Please Don't Just Do What I Tell You! Do What Needs to Be Done

August 27, 2001
Nelson, author of the bestselling 1,001 Ways to Reward Employees, knows that the best ideas often come from employees on the lowest rung rather than from the people in the corner offices. One Starbucks employee, for instance, created and began serving Frappuccinos even though her manager forbade her to do so; later, Howard Shultz, Starbucks CEO, thanked this worker. When employees at a U.S. Airways maintenance facility heard they might lose their jobs, they proposed to management that work from other parts of the country be consolidated at their site. They kept their jobs, and the airline saved money. This book is filled with brief anecdotes of people who did more than their day-to-day duties. In a friendly, knowledgeable tone, Nelson explains how to take the initiative and make one's job better or one's customers happier. Each of these brief chapters has a title that itself is a lesson—"Turn Needs into Opportunities," "Learn to Enjoy Those Things Others Hate to Do" and "Regroup When Your Ideas Meet Resistance." His basic point is one of empowerment: think bigger, he urges, figure out "what needs to be done" beyond the confines of your job description and do it. Although readers may wish Nelson had offered more detailed suggestions, his solid advice should be read by employees at all levels of an organization. (Sept.)Forecast:Given Nelson's track record along with a radio satellite tour and speaking engagements, expect strong immediate sales.