Whenever you’re reading books or watching presentations on management, two names are bound to show up.
Jul 142009
As you may have guessed from its title, the book First break all the rules is all about breaking conventions in managing people.
One of those widely held conventions is the belief that “Every employee should be treated equally”. The book explains that this should not be the case, especially after taking into consideration the individual talents of your people.
Jun 052009
It’s a common story among professionals:
Guy gets a job. Guy is happy because the job is challenging yet fulfilling. To top it off, it pays well.
After a couple of years of hard work, the guy just stops and realizes that he doesn’t really feel fulfilled from working anymore.
By then it’s already too late. That guy has burned out.
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Contrary to what people who haven’t experienced it think, burnout is not merely a case of depression, a severe mood swing, or some other temporary stress related ailment. Nor does it usually culminate in a spectacular fashion, like a person going postal in his workplace.
It’s more like a car which has gone for hundreds of thousands of miles without periodic maintenance. The burned out worker just suddenly breaks down mentally, spiritually, or in some cases, physically. The latter are the lucky ones; sure they get sent to the hospital, but they’re more likely to be diagnosed and treated properly in this situation. Burnout is a condition that ends careers–a person whose will suddenly snaps at work will find it difficult to find someone who can properly asses and deal with their situation. More often than not, those who will come to the person’s aid won’t understand what the person is going through and might even make the condition worse.
May 302009
Out of the many articles and blog posts I’ve read in 2008, none have been more moving as Jurgen Appelo’s (the SE list guy) Professionalism = Knowledge First, Experience Last.
Do you trust a doctor with diagnosing your mental problems if the doctor tells you he’s got 20 years of experience? Do you still trust that doctor when he picks up a knife and ice picks, and asks you to prepare for a lobotomy?
The article is quite direct when bringing its points forward. I would suggest you read not only the article, but also the rebuttals targeting the weaknesses of his arguments.
Short summary below the cut…
May 212009
Probably the most important contribution of Peter Drucker to modern management is his study on knowledge workers.
For most of us, the term “knowledge worker” may just be a fancy term for “white collar professional”, people with specialized training tasked to use information for different goals. For example, an engineer uses a client’s requirements to design structures, and a doctor interprets the symptoms of a patient to find the best way to treat the disease. But as Drucker would point out in his writings, most companies do not understand that knowledge workers are fundamentally different from their blue collar counterparts.
Here is a small (and by no means exhaustive) list of things about knowledge workers:
Continue reading »
May 162009
Spent most of the day in UP for Komikon and basking in nostalgia. Acacias in full bloom bring back memories.
In other words, I’m going to cheat again today. 
For today’s “lesson”, please read Keis’s notes on the Dreyfus Model of Skill Acquisition.
One important thing to note about this model is that it’s not only useful for teaching — it’s actually applicable to almost all phases in the “life cycle” of an employee. The model can affect recruitment, training/initial deployment, up to promotion to senior positions. I will be referencing the model in this context after I discuss the various aspects of Drucker’s “knowledge worker”.
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