Biblio
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(1998). The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First.
Pfeffer reviews studies that "make a business case for managing people right". Among the factors that cause trouble for companies trying to implement such change, are: "Demands for accountability and reproducibility in results and decisions that destroy the benefits of expertise, which is inevitably dependent on tacit knowledge." (p. 132)
(2013). Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-based Management.
274. Abstract
"As Dennis Bakke reminds us in his book Joy at Work, life is not just about performance, effectiveness, and efficiency.1 The very essence of being a sentient human being is the ability to make choices and take actions—to be responsible, in control of at least some aspects of our own life, and engaged in actively creating the world in which we live. To cede those tasks to others, even others who are benign and possibly wiser than us, is to deny the full experience of being fully human and alive." (p. 199)
(1999). Ethics on the Job: Cases and Strategies.
"To act ethically is, at the very least, to strive to act in ways that do not hurt other people; that respect their dignity, individuality, and uniquely moral value; and that treat others as equally important to oneself. If you believe these are worthwhile goals, then you have reason to strive to act ethically. If you do not believe these are worthwhile goals for human beings to pursue, then you may believe it is not important to act ethically." (p. 7)
(1993). End of Bureaucracy and the Rise of the Intelligent Organization.
"Freedom and democratic self-managment remain the foundation of hope, not only in nations but also inside institutions where people spend their daily lives. Choice is the basis of community if relationships are both egalitarian and collaborative and if there are participative ways for everyone to share responsibility." (p. 231)
(2005). Revenge of the Right Brain.
"Any job that can be reduced to a set of rules is at risk. If a $500-a-month accountant in India doesn't swipe your accounting job, TurboTax will. Now that computers can emulate left-hemisphere skills, we'll have to rely ever more on our right hemispheres."
(1998). Die Broke.
And if you want self-actualization, look for it in all that you do outside of your work. Be the best spouse, parent, child, neighbor, friend and citizen you can be, and you'll be far closer to reaching your true human potential than if you concentrated on being the best accountant you can be." (p. 29)
(1993). Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology.
"In the work of Frederick Taylor we have, I believe, the first clear statement that society is best served when human beings are placed at the disposal of their techniques and technology, that human beings are, in a sense, worth less than their machinery." (p. 52)
(1990). Hidden Agendas.
"A psychological contract and a relationship that works for both parties is flexible enough to accomodate both shattered illusions and changing circumstances. However, that flexibility is not easy to come by and most of us at least initially resist altering our expectations in any way. Instead, we become all the more determined to make the other person or the relationship measure up to our standards." (p 147)
(1986). Notes on How to Live in the World (and Still Be Happy).
"Thinking that appearances are everything, the ego naturally concludes that 'you are what you do.' During our middle span of life the seemingly affable question 'What do you do?' really means 'Are you somebody?' and most of us think far too much about how to word our answer should some stranger at a party ask us this question, even though if we just took a moment to look at our feelings we would see that we really don't care what a stranger thinks of us. It is only our ego that attempts to judge, and being quite blind, all it can see is other egos. This common social line of attack and counterattack has so very little to do with what people are at their core that you would think it would be self-evident that a person's means of earning a living reveals only the most superficial and insignificant information about what he or she is, and yet the issue of career has become a source of great unhappiness." (p. 115)
(1990). Leadership Is an Art.
"Leadership is not an easy subject to explain. A friend of mine characterizes leaders simply like this: 'Leaders don't inflict pain; they bear pain.'" (p. 11)
(1993). Leadership jazz.
"Vulnerability is the opposite of self-expression. Vulnerable leaders trust in the abilities of other people; vulnerable leaders allow the people who follow them to do their best. An invulnerable leader can be only as good as her own performance—what a terrifying thought! One caveat: Remember that there is no such thing as safe vulnerability." (p. 220)
(1995). Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat: Business Lessons from the School of Hard Knocks.
"Visionaries have to come to work willing to be fired. That's the price you must pay. You've got to be willing to take chances, to speak up, to rattle cages, to challenge the basic premises, to suggest a better way of doing things." p. 222
(1990). The Minneapolis Job Bank, 1991.
"YOU'RE FIRED!!
You are not the first and will not be the last to go through this traumatic experience. Thousands of professionals are fired every week. Remember, being fired is not a reflection on you as a person. It is usually a reflection of your company's staffing needs and its perception of your recent job performance. Share the fact with your relatives and friends. Being fired is not something of which to be ashamed....
Avoid mentioning you were fired while arranging interviews." (p. 31)
You are not the first and will not be the last to go through this traumatic experience. Thousands of professionals are fired every week. Remember, being fired is not a reflection on you as a person. It is usually a reflection of your company's staffing needs and its perception of your recent job performance. Share the fact with your relatives and friends. Being fired is not something of which to be ashamed....
Avoid mentioning you were fired while arranging interviews." (p. 31)
(1967). Managers for Tomorrow : A Modern Psychological Approach to the Managerial Process.
No matter all of the talk about people's loss of interest in their work, the manager can still count on the desire to do a good job; pride in performance will always exist. However, there are forces, both in the work situation and in our society at large, that limit opportunities to fulfill this motive.
One factor in the work situation is the nature of the job. If the work to be done is dull and unchallenging, the individual can get no real satisfaction from doing it well."
One factor in the work situation is the nature of the job. If the work to be done is dull and unchallenging, the individual can get no real satisfaction from doing it well."
(2006). Vital Friends: the people you can't afford to live without.
"Undoubtedly, there are thousands of managers in the workplace who have no business bearing the responsibility for developing other people. Most of us have had a boss like this at one point or another. They make you miserable, less productive, and even diminish your physical health. But we have also found thousands of exceptional managers who have the opposite effect, and they have something in common: These great managers care about each of their employees as a real human being, not just a means to an end." (p. 63)
(1997). Slaves of the Machine: The Quickening of Computer Technology (Bradford Book).
"Most of today's programmers are like lawyers who are concerned only with the law, not justice. Their letter-of-the-law, obey-or-you-will-be-punished tradition has the same problems in computing as it does in law." (P. 80)
(1997). Moths to the Flame: The Seductions of Computer Technology.
Often the computer's introduction leads to job loss, loss of job skills, and feelings of dehumanization. When a business uses computers, its employees become more interchangeable, more reliable, more controllable, and—usually—cheaper. The siren call of automation results in step-by-step changes in jobs to make them fit better into the maw of the beast. just as the industrial revolution turned artisans into factory hands, the information revolution is turning white-collar workers into machine tenders." (p. 118)
(1986). Creativity in business.
"People who don't understand where creatively successful individuals get their confidence and risk-taking ability don't know what you know about the devastating VOJ (Voice of Judgement). Judgement creates fear and destroys confidence. Judgement shows any alternative to be fraught with risk. Judgement says no to experimentation, discovery, trail-blazing. Judgement says 'Stay right here and like it.'" (p. 56)
(1988). Who Am I? What Am I: Search for Meaning in Your Work.
"Work is one of the most important sources of personal meaning, and, therefore, self-acceptance. Research on the unemployed underscores this conclusion emphatically. Furthermore, the same research insists that the degree of self-depreciation felt by a person out of work can only be realized by experience."
(1991). How to Lead Work Teams: Facilitation Skills.
"Leaders will do well to think of a team as a collection of diverse individuals, each with his or her own unique character and potential for contribution to the group. Being expected to conform and to subjugate individual needs and desires for the common good is degrading to team members. The fact is that some people are more comfortable as part of a group than others. Some more independent members may feel constrained and ill at ease working in a team. Others, because of their race, sex, age, religion, or culture, may not have much in common with other members and yet feel pressured to get along and conform. An effective leader is sensitive to the need to preserve individual dignity, to capitalize on differences, and to not try to achieve conformity."
(1996). The Loyalty Effect : The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits, & Lasting Value.
"Loyalty is indeed a two-way street, and companies that dump people when earnings are down (much less when earnings are up) are sowing the seeds of their own failure. Every company falls on hard times now and then, and it's the loyal dedication of key employees that pulls most of them through. By showing people that the company won't stick by them in adversity, a firm can almost guarantee that the next time it's in trouble, its most talented employees will jump ship just when they're needed most." (p. 96)
(1999). Trust and Betrayal in the Workplace.
"Transformative trust occurs when the amount of trust within a team or organization reaches a critical point and increases exponentially, becoming self-generating and synergistic. Four core characteristics are usually present: conviction, courage, compassion, and community." (p. 155)
(2008). Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: No Schedules, No Meetings, No Joke–the Simple Change That Can Make Your Job Terrific.
"You're stuck in a cube with a desktop computer and a phone with a cord so you can be there in person should your manager walk over to check up on whether or not you're working. The game becomes looking busy instead of working hard and solving problems and contributing. It's a game no one wins. You lose your freedom, your motivation, your soul, and in exchange for control over your life, your company gets little more than a show of work." (p. 28)
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