Managing (Financial Times Series)

Shortlisted in the Practical Manager Category, CMI Management Book of the Year 2010, in association with the British Library. "Perhaps the world's premier management thinker." - Tom Peters "One of the most original minds in management."Fast Company When it comes to management, Mintzberg's opinion matters: for thirty years he has been one of the foremost, and certainly one of the most radical, thinkers and writers on the subject." People Management "Henry Mintzberg's views are a breath of fresh air which can only encourage the good guys." The Observer This is a book about managing, pure if not simple. Managing is important for anyone affected by its practice, which in our world of organizations means everyone. We need to understand it better, in order for it to be practiced better, and yet we have not yet come to grips with the central question of what it is that managers really do. Those befuddled by some or all of management - which hardly excludes managers themselves ~ should be able to reach for a book that provides lasting insights on the big questions. What are the essential dynamics, roles and conundrums of managing? Are leaders really more important than managers? And where has all the judgment gone? In Managing, Henry Mintzberg captures, in one place, the essence of managing. This landmark book will enable people to see the job all at once, and so be able to appreciate its components comprehensively, coherently, and interactively--as effective managers do. Engaging with management as a daily practice, it explains what it is that managers do, why they make a difference and how they become effective. Managing makes sense of the world's most important job "Over the years I have asked many groups of managers what happened the day they became managers. First I get puzzled looks, and then shrugs. Nothing, they report. You are supposed to figure it out--like sex, I suppose usually with the same dire initial consequences. And from there, while we can find plenty of effective managers--if we can figure out what that means--we see a great deal of dysfunctional and often bizarre managerial behavior too.