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orsuros's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book for work but ended up liking it a ton. Accountability is a very important concept and the book does a great job showing how to have more of it, but mostly from a job or business perspective rather than a personal one. But even with that angle, the book still teaches great ideas using fun stories mostly taken from actual business consulting. It might take readers a bit more work to apply the principles beyond the business or job ideas the book presents, but doing that while reading through the book would definitely be worthwhile.
johnbreeden's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not usually big on business books. I often find that they try to push their "bigger-better idea" over common sense. This book, The Oz Principle, seems to push common sense over the bigger-better deal. It realizes that by depending on someone else's methodology to get results, one basically enables a new scapegoat when it fails. Instead, this book says to throw out the scapegoat, stop whining and realize personal accountability AND potential - and that combination is important. This is one of the few business books that I haven't rolled my eyes at, and I am willing to give these ideas a try.
jrobles76's review against another edition
2.0
I agree with much of what this book says, but think the presentation was poor. I despise the use of the term, "victim" or "victim mentality". That phrase reeks of early 80-90s Republican mentality. I do believe in personal responsibility and think, especially in work, that one should always ask, "what can we do," rather than, "who can we blame?" A while back I realized that anything that goes wrong in my department is my responsibility. Even if it is someone else who actually made the mistake. Even if they did it without my permission, the responsibility lies with me. I should have made my position clearer, or spelled out exactly what I wanted. The reason for this is that by laying blame, you don't have to find a REAL solution. It's Jim's fault, yell at Jim, move on. But that doesn't solve the problem. If Jim didn't know that I don't want anyone doing X, then how do I know Carol isn't under that same mistaken assumption?
That is essentially what this book is about. Take responsibility. But by using the terminology "victim mentality", they turned me off over and over again. The podcast "Manager Tools" discussed this same thing in a way that was more accessible. They called it, "owning the inputs". This was specifically for delegating tasks. If you delegate a task to Jim, and Jim doesn't deliver, it's your fault, not Jim's. It's your responsibility to make sure Jim delivers. Every person who has a responsibility in your project is YOUR responsibility. If Hickman has used some emotionally neutral phrase like, "own the inputs", I would highly recommend this book. Since he didn't, I recommend "Manager Tools" and several of the other management books out there.
That is essentially what this book is about. Take responsibility. But by using the terminology "victim mentality", they turned me off over and over again. The podcast "Manager Tools" discussed this same thing in a way that was more accessible. They called it, "owning the inputs". This was specifically for delegating tasks. If you delegate a task to Jim, and Jim doesn't deliver, it's your fault, not Jim's. It's your responsibility to make sure Jim delivers. Every person who has a responsibility in your project is YOUR responsibility. If Hickman has used some emotionally neutral phrase like, "own the inputs", I would highly recommend this book. Since he didn't, I recommend "Manager Tools" and several of the other management books out there.
ldv's review against another edition
2.0
Basic premise: don't be a victim but take hold of your situation and ask what you can do to improve it. I'm not sure the book adds a whole lot of detail beyond that simple statement, but it pretends to. Lots of vague examples of companies and business people who were sinking then choose to stop complaining and start fixing and "voila!" their business turned around. Each section begins with a quote from [a:Frank L. Baum|3242|L. Frank Baum|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1383720421p2/3242.jpg]'s book [b:The Wizard of Oz|762677|The Wizard of Oz (Great Illustrated Classics)|Deidre S. Laiken|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387746123s/762677.jpg|14816545] to illustrate that just like Dorothy, The Scarecrow, the Tinman, and The Lion, you have what you need inside you to solve your problems. You don't need a wizard to change your circumstances, just a Good Witch like Glinda perhaps to guide you on your way. A bit gimmicky, because they don't really borrow too much from the classic story, but it got me to read the book, so I guess it works (as a gimmick).
All the examples are very business-world, not so identifiable for me.
All the examples are very business-world, not so identifiable for me.
ceej4947's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed chapter 10 - otherwise it wasn't what I thought it would be. Just wasn't easy to read.
jxg255's review against another edition
3.0
This book was provided to me through work. It has some good points about accountability becomes redundant pretty quickly.
klabardee's review against another edition
5.0
This book offers a great framework for pushing through the difficulties of your circumstances in order to bring forth results and efficiency. Using the characters and circumstances in The Wizard of Oz, the author provides ideas, examples, and inspiration for turning things around in work and in life.
nyzerman's review against another edition
2.0
This was required reading for my job. I think the ideas in it make sense and are beneficial, though the book tends to be very redundant. The primary theme is accountability and how to be "Above the Line" and the author uses some helpful examples and shows how to apply the principles in the workplace. I personally disliked the references to The Wizard of Oz. I have read the entire OZ series and felt that including passages from the book was contrived and unnecessary.
ehmatthews's review against another edition
2.0
I had to read this for work and I pretty much just skimmed it. Not a terrible theory but I had trouble seeing how it applies to my line of work.