Do Nothing!: How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader

The title of this book attracts attention but is misleading. It implies that J. Keith Murnighan emphatically recommends that leaders literally do nothing. On the contrary, he has written a book--and a quite valuable book - in which he explains how to lead more effectively by doing less so that others can do more...and do it better as they "learn by doing" rather than by admonition or passive observation. As is also true of countless other business books, the subtitle is far more informative than is the title. "In other words," Murnighan suggests, "stop working and start leading."As he notes, here's a familiar challenge: "Things [begin italics] are [end italics] simpler when other people are in charge and you don't have to make big decisions. Taking over as a leader means that you must depart from the comfort of the status quo, and the anxiety, fear, and uncertainty that accompany your excitement really are noxious. To avoid these feelings, people naturally fall back on what's familiar and certain - that is, what they know how to do. Unfortunately, this can be truly counterproductive." Why? There are some tasks best completed by a leader; most other tasks can - and should - be completed by others (i.e. direct reports). No one person can do [begin italics] everything [end italics]. Leaders should commit most of their time and energy to being facilitators and orchestators.I agree with Murnighan's analogy: "When things are really clicking, work will be like the performance of a great Beethoven symphony, with the notes in the right place, the crescendos coming on time, and at the end, a feeling of exhilaration at your collective accomplishments. Leaders and their teams [begin italics] never [end italics] experience this kind of thrill when leaders do too much." Quite true. The results are even worse, however, if leaders do nothing.Here are several of the passages in Murnighan's book that caught my eye:o A `litmus test" to determine whether or not you are doing too much (Pages 18-19)o "Five Natural Problems of Individuals as Leaders" (40-51)o A Japanese proverb ("Every stranger is a thief") and a rational model for building trust (86-88)o "Door Fasteners" and "Dental Work": Two examples of why "Effective leadership is lonely" (128-132)o Defining characteristics of a "profit-maximizing company" (161-163)o Mini-profile of Norbert Brainin, the first violinist of the Amadeus String Quartet (183-187)No brief commentary such as this one can do full justice to the scope and depth of information, insights, and counsel that Keith Murnighan provides within this volume. One of the core principles that he affirms throughout the narrative is rightsizing. However, it remains for each reader to determine the nature and extent of what is appropriate to her or his own circumstances insofar as two critical issues are concerned: division of labor and allocation of resources. The challenge and (yes) the opportunity is to determine correct proportionality (i.e. rightsizing) at any given time, in any given situation. That is a determination that only a leader should make, albeit after consultation with associates, and it will ultimately determine the success or failure of the given enterprise.

I was intrigued by the title of the book <<do nothing>>, and I expected an interesting alternative to the (disgraceful) way mainstream management is currently run, especially in big corporations (which in my opinion is generally based on the principle of doing way too much just in order to be perceived as a an active member of the organisations by one’s superiors).To certain extend, the book stood up to its title and delivered good insights which a backward management style would struggle to digest and implement, such as 1) understanding the limitations of the performance goals, 2) going beyond the focus of maximising short term profits 3) truly establishing trust as the principle for the interactions among the members of the team.Therefore I recommend this book as a useful and positive read. The content and the articulation is not the deepest one but it does raise some very good points to delve into more details elsewhere if the reader wishes so.However, in my opinion the book contains also a serious mistake, which consists in the fact that the author clearly believes in the long term effectiveness of extrinsic motivators such as medals and public recognition in order to increase the morale of a team. I acknowledge that this position is still currently shared by much of the business literature. Nevertheless Psychology studies have consistently shown for decades that relying on external motivators (being ad hoc monetary rewards, star cards, manipulative praises ect) will have a negative impact on the intrinsic motivation of the team in the long term. It is time for executives to catch up with science.In other words, Murnighan overlooks that external motivators tend to hook emotionally people subjected to them and in the long run people will be less motivated unless they keep receiving them in an increasingly higher dose. Those motivators become a kind of emotional drug, which decreases the inherent willingness to do the tasks well (the so called intrinsic motivation).Murnighan acknowledges anther one of the possible negative effects of extrinsic motivators in the fact that during public recognitions the people get praised feel elated while the ones who are just assisting to the recognitions can feel slighted. The author tackles this issue simply by suggesting that <<People who feel slighted need to get over these kinds of unproductive feelings>>. I was surprised to read such an over-simplistic statement, mostly considering that few pages back the author covers the (very important) concept of empathy, and then he dismisses the human emotion of feeling demotivated by writing a statement which is the complete opposite of what empathy is about.In conclusion, this is a good book with interesting insights but very naïve about the long term negative consequences of extrinsic motivators. I strongly suggest anyone interested in such a complex topic to read Alfie Kohn’s work, in particular the book Punished by Rewards.

A reading for almost any person in a managerial position. It's about providing people the chance and the responsibility to act on their own. Micro-managers will probably hate it (after all, they know best, don't they?)

The Great bookatharalrabie@gmail.com

Nice for introverts