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Title: The Milkshake Moment: Overcoming Stupid Systems, Pointless Policies and Muddled Management to Realize Real Growth
ISBN: 0470257466
Author:
Steven S. Little
Publicate Date: 2008-04-18
Publish: 2008-04-18
List Price: $19.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $9.77
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $7.15
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.61
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Good stories, but the book never came together
This is a short book about a hugely important subject: how company policies, procedures and cultures render frontline workers incapable of doing the right thing.
Strengths:
The book is short and well written so you get the message quickly. I read it on a flight from Charlotte to Dallas. There are twenty-nine chapters and they run an average of less than four pages each.
There are many good stories in here that you haven't heard before. The chapters built around these stories are usually excellent.
Warnings:
Even though this is a short book, it sometimes seems padded. For example chapter 6 is one of the longest chapters in the book. It covers the already-well-covered research of Philip Zimbardo and Stanley Milgram but that research doesn't seem to make a point that moves the book forward.
Mr. Little offers cultural references and puns without explanation. He has a breezy style that can make it seem like he's not taking things as seriously as he wants you to.
The chapters that are not built around stories from Little's personal experience tend to be glib, but not necessarily accurate or complete. Mr. Little often seems willing to sacrifice content on the altar of "cute."
Mr. Little is an exponent of "leadership good, management bad." Actions that he thinks are good, he labels "leadership." Those he doesn't think are good are labeled "management."
There is a promise that what you learn from this book will help your organization grow. There is no discussion of whether this is a good idea or if other goals might be better for you. Little's comment is that "Most are trying to grow something at some level." Perhaps, but addressing how that relates to "Put purpose before profit" would have been helpful.
There is virtually no practical, "I'll-try-that-tomorrow," advice in this book. Most change in organizations requires attention to recruiting/training, processes, reward systems, and supervision. Not one of those is addressed with simple, actionable suggestions.
Bottom Line:
This book never came together for me. The good parts, building on Little's experience were usually excellently written and chosen. Much of the rest seems thrown together to make the word count and re-purposed from other uses.
The short stories and examples could give you value for the cover price. To see if it will, either page through the book in the store or use the "Search Inside the Book" feature on Amazon.
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2: Good book to open your eyes on Processes...and how they can hurt
This is an interesting, well-written book worth picking up. It's easy to read with short chapters and contains some interesting, and at times funny, insights into the world of processes...especially bad processes (those that bind the hands of employees/organizations).
The book's entire premise is that while processes are necessary and provide value to an organization, you should make sure they allow `wiggle' room for individuals who use those processes. This wiggle room is necessary to allow people to be creative and innovative in how they solve problems. Most organization's don't stress that employees be creative and use processes at the same time...they'd prefer that an employee 'stick to the process'.
For example, the book uses the author's attempt at ordering a milkshake from room service at a fancy hotel. The hotel didn't have milkshakes on their menu and the room service personnel didn't quite know how to handle the request. The author asked if the hotel had milk, ice cream, a bowl and a spoon...the answer was yes. The author ordered these items and made his own milkshake.
The author uses this simple example to point out that the room service personnel were stuck in a process and just because they didn't sell milkshakes, they couldn't provide one and didn't have a `process' in place to get one to the author.
The book provides a good overview of what it means to be process bound, but also steps into the role of trying to teach the reader how to take simple actions to change these processes to follow a more common sense approach.
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3: Great Follow Up
Just got done reading Mr. Little's second book and what a great read for any business leader. No doubt the title Milkshake Moment catches your attention and that is not where it stops.
I am an owner of a small business and after reading Steven Little's first book I could not wait for the second. Steve gets to the points quickly and confirms it with real life stories and not theories.
The book makes you re-think all of your process and how you approach problems and business issues. Without question this book keeps your mind thinking so that when that moment comes our organization is prepared. One of the stories that just jumps off the pages and really makes you realize that it can happen in any industry has to be the one on Pomegranates. This alone make the book worth reading.
I will be making this a must read for all EMPLOYEES (to often leaders stress Managers) but this is 1 book every employee should read and can truly help the organization.
If you are working in any size organization I would highly suggest you read and pass onto the next person.
William Binder
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4: Left underwhelmed
A professional eNewsletter I am subscribed to featured this book earlier this spring. It was a quick blurb, and the book sounded fantastic! My company's library added it to their collection at my request and let me borrow it first... having read the entire book, I must now profess disappointment. I was left underwhelmed. Sure I like the cultural references, and Steve is not without his humor. But on the whole, I felt this was a jumble, Steve gets on certain soap boxes (jailer study results; WW II Nazi rant) that to me didn't add to his presentation, just distracted from it, and left me scratching my head about his core points. In another section about an automaker, he comes off pissy about how he was not hired to consult for them. His concept via title sounds great, his execution was lacking. Sorry Steven, you left me with a glass and some whole milk when I wanted a skim milk full milkshake!
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5: Common Sense Dictates
Steven Little touches on many of the times we are frustrated daily, when a common sense, simple solution can not be achieved. We have encountered these dilemas on a daily basis; using the Milkshake Moment to offer a sensible, logical, and simple solution to the quandry.
Some scenarios are too simple, while others show some behind the scenes look into Corporate America's "dumb" decisions.
Worth the very quick read.
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