Book Brief - 9 Lies About Work

In "Book Briefs", I share my quick takeaways from a book. I try to focus on the useful talking points I find myself gushing about in conversations and 1-1s

Rating: Highly Recommend

Praise: Research backed, action oriented, well formatted, powerful outro

Criticism: Clickbait intros

Talking Points: At medium to large corporations, focus on outlining meaning. Leave the rest up to to teams. The organization should actively identify and promote team excellence and replicate the it across other teams. (There's a lot to explore here. Future blog post.)

Summary

Labeling 9 concepts as "lies", Marcus and Ashley declare an intention to dress-down systems you have come to expect from organizations. Reviews, planning, goals, culture, leadership etc.

#1: People care which company they work for

#2: The best plan wins

#3: The best companies cascade goals

#4: The best people are well-rounded

#5: People need feedback

#6: People can reliably rate other people

#7: People have potential

#8: Work-life balance matters most

#9: Leadership is a thing

But, as with many books on leadership, the truth about these lies is in the nuance. I'm not going to go into all the lies (this is a brief after all). Given it is goal-setting season at work, it's timely to briefly touch on lie #3: "The best companies cascade goals". The practice of setting goals top-down is torn to shreds in this book. Rightly so! We've all been on the demoralizing recieving end of goals that just don't make sense. Maybe you're reading this and have done similar to a direct of yours.

The book makes the case, that it's better to cascade "meaning" and let the individuals identify ways to exploit their unique skills in the service of that meaning.

Here's what this company means, what can YOU bring to the table?

Organizations must focus on building an environment that allows individuals to apply their unique passion. Then, they have a responsibility to actively identify the top performing teams and seek out how to replicate that success.

If you squint hard enough "meaning" == "topline goals", which has been described in OKR standards (align, don't cascade). Structuring the goal setting process "just so" will make it more meaningful for the folks you rely on to do the work.

The closing chapter on MLK Jr is powerful. It highlights the true definition of leadership; a leader is someone with followers. Why do those people follow that leader? That's what makes them special.

Check it out: amazon.com