Amazon.com: Books: Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency
Another entry in the small but growing management library that suggests purposely slowing down and smelling the roses could actually boost productivity in today’s 24/7 world, Tom DeMarco’s Slack stands out because it is aimed at “the infernal busyness of the modern workplace.” DeMarco writes, “Organizations sometimes become obsessed with efficiency and make themselves so busy that responsiveness and net effectiveness suffer.” By intentionally creating downtime, or “slack,” management will find a much-needed opportunity to build a “capacity to change” into an otherwise strained enterprise that will help companies respond more successfully to constantly evolving conditions. Focusing specifically on knowledge workers and the environment in which they toil, DeMarco addresses the corporate stress that results from going full-tilt, and offers remedies he thinks will foster growth instead of stagnation. Slack, he contends, is just the thing to nurture the out-of-box thinking required in the 21st century, and within these pages, he makes a strong case for it. –Howard Rothman
DeMarco writes from experience and is someone whose advice you ignore at your peril.
Another of DeMarco’s points is that the continuing destruction of middle management jobs is very dangerous, because much of the innovation within companies happens by their agency.
He suggests that middle managers are close enough to the work to understand what will make a difference, but close enough to executives to be able to push an idea that can change a company’s culture or key mission.
This book is on my wish list, too.
Good concept, lousy book.
I like Tom DeMarco; PeopleWare is a classic. But Slack is the classic case of a good idea that just didn’t turn into a good book.
You can get the idea from the reviews: companies should consider not overloading their employees/teams so that they have time to respond to the opportunities out there.
Nice idea, but not much beyond that.
Save your money. Or buy my copy - I’ll send it to you.