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 Management Resources And LinksThis section contains a full list of management resources and links used on the Happy Manager site. For your ease of use we have categorised these into: Essential Reading and Further Suggested Reading. Essential ReadingTwo Books which came out within a year of each other, written by three academics, call managers to think carefully at what they accept as recieved wisdom. They signal a possible new emphasis on evidenced-based management and an antidote to many of the bold claims of so called "new" management ideas. They are both well worth a read and provide many useful management tips.Neither book pulls any punches in their titles ( nor are they particularly pithy!).The first book written by two Stanford University professors, Jeffrey Pfeffer and Bob Sutton, is called " Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense." The second by Phil Rosenweig professor at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland is called "The Halo Effect....and the Eight Other Business Delisuons That Deceive Managers" Both books have useful web sites with extra management resources included.
The book challenges many views that are held as conventional wisdom. For example do you agree with the following three statements?
Great pearls of business wisdom? Absolutely not, state Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton. They say too much common management "wisdom" isn't wise at all, but instead is based on flawed knowledge of best practices that are poor, incomplete, or outright wrong--not to mention hazardous to an organization's health.
Bob Sutton explains one of the assumptions behind the book arguing that the approach is more like “ The way a good doctor or a good manager works—we call it the attitude of wisdom—is to act with knowledge while doubting what you know. So if a patient goes to a doctor, you hope the doctor would do two things: first look at the literature and make the best decision given what’s available. Then actually track the progress of the treatment and see what unexpected side effects you’re having and what things are working.”
 The Halo Effect: .and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers , By Phil Rosenzweig.
An antidote to the fashionable, latest managment idea claiming dramatic benefits, The Halo effect asks critical questions that every manager should ask. Phil Rosenzweig argues that many ideas that are adopted by businesses are deeply flawed. This book will help you think more critically about the latest management ideas, and in the end not surprisingly doesn't come up with a simple 5 steps to success. The book does however grapple with how performance in organisations might be improved. Management as we probably all are aware is a rather complex activity, Rosenzweig argues that success may well come down to "shrewd strategy, superb execution and good luck," Suggested Further Reading The One Minute Manager , By Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson.
This book has become a best seller, and there are now many other titles in the series. If you want a short read with some simple but powerful ideas to apply then "The One Minute Manager" is a good place to start. Written in story format,the book reveals three secrets to effective managing: One Minute Goals, One Minute Reprimands, and One Minute Praising. Its the story of a new manager finding out what exactly a successful manager does, by talking with an older wiser manager and those who report to that manager. The authors have distilled what they consider to be the essence of effective management. It also illustrates the point that people in an organisation look to good managers as sources of wisdom. Reminding us that some of the most useful management resources are the managers and people around us!
 As a short book, The One Minute Manager also lends itself ideally as an audio book. Regardless of whether you read it or listen to it, its principles will take time to apply and adapt to your approach and style.Return to Happy Manager Resources from Management Resources And Links
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 If you have any suggested additions to our management resources, please let us know here. 
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, By Jeffrey Pfeffer and Bob Sutton.
