First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently

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Summary: Out of the box and worthwhile
Review: This book is fascinating. Research showed that concentrating on employee talent and their role in the company encourages best performance. I was especially interested in the fact that experience played a less significant role in choosing employees for tasks than talent. This book is a wonderful guide for extraordinary performance. I recommend it in tandem with Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self. Optimal Thinking is the mental resource to optimize thinking and performance. Optimal Thinkers rise above managing tasks and outstanding performance.

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Summary: "Management books are all about soppy tales of success"
Review: Thats the first rule I broke and picked up this book to read. One of the interesting aspects of this book is the writing style. Focused and clear, each section usually begins with approaches to situations followed by 'conventional' managers, which has the reader usually vigorously agreeing to. And immediately the book shows how great managers handle the exact same issues differently. In doing so, the book acts as a nice little mirror we hold up to ourselves and quietly contemplate our own styles and management methods.

While the book does seem like a covert sales pitch for Gallup's methodology, the learnings and experiences shared are invaluable to a persons' understanding of herself and her style of operating. The authors dont force their point of view, rather they let the reader gently arrive at a perspective that meshes in harmoniously with her existing style.

This is one of those books which helps reformat the hard-disk of your brain, and leave it altered to view reality anew. Definitely worth a read... and best used by sharing the book with your reportees!

Rating:
Summary: BUY THE BOOK!
Review: The audio CD was was TOO abridged to be fully useful for anything other than a teaser to buy the book. It was very disappointing. Others - Good to Great - Execution - offer an unabridged version. I usually listed to the CD and buy the book as a reference. This time I had to buy the book to get enough of the details to be meaningful.

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Summary: Overrated: Breaking Rules causes corporate scandals
Review: This book appears to be written by a couple young guys who are very well educated but not so well experienced in management. Right up front (p. 11) they support the title of their book by stating great managers "consistently disregard the golden rule" (do onto others as you would like others to do onto you). That is nonsense and that is exactly what got the executives of Enron and numerous other corporations in BIG trouble.

This book was written in 1999 at the height of the deception going on by executives at Enron, Worldcom, Tyco International and multiple others before their inflated bubble burst. Leadership authors and speakers like these do a great disservice to those who earnestly want to learn how to succeed in business and those who want to trust the corporations they invest in.

This book of course isn't focused on how to break rules and has some good leadership tips. But so do a lot of good leadership books.

Rating:
Summary: Too much hot air
Review: Where is the comprehensive research which this book is based on? The author says lot of good things, in the wordiest fashion possible. He gives good stories and examples, but am I supposed to fashion my views on business\management on good stories and examples? Where is the substance in this book that makes me want to believe the author's ideas are worth a damn? Everyone thinks they have a good management theory, but few are worth anything, including this author's.

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Summary: Catalyzing
Review: Before reading First, Break All the Rules, one should come to terms with the fact that life just isn't fair. A causal part of this world's unfairness is its diversity, which also causes confusion among diverse managers. Diversity is not just ethnic or racial but also consists of personalities. The authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, both from the Gallup Organization, have tried to describe the best managers' common traits. Unfortunately, the first line goes like this: "The greatest managers in the world do not have much in common" (Buckingham 11). Even Buckingham and Coffman cannot institute a single rule to govern all managers everywhere. However, the authors have an advantage over traditional managers attempting to define perfect management. They have the new power of statistical meta-analysis. Despite statistics' 'liar' reputation, the added credibility of Gallup drew me, a skeptic, to this particular book.

The authors teach their readers concepts but not specific details regarding humanity's diversity. Through meta-analysis they found a recurring twelve questions (not answers) from the workplace. From these twelve questions the authors came up with four keys to great management. The four keys include the following: first to select a person, second to set expectations, third to motivate the person, and fourth to develop the person. These keys constitute the "catalyst" role: "the manager's function is to speed up the reaction between two substances, thus creating the desired end product" (Buckingham 59). This catalyst role excites me because that is my chief talent, 'catalyzing.'

This book distinguishes between managing and leading: "Great managers look inward... Great leaders, by contrast, look outward" (Buckingham 63). I take this to mean that managers use the organization's resources (both human and other assets) efficiently and effectively to accomplish the organization's goals; whereas, leaders set the organization's goals. They focus more on external stakeholders like competitors, customers, and the media. By this definition this book is about managing. I appreciated that the book defines its terms, especially since the subject matter begins in the abstract: our inability to categorize perfect management. Ironically, the book becomes more concrete when the authors form their four keys (aka - rules), but these keys have more credibility than traditional rules.

I particularly enjoyed a section titled "Temptations" under chapter four "The Second Key: Define the Right Outcomes." Sometimes managers will think they are gods who must dutifully fulfill their responsibility of controlling their people. "Although their areas of interest differ, these scientific experts all base their ideas on the same premise: namely, that each person's uniqueness is a blemish" (Buckingham 112, 113). This first temptation, perfecting people, reminds me of some views from the historical perspective, specifically the motion studies of Frederick Taylor and the Gilbreth family. These studies imply one most efficient way of accomplishing an organization's goals. I don't deny the studies' applicability to an assembly line, but the studies should not be generalized onto today's more diverse job market. On the other hand, two of Taylor's principles match those in this book: first to carefully select workers with the right abilities for the task and second to give workers the training and incentives to do the task with the proper work methods.

Another temptation falls along the lines of Douglas McGregor's Theory X/Theory Y perspective. "Trust is precious - it must be earned" (Buckingham 116). Contrarily, I believe that most people want to do well, but a manager may have miscast them into a wrong position or they may be lacking necessary tools to do their job. Trust like this enables managers to set an expectation rather than every step to the desired outcome. Trust allows delegating responsibility. Trust is precious, but it need not be earned.
From my experience, one or two employees sometimes can ruin a work experience for the majority. Therefore, one should not completely dismiss control. For me, the ability to control is the same as holding employees accountable for not meeting outcomes. Let them take their own steps as long as they meet the organization's goals. Rather than monitor each employee's performance style, a manager must monitor safety regulations and accurate production of products/services, to name a couple other responsibilities. With so much to do, managers need not fret away too much time on each employee's unique style.

I found this book very valuable, especially since I eventually want to acquire a master's degree in counseling. I've worked at places that practiced this book's concepts, and I feel like I have a sturdy hold on them. But I still do not feel comfortable with my understanding of leadership concepts in business. I will need to find another book for that or perhaps I will not learn that well until proceeding further in my career path. My next book to read is the sequel Now, Discover Your Strengths. Maybe leadership is or is not my strength, but I plan on finding that out for myself. Perhaps this sequel will help me.

Rating:
Summary: Doing things differently and getting the best results.
Review: I am impressed with the exhaustive research which fuel the concepts for outstanding management presented in this book. First Break all the Rules is clearly one of the most remarkable books of the decade because it gives managers permission to think outside the norm. Now, to take the next step from great management (based on coping extraordinarily well) to optimization (OPTIMIZING results and the efforts of others), I advocate Optimal Thinking: How to be Your Best Self by Rosalene Glickman, Ph.D. This millenium, corporate culture is moving from managers to optimizers, and management to optimization.

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Summary: Don't buy this book unless you also have another $50,000!!!!
Review: This is a book filled with interesting ideas and a survey tool that seems to be revolutionary.

There is a warning that the survey tool, known as the Q12, is copyright protected and therefore cannot be used without permission. We called to seek permission; was advised that the Gallup Legal Department said absolutely not. The only legal way to use the Q12 tool is to pay them $50,000 and have Gallup administer it. We don't have that much money.

Therefore, don't spend $18 to buy this book unless you also plan to spend another $50,000 to use it (legally).

Those of you who do not respect copyright laws will no doubt have no trouble using the survey tool.

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Summary: What is your talent?
Review: FBAtR is the result of an extensive study conducted by the Gallup organization and its research of the findings. From this study Gallup was able to identify 4 keys to being a successful manager/employee, with the most important being selecting for the right talent in the first place. While I have seen all four keys and recommendations in other books, FBAtR does a good job of showing how to apply those keys in certain scenarios, and provides relevant stories. I have read and re-read this book several times gaining a new tip for my job along the way. I believe this book can have merit for those who are looking to improve themselves as employees/managers or people.

FBAtR breaks down the true definition of talents, and recognizes that great managers select for talent and work on improving those talents, as opposed to working on one's weakness. If you can take this single concept and apply it, then you have broken all the rules.

One thing I should have recognized early on is the title. FIRST, break all the rules is a lead-in to what could be a long series of books. I am working on NOW, Discover your strengths. and am prepared for NEXT, Buy this book and FINALLY, you have bought all our books or some variation in the name :-)

Rating:
Summary: One of the three books that advanced my career
Review: This book gave me the faith and framework to think outside the box. Optimal Thinking by Dr. Rosalene Glickman showed be how to be my best, bring out the best in others and make the most constructive choice in any situation. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen Covey gave me the foundation to go beyond independence and become interdependent. I recommend all of them.