The Puritan Gift: Reclaiming the American Dream Amidst Global Financial Chaos [Paperback]

This is a very readable book which abounds with good wit and, like the well rounded manager, is well rounded in its scope from before 1630 until 2006. By the end of the book, I had to conclude that the majority of the ills affecting the decline in American manufacturing, and American prosperity in general, since 1970, can be properly addressed without recourse to an ethics based on Puritanism including the subversion of the individual to the group, even though such an ethics is fundamentally voluntary, and is seemingly a simpler course to take than the intellectual rigours of the ethics of capitalism.

For instance, the principle of selfishness, as per capitalism, necessitates that others are able to prosper and not be exploited for short term gain. You can't trade to any meaningful extent with poor and demoralised people and make the world a better place.

The management side of the book with respect to complimentarity, cooperation and proper communication within the enterprise makes good sense. But this can only work effectively whenever there is no pressure or interference from institutional stockholders, or from government in consort with MBA graduates well versed in the techniques consistent with government demands.

Readers of this title would find 'Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics by George Reisman' valuable reading, if they like the principles of management described.

Peter Drucker's book on management is available from Amazon. My copy is on order.

I was employed by IBM from the late sixties. The whole company ethic involved looking after employees, making sure the full potential of everyone was developed, and a very democratic management style - whatever the product planning decisions were you always felt you understood them and had the opportunity to express a viewpoint which would be listened to.

In the latter years though the first level management style remained in tack it was clear that strange things were happening in the boardroom. Money was disappearing from the pension funds to feed the profit margin.

This book explains what was happening due to the cult of the so called "expert" and the MBA cult. The negative impact on American industry, transport infrastructure, schools, and healthcare are explained. The most frightening and illuminating thing is that you can see the same changes have occurred in the UK as we have slavishly followed the US lead in introducing a management class that has little interest or understanding of the basic functions and technologies employed in the enterprise.

This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand these changes, the cult of the "finance" men and the damage this is doing to our society. It compass is impressive as it comes right up to now with "credit crunch" and the Obama reign

The future reform of western management will in no small part be dependent upon how carefully business leaders and academics study this remarkable book by the co-authors brothers Hopper - a unique teaming of engineering and financial minds that understand (and so ably communicate) the socio-technical forces that have shaped our commercialized society. The combined insights and experience of a life-long professional engineer and a still practicing investment banker combine in this book to cast a powerful analytical spotlight on the history of western management practice over the past 350 years. While the locus of the book is on American management cultures, the fundamental messages revealed are shown to be applicable to any culture intent on real wealth creation as opposed to mere financial engineering.

As the title suggests, this story - for this is no dry text destined for those soulless time-serving senior managers and executives intent on seeking the latest snake oil with which to lubricate their legitimized theft of shareholder funds - traces the origins of contemporary management back to the strict disciplines of the Puritan Migrants of the 1630s and their flight to America. The authors list the four abiding aspects of Puritanism which infused the managerial culture established by the descendents of those early settlers as being: 1) the purpose of life was to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth; 2) an aptitude for mechanical skills; 3) a moral outlook that subordinates the interest of the individual to the group; and, 4) an ability to gather, galvanize and marshal financial, material and human resources to a single purpose at whatever scale. More briefly put : Rectitude, Pragmatism, Teamwork and Leadership. An Appendix summarizes the quintessential of the book in a most useful listing of the authors' 25 principles underlying good practice from the Golden Age of Management (1920-1970).

The book is divided into five parts - Origins (1630-1815), Rise (1815-1920), Triumph (1920-1970), Collapse (1970-1995) and Revival (1995-2006). Throughout, the Puritan gift is described by the authors as being the underpinning of that rare ability to successfully create and manage organisations that serve a useful purpose in any sector of human activity. Throughout the authors warn that as America increasingly distances itself from these core values, which underlay its traditional commercial and economic success, it puts its own future prosperity and security at risk.

This truly remarkable book provides an original exploration of the dramatic and far-reaching consequences of the Puritans' gift to America - the ethos which produced the early success of America and what came to be known as the American dream. While the reader may feel that Frederick Taylor's efforts receive ill treatment and that Stafford Beer's contribution should not have been totally ignored, she will be encouraged to see how the authors highlight the "Cult of the (so-called) Expert" and the bluff and bluster of the MBA movement.

This reviewer, a practicing engineer, has read many management books over the past thirty years but never before one which has been so informative, so illuminating and so enjoyable. Trite as it may sound, this is essential reading for anyone aspiring to the new style of management that will be essential for productive success in the decades ahead as the eastern economies increasingly dominate world trade.