There have not been many posts recently.
One of the reasons for this is that I have been concentrating on the fourth (and final) edition of Crash Combat. This has progressed quite nicely and is available now in both print and epub format. With lots of new techniques and concepts added, the fourth edition is 50% larger than the original edition.
I have touched on the topic of surviving an office space previously.
A week or so ago I happened upon a most interesting book: “First, Break All The Rules, what the world's greatest managers do differently” by Marcus Buckingham.
The business world abounds will all sorts of management strategies, methods and philosophies. Some seem to be well meaning, while others have a whiff of snake oil or butt-smoke about them.
Such systems seem popular with certain companies. Sometimes they are a way to avoid addressing genuine problems, and if things go wrong, “blame the consultant”.
Many of us have managers, or manage other people. A survival situation, whether it is an emergency or long-term, may involve organizing individuals to work together. If nothing else, this book will be useful in that it allows you to “know your enemy”
Unlike most management schemes, “First, Break All The Rules.” is based on actual empirical evidence. The well-known company Gallup interviewed over a million employees and 80 thousand managers, good, bad and mediocre.
Among other things, the book nicely explains why so many management strategies don’t actually work. They are based on false premises.
For example, a person’s abilities are based on their skills, knowledge and talents. Skills and knowledge may be improved, and may contribute to the use of a talent. Talents, however, are inherent. They may be hidden, may be discovered, may be developed, but they cannot be created!
If someone does not have a talent in a particular area, no amount of training, threats, bribes, diversity awareness, personal development reviews or bullying can change this.
Thus, a good manager will allow for this and organize to best utilize abilities and compensate for lacks thereof. They utilize an individual's strengths and talents and compensate for weaknesses and nontalents.
“People don’t change that much.
Don't waste time trying to put in what was left out.
Try to draw out what was left in.
That is hard enough.”
For example:
“Jim K., a full bird colonel in the army—an organization that might be forgiven for emphasizing flexibility and camaraderie over individual excellence—gives this description of team building:
'When I first assemble the platoon I ask each person to tell me what activities he is mostly drawn to. One will say sharpshooting. One will say radio. One will say explosives. And so on. I'll go around the whole group, taking notes. Then, when I build each squad, I try to assign each person to the role he said he was drawn to. Obviously you won't get a perfect match. And obviously every soldier will be required to learn every role on the platoon—we might lose a man in battle, and every soldier must be able to step in. But you've got to start by assigning the right duties to the right soldier. If you get that wrong, your platoon will falter in combat.'
Whereas conventional wisdom views individual specialization as the antithesis of teamwork, great managers see it as the founding principle.”
In a short blog such as this I cannot really do justice to all the interesting information in this book.
Have a read and judge for yourselves.