Bedtime stories for managers
Why did I choose this book?
I love metaphores. And this book is full of them. It helps you to understand basic and advanced practices of egaging management and lofty leadership by connecting them with real life situations and easy to understand metaphors. And I needed book which would help me with building my reading habbit „Bedtime“ makes it easier for me, since it’s giving me clear directions when to read. 😊
What are the main takeaways from this book?
Surprising facts from company practice. Specfically insights on leadership and management and it’s impact on company culture. I have always took leadership to be something more...better, than management. But than I read about two ways to manage lofty leadership, which author sees as problem, since leaders are distant from employees, and engaging management. Author wants us to get past leadership dissociated from management and recognize that these are two sides of the same job. That’s why he came up with engaging management. Engaging management is about engaging with employees, being part of interactive network, helping people and not siting on the „top“.
Eat those eggs
As I stated earlier, the book is full of metaphores. In this case eggs, specificaly scrabled eggs help us understand the need for neverending revision of our product and need for engagement towards emplyees and customers.
Airlines offers disgusting food, if there is no one to listen to customer needs, it won’t get better. Furthermore if the customer isn‘t on the first place and you move him from business class beacose CEO of Airlines come his plane and wants to sit in business class, you might lost that moved customer and he might be as big as CEO of IBM.
It’s not about making better eggs or making more space in business class, it’s about listening to needs and be engaging in process of recognizing them.
The Maestro myth of managing
There is no conductor who would with the swing of stick direct the whole. There will always be much more inputs. Such as warmth which has impact on audience and performers, concert sponsors that would like to change program last minute. Maybe all the world is really just a stage, with all the composers, conductors, managers and players. In that case no manager belongs on pedestal.
Selecting flawed manager
Have you ever heard that somebody would get the job for his or her flaws? The answer is probably no. That’s because we focus on strenghts, yet in many cases the flaws are what makes manager qualified for the job. Some say that you will truly know the persons weaknesess and flaws by marriing them, or working for them. And there lies the answer – when selecting the manager focus on his or her loses as much on winnings and give voice to people who have been managed by candidates.
„Succesful managers are flawed – everyone is flawed- but their practicular flaws are not fatal under the circumstances.“
The epidemic of managing without soul
- „What’s it mean to have a soul?“
- „You know it when you see it, its in every little corner.“
The story which resembles our team in TA. Our space in TA had soul, we were keen to attend dialogues, to chat, but than the reality came. The lack of outputs and press change it to something else. The need for outputs and effectivness destroyed the soul rather than build on it.
When thiking about this topic I cant help some similarities with movie (Harry Potter and half blood prince) a quote of really terrible teacher, yet for this situation I see connection.: „Let us preserve what must be preserved, perfect what can be perfected and prune practices that ought to be prohibited.“
How to decide what should be preserved, perfected and prohibited in such dynamic and individuastic world? The values? The firendly atmosphere? The growth?
Growing strategies like weeds in garden
Two types of strategy making.
The hothouse model for strategy formulation
Prime strategist come up with strategy based on hard data. Then the cycle of implementation, scheduling and budgeting stars. You have tu cultivate strategy like tomatoes in hothouse, triming, good soil etc. Among other threads there is one I have my own experience with - thread of alibism – „Why didn’t you formmulated strategy that I am capable of implementing?“
The second approach is more team and Tiimi oriented.
A grassroot model for strategy formation
Strategies arise from culture and learning proces. Like weeds in garden, no need to cultivate them. They emerge in curious places – engineer meets customer and they come up with new product.
Communityship beyond leadership
„They tell us who is supposed to lead whom but no who does what, how and with whom. Why are we so fixated on formal authority?“
Effective organizations are communities of human beiings, not collections of Human Resources. Do not be obsessed with leadership – no one is more valuable than other. Have the right amount of of leadership embedded in comunityship.
(For more info. find: comunity vs. Network)
Enough of more: Better is better
MORE is source of all evil, not Kalousek! 😊
MORE leads to excessive production and consumption, to more waste, to more burned out people it’s time to stope with more…we can do BETTER.
In corporate world we are geeting more by IPO, selling stocks, inviting investors. As a result we get more sources, but for what cost? Shifting our enterpcise towrds somebody elses mind to fulfill agreement etc. Is it worth it when we can do BETTER?
For example finding patiens to grow sustainably, or establishing business as cooperative wherer the customer, or suplier gets a share? Or give shares to employees. There is endless amout of posibillities once you want to do better or even good.
„Imagine world of getting better instead of grabing more.“
What do I appreciate most about the book?
I appreciate the author more than a book. At first I was a bit sceptical about his ideas, yet while finishing the book I started to undestand him. He sees the world for what it could be. He wants to correct errors in processes and not errors occuring beacose of bad processes. Metaphors and lot of examples helped me to undestand a complex topics as strategies, management, leadership, effectivness and effecience and above all of those to it reminded me to „Do my best – for the sake of great natural happiness.“
