Biblio
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(1998). Critical SHIFT: The Future of Quality in Organizational Performance.
"Sometimes the search for a position in your organization that matches your desires leaves you empty-handed. In this situation you must make the decision to leave the organization or stay and create a new position if you believe it will add value. If you decide to stay, do not be deterred by those who tell you it will be impossible to create a new role. Our parents taught us 'Where there's a will, there's a way.' "
(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)
(1998). Disconnected: How Six People from AT&T Discovered the New Meaning of Work in a Downsized Corporate America.
"Surely the old social contract, that basic exchange of loyalty for security, has been destroyed....
Some business theorists envision a new workplace that will accomodate both organizational flexibility and individual fulfillment. In their hopeful vision, companies will offer opportunities; employees will provide labor and talent. Workers will shuttle between projects and employers while organizations add and subtract staffers in a seamless ebb and flow.
Can we allow ourselves any such optimism? If the experiences of these six people are any indication, this process will be messy, and the concomitant dislocation severe. 'I must manage my own career' is indeed the brave new rallying cry of today's company man, but it must be tempered by one basic fact: Power, as ever, resides with the organization." (p. 200)
Some business theorists envision a new workplace that will accomodate both organizational flexibility and individual fulfillment. In their hopeful vision, companies will offer opportunities; employees will provide labor and talent. Workers will shuttle between projects and employers while organizations add and subtract staffers in a seamless ebb and flow.
Can we allow ourselves any such optimism? If the experiences of these six people are any indication, this process will be messy, and the concomitant dislocation severe. 'I must manage my own career' is indeed the brave new rallying cry of today's company man, but it must be tempered by one basic fact: Power, as ever, resides with the organization." (p. 200)
(1998). Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work.
"Sometimes the criticism we receive is valuable, even helpful. Other times, it's utter nonsense. Either way, learning to see criticism as 'small stuff' is incredibly useful in our efforts to live a life of reduced stress." (p. 270)
(1998). Emotional Blackmail : When the People In Your Life Use Fear, Obligation and Guilt to Manipulate You.
"Fear of Disapproval
This fear may sound insignificant, but believe me, for many people it is excruciating. The fear of disapproval is much deeper than cringing if someone goes 'Tsk-tsk' over something you've said or done. It is interwoven with our basic sense of self-worth. If we allow other people's approval or disapproval to define us, we set ourselves up to believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with us whenever we incur displeasure." (p. 225)
This fear may sound insignificant, but believe me, for many people it is excruciating. The fear of disapproval is much deeper than cringing if someone goes 'Tsk-tsk' over something you've said or done. It is interwoven with our basic sense of self-worth. If we allow other people's approval or disapproval to define us, we set ourselves up to believe that there is something fundamentally wrong with us whenever we incur displeasure." (p. 225)
(1998). Exploring Ethics.
(1998). The Gift of Fear : Survival Signals That Protect Us From Violence.
"The loss of a job can be as traumatic as the loss of a loved one, but few fired employees receive a lot of condolence or support." (p. 177)
(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)
(1998). Images of Organization: The Executive Edition.
"The groupthink phenomenon has been reproduced in thousands of decision-making situations in organizations of all kinds. It may seem overly dramatic to describe the phenomenon as reflecting a kind of psychic prison. Many people would prefer to describe it through the culture metaphor, seeing the pathologies described in all the above examples as the product of particular cultural beliefs and norms. But there is great merit in recognizing the prison-like qualities of culture." (p. 186)
(1998). Is It Too Late to Run Away and Join the Circus?: Finding the Life You Really Want.
"'I get myself up in the morning. I shave my face. I dress in my clothes. I go to my office. I do my work. I come back to my house. But I feel like I'm only doing an imitation of myself, and it's not a terrific impersonation.'"
(1998). Its a Job Not a Jail: How to Break Your Shackles When You Cant Afford to Quit.
"What hurt me most was believing that my problem was caused by rotten bosses instead of by a stubborn me. Had I not been so bullheaded, I might have realized that although I would have preferred bosses that left me alone, what I really thirsted for was respect, fulfillment, and the opportunity to do work of which I could be proud." (p. 28)
(1998). Java Servlet Programming.
(1998). The Mentor's Spirit : Life Lessons on Leadership and the Art of Encouragement.
"There is a clear link between mentoring and the unleashing of leadership power. New managers frequently experience self-doubts when needing to control their work team's outcomes. Yet early in a career nothing is more natural than wanting control over results. Mentors can help proteges notice their cultural programming: Have they learned to be excessively docile? Are they able to say no or do they get pushed around? Or are they bullies? The young, unaware that creativity needs autonomy in the sphere of expertise, may thwart their finest impulses. The desire to retain creative control over work is often a sign that one is tending toward self-actualization. Shaping outcomes, carving out privacy, or protecting independence are elementary aims of inventive sorts." (p. 122)
(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)
(1998). Organization Development : Behavioral Science Interventions for Organization Improvement.
"Two basic assumptions about individuals in organizations pervade organization development. The first assumption is that most individuals have drives toward personal growth and development if provided an environment that is both supportive and challenging. Most people want to develop their potential. The second assumption is that most people desire to make, and are capable of making, a greater contribution to attaining organization goals than most organizational environments permit." (p. 67)
(1998). Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration.
"There is a lesson here that could transform our anguished workplaces overnight. People ache to do good work. Given a task they believe in and a chance to do it well, they will work tirelessly for no more reward than the one they give themselves." (p. 215)
(1998). Othello (Signet Classic Shakespeare).
"Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something; nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed." (III, iii)
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something; nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed." (III, iii)
(1998). Pushing the Envelope: All the Way to the Top.
"Today, the numbers the phone company cares about are not on the clock but in the sales quotas. Salespeople can spend their working lives any way they care to, just so long as they hit their sales marks." (p. 295)
(1998). Riding the waves of culture : understanding cultural diversity in global business.
"In the original American concept of internal and external sources of control, the implication is that the outer-directed person is offering an excuse for failure rather than a new wisdom. In other nations it is not seen as personal weakness to acknowledge the strength of external forces or the arbitrariness of events." (p. 149)
(1998). Secrets of the Wild Goose: The Self-Management Way to Increase Your Personal Power and Inspire Productive Teamwork.
"'Constructive criticism'? It's an oxymoron. Criticism, by definition, is destructive." (p. 142)
(1998). Something More : Excavating your Authentic Self.
"'Disillusion only comes to the illusioned,' Dorothy Thompson reminds us in The Courage to be Happy, written in 1957. 'One cannot be disillusioned of what one never put faith in,' especially ourselves." (p. 159)
(1998). When Smart People Work for Dumb Bosses: How to Survive in a Crazy and Dysfunctional Workplace.
"This is not the first time you've heard how an evaluation report mashed the brains of an employee. Why so powerful? It's this. The assessment of performance comes from the one person above all others who can most affect the emotions of an employee, one's supervisor. That changes the meaning of everything. That document can alter reality: Good can become bad, up can become down, and smart become dumb." (p. 135)
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