I wanted to hate this book, I really did. Self-proclaimed mavericks have a special place reserved for them as an object of contempt as far as I am concerned. However, this book gripped me and more than demonstrated why the author deserved the title. It’s hard to remember how things were when this book was written over a decade ago, and even now the ideas contained within this are fresh and revolutionary.
In many ways you could see some of the ideas contained in this book as the anthithesis to The Goal (link). Although deeper thought would reveal that despite The Goal’s focus on process improvement, and Maverick’s emphasis of organisational democracy the core principles of both books are similar:
empower the people who know best
stop being an obstacle
try things and see how they work
This book reads like a novel, Semler is a great story teller, and his willingness to share mistakes, moments of arrogance and his frustration with others are beguiling and compelling. Reading this might not make you revolutionise your organisation, no doubt you’ll be able to come up with lots of reasons why it wouldn’t work for you….. but if you absorb even a tiny bit of the bravery and principles behind this approach you may be surprised by what you decide to do next.
I wanted to hate this book, I really did. Self-proclaimed mavericks have a special place reserved for them as an object of contempt as far as I am concerned. However, this book gripped me and more than demonstrated why the author deserved the title. It’s hard to remember how things were when this book was written over a decade ago, and even now the ideas contained within this are fresh and revolutionary.
In many ways you could see some of the ideas contained in this book as the anthithesis to The Goal (link). Although deeper thought would reveal that despite The Goal’s focus on process improvement, and Maverick’s emphasis of organisational democracy the core principles of both books are similar:
empower the people who know best
stop being an obstacle
try things and see how they work
This book reads like a novel, Semler is a great story teller, and his willingness to share mistakes, moments of arrogance and his frustration with others are beguiling and compelling. Reading this might not make you revolutionise your organisation, no doubt you’ll be able to come up with lots of reasons why it wouldn’t work for you….. but if you absorb even a tiny bit of the bravery and principles behind this approach you may be surprised by what you decide to do next.
This article from the Observer (2003) mentions Semler’s next move…. applying the same principles in education… http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2003/apr/27/theobserver.observerbusiness7