- Unknown Binding: 224 pages
- Publisher: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub; 2 edition (27 Nov 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0470178590
- ISBN-13: 978-0470178591
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- See Complete Table of Contents
Managing the Unexpected
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Since the first edition of Managing the Unexpected was published in 2001, the unexpected has become a growing part of our everyday lives. The unexpected is often dramatic, as with hurricanes or terrorist attacks. But the unexpected can also come in more subtle forms, such as a small organizational lapse that leads to a major blunder, or an unexamined assumption that costs lives in a crisis. Why are some organizations better able than others to maintain function and structure in the face of unanticipated change?
Authors Karl Weick and Kathleen Sutcliffe answer this question by pointing to high reliability organizations (HROs), such as emergency rooms in hospitals, flight operations of aircraft carriers, and firefighting units, as models to follow. These organizations have developed ways of acting and styles of learning that enable them to manage the unexpected better than other organizations. Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of the groundbreaking book Managing the Unexpected uses HROs as a template for any institution that wants to better organize for high reliability. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is the second edition of this very insightful book.Every organisation has to cope with the unexpected, anticipating and responding/adapting quickly.The authors provide guidance and on how to build your capabilities in performing effectively in whatever setting you are in.
One of the case studies covers the failures at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, which makes for interesting reading given the current problems in the NHS in Kent (Oct 2007).
In my experience as an Interim Manager I have frequently seen examples of how management has been blindsided/missed what has been developing in terms of potential crisis situations.This book is unusual in tackling this area in a very straightforward way.
Stan Felstead.
Interchange Resources.
One of the case studies covers the failures at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, which makes for interesting reading given the current problems in the NHS in Kent (Oct 2007).
In my experience as an Interim Manager I have frequently seen examples of how management has been blindsided/missed what has been developing in terms of potential crisis situations.This book is unusual in tackling this area in a very straightforward way.
Stan Felstead.
Interchange Resources.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Weick's book may not be quite as topical as the more standard management guides of today but it is certainly a lot more insightful and quite useful in the long run. His focus is not on short term profitability or on efficiency gains but on a completely different field - namely on the long term survivability or viability of an organization.
In the book Weick describes practices and attitudes necessary for organizational resilience, such as mindfulness, the practice of not simplifying too quickly and of interpreting weak signals correctly and pairing them with appropriate (i.e. not too weak) responses, so as to prevent escalation.
It makes for refreshing reading and many of the case examples are quite enlightening - i.e. they are easy to communicate to management and should be graphic and salient enough to ensure at least a preliminary buy in. The book is also an easy and engaging read and can be easily devoured on a transcontinental flight.
What Weick does not manage to do, however, is to show a complete roadmap of how to deal with the standard obstacles on the way - i.e. it is a description of practices and attitudes of an organization, which has already achieved a high reliability / resilience status but as often, the trick lies in building one up from scratch.
In essence, a manager wishing to modify their organization according to Weick's principles will have a blueprint of a final result and its benefits (again, Weick could in principle make it easier by showing more numeric examples of the real benefit of using the approach, in spite of the initially higher costs associated with it) but will still need to blaze the trail towards it somewhat unsupported.
This comment is not to detract from the rating of the book, however - in essence, if one is not ready to invest the time and effort in analysing how to go about the task, it is unlikely that an attitude of 'mindfulness' has any lasting chance of spreading in that organization.
In the book Weick describes practices and attitudes necessary for organizational resilience, such as mindfulness, the practice of not simplifying too quickly and of interpreting weak signals correctly and pairing them with appropriate (i.e. not too weak) responses, so as to prevent escalation.
It makes for refreshing reading and many of the case examples are quite enlightening - i.e. they are easy to communicate to management and should be graphic and salient enough to ensure at least a preliminary buy in. The book is also an easy and engaging read and can be easily devoured on a transcontinental flight.
What Weick does not manage to do, however, is to show a complete roadmap of how to deal with the standard obstacles on the way - i.e. it is a description of practices and attitudes of an organization, which has already achieved a high reliability / resilience status but as often, the trick lies in building one up from scratch.
In essence, a manager wishing to modify their organization according to Weick's principles will have a blueprint of a final result and its benefits (again, Weick could in principle make it easier by showing more numeric examples of the real benefit of using the approach, in spite of the initially higher costs associated with it) but will still need to blaze the trail towards it somewhat unsupported.
This comment is not to detract from the rating of the book, however - in essence, if one is not ready to invest the time and effort in analysing how to go about the task, it is unlikely that an attitude of 'mindfulness' has any lasting chance of spreading in that organization.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A very good book in helping to understand the path in terms preparing for threats to an organisation; helping to understand the dominoes effect of some choices.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
