The Things the Books Forgot
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I've read hundreds of business books in my career. I learned something from most of them. But there are a few things that almost all the books leave out.
The books forgot to mention the fact that being a boss is a high velocity job. There are emails and voicemails and drop-ins and your boss, who needs a "quick answer." There are meetings and forms and company rituals.
The Duke of Wellington would go nuts because there's simply no way to stay until you get everything done. Besides, with the net and mobile devices, the work follows you home.
The books forgot to mention the outside relationships that need managing. They all seem to think that it's you and your team plus the occasional need to "manage your boss." Nope.
There all those other bosses, including your peers and their bosses. There are project managers for the projects you and team members are on and task force managers for the different teams you all belong to. There are your customers, inside and outside the company. And there are regulators and auditors to placate.
The books forgot to mention that you make this up as you go along. In the Book World, objectives and plans are clearly drawn and guide all decisions. In the Real World, black and white blend into gray, with some fuzzy edges.
The books forgot to mention that it takes a lot of trial and feedback to learn the job. In the Book World, if you take a few principles from your guru of choice and apply them, success is assured. In the Real World, it will take you a year or maybe two to get the basics of a boss's job down. And you'll spend a lifetime mastering it.
The books forgot to mention that being a boss is hard, draining work. There are no quick fixes and very few right answers. Instead there's lots of trial and feedback and, hopefully, some intelligent choices.
Boss's Bottom Line
The books forgot to mention one other important thing. When you get it right, with the right people in the right places doing the right things at the right time, there's no job in the world that's more satisfying.
Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.
Categories: Boss, Books, Leadership
Tags: Boss Books Leadership
Nice piece. Never heard it explained more accurately.
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Thanks, David. I really appreciate the kind words. Hope we'll see you here again.
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Amen Wally, I have spent the better part of the last 3 years looking for information on exactly what you talk about. Great stuff and a great blog.
Geoff
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Thanks for coming by, Jeff. I think you'll find some of what you're seeking. I hope you'll come back and comment, too. I suggest checking Lisa Haneberg's blog, Management Craft and Steve Roesler's All Things Workplace offer good advice about the realities of day-to-day management. Alison Green answers questions from people like you and me on her Ask a Manager blog.
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I have been listening to a lot of business books during my long commutes. I started making one interesting distinction - the one wrote by academic and the one wrote by manager. The comments you made is very relevant on books by academics. The books by managers (like Jack Welsh's Winning) are much more practical. Finally - I totally agree with you. Nothing replaces trial and error and actually doing it. The insights from books could make it less painful.
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Thanks. I agree with the idea that no matter where you pick up an insight, you must try it on the job and learn from what happens.
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Overall good books are very useful. But yes they drastically oversimplify. You need to learn idea from book, online... and then apply and learn. It is not as easy to make things work as it seems when you read books.
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So true. Seems like nothing's as easy as it looks once you get those pesky human involved. Thanks for your comment.
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Wally -
Great post, and so true. Although when you write your book, I'll bet you won't forget to.
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Thanks for the compliment, Dan. In truth, I think the issue isn't a book or a course. We need management education, training, and learning that bring in the realism. One of the things I've liked about your work is that it's grounded in the real world where managers toil.
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Wonderful observations, Wally.
In practice, ability to convert fuzzy edges of realities into a clear actionable path is the challenge. And mostly it is learned more by the experiences.
Nonetheless books shape our perceptions which impact what we make out of the experiences.
Best,
Utpal
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Well said, Utpal. I think too many people look to books for quick recipes that will make being a boss easier. But that's a human and messy job. The best a book can do is give you an idea about things you can do which will improve the odds that everything will work out right.
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