This is one of the most optimistic books Ive read in a long while.
Actually its made me want to give it to everyone I work with which
makes it great that it can be this quarters book choice.
The Fred Factor is a fable: its the story of Mark Sanborns postman, who when Sanborn moved to his area made him exceptionally welcome and went out of his way to be useful to him professionally and socially.
Sanborn uses Fred the postman as the basis for a very simple set of rules to transform your working life into a satisfying and rewarding career. He identifies what it takes to make you a Fred and how becoming a Fred is actually often all it takes to make your work fulfilling.
Its a bit American-style schmaltz but only a very little bit. Mainly its packed full of common sense ideas that we can all put into place. As I firmly believe in a working environment thats full of people helping each other rather than competing head on with each other, its the first business book Ive come across that reflects the culture that I work in.
There are four basic Fred principles :-
None of this is rocket science. But its a refreshing change from the Attila the Hun or Machievelli schools of management that have been circulating in recent years.
Sanborn compares his theory to the old Random Acts of Kindness theory thats been floating around. He comments that thats good advice: but I have something to add: Why not practice Acts of the Extraordinary regularly?
If you become Fred-like regularly cumulatively life becomes better for us all. Without eulogising about this simple book too much (after all Im aware this is a commercial enterprise) you have to admit the truth of how great it feels if you do get some kind of exceptional service from an unexpected quarter. And in a world where the popular culture is about fame and celebrity, and the dominant wisdom is that you can fake it until you make it, this book suggests being authentic and passionate about the small things.
If the first half of the book is about being a Fred the second deals with encouraging Freds in your organisation. And usefully he gives some helpful suggestions about how to spot Freds in an interview situation. Asking questions like: who are your heroes and why? Why would anyone do anything more than necessary? Whats the coolest thing thats ever happened to you as a customer and why?
And then importantly remember to reward the behaviour that you desire. Sanborn quotes Dr LeBoeuf (from his book The Greatest Management Principle in the World) when he says we dont get the behaviour we hope for, beg for, demand we get the behaviour we reward.
So a really simple book but well worth the time spent reading, and hopefully an inspirational essay as we all enter even more competitive and tough times ahead.
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Warren E Buffet himself says : "No other management book will ever be
needed" which is a kind of impressive cover blurb, isnt it?
Not entirely sure about that myself - I dont think we'll be closing down the book club on the strength of this one title.
This is Jack Welch on how to win. In contains a very convincing and authentic set of rules by which I'm sure Welch lived in order to succeed. I'm not sure from reading it if he would have been an entirely inspiring person to work for.
I've probably been put off by the early sporting analogy about differentiating people :- He says " I didnt invent differentiation! I learned it on the playground when i was a kid. When we were making a baseball team, the best players always got picked first, the fair players were put in the easy positions, and the least athletic ones had to watch from the sidelines" Differentiation means putting the people in your organisation into 20-70-10 split with the 10% being the people that you get rid of. Not much chance of redemption here. (Welch by the way would say I'm being soft).
But I liked very much his section on strategy. often in the course of the working day we come across people who reject strategy - we may get told - 'dont mention the S word or you'll get chucked out the board room' . Equally we work with some people who dont move without months of strategy - huge unwieldy documents that crucify any sponteneaity or creativity from a plan. Welch is straight talking about both ends of the spectrum. 'Strategy means making clear-cut choices about how to compete. You cannot be everything to everybody, no matter what the size of your business or how deep its pockets.' And he follows with a 5 slide template for a strategic presentation that does indeed cover all you need. And ' ponder less and do more' is not bad advice for many organisations.
The book covers a great deal of territory. Much of it brusquely and with refreshing candour. I'm again not sure that I'd personally look to Jack Welch for advice on work/life balance (famously his idea of work life balance was actually work/golf balance - sound familiar ?), but there is much advice that is worth listening to.
Welch has obviously put a lot of his life experience into this book. And undoubtedly there's lots to learn from . But I think the simplicity of the Fred Factor may have just as much to do with winning as Welch's rather more Darwinian advice.
At the end of the book we get a set of questions that Welch has been asked over the years. One of these stands out :- 'Im about to be transferred to run operations in West Africa and I've been told to expect 40% of the workforce have Aids or a family member with the disease. Any suggestions for dealing with this problem?" Is Welch floored by this question ? Not at all. His response comes back to the point of his book. Winning companies help economies. He can ensure his winning company helps with the social circumstances of his employees. In a world where some people put more trust in celebrities than they do in politicians and where cause related marketing has become an ever more important issue, it is of course important that we find a way to help the companies we work for become ever more successful. However he's touching on a bigger debate here, - who wins - you, your career? The corporation? The customers? Society generally?
I'm not sure that there's any answers or possibly even much question in this book. But its thought provoking and well worth referring to.
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Love him or loathe him Jose Mourinho is the man of the moment. He is another of the cerebral European managers
that have transformed the way the football is played in Britain. His methods are a long way from those of Harry
Bassett and Big Ron, and are thought provoking in the context of the boardroom as well the boot-room.
What is perhaps most interesting about the man and this book, other than the descriptions of Portugese local derbies, are Mourinhos views on team building and preparation, two vital aspects of success for any organisation. His success has been built on leaving nothing to chance, even when this meant confrontations with authority and breaking with accepted codes of practice in football.
What we learn from him is that the team and team spirit is everything. There is no room for individual whim. He banned the Porto board from walking on the pitch in their home ground as the surface had to belong to the team alone. He also felt no compunction in turfing powerful club officials out of their hotel rooms on occasions when the players accommodation was compromised before away fixtures. He also bucked the current trend for huge squads. Mourinho will not work with more than twenty four players believing that too many players without regular involvement on the pitch is bad for morale. This single minded focus on the team meant that his Porto team conquered all in domestic and European competitions despite their modest financial muscle.
Mourinhos iconoclastic approach also reaped dividends in the arena of match preparation and tactics. His approach has been to leave nothing to chance, ever. In this respect he is shown to be more Chess Grandmaster than traditional football gaffer. One of the first interesting things that we learn is that he refuses to use the usual array of old pros to assess opponents strengths and weaknesses. Instead he relies upon an old university colleague who has never played at the top level, but is a master of tactical analysis, to produce meticulous dossiers on all opponents. These form the basis of incredibly precise game plans in which every player is drilled to the maximum level as to what is expected of him. This even extended to producing individual DVDs for each player highlighting strengths and weaknesses of their key opponent.
After reading this book, which ends at the point Mourinho agrees to join Chelsea, it comes as no surprise that he has already won two trophies and stands on the brink of a second successive triumph in Europe. Despite the deep pockets of Roman Abramovich, and my own distress at Chelseas success, readers will be forced to admit that Mourinhos success is not just derived from acquiring countless stars on huge wages. His belief in the importance of team unity and purpose should be a lesson to us all. No one member of the organisation can ever be bigger that the end goal. Mourinho is the living embodiment of the ability of the best prepared man to overcome seemingly overwhelming opposition resources.
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