Do Nothing!: Discover the Power of Hands-Off Leadership

Background:For leaders, the path to success is "stop working and start leading". Keith Murnighan writes that great leaders don't "do"; great leaders:* Think* Make key decisions* Help people do their jobs better* Add a touch of organizational control to ensure the final "recipes" come out OK.Approach to Leading vs. Doing:* Plan for the future; set aside time for it and instill that mindset* Figure out who among your team members is good at a particular job and let them do it o Be aware of a wide variety of your team's skill sets, past history o Encourage others to attain this knowledge o Orchestrate all the roles accordingly* Facilitate; clear obstacles for people* Be there to help with ideas - let them take ideas and run with it (ownership)* Help people do their best - think about how to do this* Set high expectations for people; they can live up to it* Think of the reaction you want from those you are leading o Figure out how you can communicate to get there o Try to understand the other person's point of view* Ask lots of questions: o Builds trust o Gets information o Can use to optimize/orchestrate o Learn where people are coming from* Ask people to paraphrase ("If I understood you correctly...")* Trust people - give benefit of doubt* For meetings, create an agenda o Gives a framework the leader wants o Allows people a sense of ownership within that* Focus on learning more than on performance* Best in long run - for me - and anyone I'm coaching* Get introspective; determine your values - and share them

I have enjoyed the book and am already applying some of the concepts. I feel that it's been worth the time spent reading it.Lots' of great ideas that could have been better organized and thus easier to follow. I think the author should read  The Minto Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing, Thinking, & Problem Solving  and restructure the book accordingly.

Do Nothing!: How to Stop Overmanaging and Become a Great Leader This book challenges the usual thinking pattern about leadership. It is highly recommended for any leader, but especially for people that assume a new leadership role in any kind of organization.The things (skills, behaviors, knowledge) that made a person successful in one level are not the same that the ones he/she will need in a higher position. If you are not able to assume the new skills that are needed, you could fail in your new role.The book gives plenty of useful advise to made the transition to a leadership role in a smooth and smart way.I really enjoyed reading Do Nothing.

Book could have been 80% shorter and suffers from a presumption that you have team members capable of stepping up. But doesn't tell you how to figure that out.

I gave this as a gift to my boss. It provides needed help to the micro manager if he or she has the humility to see why this management style does not result in long term employee satisfaction or motivation!!!

This is an excellent err my book for me as ridership skills. Trust, tough love and straight honest communication s seem to be the key.

I bought this book after reading the review to another book with the same title on Tik Tok. I was disappointed to say the least but I blame myself for not checking the authors. While the "Do Nothing" book that I was seeking isn't about leadership unlike this one, I think this book is really wordy and probably unnecessary in order to convey its central message of saying leaders don't need to get involved deeply in their old technical role anymore and trust their subordinates to do the job.

Not so many original thoughts, most of them could be compressed into a much shorter brochure. After the first third of the book, I had to force myself into reading it.

On time and interesting

Murnighan---a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University---provides readers with an interesting and provocative 225 page managerial and leadership anchored counter-intuitive juxaposition. On the one hand, managers and leaders are responsible for getting work done inorganizations ; and on the other hand---so argues Murnighan---they best do this by getting out of the way, and do nothing. His basic premise is that, if left alone and not micro-managed, employees will take up the slack and be more productive.The author argues that , if employees are left alone, they will accomplish more, achieve better results, and use their skills and talents at levels far beyond required organizational expectations. Murnighan posits that organizational managers and leaders need to push and pull employees to do more ; and then provide " democratic " support for their accomplishments.Murnighan offers up standard managerial bromides for making the "do nothing" style effective. The more useful presription pills for managers and leaders to swallow in getting work done include "allowing" followers to succeed ; practicing facilitation and orchestration ; engaging in disciplined negotiations; ensuring employee psychological safety with structural control ; using tough love; and fostering workplace passion.Murnighan further posits the injection of organizational additive notions, or tactics---to support getting work done---by enabling the self-fulfilling prophesy ; positive reciprocity ; the transparancy effect ; double-interacts ; transactive memory ; backwards induction ; orienteering ; and leadership wire walking.This easy to read books adds little new to those who have studied, or researched, management , leadership, organizational psychology, managerial psychology, or behavioural science. But is is an excellent review read for anyone---management and leadership students and practitioners, or anyone else---interested in management and leadership styles for both today and tomorrow.David HemingOctober 6, 2012.

Keith has written a truly exceptional book. The ideas are so original and refreshing that this work is a slap to the face of every day business cliches we come across in the Business Books of today. Just consider some of the Chapter titles of his Book:Do NothingIgnore Performance GoalsDe-emphasize Profits andUnnatural Leaders At last someone approaches the Business World not as we imagine it to be in the haze of a lazy Utopia but as it actually is. Then he handles it with a sense of humor and honesty that is refreshing beyond words. It is a book of contrasts. Rational yet creative, imaginative yet practical, solemn yet hilarious, philosophical yet pragmatic. I love it. I learnt more from this one Book than I did in my two years at Business School doing an MBA.