Escape From Management Hell

Twelve executives, heading home after a high-level leadership retreat in Aspen and dozing en route to Denver, crash and find themselves in a loathsome, foul-smelling inferno. Despair envelops them as they realize where they are. And why. And what it will take to escape. There they are confronted by Satan's chief operating officer, who lectures them: . ""You know budgets and prices and costs"", says the COO. ""You know chains of command and spans of control and sales. You know how to put a positive spin on a disastrous project, how to doll up an annual report. But you are here because you lack management wisdom. Your shortsightedness, your greed, your well-intentioned management styles just don't cut it anymore"". The only way they'll get out, he tells them, is to impart to the devil meaningful, entertaining, perhaps even amusing stories. Stories that demonstrate the folly and futility of their own business practices. Knowing that if one falls, they all burn in Hell, the twelve executives have two weeks to compose their tales, and then, in turn, present them to Satan. With Satan, you will learn the mystery of a lost Aztec civilization, witness Rome's most hilarious and deadly chariot race, unravel the secret of a mass suicide, experience civilization's greatest culture change - and its aftermath, and kneel with a penitent captain of industry as he confronts the horrors of his soul. As each executive comes face to face with his or her own management sins, you'll find answers to today's most pressing business issues, including quality, diversity, empowerment, decision making, innovation, risk taking, and consensus building. Managers and employees at every level can use these executives'insights to transform the hell of modern management into a haven of creativity, courage, and lasting change.

What do you really want? A 4-hour work week? More time with your family? To escape the rat race? To fire your boss? More money? To stop following pointless corporate strategy? If you answered yes to any of these, this book can help you achieve your dreams to escape the 9-5. Life coach, Pamela Slim, shows you how to make the transition from bored corporate worker to a more fulfilled life in one handy volume. Inspired by a hugely popular blog called Escape From Cubicle Nation ( http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/ ) Pamela explains how she left her corporate job and set up on her own, and has never been happier. By tackling her fears she took the first step and now runs her own business. In this book she shows you the secrets of leaving your corporate job and living life on your own terms, providing both emotional encouragement and practical advice. Find out how to get a business off the ground, legal considerations, using social networking sites, the components of a winning business model, creative brainstorming, financial advice, shopping for insurance and benefits, and inspiring and amusing anecdotes of real-life entrepreneurship. Based on her own experience and the many people she's coached, she proves you don't need to stay in a job you hate. With her motivation you can learn how to unlock the secret of what makes you happy and build a better 9 to 5.

Allan Carpenter escaped from hell once but remained haunted by what he saw and endured. He has now returned, on a mission to liberate those souls unfairly tortured and confined. Partnering with the legendary poet and suicide, Sylvia Plath, Carpenter is a modern-day Christ who intends to harrow hell and free the damned. But now that he's returned to this Dantesque Inferno, can he ever again leave? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Effective customer partnership creates customers who return in good times and in bad, customers who say, "I wouldn't go anywhere else". Using real-world examples, Chip Bell examines the qualities that form the core of all lasting relationships and describes a way of business where personal interactions, not sales, take center stage.

Gangs of bloodthirsty and ruthless outlaws terrorized the American Southwest before and after Mexico ceded the land now called Texas. One such pack of thirty or forty cutthroats had what they thought was a perfectly impregnable hideout until a trio of U.S. Marshals was given the mission of bringing them to justice. These marshals were no barroom toughs, they'd been brought up church-going citizens, and all three had been schooled in the art of self-defense and survival. The leader of this outlaw gang made a fatal mistake when he ordered a rancher's beautiful virgin daughter kidnapped. His gunmen terrorized this beautiful maiden with a rattlesnake while threatening her with a life of abuse and humiliation at the hands of the outlaw boss. The boss of this lawless low-life gang of killers took great pride in using his blacksnake whip to maintain his unshakeable hold on his captives and even on the outlaws if they displeased him. He and his gang killed for the thrill of watching the innocent die. Members of this gang would lead the marshals on a chase throughout the Southwest and across the Rio Grande into Mexico, leaving a bloody trail of robbery and death.

“All that have ever tried to impose change in their organization will immediately recognize and truly value the in-depth knowledge and experience captured in this book. It contains a collection of eye-openers that is a treasure chest for pioneers of new organizational ideas, A fantastic toolbox for use in future missions!” —Lise B. Hvatum, product development manager, Schlumberger “If you have need of changing your organization, and especially of introducing new techniques, then you want to understand what is in this book. It will help you avoid common pitfalls that doom many such projects and will show you a clear path to success. The techniques are derived from the experience of many individuals and organizations. Many are also fun to apply. This stuff is really cool—and really hot.” —Joseph Bergin, professor of computer science, Pace University, New York “If change is the only guarantee in life, why is it so hard to do? As this book points out, people are not so much resistant to change itself as they are to being changed. Mary Lynn and Linda have successfully used the pattern form to capture and present the recurring lessons of successful change efforts and have placed a powerful knowledge resource in the hands of their readers.” —Alan O'Callaghan, researcher, Software Technology Research Laboratory, De Montfort University, United Kingdom “The most difficult part of absorbing patterns, or any technology, into an organization is overcoming the people issues. The patterns in this book are the documentation of having gone through that experience, giving those that dare push the envelope a head start at success.”—David E. DeLano, IBM Pervasive Computing “If you have ever wondered how you could possibly foster any cultural changes in your organization, in this book you will find a lot of concrete advice for doing so. I recommend that everyone read this book who has a vast interest in keeping his or her organization flexible and open for cultural change.” —Jutta Eckstein, Independent Consultant, Objects In Action Author of Agile Software Development in the Large 48 Patterns for Driving and Sustaining Change in Your Organization Change. It's brutally tough to initiate, even harder to sustain. It takes too long. People resist it. But without it, organizations lose their competitive edge. Fortunately, you can succeed at making change. In Fearless Change, Mary Lynn Manns and Linda Rising illuminate 48 proven techniques, or patterns, for implementing change in organizations or teams of all sizes, and show you exactly how to use them successfully. Find out how to Understand the forces in your organization that drive and retard change Plant the seeds of change Drive participation and buy-in, from start to finish Choose an "official skeptic" to sharpen your thinking Make your changes appear less threatening Find the right timing and the best teaching moments Sustain your momentum Overcome adversity and celebrate success Inspired by the "pattern languages" that are transforming fields from software to architecture, the authors illuminate patterns for every stage of the change process: knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. These flexible patterns draw on the experiences of hundreds of leaders. They offer powerful insight into change-agent behavior, organizational culture, and the roles of every participant. Best of all, they're easy to use—and they work!