- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Viking (4 Nov 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0670919489
- ISBN-13: 978-0670919482
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.6 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 189,989 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Mind-opening, insightful, and compelling (John Pepper, former CEO and chairman, Procter & Gamble )
Read this remarkable book (W. Warner Burke, chair, Department of Organization and Leadership, Columbia University )
An excellent operating guide for good management. (Phil Johnson, CEO, PJA Advertising + Marketing )
After you read this book, I assure you that you will never think about your organization in quite the same way. (Roxanne Quimby, co-founder of Burt's Bees )
Read this remarkable book (W. Warner Burke, chair, Department of Organization and Leadership, Columbia University )
An excellent operating guide for good management. (Phil Johnson, CEO, PJA Advertising + Marketing )
After you read this book, I assure you that you will never think about your organization in quite the same way. (Roxanne Quimby, co-founder of Burt's Bees )
Product Description
'It seemed to me that the bees were working on the very same kinds of problems we are trying to solve. How can large, diverse groups work together harmoniously and productively? Perhaps we could take what the bees do so well and apply it to our institutions.'
When Michael O'Malley first took up beekeeping he thought it would be a nice hobby to share with his son. But he noticed that bees not only work together to achieve a common goal but, in the process, create a remarkably productive organization, like a miniature but incredibly successful business.
O'Malley also realized that bees can teach managers a lot, identifying 25 powerful insights such as:
* Distribute authority: the queen bee delegates relentlessly and worker bees make daily decisions
* Keep it simple: bees exchange only relevant information
* Protect the future: when a lucrative vein of nectar is discovered, the entire colony doesn't rush off to mine it
Blending practical advice with interesting facts about the hive, The Wisdom of Bees is a useful and entertaining guide for any manager looking to get the most out of his or her organization.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
I read this book when it was first published more than a year ago and have since purchased several dozen copies to give as gifts to family members and friends as well as to clients who have (you guessed it) serious "people problems" in the workplace. This review is overdue. Others have shared their reasons for hold this book in such high regard. Here are three of mine. First, its author, Michael O'Malley, is exceptionally well-qualified - as a social psychologist, management consultant, executive editor for Yale University Press, and avid beekeeper -- to suggest what lessons can be learned from bees and their culture. He identifies and then discusses 24, devoting a separate chapter to each. They range from "Protect the Future" (#1) to "Create Beautiful, Functional Spaces" (#24). Those who wish to strengthen their leadership and management skills will appreciate the precision and eloquence of O'Malley's observations, insights, and counsel.
I also appreciate how skillfully he anchors each of his key points in an authentic context, the world of bees. He enables his reader to become almost (not quite) as fascinated as he is with "the regularity of their behavior...[The fact that they] live in colonies with overlapping generations and do all the things we do: provide shelter, care for their young, eat, work, and sleep. In addition, they have developed a [production] system that rivals ours in complexity and surpasses it in efficiency." As I worked my way through the lively narrative, O'Malley helped me to understand and appreciate "the wisdom of bees" for reasons that have absolutely nothing and yet - paradoxically --everything to do with its relevance to the human workplace.
Finally, I greatly appreciate the fact that O'Malley immediately establishes and then sustains a direct rapport with his reader. I felt as if I were right there with him as he tended to his own bees while providing a running monologue on what was happening...and why. Then later, sitting on a porch nearby, his monologue continues with a combination of delight, amazement, and appreciation of what the culture of honeybees reveals about "the twists and turns they make in their struggles. What they have done has worked for them"...and can work for us as well.
I also appreciate how skillfully he anchors each of his key points in an authentic context, the world of bees. He enables his reader to become almost (not quite) as fascinated as he is with "the regularity of their behavior...[The fact that they] live in colonies with overlapping generations and do all the things we do: provide shelter, care for their young, eat, work, and sleep. In addition, they have developed a [production] system that rivals ours in complexity and surpasses it in efficiency." As I worked my way through the lively narrative, O'Malley helped me to understand and appreciate "the wisdom of bees" for reasons that have absolutely nothing and yet - paradoxically --everything to do with its relevance to the human workplace.
Finally, I greatly appreciate the fact that O'Malley immediately establishes and then sustains a direct rapport with his reader. I felt as if I were right there with him as he tended to his own bees while providing a running monologue on what was happening...and why. Then later, sitting on a porch nearby, his monologue continues with a combination of delight, amazement, and appreciation of what the culture of honeybees reveals about "the twists and turns they make in their struggles. What they have done has worked for them"...and can work for us as well.
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