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 Bring your business to life!
Back in the 60's, Bob Townsend, then CEO of Avis, put into practice a set of radical ideas that galvanised the Rent -a-Car business and brought about something of a revolution in Business Management thinking. I have been consulting to businesses for many years and the very best (efficient, dynamic, successful, empowering, happy) I have worked with have been those that exemplify Townsend's approach: the worst (overweight, stagnant, moribund, stultifying, depressing) those that do not. This book avoids corporate-speak and delivers its message in plain language that anyone can comprehend and put into practice. Along the way Townsend skewers a few sacred cows and exposes the false assumptions on which traditional businesses are built.
If you are (or aspire to be) a CEO or Senior Manager (or a Consultant) you *need* to read this book, but be prepared to accept some home truths. If your business is stagnating then Townsend will give you the reasons, both barrels, right between the eyes, but he also provides you with the solution to your woes in the same blunt style. Even if you're not a manager (yet), I guarantee you will find 'Up the Organisation' highly amusing and it will help explain why your enterprise is the way it is, for better or worse.
GREAT,GREAT, BOOK!!
Up the Organization How to Stop the Corporation From Stifling People & Strangling Profits
After you read this you wonder why every big company doesn't make their management do most of what is in this book. Years ago I used many of the ideas from this book and got more production with less people because they felt wanted.
Best Business Book
I've read hundreds of business books. The Zurich Axioms is the best investment book, Up The Organization is the best general business book. Memorable vignettes will come to mind decades after you read it -- making your business decisions better.
 Old and Stiff
The book physically was used and probably fit the description of "good". It is, however, like some of my old paperbacks that have been stored in the basement for years, old and stiff. This means that when I turn the pages to read, the spine breaks a little each time. If I read it as intended, skipping around one short subject at a time, I will end up with a number of loose pages.
It is also true that some of Robert Townsend's ideas seem old and stiff. Most dated is his frequent reference to women employees as "girls". Definitely old.
One of the Greats of All Time..
As a corporate director of human resources, I continually search for books that will assist me and my managers to become better stewards of the company's money and other resources.
I don't remember when I bought my copy of Robert Townsend's book but I remember my children were toddlers and they are all married with children of their own. About ten years ago, I updated my copy with the revised book - Further Up the Organization: How Groups of People Working Together for a Common Purpose Ought to Conduct Themselves for Fun and Profit. Robert Townsend died in 1998. How I wish he were still around so we could continue to receive his straightforward advice and guidance.
A couple of years ago, I decided to write a management book and decided that I enjoyed Robert Townsend's book so much that I would copy his style with a multitude of short chapters and brutal honesty. I accomplished my goal and can only hope that my book will reach the stratosphere that his did.
As a tip for those contemplating purchasing Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and Strangling Profits (J-B Warren Bennis Series); you can actually have a lot of fun with noting when people violate the behaviors Mr. Townsend warned us about and leave a copy of the page out of Up the Organization on their desk. They'll never know what hit `em. (and some will actually improve their mode of operation)
I highly recommend this book to anyone in management. Like me, I believe you will refer to it often. Michael L. Gooch, SPHR - Author of Wingtips with Spurs
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(based on 23 reviews)
