Staying Healthy in Sick Organizations: The Clover Practice™ [Paperback]

Kathleen Paris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 2008

Even in a high-stress workplace, people can feel peaceful at the end of the day. Even in an organization that is designed and managed on obsolete principles, people can maintain their integrity and honor. Staying Healthy in Sick Organizations: The Clover Practice(tm) by Kathleen A. Paris, PhD, will show employees-from office workers and technicians to middle and top management-how to survive professionally and emotionally in work environments that are more likely to be sick than healthy. A real world approach, the Clover Practice(tm) can be used every day and in every workplace in America, and will also help employees recognize when it's time to leave and move on. With clear directives and tools for how to be truthful, speak for one's self, and recognize the interconnections that influence our success as well as our problems, this guide provides an elegant metaphor for change and a toolkit for survival.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kathleen A. Paris holds a PhD in educational administration from University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a distinguished consultant emeritus for the Office of Quality Improvement and lecturer in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at UW-Madison. For over twenty years, she has provided management consulting services for education, business, and non-profit organizations. Paris received the Wisconsin Governor's Export Achievement award in 1990. The author's award-winning web site on effective meetings has gained national and international attention. See kathleenparis.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing; 1 edition (August 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 143920120X
• ISBN-13: 978-1439201206
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,279,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A small book with a BIG idea!, November 25, 2008

By 

Rex Weston - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Staying Healthy in Sick Organizations: The Clover Practice™ (Paperback)

Unlike so many other authors writing in this genre, Kathleen Paris demonstrates her respect for her readers by sparing us from endless repetition over hundreds of pages. She makes her points just once or twice, always in a clear concise fashion. They're backed up by snippets of supporting evidence drawn from sources ranging from the Bible to the Surgeon General, and from Tom Peters to Wayne Dyer. Her use of simple, non-technical, language combined with her writing style makes "Staying Healthy in Sick Organizations: The Clover Practice" an easy and enjoyable read, which is quite an accomplishment when considering the weight of her topic.

In the first three chapters she lays out the three principles of what she calls "The Clover Practice." As she makes clear, these are easy to understand and visualize, but not always easy to execute. Having personally applied all three of her principles I can state with absolute assurance that they work. If you're not already living by them, read the book, follow her lead, and your life will improve in significant, eye-opening, ways. Best of all, the framework she provides requires no cooperation or participation from others in your workplace - you can decide to, then execute, The Clover Practice entirely on your own and then reap the rewards.

Her ideas are timeless, though I must say that now, November 2008, in the midst of what's being called "the global financial crisis," with its massive economic uncertainty, seems like a perfect time for smart people who care about themselves to stretch themselves to enact the kind of positive, transformative, changes that are available to them. This is a small book with a big idea. Read it. Live it. Share it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bring your best self to work!, October 13, 2008

By 

Carol S. Gosenheimer (Madison, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Staying Healthy in Sick Organizations: The Clover Practice™ (Paperback)

We spend a large portion of our waking hours at our jobs. This book can help any employee make the most of their time in the workplace. With ideas and tips about living and acting in healthier ways, there is something here for everyone!

The book is written in a friendly, upbeat and encouraging manner. The beauty (and bonus) of this book is that everything Dr. Paris discusses relates to how we can improve our personal lives as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Succinct and timely, September 18, 2008

By 

M. Cullen (Madison WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Staying Healthy in Sick Organizations: The Clover Practice™ (Paperback)

In a world awash with quick fixes, this book is a welcome change. The Clover Practice is so simple. You can remember it without getting the book off the shelf, but don't be lulled into thinking it's simplistic. Anyone who really tells the truth, speaks from their own point of view and realizes how interdependent everything is is someone who has achieved a lot.

The minute your boss tells you to tell someone they're not in or that they just left, you know from that point on that you can't trust that person to be square with you. People shoot themselves in the foot by not being honest even in small things.

Also, it's the perfect book to come out during the most important election in the history of this country. I would like to see all the candidates' actions and words held up against the Clover Practice and have people cast their votes accordingly.