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What Were They Thinking? Unconventional Wisdom about Management Jeffrey Pfeffer 
 Format: Hardcover, 204pp. ISBN: 9781422103128 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: July 10, 2007 Average Customer Review: 
For Bulk Orders Call: 626-441-2024  Description and Reviews From The Publisher: Every day companies and their leaders fail to capitalize on opportunities because they misunderstand the real sources of business success. Based on his popular column in Business 2.0, Jeffrey Pfeffer delivers wise and timely business commentary that challenges conventional wisdom while providing data and insights to help companies make smarter decisions. The book contains a series of short chapters filled with examples, data, and insights that challenge questionable assumptions and much conventional management wisdom. Each chapter also provides guidelines about how to think more deeply and intelligently about critical management issues. Covering topics ranging from managing people to leadership to measurement and strategy, it’s good organizational advice, delivered by Dr. Pfeffer himself. Reviews “Jeffrey Pfeffer has a rare combination of academic rigor and practical genius. Grounded in research, a revered pioneer in his field – yet dedicated to helping leaders lead – he stands as one of the sparkling gems in the field of management.” —Jim Collins, author, Good to Great, and co-author, Built to Last “I work with real executives every day. An executive is seldom a God, Devil, Genius or Idiot; an executive, like the rest of us, is a human being. What Were They Thinking? clearly explains why executives make human mistakes and how these common mistakes can be avoided. You may well think of your own mistakes and answer the question, ‘What was I thinking?’” —Marshall Goldsmith, executive coach and author, What Got You Here Won't Get You There “A wise book of penetrating intellect wrapped in readable prose that every student, practitioner, and even expert in business must read. If they don't, it is their grand omission.” —Jack Valenti, former president, Motion Picture Association of America “Jeffrey Pfeffer is one of the leading organizational behavior scholars of our time. What Were They Thinking? provides an accessible and insightful integration of theory and pragmatism developed through the thoughtful lens that only Jeff could provide. You will consume this book like a good Chinese dinner—pick what you want to eat from a rich menu, and expect to be hungry for more in a few hours.” —Gary Loveman, chairman, president and CEO, Harrah's Entertainment Inc. “I can think of no scholar who has done more than Jeffrey Pfeffer to document how much a company’s success depends on how well that company leverages the strength of its human resources. In What Were They Thinking?, Pfeffer provides numerous examples of the companies that get it wrong and the companies that get it right. The result is a theoretically-grounded, practical guide for managers on how they can get the most from their people.” —Joel M. Podolny, Dean and William S. Beinecke Professor of Management, Yale School of Management “Beyond Managing with Power, beyond Hard Facts, this latest book from Jeffrey Pfeffer takes the principle of 'learning from the mistakes of others' and helps put it into applied practice for business leaders. Combining solid theory with plenty of practical examples, he relates cautionary tales of situations where short-sighted managers have accidentally wandered off the path to success. This helpful book taps into the voice of experience so that we don't have to learn all these lessons the hard way.” —David Kelley, co-founder and chairman, IDEO “What Were They Thinking? is a collection of snippets, most of which are good common sense. Yet, given how uncommon good common sense can be in corporations, this anthology makes for a very useful reference volume.” —Shona L. Brown, senior vice president, business operations, Google, and co-author, Competing on the Edge
About the Author Jeffrey Pfeffer is Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. He is the author or co-author of 11 books, and a monthly column in Business 2.0. Table of Contents What Were They Thinking?: Avoiding Common Management Mistakes 1 People-Centered Strategies The Face of Your Business: It's People, Not Software, That Build Customer Relationships 13 Making Companies More Like Communities 19 A Blueprint for Success: Spend More on Training 25 How Companies Get Smarter: Taking Chances and Making Mistakes 32 Why Employees Should Lead Themselves 39 Creating Effective Workplaces Stop Picking Employees' Pockets: It Seldom Fixes Anything 49 Let Workers Work: The Downsides of Having People Manage Their Own Benefits 56 Why Spy on Your Employees?: Building Trust in the Workplace 62 All Work, No Play?: Maybe Long Hours Don't Pay 68 Sins of Commission: Be Careful What You Pay For, You May Get It 74 More Mr. Nice Guy: Why Cutting Benefits Is a Bad Idea 81 Resumes Don't Tell: Pick People for What They Can Do, Not What They May Have Done 87 Power Play: Rethinking Leadership and Influence The Courage to Rise Above: Don't Be Afraid to Stand Out 95 Executive-in-Chief: The Importance of Framing and Repetition 102 How to Turn On the Charm: Building Influence Through Real Human Interaction for a Change 109 A Field Day for Executives: The Benefits of Knowing WhatYour Organization Actually Does 116 The Whole Truth, and Nothing But 122 Refuse to Lose: Persistence Pays 127 No More Excuses 133 Measures of Success: Rethinking Organizational Strategy The Real Budget Crisis: Stop Rewarding Forecasting and Negotiating Instead of Real Performance 141 Shareholder Return Is the Wrong Measure of Performance 147 Dare to Be Different 154 Curbing the Urge to Merge 160 Don't Believe the Hype About Strategy 166 Facing the Nation: Organizations and Public Policy In Praise of Organized Labor: What Unions Really Do 173 What to Do-and Not Do-About Executive Pay 181 Stopping Corporate Misdeeds: How We Teach the Wrong Lessons 188 Notes 195 Index 213 Acknowledgments 239 About the Author 243 Find Items On Similar Subjects  Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths And Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence-Based Management The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action
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