"Theory of the Month"
So I read the first of the 3 books that comprise the "Management Theory of the Month" and have had a few hours to ponder it. The first book covers 5 negative attributes of CEOs, lines them up into a nice graphic but first there is a 'fable' telling the story of a CEO on his journey to discover the 5 things and how they have F-ed him up royal.
First of all, I find it interesting that there are exactly 25 testimonial quotes on the back cover and on the first pages inside the front cover. The Marketter in me says that this indicates that the book is a marketing tool for the author, who runs a consulting business no less. I got the same impression from the Six Sigma propaganda I checked out of my local Public Library...
*PSA* Public Libraries. Your source for information and new worlds of possibility. Public Libraries. *End PSA*
The fable itself is crap. Dr. Seuss has more realistic dialog (and probably holds better lessons about leadership.) The 100+ pages of fable have such large print I wonder if the author was paid by the page. Seriously, I have read very few print books that don't indent paragraphs but do include blank lines in between paragraphs. His choice of where to break paragraphs is horrid, too.
Then there are the ideas presented. I agree that the 5 negative attributes presented are negative attributes that can lead to a leader's downfall, but this is not a complete index of pitfalls. Actually it's decidedly lacking in completeness. In fact, if you address ONLY the issues and advice presented in the book you will be ignoring so many other more important things that you will actually be making your situation WORSE!
But here is the thing, the book's purpose is not "to serve as a complete solution to all leadership problems", it is "to appeal to a CEO and to convince him or her that the author knows ALOT and has valuable advice about the topic covered in the book, and that the author, and his consulting firm, therefore must be able to understand and advise his or her company about ALL of their problems covering a range of topics." (In essence, "to direct more business to the consulting firm.")
(As an aside, the Six Sigma program added another common twist, training programs. When someone, the BUSINESS, has a 'good idea' or management theory, the PRODUCT, that is vague enough to apply to almost any business, the CUSTOMERS, then the number of possible customers for the consulting is HUGE! The toughest portion of the Business's operations is distribution of the Product to the Customers. This problem can be side-stepped by directly consulting a few, high-profile Customers but giving the lion's share of smaller Customers to certified "experts", the DISTRIBUTORS. These Distributors must go through an expensive training process to become certified, paying the original Business a mighty sum, the PRICE, for the privilage. Each Distributor then passes, or distributes, those costs along to the Customers he or she consults with in the form of fees, which may or may not cover the initial cost of the training , the RISK. The original Business is not exposed to this Risk, but has already collected the Price of the training.
It's a low-risk business model, and some people might even call it a "sham.")
So now what? I guess ACCA straps in and gets ready for a bumpy ride.
**Please keep all hands, feet and important personal belongings inside the cubicle at all times!**
First of all, I find it interesting that there are exactly 25 testimonial quotes on the back cover and on the first pages inside the front cover. The Marketter in me says that this indicates that the book is a marketing tool for the author, who runs a consulting business no less. I got the same impression from the Six Sigma propaganda I checked out of my local Public Library...
*PSA* Public Libraries. Your source for information and new worlds of possibility. Public Libraries. *End PSA*
The fable itself is crap. Dr. Seuss has more realistic dialog (and probably holds better lessons about leadership.) The 100+ pages of fable have such large print I wonder if the author was paid by the page. Seriously, I have read very few print books that don't indent paragraphs but do include blank lines in between paragraphs. His choice of where to break paragraphs is horrid, too.
Then there are the ideas presented. I agree that the 5 negative attributes presented are negative attributes that can lead to a leader's downfall, but this is not a complete index of pitfalls. Actually it's decidedly lacking in completeness. In fact, if you address ONLY the issues and advice presented in the book you will be ignoring so many other more important things that you will actually be making your situation WORSE!
But here is the thing, the book's purpose is not "to serve as a complete solution to all leadership problems", it is "to appeal to a CEO and to convince him or her that the author knows ALOT and has valuable advice about the topic covered in the book, and that the author, and his consulting firm, therefore must be able to understand and advise his or her company about ALL of their problems covering a range of topics." (In essence, "to direct more business to the consulting firm.")
(As an aside, the Six Sigma program added another common twist, training programs. When someone, the BUSINESS, has a 'good idea' or management theory, the PRODUCT, that is vague enough to apply to almost any business, the CUSTOMERS, then the number of possible customers for the consulting is HUGE! The toughest portion of the Business's operations is distribution of the Product to the Customers. This problem can be side-stepped by directly consulting a few, high-profile Customers but giving the lion's share of smaller Customers to certified "experts", the DISTRIBUTORS. These Distributors must go through an expensive training process to become certified, paying the original Business a mighty sum, the PRICE, for the privilage. Each Distributor then passes, or distributes, those costs along to the Customers he or she consults with in the form of fees, which may or may not cover the initial cost of the training , the RISK. The original Business is not exposed to this Risk, but has already collected the Price of the training.
It's a low-risk business model, and some people might even call it a "sham.")
So now what? I guess ACCA straps in and gets ready for a bumpy ride.
**Please keep all hands, feet and important personal belongings inside the cubicle at all times!**