If You Read One Management Book in 2017…

30 years ago I came across The One Minute Manager in a college library. An hour later I’d read it, understood it and was ready to implement the three core principles:…

Less Time in Meetings, More Action

Meetings are regarded by many as the least productive time spent at work. But really the opposite should be true. Good meetings improve communication, produce good decisions, generate great ideas and motivate teams.

Unfortunately too many meetings lack purpose, structure and energy and therefore not only waste time but also demotivate good people. In his book ‘Death by Meetings‘ Patrick Lencioni suggests a fresh approach to business meetings, adapting the structure, location and purpose to prevent discussions going off track and failing to reach conclusions. Here is a summary from the book you can use to turn meeting monotony into profitable parley….

Trust Unwrapped – A story of Ethics, Integrity and Chocolate

Back in a time when the public trusted banks and utility bills made sense, a diminutive Greek immigrant took a daring approach to establishing his restaurant in North London.

 

In stark contrast to the surprise service charges and inflated wine prices common in the industry, this restaurant successfully operated a ‘Pay what you think it’s worth’ policy for over 20 years.  …

Exercises to Support Covey’s 7 Habits

Along with the 15 million people who have bought the book, we love Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. We also firmly believe in experiential learning and so we’ve selected the following 7 training exercises to bring each habit to life and help to turn Covey’s ideas into behaviours. 

If the exercises aren’t familiar to you and you’d like some trainer notes, click here to make a request….

Book Review: The Empty Raincoat – Making Sense of the Future

Charles Handy wrote ‘The Empty Raincoat’ in 1994, but the predictions are so precise that it could have been published last week.  Here, guest blogger Nick Robeson summarises a book perhaps more relevant today than when it was first published 18 years ago.

Back in 1994 the term ‘digital economy’ had not even been invented, but the changes in our society, our economy, work and our careers were already clear to Handy.  The book starts by describing 9 paradoxes – each of them is worthy of consideration in the society of 2012:…