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Copyright 2002 ã weLEAD, Inc.
Slack,
Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency
Random House,
Author Tom DeMarco
ISBN 0-7679-0768
When I first saw the title of this book,
I was not sure what I would find between its covers. However, the title was
intriguing enough to get me started reading. What I found inside was a
wonderful collection of common sense addressing the downsizing and cost cutting
efficiency craze that has infected many organizations in the last decade. DeMarco is astute, perceptive, and succinct as he shows
that eliminating too much slack within an organization may rob the organization
of the very achievements it seeks. DeMarco claims
that slack is the key to organizational agility, change, and effectiveness. As
you eliminate slack within an organization it may become more efficient, but
the price is that it also becomes more difficult to change. It becomes like a
car that can speed up but not steer.
DeMarco
has a knack for putting his finger directly on what matters most in the world
of business, and he is a highly pragmatic individual. His book explains the
difference between business and “busyness.” DeMarco
speaks from years of real world experience and it is evident throughout the
pages of this book. Slack furnishes gems of wisdom on a great many topics
such as trust and trustworthiness, learning organizations, organizational
culture, change management, risk management, knowledge work, accountability,
and leadership.
As
an information systems professional, I was very familiar with the work of Tom DeMarco. He is a member of the ACM and a Fellow of the
IEEE. His interests in project management, change facilitation, and software
engineering have spanned many years. He has authored a number of books
addressing these and other technical issues. He was a winner of the 1986 Warnier Prize for “lifetime contribution to the field of
computing” and is currently a principal of the Atlantic Systems Guild
(http://systemsguild.com).
This
is one of those rare business books that you are tempted to purchase for all
your work associates, entrepreneurial friends, and the CEO of your company. The
place to start is to buy this book for yourself and
begin profiting from DeMarco’s insight.
Review By Dr. J. Howard Baker
weLEAD rating highly recommended
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