RESPONSIBILITY VIRUS(一山可容二虎 -合作制胜)

A magazine CEO clashes with his v-p of sales over lagging ad sales. Two married attorneys each try to get the upper hand while house-hunting. A team of managers, intending to collaborate, winds up competing with each other. These are just some of the power struggles Martin, dean of the University of Toronto's business school, presents in this personal and professional self-help book. Both overachieving and underachieving execs will recognize themselves and their colleagues in Martin's realistic, well-sketched (pseudonymous) conflicts, in which ego and fear of failure are presented as major roadblocks to group consensus. His 15 years of consulting experience serve him well, especially when he demonstrates, with specific examples, how most poor decision-making begins at the level of individual behavior. Figures and diagrams abound, likening portions of the book to a Power Point presentation, albeit a useful one. For example, the "Responsibility Ladder" shows the levels of responsibility to which most people gravitate in most situations. At the lowest rung of the ladder, one set of problems is created when folks who fear failure drop difficult projects on other people's desks. Martin is quick to point out, however, that organizational problems can arise at the top of the ladder, too, when managers who seek control "consider options and make [a] decision, informing other [parties] subsequently." Martin wrote this book "to help people avoid the natural predisposition to screw up the handling of responsibility in ways that undermine their goals and well-being," and he succeeds. His examples and nuggets of advice are on-target and entertaining.

Book Description

This title includes Roger Martin's tools for conquering what he terms the "responsibility virus". These processes include: the frame experiment, which is designed to help those already stuck in positions of over- or under-responsibility to arrest their downward spiral, one relationship at a time; the choice-structuring process, which aims to help members of a group create robust and compelling choices together, rather than leaping to roles of heroic leadership or passive followership; and the responsibility ladder which helps managers and subordinates work together and shows each of us when and how to take on responsibility from a boss. Redefining leadership and followership informs leaders on how to move from unilateral decision-making to shared responsibility.

From Publishers Weekly

A magazine CEO clashes with his v-p of sales over lagging ad sales. Two married attorneys each try to get the upper hand while house-hunting. A team of managers, intending to collaborate, winds up competing with each other. These are just some of the power struggles Martin, dean of the University of Toronto's business school, presents in this personal and professional self-help book. Both overachieving and underachieving execs will recognize themselves and their colleagues in Martin's realistic, well-sketched (pseudonymous) conflicts, in which ego and fear of failure are presented as major roadblocks to group consensus. His 15 years of consulting experience serve him well, especially when he demonstrates, with specific examples, how most poor decision-making begins at the level of individual behavior. Figures and diagrams abound, likening portions of the book to a Power Point presentation, albeit a useful one. For example, the "Responsibility Ladder" shows the levels of responsibility to which most people gravitate in most situations. At the lowest rung of the ladder, one set of problems is created when folks who fear failure drop difficult projects on other people's desks. Martin is quick to point out, however, that organizational problems can arise at the top of the ladder, too, when managers who seek control "consider options and make [a] decision, informing other [parties] subsequently." Martin wrote this book "to help people avoid the natural predisposition to screw up the handling of responsibility in ways that undermine their goals and well-being," and he succeeds. His examples and nuggets of advice are on-target and entertaining.

Book Dimension
Height (mm) 243 　　　　　　　　　　　 Width (mm) 164

Preface
Introduction: Do We Need Another Hero?
1
1 Understanding the Responsibility Virus
15
2 Role of the Fear of Failure
31
3 Static and Dynamic Conservation of Responsibility
45
4 The Death of Collaboration
61
5 The Development of Mistrust and Misunderstanding
75
6 Atrophy of Choice-Making Skills
89
7 The Choice Structuring Process
105
8 The Frame Experiment
129
9 The Responsibility Ladder
145
10 The Redefinition of Leadership and Followership
161
11 Mired in Under-Responsibility
181
12 Trapped in Over-Responsibility
195
13 The Challenge Facing Professionals
209
14 The Challenge for Boards of Directors
223
15 Fighting the Virus in Everyday Life
241
Conclusion: Recognizing and Fighting the Responsibility Virus
259
Notes
271
Index
277