5 August 2010 | Ian Tait
By John Timpson, Wiley, £12.99
5 out of 5
Upside down management is essentially about empowerment. Employees should be given as much freedom as possible to work in the organisation’s interest. Senior managers are there to support employees in whatever way they can to deliver what is required.
The book is aimed at managers, particularly chief executives. Timpson, chairman of shoe repair and key-cutting chain Timpson, shares heart-on-his-sleeve experiences so that others might benefit.
There are some business school academics, management consultants and city financiers who would mock this book as folksy, homespun, eccentric and too narrow in its experiences. Others will hail it as a straight-talking, refreshing, focused, sincere plea to challenge the widely accepted routine norms of modern working life. Timpson is outspoken and proudly politically incorrect – “Discriminate against the drongos,” he urges (ie, quickly fire under-achievers). He names names with little mercy. He measures time in generations, not financial quarters or years. He rails against accountants, bureaucracy, consultants, ineffective rules, key performance indicators and management by objectives. The list is long and the logic convincing.
Timpson has considerable experience as a retail buyer, but this slightly unsettling book has little technical relevance for purchasing professionals. But it has a vast amount to say to encourage managers in general to get motivated performance from their staff. Hire on personality, not skills. Recruit, train and trust ex-cons. Give employees their birthdays off.
Despite the very individual viewpoint from which it is written, this is a worthwhile book. A stimulating read deserving a wide audience and much discussion. Never before have shoe repairs been so interesting.
Ian Tait
Ian Tait and Co
