From
Publishers Weekly
A magazine CEO clashes with his v-p of sales over lagging ad sales. Two married attorneys
each try to get the upper hand while house-hunting. A team of managers, intending to
collaborate, winds up competing with each other. These are just some of the power struggles
Martin, dean of the University of Toronto's business school, presents in this personal and
professional self-help book. Both overachieving and underachieving execs will recognize
themselves and their colleagues in Martin's realistic, well- sketched (pseudonymous) conflicts,
in which ego and fear of failure are presented as major roadblocks to group consensus. His 15
years of consulting experience serve him well, especially when he demonstrates, with specific
examples, how most poor decision-making begins at the level of individual behavior. Figures
and diagrams abound, likening portions of the book to a Power Point presentation, albeit a
useful one. For example, the "Responsibility Ladder" shows the levels of responsibility to
which
most people gravitate in most situations. At the lowest rung of the ladder, one set of problems
is created when folks who fear failure drop difficult projects on other people's desks. Martin is
quick to point out, however, that organizational problems can arise at the top of the ladder, too,
when managers who seek control "consider options and make [a] decision, informing other
[parties] subsequently." Martin wrote this book "to help people avoid the natural predisposition
to screw up the handling of responsibility in ways that undermine their goals and well-being,"
and he succeeds. His examples and nuggets of advice are on-target and entertaining.
