Concise look at people management

I found that the title of the book does not reflect the content, which is more narrowly focussed on people management. I think that this narrow focus is great and allows the authors to discuss more management myths than they would have otherwise. As a manager and as someone who had managers, I agreed with much of what Ian MacRae and Adrian Furnham wrote. Since I am not an HR professional, I can’t say with any certainty that the authors did a thorough survey of the literature but what they did write seems to be well referenced and study results are given where appropriate. I recommend this book to all managers.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

Relatively short, this book was a really easy read. Some of the ideas seemed a little common sense to me (not every office should emulate Google) but there are some that I know aren't as common sense for others (listening to music at work? Horrors!). One I hadn't heard this specifically: We only use 10 per cent of our brain at work (I had heard the myth that we only use 10 percent of our brain, but ony at work). The chapters end with references and further reading that looks interesting.

Four stars
This book comes out October 3

A fascinating book that breaks down some of the myths, stereotypes, assumptions and just plain-old BS that can be holding a company back, making your life a misery and much more besides. It is a book to be consulted, whether you believe your company (and your sanity perhaps) is in need or not.

In all 27 different claims are put to the test and debunked, with justification, references, case studies, caveats and clearly focussed language. Myths such as that working from home reduces productivity, a sustainable workplace is a burden, and women are not as competitive as men are brought up. Of course, in some situations and with some employees you will find the claim is justified: not everybody is necessarily suited to home-working, not everybody is competitive and so on, but it is far from a black-and-white binary situation as many will have you believe. This was a very enjoyable book, worthy of reading even if you already have debunked some of the claims or have different experiences from the real-world. Pleasurable even, but not in a sadomasochistic sense.

It is clearly written and with good humour, as well as featuring a clear authority, so it is harder to automatically write-off as being nonsense. It is worth a sequential read and even then, from time-to-time, a further dip back to refresh any sagging memories. The chapters are nice and short, without compromising the overall quality, so you are getting a lot of value in a few pages. You won’t complain about its price either!

Myths at Work, written by Adrian Furnham & Ian MacRae and published by Kogan Page. ISBN 9780749481285. YYYYY

The aim of the book is to debunk myths around how a stereotypical workplace should be. Is the 8 hour day, the correct working hours, do open plan offices get the best work out of people, do benefits like pool tables improve the workplace. This is all handled myth by myth in an academic framework with research and references to back up their reasoning. A very interesting read.