Biblio
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(2002). Creating Sustainable Work Systems.
If one is to believe history, intensity of work has been a central issue in management science ever since the start of industrialization and a problematic one at that, as it captures the essence of the antagonism between the person who does the work and the person who wants it done; sometimes formulated as a conflict between capital and labour, inherent in the capitalistic industrial system. This perspective does not indicate many remedies apart from a proletarian revolution—still there would be conflicting interest." (p. 15)
(2002). Creativity.
Express Exec.
"Many of the most important tasks related to shaping and fostering ideas are not a 'mandated' part of a manager's role. The experimentation and play that is so important to creativity will not occur unless managers match what they say with what they and the organization do to reward and recognize risk taking, whether or not it is successful." (p. 85)
(2002). Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity.
"For real conversation we need a real language. To my mind that is the language not enshrined in business books or manuals but in our great literary traditions. Keats or Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson or Mary Oliver often say more in one line about the invisible structures that make up the average workday than a whole shelf of contemporary business books."
(2002). Defying the Crowd: cultivating creativity in a culture of conformity.
"Creative people are those who consciously and purposefully decide to follow their own path. They do it because they want to, not because someone makes them." (p. 237)
(2002). Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel.
"Thanks to evolution, humans made the leap from sniffing butts to kissing butts, and the seeds of capitalism were sown." (p. 82)
(2002). Doing work you love: Discovering your purpose and realizing your dreams.
"Innovation requires risk and independent-minded people with self-employed attitudes.
Asking permission is giving up your power and not accepting responsibility for the outcome.
There are organizations where it may seem as though you are not allowed to do anything without a boss's permission. It may also appear as though there are unwritten rules that say you have to do things in a particular way. But look more closely..." (p.93)
Asking permission is giving up your power and not accepting responsibility for the outcome.
There are organizations where it may seem as though you are not allowed to do anything without a boss's permission. It may also appear as though there are unwritten rules that say you have to do things in a particular way. But look more closely..." (p.93)
(2002). The End of Work As We Know It.
"The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health tells us that stress is becoming the biggest reason for workplace disability claims."
(2002). The Heart of the Soul: Emotional Awareness.
"Boredom is the failure of the search for external fulfillment and refusal to look at what drove the search. Boredom is deep-rooted resistance to experiencing emotions after all efforts to distract attention from them have been ineffective. The root of boredom is resistance to painful emotions. This is the root of workaholism and perfectionism, also. In some cases the root produces boredom first, and then an escape into workaholism or perfectionism. In other cases, the workaholism or perfectionism comes first, and then boredom." (p. 193)
(2002). No-Collar: The Humane Workplace and Its Hidden Costs.
"'For the walking wounded among the great many of us', Terkel asserted, 'the blue collar blues is no more bitterly sung than the white collar moan.'" (p. 6)
(2002). The Secret of Letting Go.
"A man who doesn't know his true identity does not know that he really doesn't know. The fact that he is confused, frightened and still searching for himself remains almost totally unsuspected by him, because he has unknowingly assumed a false identity.
This temporary, false self feels real because it is animated and driven along by the man's reactions as he seeks himself. The fact that this lower nature is driven does not mean it is alive. A bulldozer rolls along too, but it cannot see or understand why it smashes into things. It is a machine. So, in many ways, is the false self." (p. 34)
(2002). Seeds of Innovation : Cultivating the Synergy That Fosters New Ideas.
"Without curiosity, a person has great difficulty discovering new ideas. Being curious involves (a) having an open mind, (b) gaining a broader perspective. and (c) asking probing questions." (p. 29)
(2002). The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
"The mistake we make in thinking of character as something unified and all-encompassing is very similar to a kind of blind spot in the way we process information. Psychologists call this tendency the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE), which is a fancy way of saying that when it comes to interpreting other people's behavior, human beings invariably make the mistake of overestimating the importance of fundamental character traits and underestimating the importance of the situation and context. We will always reach for a 'dispositional' explanation for events, as opposed to a contextual explanation."
(2002). Working in the Dark: Keeping Your Job While Dealing With Depression.
"People with depression can feel horribly isolated in the workplace simply because depression is barely spoken about—and when it is, it's usually as a liability or weakness rather than as an illness." (p. x)
(2002). Leadership Skills For Managers.
"W. Edwards Deming, one of the founding fathers of the quality movement, asserted that employees are rightfully entitled to the 'pride of workmanship'. Essential to that pride are job security, expectations, clear communications, and the proper tools." (p. 7)
(2002). Dealing with people you can't stand: how to bring out the best in people at their worst.
"All of these intents, getting it done, getting it right, getting along, and getting appreciation have their time and place in our lives. Often, keeping them in balance leads to less stress and more success. To get it done, take care to get it done right. If you want it done right, avoid complications by making sure everyone is getting along. For a team effort to succeed, each party much feel valued and appreciated." (p. 19)
(2002). Power freaks: dealing with them in the workplace or anyplace.
"The primitive brain mechanism drives us into creating hierarchies, an essential for primitive tribal organization and survival. It confers on some of us today an innate need to dominate others in situations where we might also understand rationally that cooperation would make better sense than domination." (p. 44)
(2002). Primal leadership: realizing the power of emotional intelligence.
"Leaders often talk about wanting to get their people 'aligned' with their strategy. But that word suggests a mechanical image of getting all the pencils pointing in the same direction, like a magnetic field lining up the polarity of molecules. It isn't that simple. Strategies, couched as they are in the dry language of corporate goals, speak mainly to the rational brain, the neocortex. Strategic visions (and the plans that follow from them) are typically linear and limited, bypassing the elements of heart and passion essential for building commitment." (p. 208)
(2003). The Anxiety Book.
"Have compassion for yourself and others. Rational responses should not only be more truthful than core negative thoughts, but also be kinder. When you magnify your own weaknesses, your cognitions become skewed toward disaster because you don't believe in your ability to handle stress or challenge. When you magnify the weaknesses (or dark sides) of other people, your relationships are characterized by mistrust, and you'll never feel safe in the world. You don't have to expunge awareness of your own imperfections, or whitewash the fact that people can be malevolent, in order to cultivate compassion. A compassionate worldview acknowledges all our multifaceted complexity but is purposely skewed toward the positive: You look for the good in yourself as well as in others." (p. 98)
(2003). Beyond Blame: How to Resolve Conflicts with Friends, Lovers, and Co-Workers.
"Avoid even the appearance of blame. No surprise here. This is, after all, the main theme of this book....
"There is nothing that will sabotage any strategy you employ more quickly than the mere suggestion that you are blaming the other person for the troubles. Equally detrimental is for you to accept blame that is directed toward you. This compliance tactic (perhaps even driven by the misguided belief that one person can be at fault in a conflict) will only encourage further fault-finding in the future." (p. 223)
"There is nothing that will sabotage any strategy you employ more quickly than the mere suggestion that you are blaming the other person for the troubles. Equally detrimental is for you to accept blame that is directed toward you. This compliance tactic (perhaps even driven by the misguided belief that one person can be at fault in a conflict) will only encourage further fault-finding in the future." (p. 223)
(2003). The Blind Men and the Elephant: Mastering Project Work.
"Much of what we call 'project management' stands upon Taylor's flat-earth perspectives. When applied to repeatable manufacturing situations, his primitive notions have great utility. The same ideas fall apart when applied in more human, less mechanical contexts." (p. 7)
(2003). Breathing For A Living.
"A team is a team because of their spirit, not always because they play perfectly together all the time." (p. 189)
(2003). Business Leaders and Success: 55 Top Business Leaders and How They Achieved Greatness.
"Deming's sometimes-gruff nature reflected impatience with managerial abuses of power. He thought that power carried a precious responsibility. 'Research shows', Deming said, 'that the climate of an organization influences an individual's contribution far more than the individual himself.' " (p. 206)
(2003). Career Warfare: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Personal Brand and Fighting to Keep It.
"Organizations that value you only for your business skills—a lot of Wall Street firms fall into this category—are very antiseptic. They tend to be built on addictions, but not loyalties: addictions to the money, addictions to the process. They are a bit like galley ships. The overseers don't care about the relationship. They just want you to keep rowing.
This is fine when times are good, but if you should ever fail to handle your oar well, you are overboard. Such firms will have no compunction about firing you and even ruining your reputation, if it serves their purpose." (p. 54)
(2003). Controlling People: How to Recognize, Understand, and Deal with People Who Try to Control You.
"Other people's definitions of us are not just absurd—if unchallenged, they erect prison walls around us. As they rise higher, the light of awareness fades. The world darkens. We lose freedom, safety, confidence, conviction, and sometimes ourselves." (p. 77)
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