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The Tools by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels
ALL managers have to get work done through other people. In the world of work today where almost everyone is required to apply their minds, the manager needs to be a person others wish to work for.
If a person in a management position behaves in a way that does not engender a positive response from staff, there is no end of ways in which employees can withhold their best efforts.
We bring our whole selves to work each day, which is why thoughtful management theorists are applying psychological principles usually reserved for the personal domain to the world of work.
A leader in this field is Manfred Kets de Vries, the Insead professor who applies psychoanalytical principles to his work with executives.
As is widely acknowledged, the process of identifying why a person is intimidated by others, is unable to control his temper or any other form of dysfunctional behaviour is both a complex and lengthy process.
In the world of work, too much damage will happen and too much money will be wasted until such time as the therapy shows results.
Therapists Stutz and Michel become aware in their practices that the primary complaint of patients was the length of time it takes for the therapy to work.
The reason for this is the convention of therapy which focuses on "insights" or "causation", and rests on the belief that if patients could uncover the deep-seated reasons behind their problems change would be automatic.
They set about developing a new, more dynamic kind of therapy that would give people the power to change themselves and the ability to start the process right away.
This book, The Tools, is their solution.
The kind of change that a manager might require is behavioural, not just attitudinal. It is clearly less relevant to staff for the manager to know why he is so narcissistic and more relevant that his behaviour doesn't impede their progress or spoil their day.
Their first tool is designed to address the problem of avoiding taking action when it is required.
This the authors attribute to the preference for living in our comfort zones, despite the fact that it limits what we can achieve. Common problems among managers include not confronting non-performance and not tackling projects that are too challenging.
This severely limits what they ultimately achieve, despite their ability to do so much more.
Pain avoidance is such a power habit because you get immediate relief when the pain is avoided. The penalty, the regret over the waste, comes much later.
The tools are encapsulated in short vignettes from co-author Michels' experiences. In high school a fellow pupil, a star running back of the football team, confided in him the reason for his success.
The footballer was neither the fastest nor the strongest player, and yet he was rated the best in the city. The reason lay in his attitude to being hit by other players.
Once he had the ball he would run directly at the nearest tackler – he wouldn't try to fake or run out of bounds. He would run at him and get hit on purpose, no matter how much it hurt.
"When I get up, I feel great, alive. That's why I am the best. The other runners are afraid, you can see it in their eyes."
Michels' initial response was that the running back "was mad", but he quickly realised that the football field resembled the world he had spent his young life avoiding and that he had found the tool for combating the pain that lies behind avoidance.
The tool requires that you identify the situation you are avoiding and "silently scream, 'Bring it on!'" as you feel the intense desire for the discomfort the situation arouses. Then "silently scream, 'I love that discomfort!'" Then say with inward conviction, "The discomfort sets me free!"”
To appreciate the merit of this tool, it is worth dwelling on the implication when applied to the situation being avoided. Consider the common problem of not confronting a staff member's non-performance because of the discomfort it causes you, and the tool's power will become apparent.
There is a tool to be used when someone enrages you and you cannot get them out of your mind and you fantasise about getting revenge, and so get locked into what the authors call "the Maze".
In its worst manifestation you stay in the maze until the wrong you experienced is rectified, which rarely happens and so leaves you trapped.
There is a tool for intimidating situations whether they involve an audience of one or one 100, situations in which you "freeze" and so fail to give a good account of yourself. Unfortunately these are usually situations where creating the right impression is most important.
There is also a tool for correcting negative thinking, and a tool for perseverance.
It could and will be argued by those of the psychoanalytical school that these tools are superficial, and while they might change behaviour they don’t address the underlying reasons. As such, one is bound to go back to the self-destructive behaviours sooner or later.
The authors counter that insight into the "reasons" for a problem aren't the cause of change, but the result. Groups like Alcoholics Anonymous are predicated on this notion: you don't join AA and then sit around discussing why you drink too much over a few beers - you join to stop drinking one day at a time.
Only after that can you look into the roots of your addiction.
This book has the potential to address a key managerial problem: a manager's counter-productive behaviour. It is a self-help book and as such, many of those in gravest need might not recognise their need for it.
It might therefore be a very good idea to read it – whether you think you need it or not.
Readability: Light -+--- Serious
Insights: High --+-- Low
Practical: High +---- Low
* Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy.
ALL managers have to get work done through other people. In the world of work today where almost everyone is required to apply their minds, the manager needs to be a person others wish to work for.
If a person in a management position behaves in a way that does not engender a positive response from staff, there is no end of ways in which employees can withhold their best efforts.
We bring our whole selves to work each day, which is why thoughtful management theorists are applying psychological principles usually reserved for the personal domain to the world of work.
A leader in this field is Manfred Kets de Vries, the Insead professor who applies psychoanalytical principles to his work with executives.
As is widely acknowledged, the process of identifying why a person is intimidated by others, is unable to control his temper or any other form of dysfunctional behaviour is both a complex and lengthy process.
In the world of work, too much damage will happen and too much money will be wasted until such time as the therapy shows results.
Therapists Stutz and Michel become aware in their practices that the primary complaint of patients was the length of time it takes for the therapy to work.
The reason for this is the convention of therapy which focuses on "insights" or "causation", and rests on the belief that if patients could uncover the deep-seated reasons behind their problems change would be automatic.
They set about developing a new, more dynamic kind of therapy that would give people the power to change themselves and the ability to start the process right away.
This book, The Tools, is their solution.
The kind of change that a manager might require is behavioural, not just attitudinal. It is clearly less relevant to staff for the manager to know why he is so narcissistic and more relevant that his behaviour doesn't impede their progress or spoil their day.
Their first tool is designed to address the problem of avoiding taking action when it is required.
This the authors attribute to the preference for living in our comfort zones, despite the fact that it limits what we can achieve. Common problems among managers include not confronting non-performance and not tackling projects that are too challenging.
This severely limits what they ultimately achieve, despite their ability to do so much more.
Pain avoidance is such a power habit because you get immediate relief when the pain is avoided. The penalty, the regret over the waste, comes much later.
The tools are encapsulated in short vignettes from co-author Michels' experiences. In high school a fellow pupil, a star running back of the football team, confided in him the reason for his success.
The footballer was neither the fastest nor the strongest player, and yet he was rated the best in the city. The reason lay in his attitude to being hit by other players.
Once he had the ball he would run directly at the nearest tackler – he wouldn't try to fake or run out of bounds. He would run at him and get hit on purpose, no matter how much it hurt.
"When I get up, I feel great, alive. That's why I am the best. The other runners are afraid, you can see it in their eyes."
Michels' initial response was that the running back "was mad", but he quickly realised that the football field resembled the world he had spent his young life avoiding and that he had found the tool for combating the pain that lies behind avoidance.
The tool requires that you identify the situation you are avoiding and "silently scream, 'Bring it on!'" as you feel the intense desire for the discomfort the situation arouses. Then "silently scream, 'I love that discomfort!'" Then say with inward conviction, "The discomfort sets me free!"”
To appreciate the merit of this tool, it is worth dwelling on the implication when applied to the situation being avoided. Consider the common problem of not confronting a staff member's non-performance because of the discomfort it causes you, and the tool's power will become apparent.
There is a tool to be used when someone enrages you and you cannot get them out of your mind and you fantasise about getting revenge, and so get locked into what the authors call "the Maze".
In its worst manifestation you stay in the maze until the wrong you experienced is rectified, which rarely happens and so leaves you trapped.
There is a tool for intimidating situations whether they involve an audience of one or one 100, situations in which you "freeze" and so fail to give a good account of yourself. Unfortunately these are usually situations where creating the right impression is most important.
There is also a tool for correcting negative thinking, and a tool for perseverance.
It could and will be argued by those of the psychoanalytical school that these tools are superficial, and while they might change behaviour they don’t address the underlying reasons. As such, one is bound to go back to the self-destructive behaviours sooner or later.
The authors counter that insight into the "reasons" for a problem aren't the cause of change, but the result. Groups like Alcoholics Anonymous are predicated on this notion: you don't join AA and then sit around discussing why you drink too much over a few beers - you join to stop drinking one day at a time.
Only after that can you look into the roots of your addiction.
This book has the potential to address a key managerial problem: a manager's counter-productive behaviour. It is a self-help book and as such, many of those in gravest need might not recognise their need for it.
It might therefore be a very good idea to read it – whether you think you need it or not.
Readability: Light -+--- Serious
Insights: High --+-- Low
Practical: High +---- Low
* Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy.
