My dear friend Mnementh, I do believe that was an Anne Mcaffrey reference.
I’ve always wondered if that’s where you got your handle from.
It was a cute book, but when you start having bosses say its recommended reading (coersion), and there are SEMINARS on it, I start thinking it is a Tony Robbins, or some other feelgood dude ready to take YOUR, or your company’s, money from you for a cheerleading seminar. It is a good book. But if I EVER hear of a seminar on it, I will throw it away as just another loser trying to seperate me from my money.
It is an extremely stupid book, and I’m angry that my husband’s company spent hundreds of dollars on buying a copy for every employee instead of buying 2 copies for the common bookshelf and using the money for something useful, like pizza or a computer monitor. I’m also bitter about the $20 price tag for a book that has gigantic type and dumb illustrations of obvious maxims, when it could have been printed as a $2 pamphlet.
It took me 10 minutes to read–10 minutes that I will never get back, and could have spent in a better way, for example by watching “Cops” or watching mold grow on bread.
As stated before, the books “insight” should already be obvious to any modern, working adult. If a person reading it got much out of it that person probably has to remember to breathe as well.
I will say I enjoyed the book. I was depressed and a therapist recommended it. He also recommended I listen to motivational tapes. I responded that I felt they charged way too much money for stuff I have already heard before. He then said "you don’t have to buy it, go to the library.
I have been to seminars. The “touchy-feely” stuff gets old after the first time. I went to one, which was hosted by the then personnel manager of my co… At one point she put us in groups, and gave each group limited instructions and supplies to make paper airplanes.
I told my manager, and the operations manager, to not waste my time with this trash. I said it a bit nicer to the O.M. The plant manager, my boss, backed me up.
At corporate seminars, I have no use for metaphors and abstractions. I desire concrete examples of how to do my job better; how to deal with clients and employees better. We have a new personnell manager now, who gave a REAL seminar on being a supervisor, and he has renewed my faith in people who do that.
Why do employers waste employees time and possible bonuses with this? It is extremely condescending. It is far better to offer training courses.
Oh BTW, I am now a boss myself and am loving it. I did enjoy the book. But if I had a boss recommend it to me, I would be suspicious of him (or her).
Haven’t read it but I first heard of it from this article, which I found to be an interesting analysis. Comments?
Then why were you in the bathroom?
Seriously, I totally agree with ** Kamandi *. I was subjected to a faculty meeting totally about the book complete with an re-enactment, certain fellow teachers (who, IMHO, are the ones that kiss the principal’s arse) portrayed the mice. We also were told (OK, * ordered) to get ready for change, and change is good.
What a load of CRAP.
Perhaps the mice should form unions or professions so as to be better able to participate proactively in the changes to which they are subjected.
But the book is not open to that sort of creating and seizing of opportunity outside of the control of the corporation. Thus it really is no more than yet another in a long line of books promoting a corporate mythology in which people are expected to willingly be squished like mice in traps.
rmariamp, RoadRash you have summed it up beautifully.
The sheer innocuousness of this book makes the price charged for it and the hype around it and around its author seem out of all proportion. Want to read it? Public library. Or park yourself with it at the Border’s or Barnes & Noble’s café on a day off.
And yes, in this dynamic age of change, those of us who are aware of our environment, who recognize the realities of human interaction and corporate success, who embrace change and challenges and know how to seize opportunities… are precisely the ones who will be extremely skeptical of anything enthusiastically embraced by “pointy-haired-boss” types.
My situation is that I just sold my company and do not know exactly what is ahead. My wife is still working and not around very much, so I want to sell our house and move to where we can be together more. She is reluctant to sell the house that we raised our family in. So along comes this book, she read it and gave it to me. Although it was short and simple it made me feel good that I’d sold my company (I didn’t realize until afterwards how stale the cheese had gotten). It opened up an opportunity for my wife and I to talk about moving on in the maze. So it was good for me, but I’m glad I didn’t find it before I sold the company.
I’m not sure I quite understand. Why are you glad you didn’t read it earlier?
[sortof hijack] Many years ago, I was working for a company that bought hundreds of copies of Harvey Mackay’s Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive and sent them to every employee throughout the country to read. One chapter in particular was quite enlightening, as it outlined specifically how not to be a bad manager. Mackay must’ve known my boss personally, because I’d swear he was writing about her when describing every wrong thing a manager could possibly do.
I quit the company in disgust over this woman’s piss-poor management skills, and shortly thereafter, one of my co-workers did the same - but she did it with much more style than I did. She went into the bosswoman’s office, handed her the book, open to the chapter on bad management techniques (having highlighted several paragraphs) and made her read it. After doing so, the woman actually looked up at her with a bewildered look and asked why she’d wanted her to read it! :rolleyes: Her reply? “That’s you, and I quit. Goodbye.”
Ha Ha! I thought that was great. After losing the top 2 sales reps in that district, I wonder if the corporate schmuck who’d sent it out had any second thoughts about having done so? [/end hijack]
I’ve never read the cheese book, and based on the glowing reviews here, I’m sure I don’t want to, thankyouverymuch.
Jeg elsker dig, Thomas