Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work : Seven Languages for Transformation by Robert Kegan, Lisa Laskow Lahey ISBN: 0-7879-6378-X Publisher: Jossey-Bass Pub. Date: 13 December, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Superb treatment of the subject
Comment: The authors do a wonderful job of tying the science of languages and communication to the business of work and life. Filled with great examples from the world, it is easy to understand and digest.
Recommend also: "The Leader's Guide: 15 Essential Skills" (Ponder) and "7 Habits" (Covey)
Rating: 5
Summary: Like a mirror to see yourself in
Comment: This book does for business leaders and their teams what the 7 Habits (Covey) did for individuals back in the 90s, but it goes a step forward: it's packed with case studies. I won't add to the discussion about the Seven Languages for Transformation, since my fellow reviewers have already gone into extensive detail about them. The key concept that the book left me was the idea of diving into conflicts to have them "solve" you, as opposed to running away from them or trying to solve them. The basis for this idea has to do with the learning opportunities that a conflict has to offer, and the opportunities of self-discovery to dig out blatant inconsistencies between what we say we care about and what our language and actions actually shows.
Overall, the book is a very easy read, whether you do it in order to seriously implement its suggested methodology (and it is one serious set of ideas it carries) or just as a mirror to help you laugh at your so-called professional commitments.
Rating: 4
Summary: Basic psychology for business people
Comment: Did you ever hear of something called "secondary gain"?
"Secondary gain" is the "hidden", possibly unconscious, reason why a person acts in a way that may, to an external observer, appear to be self-defeating. For example, Joe Bloggs frequently, and apparently sincerely, expresses a desire to lose weight - but he never does.
Why?
Because Joe has an unspoken belief that he will be safe from mugging so long as he looks big enough to wrestle a bull.
This isn't exactly rocket science. The genius of this book is that Kegan and Lahey have taken the "secondary gain" principle and repackaged it (without the usual psycho-babble) in a way that, hopefully, will appeal to the business community at large.
To this end they have developed a means by which people can quickly and easily - if they are willing - uncover what the authors call the "competing commitment" that undermines a person's declared commitment in a given situation.
For example, manager Fred Katz has the declared commitment of empowering his subordinates. Yet he briefs his people on a strictly "need to know" basis (and of course only Fred knows what his people "need" to know).
Using Kegan and Lahey's approach, described in detail in this book, Fred might discover that he has a competing commitment to gain promotion by demonstrating his indispensability. This he can only achieve, as he sees it, by keeping his people dependent on him as the one person in the department who has access to the "big picture".
Will this self-knowledge guarantee that Fred changes his behaviour?
Not necessarily. But at least he has a better understanding of his situation and is in a position to look for ways of achieving *both* commitments (empowerment AND promotion) in a constructive and non-conflicting manner.
Along with the main thrust of the book, the authors make a number of observations that are absolutely key elements of better management skills, including:
- sometimes it's better to let a problem ride, giving yourself a chance to learn from it, rather than trying to "fix" every little blip the moment it appears
- "The changing that people do because others make them costs an organisation a very dear price and is much shorter lived than the changing people do because they have first changed their minds"
This is a book that EVERY manager can benefit from reading, even those who think they have already achieved optimum performance.
My one criticism of the book - the reason why I have only given it four stars - is that flow of the text is regularly interrupted by lapses into poor grammar and sentence construction. And this despite, one assumes, the attentions of a professional editor.
How, for example, did this paragraph ever get into print?:
"But how exactly might we further creating and practicing this language in real life work (as opposed to merely illustrating it)?"
And a few lines later:
"Whatever salable [sic] product they have produced ..."
Surely even a basic scan of the text with a decent spelling/grammar checker would have been sufficient to pick up items like this?
 |
Title: In over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life by Robert Kegan ISBN: 0674445880 Publisher: Belknap Pr Pub. Date: July, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.65 |
 |
Title: The Evolving Self by Robert Kegan ISBN: 0674272315 Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr Pub. Date: September, 1983 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
 |
Title: Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, Stephen R. Covey ISBN: 0071401946 Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books Pub. Date: 18 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
 |
Title: Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, Roger Fisher ISBN: 014028852X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 03 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
 |
Title:The Real Reason People Won't Change (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) by Robert Kegan, Lisa Laskow Lahey ASIN: B00005U01D Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: 24 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $7.00 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $7.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
