When I was a senior in college, I took a little college class by the name of project management (taught by the guy who owned a weekend kettle corn stand that I heard about in every single class). One of the requirements of the class was reading a book called The Goal. I saw the book on my shelf the other day and naturally I started thinking about things through the HR perspective. Looking back now, I really appreciate being forced to read that book.
Tag Archives: Book Review
Review: The Pursuit of Something Better
I recently received a copy of “The Pursuit of Something Better” to review. I have a fairly large queue of books to review, so this one sat on my shelf for about a month. Now I’m kicking myself for waiting. The company that the story’s centered around, U.S. Cellular, reminds me of my own organization in several ways. And seeing that company take the problems they faced and turn them around helped me to have hope.
A little bit of background: U.S. Cellular is a relatively small cell service provider. In 2000, the company was going down the tubes. In some parts of the company, the job abandonment/walk off rate was as high as 20%! It was then that a new leader took the helm. Jack Rooney held some beliefs that he knew could save this company if given the opportunity. Those beliefs include, but are not limited to, the following sections.
Employees treat customers like their leaders treat them. Continue reading
