In search of 'how to' excellence

Swot

The principal attraction of the 'How to' management books is that they aggressively focus on the practical and avoid the profound

Peter Drucker may churn out reams of wisdom on the future of the global economy and corporations. Francis Fukuyama may muse at length on the deletorous impact of globalisation on society.

Mohanbir Sawhney could be writing sharp, incisive copy on the travails of the new economy. C K Prahalad repeatedly admonishes Indian companies to think competitively and tells them how to go about it. But what's on The Strategist's fortnightly management bestseller list?

Here's a sampler from the past three months. The One-Minute Manager, a seventies' hit by Kenneth Blanchard. One of its companions, The One-Minute Apology, published this year, now regularly finds a place in the listings which are provided courtesy Crossword bookshop.

Among the other regulars are Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Your Morale, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, another relative oldie, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Jack Welch is still in vogue, too, since two books that are all about his management style figure consistently on the bestseller list. One is called The Welch Way: 24 lessons from the World's Greatest CEO and Jack Welch and the GE Way.

You must have noticed a pattern by now of consumer preference in management books. If you haven't, here's the thing: forget the profundities of management thought and philosophy, execs who care to set aside time to read want practical tips to help them up the greasy pole "" and ASAP.

It is no coincidence that the books listed above are also to be found in airport bookshops, fitted in among the ubiquitous Happily Every After advice manuals (Fit for Life and Who Moved My Cheese? being evergreen performers).

The principal attraction of these 'How to' management books is that they aggressively focus on the practical and avoid the profound. The style is often folksy and conversational, sometimes bordering on Agony Aunt condescension that may set your teeth on edge but it seems to get the books moving off the shop shelves at admirable speed. Equally the solutions they suggest always seem eminently do-able.

As crucially, they're relatively inexpensive: Fish and the One Minute duo come for just Rs 125. Overall, the most expensive book on the bestseller list of August 19, was Rs 595 (Execution, published by Random House).

The One-Minute Apology is a case in point. It bears the subtitle "A powerful way to make things better".

It's a conversation between a wide-eyed, freshly minted CEO and the One-Minute Manager. Here's some of the advice on offer: "In the One Minute Apology, you admit you are wrong and you deal with the cause of the damage instead of the symptoms... In the One Minute Apology, there are no excuses, no self-victimisation, no drama."

The One Minute Manager goes on to tell his (initially) incredulous auditor that this quickie apology business is basically all about "being honest with yourself and taking responsibility for your mistakes before you apologise". No surprise, the book has featured on The Strategist bestseller list every fortnight from June onwards.

To be fair, not all the management bestsellers are quite so trite or populist in their approach. The books on Jack Welch, which have also made consistent appearances in our list, are reasonably interesting and insightful "" it's the packaging that leads you to think that Neutron Jack's unique technique is easily replicable. Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, which has been on the charts for the past four fortnights, is also worth reading.

The monotony of The Strategist's bestseller list should not suggest that readers are short of choice. The Strategist's fortnightly list of the latest arrivals in business literature (also courtesy Crossword) features some interesting books.

For instance, Revival of the Fittest published by Harvard Business School Press is about turning around great companies that fail. Sam Walton's Made in America is another recent offering "" which made it to the best-seller's list just once in July. Another recommendation is The Iron Triangle: Inside the Secret World of the Carlyle Group.

But I'm willing to bet that none of these will put in star performances on the next fortnight's bestseller list. If there are any new entrants they'll probably be Transformational Leadership, where the counsel comes for just Rs 325 or maybe Getting Things Done (Rs 445) and Getting Together: Building Relationships As We Negotiate (Rs 396).