Instant Turnaround

Instant Turnaround!: Getting People Excited About Coming to Work and Working Hard
By: Harry Paul, Ross Reck

I was surprised that I actually like this book. Usually small, motivational books like these, I consider junk.

Anyhow, this is really a book about company culture, not really about turnaround. It tells through an easy-to-read story of how to motivate by being nice, being trustworthy. Getting employees to like going to work.

This is a fun, fast read. It’s a fun read because it captures the essence of a positive-happy culture by telling an easy-to-read story.

The problem with this type of book, typically written by consultants rather than management, is that it assumes all employees prefer to be productive and like their work and are trustworthy. These are factors that are ingrained within the individual well before their first day at work. And employees are wanting; which means some employees want more than others and are willing to take more. It’s not so easy.

Basically, a leader will be able to motivate if he originally has staff that has potential and wants to be motivated. Alexander the Great wouldn’t have been, except he had a great army his father gave to him. Lou Gerstner (of IBM turnaround) wouldn’t have his turnaround in culture success, except, as he states in his book, he already had top people. Part of the hard part of how to do turnaround is knowing whether one has good staff to begin with and who to keep.

Nevertheless, because this book is a charming read, it’s easy to remember its material, which is why I give it a 5 star.