Biblio
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(1995). On Great Service: A Framework for Action.
"Job-relevant learning is a good tonic that helps human beings overcome the repetitiousness, fatigue, 'onstage' pressures, and sense of powerlessness that accompany many service roles. Personal growth is a source of self-esteem for people in jobs that can burn up esteem as though it were jet fuel." (p. 189)
(1994). On Becoming a Leader.
"In sum, we have the means within us to free ourselves from the constraints of the past, which lock us into imposed roles and attitudes. By examining and understanding the past, we can move into the future unencumbered by it. We become free to express ourselves, rather than endlessly trying to prove ourselves." (p. 79)
(1966). On Aggression.
"Aggression elicited by any deviation from a group's characteristic manners and mannerisms forces all its members into a strictly uniform observance of these norms of social behavior. The nonconformist is discriminated against as an 'outsider' and, in primitive groups, for which school classes or small military units serve as good examples, he is mobbed in the most cruel manner." (p. 79)
(1979). On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors.
"These were not immoral men who were bringing out this car. These were warm, breathing men with families and children who as private individuals would never have approved this project for a minute if they were told 'You are going to kill and injure people with this car.' But these same men, in a business atmosphere, where everything is reduced to terms of costs, profit goals and production deadlines, were able as a group to approve a product most of them wouldn't have considered approving as individuals." (p. 6)
(1999). Old Dogs, New Tricks: On Creativity and Collaboration.
"The lack of candor is one of the biggest tragedies in organizations because we don't speak truth to power. And so people who know the truth don't speak the truth where it would help. In my own study, I discovered that seven out of ten people will not speak up even if they know that what their boss is going to do is going to get him and the company in trouble. They will not be candid. They are not encouraged to speak up—they see dissenters being punished, not rewarded, and so the truth never gets out. There is no incentive for speaking up." (p. 34)
(1977). The OK Boss.
"[Good bosses] know that everyone needs strokes. Some people need more strokes of a certain kind than others. Without these particular strokes, they tend to shrivel up in some way. Their work may go sour, their ideas may become less creative, they may be absent more often, and their errors and poor decisions may increase." (p. 78)
(1998). Nuts! : Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success.
CURIOSITY FUELS LEARNING
Do you ever wonder how little kids learn? They try things. Their curiosity is uninhibited. Free from the constraints of a 'We've always done it this way' or 'It'll never work' kind of world, they get great joy out of putting the wheels of exploration and experimentation in motion. Their minds are free to wander. Totally enthralled, they exhibit a refreshing sense of wonder while they learn." (p. 113)
Do you ever wonder how little kids learn? They try things. Their curiosity is uninhibited. Free from the constraints of a 'We've always done it this way' or 'It'll never work' kind of world, they get great joy out of putting the wheels of exploration and experimentation in motion. Their minds are free to wander. Totally enthralled, they exhibit a refreshing sense of wonder while they learn." (p. 113)
(2001). Now, Discover Your Strengths.
"These are the two assumptions that guide the world's best managers:
1. Each person's talents are enduring and unique.
2. Each person's greatest room for growth is in the areas of his or her greatest strength." (p. 8)
1. Each person's talents are enduring and unique.
2. Each person's greatest room for growth is in the areas of his or her greatest strength." (p. 8)
(2001). Nothing personal, just business: a guided journey into organizational darkness.
"Witnessing, bearing witness, and writing for others to see and hear—these are the beginning of hope for genuine change. If I cannot alter what I see, I can at least attest to the fact that it happened and is still happening." (p. xvi)
(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)
(1981). Not Working: an Oral History of the Unemployed.
"There are people in this book whose living rooms have turned into prisons without bars, and others who gleefully feel they have escaped jobs that were jails. There are people who have been broken by years of idleness, and others who have discovered emotional resources that allow them to endure—even, in a way, to triumph. In short, the men and women in this book vary enormously. Yet amid the variety there is a common feeling, stated with bitter clarity at times, only half spoken at others, and occasionally not yet formed as a thought but rather a troubled notion whispering behind the words. It is a crime that has been committed." (p. 1)
(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)
(1992). No Contest : The Case Against Competition.
"As soon as play becomes product-oriented or otherwise extrinsically motivated, it ceases to be play." (p. 81)
(2008). Nice guys can get the corner office: eight strategies for winning in business without being a jerk.
"If there is an implicit agreement from the top down that excellence always comes first, then the primary criteria for judging ideas will always be excellence—not who talks the loudest or blows the most smoke." (p. 244)
(1976). New Ways of Managing Conflict.
"The leadership and other processes of the organization must be such as to ensure a maximum probability that in all interactions and all relationships with the organization, each member will in the light of his background, values, and expectations, view the experience as supportive and one which builds and maintains his sense of personal worth and importance." (p. 108)
Likert provided this quote from his book of 15 years earlier, "New Patterns of Management", and refers to it as the most fundamental of all his leadership principles.
Likert provided this quote from his book of 15 years earlier, "New Patterns of Management", and refers to it as the most fundamental of all his leadership principles.
(1981). The New Rational Manager.
In human performance problems, assessing consequences is an attempt to protect an employee's future against unintended harm....Actions affecting human beings have multiple consequences—some good, some harmful. Fairness requires that at least any unintended effects be assessed. The organization should not decide for the employee how life in the future should be lived; rather, it must be aware of how today's decisions affect tomorrow's conditions." (p. 198)
(1967). The New Industrial State.
(1993). The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education.
"The most important act that a manager can take is to understand what it is that is important to an individual. Everyone is different from everyone else. All people are motivated to a different degree extrinsically and intrinsically. This is why it is so vital that managers spend time to listen to an employee to understand whether he is looking for recognition by the company, or by his peers, time at work to publish, flexible working hours, time to take a university course. In this way, a manager can provide positive outcomes for his people, and may even move some people toward replacement of extrinsic motivation with intrinsic motivation." (p. 115)
(1998). A New Attitude: Achieve Personal and Professional Success by Keeping a Positive Mental Outlook.
A New Attitude.
"Research shows that people in the lower echelons of their companies are more susceptible to stress and its negative effects than those at the top. Employees on the lower rungs of the corporate ladder often have high-demand jobs and little control." (p. 99)
(2007). The New American Workplace.
"In particular, there was growing evidence that if unnecessary job stress could be reduced, workers would suffer fewer heart attacks and strokes.... Moreover, a growing body of data suggested that many mental health problems have their genesis at work, and excessive drug and alcohol use are linked with certain occupations and conditions of employment." (p. 103)
(2001). Never Wrestle with a Pig: and ninety other ideas to build your business and career.
"I've always taken some comfort in the belief that the stronger an idea is, the harder it is to steal.
That's because the best ideas, by definition, are so original and unique that they cannot survive without their creator. He or she is the only one who understands the concept fully, who can execute it up to its full potential, and who has a personal stake in keeping the concept going despite all the obstacles." (p. 92)
That's because the best ideas, by definition, are so original and unique that they cannot survive without their creator. He or she is the only one who understands the concept fully, who can execute it up to its full potential, and who has a personal stake in keeping the concept going despite all the obstacles." (p. 92)
(1950). Neurosis and human growth: the struggle toward self-realization.
"If the word 'depersonalization' did not already have a specific psychiatric meaning, it would be a good term for what alienation from the self essentially is: it is a depersonalizing, and therefore a devitalizing process." (p. 161)
(1978). Negative criticism: Its swath of destruction and what to do about it.
"It is a little after midnight. You have just come out of the last show at the movie. To save a block you cut through a dark alley. Halfway through it—just as you are beginning to relax—two men step out of the shadows. You hear a nasty metallic snick and suddenly there is the glint of knife blades in the feeble light.
What would you do?
I know what I would do.
Quickly I'd turn and throw a fearful look back up the alley. It is clear and free. A surge of adrenalin sends the blood pumping to my legs. Getting out of that alley I set a new indoor Olympic sprint record. The jogger in me has never seen such speed. Nothing seems sweeter than the glare of street lights and the chatter of people making their way to their cars. I look for a police officer and tell my story.
That is what everybody would do in such a situation, right?
But let me play you another version. The scene is the same. The two hulking men are coming at you with knives. But you keep strolling casually on to meet them. You throw up your arms and say, 'I'm all yours. Let me feel the steel. I know it will help me in the long run.'
They oblige by savagely thrusting the knives deep into your defenseless belly. You fall to the pavement writhing with pain. The men stand over you. You roll onto your stomach and gasp, 'You'd better give me a couple in the back, too.'
Ridiculous?
Of course, but it is exactly what thousands upon thousands of us do each and every day by failing to recognize that the knives of negative criticism which people stick in us are just as sharp and deadly as those made of steel and borne by assassins." (p. 9)
What would you do?
I know what I would do.
Quickly I'd turn and throw a fearful look back up the alley. It is clear and free. A surge of adrenalin sends the blood pumping to my legs. Getting out of that alley I set a new indoor Olympic sprint record. The jogger in me has never seen such speed. Nothing seems sweeter than the glare of street lights and the chatter of people making their way to their cars. I look for a police officer and tell my story.
That is what everybody would do in such a situation, right?
But let me play you another version. The scene is the same. The two hulking men are coming at you with knives. But you keep strolling casually on to meet them. You throw up your arms and say, 'I'm all yours. Let me feel the steel. I know it will help me in the long run.'
They oblige by savagely thrusting the knives deep into your defenseless belly. You fall to the pavement writhing with pain. The men stand over you. You roll onto your stomach and gasp, 'You'd better give me a couple in the back, too.'
Ridiculous?
Of course, but it is exactly what thousands upon thousands of us do each and every day by failing to recognize that the knives of negative criticism which people stick in us are just as sharp and deadly as those made of steel and borne by assassins." (p. 9)
(1989). Nasty People: How to Stop Being Hurt by Them Without Becoming One of Them.
"A punch in the nose is obvious, and it heals. However, an attack on self-esteem—at the right moment and in the right way—can last a lifetime." (p. 9)
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