In this lively and entertaining book, Robin Wensley guides the reader through the basic analytical approaches to decision making required for more effective management practice.
Packed with diagrams, anecdotes and examples which bring the book to life, Effective Management in Practice:
- clearly presents a wide range of management tools, techniques and theoretical insights in just the right amount of depth for current and future managers
- illustrates the need for a balanced approach, emphasizing the importance of the questioning process in clarifying the nature of action proposals and any underlying assumptions
- eschews any approach which advocates one right way but at the same time encourages a greater appreciation of practical issues through analysis and theory
Students of management, academics and any practitioner interested in exploring a range of different approaches to management will enjoy and treasure this book.
Industry Reviews
'In this book Robin Wensley applies his extensive experience and wisdom in maping four key strands of the managerial process - an interrogative approach of asking key questions, being critical in thinking about our thinking, learning how to organize for both central command and local agility, and appreciating evidence-based management in context specific situations. Through these four strands Wensley provides a treasury of "practical wisdom" that adds to "common sense" in important and insightful ways' -- Professor Andrew H. Van de Ven 'Robin Wensley's new book, "Effective Management in Practice: Analytical Insights and Critical Questions," should be in the bookshelf (or eReader) of every manager, policy-maker, and academic who is interested in understanding and advancing our thinking about management. Wensley's viewpoint emphasizes the clash of interests and perspectives that is central to real organizations. He puts the fact of "multiple truths" on center stage and describes how judgment and action evolve out of questioning, the skillful use of evidence, and "practical wisdom." If you are looking for easy tricks guaranteeing success in management, pass on by. However, if you are intrigued, or even fascinated, by how talented people wring insight and action out of difficult situations, get Robin Wensley's book now' -- Richard Rumelt 'Robin Wensley is one of the most thoughtful management writers around. In this book he avoids advocating simple solutions to managerial problems; there aren't any! However he does provide valuable insights which managers then need to apply to the everyday complex organizational situations that they face' -- Geoff Easton 'Fizzes with ideas and practical wisdom for thoughtful students, managers and academics. Based on a lifetime of research, teaching, management and reflection, Robin Wensley's very personal take on management tools and techniques, frameworks, stories, continuous questioning and the interface between academia and practice is an intellectual tour de force with practical lessons for readers willing and able to listen and reflect' -- Patrick Barwise 'Managers typically use few analytic tools for decision making. Yet we know how susceptible they are to bias and error. Here Robin Wensley brings welcome conceptual clarity and a good deal of common sense to provide real insights and to show how managers can overcome such bias. It is a lively read which managers and academics alike will find useful and illuminating' -- Gerry Johnson 'Books claiming to address the needs of both seasoned practitioners and serious academics rarely work. But, through a subtle analysis of academic research, its impact, and the identity of multiple truths, this book succeeds in its translation and message to both camps-a rare accomplishment' -- Professor Peter McKiernan 'In this book, Robin Wensley has deeply probed and neatly dissected the soft underbelly of academic and practical efforts to build a firm intellectual basis to guide managerial action. Relying on his vast experience, encyclopaedic knowledge, and sharp mind, he puts to flight both the pretensions of academic social science and the casual confidence of not very reflective practitioners in favor of a method that keeps asking questions of particular situations in search of a plausibly effective line of action. If the most common form of managerial error is not the absence of certain knowledge, but the lack of a will and capacity to inquire into particulars, then this book will set both academics and practitioners on a far better course than many are now pursuing' -- Professor Mark Moore
