Rating: 
Summary: Reading this is like taking a competence pill
Review: Reviewer: Mark Lamendola, MBA,....Two thumbs up! Farson hits the nail on the head, time after time. Usually when I review a management-related book, I don't post the review because I can't come up with a positive one! Most books on this topic oversimplify and make recommendations that have me wondering just how stupid the author thinks people are. The fact I will post a review of this management book is a ringing endorsement. I listened to this book on tape--the author is a very good narrator. But now I am convinced I need a hard copy to refer to every so often. One reason this book succeeds is the author guides the reader into a different way of looking at common management problems. Common solutions (those most often prescribed by the typical management books) merely exacerbate problems. In reality, management problems defy resolution via simple formulas. Understanding why things are as they are is the first step to successfully coping with them. Things are not always as they seem. What does this mean to a manager who must solve problems like employee dissatisfaction? That is a question Farson answers extremely well. The answer is not "be a robot and do this." Instead, Farson shows you how to best use the talents, knowledge, and intelligence you already have. Farson shows you how to identify the real issues and where to look for achievable resolution. Personally, I like a book that doesn't assume I am a programmable robot but instead helps me grow in my own area of expertise. That is why I decided to post a review of Management of the Absurd.
Rating: 
Summary: A must-read for Third World managers.
Review: Richard Farson's Management Of The Absurd has succeeded in taking traditional management thinking by its collar and really shaking it up. I was attracted to this book initially solely by its title which reflects management situations with which managers in Third World countries - as elsewhere - are faced. Managing the absurd is nothing new to managers in Third World countries where the "big stick" and threats are often used as motivational tools. The marrying of traditional - in its cultural context - management "techniques" and the effective understanding of the Management Of The Absurd concepts can only but make better managers in countries which tend to be fiercely conventional in this regard.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Wisdom - A must read for Management Consultants
Review: The value of this book is as a counterpoint to the thousands of simple-minded, formulaic, technique-laden books on management, change management, and leadership.
Whether you agree with him or not this book will make you think, and will challenge your underlying assumptions.
I'm not surprised some of the reviewers find it a frustrating read, and would have prefered a recipe book of prescriptive how-to techniques. They've missed the point, this book "educates" rather than "trains". Fortunately for all of us leadership and life in general cannot be reduced to a set of formulas and techniques. To think or hope otherwise would truly be absurd.
A great complement to the works of Maslow, systems thinking, and chaos theory literature.
Rating:
Summary: A modern Peter Principle
Review: There have been a lot of humorous, insightful, books about management and leadership over the years, but few with any staying power. This book is one of texts to be put on the reference shelf next to Parkinson's Law, The Peter Principle, and the Abilene Paradox. I use it in a corporate training format and it truly changes the way people think about themselves and their relationship to their organization!
Rating:
Summary: A real find. A great guide to the way organizations work.
Review: This book turns all the normal bromides about management on their heads. It explains why people succeed who shouldn'tand why people fail who shouldn't. Managing the Absurd is a great companion piece to Dilbert. In Dilbert organizational life just "is" aburd. Richard Farson explains why.
Rating:
Summary: A must have reference book for those wanting to be a leader
Review: This is a must have reference book for anyone wanting to improve his or her ability to be an effective leader. A reference book because one cannot read it once and remember the many management and leadership paradoxes it sheds light on. Additionally, it is a book which compels you to attempt to read it in one setting yet requires a second and third reading in order to really understand the differences between how we normally try to manage and lead versus some of the 180 degree different approaches offered by Mr Farson.
Rating:
Summary: A Work of Brilliance
Review: This is truly an amazing book. It changed my thinking profoundly. I have now read it three times over and enjoy it afresh each time. It has an Eastern, almost Taoist flavor to it. The only flaw is some PC nonsense,but this does not detract from the overall charm. I truly reccomend this to all philosophic, as opposed to, formula managers.
Rating:
Summary: A management book that will make you think.
Review: This may be the finest management/leadership book I've ever read (and I've read quite a few). Most so called management books consist of theories and/or formulas that never seem to work in real life. Most of these books are based upon an individual reacting in a rational way to a given set of circumstances. Unfortunately, as Mr. Farson points out, many people do not act in a prescribed way and this is where most management books fail. Having worked in the bureaucratic jungle of D.C. for a number of years, this is truly a breath of fresh air. Forget the typical management "gimics" and read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Leadership is a paradox, not a formula
Review: We generally believe that human behavior in a corporate setting is rational, a game with deterministic rules. The implication is that if we can just study the rules well enough, especially by learning them from the right guru, any reasonably talented person will know how to win. An enormous management training industry in books, tapes, seminars, consultants, etc. exists to teach various versions of the rules. "Management of the Absurd" aims to show how such logical, conventionally-wise approaches to management are just too simplistic, in that they do not take into account the paradoxes inherent in human nature. In much the same way that the financial decisions of real people, taken individually, are much more complicated and unpredictable than the simple-minded 'homo economicus' which basic economics requires for its explanations, the workplace behavior of real people is much more complex than typical management theories are able to capture. Parent-child and boss-employee relationships are hardly analogous, but a parallel can be usefully drawn between management training and parenting manuals. No one expects to become a good parent just by reading a book. Similarly, the many aspects of working together successfully in an organizational context are too subtle to effectively systematize. So this book's intent is to describe, not prescribe. I did not give the book a fifth star because some of the illustrative examples were uninspired: the tired old "lower the truck by letting air out of the tires" anecdote as an example of seeing things from a different angle, the popularity of both fast food and gourmet cookbooks as an example of coexistence of opposites, and a few others. Also some of the observations seemed trite, e.g., "nothing is as invisible as the obvious" and "every great strength is a great weakness". Having said that though, I did find most of the observations to be genuinely thought-provoking. They are listed below in chapter order. 1. the opposite of a profound truth is also true
2. nothing is as invisible as the obvious
3. the more important a relationship, the less skill matters
4. once you find a management technique that works, give it up
5. effective managers are not in control
6. most problems that people have are not problems
7. technology creates the opposite of its intended purpose
8. we think we invent technology, but technology also invents us
9. the more we communicate, the less we communicate
10. in communication, form is more important than content
11. listening is more difficult than talking
12. praising people does not motivate them
13. every act is a political act
14. the best resource for solving any problem is the person or group that presents the problem
15 organizations that need help most will benefit from it least
16. individuals are almost indestructible, but organizations are very fragile
17. the better things are, the worse they feel
18. we think we want creativity or change, but we really don't
19. we want for ourselves not what we are missing, but more of what we already have
20. big changes are easier to make than small ones
21. we learn not from our failures but from our successes -- and the failures of others
22. everything we try works, and nothing works
23. planning is an ineffective way to bring change
24. organizations change most by surviving calamities
25. people we think need changing are pretty good the way they are
26. every great strength is a great weakness
27. morale is unrelated to productivity
28. there are no leaders, there is only leadership
29. the more experienced the managers, the more they trust simple intuition
30. leaders cannot be trained, but they can be educated
31. in management, to be a professional, one must be an amateur
32. lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for
33. my advice is don't take my advice
Rating:
Summary: 'meta-thinking' about management
Review: We generally believe that human behavior in a corporate setting is rational, a game with deterministic rules. The implication is that if we can just study the rules well enough, especially by learning them from the right guru, any reasonably talented person will know how to win. An enormous management training industry in books, tapes, seminars, consultants, etc. exists to teach various versions of the rules. "Management of the Absurd" aims to show how such logical, conventionally-wise approaches to management are just too simplistic, in that they do not take into account the paradoxes inherent in human nature. In much the same way that the financial decisions of real people, taken individually, are much more complicated and unpredictable than the simple-minded 'homo economicus' which basic economics requires for its explanations, the workplace behavior of real people is much more complex than typical management theories are able to capture. Parent-child and boss-employee relationships are hardly analogous, but a parallel can be usefully drawn between management training and parenting manuals. No one expects to become a good parent just by reading a book. Similarly, the many aspects of working together successfully in an organizational context are too subtle to effectively systematize. So this book's intent is to describe, not prescribe. I did not give the book a fifth star because some of the illustrative examples were uninspired: the tired old "lower the truck by letting air out of the tires" anecdote as an example of seeing things from a different angle, the popularity of both fast food and gourmet cookbooks as an example of coexistence of opposites, and a few others. Also some of the observations seemed trite, e.g., "nothing is as invisible as the obvious" and "every great strength is a great weakness". Having said that though, I did find most of the observations to be genuinely thought-provoking. They are listed below in chapter order. 1. the opposite of a profound truth is also true
2. nothing is as invisible as the obvious
3. the more important a relationship, the less skill matters
4. once you find a management technique that works, give it up
5. effective managers are not in control
6. most problems that people have are not problems
7. technology creates the opposite of its intended purpose
8. we think we invent technology, but technology also invents us
9. the more we communicate, the less we communicate
10. in communication, form is more important than content
11. listening is more difficult than talking
12. praising people does not motivate them
13. every act is a political act
14. the best resource for solving any problem is the person or group that presents the problem
15 organizations that need help most will benefit from it least
16. individuals are almost indestructible, but organizations are very fragile
17. the better things are, the worse they feel
18. we think we want creativity or change, but we really don't
19. we want for ourselves not what we are missing, but more of what we already have
20. big changes are easier to make than small ones
21. we learn not from our failures but from our successes -- and the failures of others
22. everything we try works, and nothing works
23. planning is an ineffective way to bring change
24. organizations change most by surviving calamities
25. people we think need changing are pretty good the way they are
26. every great strength is a great weakness
27. morale is unrelated to productivity
28. there are no leaders, there is only leadership
29. the more experienced the managers, the more they trust simple intuition
30. leaders cannot be trained, but they can be educated
31. in management, to be a professional, one must be an amateur
32. lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for
33. my advice is don't take my advice
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