“Winnie-the-Pooh on Management” by Roger Ellen (Penguin, $14).
Pooh meets Peter Drucker. Pooh learns about objectives and how to reach them at the “Bee Tree.” He hears buzzing as he walks through the woods. Buzzing means bees. Bees make liquid gold — honey. Pooh spotted the hive way, way up in an old tree. Taking the direct route, Pooh began climbing. The higher he climbed, the thinner the branches became. Crack! Down tumbled Pooh.
What to do? Talk with Christopher Robin; he knows how to get things done. Together they develop tactics that not only got the honey, but did so without getting stung. Morals: The most direct route isn’t always the best one. Involving others usually produces better decisions and results.
Pooh ponders the meaning of “effective” in the “Horrible Heffalump Trap.” “If the manager isn’t getting the right things done, then he must be getting the wrong things done … then the manager will not make progress toward objectives.” The problem is that it’s easy to get distracted. We trap ourselves into ineffectiveness by trying to do much (multi-tasking is a myth), giving in to the ping of email and the ring of our phones — and believe we have to say “yes” to everyone who wants something (especially our time).
Another takeaway: Managers need to figure out how they really spend their time. How? Keep a time log for a week. Every six months, repeat the exercise to ensure you’re not wasting your time.
Through experiences with Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Tigger and other forest dwellers, Pooh learns about the “difficult how” of developing people. He realizes that managers cannot change people. The people have to want to change themselves. The best a manager can do is: “provide an environment that encourages them to develop themselves.” Managers should consider “effective” when making assignments because having a person work on their weaknesses won’t build their strengths. Productivity improves and people learn more when they collaborate based upon strengths. They each bring “effective” to the table.
• • •
“Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Master Business and Life” by Stefan Swanepoel (John Wiley & Sons, $21.95).
In this business parable, an executive gets in touch with his inner Dr. Doolittle on a trip to Africa’s Serengeti plains. Sean Spencer doesn’t talk to the animals; he observes and learns from them.
Let’s meet some of the animals:
• “The Enduring Wildebeest” — Outnumbering all the animals on the Serengeti, they migrate over 1,000 miles each year. They don’t know what’s over the next hill, or the next, or the next. When the going gets tough, they keep going. On the other hand, people replace tenacity and persistence with excuses and “Blame Game.”
• “The Enterprising Crocodile” — They don’t hunt for food. They wait for food to come to them. It always does because all animals need water. Crocs seize opportunity. In the workplace, management and employees go through their daily routines looking only at what’s on their desks. “Many people don’t see it (opportunity); many aren’t prepared for it; some don’t act fast enough. Others just let these possibilities slip through their fingers.”
• “The Strategic Lion” — Their hunting strategy works almost every day. Staying upwind and creeping through tall grass, lions take their prey by surprise. They work together, too, under the direction of the lead lioness. The business message: Everyone has to be on the same page to translate strategy into execution. The choices made create options and obstacles. Dealing with both is a team’s job.
You’ll also learn from the “efficient cheetah,” “graceful giraffe,” “communicating elephant” and “risk-taking mongoose.”
Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.
