Management Lessons: The Book, The Poem, or The Thing
Books and Other Things by David Zinger
Here is a very simple management exercise. I have done this with groups for over 20 years and have been both inspired and amazed by participant answers.
This post will work if you work. What I need from you is the willingness to briefly write about a book, poem, or thing that was significicant to you as a manager and why it was significant.
You can write about it in the comments or if you blog why not write a blog post and let us know where it is by referring to it in the comments.
Workshop participant responses have included such things as: a rock, a children’s book, a book by Peter Drucker, a poem by Emerson, a haiku, a pen, etc.
The book, poem, or thing has always been significant because it was both personal and meaningful. And often the most personal is the most universal so other people learn much by us writing about what was significant.
Please comment on a book, poem, or thing that was significant to you as a manager and why it was significant.
Photo Credit: Got Books by http://flickr.com/photos/doopokko/106091054/
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POSTED IN: management
6 opinions for Management Lessons: The Book, The Poem, or The Thing
David Zinger
Apr 24, 2008 at 2:47 am
I realized that I did not write about my significant book poem or thing. I could write about many books that have made a difference but one thing that really taught me was a rock. No, I am not Rocky and I am not going to go 10 rounds. I have put the rock in front of management groups and simply asked what it is and what it does. I have been amazed by the responses, ranging from “it is a rock” to “it is an aboriginal baby grandfather” to “it is the bond between us.” If a small rock can be seen in so many different ways it helps us to realize how work can be viewed in so many ways. When things get “rocky” there may be help from others and their view of what is going on.
David
@Stephen Productivity in Context
Apr 24, 2008 at 7:11 pm
“In Search of Excellence” by Tom Peters. The anecdote about the Japanese electronics manufacturer putting the defective parts in a separate bag blew me away.
I worked for BigCorp back then (1992) and I knew that they would never see the 21st century.
They didn’t. I did.
David Zinger
Apr 25, 2008 at 3:42 am
That is a classic!
Tanmay Vora
Apr 25, 2008 at 6:02 am
As a manager, I have a few quotes that I keep revisiting - and they never fail to inspire me. The gist of everything we do as a manager is covered in these few quotes. Here they go -
ON BEING ALIVE
“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” - Harold Thurman Whitman
ON WORK AND LOVE
Work is love made visible.
ON SELFLESS SERVICE
“The critical question is not “How can I achieve?” but “What can I contribute?”
ON ADAPTABILITY
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” —Charles Darwin
ON BOUNCING BACK
“I am hurt, but I am not slain;
I’ll lay me down and bleed a while,
And then I’ll rise and fight again.”
- John Dryden
EXPECTATION MANAGEMENT
“To raise someone’s expectations then not fulfill them is worse than mediocrity.” - Seth Godin
Being into Project management, the last one makes the most sense when it comes to my work.
David Zinger
Apr 25, 2008 at 8:11 am
Tammay:
Quite a nice selection of quotations. I do like the last one.
David
career
Apr 26, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Oh wait. Yes, I have. I’m sorry, but I just don’t have it in me right now to type it all out again. Besides, it was just ramblings anyway. You didn’t want to hear me go on and on about this, right?
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