First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently (book)

I would recommend reading this book because it is thought provoking. Even if you do not agree with all or any of the author's points, it will at least open up your eyes to understand traditional management theories better as well as expose you to new techniques that could possibly help broaden your arsenal of tools to help employees excel when conventional methods are not working.

Additionally, the book is great for those that are not managers. I am not yet a manager, but the book did open up my eyes to my own talents. It made me aware of how I could use my talents to become better at work. After reading the book I have learned to use the talents that I became aware of to become a more effective communicator as well as using my talents to become more productive. For this I agree with the authors on the importance of focusing on talent. However, I do disagree with their notion that talents can not be learned. I find this very disheartening. I do believe that some talents are hidden, and with proper training or experience, those talents can come out. In addition, not taking the time to at least strengthen some of your weaknesses might really hurt you in the end if your weaknesses are dragging you down. Say you are the best computer programmer in your field, but are super weak in communicating what the program you just created does. If you do not try to improve in your communication enough to get by, your weakness will eventually affect your success as a talented programmer. Therefore I think it's important to at least try to improve weaknesses with training or experience. I was also disappointed that the authors didn't go into detail on how to separate born talent from learnable skills. Their overall message sounded good, but didn't really help us learn how to separate the two. I'm sure many managers would do this if there was a clear and easy approach in doing so.

I did like the fact that the book is based on a lot of Gallup research. This made the book more credible as well as interesting. The many examples helped me understand their concepts better. A lot of other books out there are just theory-based, so they don't give us any explanation on how to apply these concepts. I felt that the many examples they provided got me thinking about how I could possibly apply those concepts in my own work situation. But I must admit that at times the author's use of examples became overwhelming, making the book drag on longer than needed.

Overall I did find the book very useful in my quest to become a manager. If nothing else, it got me to really focus on and become aware of people's individuality. This has helped me to become a more effective leader/manager at work because I am more aware of how I present myself to their individual needs.

...than you will out of most other books on management, including Jim Collins' books. This book is focused on what really works instead of spewing out politically correct drivel that is so popular in modern management books. Think of it like a gentle presentation of Tom Peters' ReImagine.

What struck me most was the concept of firing people abruptly instead of letting them hang around and go through "lengthy" progressive discipline. While I believe progressive discipline is needed, due to legalities, it is clear that it does more damage than good. Of course, this must be taken in the context of the manager being a good manager as opposed to a jerk who just wants to fire people because he/she doesn't like them.

That's the most important thing I can say about this book: You must read it with an understanding that it is recommending all the actions based on all the actions. What I mean by that is that you can't just grab the "fire them quick" mindset, which is a minor part of the book, and ignore the "bring out their unique talents" mindset. When balanced among all the principles it really can make you a mor effective manager.

I've heard him speak, I've read all his books and I recommend you do the same. Don't stop with this book, go ahead and buy all three now and make them your study material for the next three months. I would encourage you to study and not just read these books - there's too much to gain!

I've been a manager for over 20 years and have read many business books in that time. Without a doubt, First, Break All the Rules is the best. I am usually both fascinated with and annoyed at business books. They claim to have all the answers but usually only have some. They oversell how much they have to offer. This book delivers.

The book focuses on managing people. It is dead on target regarding how to get the most from employees while both respecting them as people and keeping a clear-eyed view of the needs of the organization. It debunks the nonsense that people have unlimited potential, that managers should focus on weaknesses instead of strengths, that supervisors should try to treat everyone equally and much more. The authors rightly remind us that employees don't leave organizations, they leave managers.

I am sure its quality is due to the extensive surveys and interviews the authors reviewed as part of their work with Gallup. The book is not based on a few dozen case studies but on thousands.

The only thing that bothers me is the title itself. It's a perfect business-book title in that it is catchy and overpromises. (That is, if you just do the opposite of conventional wisdom, all your problems are solved. Nothing is that simple.) But the faults with the title are a quibble.

If you supervise anyone, get this book, read it and do it.

I loved this book. It is data driven, so I felt that the authors comments about how to manage a team had a solid foundation, rather than just what someone thought. The book is built around 12 questions that all managers should ask their employees to rate their workplace on. I took the 6 core questions from the book and regularly survey my team on those questions. They really help me figure out how I'm doing and gives me guidance on where to improve my management style.

I'm an employee in a small business. I don't dig my boss. I've got some bright ideas, and I might want to advocate for a management role within this company. It's a very sensitive situation, and I came to this book looking for a philosophical approach that would help me to define my personal goals and lead to some positive self-reflection.

This book has been tremendously helpful for me as an employee. The 12 questions that have been mentioned by other reviewers do address fundamental sources of employee satisfaction. This book helped me identify the "Mountain Sickness" that I feel as an employee whose vision and performance are underminded by basic problems within a business. Many workers know they're talented and know they do good work, but wonder why something is missing. "First, Break All the Rules" provides a good starting point for addressing employee dissatisfaction.

Readers will have to decide whether they like the tone of this book. Reading one of the middle sections will provide a good sample of whether you'll find it helpful. Gallup clearly does consulting. They want to sell you on their ideas and the value of embracing their methods and leaning on their expertise long term. I wasn't always happy with that kind of tone, but the merits of the book far outweighed this small concern.

I do like the balance that the authors strike between a few prescriptive pieces of advice and a desire to allow managers to work out the questions for themselves. In that sense, the book helps good managers become great rather than give a fully worked out system for poor managers to become competent.

I dig how this book is about excellence and catalyzing excellence with specific, focused questions. Any organization, manager, or employee will gain from wrestling with the questions the authors raise so check this out if you want to survive, grow, or manage a business.

4.5 stars