How Not To Manage by Adam Kirkman and Daniel Mayhew (Quick Brown Fox Publications) Reviewed by Nick Quantrill

Think you're a great manager? Think you know how to get the best out of people whilst increasing your personal performance and worth? Think again - you can be better - it's simply a matter of attitude. If this all sounds a bit too much like hard word, fear not, this new spoof management manual from York's Adam Kirkman and Daniel Mayhew is here to direct you through all the potential minefields you're likely to encounter on the road to self improvement. The guide opens with a focus on the most important person in any business - yourself. Life's tough for the modern manager; from telling your family work is more important than them to dealing with failure (some people believe that failure is a major contributor to success.

These people are stupid! Failure is obviously bad), the correct steps to deal with it are laid out, step-by-step, in easy to understand sections, complete with helpful photographic representations to illustrate the point.

Once you've perfected yourself, it's time to move on to improving others and plenty of useful advice is offered. Recessions happen, so the Credit Crunch should be seen as an opportunity (redundancy is your friend), but don't forget your staff still require training (staff are usually tools, and like all tools, they need to be kept sharp) and regular motivation (don't give them any real power and check in on them regularly. Don't want them screwing up, but if they do, then it's their fault alone).

However, should you fail, you should always remember it's not your fault (being fired is incredibly positive...it means they weren't ready for your ideas. The job wasn't right for you).

Don't be fooled into thinking this book is all style over substance. Kirkman and Mayhew don't just play it if for cheap laughs and shy away from the more difficult areas of modern-day office life.

How Not To Manage tackles discrimination, prejudice and the systematic abuse of power and only rarely misses its intended target. In the words of Mayhew, 'satirising these things is more powerful than sermonising about them.' Now, go shift those paradigms...For more information, please visit www.quickbrownfoxpublications.co.uk and www.hownottomanage.com

thisisUll.com Featured Writer Nick Quantrill
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