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Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency » (Reprint)

Book cover image of Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency by Tom DeMarco

Authors: Tom DeMarco
ISBN-13: 9780767907699, ISBN-10: 0767907698
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Date Published: April 2002
Edition: Reprint

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Author Biography: Tom DeMarco

Tom DeMarco is an international management consultant with clients in numerous industries. His previous books include The Deadline (a business novel with more than 40,000 copies sold) and Peopleware (nonfiction, with more than 100,000 copies sold). He divides his time between New York City and Camden, Maine.

Book Synopsis

To most companies, efficiency means profits and growth.

Publishers Weekly

DeMarco (Peopleware), a management consultant, says that in today's competitive, fast-moving economy, managers work far less effectively than before. Responding to restructuring and staff reductions, managers overemphasize deadlines and rush employees, sacrificing quality. Instead, says DeMarco, executives should encourage teamwork, discourage competition and allow training time. Unfortunately, tedious, jargon-heavy writing dulls DeMarco's worthwhile message. (May) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Table of Contents

Prelude
Pt. 1Slack
1Madmen in the Halls3
2Busyness7
3The Myth of Fungible Resource12
4When "Hurry Up" Really Means "Slow Down"22
5Managing Eve26
6Business Instead of Busyness33
Pt. 2Lost, but Making Good Time
7The Cost of Pressure45
8Aggressive Schedules54
9Overtime59
10A Little Sleight of Hand in the Accounting Department71
11Power Sweeper75
12The Second Law of Bad Management80
13Culture of Fear86
14Litigation93
15Process Obsession102
16Quality111
17Efficient and/or Effective122
18Management by Objectives126
Pt. 3Change and Growth
19Vision133
20Leadership and "Leadership"137
21Dilbert Reconsidered142
22Fear and Safety146
23Trust and Trustworthiness150
24Timing of Change155
25What Middle Management Is There For159
26Where Learning Happens163
27Danger in the White Space173
28Change Management181
Pt. 4Risk and Risk Management
29Uncommon Sense189
30Risk Management: The Minimal Prescription198
31Working at Breakneck Speed204
32Learning to Live with Risk209
Afterword
33The Needle in the Haystack217
Index221

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