[.ca] Modern Classics Parkinsons Law (ISBN 0141186852)

The sine qua non of rules that organizations live by!:
This is one of more seminal books ever written. Once you read it you will NEVER again look at time management, the British Admiralty, a Board Meeting or a cocktail party in the same way. "Work expands to fill the time allotted to its completion" is the first and most famous rule, but the others (and the stories that illustrate them) are just as hilarious and dead on. Run, don't walk, to get this book, and you will be quoting and remembering it for the rest of your life. While you're at it (and if you have a really dry, British and warped sense of humor), don't forget to check out "Gamesmanship" and "Lifemanship" by Stephen Potter.

Parkinson Isn't The Enemy After All:
I've always considered Parkinson's Law to be the chief weapon of inept managers who "schedule aggressively" in an attempt to squeeze blood from stones, and thus compromise their project's effeciency, morale, and the like. After reading this book I've discovered that Parkinson's Law is *not* the often misquoted "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion" but (paraphrasing:) "the number of administrators in an organization will grow at a steady rate irrespective of the amount of work that organization needs to do." Not only does Parkinson never suggest that we should "schedule aggressively" (he never suggests that work can contract indefinitely no matter how little time is made available), he ridiculues nice offices, large meetings, top-heavy management, insecure leadership, penny-wiseness and pound-foolishness, typical hiring practices, and more. While reading most of this book I had a wry grin on my face, and I laughed loud belly laughs at a couple of points. My only complaints stem from the last two chapters, which indulged in both racism and ageism, respectively. I only skimmed those. Still, an enjoyable and motivational read, and useful knowledge when confronted by a manager who thinks of themself as Parkinsonian but hasn't actually read (or understood) Parkinson.

ONE OF ONLY TWO ESSENTIAL BOOKS ON MANAGEMENT:
ONLY 2 BOOKS ON MANAGEMENT ARE INDISPENSABLE. NEITHER ONE IS WRITTEN BY AN AMERICAN. THIS IS INTERESTING GIVEN THE GALLOPING HYPE DRAPED OVER AMERICAN MANAGEMENT: PARKINSON IS BRITISH AND PETER - NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE HYSTERICAL MANAGEMENT ENTERTAINER 'TOM PETERS' (IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE)- IS CANADIAN. ONCE YOU MASTER THEIR 2 THEORIES YOU ARE WELL SET TO MASTER MANAGEMENT. COMPARE PARKINSON'S INCISIVE WIT (PARKINSON'S LAW), AND PETER'S DAZZLING GLIMPSE OF THE OBVIOUS (THE PETER PRINCIPLE) WITH THE LABORIOUS EFFORTS OF THE AUSTRIAN-AMERICAN JOURNALIST DRUCKER (PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT)OR THE INANITY OF THE AMERICAN MEDIC JOHNSON (WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?). ONLY AN AMERICAN (SEE AN EARLIER REVIEW) WOULD THINK OF DRAGGING INTO THE DISCUSSION THE QUINTESSENTIALLY AMERICAN 'DILBERT', FOR GOD'S SAKE! ASIDE FROM THE AMERICAN DEMING'S WORK (NEVER POPULAR IN THE US), I CANNOT THINK OF A SINGLE AMERICAN WRITER ON MANAGEMENT WHO STANDS UP TO PARKINSON AND PETER. NOT ONE! BUT THE SHELVES ARE CLUTTERED & CRAMMED WITH THEIR CEASELESS OVER-PROMOTED OUTPUT - 80% OF WHICH, ACCORDING TO A SURVEY OF BOOK BUYERS, IS NEVER EVEN READ! THANK GOODNESS! SO, IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT MANAGEMENT, SKIP THE AMERICAN BLANCHARD (THE ONE MINUTE MANAGER) AND GET YOUR MIND FIRMLY AROUND THE OLD-FASHIONED, OUT-OF-DATE BRIT PARKINSON & THE SADLY UNDERESTIMATED CANADIAN PETER.

Don't Go to a Budget Meeting Before Reading Chapter 3:
Parkinson succinctly explains why governmental committies can spend hours on the budget for a bicycle rack and minutes on the approval for a nuclear power plant. I'm an elected public official (retired hi-tech exec) and would have gone mad by now without C. Northcote's advice. His wise and humorous explication of the public process may not make it saner (unless every elected and appointed official reads and understands him) but at least those who know him will be amused during the next interminable public debate by identifying his characters in today's cast. Does nothing ever change?

Do you understand the things or are you a moron?:
Hi, This is one of the best and most valuable books (with balls) I ever read, about the only things that matters in the live of the adult - I mean your freedom. Learn how government evolves to the killing machine (I experience that) or why you must fight with the all nonsense bureaucracy. It just shows the fundamental mechanisms and threats you found and will find in your contacts with bureaucratics machine. Not only worth of reading - read it and advertise to all you care about... Like even more fun? (and rage) - read "The adventures of Jonathan Gullible" by Ken Schoolland. Then we'll can talk ;-)