When Smart People Work for Dumb Bosses : How to Survive in a Crazy and Dysfunctional Workplace

by Lundin, William,

• ISBN13: 9780071348089
• ISBN10: 0071348085
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-07-19
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Summary

How can smart people stay sane and productive when their bosses are toxic, rude, or just plain dumb? Solutions abound in this essential book. William and Kathleen Lundin, featured on National Public Radio's Marketplace, are widely acknowledged as experts on bringing a better quality of life to today's beleaguered workplace. Using the popular co-dependence model, this new paperback edition provides valuable therapeutic/psychological strategies for handling all-too-typical problems and creating a more healthy and functional organization.

Author Biography

William Lundin, Ph.D. and Kathleen Lundin are cofounders of Worklife Productions, a consulting/training practice. They have trained managers and team leaders for companies such as Ameritech, Hewlett Packard, Saturn, Harley Davidson, Sun Microsystems, Johnson Hill Press, Jones Dairy Farm, and MandM Mars, among others--and work on-site or from Plowshares, their Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Retreat Center in the Kettle Moraine State Forest on Whitewater Lake, Wisconsin. They are the authors of The Healing Manager, Building Positive Relationships at Work, Working with Difficult People, and 3 Values of Leadership. They are widely recognized for their straight-talking, interactive approach to workplace problems grounded in solid therapeutic techniques.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
New Introduction to the Paperback Edition	xiii
Part One. The Heart of Dumbness
Truly Dumb Bosses	3	(32)
Love My Company, Hate My Manager	5	(5)
Savage Management	10	(5)
Big Man with a Bat	15	(3)
Can't Talk, Working on the Phones	18	(4)
The Morale Survey as Beauty Contest	22	(3)
MBA---Management by Adultery	25	(4)
I'm Alpha, You're Dirt	29	(4)
Pastille Dumb	33	(2)
Truly Dumb Organizations	35	(22)
Specialists for Me, 15 Minutes for You	36	(7)
Biker Chick	43	(5)
Insanity	48	(3)
I Worked for a Genius	51	(6)
Hello Corporate Culture, Good-Bye	57	(34)
I Want That!	57	(2)
Handling Millions While on Food Stamps	59	(2)
Church and Business Don't Mix	61	(3)
If You Get Sick, You're Fired	64	(4)
Everything Became Dumber	68	(6)
You Killed My Identity	74	(3)
Can't Ride without a Ticket	77	(5)
He Doesn't Know People	82	(3)
Bombing Run	85	(6)
Part Two. Faces of Dumbness
The Puzzle of Teams	91	(22)
Team Decision Making?	93	(2)
His People Aren't Ready	95	(2)
There Was No Real Team	97	(3)
Good Ideas from Those People?	100	(5)
It's Relationships, Dummy!	105	(3)
I Could Punch Him in the Nose	108	(5)
Quality: Smart and Dumb	113	(28)
Your Right to Quality	115	(3)
Documenting Dysfunction Rather Than Quality	116	(2)
AFP---Another Fine Program	118	(4)
Leadership Begins at School	122	(3)
Shoot the Quality Messenger	125	(5)
Achtung Engineers	130	(3)
My Best Friend Destroyed Me	133	(4)
Into the Quality Paradox	137	(4)
How Empowerment Became a Dirty Word	141	(32)
We Want Your Tools	142	(3)
We Need Your Ideas and Experience	145	(1)
They Prefer to Be Drones	146	(7)
Those Loony Memos Cover My Walls	153	(5)
Our University is a Dysfunctional Family	158	(3)
The Vice President as Elephant	161	(5)
We Gave Him Complete Control	166	(4)
You Owe Me	170	(3)
Epilogue	173	(6)
References	179	(2)
Index	181