Cud for thought: "Contented cows give better milk"
Its surprising how well the principles explained in the book "Contented Cows give better milk" held up when I analysed
1) two gas stations I worked at and their work environments, the way the owners operated them
2) The work environment between two companies, a small one (~ $20 mil) and fortune 500 company ($14 bil)
3) the way different managers work
4) the team dynamics in different teams and how they perform
Conclusion: would strongly reccommend this book for anybody looking for pointers in developing a high performance culture in their companies(not that it is the all of it)
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The long of it (the reason behind why I say the above):
A bit over 8 years ago, read this book, which was course material for a friend doing an MBA. Liked it so much that I told him I was going to keep it after he gets done with his course and did exactly that :)
About a year later, on an impulse and out of boredom, I made a list of things that differed in the actions, attitudes, behaviors and in general, the culture, of the owners and workers of two gas stations I used to work (was a student, back then)
One was a very busy place with lots of daily revenue (going into a few thousands), long lines of customers, a majority of them loyal over many years.
The other was a very slow place, the revenue not even making a couple of hundreds on some days.
When I compared the list, it turned out to be perfect example of what the book was trying to say.
Since then, more or less on automode, I have been analysing the cultures in differnt companies that I worked at, different teams I was part of or had exposure to, working styles of different managers. The stuff in the book keeps holding up real well based on what I have observed so far.
(It should be an easy guess in which gas station I made that list :) )