People in Charge : Creating Self-Managing Workplaces

Rating:
Summary: Herein you'll find the potential for REAL change
Review: As a physician in a large HMO I've been very interested in the rapid increase of dissatisfaction and burnout in what should be a vibrant workplace. Mr. Rehm has, in a fashion clear enough for even a doctor to understand, given insight into the problems of organizations....and given clear examples of what can be done about it. What is presented in this book makes other "change efforts" look like window dressing. I have already sent some copies to senior leadership.

Rating:
Summary: Herein you'll find the potential for REAL change
Review: As a physician in a large HMO I've been very interested in the rapid increase of dissatisfaction and burnout in what should be a vibrant workplace. Mr. Rehm has, in a fashion clear enough for even a doctor to understand, given insight into the problems of organizations....and given clear examples of what can be done about it. What is presented in this book makes other "change efforts" look like window dressing. I have already sent some copies to senior leadership.

Rating:
Summary: Well-grounded in practice and concept
Review: Most of us know that the bureaucratic form of organization has outlived its usefulness; few of us know what to do about it. This book addresses the problem well, and shows us how to go about changing our organizations to what we know they should be. 'Participative democracy' here means 'relocating authority to where the work gets done'... starting with having the people who do the work design it. Having experienced this approach, I can vouch for its practicality, and its flexibility to the needs of a particular firm, division, unit, etc.

Rehm draws from a wide array of perspectives, including historical, to describe an organizational approach that is "simple and deep". He actually uses the phrase to describe good theory; I use it to describe the approach he recommends, and the elegant job he has done of rendering complex concepts clear and usable. I find this book refreshingly direct while conceptually sound.

The author lays out the territory of self-management in the first several chapters; he and other contributors then provide a number of cases which help us see how it works in diverse settings.

If you're looking for a change approach beyond problem-solving, conflict resolution, and training, I think you'll be pleased with this book.