I confess to having a proclivity for essay collections when it comes to reading about management. Essays move along quickly and they offer the reader the opportunity to capture quick sound bites over breakfast, on the train or in other ideal reading rooms.  Also, there’s the reality that many management books struggle to adequately fill the space between the book-covers, offering up their best in the introduction, the first chapter and the wrap-up chapter.

Irreverent, Funny and Pointed with a Point:

I enjoyed the often irreverent, frequently amusing and always thought-provoking collection of essays in: Management? It’s Not What You Think, by Henry Mintzberg, Bruce Ahlstrand and Joseph Lampelis.

Like watching the popular show, The Office, reading many of these essays induces a cringe factor. The situations are a bit too close to reality for our own comfort, and we can see and hear ourselves and others in similar situations.

I laughed out loud while reading, Accenture’s Next Champion of Waffle Words, which unabashedly tackles the issue of our abuse of the language with business-speak…meaningless jargon wrapped in layers of B.S.

Other essays that induced laughter and agreement included: PowerPoint is Evil, Maxims In Need of a Makeover, and A Long Overdue Letter to the Board. Oh to meet a senior executive capable of writing that letter!

Mintzberg is known for his discomfort with contemporary MBA education (a view that I share), and his essay, Managers, not MBAs, strikes a blow for experience and immersion in the business over the stripes that we confer in the classroom.

Some Important Ideas Between the Covers:

And while there’s a decidedly irreverent tone concerning the traditional practice of management and leadership, the editors and authors serve up some important and thought-provoking ideas.

In the essay, Change Management, the author skewers the “dubious consulting industry and profession claiming to provide change management services.” The author offers, “Change can’t be managed. Change can be ignored, resisted, responded to, capitalized upon and created. But it can’t be managed and made to march to some orderly step-by-step process.”

Mintzberg’s essay, “Managing Quietly,” is a fitting capstone, based on the premise, “Quiet management is about thoughtfulness rooted in experience,” and, “…the best managing of all may well be the silent.”

The book is organized in 9 sections (including that ever-valuable, Introduction section) ranging from Misleading Management to Management of Meaning, Myths of Managing, Maxims of Managing, Managing Modestly and several others.

The Bottom-Line for Now:

If this were a movie review, I would be more positive than negative.

This collection of management essays is ideal for anyone on your list that is a thoughtful practitioner and student of the craft of management. The reader will enjoy the lighter moments as well as the irreverent pokes at much of what passes for contemporary management thinking and practice.

I’m not certain that there’s content in Management? It’s Not What you Think!, that will alter anyone’s view or drive new actions and cure old ills, but for those looking for reassurance that we’re all living and working in a universe that parallels “The Office” a bit too closely, this is entertaining and stimulating.