Who Moved My Cheese, Spencer Johnson

"Very simplistic, but with some interesting basics about change."

Summary

It is well known that change is a source of stress, and it is also well known that nowadays change happens more and more often.

Mr. Johnson presents the cheese/mouse metaphor explaining how to deal with change.

The book is quite simplistic and concentrates on few basics about change, which can be helpful for young professionals.

Model / Concepts

Well, it's not really a model. The book correctly states that:

1. Change happens.
2. You have to watch for signs of change, and prepare for it.
3. When change happens, don't try to resist, adapt to it quickly.
4. Enjoy change as it is a source of opportunity.

Impact
Not so much.

To be honest, I was reading this book in the beginning of my management experience, and it helped me being more open-minded with respect to change. The two points I use to promote in my company are:

1. When change happens, don't try to resist, adapt to it quickly.
2. Remember that change is a source of opportunity.

Rating

• rating Amazon - 3.3/5.0 (1'768 reviews)
• my rating - 3.0/5.0
• fun factor - 3.5/5.0
• simplicity - 5.0/5.0
• impact - 2.0/5.0

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable, Patrick Lencioni

"Extremely well designed model for team building. My preferred team development book for its impact!"

Summary
This is a typical Lencioni-style book, where most of the text is dedicated to a so-called fable, which illustrates both the problem and the solution the author wants to address. If you like the style, then you'll have a lot of reward because it's really easy and quick to read, to understand and to apply.
In this work, the author proposes a model to foster team work quality in several steps starting from the foundations of team work up to full focus on result.

Model / Concepts

The goal is to face the typical dysfunctions of a team from the bottom to build up a strong, cohesive team working together towards the result.

1. Absence of trust - This is the first dysfunction, where people tend to hide their weaknesses and mistakes. To address that, one has to build a culture, where being open and human is natural and seen as positive.
2. Fear of conflict - Debate and constructive conflict are the base of successful and committed decisions. A team has therefore to fight against the fear of conflict, which creates unconstructive artificial harmony.
3. Lack of commitment - After constructive conflict, it is important to enforce clarity and closure thus avoiding ambiguity. Clear decisions help getting to commitment.
4. Avoidance of accountability - When trust, positive debate, and commitment are achieved, a leader has to support accountability, which helps keeping high standards.
5. Inattention to result - Finally, the team can concentrate on result and avoid destructive status and ego issues.

Impact
Well, the impact is huge!
It's quite easy to explain and promote the concepts.
Trust, constructive conflict and commitment, are also easy to apply and have a clear impact in the way the team works. Of course, you have to address all the fears both on a team level and for every team member on a one-on-one level, but then you can have substantial improvements in short time.
Avoidance of accountability is the most challenging dysfunction to address. Only people that trust each other and that don't fear conflict will have the courage to make their subordinate, pair or even superior accountable. This is a never ending work that brings also important benefits, but with more effort.

Rating

• rating Amazon - 4.4/5.0 (346 reviews)
• my rating - 5.0/5.0
• fun factor - 4.5/5.0
• simplicity - 5.0/5.0
• impact - 5.0/5.0

The One Minute Manager, Kenneth Blanchard & Spencer Johnson

"Short, simple, maybe even simplistic, but useful in practice."

Summary

That's a classic book arguing that management of people can be simple (one minute) by applying three basic concepts: Goal setting, praising, reprimand.

There is one key concept stating that it's easier to learn by knowing what to do (i.e. what is right), instead of knowing what not to do (i.e. what is wrong).

This is achieved by putting in place clarity with written goal setting, praising of right behaviours, and reprimanding bad behaviours when the goals and the right behaviours are known.

Model/concepts

One Minute Goal Setting

• Agree on goals, and write each goal on a single page with less than 250 words.
• Take a minute regularly to look at your performance and check if your behavior matches your goal.

One Minute Praising

• Praise people immediately and tell them specifically what they did right.
• Tell people how you feel about their behaviour, and how this impacts the success of other people and the whole organization.
• Encourage them to do more of the same.

One Minute Reprimand

• Reprimand people immediately and tell them specifically what they did wrong.
• Tell people how you feel about their behaviour.
• Explain that you reprimand the behaviour, and still you value the people.
• When the reprimand is over, it's over.

Impact
Even though the model is quite simplistic, there is one extremely powerful concept that can be used in practice, which is: "Catch people doing something right".
The reason is simple: It's much easier to learn by knowing what to do instead what not to do.
This is indeed a huge motivator for employees, who are rewarded for their successes.
Additionally, when people are rewarded for their good job, they accept more easily the critics (or reprimands).
In my team, this turns out to be a powerful tool.

Rating

• rating Amazon - 4.1/5.0 (212 reviews)
• my rating - 4.0/5.0
• fun factor - 4.0/5.0
• simplicity - 4.5/5.0
• impact - 5.0/5.0