Miller's Bolt: A Modern Business Parable

by Thomas Stirr

Miller's Bolt is the fast-paced fictional story of a top-notch manager who is in danger of being fired. For although Jim Manion does his job well, his relationships with his coworkers have become increasingly antagonistic. Given just three months to turn himself around, Jim consults his friend Peter Miller, a personal performance coach, and together the two of them work to save Jim's career.We watch Jim as he learns new interpersonal skills, manages change, and improves his performance. Thomas Stirr guides us through the techniques and conceptual tools that Jim uses, including Miller's Bolt—a simple and logical tool that reminds us that our performance is never static. We are either getting a little better and moving up the threads on our bolt, or a little worse and moving downward—every day.Realistic characters and situations bring the story alive as Jim faces the challenges of a tense board meeting, a climate of lagging sales, and his personal nemesis, a manipulative coworker who tests Jim's newfound skills. Each of these dramatic turning points further crystallizes the main message of the If we want our lives to be different in the future we have to make different decisions today. By taking responsibility for our perceptions, our relationships, and our performance, we gain the ability to learn and grow.As we read about Jim's success and failures, we learn along with him the practical skills that we all need to thrive in today's business world. Miller's Bolt is a new kind of business It's a page-turner.

Genres: Business

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 16, 1997

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who works with people.

[Punk Monkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Miller's Bolt after a period of 14 years. This time it made all the more sense. There are a lot of books on business, professionalism, values, time management, prioritisation that one reads all through his life, basis one's inclination. Thomas Stirr has condensed the knowledge of many a business book and put it all together.

The best part about the book to me is the fact that the key tenets are all explained as a part of a story of a young professional struggling on performance grounds in his organisation. The very fact that you read and learn of the tenets as the story progresses in itself makes the book worth a read.

All in all, a nice parable to brush up our core values that we started working with in our professional lives, until selective amnesia took over.Good read. Not something that cannot be missed, but good.

[Sridhar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book on how perceptions can influence your attitude and hence your behaviour with your colleagues. A high-level executive faces a big challenge after being put on notice subtly. How he finds courage to change as well the techniques to help him change is the subject of this book.

It would have been good to have some detail on the techniques, which are sometimes glossed over.

Overall, a good book to read once.

[Victor Ortiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book on how to deal with difficult personalities at work. It was presented in a parable format, which I enjoyed and made it easier to identify with and relate the teachings to myself.
The key message I got out of this book was that we often label people and then approach them unconsciously with that label in mind, which in turn perpetuates the behavior that we are hoping to avoid.
Quick read - well worth the time.

[Gary Patton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gain helpful, powerful & easy-to-implement insights re improving your performance, managing change & building strong relationships.

Christians will find this book a God-used tool on your quest for more Christ-likeness. Others will get better at who you are and what you do by implementing its lessons.

gfp

[Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read book with helpful practical techniques to improve your performance at work and with co-workers. The techniques are simple enough they can be applied in any line of work or even life in general. A must read for anyone who interacts with others!

[Ahnaf Siddiqi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The very best and well orchestrated parable about modern business highlighting the necessity of project management, people management, and the eight wonders of the world! I would recommend this book to every single person.