I did take the opportunity to read your THE END OF MANAGEMENT ALCHEMY book on the plane. I think you have done an excellent job of capturing the essence of Requisite Organization in a very succinct and readable form. This is the book I would have had my students read instead of assigning a bunch of stuff by Elliott that, while scholarly and in depth, was often viewed as boring by students – particularly undergraduate students. MBA’s loved his stuff but constantly asked, “Isn’t there something available the captures all this in a lot fewer pages?” Alas, I had to say “no” up until now. Of course I don’t teach anymore, but it was still refreshing to read the book.
Congratulations! I hope it sells billions.
Dr. Jerry L. Gray Dean Emeritus and Senior Scholar I.H. Asper School of Business University of Manitob
This review is from Alicia Parr regarding "The End of Management Alchemy: Some Fun with the Findings of Elliott Jaques and How Requisite Organization Began" by Darwin Mott (2015-12-23) (Paperback) I’ve been looking for a short primer to give management-savvy leaders a sound, easy-to-read overview of Requisite Organization (RO). Ideally, the book also tells some of the story of Elliott Jaques, the remarkable man who shaped these game-changing principles that lead to humane, highly effective organizations. The End of Management Alchemy by Darwin Mott is the best book I’ve found by far that does both of these things. There are personal stories, and excellent coverage of the key principles and vernacular, all in <100 pages.
A few of my favorite parts. I really enjoyed the hockey analogies and the cover art. Also, steps 1-10 for how to apply RO (pp. 85-86) are GREAT. Also, the results from applying RO on pp. 81-82 are solid gold. Amazing stuff. I’d love to have seen these proclaimed earlier in the book and then re-stated at the end. Gives readers a compelling WHY to read something that’s different than what they’ve been taught.
I’ll offer a few suggestions that would make the book even better. (IMHO) Some of the charts, especially pp. 44-45, were hard to follow. Both for me, who knows a little something about RO, and especially for someone new to it.
Another suggestion is to ease the reader a little more gradually into the terminology. Those of us who have been immersed in the methodology and practices are comfortable with the vernacular. For the not-yet-believers, it’s a bit jarring, so it would be helping to refer to existing language in common use to smooth the way. Although that language is less precise, there’s utility in bridging new learners over through ideas they are familiar with. For example, use of the terms strategic & tactical can be described, their imprecision explained, and then delineate how they relate to the concept of capability, strata, and time horizons.
In sum, if you are an RO expert or RO semi-expert that would like to introduce these ideas to a colleague, client, or acquaintance, Darwin Mott’s The End of Management Alchemy is a fantastic primer that doesn’t require a huge intellectual commitment to get a solid grasp of the foundations. As much as I love a dense, thought-provoking read, it’s by lowering the barriers to introduction that we disseminate these important concepts to the world of work.
I did take the opportunity to read your THE END OF MANAGEMENT ALCHEMY book on the plane. I think you have done an excellent job of capturing the essence of Requisite Organization in a very succinct and readable form. This is the book I would have had my students read instead of assigning a bunch of stuff by Elliott that, while scholarly and in depth, was often viewed as boring by students – particularly undergraduate students. MBA’s loved his stuff but constantly asked, “Isn’t there something available the captures all this in a lot fewer pages?” Alas, I had to say “no” up until now. Of course I don’t teach anymore, but it was still refreshing to read the book.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I hope it sells billions.
Dr. Jerry L. Gray
Dean Emeritus and Senior Scholar
I.H. Asper School of Business
University of Manitob
This review is from Alicia Parr regarding "The End of Management Alchemy: Some Fun with the Findings of Elliott Jaques and How Requisite Organization Began" by Darwin Mott (2015-12-23) (Paperback)
ReplyDeleteI’ve been looking for a short primer to give management-savvy leaders a sound, easy-to-read overview of Requisite Organization (RO). Ideally, the book also tells some of the story of Elliott Jaques, the remarkable man who shaped these game-changing principles that lead to humane, highly effective organizations. The End of Management Alchemy by Darwin Mott is the best book I’ve found by far that does both of these things. There are personal stories, and excellent coverage of the key principles and vernacular, all in <100 pages.
A few of my favorite parts. I really enjoyed the hockey analogies and the cover art. Also, steps 1-10 for how to apply RO (pp. 85-86) are GREAT. Also, the results from applying RO on pp. 81-82 are solid gold. Amazing stuff. I’d love to have seen these proclaimed earlier in the book and then re-stated at the end. Gives readers a compelling WHY to read something that’s different than what they’ve been taught.
I’ll offer a few suggestions that would make the book even better. (IMHO) Some of the charts, especially pp. 44-45, were hard to follow. Both for me, who knows a little something about RO, and especially for someone new to it.
Another suggestion is to ease the reader a little more gradually into the terminology. Those of us who have been immersed in the methodology and practices are comfortable with the vernacular. For the not-yet-believers, it’s a bit jarring, so it would be helping to refer to existing language in common use to smooth the way. Although that language is less precise, there’s utility in bridging new learners over through ideas they are familiar with. For example, use of the terms strategic & tactical can be described, their imprecision explained, and then delineate how they relate to the concept of capability, strata, and time horizons.
In sum, if you are an RO expert or RO semi-expert that would like to introduce these ideas to a colleague, client, or acquaintance, Darwin Mott’s The End of Management Alchemy is a fantastic primer that doesn’t require a huge intellectual commitment to get a solid grasp of the foundations. As much as I love a dense, thought-provoking read, it’s by lowering the barriers to introduction that we disseminate these important concepts to the world of work.