By Richard FarsonOur Price: $21.00 Our Item Code: absurd Postage Code: book1
172 Pages, Simon and Schuster |
| Our Review | Opinion of the webmaster, subject to debate |
Psychologist, educator and former CEO Richard Farson presents of a series of management paradoxes designed to challenge conventional wisdom and encourage managers to reexamine their assumptions about effective leadership. Facile formulas, catchy slogans, ten-step programs, and quick fixes too often dominate today's management training programs. But in organizations as in all of life, human behavior is seldom predictable, and business dilemmas do not easily lend themselves to gimmicks or simplistic answers. -- dpk
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| Information from the Publisher | Always supportive |
Here, at last, is a dramatically new understanding of organizations and human relations. In his explorations of more than 30 paradoxical situations, Farson demonstrates the value of a radically different perspective on leadership and offers managers powerful new ways to cope with the many perplexing problems of organizational life. Managers at every level will recognize the very real dilemmas and complexities that Farson describes, and will be challenged by these provocative new views of the art of managing people.
Here are some of Farson's startling insights:
Many readers will share Michael Crichton's ressponse to this book, as he observes in the foreword, "He irritated me. He provoked me. He made me nod, he made me smile, and he made me shake my head... [He] reports more than experience; he gives us wisdom." Guided by Management of the Absurd, managers of the 21st century will be able to accept the inherent complexity of management situations and work through these dilemmas, not with manipulative and simplistic techniques but with understanding, compassion and effectiveness.
Richard Farson is a psychologist, former CEO, and educator. He was the cofounder and president of the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, the founding dean of the school of environmental design at the California Institute of the Arts, president of Esalen Institute, and is currently president of the International Design Conference in Aspen. He has collaborated with lifelong associate and famed psychologist Carl Rogers on several research projects including the Academy Award-winning documentary film Journey into Self. He received his Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Chicago, and was a Ford Foundation Fellow at Harvard Business School. He lives in La Jolla, California.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Embracing Paradox and Absurdity
A DIFFERENT WAY OF THINKING
1. The Opposite of a Profound Truth Is
Also True
3. The More Important a
Relationship, the Less
Skill Matters
THE PARADOXES OF COMMUNICATION
9. The More We Communicate, the
Less We Communicate
THE POLITICS OF MANAGEMENT
13. Every Act Is a Political Act
ORGANIZATIONAL PREDICAMENTS
15. Organizations That Need Help Most Will Benefit from It Least
DILEMMAS OF CHANGE
18. We Think We Want Creativity or Change, but We Really Don't
THE AESTHETICS OF LEADERSHIP
26. Every Great Strength Is a Great Weakness
AVOIDING THE FUTURE
32. Lost Causes Are the Only Ones
Worth Fighting For
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| Indexing Information | Other Relevant Ufomind Pages |
Article from Psychology Today summarizing the main points of the book.
"Throw Out The Quick-Fix Programs For Managers", Lynne Carrier Daily Transcript
Synopsis of course taught by Richard Farson
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