Biblio
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(1994). The Warren Buffett Way: Investment Strategies of the World's Greatest Investor.
The Institutional Imperative
"...an unseen force he calls 'the institutional imperative'—the lemminglike tendency of corporate management to imitate the behavior of other managers, no matter how silly or irrational it may be. It was, Buffett confesses, the most surprising discovery of his business career. At school he was taught that experienced managers of companies were honest, intelligent, and automatically made rational business decisions. Once out in the business world, he learned instead that 'rationality frequently wilts when the institutional imperative comes into play.' " (p. 84)
"...an unseen force he calls 'the institutional imperative'—the lemminglike tendency of corporate management to imitate the behavior of other managers, no matter how silly or irrational it may be. It was, Buffett confesses, the most surprising discovery of his business career. At school he was taught that experienced managers of companies were honest, intelligent, and automatically made rational business decisions. Once out in the business world, he learned instead that 'rationality frequently wilts when the institutional imperative comes into play.' " (p. 84)
Compare with "group narcissism" (Fromm) or "institutional narcissism" (Duncan). Also Howard Schwartz, et. al.
(2006). Vital Friends: the people you can't afford to live without.
"Undoubtedly, there are thousands of managers in the workplace who have no business bearing the responsibility for developing other people. Most of us have had a boss like this at one point or another. They make you miserable, less productive, and even diminish your physical health. But we have also found thousands of exceptional managers who have the opposite effect, and they have something in common: These great managers care about each of their employees as a real human being, not just a means to an end." (p. 63)
(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)
(2012). Victory Secrets of Attila the Hun.
159. Abstract
"An organization's worst enemies are seldom external. Rather, the most deadly and damaging threats come from those who are so driven toward power that their political maneuvering can destroy the very group in which they seek authority." (p. 44)
(2005). Vanity Fair.
(1999). Vampires: Emotional Predators Who Want to Suck the Life Out of You.
"One main tenet of emotional vampirism is particularly true in the workplace: ...while the victim is devoting the bulk of his time and energy to getting a job done, the emotional vampire is busy maneuvering." (p. 114)
"Actually dangerous (AD) emotional vampirism in the workplace is likely in situations which are highly charged emotionally, such as...when a career is at stake, and the actually dangerous is in a position to make or break an underling.
These are among the most difficult of situations, with material and emotional factors compounding each other." (p. 139)
"Actually dangerous (AD) emotional vampirism in the workplace is likely in situations which are highly charged emotionally, such as...when a career is at stake, and the actually dangerous is in a position to make or break an underling.
These are among the most difficult of situations, with material and emotional factors compounding each other." (p. 139)
(1988). User-Centered Requirements Analysis.
(1994). The Unwritten Rules of the Game: Master Them, Shatter Them, and Break Through the Barriers to Organizational Change.
"The orthodox wisdom tells us that if we want major and rapid changes in behavior, then the only way to achieve them is for people to feel that their jobs are on the line. So, we are supposed to engineer circumstances that will create a sense of urgency—let us be honest, a sense of fear—within the body of our organizations. And with that stick we can beat our employees into a new mindset.
The established dogma is a lie. Worse, it is a self serving and dangerous lie. It has become a myth that we have all been told for so long by so many people, that we in turn have passed it on to our own colleagues and so reinforced the apparent validity and common sense of the gospel." (p. 137)
The established dogma is a lie. Worse, it is a self serving and dangerous lie. It has become a myth that we have all been told for so long by so many people, that we in turn have passed it on to our own colleagues and so reinforced the apparent validity and common sense of the gospel." (p. 137)
(1987). Unlimited Power.
(1999). Unix: The Complete Reference.
(1994). UNIX UNLEASHED W/CD/ROM.
(1996). Unholy Hungers : Encountering the Psychic Vampire in Ourselves and Others.
"We, too, try to emulate the gods, but unlike the Greeks, we seem dangerously ignorant of the peril of hubris. Not that we blindly aspire to godhood from stupidity or arrogance; rather, we aspire to godhood because the modern demigods we revere are themselves mortal, so we quite reasonably feel their enviable fate might just as well be our own. What's more, celebrity in our culture is supposed to be available to all who have the guts to seek it, which implies that those who do not attain it are somehow deficient in the skills of self-reinvention"
(2001). The Unfinished Revolution: Human-Centered Computers and What They Can Do For Us.
"By now, people who work as a team over the Internet have discovered that as long as they know and trust each other, the team functions well in its virtual forays. But when new team members join, the group loses its effectiveness. The team returns to progress only after the new members have bonded with the old ones in old-fashioned ways—by squeezing each other's hand, drinking beer together, exchanging personal stories, or giving one another a slap on the back." (p. 211)
(1999). Understanding Directory Services.
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