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94 reviews for:
First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently
Curt Coffman, Marcus Buckingham
3.87 AVERAGE
94 reviews for:
First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently
Curt Coffman, Marcus Buckingham
3.87 AVERAGE
Some helpful nuggets in here. A few new ways to look at employees and at how to manage them. Middle of the book is a slog and I didn’t get much from it. The beginning and the end are where some of the gems are, if you can make it all the way through. Not a quick or light read. Valuable, but definitely difficult to get through at times.
Playbook on how to be a great people manager (what questions to ask, what to focus on, what to look for, etc). What really makes this book stand out is the depth of the research and the specific examples of how to match talents to roles (and the consequences of not doing so). I really did NOT enjoy the flashy management consulting writing (I hate the title...), but the content and clarity made it well worth it. Great for unlearning what you think a manager should do and better understanding your own talents/view of the world.
Really this breaks down to taking the Fundamental Attribution Error seriously, which is over-attributing performance to the person/character rather than the situation/environment: "In the minds of great managers, consistent poor performance is not primarily a matter of weakness, stupidity, disobedience, or disrespect. It is a matter of miscasting." -> Find out how someone sees the world and move them to a place they will both enjoy and provide value to others. The focus here is on the workplace, but that would extend in many other areas (ex. coaching sports).
Quotes:
- "This company didn’t have one culture. It had as many cultures as it did managers." ... "People leave managers, not companies."
- "As a manager your job is not to teach people talent. Your job is to help them earn the accolade 'talented' by matching their talent to the role." ... "....they define a productive team as one where each person knows which role he plays best and where he is cast in that role most of the time."
- "Great managers are not looking for people who are easy to manage. They are looking for people who have the talent needed to be world class. Therefore they prefer the challenge of taking a talented person and focusing him or her toward productivity to the challenge of trying to make a less productive person talented."
- "So this is their dilemma: The manager must retain control and focus people on performance. But she is bound by her belief that she cannot force everyone to perform the same way. The solution is as elegant as it is efficient: Define the right outcomes and then let each person find his own route towards those outcomes."
On a personal note: This also made me realize I may be managing myself poorly both in my personal and professional life. "You succeed by finding ways to capitalize on who you are, not by trying to fix who you aren't." -> I'm always trying to find my weakest points/skills and finding ways to overcome them/fill in gaps rather than emphasizing my strengths and finding where I would be set up to succeed already. Maybe my strength is identifying weaknesses and strengths? Part of this book made me think I would love to do this type of people work and that it would perfectly match up with my 'talents', though I would still have LONG way to go in building an Individual Contributor role foundation before I can enter that arena (got to pay my dues first).
Really this breaks down to taking the Fundamental Attribution Error seriously, which is over-attributing performance to the person/character rather than the situation/environment: "In the minds of great managers, consistent poor performance is not primarily a matter of weakness, stupidity, disobedience, or disrespect. It is a matter of miscasting." -> Find out how someone sees the world and move them to a place they will both enjoy and provide value to others. The focus here is on the workplace, but that would extend in many other areas (ex. coaching sports).
Quotes:
- "This company didn’t have one culture. It had as many cultures as it did managers." ... "People leave managers, not companies."
- "As a manager your job is not to teach people talent. Your job is to help them earn the accolade 'talented' by matching their talent to the role." ... "....they define a productive team as one where each person knows which role he plays best and where he is cast in that role most of the time."
- "Great managers are not looking for people who are easy to manage. They are looking for people who have the talent needed to be world class. Therefore they prefer the challenge of taking a talented person and focusing him or her toward productivity to the challenge of trying to make a less productive person talented."
- "So this is their dilemma: The manager must retain control and focus people on performance. But she is bound by her belief that she cannot force everyone to perform the same way. The solution is as elegant as it is efficient: Define the right outcomes and then let each person find his own route towards those outcomes."
On a personal note: This also made me realize I may be managing myself poorly both in my personal and professional life. "You succeed by finding ways to capitalize on who you are, not by trying to fix who you aren't." -> I'm always trying to find my weakest points/skills and finding ways to overcome them/fill in gaps rather than emphasizing my strengths and finding where I would be set up to succeed already. Maybe my strength is identifying weaknesses and strengths? Part of this book made me think I would love to do this type of people work and that it would perfectly match up with my 'talents', though I would still have LONG way to go in building an Individual Contributor role foundation before I can enter that arena (got to pay my dues first).
This book explodes the notion of being well rounded as a good thing and says that great managers value innate "talent" over curiosity, intelligence, or eagerness to learn. I worry that the focus on selecting and grooming talent may be interpreted by some as an excuse to avoid development or training, and to write off strugglers/stragglers as "non-talents." At the very least, Gallup has a unique approach; this is a good litmus test for how much you can buy into what later became their "StrengthsFinder" doctrine.
If there was only one book to read for a first time manager (or even a long time manager) I would suggest this book. The 12 question metric is one that should be used more frequently, and thinking about separating out knowledge, skills, and talent is crucial to hiring the right people for the right job. I always balked at managing under conventional wisdom, and after reading this book I now know why. I was already implementing many of the suggestions in here, but often felt I had to justify it to more conventional managers. And yet, I've had the privilege of managing an amazing team (or two) and saw the stark differences in team engagement and productivity when managing in ways suggested by this book.
Book Riot Read Harder Challenge
Task 24: Self-Improvement
Task 24: Self-Improvement
informative
slow-paced
This is essential reading for anyone who manages, or aspires to manage, people. It analyzes the 12 questions that measure the core elements needed to attract and keep the greatest employees. The first 6 are the most important:
1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6 Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months have I talked to someone about my progress?
12. At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?
1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for good work?
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
6 Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel like my work is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months have I talked to someone about my progress?
12. At work, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?
Insightful and motivating
At my company we are starting a leadership roundtable so I chose this book as my first foray into the topic. Having been.a.manager now for 2.5 years i can name a number of ways I've followed conventional wisdom and have asked myself why this isn't working. This book gives some insight as to why I've struggled in this position at times. It also motivated me to put some of its findings into practice. I also like that with the purchase of this book i get access to the strengths finder test.
At my company we are starting a leadership roundtable so I chose this book as my first foray into the topic. Having been.a.manager now for 2.5 years i can name a number of ways I've followed conventional wisdom and have asked myself why this isn't working. This book gives some insight as to why I've struggled in this position at times. It also motivated me to put some of its findings into practice. I also like that with the purchase of this book i get access to the strengths finder test.