It's Ok to Ask 'Em to Work: And Other Essential Maxums for Smart Managers

Rating:
Summary: The Most Practical Business Book I've Ever Read
Review: I just read "It's Okay to Ask'em to Work" and it's the most practical business book I have ever read! Every page contains something I can take away and put to immediate, practical use in the workplace.

I particularly like the author's way of summarizing key points into simple,easy-to-remember maxims that help me retain the information.

Some of the maxims I found most helpful: 1)Paint a Clear Picture of the Target, 2) It's Okay to Ask 'em to Work, 3) Life is Mostly Packaging, 4) Everybody Wasn't Raised at Your House, and 5) You Don't Have to be Mad to Give Corrective Feedback. (I also liked "The Madder You Get -- the Dumber You Are! ")

I wish Frank McNair would write a book on sales, or parenting for that matter!

Buy this book and read it! You'll be glad you did!

Rating:
Summary: Good advice for anyone in the business world:
Review: It's OK to Ask 'Em to Work... is a terrific resource for anyone whose profession involves people management (I certainly wish my old boss had been able to read it!). The advice that Mr. McNair has to offer is clear, witty, concise, and very well-organized. I wish this book was required reading in all management training programs -- it would help avoid the morale-squashing mistakes that most managers seem prone to make (and repeat!). I heartily recommend this book as an invaluable support tool for anyone who works with people.

Rating:
Summary: Old-Fashioned Values in The New Economy
Review: McNair provides 119 "essential maxims" which are distributed within ten lively chapters. For example, Chapter 1 presents and discusses aphorisms relevant to "Vision and Planning" whereas the subject of Chapter 5 is "Feedback and Performance Management: What You Reward Is What You Get" and the subject of Chapter 9 is "Leadership." At the end of each chapter, McNair summaries its key points and then poses "Questions for Reflection."

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 2 which is representative of McNair's style. In it he discusses the assertion that "No One Can Motivate Anyone to Do Anything." After having reviewed a number of motivational films, he concluded:

Motivation "doesn't come out of film cans. It comes from people's heads and hearts. And we can't get into their heads and hearts --we are forever wholly elsewhere, in an orbit totally outside them. So we cannot ever motivate anyone to do anything -- it has to come from inside them. But we can [italics] create an environment in which others motivate themselves."

McNair describes himself as a "reductionist -- as a simplifier" who expresses complicated concepts in basic language. Moreover, he really means it when he suggests that "No one is sane; you're looking for compatible craziness" or "The madder you get, the dumber you are."

Obviously, McNair is fond of Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain but also, I suspect, of Oscar Wilde. Who will derive the greatest benefit from McNair's maxims? First, those who have only recently embarked on a business career and will appreciate practical, no-nonsense advice in a conversational format. Also, others who have been swimming laps in a corporate blender for quite a few years and need a fresh perspective or two. And perhaps a reason to smile. As you read his book, you will learn or be reminded of numerous "nuggets of wisdom"...and enjoy yourself in process.