Customer Reviews

It Takes More Than A Carrot And A Stick

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

 

 

An absolutely wonderful book -- Wess Roberts has truly done it again! With a fresh synthesis of insight, humor, and practical advice, this book is a great read and a useful guide to solving one of the most perplexing challeges of everyday life: turning dysfunctional relationships into functional ones. I particularly enjoyed his analyses of "Imperious Jerks: Masters of the Universe," "Androids: The Blindly Obedient," "Gatekeepers: The Empowerment Police," and "Perpetual Victims: The Whiners and Bitchers." While reading the book I found myself contemplating the frequent nuggets of wisdom, laughing hysterically, taking notes, and thinking about ways to implement his insights.
The true power of the book is that it opens our minds to looking for opportunities to make the best of our relationships at work. How we deal with dysfunctional people is a matter of personal choice: we can wallow in frustration or try to develop something positive. Wess Roberts offers some terrific ideas, not as "silver bullets" to make the problems go away, but as primers for us to apply our own creative thoughts and ideas to make the most of the unique relationships in which we find ourselves every day. -- Christopher D. Kolenda, Editor and Co-Author: Leadership the Warrior's Art.

When I picked up this book I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I only knew about Attila the Hun and didn't expect Attila the "Get along with others." The book is terrific. It gave me some real insights about getting along with my employeer.

I have followed Wess Roberts' career. This is by far his best work with how to deal with other people that you really can't get away from. I have used this work in my personal, private, and corporate life. Unlike most of the books I own, I didn't put this on my shelf. I keep it around when ever I have problems with my employees. I give it a 5.

I think the book is helpful to anyone having difficulty with any person (coworker, boss, subordinate) at work--but while reading you need to keep in mind these examples are extreme cases.

You can find the characteristics described in these caricatures in any person if you look hard enough, so be careful that your personal biases do not affect your interpretation of the material and/or the personality at work causing you grief.

I think It Takes More Than a Carrot and a Stick compares favorably to Who Moved My Cheese? in that it makes you think and react. This isn't so much a business book as it is a book of common sense for the workplace. This book makes you realize that your day-to-day focus needs to be on accomplishments, not obstacles. In other words, spend your time and energy being constructive instead of straying off course into the world of pettiness. I really enjoyed Wess Robert's practical advice for the real world.

Most of us have worked with a varity of personality types when it comes to our co-workers. Some are whiners and complainers, others are always trying to get one up on you, some serve as the office gossip columnist, and others can be just plain downright miserable to get along with. On the other hand, some co-workers can be the kindest, most compassionate and hard-working individuals on the face of the Earth. Having studied psychology, I can find little here that would even be found in a Psychology 101 text book, and to catagorize someone as, "the Jerk, does not in my opinion come across as someone with a professional attitude.

In this book the author stereotypes several different personality types, and the last thing this world needs in more stereotyping. The repetitive syntax used by the author throughout the book is downright annoying. In addition, he tried to incorporate wit and humour into his writing and the dry satire fails miserably; it is like adding insult to injury. There is no question, the author who holds a Ph.D. obviously knows his stuff, but his psychology skills and literary skills definitely do not come across in this book.