2. Have you read any personal development books for managers? What titles do they typically have? Are they popular amongst managers in your country? Which authors specialise in this genre? Who is a typical self-help book author (both domestic and international)? Do you have any criticisms of this particular genre?
3. Read article here: Management Books Reading
4. Did your criticisms match those of the author of the article?
5. Below are some of the constants that management advice books have, and their actual outcomes (according to the author). Do you recognise any of them? Have you seen any examples of them in your industry?
a) Human behaviour is changeable. (Then why do we spend years receiving therapy?)
b) The manager will bring about change. (Company infrastructure outweighs any individual.)
c) Everybody in the company will benefit from the changes. (Outcomes are different for different workers.)
d) The new technique is universally effective. (Cultural or sectoral differences stop this.)
e) Positive case studies that prove the technique works. (Negative case studies are avoided.)
f) Managers are heroes. (Adoption of folk tales doesn't help.)
6. Why do you think that the market for management self-help books exists? Isn't it in the interests of companies to train their own managers and not rely on managers doing it themselves? Is there something missing from a manager's learning journey (leave university, get an entry-level job, then promotion)?
7. Modern authors sometimes borrow classical works and adapt them to modern business environments - I'm thinking of Lao Tzu's 'Art of War' - to arrive at something like 'Lao Tzu's Art of Accountancy'. What is the appeal of using texts from the past for the basis of a self-help book, do you think?
8. Could common sense replace a lot of the advice given in self-help books, or do you think that they contain real insights?
9. In what situation would you face 'myriad challenges'?
10. Does your language have an equivalent for 'herding cats'?
..........
Situation
The CEO of AndrewCorp (your teacher) wants to reduce the costs of the employee training programme: most employee training is done in-house by training contractors who teach IT, software programmes, and some foreign languages. His idea is to give each employee a small training budget which they should use for the purchase of books which are relevant to the employee's position in the company.
You are the head of HR. Make your opinion known on the use of self-help books for employee training - in which areas will it be effective/non-effective? Make recommendations on the types of training you think will be needed.
..........
Discuss quotes
"Self-help books for women are part of a multibillion-dollar industry, sensitively attuned to our insecurities and our purses."
--- Harriet Lerner
"Self-help books are for the birds. Self-help groups are where it's at."
--- Janice Dickinson
“The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work.”
— Agha Hasan Abedi
“Make your top managers rich and they will make you rich.”
— Robert H. Johnson
Student Handout PDF: Management Books
Photo: Andrea Piacquadio
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