- This book was consistent with my experience with the "50 Ideas You Really Need to Know" Book Series thus far. It provides an accessible introduction to common management concepts - some admittedly intimidating, others just fluffy - to anyone who's not a management consultant or business major but would like to make more sense of strategic conversations and initiatives as they arise at the workplace.
- Each idea rounds off with a "condensed idea' (think: tldr in a few words) at the end of each chapter.
- Russell-Walling writes like a friendly professor and I appreciate the conversational tone and efforts to ground these ideas in history, by describing the context in which they came about and took root as well as placing them on a timeline relative to other concepts. It encourages you to think critically about their relevance for the workplaces and trends of today.
- I like that it's self-aware and honest in the sense that the book doesn't try to sell these concepts the way you might expect a self-styled business guru to.
Some examples:
e.g. " Management's ideas about motivating employees have changed a bit since scientific management first considered how to make workers more efficient. Today, most managers would at least pay lip service to the idea that employees are human beings, with human needs and aspirations, and that you need to recognise these to get the best from them."
e.g. " It's striking how many theories of management are generated these days by people who have never done a day's 'work' - making or selling stuff - in their lives. Modern management thinking is dominated by academics and consultants rather than managers."
e.g. " Alliances should last only while they are useful to bother partners. Once the goal is achieved, they should be allowed to lapse without rancour. That's why some say many strategic alliances would be better labelled "tactical alliances". But it doesn't sound quite as grand."