Intelligent Disobedience
Doing Right When What You're Told to Do Is Wrong
by Ira Chaleff
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Pub Date Jul 07 2015 | Archive Date Feb 08 2016
Smith Publicity | Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Description
Nearly every week we read about a tragedy or scandal that could have been prevented if individuals had said no to ill-advised or illegitimate orders. In this timely book, Ira Chaleff explores when and how to disobey inappropriate orders, reduce unacceptable risk, and find better ways to achieve legitimate goals.
The inspiration for the book, and its title, comes from the concept of intelligent disobedience used in guide dog training. Guide dogs must recognize and resist a command that would put their human and themselves at risk and identify safer options for achieving the goal. This is precisely what Chaleff helps humans do. Using both deeply disturbing and uplifting examples, as well as critical but largely forgotten research, he shows how to create a culture where, rather than “just following orders,” people hold themselves accountable to do the right thing, always.
A Note From the Publisher
Author is available for interviews, blog tours, autographed book giveaways, contests, and book club discussions.
Advance Praise
Excellent
Very valuable. The book uses a basic metaphor of a guide dog to discuss in considerable depth an important ethical issue in a way that has not presented before.
Published 1 day ago by Denis healyLearning to Say No - Intelligently!
This is a refreshing look at a significant problem that affects all organizations and superior-subordinate relationships. Read more
Published 2 days ago by TerryFive Stars
A well-written book and a must-read for the general public.
Published 9 days ago by Richard E. KellyWell written and relevant
Mr. Chaleff has provided all of us with something worth talking about. Are we actually teaching ourselves, and our children to do the wrong approach to life and the decisions we... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bob McGannonMarketing Plan
Ira Chaleff is the author of The Courageous Follower: Standing Up To and For Our Leaders, now in its third edition, and coeditor of The Art of Followership: How Great Followers Make Great Leaders and Organizations, part of the Warren Bennis Leadership Series. He is the founder of the International Leadership Association’s Followership Learning Community and a member of the ILA board of directors. He is a frequent speaker and workshop presenter on Courageous Followership and transforming hierarchical relationships into powerful partnerships. Chaleff is founder and president of Executive Coaching & Consulting Associates, which provides coaching, consulting, and facilitation to companies, associations, and agencies. He is adjunct faculty at Georgetown University, where Courageous Followership is part of the core curriculum in its professional management training for staff. Chaleff lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of Washington, D.C.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781626564275 |
| PRICE | $18.95 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Reviewer 184397
This book is important in teaching us that we must learn to do the right thing even when we've been advised or told to do otherwise.
Darren I, Media/Journalist
Saying no can be a good thing; yet there may be an art to doing it. This book looks at the times when it is absolutely correct and possibly essential to disobey “inappropriate orders” or otherwise cut risks.
It was an interesting read, particularly noting the source of the inspiration for the book and its title since it came from a method of guide dog training. When you think about it, it makes sense. A guide dog must at times go against the orders of its master in order to protect the person who cannot see a source of danger. Yet why do we often fail to do the same sort of proactive disobedience in our own life when things are likely to go wrong? Instead, the temptation to follow orders can be great.
The author summarises the concept as this: “If we distil Intelligent Disobedience down to a formula, it would look something like this: 1. Understand the mission of the organization or group, the goals of the activity of which you are a part, and the values that guide how to achieve those goals. 2. When you receive an order that does not seem appropriate to the mission, goals, and values, clarify the order as needed, then pause to further examine the problem with it, whether that involves its safety, effectiveness, cultural sensitivity, legality, morality, or common decency. 3. Make a conscious choice whether to comply with the order or to resist it and offer an acceptable alternative when there is one. 4. Assume personal accountability for your choice, recognizing that if you obey the order, you are still accountable regardless of who issued the order.”
It need not necessarily require a radical change or a shouting match. It might just be a case of stating your case and reasoning and letting the person in charge take the decision. It can also give them space to manoeuvre, save face, and allows them to “reconsider” matters.
The core sentiments of the book can be applied almost anywhere, when things just don’t feel right and warning lights may be flashing. The author gives advice about identifying a problem and helps empower the reader to taking what might be the best overall decision, even if it doesn’t feel it at the time and neither is the opposition necessarily welcome. The author does not pretend that disobedience is necessarily easy or something to do half-heartedly, but then again swimming against the tide is not easy either, but sometimes it has to be done.
All in all it was a different, engaging book that added value to a complex picture.
Intelligent Disobedience, written by Ira Chaleff and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. ISBN 9781626564275. YYYY
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Business, Leadership, Finance, Nonfiction (Adult)
