Biblio
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(1987). Thriving on Chaos.
"It's absurd! We don't want for evidence that the average worker is capable of moving mountains—if only we'll ask him or her to do so, and construct a supportive environment. So why don't we do it?...
I am frustrated to the point of rage—my files bulge with letters about the power of involvement. Sometimes it's planned, and I'll talk about that. Sometimes it's inadvertent. But the result is always the same: Truly involved people can do anything!" (p. 286)
I am frustrated to the point of rage—my files bulge with letters about the power of involvement. Sometimes it's planned, and I'll talk about that. Sometimes it's inadvertent. But the result is always the same: Truly involved people can do anything!" (p. 286)
(1984). In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies.
"The most discouraging fact of big corporate life is the loss of what got them big in the first place: innovation. If big companies don't stop innovating entirely, the rate almost certainly goes way down." (p. 200)
(1994). The pursuit of wow!: every person's guide to topsy-turvy times.
"Have you noticed?
Most good (neat, innovative, wild, woolly) 'stuff', large and small, happens in the boondocks, far, far, from corporate headquarters, corporate politics, and corporate toadying....
So how healthy is your fringe? How loony are its inhabitants?" (p. 301)
Most good (neat, innovative, wild, woolly) 'stuff', large and small, happens in the boondocks, far, far, from corporate headquarters, corporate politics, and corporate toadying....
So how healthy is your fringe? How loony are its inhabitants?" (p. 301)
(1997). The circle of innovation : you can't shrink your way to greatness.
"...wealth is not gained by perfecting the known, but by imperfectly seizing the unknown." (p. 30)
(1987). Thriving on Chaos: handbook for a management revolution.
"Today, there is an especially virulent form of corruption induced by overly rigid systems. This new corruption, in service to the 'system's imperative,' is non-responsiveness to constituent needs." (p. 606)
(1985). Operating system concepts.
(1996). Leader as coach: strategies for coaching and developing others.
"Unlike soft clay that can be pressed into infinite shapes, people evolve from a stable core. They can change in degree and bend in new directions, but they are unlikely to change in dramatic ways, at least not quickly. Respect their judgement about their own limits. Carefully evaluate how much change and what kind of change is fair to expect, especially if you are aware of changes or problems in other parts of their life or if they begin to appear distressed and confused." (p. 48)
(1994). To Engineer is Human: The role of failure in successful design.
"There is a familiar image of the writer starting at a blank sheet of paper in his typewriter beside a wastebasket overflowing with crumpled false starts at his story. This image is true figuratively if not literally, and it represents the frustrations of the creative process in engineering as well as in art." (p. 75)
(1977). Computer Data Structures.
(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."
(1993). The Last Days of Socrates: Euthyphro/The Apology/Crito/Phaedo.
"Present circumstances are quite enough to show that the capacity of ordinary people for doing harm is not confined to petty annoyances, but has hardly any limits once you get a bad name with them." (p. 78)
(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)
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