Dr. Richard Farson has led several organizations noted for innovative programs. Farson helped found the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute in 1958 and remains its president. In this capacity he directs its International Leadership Forum, an Internet-based think tank that brings influential leaders together to consider critical policy issues. A University of Chicago Ph.D. in psychology, Farson has been a Naval officer, college dean, research director, organizational consultant, and a member of the Human Relations Faculty of the Harvard Business School. He is the author of several books, including the critically acclaimed Management of the Absurd, now published in 11 languages. He lives in La Jolla, California.

Contents

Foreword by Michael Crichton

Introduction: Embracing Paradox and Absurdity

PART ONE

A Different Way of thinking

1. The Opposite of a Profound Truth Is Also True

2. Nothing Is as Invisible as the Obvious

PART TWO

The "Technology" of Human Relation

3. The More Important a Relationship, the Less Skill Matters

4. Once You Find a Management Technique That Works, Give It Up

5. Effective Managers Are Not in Control

6. Most Problems That People Have Are Not Problems

7. Technology Creates the Opposite of Its Intended Purpose

8. We Think We Invent Technology, but Technology Also Invents Us

PART THREE

The Paradoxes of Communication

9. The More We Communicate, the Less We Communicate

10. In Communication, Form Is More Important Than Content

11. Listening Is More Difficult Than Talking

12. Praising People Does Not Motivate Them

PART FOUR

The Politics of Management

13. Every Act Is a Political Act

14. The Best Resource for the Solution of Any Problem Is the Person or Group That Presents the Problem

PART FIVE

Organizational Predicaments

15. Organizations That Need Help Most Will Benefit from It Least

16. Individuals Are Almost Indestructible, but Organizations Are Very Fragile

17. The Better Things Are, the Worse They Feel

PART SIX

Dilemmas of Change

18. We Think We Want Creativity or Change, but We Really Don't

19. We Want for Ourselves Not What We Are Missing, but More of What We Already Have

20. Big Changes Are Easier to Make Than Small Ones

21. We Learn Not from Our Failures but from Our Successes -- and the Failures of Others

22. Everything We Try Works, and Nothing Works

23. Planning Is an Ineffective Way to Bring About Change

24. Organizations Change Most by Surviving Calamities

25. People We Think Need Changing Are Pretty Good the Way They Are

PART SEVEN

The Aesthetics of Leadership

26. Every Great Strength Is a Great Weakness

27. Morale Is Unrelated to Productivity

28. There Are No Leaders, There Is Only Leadership

29. The More Experienced the Managers, the More They Trust Simple Intuition

30. Leaders Cannot Be Trained, but They Can Be Educated

31. In Management, to Be a Professional One Must Be an Amateur

PART EIGHT
Avoiding the Future

32. Lost Causes Are the Only Ones Worth Fighting For

33. My Advice Is Don't Take My Advice

Acknowledgments