Managing, Henry Mintzberg
A “Mintzberg does it again book”: he looks at what managers actually do and makes a conceptual interpretation of his observations. A book about the simple reality of the average manager. Mintzberg sees her work (management) as a practice, that is learned in context. And it is practiced in the triangle of art, craft and science. Management gurus take a one-side view on management (within the contemporary management correctness), whereas it is the integral approach that makes management effective.
Management exists of a never ending range of activities, in which important and less important activities need to be addressed in a fast pace. When Mintzberg presents 52 qualities of an effective manager, one can understand that person does not exist. The fabric of effective management is woven with many difference threads and synthesis and balance are its essence.
In Managing, Mintzberg addresses a few myths along the way (like the difference between leadership and management, the way managers depend on formal systems of data and the manager as a thinking, systematic planner). And he has a few recommendations as well…If you know his earlier work, Mintzberg’s call to action is not a surprise. Read more about that at the complete source http://www.impm.org/ or http://www.mintzberg.org/.