I Am Not a Robot

 

Issue No. 679 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (May 15, 2026) spotlights a hot-off-the-press book on AI. It’s serious, but hilarious. I recommended it to seven friends even before writing this review! Plus, click here for back issues posted at the new location for John Pearson’s Buckets Blog, including my recent review of Postcards from PopPop: Life Lessons from the Road, by Bill Butterworth. Also, listen to the Life After Ministry Podcast's episode, "Missing Links in Ministry Successions," where Matt Davis and I have a conversation about my many leadership mistakes! Please verify you’re a human before reading this issue of Your Weekly Staff Meeting. Select all images with a bucket and recite after me, “I am not a robot—and I love to read or listen to books.” Your AI Cheat Sheet: Serious & Funny No…I did NOT use AI to write this review. But…did the author “just barf a year’s worth of notes and interview transcripts into an IT prompt…” and presto—Amazon delivers a book? Not quite. Joanna Stern writes, “Every sentence in this book started in my brain and traveled, via my MacBook keyboard, onto the page. AI never wrote anything from scratch, except in places that I’ve clearly marked.”   I Am Not a Robot:  My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything by Joanna Stern (May 12, 2026)   This absolutely fascinating and highly-recommended book needs at least two reviews—especially for my more cynical readers. (“Yeah, yeah, yeah. More AI slop, Pearson? Give me something practical.”) So…I’m thinking of a second review—a Pop Quiz—and I’ll ask ChatGPT to help me write some tantalizing questions. Example: True or False? “As of October 2025, Amazon had deployed more than one million robots in their warehouses, factory floors, and fulfillment centers.” (See page 146.) 7 Reasons You and Your Team Members MUST Read This Book! #1. A YEAR WITH AI. After 12 years as the senior personal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Joanna Stern took a time-off-to-write-a-book break and immersed herself, and her family, into all things AI. (Watch the video.) Example: She wore a Bee bracelet all year that recorded everything she said. “It was part diary, part creep, part assistant—and I became surprisingly reliant on it.” Her Bee bracelet “logged nearly 2,000 hours of audio and transcribed and summarized it.” And yes, she confesses, “I average three curses a day, usually when frustrated with technology...” or her work! #2. HILARIOUS. Although a book about artificial intelligence is a deadly-serious topic (see the chapter discussing “artificial intimacy”), Joanna Stern sprinkles in plenty of humor. (She could do stand-up!) Example: Before you have permission to read the book, you’re faced with a full-page CAPTCHA and this instruction:  “Please verify you’re a human who is excited to read this book by completing the CAPTCHA below.” The task: “Select all squares with a bicycle on top of a traffic light on top of a bridge.” Then check the box: “I’m not a robot.”   #3. PRACTICAL. Stern is no novice to AI per her previous day job at The Wall Street Journal. I’ve read her “Personal Technology” column for years—and implemented many of her practical recommendations. (I’m not tech-savvy and she understands that about many of us.) The book is jam-packed with AI tools and she doesn’t hesitate to hand out failing grades. Examples:    • Beginning on Feb. 27, 2025, she allowed AI to fully respond to her text and email communications (no edits—just hit “send”). Oops! After several inappropriate responses, the experiment ended the same day! Warning: Never send “Sorry, I have other plans” to your spouse! (LOL!)    • Frustrated with her eldest son’s bathroom sink—it looked “like a crime scene in a Crest commercial”—she used an AI app, Cursor, to create a video game. Why? “…if you’ve ever met an eight-year-old, you know there’s only one way to truly reach them: video games.”    • “Should I say please and thank you to AI?” Get this! She researched that question with “the great-great-grandson of renowned etiquette expert Emily Post and a director at the Emily Post Institute.” (Important! See my “P.S.” below.) View the 2-minute book trailer: #4. HYPE-BUSTER! The author saved us a ton of time—sorting through the latest AI hype. “So much of what I tested didn’t make it into this book because it sucked.” My favorite: the AI-agent-controlled vending machine she tested with her WSJ colleagues “…that ended up giving away everything for free, including a PlayStation 5 and a live fish.” Must-watch: this nine-minute video, “We Let AI Run a Vending Machine. It Lost All the Money.” (Hilarious!)   #5. YOUR AI CHEAT SHEET. Stern delivers her definition of AI on page four—and adds, “Regardless of your AI knowledge level, you’ve probably already realized that there are more types of AI than tote bags in your coat closet.” So she delivers a succinct “cut through all that confusion” AI cheat sheet of 11 big AI milestones, beginning with “The Turing Test” in 1950, plus:    • Dartmouth’s John Mc Carthy (1955)    • ELIZA, the “chatterbot” therapist from MIT’s Joseph Weizenbaum (1966)    • iRobot’s launch of the Roomba (2002)    • Amazon’s Alexa (2014)    • OpenAI’s ChatGPT (2022) OK, class! Study the cheat sheet. The pop quiz is coming. #6. NON-BORING GLOSSARY! Stern’s year of AI includes glimpses into AI in the dentist’s chair, the robot that chauffeurs her family, the clothes-folding machine in her basement, and the AI therapist “that talked me through my worst bouts of writer’s block.” With AI examples from A to Z, you’ll often reference her 10-page guide, “The Totally Non-Boring AI Glossary™”—(and this is brilliant—she trademarked the term!). Honest. The helpful info (plus the humor) in the introduction and the first 25 pages would have been enough content to write a helpful review. But I couldn’t stop! (And by the way, I do read every book I review.) I made over 50 notes—so watch for my second review. #7. TASKS FOR AI & HUMANS. In the chapter, “The Colleague Who Never Sleeps,” Stern included research about “a ranked list of 40 jobs most at risk of being taken over by AI”—using an “AI Applicability Score.” If you guessed that the 2.9 million customer service reps in the U.S. are at risk, you’d be right. What else can AI do for us? You’ll make photocopies of the chart on page 180 for your next weekly staff meeting. The author categorized her book-writing project into eight distinct tasks (three columns)—and which AI tools she used for each task. Also: her ratings!    • 1 ROBOT = Just short of useless    • 2 ROBOTS = Helpful, but needed oversight    • 3 ROBOTS = Solid assist, but with some blind spots    • 4 ROBOTS = Very effective    • 5 ROBOTS = Game changer Read how Joanna Stern created a Joanna Agent—"an AI version of me that could conduct interviews in my place.” Oh, my.  My Big Idea: Sort the tasks of researching and writing Your Weekly Staff Meeting into eight tasks and discern how AI could help me. Your Big Idea? (Maybe discuss at your next weekly staff meeting.) THERE’S MORE (watch for my second review—with AI’s help!):    • Why I’m asking my doctor (and any specialists I see) how they’re using AI—and would they read this book to learn why Stern is especially interested in AI and cancer?    • “Six Rules for Living”—especially Rule #4: “I will raise humans, not robots.” Teach kids how to question AI’s answers—plus “No companionship chatbots until at least age sixteen. Or maybe ever.” (Whew! If this book were a movie, it would be at least PG-rated. Language. Topics. You know—everyday life.)    • See the chart with five levels of autonomous driving on page 106 in the chapter, “A Way-Mo Fun Spring Break.” (Note: Level 5 doesn’t exist yet.)    • The fun graphics throughout the book—especially the occasional drawing with the subtitle, “A Not-at-All Scientific Study.”    • The author’s research: “The Effects of Reading Only AI-Written Books on One Human’s Habits and Tastes." (Ditto for a month’s diet of AI-generated music that lasted just 15 days!)    • Dozens of date-stamped journal entries throughout 2025—documenting her trials and tribulations using AI to do (almost) everything. Note: While the author carefully balances the possibilities with the perils of AI, other than one reference to Hanukkah, many of my faith-based readers will be disappointed that Stern doesn’t ask theologians and spiritual advisors about what’s coming. You’ll want to go deeper (and read more widely) on the spiritual and moral ripple effect of how companies and users are currently leveraging AI. I urge you to read this book—and keep the conversation going. MAYBE…this would sell you on the book: Before writing this review, I had already sent the Amazon link to seven friends—“MUST-READ!” TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for I Am Not a Robot: My Year Using AI to Do (Almost) Everything, by Joanna Stern. Listen on Libro (8 hours, 2 minutes). (And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.)   P.S. Reminder to clergy who also read this eNews. You’ll find a few “non-church words” in this book. If you ask AI to summarize Stern’s April 20, 2025, journal post about six hamsters, be sure to edit the response—before you preach it on Sunday!   YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS: 1) Zack Kass, the author of THE NEXT RENAISSANCE: AI and the Expansion of Human Potential, quotes Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who “issued a warning to the world’s workers in May 2025.” The alert: “You’re not going to lose your job to an AI, you’re going to lose it to someone who uses AI.” Question: What jobs in our organization will be handled by AI within the next five years? (Read my Jan. 15, 2026, review.) 2) Joanna Stern, author of I Am Not a Robot, has been studying AI for years. Pick one of her WSJ columns (or videos)—and give us a five-minute report at a future staff meeting. (And yes, you can ask AI to summarize it—and recommend discussion questions!)    • “Joanna Stern explains how new technology could improve the odds for women like herself who have an elevated risk of cancer.” (Read the WSJ article.)    • “The 12 Biggest Tech Changes of the Past 12 Years” (5-min. video)    • “I Tried the First Humanoid Home Robot. It Got Weird” (9-min. video)    • “We Have No Idea How to Code. So We Got Claude to Code This Article for Us,” with Ben Cohen (Read the WSJ article.)       SECOND READS: Fresh Solutions From Classic Books You have changed—and your problems have changed—since you read this the first time! Book #47 of 99: Managing Your Boss For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by featuring Book #47 of 99 in our series, “Second Reads.” The big idea: REREAD TO LEAD! Discover how your favorite books (and articles) still have more to teach you and the people you’re coaching and mentoring. Managing Your Boss (book or article - Harvard Business Review Classics) by John J. Gabarro and John P. Kotter (March 1, 2008)   When I was consulting, almost 100 percent of the time in my workshops or with clients, I had hallway conversations with really smart people who said something like, “I just don’t get my boss (or board chair). We’re rarely on the same page. Help!”    • Read my review in Issue No. 201 (Nov. 8, 2010).    • Order book from Amazon; or article from HBR.    • Management Bucket #7 of 20: The People Bucket. Join me on the "Boss Talk" path: “How many hours have you worked so far this year? How many hours have you invested in studying and understanding your boss this year?” “Is your boss a reader or a listener? What are your boss’s Top-5 strengths on the Gallup StrengthsFinder system? What is their social style (driver, analytical, amiable or expressive)?  If your boss is a Christ-follower, do you know his or her spiritual gifts (leadership, mercy, teaching, etc.)?” I explained that everyone must be a student of their boss and I urge them to read this 1980 HBR classic article, “Managing Your Boss.” In addition to a 12-point “Checklist for Managing Your Boss,” the article addresses the critical question: “Is my boss a reader or a listener?” This HBR article is a classic because the boss challenge is a classic. If your key people have given little thought to managing up, download the article from the Harvard Business Review website. Or…read the expanded treatment of this subject—the 55-page book. (See above.)   CLICK HERE FOR BOOKS BY JOHN      On page 80 in the People Bucket chapter of the Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook, you'll find the chart, “Do’s and Don’ts for the Four Social Styles.” When working with Analyticals, for example, “DON’T rush things,” and “DON’T press for immediate action.”  NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon. Free Download: 20 BUCKETS & 82 BALLS! Just posted last month, “Master List of 20 Buckets and 82 Balls” is a 14-page PDF—perfect for your weekly staff meetings. Remind your team about the 20 core competencies and the 82 actions steps featured in the book and workbook, Mastering the Management Buckets. Download the list here. MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  •WEBSITE: Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations Pearson on Podcast! Listen to the "Life After Ministry" podcast from Ministry Transitions. Matt Davis interviews John Pearson about "Missing Links in Ministry Successions." John also shares a few leadership mistakes from his CEO years. And check out the 85 episodes about ministry transitions and succession planning. (Listen also on Apple Podcasts.) NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon.

StrategyMan vs the Anti-Strategy Squad

 

Issue No. 411 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Aug. 16, 2019) features a fantastic book on strategy—cleverly disguised as a graphic novel! Is your team tactical or strategic? And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies). Summer Reading List #4  StrategyMan vs. the Anti-Strategy Squad “Be strategic or be gone” is the tagline of the Strategic Thinking Institute. STI launched when a struggling manager asked Rich Horwath, “I had my performance review and my boss said I’m too tactical. How can I become more strategic?” But get this! Instead of creating solutions with more talking head blah-blah-blah blue sky “imperatives,” Horwath noted the Stanford University study that says you’ll retain six to seven times more information when it’s presented in a story format. Thus...“Fwumpfh!”…“B-Zapp!”…and “Bwa Ha Ha!” Yes, I’m quoting directly from this must-must read graphic novel, StrategyMan vs. the Anti-Strategy Squad: Using Strategic Thinking to Defeat Bad Strategy and Save Your Plan. But…you’d miss the texture, color, hilarity, and brilliance of this unique business book—if I reviewed it solo. I needed help! In June, I invited our granddaughter, Carolina, a voracious reader, to share her thoughts on Scott Rodin’s novel, The Four Gifts of the King. The feedback from readers was over-the-top (thank you!)—so let’s do it again with StrategyMan! Grandpa John: OK, Carolina—your junior year in high school starts next week—so how many books have you read so far this year? Carolina: StrategyMan was my 81st book. Grandpa John: Yikes! Really…81? That’s amazing! (I better up my game!) So…what did you think of StrategyMan vs. the Anti-Strategy Squad: Using Strategic Thinking to Defeat Bad Strategy and Save Your Plan? Carolina: Amazing! I’ve read many graphic novels, but this is the first business book/graphic novel I’m read. It features three heroes, 21 villains, and 10 weapons—for fighting off those anti-strategy villains! Grandpa John: So this business story finds a company in search of a business strategy—but they’re kind of clueless! Did that surprise you? Carolina: Not really! When not fighting off the Anti-Strategy Squad villains, the characters in this fun story reported that “a survey of 400 managers found that only 44.3% of organizations have a universal definition of strategy, and less than half (46%) have a common language for strategy.” Grandpa John: Speaking of the colorful villains…my three favorites were Miss-Alignment, Jargon Goblin, and Meeting Menace (“Teleconferences or meetings that are consistently unproductive, inefficient and a drain on morale.”) Carolina: I’ll go with the Multi-Taskinators. That’s a huge problem, isn’t it? The book gives ways to defeat the villains—such as “Keep your mobile phone out of sight and out of reach during meetings.” I don’t know anyone who does that! I’m also guessing that the Dr. Yes villain is a big problem in organizations. Grandpa John: You nailed it. The Dr. Yes villain is about “the inability to say no to things that don’t contribute value to the business and directly support one’s goals.” Carolina: What was your favorite weapon? Grandpa John: Hey! I’m running this interview—but since you asked, all 10 weapons are succinct, memorable, and immediately useful. The heroine Innovatara—who’s great at “generating insights that lead to innovation”—introduces the Differentiation Detector weapon.  Carolina: Right—and three cheers for the heroine! The Differentiation Detector, I’m thinking, is the best defense against The Same villain. I’d suggest that every store manager at the mall should read this book. There’s very little differentiation today. Grandpa John: Great insight. Nonprofits, churches, and businesses all need help from the other two heroes, StrategyMan and Purposeidon (the mission, vision, values elements—and why many organizations get it wrong). Carolina: Before you give away the ending, Grandpa, do we need a spoiler alert? I’d also like to mention that I plan to loan the book to a friend whose family runs a business. The book is easy to understand, enjoyable to read, educational, and also entertaining. (I also laughed at the nerdy references!) Grandpa John: Wow—four “E’s” right off the top of your head. Nicely done. I’ve never read a graphic novel. Why do you enjoy them so much? Carolina: Duh! I am the daughter of a graphic designer! Grandpa John: You told me that you did skip the “meatier parts” (your words) of the book and I’m not surprised, but—good news—for leaders and managers, the graphics include call-outs and sidebars with serious strategy (or lack of strategy) insights: Example:    • “A recent study of more than 8,000 new, nationally distributed products found that only 40% were still on the market three years later.”    • “A survey of nearly 5,000 senior executives showed that more than 50% didn’t think they had a winning strategy in place.” Carolina: You mentioned the Jargon Goblin villain—why? Grandpa John: Whew! My experience, especially with nonprofit clients, is that if they do have a written strategy—it’s packed with meaningless rhetoric and a mash-up of business terms. (Example: never, ever use “Strategic Imperatives!”) The book blasts away on this theme. Leaders will find it personally painful, but funny. The first chapter, “Strategy Defined,” is worth the price of the book. Carolina: Is it really this bad out there, Grandpa, in the real world of business? Is strategy so ill-conceived? (Are there really villains, like Megalo-Plan, who sneak 115 slides into a VP’s sales presentation?) Grandpa John: It’s bad. Check out the villain, Status Quo-Lock. He ingeniously inspires teams to allocate 90% of resources to the same projects year-after-year! Or, read the chapter, “Strategy and Culture,” and leaders will quickly delete one of their favorite axioms from their vocabulary: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” (Not true!) But there is hope and there are weapons—like the “StrategyPrint” template, a two-page blueprint of a business highlighting four keys: Goals, Objectives, Strategy, and Tactics. Carolina: But you’ve always preached five keys, right? The GNOME Chart: Goals, Needs, Objectives, Methods, and Evaluation. Grandpa John: You remember! I’m good with letting leaders pick what works for them—as long as they understand and implement the whole system. Carolina: Well…if I needed to read a book on strategy, I’d pick StrategyMan. Will this be your 2019 book-of-the-year? Grandpa John: Stay tuned! To order from Amazon, click on the title for StrategyMan vs. the Anti-Strategy Squad: Using Strategic Thinking to Defeat Bad Strategy and Save Your Plan, by Rich Horwath Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) StrategyMan notes a survey that said “only 44.3% have a universal definition of strategy.” Pop Quiz! What is your definition of strategy? 2) “Are the different functional groups in your company (marketing, sales, HR, IT, R&D, etc.) all aware of each other’s strategies and how they align?” That’s question 19 of 20 questions in the free quiz, “Is Your Team Tactical or Strategic?” Click here to take the Strategic Thinking Institute’s quiz.   Is Your Team Tactical or Strategic? Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook  One of the big ideas in the Strategy Bucket, Chapter 3, in Mastering the Management Buckets, is to be strategic about strategic planning. Rich Horwath’s StrategyMan book defines strategy as “The intelligent allocation of resources through a unique system of activities to achieve a goal.” He says you must answer two questions:    1. What are you trying to achieve? (Goals and Objectives)    2. How are you going to achieve it? (Strategies and Tactics) “Strategy is generally how to achieve a goal and tactics are how specifically.” For more resources from the Strategy Bucket, including links to more books and resources on strategy, visit the Strategy Bucket webpage here.                 JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Are you leveraging the extraordinary power of visual media to inspire your members, clients, or customers? Reminder: a Stanford University study says you’ll retain six to seven times more information when it’s presented in a story format. Check out the innovative work from Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video).    Lessons From the Church Boardroom: 40 Insights for Exceptional Governance, by Dan Busby and John Pearson, is now available on Amazon. Read the short posts by 40 guest bloggers here.  NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon. Astronauts and Your Board Click here to find out what astronauts, Tour de France cyclists, and great board members have in common. Read John's latest post on the "Governance of Christ-centered Organizations Blog."  MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  •WEBSITE: Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations

Leaders - Myth and Reality

 

Issue No. 410 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Aug. 6, 2019) features profiles of 13 leaders (some with warts) and some deep thinking on the myths and realities of true leadership. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies).  Summer Reading List #3  Leaders: Myth and Reality “While leaders are generally intelligent, exceptionally intelligent people are actually less likely to emerge as leaders.” That zinger (or perhaps comforting insight) is from “The Geniuses” section of Leaders: Myth and Reality, by General Stanley McChrystal (US Army, Retired). In reflecting on geniuses, McChrystal and his co-authors profile Albert Einstein and Leonard Bernstein.       The book’s approach is fascinating, disturbing, and thought-provoking. McChrystal’s compare-and-contrast model was Plutarch’s Lives—and, trust me, you’ll need a pen if you’re still reading books the old-fashioned way. Oh…and schedule a long vacation this month—this gem is over 400 pages, plus notes. In the news recently was an observation that only three prime ministers—across the pond—have been known by their first names: Winston, Maggie, and Boris. Between 1979 and 1990, Margaret Thatcher served as the U.K. Prime Minister. McChrystal describes her early leadership style as a cabinet minister in 1970: “Within a week, she took her abrasive tongue to the page, writing a minute at the bottom of an interim departmental report of a flagship research program. ‘This is one of the most disappointing and frustrating documents I have read. Not a penny [in funding] after 1971.’ She had a disparaging habit of refusing to send out substandard documents given to her for signature, instead ripping the tops off those pages she thought inferior.” There are more fireworks as the authors exegete leadership myth and reality in “The Power Brokers” section—contrasting Thatcher (1925-2013) with New York City’s infamous “Boss” Tweed (1823-1878).   Tweed, the corrupt politician, was nevertheless a leader. “…he increased the size of Tammany Hall’s general committee from 21 to 150 members, making the group more unwieldly and less able to make decisions.” “The Zealots” commentary positions the French Revolution’s Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794) against the jihadist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi (1966-2006). (Note to budding revolutionaries: both men died in their 30s.) A leader—yet a confirmed introvert, “…the Revolution took Robespierre out of his room and placed him front and center. That this deeply private man both had to and tried to play an increasingly public role would become his undoing.” (For more, read Peggy Noonan’s Wall Street Journal timely July 25, 2019, column, “What Were Robespierre’s Pronouns?”)  And for another take on never-done-this-before leadership in-the-trenches, read McChrystal’s Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World. It was a runner-up for my 2016 book-of-the-year. The authors of Leaders also list book recommendations for each of the 13 leaders profiled—a generous bonus. After reflecting on leadership styles for each leader—I couldn’t stop discussing the strengths and the foibles of each leader. (Ask my wife, Joanne!) I urge you to dive into these troubling portraits of leadership. No one survives unscathed.    • The Marble Man: Robert E. Lee    • The Founders: Walt Disney and Coco Chanel    • The Geniuses: Albert Einstein and Leonard Bernstein    • The Zealots: Maximilien Robespierre and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi    • The Heroes: Zheng He and Harriet Tubman    • The Power Brokers: William Magear “Boss” Tweed and Margaret Thatcher    • The Reformers: Martin Luther and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I confess—I skipped the 13 profiles and read the authors’ conclusions first. “Three Myths” (the Formulaic Myth, the Attribution Myth, and the Results Myth) challenged my leadership assumptions. In the final chapter, “Redefining Leadership,” the authors include a helpful chart on page 397 calling for an improved definition of leadership. After reading the back end of the book, I then returned to the first profile on General Robert E. Lee and was stunned to read what McChrystal wrote: “On a Sunday morning in 2017 I took down [Lee’s] picture, and by afternoon it was in the alley with the other rubbish awaiting transport to the local landfill for final burial. Hardly a hero’s end.” Oh, my. You must read “The Marble Man” chapter. Leaders is jam-packed with insights and surprises. So consider these ideas for staff meetings:    • Pick four team members and inspire them to each “compare-and-contrast” two leaders at future staff meetings.    • Or…zero in on the authors’ insights summarizing each section—such as “Entrepreneurialism and Ego,” or “The Cyclic Lure of Conviction,” or the follow-up to Harriet Tubman, “A Human Need for Heroes.”    • With Hong Kong and China in the news—don’t skip the chapter on Zheng He (1371-1433). Prepare for “aha!” moments—as you learn about China’s motivations for today and the future. To order from Amazon, click on the title for Leaders: Myth and Reality, by General Stanley McChrystal (US Army, Retired), Jeff Eggers, and Jason Mangone. To listen to this book on Libro.FM audiobooks (17 hours, 2 minutes), click here. BONUS BOOK! For faith-based teams, couple Leaders with Steve Moore’s brilliant analysis, The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible: Practical Insights From Extensive Research on Over 1,000 Biblical Leaders (read my review here).  In his chapter on “Failures,” Moore notes, “There are qualifying failures, and disqualifying failures. They can be further subdivided into character-based failure, and competency-based failure. Disqualifying, character-based failure can be partial or complete. Competency-based failure can be direct or indirect.” (Another must-read!) To order from Amazon, click on the title for The Top 10 Leadership Conversations in the Bible, by Steve Moore. Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) Leaders reports that Margaret Thatcher had a “distinct style of written command” with quick Yes, No, or Agreed notes on memos. “But a prime minister does not lead by force of memo alone.” Peter Drucker often wrote about understanding your supervisor’s learning style: is she a reader or a listener? So…what is your leader’s style? 2) In the chapter on Martin Luther, the authors share a “Table Talk” recollection: “When Luther’s puppy happened to be at the table, looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes, he [Martin Luther] said, ‘Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat!’” So…how’s your prayer life?   Delegate Your Reading! Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook  One of the big ideas in the Book Bucket, Chapter 5, in Mastering the Management Buckets, is to delegate your reading. When someone recommends a great book, buy it—even if you don’t have time to read it. Delegate some of your reading to the management zealots on your team. But…if you do delegate the reading of Leaders to someone else, don’t skip the chapter on Harriett Tubman. As our nation revisits our racial history, you’ll appreciate Tubman’s heart and style. “She never intended to lead, and that turns out not to matter—she became a hero, and a leader, all the same.” For more resources from the Book Bucket, including a link to “20 Books to Get You Started” on your lifelong learning journey, click here.                 JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Are you leveraging the extraordinary power of visual media to inspire your members, clients, or customers? Check out the innovative work from Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video).    Lessons From the Church Boardroom: 40 Insights for Exceptional Governance, by Dan Busby and John Pearson, is now available on Amazon. Read the short posts by 40 guest bloggers here.  NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon. Astronauts and Your Board Click here to find out what astronauts, Tour de France cyclists, and great board members have in common. Read John's latest post on the "Governance of Christ-centered Organizations Blog."  MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  •WEBSITE: Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations

Managing Your Boss

 

Issue No. 201 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Nov. 8, 2010) asks you how much time you’ve invested in becoming a student of your boss? And this reminder, check out my Management Buckets website with dozens of resources and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings.

According to the HBR article, "Managing Your Boss," he or she is either a reader or a listener. Are you communicating in your leader's preferred style?






Boss Talk

One hundred percent of the time in my workshops and consulting, I have hallway conversations with really smart people who say something like, “I just don’t get my boss (or board chair). We’re rarely on the same page. Help!”

So I go down the boss talk path: “How many hours have you worked so far this year? How many hours have you invested in studying and understanding your boss this year?”

“Is your boss a reader or a listener? What are your boss’s Top-5 strengths on the Gallup StrengthsFinder system? What is your boss’s social style (driver, analytical, amiable or expressive)?  If your boss is a Christ-follower, do you know his or her spiritual gifts (leadership, mercy, teaching, etc.)?”

I explain that everyone must be a student of their boss and I urge them to read the Harvard Business Review classic article, “Managing Your Boss.”  In addition to leading your direct reports, you must own and navigate the relationship with your boss—not in a manipulative way—but in a mutual respect way.

Authors John J. Gabarro and John P. Kotter write, “At a minimum, you need to appreciate your boss’s goals and pressures, his or her strengths and weaknesses. What are you boss’s organizational and personal objectives, and what are his or her pressures, especially from his or her own boss and others at the same level? What are your boss’s long suits and blind spots?

"What is the preferred style of working? Does your boss like to get information through memos, formal meetings, or phone calls? Does he or she thrive on conflict or try to minimize it? Without this information, a manager is flying blind when dealing with the boss, and unnecessary conflicts, misunderstandings, and problems are inevitable.”

In addition to a 12-point “Checklist for Managing Your Boss,” the article addresses that critical question: “Is my boss a reader or a listener?”

“Subordinates can adjust their styles in response to their bosses’ preferred method for receiving information. Peter Drucker divides bosses into ‘listeners’ and ‘readers.' Some bosses like to get information in report form so they can read and study it. Others work better with information and reports presented in person so they can ask questions. As Drucker points out, the implications are obvious. If your boss is a listener, you brief him or her in person, then follow it up with a memo. If your boss is a reader, you cover important items or proposals in a memo or report, then discuss them.”

ARTICLE. No surprise. This HBR article is a classic because the boss challenge is a classic. If your key people have given little thought to managing up, invest a few bucks and download the article, "Managing Your Boss," from the Harvard Business Review (this 1980 article was reprinted in the January 2005 magazine).

BOOK. Or…read the expanded treatment of this subject (from Harvard Business Review Press, 2008). To order the 55-page book from Amazon, click on the title for Managing Your Boss, by John J. Gabarro and John P. Kotter 

YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:

1) Is your boss (or board chair) a reader or a listener?  Do you communicate in his or her preferred style?

2) What are your boss’s Top-5 “S.M.A.R.T. Goals” for the year? S.M.A.R.T. goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-related.

Drucker Centennial (2009-2010)
Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit

One of the big ideas in the Drucker Bucket, Chapter 4, in Mastering the Management Buckets is to become disciplined students of the great management thinkers, especially Peter Drucker, the father of modern management. He was born in Vienna on Nov. 19, 1909, and so The Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, Calif., has been celebrating the Drucker Centennial this year.

According to the school’s website, “The Drucker Centennial is a time of commemoration, celebration, and renewal, which was crowned by a week of special events at Claremont Graduate University in November 2009 and supplemented by other activities from Fall 2008-2010. It marks the 100th birthday of Peter F. Drucker, the father of modern management; author of 39 books on organizational behavior, innovation, economy, and society; and winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”

To get a taste of Drucker’s savvy insight, download “Peter Drucker on Goal Alignment” from the Results Buckets on my website.  Along with 29 other CEOs, I heard Drucker tell this classic story at a week-long retreat in the Colorado mountains. 

MORE RESOURCES:

• BLOG: Pails in Comparison
• SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews
• JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon 
•WEBSITE: Management Buckets
• BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations

 NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon.

Your Weekly Staff Meeting is emailed free one to three times a month to subscribers. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases.  PRIVACY POLICY: Google's Blogger hosts John Pearson's Buckets Blog. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform for Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews. By clicking (above) to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy policy here. (c) Copyright 2025. John W. Pearson. All rights reserved.

Turning the Flywheel

 

Issue No. 404 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (March 19, 2019) notes this from Jim Collins: “Look closely at any truly sustained great enterprise and you’ll likely find a flywheel at work, though it might be hard to discern at first.”  And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and click here for my 2018 Book-of-the-Year and my Top-10 books of 2018.   2019 Wisdom From Jim Collins ...in Just  29 Pages! In his 2019 hot-off-the-press mini-book, Jim Collins reminds us: • “When you have disciplined people, you don’t need hierarchy. • When you have disciplined thought, you don’t need bureaucracy. • When you have disciplined action, you don’t need excessive controls. • When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you create a powerful mixture that correlates with great performance.” Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great is the latest gem from over 25 years of research from Jim Collins (just 29 pages plus eight pages of helpful summaries in the appendix). The subtitle describes this must-read content: “Why Some Companies Build Momentum and Others Don’t.” So think about this: You’ve written five powerful business books between 1994 and 2011 (plus a lesser known book in 1992). You’ve sold over 10 million copies worldwide. The assignment in 2019: boil it all down and deliver the key thought—the Big Idea—of what leaders and managers are missing. Pick from this list:    • Level 5 Leadership    • Genius of the And    • Confront the Brutal Facts    • The Hedgehog Concept    • The Flywheel    • 20 Mile March    • Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs    • Productive Paranoia    • Clock Building, Not Time Telling    • Preserve the Core/Stimulate Progress    • Return on Luck    • Superior Results    • Distinctive Impact    • Lasting Endurance What one concept would you pick—that rises above everything else—and is your critical message for organizations today? Jim Collins picked the flywheel. I’ve reviewed Collins’ books over the years and found leadership wisdom in every one—but even if you’re already a Jim Collins zealot—Turning the Flywheel will re-energize you. Here’s why: “No matter what your walk of life, no matter how big or small your enterprise, no matter whether it’s for-profit or nonprofit, no matter whether you’re CEO or a unit leader, the question stands, How does your flywheel turn?” What’s a flywheel? Read Chapter 8 of Good to Great, “The Flywheel and the Doom Loop,” or read the nine-line summary in the appendix of Turning the Flywheel, including this: “…the process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant, heavy flywheel, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond.” (By the way, Collins includes more than a dozen succinct summaries of his amazing body of work in just eight pages. Perfect snippets for your next 14 weekly staff meetings!) THE BIG IDEA: “To maximize the flywheel you need to understand how your specific flywheel turns.” Collins illustrates the uniqueness of the flywheel approach with flywheel diagrams from seven companies and nonprofits, including Ware Elementary School, located on the Fort Riley army base in Kansas. Deb Gustafson, the principal, first read the Good to Great and the Social Sectors monograph and was absolutely giddy! “When I got to the part about turning the flywheel, I was bouncing up and down out of my seat,” she said. And note this: Jeff Bezos “…considered Amazon’s application of the flywheel concept ‘the secret sauce.’” But this caution: you need to understand how your organization’s specific flywheel turns—and the sequence of the components. Collins notes seven key steps for capturing your unique flywheel approach—plus this warning: don’t feature more than four to six components. He includes flywheel diagrams from Amazon, Vanguard, Intel, Giro, Ware Elementary School, Ojai Music Festival, and the Cleveland Clinic. (Wow—Collins must have a love affair with Cleveland. In his first monograph, he highlights “Greatness at the Cleveland Orchestra”—one of my favorite examples for nonprofits.)  He packs all of this—and more—into just 29 pages, plus the appendix. But this is all you’re getting in this review, otherwise you wouldn’t need to buy the book. But I’ll close with this motivational pop quiz: STAFF MEETING POP QUIZ: 1) If you’re a millennial and you’ve read a book by Jim Collins, please stand. I have a Starbucks card for you. 2) What books/insights by Jim Collins have made the greatest impact on our department or organization? 3) If you have a marked-up/heavily-read copy of any book by Jim Collins (see his six books listed in the article below), please stand: I have an Amazon gift card for you. 4) If you have NOT read a book by Jim Collins, but would volunteer to read and review Turning the Flywheel at our next staff meeting, please stand. I have a Chick-fil-A card for you! 5) True or False? Using the flywheel concept at Ware Elementary School, the principal and her team saw satisfactory reading levels of just 35% mushroom to 99% in just seven years. (Answer: True!) Collins concludes on page 37 in the appendix: “Finally, I caution against ever believing that your organization has achieved ultimate greatness. Good to great is never done.” To order from Amazon, click on the title for Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great (Why Some Companies Build Momentum and Others Don’t), by Jim Collins    If you’re a listener (not a reader), visit Libro.fm and download the audio book, Turning the Flywheel. Listening time: just one hour and 47 minutes.   Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) Pop Quiz--2nd Round: In groups of two, invest 15 minutes right now and nominate four to six (no more than six) components that might uniquely describe our organization’s flywheel. 2) Pick another bestselling business author (Drucker, Blanchard, Lencioni, Maxwell, or your favorite). If he or she summarized the most critical insight for leaders and managers in 2019—what would your author title the mini-book?   You're Fired! You're Hired! Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook  According to Jim Collins in Turning the Flywheel, in the mid-1980s, Andy Grove, president at Intel said to his CEO, “If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what do you think he would do?”  Gordon Moore gave his answer and Grove responded, “Why shouldn’t you and I walk out the door, come back and do it ourselves?” So Grove and Moore pointed at each other and they both said, “You’re fired.” Then out in the hallway, they pointed at each other again with “You’re hired.” They returned to their offices and launched Intel on a whole new direction. Brilliant! Have you ever fired and re-hired yourself? The Strategy Bucket includes wisdom and insights to help you re-think your outdated strategies with innovative new approaches. If you haven’t read a book by Jim Collins, delegate your reading today to a team member or board member. Here are his six books in the Good to Great Series (click here for all six on Amazon). #1. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t (2001) #2. Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (1994) - Order from Amazon.   #3. Good to Great and the Social Sectors (2005) - Note: This was my first review in the first issue of Your Weekly Staff Meeting, on Aug. 28, 2006. #4. How the Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In (2009). #5. Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck—Why Some Thrive Despite Them All (2011) - Read my review. #6. Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great - Why Some Companies Build Momentum and Others Don’t  (2019) - Order from Amazon.                  JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. In How the Mighty Fall, Jim Collins identifies five stages of decline. Stage 2 is “Undisciplined Pursuit of More.” You may need outside eyes and expertise to help you avoid the cliff. Check out the innovative ideas from Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video). Click here. MORE RESOURCES: • BLOG: Pails in Comparison • SUBSCRIBE: Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews • JOHN'S BOOK REVIEWS: on Amazon  •WEBSITE: Management Buckets • BLOG: Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations  NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon. BEST BOARD BOOKS Great boards delegate their reading with a "10 Minutes for Governance" segment at every board meeting. Here's an index to 18 governance books I've recently reviewed for ECFA's Governance of Christ-centered Organizations blog. Click here.