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| The Case of the Bonsai Manager: Lessons from Nature on Growing | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 2 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2221951
Category: Book
Author: R. Gopalakrishnan
Publisher: Penguin Portfolio
Studio: Penguin Portfolio
Manufacturer: Penguin Portfolio
Label: Penguin Portfolio
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 264
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 0670081310
EAN: 9780670081318
ASIN: 0670081310
Publication Date: January 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Circles of nature and Intuition November 6, 2008
The uses of anecdotes from nature are a unique feature of this book. So when Gopalakrishnan talks about utilizing threats for your own good, he talks about Lobster and snailsp69. Threat of lobsters force snails to reproduce at a later age and achieve better growth parameters. Same way a manager should embrace challenges to fuel his or her growth and not shy away from challenges.
Only threats and challenges keep you fit. Lot of people would want to maintain a status quo because they do not want to come out of their comfort zones. So follows the example of Japanese fish trawlers that use sharks in their tanks to keep the fish swimming and fitp71. When there was no shark in Tank, there was no threat and in absence of threats the fishes did not move about much and discerning Japanese did not like the taste of lethargic fish. The lethargic fish were a bit like managers who want to maintain their status quo.
When Gopal wants to preach the lessons of being alert and vigilant he talks about cave crickets that develop extra long antennas to reach food. So not only look for the obvious but also what is not so obvious. When the author wants to talk about pains inherent in any transition he reminds us of the metamorphosis of butterflies from Pupa p165. Pupas undergo intense physical pain to emerge as butterflies at the end. When the author wants us to realize the importance of sharing knowledge and information he talks about blue tits and robins. Both bird species had to learn to pierce the aluminum caps to tap into milk bottles, but the Blue tits shared the knowledge and possibilities and robins did it as individual efforts. Today all Blue tits have the skill that most of robin lackp85.
There is a well known book on co-opetition by Adam M. Brandenburger and Barry J. Nalebuff. Gopal offers his own version of co-opetition in the Corals and interdependent eco-system of Australia where species co operate with each other to utilize natural resources in the best way possiblep134-p135. So next time you see two competitors embracing instead of battering each other you know that they have taken a trip to Australian coral reefs!
Maybe a lot of people would like to pick this book for such anecdotes. The publishers also realized this fact and in the promos they were running the story of crocodiles from Thailand who lost their drive when transplanted in china. Teaching through stories and anecdotes is an old tradition. Gopal draws a parallel in Nature and management. How do species stay alert, stay fit, co operates and share? If we observe carefully then we can learn many useful lessons for our own life.
One nice aspect of this book is author's brutal honesty. Today we live in a world of superhero managers and superman CEOs. There is a big Halo effect in our society right now. The media would always like to portray CEOs as having super human strength and skills and put them on an altar. Because only such stories sell, who wants to listen to the story of a CEO who doubts his decisions? That would be very human indeed, much like us. So in people's perceptions such super heroes live in the world of immortals and always take the right decisions. This book does a lot to shatter such myths.
The author is nice enough to share his doubts and dilemmas on job and the anguish they bring. He is quick to point out that there are many situations where there is no right answer. When on your one answer your life may hinge and you have no way of knowing whether it is the right answer. The author relates his experience of launching detergents in Arabian marketsp7. Despite all the market research and prevalent trends he somehow felt that doing the opposite type of packaging is the right way to go. What is really nice is that he shares his doubts, that he was really apprehensive about discussing this idea and never tries to justify anything with the benefit of hindsight. Most of the other accounts I have read try to justify decisions in hindsight and they never explain the process that went into it. That way case of a bonsai manager is refreshing.
The author has the courage to come out and share his inadequacies and dilemmas of life. He emphasizes that learning is an on going process and he was cornered into situation when he did not know a definite answer even when he was in very senior positions. When he is relating his Arabia detergent experience he clearly states that he felt it in his gut but at the same time he himself was apprehensive of his decision. When he relates the experience of Dalda distributorp127, he clearly states his doubts as all of us would do. No super hero syndrome, no Big deflated ego, He accepts the limitations and works on them. That is probably the greatest lesson one can take from this book. Even people in higher positions have doubts and uncertainty but they back themselves that is the lesson. He is shifting the spotlight to trying and learning things rather than having one absolute truth.
Another lesson in honesty comes when he discusses the many bends a career can take. A lot of career development is serendipity. Though many people love to state that they arrived where they are as a series of calculated steps, in reality you constantly discover new directions and it is difficult to predict which way you would go.
The author articulates the need to motivate and challenge you. Challenges are nourishments of your careers. That is where his nature stories also come alive. Trap yourself in a status quo and you are like the pygmy crocodiles in an enclosure. He urges us not to complain about our situation but to challenge ourselves to change it. Challenges are what keep you fit.
The author is very clear on the importance of learning on the Job when he takes a jibe at the Indian management schools where two third of graduated are without work experience. Traditional education focuses on teaching, not learning. It incorrectly assumes that for every ounce of teaching there is an ounce of learning by those who are taught. Gopal emphasizes the concept of continuous education and that one never knows enough. The role of mentoring is well understood and explained. He emphasizes many times the role his seniors have played in shaping him. He talks about Michael Klein and the role his grand father played in mentoring himp103. He also talks about Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. It takes a lot to develop a relationship. He is frank to admit that careers develop and you can not even plan for all the unseen bends. He never tries to justify anything in hind sight. No preaching Mode, He keeps it nice and simple. I believe that the author manages to convey the importance of
*Always learn and seek challenges
*Never be complacent with status quo
*Everyone learns, No one is born with all the right decisions in head
*Be humane and develop skills to deal with people
*Importance of stories and anecdotes in teaching
On the flip side, I find a lack of central Theme. You do not have to talk about 30 different things to prove your point rather you have to talk about your point in 30 different settings. Nicholas Taleb wrote a whole book about importance of outliers. Tipping point is another example that comes to mind. Here we started off with the promise of Nature and Intuition (remember the two big circles) but in the end I feel this book is about management lessons coming from a seasoned manager. Gopal could not resist the urge to preach about all facets of management. In my opinion he should have let go of many topics that were not relevant to the central theme of the book.
All in all he tries to discuss all and everything there is to discuss about like in a typical management handbook
- Trust your instincts; you know more than you know
- Value of Continuous Education
- Role of Mentoring
- Finding challenges and embracing them
- Value of knowledge sharing
- Limitations of Analytical skills
- Sufferings of environment
- Pains of change (Butterfly)
- Wisdom of crowds
- Co opetition
- Art of Story Telling
He could have used Anecdotes from nature to Illustrate management principles or he could have packaged it as what is not taught in text books or what the conventional teaching lacks. Coming from such a seasoned manager, it would have been an endorsement of using Intuition, gut feelings and a blow to proponents of analytical skills.
Sometimes he veers off tangent like telling us about the existence of BRIM in chapter 3. The chapter on BRIM should be deleted. In one short breath he is talking about Intuition and in the next breath he is trying to analyze where Intuition comes from!!
Chapter 11, March of penguins looks straight lifted from the wisdom of crowds. This should have made an interesting Nature's anecdotes book but alas it falls short of that! Examples from his management experience are a bit stale and staple. One should have expected more color from such an experienced person. Even the title of the book should have been an "A stunted manager" and not a "Bonsai Manager". A bonsai is a deliberate construction whereas a stunted crocodile is a natural product of confinement.
It would have been nice to stick to nature's Theme and relate stories from nature to a manager's world.
 Great read for all Managers in Corporate world August 27, 2008
Lucky :)! first one to post a review. I wonder people have missed out on a great book to read . A very good insight into the skills required for manager to keep growing and not be stunted by hinderances to his/her growth just like a Bonsai plant hence the name of the book. The author has rich industry experience and is able to articulate his thoughts very well. Interesting to read how he observes the phenomenon in nature and explains it as a learning mode for the managers . He emphasizes the need for developing intutive skills apart from honing the analytical skills and shows several ways in which it can be developed by managers or people in general.Most of the learnings are conveyed through short stories/ anecdotes which i found much more interesting and captivating than usual jargon on the subject as such.I found it to be an excellent read.
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