November 8, 2017

Chapter 22 of Richard Farson's Management of the Absurd is titled Everything We Try Works and Nothing Works.  What Mr. Farson failed to consider when writing this book is that an absurdity is a contradiction and a contradiction cancels itself out so that what we are left with is nothing.  A zero. If as the title suggests "nothing works" then we wouldn't bother to get out of bed.

Planning is an Ineffective Way to Bring About Change is the title of Chapter 23. And no, planning is not necessarily an effective way to bring about change it is an effective way to bring about goal completion.

Organizations Change Most by Surviving Calamities is the title of Chapter 24.  Organizations change most when forced to change:  Hostile takeovers and lawsuits are classic examples.

People that We Think Need Changing Are Pretty Good the Way they Are is the title of Chapter 25.  Since no one is perfect everyone needs changing at least in certain areas of their life and yes they are pretty good but not the best they can be.

Chapter 26:  Every Great Strength is a Great Weakness.  Classic Hegelian dialectic.  Every thesis has an anti-thesis and when clashed brings about a synthesis.  Untrue contradictions only bring about nothing.  A zero.

Chapter 27:  Morale is unrelated to productivity.  Morale is related to productivity (indirectly).  Morale is related to motivation which is related (directly) to productivity.

Chapter 28:  There are no Leaders, Only Leadership.  Ridiculous on its face.  Leadership is the quality that leaders exhibit.  No leaders...no leadership.

November 3, 2017

Michael Crichton said of the book:  " He irritated me (!).  He provoked me (!).  He made me nod, he made me smile and he made me shake my head...[He] reports more than experience; he gives us wisdom (?????)