The Temptation to Do Good

 

Issue No. 281 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (July 8, 2013) features a little-known book from  Peter Drucker who said,“We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn.” Plus, this reminder: check out my Management Buckets website with dozens of resources and downloadable worksheets for your staff meetings.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A Novel Way to Understand Management  It's summer here in the Northern Hemisphere and time to find a book for the beach, the backyard, or the mountains.  One colleague admitted that his spouse complained recently, “Do you need to read so many management books? Can't you read at least one book, just for fun?”    So I loaned him the World War II heart-stopping true story, Operation Mincemeat:  How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory, by Ben Macintyre. (Confession: I titled my review, “Operation Details,” because I also learned a lot about management. Spoiler alert: the Allies won.) But...if your spouse or colleagues think it's time you should read a novel, here's a good one: The Temptation to Do Good.   Since I'm traveling this month (including some R&R), I'm reaching back to Issue 31 (April 2007) to remind you about one of my treasured books, autographed for me by the author, Peter Drucker. His first novel, The Temptation to Do Good, was published in 1984. It’s a great title and a quick read for busy leaders and managers who need a change of pace from the growing pile of must-read books.   Drucker introduces us to Father Heinz Zimmerman, president of a Catholic university.  He faces all of the leadership challenges common to nonprofit CEOs: budgets, donors, staff conflicts, board members, ethical issues and more.  Throw in student and faculty expectations and you’ll appreciate your current organization more—no matter how complex it is!   In this delightful novel (just 152 pages), Drucker addresses this subtle “temptation to do good” syndrome  that gets many religious leaders into trouble.  You’ll enjoy the story and Drucker’s memorable insights. Earlier this year, I added the book to my Top-10 list for My Ideal Bookshelf.   To order this book from Amazon, click on the title for The Temptation to Do Good, by Peter F. Drucker. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions: 1) Why might “the temptation to do good” get you into trouble? 2) Not all life-long learning comes from non-fiction.  Describe a leadership or management insight you received from a novel you’ve read. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- “Take That!” Water Cooler Ammo Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit If colleagues handed over $100 every time they roped you into the “Management versus Leadership” argument, you'd be wealthy.  So for your next round at the water cooler, just hand them the article from Olan Hendrix, "Management That Leads" (referenced in Chapter 17). Olan Hendrix writes,  "Leaders must learn to manage,  and managers must learn to lead.  When we see the two as interdependent we are more apt to improve at the work of getting work done through other people. When we see the two as totally separate we more easily excuse our deficiencies in one or the other and thereby deny ourselves the potential for learning."   Visit my Operations Bucket webpage here and download a PDF of the two-page article.  Hendrix quotes Warren Bennis, “People will do a good job if they are provided with management that leads.”     NOTICE! Issues No. 1 to 657 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (2006 to 2025), previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to this new blogsite: John Pearson's Buckets 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 • PODCASTS: John Pearson's Buckets Podcasts  ECFA BLOG on “Governance of Christ-centered Organizations”   Add your thoughts to John's latest blog post for boards, "The 6 D's: Discerning Decision-Maker," on six criteria for recruiting board members. PLUS! View the short video on the ECFA Governance Toolbox Series: No. 1: Recruiting Board Members and No. 2: Balancing Board Roles (DVD and Viewing Guides).