. Even back in Dickens "A Christman Carol" the relationship was strained. Then around the turn of the last century we had all the efforts with the unions being developed. Now unions are declining and the lawyers have taken over.

I've had my share of working for bad managers. In fact there've only been a couple that I would have rated as good. Those managers followed the rules that Mr. Janove has written down. This is good legal advice, but it is just plain good management advice as well. This is the way you would want to be treated by a manager, and it is clearly the way you should treat your employees.

The eight deadly sins he defines are not coached in legal terms, they are just good common sense that we should all follow.

This is an essential desk-top resource for managers at all levels. The "what should I do or say now" approach makes it easy to follow and, more importantly, implement a multitude of practical suggestions. Excellent!

I read this book, not because I was concerned about being sued, but because I was looking for pointers to become a better manager, and it worked well on both counts. I liked this book much more than those written by executives describing their personal successes, because this book proposed a variety of scenarios from many angles. I could relate to many of the "deadly sins", was anxious to read the author's proposed solutions and wasn't disappointed with what I read. The book is very readable, very practical in its advice and isn't long-winded. The layout of each chapter is optimal as a "self-help" type of book to encourage follow through. I've already benefited from implementing a number of the author's ideas, and am anxious to re-read it for more. This one won't gather dust!

Managing to Stay Out of Court: How to Avoid the Eight Deadly Sins of Mismanagement is one of the best management books I've read! The format was well organized, with Legal Nuggets, Tools and Techniques, and chapter Highlights. The Highlights after each chapter encapsulate very well the key points of the book. I also think the author's format keeps the reader engaged. I thought it was effective how the analogy to skiing is used throughout the book - in managing with the weight forward (proactive) versus leaning back (avoidance) tendency. I kept thinking how true it is that managers tend to lean back rather than put weight forward and deal with issues. The battery analogy to remind you to D-I-S (Direct, Immediate, Specific) in dealing effectively with the negative and positive aspects of employee performance was also good. My favorite analogy was the "Gunnysack" approach in which managers tend to place performance issues in a gunnysack. Rather than using the D-I-S method, they save up the performance issues until they dump them all at once on the employee. I could also see the author's love of history coming out in his references to history - as in the FDR and Harry Hopkin's story. I also enjoyed how the book weaves references/quotes from literature throughout the book. I noticed the author used himself as an example in a few of the stories, which I enjoyed. The tips offered on effective listening were excellent. I found myself taking a few notes. I also liked how the book tied it all together with the "skiing the run" examples. From a Human Resource Director's perspective, this book is full of practical, insightful advice. I know I plan on incorporating the tools.