Managing the Obvious: How to Get What You Want Using What You Know

by Charles A. Coonradt, Richard L. Williams, Jack M. Lyon

How managers can recognize and accept obvious warning signs and act accordingly.

Genres: Self Help

215 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1994

Reviews

[Keith]

I was half way through the book when I realized that he was talking about values. My interest in the book greatly increased, and I determined to finish it over the next few days.

Now I am curious about what I missed in the first half of the book.
Section 1 Discovering the Obvious
1. Where are you going?
2. Where are you now?
3. What to do when the obvious isn't
Section 2 Communicating the Obvious
4. The power of the "Per"
5. Agreeing on the obvious
6. Keeping the obvious in mind
7. The obvious source of authority
8. Compensation, the obvious issue
9. The power of principles
Section 3 Directing the obvious
11 Motivation, the obvious mystery
11. Self-image, the obvious foundation
12. Overcoming fear of the obvious
13. The obvious power of goals
14. Empowering growth in your team
15. The future is obvious

The last paragraph in the book:

"... So we have to keep asking ourselve such questions as, "What are we doing that will no longer work three years from now?" "What do we need to learn?" "What do we need to ask oru customers?" "What are we borrowing from other fields, from other businesses, from other technologies?" In short, the obvious thing we have to keep asking ourselves about the future is, "What are we doing about it - today?" (p. 194)

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

READ APR 2012

Excellent resource for an individual contributor or team leader. Methods discussed are ideal for setting actionable goals and managing meaningful performance; performance you can track and measure.

Best quotes, "when you can see progress, you find it easier to believe that you will ultimately succeed" (p. 27), "most people see a difference between 'being measured' and 'keeping a personal scorecard'" (p. 72), "you can accomplish more in seven hours and forty-five minutes of work and fifteen minutes of scorekeeping than you can with eight hours of unsecured activity" (p. 94), and "more people fail because they are unwilling to find out the price than ever fail because they are unwilling to pay the price" (p. 149).

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost stopped reading this book after the first 30 pages, but I decided to stay with it on the strength of his first book, The Game of Work. I found several ideas and reminders that worth well worth reading the whole book.