Harnessing the Unicorn

Pat O'Reilly

Reading management books can be a tiring pastime - they can be very dry and often seem to make a big fuss about stating the obvious. Pat O'Reilly has made a valiant attempt to do something about this, by writing a management book as a novel - or at least by using fairly realistic characters and putting them in a setting which it's not too difficult to relate to, and calling on the conventions of fictional narrative to put over some worthwhile ideas about managerial performance.

The narrator in this story is not a happy bunny, and with good reason. His team are consistently failing to deliver the goods and the company is seriously threatened by this failure - and so is his job! His saviour is Larry Farlow, a colleague who seems to live a charmed life - achieving (even exceeding) his goals, taking holidays and going home on time. By comparison, our hero works long hours and at weekends, and even cancels breaks, leading to the probable breakdown of his marriage.

As Farlow guides, coaches and mentors him through the latest project, he is gradually introduced to a series of ideas and techniques that can help him to work smarter not harder, using his time effectively and being creative in solving his problems. In particular, he is encouraged to reflect on his own behaviour and to recognise that without changing it he will only continue to fail, and that no more failures are allowable.

I wasn't well disposed towards it at the start, but before long I was really keen to find out just how a manager could become more effective by listening to good advice reflecting on his own behaviour and encouraging his team to learn with him. This is the kind of book that many would find useful - it can be read as a good story yet at the same time it prompts readers to consider how they could transfer the ideas to their own role.

Publisher and Price: Gower £39.50

Review from 'Progress' published by NEBS Management, February 1999