The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual & ...

enjoyed the book:
normally I am a cynical employee and our company is going into this hot and heavy. I figured that for once I should read about something before I talk bad about another fad. I read it cover to cover with a open mind and I agree with what it is pushing and I hope that my company really tries to follow the example. Sadly, I do not see this taking hold where I work as the "CYA" principal will never go away and that is a shame.

I built a company culture on this book!:
I'm now using this book to build a corp. culture for the second time. I buy a copy for every employee. I know they don't all read it. But, we use it as the text for company meetings, training and performance expectations. Big help in getting people to take more responsibility for our success as a company.

Great, if you live in Oz...:
Sadly, the principles in this book are almost entirely unrealistic. Oz offers some wonderful ideology about being productive, handling crisis, and accepting responsibility, but in the end, it seems written by managers for employees. Managers and executives don't like to hear excuses, no matter how real they are. They just want results. This sort of 'go team go' book is music to their ears...and completely out of touch with the real world. The fact of the matter is, there will always be slackers. And if you pick up the slack they leave, you will find yourself working at %150 while they work at %50. According to this book, that's just fine and dandy as long as the work gets done. Yes, emergencies happen. Bad things happen. Taking it on the chin and pressing onward can be a good thing in these cases. But daring to complain or feel abused is 'thinking below the line', even if your complaints and frustrations are real, at least according to Oz. And of course if someone else drops the ball, you are supposed to simply pick it up and run...again and again if need be. Yay you! Meanwhile the guy who dropped the ball is laughing and leaving work early. Executives would find this book a lot more helpful than the standard wage slave at the bottom of the totem pole. Executives see immediate and positive results with these philosophies. We peons won't. I found it very telling that throughout the book there was never any mention of any real, positive, measurable reward for doing more than your fair share, just a pat on the back and a "good job dude". I'm sorry, but if I have to go above and beyond, I expect more than a certificate, a photo op, or a "Thanks...er..what's your name again?" from the CEO. Selflessly sacrificing for the good of the company sounds great, but not if it becomes standard practice and I don't get paid for it...while others making as much or more than I do snicker at my herculean efforts to clean up others' messes. The bottom line for this book is "Suck it up and don't complain. You'll be a better person for it, and your BOSS--not you--will reap many rewards for it." Hey, enjoy living in Oz. I'll be over here in Kansas trying to pay my bills and keep my kids fed.

Oz - Or How To Waste Executive Time:
The executives in my company are going through this program. For months I've watched them waste - at a minimum, just at my location - $2,000 a week doing the homework, the meetings, the conference calls, the discussions. This is repeated throughout the country at over 3,500 of my company's sites. And the irony? They continue to micromanage everyone under them, countermand every decision made by an underling, reprimand every initiative made without their input. Now they're talking about "rolling it out" to all employees at department meetings. Of course, they're also talking about layoffs. Wonder which will happen first? Wonder which will be the biggest waste?

Old Fashion:
I guess i can understand the purpose of the material. However, it all seems to be common sense to a recent college grad who had to do any teamwork. I would find books on "treating women equal" just as useful. The concept is outdated, these things are already being taken care of in society.