Management Books

1. Are you familiar with self-help books of the genre 'How to Unlock Your Confidence' or 'Don’t Wait For Your Ship to Come In. . . Swim Out to Meet It'? Have you read any? Which were useful to you; which weren't? Did any of the books affect the way you go about your life? If so, in what way? Do you have any recommendations for a book or an author? 

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

Portuguese Lessons

 

1. Have you ever been to Portugal? What do you know of the country?

2. What measures have schools in your country put in place to make schools safe places during this pandemic?

3. Do you know anyone who has switched from face-to-face teaching to online learning? What has been their experience? Has the change from classroom to online been done in an orderly manner?

4. Are you happy with state schools? Have you ever considered using private education? Are there any reasons why you would/wouldn't?

Read the article here up to/including the 16th paragraph:

Portuguese Lessons Reading

5. What is your reaction to the article? Which of the following are closest to your point of view?

a) "We're in the middle of a pandemic - lots of institutions are under pressure, and we're bound to get the occasional strange decision. It's nothing to worry about."

b) "Typical Lefties, instead of allowing some to thrive, everyone must be brought down to the same poor standards."

c) "The Portuguese government should ensure that state schools improve their online programmes."

6. Do you think that state-school pupils will benefit from this ban on private online tuition? Is Antonio Costa's heart in the right place, in that he wants to protect families who can't afford private education? Or is his government blinded by ideology? Which of the following phrases sums up their position best/worst: 

"If I can't have it, neither can you", "we're all in this together", "cut down the tall poppies", "we should have a level playing field"?

7. Private schools typically outperform state schools in the UK.  Occasionally, private schools will help state schools and provide support such as course materials or mentoring younger teachers. But this support is purely optional and probably only happens if school headmasters know each other. Is this a satisfactory state of affairs? Should the state provide everything at a universally high standard for education?

8. If you have children of your own, would you ever consider educating them yourself?

9. Isn't technology the solution to inequality in education? Shouldn't having the internet as a teacher be the ideal way of ensuring that everyone has equal provision?

..........

Situation

You are the Portuguese parent who has created the petition against this ban (paragraph 9). The local newspaper has sent a journalist to ask you about your campaign. Answer their questions.

..........

Discuss quotes

"People of my generation in Portugal fell into the magic potion of political ideas. What was very funny about this revolution was that it did not bring wealth to the Portuguese. But it brought language, ideas. You'd go to the fish market, and all the women who were selling fish would call each other fascist, or communist."     

--- Maria De Medeiros

"Levellers wish to level down as far as themselves; but they cannot bear levelling up to themselves."

--- Samuel Johnson

"Broadband access is the great equalizer, leveling the playing field so that every willing and able person, no matter their station in life, has access to the information and tools necessary to achieve the American Dream."

--- Michael K. Powell

“I am, at the Federal level, libertarian; at the state level, Republican; at the local level, Democrat; and at the family and friends level, a socialist. If that saying doesn’t convince you of the fatuousness of left vs. right labels, nothing will.”

― Nassim Nicholas Taleb

"I never let education interfere with my learning."

---- Mark Twain

Student Handout PDF: Portuguese Lessons