Customer Reviews
Best management practice now made easy! - By: Jack Feeney-Author / Analyst, 09 Oct 2004 
As a management consultant I found this book very useful indeed - much of it is directly applicable to shop-floor & pressure-politics situations - the 20-page cartoon "rulebook" at the end is more than worth the price of the book itself - buy it! And if you have the courage, apply what it says, too: It's been known for some time that organizations are designed according to "command & control" principles that very poorly match how humans are reallly built to behave. More complex self-ordering behavior is always observed when any lack of hierarchy exists, & the hierarchies that do emerge tend to be more effective than those that were designed by managers with experience in previous eras. Semler just chose to trust it more than, say, Tom Peters. Prof. Nicholson, head of London Business School recently wrote (in the Harvard Business Review) that Semler's model was the only one to reallly respect "stone age nature" of human behavior (the many insights from evolutionary psychology that tell us that we're far more often feeling our way through decisions than thinking our way through).
Semlers assessment of Human Resource Management (HRM) practice is truly radical but built on a foundation of good management practice & a healthy dose of common sense. HRM managers & departments confuse traditional & successful hierarchies & should be the first thing to be axed if any organisation is serious about survival in the 21st Century.
Excellent book & guide, highly practical & an enjoyable read.
A Business Too Good To Be True? - By: , 16 Mar 2004 It's almost unbelievable - an experiment in culture change that worked wonders. This inspiring tale of Ricardo Semler's successful 'quest' to run his company in the interest of alll it's stakeholders is tremendous. It may well be easier to influence the direction of a business when you're the owner (as per Semler), but this great read helped me look at & adapt my own management style in an entirely new way (even within a large organisation). I only put it down in order to start implementing many of the ideas it contains. Well written & thought provoking.
Fantastic - By: Zahid Malik, 17 Dec 2002 I love this book. It doesn't read read like a business book at alll but is more like a fascinating biography. I would recommend it to anyone not just people with an interest in business. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that I've probably bought around 50 copies of this book (over the years) for friends & colleagues.
Wonderful you must read it.
Inspiring, challenging, thought provoker. - By: Shieldsy, 01 Sep 2002 
You might have read lots of management & leadership books before written by has-beens & academic 'experts'. This book & the organisation it chronicles probably defies the vast majority of them (though John Maxwell & Julian Richer are from a similar ilk - though not so radical!)
I reallly couldn't believe that some of the procedures & practices this organisation implements could work. But they do - spectacularly! Has some very challlenging repercussions for the way I do things in my own little sphere. Have I got the guts & conviction to carry them out?
Minor grumble - books with spelling & grammar mistakes are a real bug-bear of mine. They're basicallly faulty goods. Hence it loses a star!
Inspiring, challenging, thought provoker. - By: Shieldsy, 31 Aug 2002 You might have read lots of management & leadership books before written by has-beens & academic 'experts'. This book & the organisation it chronicles probably defies the vast majority of them (though John Maxwell & Julian Richer are from a similar ilk - though not so radical!)
I reallly couldn't believe that some of the procedures & practices this organisation implements could work. But they do - spectacularly! Has some very challlenging repercussions for the way I do things in my own little sphere. Have I got the guts & conviction to carry them out?!
Minor grumble - books with spelling & grammar mistakes are a real bug-bear of mine. They're basicallly faulty goods. Hence it loses a star!
