12 Books - Author Led Business Book Group discussion

This is the official discussion of our November book, Reviving Work Ethic. Feel free to ask questions, suggest ideas, or otherwise engage here with other members who are reading the book and the author, Eric Chester.

I like what was said at the beginning of the book about how the lack of work ethic is an issue with all ages of the labor force, but that this book specifically addresses the youth because they are still mold-able.

I fear that the youth confuse "don't work hard, work smart" to mean that you don't have to work hard to succeed and I think there is a misconception about hard work and a good work ethic. What are your thoughts on this?

I tend you agree with you. However, I've changed it to say "Don't work longer, work smarter". Because people tend to confuse working hard with working long hours. I think you can work very hard (and smart) without adding hours - it's about results, not time.

Not going to get into the "work smarter, not harder" thing. In today's email it was suggested I tell a story about the work ethic changes and my experiences.
I have to come at this as a worker, because that is what I am. I am also a Boomer, one of the groups the book says has a good work ethic. I guess that may be true. I have never been afraid of work and I have tried to do a good job.
Unfortunately, the past 6 years or so my employer has done its' very best to distroy that. I work in a department that required a great deal of knowledge to do the job correctly. Sort of a quality control job, I was tasked with revenue protection and making sure our suppliers/customers followed our procedures and rules. I've always felt part of headquarters thought a trained monkey could do my job. The past 6 years or so, that group has done about everything they can to make my job rote and automated. They have systematically removed all the fun and ownership and achievment from the work. The final straw for me was the promotion of a manager who determined to stop all overtime by rearranging our hours and yelling at our supervisors to the point they no longer care if the work gets done at all, forget about done correctly. This manager, who has been in place for two years now, still has not introduced himself to us. He spend most of his time in his office in another part of the building, and only comes to our office when he's upset that we haven't produced some result he wanted.
Morale has bottomed out. People who can retire are thinking seriously about it. People who can stand to work in another department are bidding out. We are getting more of the "lame and lazy", people just off the light duty list who got off so they could bid in, to come and sit at the desks and do less than nothing.
Personally, I can retire, and, since an incentive has been offered, I am retiring. I used to love to go to work. I enjoyed my job and the people I worked with. For the past year I have dreaded going to work. It isn't fun any more.
Yes, work needs to be fun and enjoyable. If you want to inspire the current generation, fun must be part of the picture. Not in the form of games, but in engaging the mind. If the work isn't fun, your employees are going to find ways to spend the time you are paying for doing other things and not working for you.
I'm reading the book and have only made it to chapter 5, so I can't speak to the solution provided yet. I do hope it includes fun.

Susan, you bring up 2 really important things to think about. First, I'm wondering if this month's book will discuss how workers can inspire work ethic when employers don't. Second, that work has to be fun and enjoyable. I couldn't agree more.

I want to share my own Work Ethic story. I have almost always been in sales. I remember a specific sales team I managed back in 2006. Our team went door to door selling a product. Its a tough job that forces one to deal with a lot of rejection. Generally this creates 3 types of of people after the first few weeks. Some can't deal with the rejection at all and they just slowly fizzle out until they quit. Some learn to deal with the rejection but they can never come to enjoy their work and so they achieve limited success. Others recognize the work as a challenge and they learn to take joy in all their interactions because they are able to see past the rejection to the joys of the sales. Those are the ones who ultimately go on to big success in the industry.

Susan - Even great work ethic can't flourish in a bad organization, or enable a person to succeed when a poor leader or manager is hell-bent on ruining the working environment.

It's unfortunate that you're a victim of this scenario, and have been for six years.

Consider the situation you are in and whether or not you really want to retire, or simply find an employer that will appreciate your work ethic and your experience.

I was able to get a start today between meetings. I enjoyed the Forward by Marshall Goldsmith. He really hit the nail on the head.

As I was reading Chapter 1 one thought popped into my head in reference to the Pew research mentioned on page 12. It would have been interesting to see how the Baby Boomer generation would have answered the follow-up question when they were the Millennials age. My guess is that work ethic would have been a much lower percentage.

More as I continue to work my way through the book. I am one of those who pauses frequently to consider what the author is saying versus trying to rip through it in the shortest amount of time.

I just started reading this book, and looking for a lively discussion with the author and other members.

I think work ethic is necessary, but may not be that important to success today. Young people's success is going to depend on "think" ethic. They have to out think their competitors to succeed. Just out working them is not going to prevent companies from outsourcing their work or replace it with automation.

I'd like to chime in on Jay's comment. I too just started the book, but maybe how we think about ethic needs a shift. I agree with Jay that it's an issue of outthinking... but also that ethic means a responsibility to do a great job, hopefully by working smarter, outthinking, and sometimes, out caring (and so more hours too). Looking forward to how the organization's perspective is handled in the book. ...back to reading.

Nothing every was accomplished by merely thinking about it.

In Chapter 1 Eric has laid out the reasons for the current state of the work ethic with the younger workforce. The availability of "15 minutes of fame" is so much easier and faster today that I feel that it has converted to "15 seconds of fame". He is also dead on about the feeling of entitlement. What I find interesting that there are frequent negative posts on Facebook by the older generations about the entitlement feeling of the younger generation, but they are the ones who created the feeling of entitlement in the first place.

Casey,

Good point.

Do you think we have created an entitlement culture?

Sometimes I think our tax code should be called an "entitlement" code.

Jay:

I agree with Eric that we have been developing one for the past couple of decades. It is fairly easy to discern those who had parents that instilled real life values versus those who have an entitlement attitude.

Our tax code is a joke - it's purpose now is to guarantee jobs for a large number of IRS employees. A flat tax is too radical - it would be easy to understand and implement and reduce the amount of creative tax reporting.

Eric wrote: "Nothing every was accomplished by merely thinking about it."

I will leave you a famous quote by Henry Ford that others may find interesting:

“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few people engage in it.”

Yes, thinking is hard. But it is not productive until you "ship it" as Seth Godin would say. I see it as a combination of good thinking and good work ethic. It's the work ethic that stimulates the thinking and then causes an actionable result from the thinking.

Thinking is good, but I find not encouraged by any of the employers I have had in the past 40 years. They may have had a suggestion box, but it got emptied straight into the nearest trash can. Thinking up a new and possibly efficient way to do your job, and you get hit with the SOP manual. So, on that score I have followed the mantra: "It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission". I am still retiring shortly. Not sure what I will do, beyond finally reading the stacks of books I have collected.

Not saying we shouldn't encourage thinking. In fact, I'm all for thought before action. I'm only arguing that work is action. Ethos (the root of ethic) however, is all based upon thought, wisdom, and knowledge of right and wrong.

Chapter 2 was interesting in getting Eric's definition of work ethic. I particularly enjoyed the comparison of Sandbox values to what Employers want as I had never thought of it in those terms. The difficulty as he points out is that most the the media hyped celebrities "succeed" without following the values (Is Snookie someone we all want future workers to emulate?). I also saw value in the transition to the Work Ethic Markers compared with what Employers Want in the development of his definition of work ethic.

Chapter 3 deals with the development of the Work Ethic Matrix. I found the statement about a worker in the Idle Quadrant can possess the skills, but not the work ethic or personality for that matter to be very true as I have run across a number of individuals who fit that particular mold. I think that all of us have at some point briefly benefited from being in the Lucky Quadrant (I know I have) and then scramble to maintain the momentum it has provided us. I believe the Cheating Quadrant is the most harmful to an organization as Eric points out. Nothing is more dangerous that someone who knows what should be done, but choose not to do it. This group destroys morale and causes great discord within organizations. Unfortunately, the Valued Quadrant is the least populated quadrant in most organizations. Moving individuals toward being valued will and does take a lot of time.The challenge for employers is being a teacher and motivator when you believe that the employees should know better and be motivated. The more I read of the book, the more I'm convinced that yes employers need to step up to the plate on this issue, but that there also needs to be fundamental changes in our education system along with a new parenting paradigm.

What do you think?

I'm not sure if this is true but it seems to me that the "self-esteem movement", that I think underlies the entitlement culture, started in the education system. Giving children trophys and praise just for showing up, and avoiding scores even in games that used to have scores in elementary school, so no child would feel like a looser started in the schools. What kid, when growing up with that, is going to internalize the need for effort or a work ethic?
I'm sure there were and are teachers bucking this trend, but it shows up in grade inflation in all levels of school. The current "no child left behind" laws, which encourage teaching for the test, add to the problem. I had teachers in my educational career who thought the purpose of education was to teach me how to think, how to acquire information and how to evaluate that information. I wonder if that is still the case. With technology making the getting of information so much easier, does the younger generation have the skills to evaluate it and turn it into knowledge.
I have learned not to say much about other peoples' parenting skills. When my daughter was young, I took a parenting effectiveness class. It was based on consequences. I have to wonder, based on things I read in the news, if consequences are allowed to matter. Without them, childern don't learn the "sandbox values" or really see why they should.

Casey and Susan: I am enjoying your comments as you dive deeper into the book. You both seem to 'get it'. Thanks for playing along!

In case you are interested - Eric has a number of short videos on YouTube dealing with Reviving Work Ethic and other subjects.

Casey wrote: "Chapter 2 was interesting in getting Eric's definition of work ethic. I particularly enjoyed the comparison of Sandbox values to what Employers want as I had never thought of it in those terms. The..."


I think kids overall are fine today. We, parents and teachers, just have to work hard to figure out how to get them engaged. It is hard growing up today.

We just can't tell then to do things. We got to show them how to do it and why? This is time consuming, but I don't see another way. I think Eric does this by spending lot of time with the youth all over America. He should be commended for his efforts.

I recently wrote a blog on what kids can learn from joining a rock band camp. This was based on my son's experience. I explained to him that he was learning more than a musical pieve to perform. I said to him that he was learning real world skills that will be needed as he grows up. I am not sure he got all of it, but at least he can draw upon that experience later in life.

I have provided a link if anyone wants to read it.

http://www.5toolgroup.com/1/post/2012...

On parenting, I am more with Abraham Lincoln than Amy Chau, who wrote a book on Tiger Moms.

Here is what Abraham Lincoln had to say about parenting:

"It is my pleasure that my children are free -- happy and unrestrained by paternal tyranny."

Note, he can say that since most of the heavy lifting was done by his wife while he was politicking.

Susan wrote: "Thinking is good, but I find not encouraged by any of the employers I have had in the past 40 years. They may have had a suggestion box, but it got emptied straight into the nearest trash can. Thin..."

Susan,

Reading is always great, but if you want to try something different or augment it with your reading is to check out many MOOC courses that are available online taught by some of the best professors from some of our best universities, such as Harvard, Yale, UPenn, MIT, UPenn, etc. All these course are free.

I am currently taking two courses: Model Thinking and Operations Management at Coursera.org. I think there is Udacity and EdX that also offers free courses from top universities.

If you are more into liberal arts, then let me recommend you check out Yale Open Courses web site. They have some excellent courses there too.

Las Sunday 60 Minutes did a report on a Professor Bloom who is doing research on trying to understand whether babies really think about things like bias, etc. The answer is yes. His course on Psychology I thought was very good.

There is so much out there on Internet that it is mind boggling on how easy it has gotten to learn today on just about anything.

The only thing you got to have is interest and time.

Jay:

I find it interesting that as time goes by each of the older generations think that the younger generations are going down the tubes (I pause here to reflect on what my parents and their friends thought my generation was going to end up - Peace Movment, Woodstock, etc.), but in the end the younger generation seems to rally and is productive.

I wholehardly agree with your summation of Eric's points on approaching the younger generation and also appluad his work with young people (did you download his free ebook via the email from 12 Books?. The YouTube videos he has posted reinforce this.

I have also perused a number of free courses via different websites and view a number of shorter talks on TED. It does provide an opportunity for those of us who are Learners (StrenghFinders 2.0 - my strongest trait).

May everyone involved in this conversation have a Happy Thanksgiving and good times with family and friends!

Jay:

Just ready your blog post referenced above. Well done and on point.

I am also hopeful for the future because of the following:

One of my nephews spent the summer working with some of his fellow classmates putting together a music video for a band composed of their friends. He picked up valuable lessons that will assist him in the future without adult supervision - teamwork, collaboration, creative thinking to name just a few. And the amazing part was it was all done with no compensation - he did it for the learning experience.

Casey,

Thanks for your comment.

Sometimes rather than telling a kid he needs to learn work ethic, let him pick something he likes, such as music, sports, drama, etc. and then you don't have to teach him work ethic.

I served on the Board of Education and one thing I tried to do was to work with the Superintendent and the PTO members to encourage all the kids to participate in at least one extra curricular activity.

My belief is that all kids are smart in their own ways. We adults often don't see what they are really good at.

There is a good TED talk by Ken Robinson you may want to watch. I believe it is the most popular TED talk ever titled, "Do schools kill creativity?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE5...

I highly recommend it.

Jay:

I will take a look at it.

In Chapter 4 Eric addresses how leaders/managers can increase cognizance among the new workforce. The first is to clarify - this is an area where I feel most organizations fall short. They expect to explain it once to new employees and then expect them to know it without any follow-up. This added to a lack of assessment as to where the employee is on the awareness scale is setting them up for disappointment and discouragement later on. Mentoring is also an important ingredient, but too often there is do as I say, not as I do mentality. The second half of the chapter deals with increasing employee compliance using relevance, reward and radiate. The explanation of the what and the why and their connection to the organization makes it easier for the younger worker to be compliant. Being creative with rewards without unconsciously reiforcing the entitlement attitude is a fine line that has to be carefully addressed. Recogizing those who live the culture helps to reinforce the understanding of expectations.

Chapter 5 is the first chapter that deals with the work ethic markers - positive attitude. Numerous studies have shown that a positive goes a long way in establishing a successful career. The difficulty in dealing with younger workers is that so many of their peer role models are successful because they go against the grain. In addition, our generation and subsequent generations establish a pattern of work is a drudge - "Thank God it's Friday" that does not send a positive message about work. It goes back to establishing clarity in order to help them understand the expectations. I particularl liked Frankl's qouate on embracing attitude as a personal choice and taking responsibility.

Great discussion going on here. Jay, your blog article is great. I'm now on the chapter about initiative. This, to me, is the most critical. We all know the difference between someone who is merely interested and someone who is committed. When an employer hires someone you expect to get all their focus, energy, and passion.

I love your above thoughts about how other passions (like music) can teach youth about initiative and commitment.. It makes me consider the balance that parents take in teaching children while also relying on and encouraging the natural education that will come from activities like school, sports, etc.

Thanks everyone, I'm a mellenial and your insights are greatly valued!

I was able to watch a number of Eric's Reinventing Work Ethic videos on YouTube today. They are very good and encapsulate the major points of the book.

Chapter 6 deals with reliability and Eric presents solid points on how to go about instilling the idea of realiability within the younger workforce. It goes back to Eric's ongoing points of establishing clarity, assessing and mentoring. I agree with his example of Cal Ripken, Jr. as an example of extreme reliability. He also captures all of the traits for work ethic. I found his use of Brett Farve in this category interesting. He was reliable in the examples given, but I can cite as many and more where he was not. In addition, he falls woefully short in a number of the other markers for work ethic. I was excited to see the example of Bob Knops - an illustration of what an "ordinary" person can accomplish in this area. This is addressed succiently in the YouTube video titled "The Entitlement Creed."

Chapter 7 deals with professionalism and the challenges that are presented by the younger workforce in this area. The difference in the perception of professionalism between the generations can be overcome but takes a great deal of time and effort on behalf of the leader/manager. Clarity is the key. He provides a number of examples on how to mentor the subject. The YouTube video titled "Eric Chester on Employee Appearance" provides a good summary for part of this chapter.

Chapter 8 is about initiative.

I think we all agree that initiative is very important today in not only young people but all of us at work.

However, it is a double edged sword. Initiative means that companies have to tolerate failures. If you get slapped for taking initiative that you think is for the good of the company and get read the riot act, then you will less likely to do it again or, possible, quit.

It is very important that a company creates a culture of taking initiative and recognizing those individuals who take initiative whether it succeeds or not.

A good anecdote I can cite comes from my own personal experience. I had joined Oracle in 1996 as an Alliance Manager and I went to meet with NCR in San Diego for a strategy meeting and they mentioned to me that they were having problems with Oracle ERP installation on their new HW that wanted to demo at the Oracle Open World (big Oracle trade show) in few weeks. If they didn't have it running, they would look incompetent compared to their competitors and likely hurt their business.

I had never done an ERP install, which was quite complicated at that time. I ended up staying in San Diego for two weeks to manage the install and get the necessary support they needed to get it running.

I took the initiative and made it work. I was not going to leave till the installation was successful. Granted an expert from Oracle Consulting could have done it in three days, but they were not going to be put on this project since it was low priority for them.

After that I developed a reputation of taking on the toughest partner challenge and do what ever it took to make it work.

Eric,

I did enjoy reading the book. For your information i was born in 1988, but might not fit the stereotypes you describe in your book.

For me the book specifically provided me with topics i could reflect upon which i am sure will benefit me in the long run, so the book has been inspirational for me.

What i did want to add as a comment however is, that sometimes i feel a lack of causality with regards to some of the references and linking to work ethic. This is related to different places in your book, where i do not seem to make the same connections as you do.

For instance you mention John Mayer's song "Waiting on the world to change", how celebrities can act as role models, and speeding just above the speed limits.

Lets take for instance the case of driving just above the speed-limit. This might or might not be coupled with the entitlement. I do not think that this is about entitlement and i do not think that this can be directly related to work ethic.

I hope you can understand what i am trying to point out here, but all in all a good book with a lot of interesting points - feel free to add any comments to this.

Finally, i do like the book and i am still working on grasping the entire book mentally - which sometimes takes a while.

Jacob wrote: "Great discussion going on here. Jay, your blog article is great. I'm now on the chapter about initiative. This, to me, is the most critical. We all know the difference between someone who is merely..."

Jacob, thanks for the feedback.

Take a look at this blog/video of Gary Hamel. management guru, about skills which he refers to as the "pyramid of human capabilities," one needs to succeed today. Some of it is similar to what Eric has to say, but he views work ethic as a table stake.

I have included the link. When you get to the link, click on the video link also. Hamel is one of the top management though leader and makes lot of sense in this video.

http://thehypertextual.com/2010/04/08...

Henrik wrote: "Eric,

I did enjoy reading the book. For your information i was born in 1988, but might not fit the stereotypes you describe in your book.

For me the book specifically provided me with topics i co..."

Henrik,

I agree the book makes lot of good points, but it also gets you to think more about each point in more depth. We have to take it and see how it is applicable to us.

When you write about celebrities in your comment, you got me thinking about a recent conversation I had with my daughter.

We were discussing about Kim Kardashian, and I didn't want to be critical of her watching her TV show and tell her not to waste her time watching the show, so I took a different angle and asked her whether she knew how rich she is and what makes her so rich.

She thought it was all her show, so I asked her to do some research and said that when you are done, based on her findings, we can write a joint blog about what one can learn about marketing from Kim Kardashian.

Below is the joint blog we wrote:

http://www.5toolgroup.com/1/category/...

Chapter 10 is about integrity.

I have cut and pasted this famous story about Gandhi.

Be The Change You Want To See In This World – Mahatma Gandhi

During 1930′s, a young boy had become obsessed with eating sugar. His mother was very upset with this. But no matter how much she scolded him and tried to break his habit, he continued to satisfy his sweet tooth. Totally frustrated, she decided to take her son to see his idol – Mahatma Gandhi; perhaps her son would listen to him.

She walked miles, for hours under scorching sun to finally reach Gandhi’s ashram. There, she shared with Gandhi her predicament. -
“Bapu, my son eats too much sugar. It is not good for his health. Would you please advise him to stop eating it?”

Gandhi listened to the woman carefully, thought for a while and replied,
“Please come back after two weeks. I will talk to your son.”

The woman looked perplexed and wondered why had he not asked the boy to stop eating sugar right away. She took the boy by the hand and went home.

Two weeks later they revisited Gandhi. Gandhi looked directly at the boy and said,
“Boy, you should stop eating sugar. It is not good for your health.”

The boy nodded and promised he would not continue this habit any longer. The boy’s mother was puzzled. She turned to Gandhi and asked,
“Bapu, Why didn’t you tell him that two weeks ago when I brought him here to see you?”

Chapters 8 and 9 deal with Initiative and Respect.

Initative in the Universal Sandbox Values is translated as "do your best" and in what Employers Want as "go out of their way to add value/do more than required." Eric gives several good examples of the problem along with root causes. He again uses the clarification, assess and mentor model as the way for leaders and managers to instill initative in the emerging generations. In the examples that he uses, initative is ingrained in the culture of the organizations so that employees receive reinforcement at all levels. My experience is that many organizatins lack a consistent culture when it comes to initative in employees. Too often there is a gotcha when initative is not successful rather that using it as a teaching/mentoring opportunity. I found the additional questions at the end of the chapter very helpful as conversation starters with employees.

Respect is defined as "Obey the Rules" in Universal Sandbox Values and "Play by the Rules" in Employer Wants. The challenge in this area is that emerging workforce has many role models who are disrespectable and successful at the same time. I liked his analogy to Aretha Franklin's song R-E-S-P-E-C-T on page 142. He discusses the three critical areas that companies want to instill in their workers when it comes to respect. Towards the end of the chapter Eric outlines three steps to move employees into the valued quadrant. He points out that using fear as the motivator is not successful in either the short or long term. The bottom line is the respect in the organization needs to not only be clarified and mentored, it needs to be earned through leading by example and ingrained in the culture.

You might find this article of interest.

Filene examines what workers want in 2012

MADISON, Wis. (11/26/12)--Credit union values can be a powerful recruiting tool, because most employees--young and old--desire to work in a place that mirrors their values, according to a new report from the Filene Research Institute.

The brief is published as part of a partnership between the Filene Research Institute and Net Impact, a group dedicated to solving problems through the workplace. Net Impact set out to investigate how people view "impact jobs," or jobs that provide the opportunity to make a social or environmental impact.

Its survey looked at a statistically significant national sample of 1,726 university students about to enter the work force and currently employed four-year college graduates from three generations: Millennials (between the ages of 21 and 32), Generation X (between 33 and 48), and Baby Boomers (between 49 and 65).

The study found:

"Impact jobs" are satisfying. Slightly more than half of professionals (55%) said they are currently in a job where they can make a social or environmental impact on the world. These satisfaction levels were reinforced when digging into the ways people feel connected to impact through their jobs, too. For example, 45% of employees who say they worked directly on a product or service that makes a positive social impact report being very satisfied with their jobs.

College students care. Responding to the statement, "Having a job where I can make an impact on causes or issues that are important to me," 72% of college students said it was either essential or very important. That's 13 percentage points more than Millennials and 23 more than Gen Xers.

Impact expectations are high. A majority of students (65%) expect to make a positive social or environmental difference in the world at some point through their work. Credit unions that offer students direct ways to make a difference through their job will have a recruiting advantage, the report said.

Women care more than men about impact jobs. Women are much more likely than men to say making a difference is important to them. As a result, organizations that invest in impact jobs likely will have more success in recruiting women. Sixty percent of employed women say that working for a company that prioritizes social and environmental responsibility is very important to them, compared with 38% of men.

What do you think about this artilce in regards to Eric's book?

An article on Page One of USA Today (11/26/2012) titled Poll: High School Cheating Declines offers some interesting observations. The link to the article is
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/na...

While it is too early to tell if this is a permanent shift. It does offer some hope.

What do you think?

Casey wrote: "An article on Page One of USA Today (11/26/2012) titled Poll: High School Cheating Declines offers some interesting observations. The link to the article is
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/natio..."

I think technology is making harder to cheat today. My sister got a ticket for running a red light and she did not even know it till she got a picture of her car with the ticket.

Most of the time when you cheat you are really cheating yourself.

I have a simple rule in life. If I don't trust someone, I am not going to deal with them as a friend, colleague or in business. Whenever I have comprised, it has come back to hurt me.

I learned a valuable lesson on cheating in 7th grade when I went to the nurse for an eye exam. I knew I needed glasses but was scared since I thought I would not be able to play sports and also didn't want other kids to make fun of me.

So I memorized the 20/20 line in the nurse's office, thinking that if it came to that I would easily pass the eye exam. Unfortunately, I could not even read the 20/25 line.

When I told the nurse that I can read the 20/20 line, she kindly said that it would not be necessary and wrote a note to my parents to take me to an Opthamologist.

Just a quick note to let everyone know we had to move the webinar with Eric back an hour. It will be at 11am MST this Thursday the 29th. More info here: http://www.12booksgroup.com/events/ti...

Chapter 10, 11 and 12 deal with Integrity, Gratitude and The Valued Proposition.

Integrity is defined as tell the truth in Universal Sandbox Values and are honest in Employers want. The author discusses the challenges with Integrity as we all either lie or cheat in some manner. Whether it is exceeding the speed limit, understating our weight for driver licenses, or claiming more deductions on our income taxes than we actually have. The Josephson Insititue of Ethics 2009 study results were of interest in finding that each new generation is more likely to lie and cheat than the preceding one, young people are more cynical and believe that a lack of integrity is needed to succeed, and that cheaters in high school tend to continue to be cheaters later in life. A recent USA article about the decline in cheating in high schools over the past few years may be the leading edge of a reversal of the trend. Only time will tell.

Gratitude is defined as say please and thank you in the Univeral Sandbox Values and give cheerful, friendly service in Employer Wants. I found the qoute by Mahatma Ghandi about the customer at the beginning of the chapter surprising as I had never thought of Ghandi focused on customer service. The author points out that the emerging generations have been raised in a culture where gratitude has declined as there is more of a focus on self. It comes down to letting them know that they are appreciated as employees and to clarify their understanding that their job is to solve problems.

In The Valued Proposition, Eric uses the analogy of a juggler spinning numerous plates. Instilling work ethic is a never ending process that focuses on clarity, assessment and mentoring. Using these principles will raise employees over time (yes, it is not an overnight process) to the valued quadrant where employers want them.

Casey wrote: "Chapter 10, 11 and 12 deal with Integrity, Gratitude and The Valued Proposition.

Integrity is defined as tell the truth in Universal Sandbox Values and are honest in Employers want. The author dis..."

After completing this book, I feel the book makes lot of good points, but we have to be very careful when we go try to lecture about work ethic to young people. They will come back and say to us that if you had your act together then why are you leaving us with a $16T in debt? Why don't you go take care of that before telling us about work ethic?

This point is not really discussed in the book, but that's why we have this forum to go beyond what is in the book.

Work ethic will be required among young folks, but a major sacrifice will also be required among older folks. Unless we are ready to make some major sacrifices all we will be doing is shouting at each other and not accomplish anything productive.

I know Eric talks about entitlement in the book, but the biggest culprit of that are not young people, but older people. They have taught young people that they are not only entitled to what they have but more.

To put it crudely, we are currently on entitlement on steroid. Lot of this is beyond the scope of the book, but is at the heart of the major problem we are facing here in US and around the world.

Casey wrote: "You might find this article of interest.

Filene examines what workers want in 2012

MADISON, Wis. (11/26/12)--Credit union values can be a powerful recruiting tool, because most employees--young a..."

I think companies who can do the best job in recruiting talent, training them, keeping them challenged so they don't leave will succeed.

One of the thing that corporations will have to do is to empower their HR department. If one sees them when they are hired and fired then they are irrelevant.

They need to interact with employees inside as well as outside to see if they are happy, challenged and engaged.

Jack Welch talks about this in his book "Winning," which I recommend. I have CDs of the book, which I listen whenever I am driving long distance by myself.

The book does not have a chapter on this but I think trust is very important in having a good working relationship between and employer and an employee.

I got this idea watching Rick Warren being interviewed on Fox News that when there is no trust, we tend to make up for that with all kinds of rules.

I guess what he is saying is that if there is no purpose, you can't make it up by creating more rules. Then again he wrote a best seller on that topic.

A very valid point Jay. I strongly recommend The Speed of Trust if you have not read it.

Casey wrote: "A very valid point Jay. I strongly recommend The Speed of Trust if you have not read it."

Will check it out. Thanks for the heads up.

Let's get Rick on this book club next year.

I would also endorse "The Speed of Trust." I'll reach out to Rick. Hope to see everyone on our webinar in a few minutes!

A little information for those who like history.

Chapter 1 opens with a story about Lincoln growing a beard. This was encouraged by a little girl named Grace Bedell.

When Lincoln was coming to D.C for the inauguration in 1860, he met her in Westfield, NY and gave her a kiss.

Source: "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin.

BTW, a great book to read. It is long, but I am just blown away by how much I am learning from this book.

The book is not about business, but you can learn a lot about how to do business dealing with people, especially when you are in trouble.

Just finished Part 1 today.