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Summary: brilliant insight to mature and creative management
Review: My only concern about this book is that it is so simple and brilliant that people may not implement some of the ideas. If you are looking to improve buy it. If you are looking for something complex, buy a book on quantum physics !
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Summary: The Disorganized Organization- Order in Chaos
Review: Ricardo Semler stumbles on to a secret of effective management ...which is not such a great secret anyway! Because this concept of management has been used to manage the biggest and most complex organizations of all time: democracy! The very same democracy that teeters between chaos and order, that gives life, that gives growth. The same democracy that has helped a chaotic country like India survive and grow! What is the secret of Semco and a country like India? Something tells me the value that both these systems give to individuals..the dignity, the basic humanness is cherished and therefore the individuals give the same back to the system. Oh yes, there is a lot of order and predictability in the traditional organization and the dictatorship...but any living system that does not respect life and humanness is bound to fall down on itself. So in a way, Ricardo Semler by embracing disoder, chaos and democracy gives us back our faith in humanity and human beings.
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Summary: Creative, factual and uncommenly capturing
Review: Semler's book "Maverick" is perhaps the most inspirational book that I have ever read. I am a student of commerce at Canterbury University of Christchurch and Semler's ability to question the very makeup of standard business practise is commendable. What is most incredible is that the book is not a fictional work of a business scholar spouting theory but no practise, but instead an account of what Semler himself has accomplished. This work is a must for any business person, team leader, or entrepreneur seeking a successful and meaningful career. Many ideas that Semler produces are as obvious as they are brilliant, it would appear the answers were so simple yet it took for someone like Semler to point them out. A truly memorable writing achievement from an incredible man.
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Summary: Inspiring organization building advice
Review: Semler's comments on how to drive ownership, culture, and integrity apply broadly to any business, and I find them particularly helpful in my work with startups. The book applies to tasks large and small. The appendices with the employee handbook and the managerial review survey are both great. The book is extremely well written, although it sounds a little glib at times. Readable, intriguing, and actionable. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Talento latinoamericano para el mundo
Review: Semler, gran valor!! A traves de un ameno relato nos ilustra una historia de transformaciones que puede ser aleccionadora para todos los jovenes que estamos emprendiendo nuevos negocios con animo de traer desarrollo a nuestros paises con visiones frescas y a la vez democraticas. Indispensable de leer, sobretodo para comenzar a buscar caminos que vinculen las economias abiertas y competitivas con una logica de compromiso social .
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Summary: best way to be yourself and fulfilled at "work"!
Review: The book has given me a lot of inspiration into what a totally decontrolled and free thinking company can accomplish. We are a family firm based in Kenya, and I would like to see a similiar philosophy and free thinking individualism philosophy here where entrepreneurship and care for each other work hand in hand for success inthe company and in our lives.
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Summary: Chapter 21, alone, justifies the purchase, and then some...
Review: This book leads where few 'management" books dare not follow; it is a cold, hard truth that most management is mismanagement, and all too many organizational shortfalls derive from organizational "friction" - "friction," as in "We aren't going to do anything until the Great Leader of our team/section/group/division says so." Guess what? The Great Leader doesn't know, either; what the Great Leader DOES know is how to make the employment future of those who show initiative without fawning obesiance nasty, brutish, and short. Chapter 21, essentially, does away with Middle Management, and the slew of Great Leaders who feather their own nest, in an elegant and simple way. The rest of the book is also inspiring - certain ideas, such as Open Books, have taken root and flowered as a body of knowledge and practice. Many "consultants" - using THAT term loosely - help establish "Change Management Programs," and "Empowerment Programs," all delivered from "On High," with paeans of fulsome praise for a trivial tweaking of the current, obsolete, business processes. Save all of the money and time these people cost - give your people a copy of "Maverick," and let them loose!
Rating:
Summary: Chapter 21, alone, justifies the purchase, and then some...
Review: This book leads where few 'management" books dare not follow; it is a cold, hard truth that most management is mismanagement, and all too many organizational shortfalls derive from organizational "friction" - "friction," as in "We aren't going to do anything until the Great Leader of our team/section/group/division says so." Guess what? The Great Leader doesn't know, either; what the Great Leader DOES know is how to make the employment future of those who show initiative without fawning obesiance nasty, brutish, and short. Chapter 21, essentially, does away with Middle Management, and the slew of Great Leaders who feather their own nest, in an elegant and simple way. The rest of the book is also inspiring - certain ideas, such as Open Books, have taken root and flowered as a body of knowledge and practice. Many "consultants" - using THAT term loosely - help establish "Change Management Programs," and "Empowerment Programs," all delivered from "On High," with paeans of fulsome praise for a trivial tweaking of the current, obsolete, business processes. Save all of the money and time these people cost - give your people a copy of "Maverick," and let them loose!
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Summary: THE DIFFERENT BOOK, the third way of doing things.
Review: This is a good book on the subject of MANAGING, it will NOT SUIT MOST OF THE PEOPLE, but we still can STEAL SOME METHODS and ENRICH our way of managing business. BUT IF U ARE NOT in the authority of managing that it will be useless, if u are a manager or better yet THE CEO than something can be copied from these beautiful ways of doing things. OF COURSE copying it blindly will lead u to disaster, but THIS WAY OF DOING IS PROVEN TO BE VIABLE as the alternate choice of MANAGING. READ IT, WORTH EVERY MINUTES U INVEST IN IT.
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Summary: Towards better management
Review: This is one of the finest gifts I have ever received in my life, and from one of the finest gentlemen I have known so far! A wonderful book to read and an insightful journey into the entrepreneurial experience of a man who is not only a good leader but a wonderful human being too - Ricardo Semler. It is really difficult to carry business and personal life on the same track and yet not mix them together. This was exactly what Mr. Semler has done to his business making sure his employees get benefited too. There are a lot of multinationals working somewhat on the thoughts and ideas of Mr. Semler but no company achieved the status that Semco enjoys. A company where all human values are respected, where workers are not questioned, where there are no set times to enter office, where there are no dress codes, where employees decide there own salaries, where adults are treated like adults and given the respect they deserve - that is what Semco is all about. There are unions of workers almost in all organizations - and they are in Semco too, but with a difference. The rules set for unions are absolutely humanistic and makes sure that the decisions of Unions are respected too. This we see in action when the union goes on strike. The rules Semco follows are somewhat different from other companies. These are as follows: - 1.Treats everyone as adults 2.Tell the strikers that no one will be punished when they return to work. Then don't punish anyone. 3.Don't keep records of who came to work and who led the walkout. 4.Never call the police or try to break up a picket line. 5.Maintain all benefits. 6.Don't block worker's access to the factory, or the access of union representatives to the workers. But insist that union leaders respect the decision of those who want to work, just as the company respects the decision of those who don't. 7.Don't fire anyone during or after the strike, but make everyone see that a walkout is an act of aggressiveness. This is just one example - there are a lot of other things, which makes Semco a real Masterpiece. Semco is a smorgasbord that signifies all possible qualities of a successful business with complete humane values incorporated in its decision-making. I would suggest this book to every senior personnel in any industrial set-up, to every entrepreneur, to every management student, and to all those who love to read real management and successful stories. This is in deed a great book and I would suggest it as a must read for even those who are not related to business, because it also teaches the humanistic side of any company whatsoever the business conditions are. A must read for anybody who loves to read. Happy reading!
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