John Hoover (consultant)

"Be thankful for you I-Boss. He might be the easiest to work with and the least threatening to your health of all other boss types."

"The vast majority of your organization's leadership potential is probably locked up behind the bars of bureaucracy or staggering under the weight of organizational inertia. The cultural dragon you are fighting feeds on old school notions about leadership that grew out of a Napoleonic, hierarchical military organizational model."

"Hierarchical organizations are typically run by little Napoleons and Napoleonettes; especially at mid-organization level. A hierarchical organizational design draws leadership focus and energy away from problem solving and progressive thinking by encouraging those climbing the organizational food chain to focus instead on protecting their positions, perks, and territory."

"Whether you like it or not, any time two or more people get together to do anything, a culture emerges."

"When people's hopes and expectations are built up only to be demolished, they become a lot harder to motivate."

"Classical management theory would have us believe that the fastest way to get a square peg through a round hole is to use a bigger hammer."

"Clinging to unrealistic expectations, we can become our own worst enemies."

"People don't learn much about themselves or others while they're succeeding in spite of poor practices. When the real outcomes reflect the real work being done, the real learning begins."

"Most executives bring in a consultant or a new training program for course correction after they've steered the ship into an iceberg."

"Efficiency, productivity, and performance should always be priorities, through good times and bad."

"We define substance abuse as throwing away substance in favor of a better-looking wrapper. Running off experienced people for cheaper labor makes as much sense as peeling a banana, throwing the fruit away, and eating the peel."

"The cost of “downsizing,” “re-sizing,” or “right-sizing” eclipses what it would have cost to unleash the pent up leadership already inside the organization."

"Organizational performance, productivity, and profitability depend more on the emotional investment people have in meeting organizational objectives than any other factor."

"People participate fully, with the best they have, when they feel necessary to the outcome. People want to participate, but only if they'll feel good about what they're doing."

"When leaders are separate and definitely not equal, they tend to become ensconced in corner offices, or at least offices with windows."

"People in intermediate organizational positions quickly learn how they can influence decisions at the top by filtering information as it makes its way up the ladder and back down again."

"Going through channels means seeking permission from those above you. Imagine how much distortion there will be if the information is screened each time based on each person's political agenda."

"Organizations with traditional, Napoleonic, military-style hierarchies tend to remain static. To paraphrase Isaac Newton, organizations at rest tend to stay at rest."

"The organizational money chart enables people to isolate because they can always point upward when someone asks, “Who's in charge?” Over time, the motivation to do well dwindles."

"If compensation is merely tied to the organizational money chart, the real contributions of many in the organization are not being recognized or rewarded. Such neglect kills enthusiasm and effort."

"One of the things [good] ringleaders encourage is the uncensored free-flow of information and ideas, both within their circles and within the biggest circle of all, the one drawn around the entire organization."

"Conversation sets the stage for the commitment and the covenant."

"If you are truly adverse to regular, meaningful conversation with your team members, you can skip straight to conflict."

"An absence of effective communication will ultimately lead to conflict."

"It is much easier to address important issues if the conversation is continuous. Don’t take your team member by surprise. Catching someone off guard produces instant defensiveness."

"You must be willing to reconcile any difference between who you really are, as evidenced by your words and deeds, and who you present yourself to be."

"The more feedback you gather, the richer the data pool. The richer the data pool, the more willing you should be to toss your contradictory opinions out the window."

"Never l mind the stories of how one person, against all odds, proved the rest of the world wrong. Those things happen about as often as people are struck by lightning while cashing in their winning Lotto tickets."

"Many people who avoid talking to one another are the people that need to be engaged in conversation the most."

"As the leader, you must pay close attention to results and effort."

"Business is first, last, and always about people."

"Even the most mechanical organizations can design and deploy a people-centered culture, even if it happens one department at a time and takes a flying squirrel to champion the change."

"MR. PEABODY: "People who are content and confident in their work tend to be highly motivated and eminently more productive. They collaborate more freely with peers and colleagues, and cooperate better with those they report to..."

"There is no question that How to Work for an Idiot: Survive and Thrive ... Without Killing Your Boss... is a subversive book. People will pick it up expecting a tasty blend of commiseration and advice. They will put it down thinking, to rephrase the famous line from the cartoon character Pogo, "We have met the idiot, and he is us.""

"This reporter, who invited Dr. Hoover to lunch recently in hopes of learning definitive ways to spot idiots and thwart them before they do too much damage. She came away feeling like, well, an idiot. But not to worry: Dr. Hoover, who has a master's degree in family and marriage therapy and a doctorate in organizational dynamics, says idiotism is a treatable condition. He said his book... is as much a primer for I-Bosses as it is a balm for their beleaguered subordinates."