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Why Can't We Get Anything Done Around Here? The Smart Manager's Guide to Executing the Work That Delivers Results
MED IA R EVIE WS /Freih eit, Weint rau b, and May
Overall, however, I believe this book would make a nice addition to your ED reference library. —Heather Freiheit, RN, BSN, EMT-P doi:10.1016/j.jen.2004.07.083
Why Can’t We Get Anything Done Around Here? The Smart Manager’s Guide to Executing the Work That Delivers Results
Lefton RE, Loeb JT. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004, 148 pp, $12.95, ISBN 0-07-143006-7.
Well, why can’t we get anything done around here? If you are one of the millions of us who asks this question every day, then this is the book for you. It is very readable—the chapters are a manageable length, the language is clear and concise, and the examples illustrate the pertinent points without hitting us over the head with them. More importantly, however, the content deconstructs the managerial decision-making process down to its most basic assumptions and then leads us through why those assumptions are either correct or incorrect. The text guides us through some basic questions we should ask ourselves prior to making a decision, such as, ‘‘Are you getting the right things done?’’, as well as providing a pertinent aphorism at the outset of each chapter. For instance, chapter 1 gives us, ‘‘Don’t tell me how hard you work. Tell me how much you get done.’’ If you have never wanted to tell an employee this, then you are not a manager! The book comprises mainly text, but it also has several easily understood grids, one of which is the basis for the text, the task management model. This model defines task management along the dimensions of task importance, employee capability, and employee enjoyment, and then directs the manager on how to use these dimensions to achieve optimal results for each task. The book is somewhat simplistic—if you have been a manager for any length of time, these concepts will not be new—but the book is organized so that comfortable concepts are synthesized into new frameworks. —Barbara Weintraub, RN, MSN, MPH, PCCNP, CEN
Eclipse
Bryner J. Huron (OH): Bottom Dog Press, 2003, 149 pp, $12.95, ISBN 0-933087-78-0.
Byner’s collection of 24 short stories, some previously published, has something for everyone. Many of her stories are drawn from her experiences as a nurse. When someone talks about an eclipse, we usually think of the familiar solar eclipse, where either the sun or moon is hidden. In Byner’s Eclipse, instead of hiding things, she gives us glimpses into varied life situations. For example: a man walking in the woods, thinking, remembering, as he knows he is in the final stages of life; an overweight youngster, who eats Twinkies and is on a baseball team for the first time, gets a hit in an All Star game; an elderly patient in a nursing home is coaxed to eat; a night shift housekeeper is sent to the emergency department to fill in for an ailing worker and discovers, among other things, that ‘‘nurses and orderlies get in a hurry and. . . make no nevermind to missing the trash cans and hardly ever bend down to pick up a missed throw’’; a weight loss weigh-in (which is dedicated ‘‘to my emergency room colleagues’’); and much more. Bryner has stitched together a rich patchwork of poignant, sometimes gritty tales and experiences that are memorable and thought provoking. —Annabelle (Anne) May, RN, BSN, CEN doi:10.1016/j.jen.2004.02.015 Availabe online 27 April 2004.
doi:10.1016/j.jen.2004.04.018 Availabe online 19 June 2004.
October 2004
30:5
JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING
497
Overall, however, I believe this book would make a nice addition to your ED reference library. —Heather Freiheit, RN, BSN, EMT-P doi:10.1016/j.jen.2004.07.083
Why Can’t We Get Anything Done Around Here? The Smart Manager’s Guide to Executing the Work That Delivers Results
Lefton RE, Loeb JT. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004, 148 pp, $12.95, ISBN 0-07-143006-7.
Well, why can’t we get anything done around here? If you are one of the millions of us who asks this question every day, then this is the book for you. It is very readable—the chapters are a manageable length, the language is clear and concise, and the examples illustrate the pertinent points without hitting us over the head with them. More importantly, however, the content deconstructs the managerial decision-making process down to its most basic assumptions and then leads us through why those assumptions are either correct or incorrect. The text guides us through some basic questions we should ask ourselves prior to making a decision, such as, ‘‘Are you getting the right things done?’’, as well as providing a pertinent aphorism at the outset of each chapter. For instance, chapter 1 gives us, ‘‘Don’t tell me how hard you work. Tell me how much you get done.’’ If you have never wanted to tell an employee this, then you are not a manager! The book comprises mainly text, but it also has several easily understood grids, one of which is the basis for the text, the task management model. This model defines task management along the dimensions of task importance, employee capability, and employee enjoyment, and then directs the manager on how to use these dimensions to achieve optimal results for each task. The book is somewhat simplistic—if you have been a manager for any length of time, these concepts will not be new—but the book is organized so that comfortable concepts are synthesized into new frameworks. —Barbara Weintraub, RN, MSN, MPH, PCCNP, CEN
Eclipse
Bryner J. Huron (OH): Bottom Dog Press, 2003, 149 pp, $12.95, ISBN 0-933087-78-0.
Byner’s collection of 24 short stories, some previously published, has something for everyone. Many of her stories are drawn from her experiences as a nurse. When someone talks about an eclipse, we usually think of the familiar solar eclipse, where either the sun or moon is hidden. In Byner’s Eclipse, instead of hiding things, she gives us glimpses into varied life situations. For example: a man walking in the woods, thinking, remembering, as he knows he is in the final stages of life; an overweight youngster, who eats Twinkies and is on a baseball team for the first time, gets a hit in an All Star game; an elderly patient in a nursing home is coaxed to eat; a night shift housekeeper is sent to the emergency department to fill in for an ailing worker and discovers, among other things, that ‘‘nurses and orderlies get in a hurry and. . . make no nevermind to missing the trash cans and hardly ever bend down to pick up a missed throw’’; a weight loss weigh-in (which is dedicated ‘‘to my emergency room colleagues’’); and much more. Bryner has stitched together a rich patchwork of poignant, sometimes gritty tales and experiences that are memorable and thought provoking. —Annabelle (Anne) May, RN, BSN, CEN doi:10.1016/j.jen.2004.02.015 Availabe online 27 April 2004.
doi:10.1016/j.jen.2004.04.018 Availabe online 19 June 2004.
October 2004
30:5
JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING
497