The Three Signs of a Miserable Job A Management Fable About Helping Employees Find Fulfillment in Their Work by Patrick Lencioni

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job A Management Fable About Helping Employees Find Fulfillment in Their Work Reviews

• 
  Anna

  How I wish I could mail this to almost every boss I've had The largest part is taken up by a fable which illustrates the ideas of the book while the second part goes into detail on how to implement the ideas and what they really mean The three signs are1 Anonymity2 Irrelevance3 Immeasurement1 AnonymityAll human beings need to be understood and appreciated for their uniue ualities by someone in a position of authority People who see themselves as invisible generic or anonymous cannot love their job no matter what they are doing A direct supervisor must be genuinely interested in employees on a personal level They must ask about what's going on in people's lives Must be done on a continuous basis Managers must realize that people get out of bed in the morning to live their lives and work tasks or only a part of that 2 IrrelevancePeople need to see a connection between the work and the satisfaction of another person or people The work must matter to someone even if it's just the boss People need to be needed Important to serve others not merely themselves People die emotionally when they start to believe in the own irrelevancy A job is not a series of self involved activities without a clear connection to others Two uestions must be asked Who am I helping and how am I helping? Who Sometimes the answer is the boss But bosses are afraid to be openly thankful for fear of looking self serving However employees would likely appreciate acknowledgement of their role's importance in their boss's success Otherwise they are deprived of feeling that they've made a difference How Managers must help employees see how their work matters to someone 3 ImmeasurementPeople need to be able to gauge progress for themselves Need tangible means for assessing success or failure Otherwise that leads to lack of motivation as people see themselves as unable to control their own fate Immeasurement simply means lack of clear means of assessing one's progress or success on the job Creates feelings of dependence on a manager to subjectively judge their achievements This forces employees to engage in politics and posturing Managers must ID areas an employee can directly influence and then ensure that specific measurements are connected to the people the are meant to serve
• 
  Kimberly

  We are using this book in a leadership team meeting this fall to promote discussion among company leaders about their role in employee satisfaction and eventually the bottom line This is a uick read set up as the fable of Brian Bailey a skilled natural manager who rises to the top and understands people at all levels As a young leader Brian takes a small exercise euipment company from mediocre performance to the top of the industry However when he's forced to sell the company he is annoyed that the successful culture and high level of engagement among his employees aren't valued by the buyer He sets off on a personal mission to try to prove that culture matters first in a small roadside Italian restaurant and later at a regional sporting goods store His work at both leads him to conclude that there are three things that make work unbearable for employees and thus negatively impact the success of a company 1 Anonymity people cannot be fulfilled at work if they are not known All people need need to be understood and appreciated for their uniue ualities Personal connections at work matter 2 Irrelevance Everyone needs to know that hisher work matters to someone Without seeing a connection between the work and the satisfaction of another person or group of people an employee cannot find lasting fulfillment 3 Immeasurement employees need to be able to gauge their progress and level of contribution for themselves They cannot be fulfilled in their work if their success depends on the opinions or whims of another person no matter how benevolent that person may be Without a tangible means of assessing success or failure motivation eventually deteriorates as people see themselves as unable to control their own fates The fable including the dialogue is a little hokey Brian is just too much of a goody goody to be taken seriously at times And his turn arounds of failing businesses are too easy to be realistic However I think there is something to the 3 signs theory having been in a few miserable jobs myself over the years and this is definitely a worthwhile read for anyone who manages people
• 
  Andy

  Anonymity Irrelevance Immeasurement
• 
  Kendra

  Not a particularly compelling narrator but I enjoyed this Mostly I just wanted an entire novel on the people in the restaurant but I understand that the book had different goals in mind DDefinitely some good stuff in here and practical advice though occasionally unrealistic approaches
• 
  Iman Shabani

  A very nice read indeed I will be giving this reading time later on I can recommend you to do so as well
• 
  Luke Koskinen

  I love lencioni And this book is no different Some good tools and uestions to ask yourself about your work and management at any level
• 
  Marian Willeke

  Having just taken a position that oversees a team I knew intrinsic motivation would be key for each of them to experience a successful outcome As such I took to heart the recommendation to read this book among others While reading is enjoyable for me I was surprised with my swallowing this book whole within 24 hours post it notes being scribbled as I went through accidentally identifying the first two signs before I knew that that they were the official signposts to turning around misery Having been involved with connecting people at deeper levels during this past year I could not agree that the final missing ingredient was anonymity In fact I understood that to be a problem before I read the book so I was gratified to see that it indeed was on the radar This book helps me channel my energy to develop a positive environment for my teamThe only reason I give it a 4 out of 5 is because unless I was in this particular situation I would have probably put the book aside However for managers looking for ways to help their employees be fulfilled which creates the handy by product of effective results this book is very insightful
• 
  Jordan Silva

  Another good Lencioni read Sometimes I listen to these books and at the very end hear the original publication dates and try to think back to where I was when the book was written and wonder how things might be different had I read it then instead of now a decade later Books like this one might have changed a lot of things but at the same time it is possible I just wouldn't have gotten the message back thenThe TL;DR of the book is your employees want to know you care want to know what they do impacts others and want to know they are doing a good job or a bad job Pretty straight forward and obvious thingsunless you are someone like me who forgets that people need to be told this stuff regularly Overall the story is easy enough to listen to although the fast forward through time portions read a little likeStep 1 Show employees you care help them figure out why they matter and give them a scorecardStep 2 ?Step 3 Profit
• 
  Bozich.lind

  Believe it or not my boss is making me read it
• 
  Alex

  It reminds me of a very long graduate school case study In a good way if that is possible