Book Review: Winning with People by John Maxwell

Winning with others is about understanding both ourselves and other people we live and work with. Before one can truly grasp the needs and desires of another person we must first understand our own needs and desires. It is through this self-reflection that we gain the ability to see other people for who they truly are. We cannot accurately see others until we understand what biases we hold about ourselves that impact our perceptions

The book Winning with People by John Maxwell sheds light on human relationships and how we come to understand and live with each other. On any particular day we associate, negotiate with, and deal with many other people who have their own interests in mind. Some of them are well developed and others are suffering from their own self-perception. 

Before we can understand our place in these social networks we must first understand that the entire population of the world, with the exception of ourselves, is composed of other people. It means that we are only one small piece of a larger pie. It is beneficial to take the perspective of the “other” before trying to force them to the submission of our will. Our way of thinking may not be the only way of thinking....or even the best way.

Conflicts within the workplace are common. They are bound to happen by the sheer fact that we are negotiating for wealth, influence and other resources. However, by caring for other people we have created stronger trusting relationships that supersede the conflict. It isn’t as though conflict is not necessary but that such conflict is done with conscious awareness of the perspective of the other person, their development, and the greater positive outcome. 

When we celebrate and engage with people we find them willing to celebrate and engage with us. There are those in life and at work that have a hard time connecting with anyone. This is due to their perceptual problem with themselves and not necessarily with the group. At other times, it may be the group and not the individual. Seek to look at and develop others and they will seek your development. We all go up or down together through shared experience. 

Of the wisdom that this book offers is a saying of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:

Treat a man as he appears to be and you make him worse. But treat a man as if he already were what he potentially could be, and you make him what he should be. 

The quote is perfect for managers who desire to create higher levels of performance with workers. If a manager treats employees as though they are lazy, uncooperative, and self-interested they will become so. However, if you were to treat a worker s as though they have specific job knowledge, were contributors to organization, and capable of improved performance the worker will do so.  

The book is written at an undergraduate level and the author has put forward a number of important works on social relationships. Even though the book doesn’t state self-fulfilling prophecy it does elude to such a concept. It contains a strong message for students of business in the sense that we create what we see. What we see is based upon our perception of self. This self-perception creates our understanding of the world in which we live. 

Maxwell, C. (2005). Winning with People. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.  ISBN: 978-0-7852-8874-9

Pages:  270

Cost: $12.00

Blog Ranking: 4.1/5

Book Review: Thinking Fast and Slow by Dr. Daniel Khaneman-Priming, Intuition, and Rational Thought

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Dr. Daniel Kahneman discussed the overall processes of fast-paced intuition and a slower process of rational control. The book helps to highlight two concepts called the experiencing self and the remembering self. The experiencing of self is the intuitive experiences that come from our senses while the remembering self is the reflective thoughts that help us gauge history. Each system contributes to the decisions we make and why we make them. 

In system 1 (intuition) people make quick judgments to threats or changes in our environment that allow them to react quickly. The stimulus forces them to quickly scan for possible reactions and associations that benefit their survival. Once they have reacted they can use system 2 (calculation and reflection) to review the possible choices and deliberatively make better choices. 

Both systems can have bias. System 1 can improperly perceive information and make incorrect assumptions from the information. The first answer that comes to mind is not always the correct one. Likewise, people’s rational and deliberative thought can also fool them because they are missing important perceptual information as people rationally move through logical steps and connections.   

Rationality is an interesting concept people use in science but also applies to people’s daily life. 

Rationality is a more deliberative and systematic approach to understanding problems. It relies on calculation, reflection, and judgment. However, rationality is also having consistent beliefs through a person’s being.  For example, it is rational for someone to believe in ghosts as long as it is internally consistent with their other thoughts and beliefs.

The book also discusses priming and its impact on choice. In a priming situation a person can be shown perceptual or conceptual cues that impact responses and choices later. For example, a person primed with environmental stimuli might recognize that stimuli later when more information becomes available. Conceptual priming is often used in research and is focused on using thoughts and concepts under the same modality to impact understanding at a future date.  Perceptual priming can be seen as intuitive while conceptual priming is more rational.

Priming does not need to be overt information and can be unconscious. For example, a single word can be used to prime a thought later through a particular interaction with the environment. Even thought the book doesn’t state this one could make a logical argument that all people are primed in some form or fashion through their collective experiences and shared pasts that allow for groupings of responses. It is possible to predict future choices based upon cultural primes from the past if these past experiences encourage particular behavioral patterns.

The book helps highlight how the “two systems” work together to make accurate or inaccurate judgments. Some have described these as the “hot” and “cold” systems. The “hot” system scans for information and the “cold” system makes rational judgments. When both systems can work together and understand their relationship to the environment a person can develop the strongest responses to challenges and situations while reducing potential cognitive bias and improper reactions. 

The author Daniel Kahneman is a 2002 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Systems. His work as a psychologist focuses on decision making, behavioral economics, judgments, and hedonic behaviors.  In 2012 he was named in the Foreign Policy magazine as one of the top global thinkers. Many of his works are considered new research and ground breaking. 

The book is certainly a beneficial read for those who are interested in decision-making and bias. However, if one were looking for casual reading they may forewarned to move down the aisle to less intensive works. The work includes sufficient depth, case studies, and research on how the mind processes information and the heuristics we use to make decisions.  Even though the language is not difficult to understand the book is more doctoral level in its orientation. 

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking Fast and Thinking Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN: 978-0-374-27563

Blog Ranking: Academics/Researchers 4.6/5 Casual Readers: 3.9/5

Price:  $20

Book Review: Choice Theory

Originally purchasing this book for inclusion in research it became obvious upon receipt that Choice Theory was not directly related to employment, management, and worker choice. Even though it did contain some references to these useful topics its benefit lay in a greater insight into control dynamics at both work and home. Choice Theory is a book written by Doctor William Glasser and puts within the family, educational, and career context the concept of personal freedom of choice.  Who doesn’t love choice?

The book does create a deeper understanding of workplace relationships if applied appropriately to key management concepts. If we offer more beneficial choices, than edicts or unruly demands, we will be able to foster additional opportunities for employee motivation. Control based management culture destroys motivation and innovation, creates resentment, and encourages a culture of resistance.  As most of us are aware resistance is costly, develops waste within the system, and destroys employee-management relationships. Knowing what we say, how we say it, and why we say it is an important management skill.  When the organization provides a framework for positive choice the likelihood of productive behaviors become more common as the employee has a personal stake in the choices they make.  Do you own the choice if you make it?

Let us see how this may apply in the working world. Employee's make choices all the time whether or not we agree with them. They choose to come into work, choose to work slow, or choose to be productive. Yet even with these choices there are only so many options.  At times employees can even choose to perform so poorly that they rightfully earn discipline. Other times alternative factors outside of their control may be the problem. For example, can we truly blame an employee if they were trained improperly, had poor management, or were given false information? However, positive discipline assumes that the very purpose of the disciplinary process is to curb and document unwanted behavior. There are options to the standard disciplinary process which may include performance improvement processes, training in lieu of discipline, and coaching opportunities. At times it can be beneficial for an employee to make a choice between two options so that they own the result. After implementing options for development they both legally and morally own the disciplinary process thereafter regardless of whether or not they agree. As a manager you have offered options, focused on improvement, and provided additional opportunities for documentation. The employee simple made the choice not to adhere to their employment contract.

The book is easy to read and cleanly written. It is focused in its genre as self-help but the principles could easily apply to managers as well. In its 340 pages it moves from a discussion of human needs to practical application of the theory.  There are plenty of examples provided for those who need to envision how such a theory works in their life.  It should be stated that this theory has some weaknesses as it ignores a number of modern non-choice causes of behavior. However, the majority of the principles apply to healthy employees and individuals. 

Cost: $9-12

Blog Rating: 3 out of 5

Reference:  Glasser, W. (1999). Choice theory, a new psychology of personal freedom. HarperCollins.

Choice Theory Resource:Wikipedia

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