‘Kindness: The Quiet Power of Kindness in Action’ by Graham Allcott
In a world where the arrogant and ruthless boss is an archetype, this book aims to dispel the idea that there is no room for kindness at work. Graham Allcott, author of How to be a productivity ninjaHe believes that the opposite is true and that kindness has “incredible power.”
However, he believes it has been misinterpreted. “Friendly” and “nice” are not the same. Allcott sets definitions and emphasizes that being kind is not an easy path. You still have to tell people the truth, you just have to be careful how you do it.
Allcott first examines the effectiveness of kindness when it comes to team and company performance. He believes it sets the tone for a high-performance culture because it increases empathy. As a result, people trust each other more, which helps develop a psychologically safe environment that improves critical thinking and increases engagement and retention.
The second part of the book addresses some common myths: “being a bastard is how you succeed”; “kindness is weakness”; and “there are nice people and unpleasant people.” The third part sets out eight principles of “kindness” at work, such as setting clear expectations, listening carefully, and treating people the same way. they I want to be treated.
The book seems a little repetitive at times, but it makes a case that is hard to ignore and is interwoven with “challenges” of kindness that readers must put into practice. The author is right, but is he too optimistic in believing that the future will be “kinder”? Will companies that don’t embrace kindness be left behind and will consumers vote with their wallets demanding kinder labor practices?
One wonders. And those bully bosses who should read this book probably won’t. Janina Conboye
‘The Employee Advantage: How Putting Workers First Helps Businesses Prosper’, by Stephan Meir
“When a company is in a critical situation,” Hubert Joly, former head of Best Buy, tells Stephan Meier, “its people are the key to a successful recovery.” The electronics retailer’s investment in its workforce was crucial in saving it from collapse.
This employee-centric mindset is advantageous but underappreciated. With Nandil Bhatia, his Columbia Business School colleague, Meier analyzed earnings calls from publicly traded companies. On average, they talked 10 times more about their customers than their workforce. They typically associated employees with “cost” and “risk.”
Packed with case studies and profiles, Meier leverages his expertise at the intersection of behavioral economics and business strategy to argue that investing in employee well-being drives success. “This does not need to be done at the expense of profits. In fact, focusing on employees can, when done correctly, increase the size of the cake.” Happy (engaged) employees create happy customers.
Meier’s roadmap is compelling and rooted in business reality. The methods companies use to gain customer loyalty can be reapplied to staff. Take Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company that pioneered weight-loss drugs, for example. It found that black employees and women were underrepresented in executive positions. What moved the dial? “The company literally took the customer experience team and redeployed it to map the employee experience.” He used this research to identify moments in individual employees’ experiences that needed improvement.
Meier rejects a global solution. Instead, he highlights the need to engage employees and personalize the approach to suit the different needs and motivations of employees, which he refers to as the “workforce of one” approach. Georgina Quach
‘The Age of Outrage: How to Lead in a Polarized World’, Karthik Ramanna
People are angry and this is now a problem for large corporations. The book of Ramanna. The era of outrage seeks to help leaders confront attacks by employees, customers, and the general public against their companies. This anger, he says, “is no longer an occasional phenomenon” but a daily part of corporate life. Managing it is a “necessary and critical capability,” like financial acumen or the operational ability to cope with periodic adverse weather conditions.
For exhausted executives tearing their hair out after the latest generational workplace outburst or a client’s social media rant, this book might be a good place to start. Ramanna, a professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government, has tried to help executives move beyond posturing and rhetoric to figure out how to engage with hostile parties.
Using real-life examples, from Disney and Ikea to Nestlé and London’s Metropolitan Police, he guides readers through his “framework.” First recognize and understand the roots of outrage (for example, out of fear or a feeling of injustice), then consider what people can do to “turn down the heat” and take action in a moment of crisis. Thinking about formulating a response and implementing any action is critical, as is fully understanding what resilient leaders and organizations look like in this polarized era.
In the messy world of doing business every day, things may not be compartmentalized and resolved as easily. But at least anger can be understood and organizations can think about how to address it in a useful way that doesn’t perpetuate anger. Anjli Raval
‘The Skills-Driven Organization: The Journey to the Next Generation Enterprise’, by Ravin Jesuthasan and Tanuj Kapilashrami
This is not a book for the lay reader. Jesuthasan, an expert on the future of work at the consulting firm Mercer, and Kapilashrami, director of strategy and talent at Standard Chartered, have prepared a dense analysis of one of the most interesting management trends: the transition from a world of work based on qualifications. work and organization. graphics to one that recognizes, applies and rewards the skills and abilities of individuals.
HR leaders will read the book in detail, if only to learn how Kapilashrami and StanChart are reshaping the way the bank manages its “talent” (as “people” are called almost everywhere). But if the talent itself takes a look, it can retreat. The authors insist that skills-driven organizations will not diminish “the human dimension of work” and that human skills, such as a learning mindset or emotional intelligence, will be vital. But they are also excited about AI-enabled tools that help “infer” skills from previous experiences and match people to tasks the organization needs to complete.
Jesuthasan and Kapilashrami are right that employers will need technology to help them navigate this new, complex world of evolving skills. But only in the final chapter do they ask, “What about you as an individual?” A piece of advice: develop “the ability to say no to things that can lead you astray.” The success of technology-driven “talent markets” will depend on how they accommodate holdout workers. andres hill
‘Play Well: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment’ by Jason Schreier
The difficult journey that leads to The historic acquisition of Microsoft for $75 billion Activision Blizzard started in the 1990s, when video games were just beginning to reach homes.
For 2010, world of warcraftBlizzard’s biggest franchise, had become one of the most profitable games of all time, with over 12 million subscribers, each paying $15 a month, at its peak. They invented fascinating worlds, of dragons, elves and giants towering over lush landscapes, that you could explore with other international seekers.
But the decision makers behind this were humans, and all men to begin with. Blizzard founders Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce reunited in 1991, and most of Blizzard’s female staff joined in the following decade. Wow launched in 2004. For them, the reality of the company’s perceived image as a fraternity house (hazing and shootings were common induction rituals) “was much more complicated.” Through meticulous interviews with 350 people, Schreier chronicles the mismanagement, internal clashes, and accusations that culminated in the filing of a lawsuit in California in 2021 against Activision Blizzard for sexual discrimination and misconduct.
Schreier is entering very niche gaming territory, but it’s worth persisting with. One fascinating aspect in light of the layoffs affecting the video game industry today is the culture of the “crunch”: working nights and weekends to finish a game. The grueling development schedule of Diablo IIwhich in 2000 broke records as the best-selling computer game in history, “left permanent marks” on the staff, according to Schreier. It’s a lucid guide through Blizzard’s fallibilities and strengths, and it reminds us that game development works because of people, not pixels. Georgina Quach