Re: How to deal with the conflict in your daily work

"J. B. Rainsberger" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.comp.programming.language-of-the-year
Message-ID <[email protected]>
On 2008-06-16, at 08:47 , M. Edward (Ed) Borasky wrote:

> J. B. Rainsberger wrote:
> > Thank you for letting us know how you feel about Lencioni's book. I
> > would appreciate it if you would give me an example of something you
> > strongly dislike about the book so I could better understand your
> > perspective. Also, you appear to say that Lencioni's work implies
> > implementing an authoritarian management style, which I did not  
> see in
> > his work, so I would really appreciate it if you would share some of
> > your insight into the connection.
>
> First of all, it's a fable. As, by a strange coincidence, are "The
> One-Minute Manager" and "Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun". I  
> don't
> like fables. I've only read the one book by Lencioni, so I can't  
> comment
> on the others. And it's been long enough that I can't really remember
> how I came up with the link to authoritarianism in that particular  
> book.
>
So it appears you don't like fables to illustrate ideas. Do I have  
that right? Ignoring the fable, what did you think of the rest of  
"Five Dysfunctions..." where Lencioni describes the model? I would  
like to know whether the delivery system turned you off or the  
concepts themselves.

I have also read Lencioni's "Five Dysfunctions" field guide, which has  
no fable, and recently "Three Signs of a Miserable Job", which I  
rather liked, fable and concepts. I happen to like fables: The Goal,  
Deadline, Five Dysfunctions... Robert Allen's "One-Minute  
Millionaire" (?) has a different format: the left-hand pages form a  
fable and the right-hand pages form a textbook, so you can choose  
which format you prefer.

If you happen to remember the authoritarianism bit, I hope you'll have  
the energy to come back here and tell me, because you've piqued my  
curiosity.
> Zero tolerance is a personal thing. In the case of gossip, one can
> refuse to participate. I'd recommend for a start reading
>
> http://www.trans4mind.com/counterpoint/blair4.shtml
>
I much prefer people to act sensibly on their own than have rules  
needlessly overconstrain their behavior. I certainly prefer open  
communication to back-channel communication such as gossip.
> And, since you brought up the school systems in your link about zero
> tolerance, where do you stand on the episode last week where some
> highway patrol officers came into classrooms and told the students  
> that
> some of their classmates had been killed by drunk drivers? It turned  
> out
> to have been a hoax and an effort to shock the children and teach  
> them a
> lesson.
>
> http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/12/national/main4177541.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4177541
>
While I understand the impulse to try something drastic when one fails  
to get through to people, I found their actions cruel. I don't know  
about consequences for the police and the school system who  
traumatized these students, but I would hate to see them repeat the  
experiment.

Take care.
----
J. B. (Joe) Rainsberger :: http://www.jbrains.ca
Your guide to software craftsmanship
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