Management books and buzz words abound. Remember Theory X, Y and
Z? Now there's Chaos Management , Management by Herding Cats, and Managing by Slurping Chicken Soup. Stacks of books and journals fill my office. I can’t keep up. Who benefits from the hundreds of management titles churned out yearly? For instance, James Belasco’s Flight Of The Buffalo sounds romantic. “Can The Head Buffalo Become The Lead Goose?” asks chapter two. Beats me.

New books beget dogmas to die for. And, some of the dogmas are dead dogmas. Remember, Total Quality Management too? How about a book titled Requiem For TQM. You idiom disadvantaged, don’t confuse TQM with TQI, CSR, CBS or ATM. I’ll admit I’ve feigned knowledge of crisp-paged management best sellers. “Of course you’ve read Crosby’s seminal work on service,” says a business colleague. Bing Crosby wrote about service? I wonder if she means “being in the service?” I make a mental note to peruse the book jacket. A success-dressed, leader-manager-boss type asks me, “Have you read Senge’s Fifth Discipline?”

“Hasn’t everyone,” I rebut. (Good finesse, Karen.)

I’m frustrated that nouveau complex is perceived as better. If it doesn’t have a nifty matrix, forget it. Trendy training may or may not be appropriate for a specific situation. But, if it appears new, is brightly packaged and has exclusive jargon for the anointed few, then throw money at it.

Managers take pride in their cutting edge training programs. Many forget that most of the applauded businesses highlighted in In Search Of Excellence are now hiding in the shadows. VPs of Training Bucks ask me, “What’s your hot program?” Sounds like a Vegas club owner who needs a blockbuster headliner. Who wants the three tenors when you can get the four Hansons?

In l923, the hot management phenomenon was a marble distributed to every employee, vendor and customer of Samsonite Corporation. The marble was inscribed with the golden rule. Jesse Shwayder, founder of the luggage giant, put his mission statement, paradigm, benchmarks, standards and objectives around a marble’s circumference. The original “What goes around comes around.” The marble’s still dispensed and the company’s still a giant.

General Colin Powell suggested, “... love your soldiers with all your heart ... soul and... mind. You must give nothing less.” No bells. No whistles. That strategy’s too simple to sell.

Well, simple is not simple-minded. Basic is not banal. Elemental is
not elementary.

Now, back to creating a shiny, mind-blowing management training proposal for Mr. Big. Where’s my copy of The Little Prince?

Karen Susman speaks across the country on Communication, Management and Wellness. She coaches individuals and groups on presentation skills. Contact Karen at kdsus@aol.com or toll free 1/888-675-8818.

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