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The Anxious Organization: Why Smart Companies Do Dumb Things
This fascinating book sheds new light on all workplace interactions, from the dance of office politics to client relationships.
- GenresBusiness
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
14 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 25, 2025
Not the most inspiring cover, and it's from 2008 and feels of its time - some of the case examples had people using language/stereotypes that were sexist and fatphobic. But apart from that, this book is straightforward, easy to read, and has concrete strategies to try to reduce your anxiety at work and reduce the ways you participate in the anxious culture of your job. I found it really helpful and freeing and would recommend to pretty much anyone!
February 21, 2017
Why the book starts on page seventeen is beyond me. And the waste of paper by printing in such large font with double-spacing is annoying.
Beyond that, this is a great book. Miller is able to take one case study and carry it through the entire work. That case study includes all the necessary examples one could want. Taking Miller's family systems advice and applying it any situation, particularly a company trying to make a profit, can be a difficult first step and seem ridiculous or impossible. Miller does a great job, though, of showing how simple (while not easy) reducing an organization's anxiety to manageable levels can be.
And that's key. As Miller says, no organization should eliminate anxiety. To live without anxiety is to do nothing and die. But the anxiety must be manageable and then managed in the appropriate way. That is the goal, not the complete elimination, and certainly not the avoidance of, anxiety.
The tips to do manage the anxiety better, namely six second vacations, self-differentiation, and I-positions, are well presented and argued.
Great book.
Beyond that, this is a great book. Miller is able to take one case study and carry it through the entire work. That case study includes all the necessary examples one could want. Taking Miller's family systems advice and applying it any situation, particularly a company trying to make a profit, can be a difficult first step and seem ridiculous or impossible. Miller does a great job, though, of showing how simple (while not easy) reducing an organization's anxiety to manageable levels can be.
And that's key. As Miller says, no organization should eliminate anxiety. To live without anxiety is to do nothing and die. But the anxiety must be manageable and then managed in the appropriate way. That is the goal, not the complete elimination, and certainly not the avoidance of, anxiety.
The tips to do manage the anxiety better, namely six second vacations, self-differentiation, and I-positions, are well presented and argued.
Great book.
March 19, 2007
how everyone's own personal issues play out at work and how important reflection and communication is. I think everyone who manages/ supervises people should read this!
October 5, 2025
Kinda cringey at moments, but overall helpful framework for thinking through tension, conflict, and anxiety in the workplace.
Want to read
April 24, 2019As seen in CFSAN Resilient Leadership Training.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews