- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd (4 May 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0434013463
- ISBN-13: 978-0434013463
- Product Dimensions: 16 x 2.1 x 24.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 416,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Myself and Other More Important Matters
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Myself and Other More Important Matters for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
" Charles Handy is a true statesman in the field . . . a wizened dean of faculty for the world of independent thinkers."
- Jim Collins, author of Good to Great --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
- Jim Collins, author of Good to Great --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Book Description
The bestselling author of THE EMPTY RAINCOAT and THE AGE OF UNREASON examines life's big choices - taking the format of his famous BBC 'Thought for the Day' programme to frame the key phases of our life.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
A weekend's 5-6 hours is all it took me to read this book. I think that says something about the easy pace of the book, the vivid writing style of the author and the imaginative weaving of tales by the raconteur Charles Handy. Having recently read two American autobiographies, I was pleased to note that this one is different, perhaps because Handy is not American. There is no pomposity, no grandiose claims, no hyperbole. Handy does not forget to give credit for his achievements where it may be due, whether it is his education, his wonderful wife or his late father's colleagues. Nor does he go on about I, me, myself although he could have done so, this being his autobiography. His life was clearly not lived in isolation. Highlighting this allows a better understanding of how he discovered opportunities and how he made his decisions about taking them on. One can paint a fairly full picture of his life, with all its characters. That he is well-read is apparent throughout the book, and in his approach to management issues, I think he may be the closest thing we may have to Peter Drucker, who now sadly is no more.
Why 4 stars? Well, a note about proof-reading in the book: I do not know if this vexes many people, but it irritates me because poor spelling, missing words and malapropisms can distract from a perfectly engrossing piece of writing. Why do editors let authors down like this? If I were 12, I would find 'pubic' instead of 'public' funny, but no more.
Why 4 stars? Well, a note about proof-reading in the book: I do not know if this vexes many people, but it irritates me because poor spelling, missing words and malapropisms can distract from a perfectly engrossing piece of writing. Why do editors let authors down like this? If I were 12, I would find 'pubic' instead of 'public' funny, but no more.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Amongst the management dross that gets published, Charles Handy's books have always stood out in a positive way because he tells it from the soul rather than the cheque book. How refreshing then, to read that even with all his accummulated wisdom and experience, Handy has room for regrets at decisions he's made throughout his life, and reflects on what he could have done differently.
This is an interesting stroll through Charles Handy's life and work - but what comes through for me is his sense of humility - decency even - that frankly you'd be hard-pushed to find amongst most people who ply his trade. At the core, simplicity and a sense of integrity seems to drive everything Handy stands for, which are sound values in anyone's book.
Easily read and digested, Handy's book lingers in the mind beyond the last page. The tragedy is, that in a market dominated by ghost-written biographies of non-celebrities, this gem of a book should be read by more people - but probably won't be. A shame.
This is an interesting stroll through Charles Handy's life and work - but what comes through for me is his sense of humility - decency even - that frankly you'd be hard-pushed to find amongst most people who ply his trade. At the core, simplicity and a sense of integrity seems to drive everything Handy stands for, which are sound values in anyone's book.
Easily read and digested, Handy's book lingers in the mind beyond the last page. The tragedy is, that in a market dominated by ghost-written biographies of non-celebrities, this gem of a book should be read by more people - but probably won't be. A shame.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Where other gurus offer glib answers and seem overly ego-driven, Handy has always specialised in helping us question what our organizations are for; how best to structure them; how work fits into life and what our driving purpose is.
Handy is the author of The Empty Raincoat, The Elephant and The Flea, The Age of Paradox, 21 Ideas For Managers, and other books that help us stop, think and analyze exactly what it is we are doing at work and what we are for.
Myself and Other More Important Matters is Handy's autobiography so far. It is a pleasure to read, and you learn about leadership, work, management, life, parenting, yourself, while you are enjoying reading it.
There is a growing consensus now that, after decades of process improvements, what people are looking for in the organizations they work for, invest in, lead and buy from is organizations that act more like people and less like machines. It is time for the more human organization to emerge. Handy has been teaching us this for years.
My own area of interest is business leadership. This book is full of insights into organizations, their culture and how to lead, such as "Great leaders seem to live with a mix of humility and confidence, which includes the ability to admit on occasion they were wrong."
From McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y to Aristotle's definition of happiness or 'eudaimonia' meaning to flourish and be fulfilled - challenging the prevailing assumption in the west that hedonism is happiness - to how JoHari windows work, the learning you pick up almost in passing from Handy is rich and deep and enjoyable.
Handy is the author of The Empty Raincoat, The Elephant and The Flea, The Age of Paradox, 21 Ideas For Managers, and other books that help us stop, think and analyze exactly what it is we are doing at work and what we are for.
Myself and Other More Important Matters is Handy's autobiography so far. It is a pleasure to read, and you learn about leadership, work, management, life, parenting, yourself, while you are enjoying reading it.
There is a growing consensus now that, after decades of process improvements, what people are looking for in the organizations they work for, invest in, lead and buy from is organizations that act more like people and less like machines. It is time for the more human organization to emerge. Handy has been teaching us this for years.
My own area of interest is business leadership. This book is full of insights into organizations, their culture and how to lead, such as "Great leaders seem to live with a mix of humility and confidence, which includes the ability to admit on occasion they were wrong."
From McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y to Aristotle's definition of happiness or 'eudaimonia' meaning to flourish and be fulfilled - challenging the prevailing assumption in the west that hedonism is happiness - to how JoHari windows work, the learning you pick up almost in passing from Handy is rich and deep and enjoyable.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Modestly brilliant
Hard to categorise this book - ostensibly a biography, from a business thinker relecting on simple questions about how to lead one's life. Read more
Published on 13 May 2010 by rkcam
Helping us create more human organizations
Where other gurus offer glib answers and seem overly ego-driven, Handy has always specialised in helping us question what our organizations are for; how best to structure them; how... Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2008 by P. A. Dourado
Mostly Engaging
I once saw Charles Handy speak at a business conference and was really impressed with how he just spoke for an hour or so without notes, using only an empty whiteboard and pen. Read more
Published on 6 May 2008 by Andy
An uplifting read
This is the type of book I would like to write towards the end of my life - it is so full of wisdom, compassion, and everything connects in a beautiful manner. Well done Mr Handy.
Published on 3 Sep 2007 by K. Harford
A definition of success
Ask a 'successful' person how they define success and all too often they can't give an answer. They may have achieved their goals but don't feel any happier than when they were... Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2007 by Mr. Dan Collins
Spirituality in Business - is it really possible?
I love Charles Handy's writing. I first came across him in 1990 or thereabouts when I was given his book 'The Age of Unreason' to read by my then boss. Read more
Published on 22 July 2006 by Ms. Ge Bolton
Wisdom
This is a fantastic book and one that I will read many times. Handy is philosphical and compassionate and succeeds in making you pause and reflect upon what he is saying in every... Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2006 by RB
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
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.
|
