Guy Kawasaki
CEO
Garage Technology Ventures
Thankfully, the author doesn't provide a checklist or formula but identifiable lessons by way of entertaining examples. The book is written in a casual narrative form, which makes it a quick (I finished it in 3 hours) and entertaining read. After putting the book down, I was left with a handful of insightful lessons, which I am confident I can apply to my work.
The author, Paul Auerbach, a practicing physician and successful businessman, draws upon real-life experiences in the E.R. to instruct the reader as to how he or she might approach various management issues. In the introduction, Auerbach states that nothing is more revealing than letting your customers and employees tell you what they think and that if you set up a way to periodically endure unfiltered comments it can become the best stethoscope into the heart of your business. This insightful statement hit home for me, as it is the foundation of my coaching philosophy. I suspect it will ring true for you too.
The author shows us how the field of applied medicine can inform management. For example, just as most physicians possess a knowledge base that can be difficult to translate effectively into lay language for patients, so too do business leaders need to cut through their technical jargon in order to communicate effectively with their employees and customers. Whether in clinical medicine or a consumer electronics company, the leader must make information accessible to his or her followers.
I recommend this book to all organizational leaders - not only to those in the medical profession - without hesitation. For much less than the cost of a visit to your local hospital emergency room, Management Lessons From the E.R. is a valuable addition to your management toolbox.
Betty Till
Executive Coach...