Truth in Fiction

I once read somewhere that it’s nonsense to read business books.  The idea being that you can glean messages about relationship building, strategy, conflict resolution, etc. from just about any fictional work.

At first, the comment took me by surprise.  To think that managers would quit handing out copies of Who Moved My Cheese? and Good to Great and start distributing the latest Harlequin release was a little mind-boggling.  But then it occurred to me…a couple of my favorite business books are actually written in a fictional format.

The first one is Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment by William Byham.  Don’t let the use of the empowerment buzzword keep you from making this book a part of your library.  It’s a great story about communication, employee relations and managing new ideas.

The other is Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.  Any organization going through change will find this book valuable.  It focuses on leadership, teamwork and making tough choices in the best interest of the business.

Both of these books are a short read and make valid business points.  If you don’t have them, you should consider adding them to your wish list.  If you do have them, what are you waiting for?  Get out there and circulate them around the office!

Business Pundit Top 50 Blogs of 2008

The Bartender was delighted to learn yesterday that Business Pundit named HR Bartender one of the top 50 business blogs of 2008.  We were one of only two human resources blogs in the list, alongside one of my personal favorites HR Wench.  Thanks so much to Business Pundit and all my wonderful subscribers.  Cheers!

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