Per usual, there were some great blog posts this week from our Portfolio authors. Here are a few to check out…
Pam Slim on achieving the impossible
Erik Calonius on the Eureka Moment in visionary thinking
Laura Vanderkam on the value of idea files
Jonathan Fields asks “who is a creative?”
John Jantsch on how to turn your Facebook profile into a fan page
Amber Mac on the popularity of Tumblr
We’re very excited to be publishing Hank Gilman’s first book next week. In You Can’t Fire Everyone: And Other Lessons from an Accidental Manager, Gilman offers some unconventional advice on what it means to be a good boss. Kirkus recently gave the book a great early review:
A breezy, enjoyable debut that recalls the trials, tribulations and successes of a veteran editor, with advice for others seeking the same career. Lifelong newsman Gilman looks back on his career, much of it spent as an editor at the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Fortune, and shares tips for managing the creative types that fill newsrooms and other lessons learned in the executive suite. The author is a good storyteller, and his guide to successful management is punctuated with enough personal anecdotes so that the book reads as part memoir, part instruction manual. Readers receive a window into the backrooms of some of the world’s most renowned news organizations. At Newsweek, they used to ask, “How would you feel about it if that appeared on Page Six?” cautioning “Imagine what your decisions would look like to others”—words to live by for anyone in this age of careless e-mails, Facebook entries and Twitter. Gilman breaks his chapters into small, digestible bites that keep the narrative moving and dishes up a smorgasbord of useful advice in a conversational style peppered with self-deprecating humor. Although the author’s experience is in the media field, his tips can be applied to most industries. Useful tool for managers at all levels, and solid insights for everyone else.
For more information or an advance review copy, email PortfolioPublicity@us.penguingroup.com
I’m always a couple of weeks behind when it comes to the New Yorker, but I just read a fairly hilarious Shouts & Murmurs piece by Gideon Lewis-Kraus here that re-imagines Inception as a movie about management consultants. Portfolio authors, take note! The stakes are pretty high:
“If you fail,” says Watanabe, “you will stay in ‘limbo,’ which means spending the rest of your life developing dynamic solutions for leveraged market-driven global enterprise frameworks across downstream cross-platform industry. If you succeed, I will help you return to your former career as an independent boutique retailer of imported artisanal tapenade.”
Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine anyone feels particularly indispensable at their company, no matter what they do or what their track record has been. BusinessWeek’s Peter Coy discusses his cover story about the growth of temporary and contract workers. Is the era of “permanent” employment at an end?
Yesterday, the New York Times ran a Q&A with Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh about his vision for the company’s culture. In it, he describes some of the unusual yet seemingly effective programs and tools he’s implemented–including a free lunch for employees that allows them to mingle, an official “culture book” that outlines the company’s core values, and an interview process that includes the question “How weird are you?”–to help make Zappos not only a strong company but, also a fun place to work.
I met Tony Hsieh several months ago and after talking with him and reading this interview, it’s safe to say that the success of his company would not be possible without a unique culture that creates a fun, supportive, and communal environment where everyone is encouraged to participate and grow. Here’s what Hsieh had to say about his hiring philosophy:
Hiring senior-level talent is very hard, it’s hit or miss, and they can do a lot of damage to the culture. We’ve had bad experiences with that. So we have this thing called the pipeline, which is our vision for how we want to grow as a company. We’re hoping five years from now the vast, vast majority of all hires will actually be entry-level, but we’ll provide all the training and mentorship so that, over a five- to seven-year period, they can become a senior leader within the company. That will help protect our culture and also give all the employees a growth path professionally.
No matter what field you’re in Hsieh’s advice gives managers something to think about. It may be a bit zany, but it works. In fact, other companies have already started paying Hsieh to host seminars and tours on how to recreate the Zappos culture at their own organizations. Luckily, and yes, I’m a bit biased, Portfolio has managed to do alright on its own.
Scott Meyer, of the excellent webcomic Basic Instructions, offers the following advice to managers:
