Old World, New World, and the Real World

Old World, New World, and the Real World Author: John Stein Publisher: TWF ISBN: 0-9547134-00 Pages 150 Buy this book at Amazon

Using pyramid building in ancient Egypt as a model for good management skills is not a surprising concept, now that we know it was free people, and not slaves, who created these massive edifices.

If you enjoyed The One Minute Manager or Who Moved the Cheese?, then you would probably enjoy this book, as it is written in a similar vein. However, unless you are already conversant with management theories, you may find that it does not really grip you.

It’s great to pick up at a seminar on growing the business to read on the train home and reflect on the day’s events. But as an off-the-bookshop-shelf book, it under-performs. It is neither an insightful read into ancient Egypt (which would have been entertaining and educational), nor as valuable as Charles Handy’s Understanding Organizations or Ricardo Semler’s Maverick, which cost around half the price.

It is an interesting idea but, unsupported by an engaging trainer to take you through it, it became wearisome to finish the book.

It will probably ride a wave of fashionable concept as did The Book of Five Rings. And at the end of the day, that is probably what John Stein intended.

Keith Lawson provides training services to the charity and voluntary sector and is a consultant with the Centre for Management and Personal Development