Ben Franklin's 12 Rules of Management: The Founding Father Of American Business Solves Your Toughest Problems

by Blaine McCormick, Neil Shigley (Illustrator)

Although Ben Franklin is best known for being a patriot, diplomat, and inventor, he first rose from obscurity to become one of the most influential and successful business owners in Colonial America. In fact, Franklin was so successful that he was able to retire at age 42 to pursue his other, more well-known interests.

Franklin chronicled his early life in The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Drawing upon that book’s wealth of wisdom, Ben Franklin’s 12 Rules of Management explores the innovative management principles and philosophies this “Founding Father of American Business” pioneered.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a mid-level manager, or a Fortune 500 executive, Ben Franklin’s 12 Rules of Management will inspire you to integrate Franklin’s wisdom into your everyday life and show you how to use his revolutionary management philosophies to improve your performance and more effectively manage your business.

Genres: Leadership, Business

12 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1999

Reviews

[Todd McQueen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A look at Benjamin Franklin’s approach to management issues and their applications today. B

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

After visiting Williamsburg, VA and Philadelphia this summer and always interested in books on management and leadership, I thought it would be fun to read "Ben Franklin's 12 Rules of Management". The author, an assistant professor of management at Baylor University, outlines one of our most influential founding father's views on successful business principles. I had not realized what an enterprising businessman Franklin was prior to his statesman career and learned some about the business culture of the time.

While a clever concept, other than the historical perspective, there is not a lot to learn here. Franklin's admonishments to practice "hard work and frugality", as well as the importance of cultivating a good reputation, tending to detail, "letting reason work for you" and other fairly trite pieces of advice lend little to the art/science of management, other than to reinforce the concepts, which are timeless. The writing is pretty basic and the references to business "successes" like Dell, the defunct People's Express and Intel are dated, a malady that befalls most books several years after publication.

My contention that there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to human behavior was reinforced by the legitimate contention that Franklin's principles are as apt today as they were then. I was especially impressed, though, that Franklin based many of his contentions on the writings of Socrates and other early philosophers, showing that we really haven't evolved awfully far in our natural proclivities for self-interest, greed and corner-cutting. I was particularly taken with his description of the Socratic Method, which very closely resembles the coaching model Thomas Leonard, the father of the modern coaching movement, espoused.

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone involved in the Business Industry I found this book full of great advice by the original American Businessman, Ben Franklin. Before reading this book, I had thought of Ben Franklin only as a Founding Father and knew nothing of his prior life as a very successful Businessman.

This book distills the business knowledge Franklin shared in his autobiography and presents it to the modern business community as a way to maximize their management potential. In doing so, we become more aware of the some of the principles our Founding Fathers had such as the strong belief in capitalism and small government. The book does seem to warn that failure of the private sector to provide a need or correct a problem usually causes government intervention to fill the perceived void. Often, the solution for many of our country's woes is best found through Business solutions rather than Government.

By adapting Franklin business strategy to the modern era we could revolutionize the business community and strengthen the nation's economy without government intervention. If the principles of Franklin had been followed it is possible we could avoid economic catastrophes. As such this book is a must for managers of all levels from Fortune 500 companies to small businesses to the individual businessman.

[Jim Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a weakness for reading every management book that tries to teach management concepts by relating the ideas to an historical hero. I've read management by Lincoln, Grant, Lee, Achilles, and even Star Trek characters. They all follow the same format and for the most part do does McCormick.
One significant difference, however, is that McCormick recognizes and cautions the reader from applying Franklin's rules willy-nilly. Yes, a lot of the moral training Franklin tried to push in the 1700's would equally apply today but the environments do differ.

I, too, read Franklin's autobiography many years ago. This book makes Franklin's ideas much more reachable by the masses but I liked the poetic syntax and cadence of the original Franklin. It's like hearing a story from your grandfather rather than hearing a second-hand version from your brother.

Nevertheless, I liked the book and will be thinking about and trying to exercise the points for many weeks to come.

[Monali]

It looks promising so far. I like the comments about self-education being the only education and how anyone can make it in business.

[Manus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great business principles. Many of the ideas presented in this book can also be applied to one's personal life.