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Category Archives: Training and Education

Book Review: Managers Not MBAs

Friday, January 25, 2008

Mainstream notions about management and management training tend to be disingenuously affirmed by torrents of circular logic and self-referential affirmations. The effect is to constrain our ability to discern, much less examine, the assumptions upon which most of those shibboleths are based. Anyone who dares to try to damp this tide of sophism is labeled as an iconoclast and marginalized. So, the rest of us should be especially relieved when some are able to break through the static and get their voices heard. . .

Also filed in Book Reviews, Management Development | | Comments (10)

Marketing capitalism

Monday, January 14, 2008

Some years ago I was reading an article in a non-Western country about the problem of finding employment for all of its university graduates. One opposition-party member of parliament was quoted as not understanding why the government didn’t simply hire all of these young people as they graduated. Unfortunately, that sort of thinking is rather more widespread than many people would imagine. . .

Also filed in Capitalism, Corporate Governance | | Comments (0)

Recon by fire

Friday, January 4, 2008

We take the practice of management seriously. Its importance operates on us at various levels from the professional (can we get the job done, or will we fall behind?) to the personal (am I good enough, or will I be exposed as a loser?). Anxieties abound. Consequently, when someone pulls into town offering magical elixirs for management success, we crowd around the wagon and pull out our dollar bills. We so want to believe. And any residual resistance we may have is quickly banished with a double-barreled load of unimpeachable credentials and impenetrable rhetoric. . .

Also filed in Management Skills | | Comments (12)

Why we do what we do

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Just over a month ago, we prefaced the current series on the implications of certainty and blind faith with a reference to a bit buried in an item from The Economist about the nominally employee-friendly policies of the CEO of SAS; here it is again: “The purpose of treating his employees well is to succeed in business.” That, ladies and gentlemen, is what you do, and what you should resolve to do better every day of this and every year. . .

Also filed in Ethics, Management Skills, Organizational Leadership | | Comments (12)

An even dozen to start out your new year

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

I think it might be worthwhile to share with you some of the sources I read regularly. Their experience, perceptiveness, and frank judgment, combined with their engaging writing, make essential reading for those of us in the business of management. . .

Also filed in Management Development, Organizational Leadership | | Comments (8)