Biblio
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(1993). Human Relations in Organizations.
"One approach in dealing with the problems of individual versus organization in the bureaucratic model is to develop an impersonal approach to human relations. Managers become more impersonal in their dealings with employees and attempt to ignore individual differences and focus on the task accomplishments. This leads to individual dissatisfaction because the employees believe that the organization is impersonal and is using them like a machine." (p. 75)
(1992). Principle Centered Leadership.
"If we use an authoritarian or benevolent authoritarian approach to problem-solving, we slip into a kind of condescending or vertical communication pattern. If people sense that we are 'talking down' to them or that our motive is to manipulate them into making a change, they will resist our efforts." (p. 222)
(1990). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
"There is the principle of potential, the idea that we are embryonic and can grow and develop and release more and more potential, develop more and more talents. Highly related to potential is the principle of growth—the process of releasing potential and developing talents, with the accompanying need for principles such as patience, nurturance, and trust." (p. 34)
(1994). First Things First.
"Arnold Toynbee, the great historian, said that all of history can be written in a simple little formula—challenge, response. The challenge is created by the environment, and then the individual, the institution, the society comes up with a response. Then there's another challenge, another response. The formula is constantly being repeated.
The problem is that these responses become codified. They get set in cement. They become a part of the very way we think and the way we perform. They may be good procedures, good practices. But when we're faced with a new challenge the old practices no longer apply. They become obsolete. We're out in the wilderness trying to navigate with a road map." (p. 53)
The problem is that these responses become codified. They get set in cement. They become a part of the very way we think and the way we perform. They may be good procedures, good practices. But when we're faced with a new challenge the old practices no longer apply. They become obsolete. We're out in the wilderness trying to navigate with a road map." (p. 53)
(1992). Small Decencies : Reflections and Meditations on Being Human at Work.
"Our accomplishments are not too simple, mundane, and ordinary to merit a moment of glory. We deserve to have our fellow workers sing our song. We owe them a poem in their honor." (p. 160)
(2003). I Am Never Lonely: A brief history of employee personality testing.
"This first boom in personality testing reached its apogee with Henry C. Link's Employment Psychology, in 1919, in which he proclaimed:
'The ideal employment method is undoubtedly an immense machine which would receive applicants of all kinds at one end, automatically sort, interview, and record them, and finally turn them out at the other end nicely labeled with the job which they are to do.'
(1998). Your Life's Work.
"Most of the problems in the workplace today could be resolved by the unanimous application of the positive feelings of love, compassion, and respect." (p. 137)
(1998). Work & Rewards in the Virtual Workplace: A "New Deal" for Organizations and Employees.
"Thinking of work as if it were attached to time and space limits productivity." (p. 25)
(1980). Quality Is Free.
"Objectivity comes with not placing the blame for problems on individuals. Aim the questions and probing at the job. The job is what failed, not the individual. It may be that the two are imperfectly matched and you have to change one or the other. Either way, the individual has the chance to improve another time, under different conditions." (p. 75)
(1999). Since Strangling Isn't an Option... : Dealing with Difficult People–Common Problems and Uncommon Solutions.
"It isn't always easy to have compassion for people who are in positions of power over us. We tend to think of them as having achieved something, or as having been given something we have not. Instead of thinking of your boss as a boss, think of her as a person. It's easier, and more productive, for two human beings to talk than it is for a boss and a subordinate to deliberate." (p. 39)
(1990). FLOW: the Psychology of Optimal Experience.
"Each of us has a picture, however vague, of what we would like to accomplish before we die. How close we get to attaining this goal becomes the measure of the quality of our lives. If it remains beyond reach, we grow resentful or resigned; if it is at least in part achieved, we experience a new sense of happiness and satisfaction." (p. 9)
(2011). Why Your Boss Is Wrong About You.
"Under such a system [of performance appraisal], in which one's livelihood can be destroyed by a self-serving boss trying to meet a budget or please the higher-ups, what employee would ever speak his mind? What employee would ever say that the boss is wrong, and offer an idea on how something might get done better?
Only an employee looking for trouble."
Only an employee looking for trouble."
(1977). Improving Productivity and the Quality of Work Life.
Report on a workplace study authored in 1972:
"The man doing the job is the one to say what time is likely to be wasted. Also, the man who not is pressed, rushed into missing breakfast, or subjected to a guilty conscience by being late is far more likely to really contribute to a team's performance.
Finally, it says, 'Flexible working is something that will inevitably be adopted in the future, and management have the choice of leading towards a situation which they have helped create, or being compelled to accept something not to their liking.'"
"The man doing the job is the one to say what time is likely to be wasted. Also, the man who not is pressed, rushed into missing breakfast, or subjected to a guilty conscience by being late is far more likely to really contribute to a team's performance.
Finally, it says, 'Flexible working is something that will inevitably be adopted in the future, and management have the choice of leading towards a situation which they have helped create, or being compelled to accept something not to their liking.'"
(1997). Organization Development and Change.
"It is important to emphasize that people who have low growth or social needs are not inferior to those placing a higher value on these factors. They are simply different. It is also necessary to recognize that people can change their needs through personal growth and experience. OD practitioners need to be sensitive to individual differences in work design and careful not to force their own values on others." (p. 357)
(1995). Microsoft Secrets: How the World's Most Powerful Software Company Creates Technology, Shapes Markets, and Manages People.
"That's the whole craft-versus-engineering thing. Even in engineering, you can't build a bridge by reading a bunch of books, no matter how many books about building bridges you've read. (Steven Sinofsky, former technical assistant to Bill Gates)." (p. xv)
(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)
(2000). The Virtue of Prosperity : finding values in an age of techno-affluence.
"We think of leisure as 'not working', but in the economic literature is more precisely defined as 'doing what you want to do.' Rich people frequently find their jobs challenging and interesting, and so they would prefer to put in overtime at the office rather than sit at a beach sipping margaritas. If you're a welder or a longshoreman, sitting on a beach seems like a wonderful respite from the grime and ardor of your everyday existence; but if you're a scientist or an inventor pursuing a new discovery, an entrepreneur building a new business, an acclaimed singer or athlete, or a successful author completing a magnum opus, lounging on the sand in the middle of nowhere can seem like an awful waste of time." (p. 82)
(2002). 21 Dog Years : Doing Time @ Amazon.com.
"When you work in an office everything becomes an abstraction. The higher you travel up the chain, the less actual work is being done, as everyone becomes responsible for overseeing those below them, who are supervising those below them, ad nauseam. In the Vedic tradtion Hindus believe that the world's firmament rests on four elephants, who in turn stand on the back of a turtle. The question always comes: 'What's holding up the turtle?' And the answer is: 'It's turtles all the way down.' Likewise in corporations—it is all turtles, straight to the bottom, and after a while it becomes impossible to feel what is happening at an experiential level. Only lunch meetings persist. Postmodern capitalism." (p. 167)
See also the second chapter titled "Turtles all the way down" in Kantrow. 1
(1969). Management: Theory and Practice.
"First of all, the chief executive can exercise great powers on legal grounds. The bylaws of most corporations provide for the appointment of a chief executive who has practically full powers except as they are limited by the board of directors.
Secondly, the chief executive can strengthen this power by judicious use of rewards and punishments. Complying subordinates can be given salary increases, bonuses, stock options, benefits of all kinds, and status symbols, such as large offices, free cars, and credit cards. Conversely, he can withhold these and other privileges from subordinates who oppose his views. And he need not resort to discharge to make his displeasure even more evident. He can send men to 'managerial Siberia'—some post where they have nothing of importance to do—or gradually withdraw responsibilities from them until they become disgusted enough to quit. It is not necessary for the chief executive to take drastic steps very often. If he has occasionally done so in the past, few will care to challenge his power." (p. 88)
Secondly, the chief executive can strengthen this power by judicious use of rewards and punishments. Complying subordinates can be given salary increases, bonuses, stock options, benefits of all kinds, and status symbols, such as large offices, free cars, and credit cards. Conversely, he can withhold these and other privileges from subordinates who oppose his views. And he need not resort to discharge to make his displeasure even more evident. He can send men to 'managerial Siberia'—some post where they have nothing of importance to do—or gradually withdraw responsibilities from them until they become disgusted enough to quit. It is not necessary for the chief executive to take drastic steps very often. If he has occasionally done so in the past, few will care to challenge his power." (p. 88)
(1988). Changing Ways: A Practical Tool for Implementing Change Within Organizations.
"A basic axiom of any change effort is that 'the further away the people defining the change are from the people who have to live with the change, then the more likelihood that the change will develop problems.'" (p. 59)
(1990). Staying Employed: What You Must Do Today to Ensure You Have a Job Tomorrow.
"Working at home has become acceptable—in fact, fashionable—just in the last few years. Many people dream of not having to fight traffic or play office politics but instead staying home and doing their work on a computer." (p. 179)
(1999). Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace.
"But employees who are committed to their work are often very loyal. They believe in the goals of the organization. They care about the organization's reputation. They keep quiet, are ambivalent about taking action and may not readily seek assistance, inside or outside the organization. They suffer for a longer period. Rarely do such individuals reveal their personal agony. And often they do not understand the complex reality of their situation."
(1990). Total Customer Service : The Ultimate Weapon.
"The hard truth is that there's little place for the traditional middle manager in companies that go all out to serve customers. The skills that most such managers have mastered—protecting their fiefdoms, proving their importance by forcing all information and communications to flow through their offices, meticulously enforcing bureaucratic controls—become serious liabilities. Yet no matter how flat the organization, no company can function without middle management.
The solution service leaders often take is to redefine the middle manager's job. Instead of acting like a boss, he is encouraged to behave like a helper." (p. 106)
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