Reviews and Comments

Maybe it is me, maybe it is Mr. Child. Or maybe it is time for our favorite knight in drab armor to stop wandering across the country, rescuing the good folks and punishing (read, killing) the bad ones in droves... Reading the book, I strongly felt for the first time that I most probably will not be looking forward to the next Jack Reacher book.

Where do I start? The plot is simplistic and stilted. I get it - the Author is trying to keep up with modern narratives, but some research is granted. No one expects fully realistic depiction of modern political or technological complexity, but having it at the level of pre-teen book makes it read ... exactly like the latter (which is the case here.) It strongly reeks of something coming up from a "Writing 101" class rather than from an accomplished writer. In all, I don't see any effort made by the author to come up with a plot that shows some amount of labor.

Same with the writing style. Mr. Child is no Nabokov but in this book writing feel particularly lazy, with short, repeating sentences, lacking any degree of sophistication.

In sum: not recommended even if (especially if) you are a big fan of Jack Reacher series. Let's just hope this was a one-time miss.

Being a big fan (not an adherent - that would be a different topic altogether) of GTD method, I obviously have a tremendous respect for Mr. Allen. He is definitely a genius of productivity and systematic approach, but I cannot say I enjoy his writing style very much - [b:Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity|1633|Getting Things Done The Art of Stress-Free Productivity|David Allen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1312474060l/1633.SX50.jpg|5759] is a treasure of good advise but it is longish and diluted with lot of quasi-philosophizing. Overall, it is no surprise that people are looking for other sources that could describe the GTD method precisely and to the point.

This workbook is trying to fulfill this role in part, also aiming to build the "GTD muscle" for a new practitioner. This is a commendable goal and largely, the book nails it. You get the detailed method overview, description (and rationalization) of each step and a number of examples (reasonably realistic). At the end of the day, you'll be better at GTD after reading this book than before.

My primary problem is with the execution. Huge foldouts with philosophical quotes from Mr. Allen's other books look like a waste of space. So is the obsession with large fonts and huge (two-thirds of a page in size!) exclamation point signs and other graphics. I'm sure Mr. Allen is beyond padding the page count with such cheesy tricks, but not only it doesn't add to the book value - it also makes the presentation quite unprofessional.

Overall verdict: the book is helpful (you'll be better at GTD after reading it) but it hardly has any lasting value - even if you decide to read it again (you won't) it will make it more useful. Bottom line: very slightly recommended, 3/5 for value, 1/5 for execution.

I'm having too many issues with this book to consider it useful...

THE APPROACH. Business has changed a lot over last 20 years and so did the office dynamics. While in the sixties it went without saying that a manager is an absolute unquestioned authority lording over the minions, so that the only acceptable response would be "Yes, boss!" things are different now. Relationship between a manager and a subordinate has become more complex, with more power to the latter. Part of this is because newer industries (like technology) actually require the people in the trenches to be damn smart rather than being mere cogs in the corporate machine. Another reason is general emancipation of workforce and the trend toward more socially-aware, more humane world.

Sadly, it looks like the authors have missed the memo. Most of the examples, most of the scenarios discussed revolve around the good old "boss/underling" microcosm. For sure, they advise the manager to exercise restraint and ask instead of demanding things but this feels merely like a veneer over the direct order.

This leads me to the biggest issue I have with the authors' approach. When dealing with changing the future behavior via feedback, the strategy they propose is to get the report to "promise" the change in the future and then treat it as a hard commitment. Anyone who has been in the management role for some time (or raised children, which is strikingly similar in some aspects) would know that life is more complex and a verbal statement to change things (which is easy to elicit when confronting one's subordinate and is equally easy for that subordinate to make in order to get out of this situation) is not the same as a firm commitment (which requires planning and follow-up). Treating it as one will only lead to frustration on both sides and unfulfilled promises.

THE UPSELL. I get it - the authors run a management consulting business and they want to grow it. But it doesn't mean that almost every paragraph should pitch their podcast. Furthermore, taking an obvious fact or technique and slapping "Manager Tools" onto its name doesn't make it new or original! And this applies to a lot of things in the book - it seems hardly a single itemized list avoided that treatment.

Overall, I cannot say this book is useless and I'm sure anyone in a managerial role would be able to learn a trick or two from it. At the same time, I would never recommend this book to a new inexperienced manager - the approach and techniques proscribed in it will not work in the modern workplace and will set that person (and their team) up for failure.

THE VERDICT: Don't bother. Given that there are much better books on the art (and craft) of management (if you don't know where to start, start with [b:High Output Management|324750|High Output Management|Andrew S. Grove|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347800461s/324750.jpg|315440] by late Andy Grove), I don't see any incremental merit in reading this book.

I find this book likable despite the fact that I see most of the characters as very much one-dimensional characters and the dynamics being simplistic and lacking most of real-life nuance and complexities. You get the whole gamut of cardboard cutout figures (ranging from a penniless immigrant who has your sympathies despite bad decisions they have made in life to a very well to do family member who has a sense of privilege the size of the Solar System). Most developments are very predictable precisely due to characters being so shallow.

Still, the book reads nicely and it made me feel somewhat elegiac despite it shortcomings. I'm glad I did read it.