Book Report: “Good Boss, Bad Boss” by Robert Sutton PhD
- Photo By dixieroadrash
I recently received an advance copy of Professor Bob Sutton’s latest offering “Good Boss, Bad Boss.” This is the highly anticipated follow-up to “The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t,” a text which received a great deal of praise for helping harried workers deal with bullies in the workplace. Professor Sutton’s new book looks to help us swing the pendulum further from workplace jerks to the land of centered, uplifting boss. I’ve come across a handful of great quotes in the week or so since reading this book, which reflected the ideas presented in “Good Boss, Bad Boss.” I’ve arranged those throughout this post to give you a flavor of the book. Read more…
Time For a Tawdry Poolside Romance?
Photo By Carlos Porto
I’ve done a lot of reading recently, which has precluded me from working on new posts for my blog. I’m taking stock and re-prioritizing the books I’ll be reading, so I thought I’d share the selections I have on tap. I’ll also be writing a follow-up to share my thoughts on the books I’ve most recently completed. While the silly title to this post alludes to the possibility of a Danielle Steele novel, I assure that is not where this is headed. Read more…
Photo By i.em
This post may seem to start out lost at sea, but I assure you that once you have circumnavigated it, you’ll dock in safe harbor.
Tacking into the Wind
Professor Todd Zenger, of Washington University’s Olin Business School, introduced me to the sailing term of “tacking”. Wikipedia defines Tacking as, “a sailing maneuver by which a sailing vessel (which is sailing into the wind) turns its bow through the wind so that the direction from which the wind blows changes from one side to the other.” As it is impossible to sail directly into the wind, tacking affords the opportunity to move indirectly towards a goal. Professor Zenger used the term to describe the vacillation in a firm’s strategy between creative and control-oriented phases as a way to strike a time-based balance between these two incongruous approaches. The concept is broadly applicable and was especially useful in determining my approach to managing a project team. Read more…
