Joy at Work

I finished "Joy at Work" by Dennis W. Bakke recently. In it, he talks about how he built up his utility company by empowering employees and trying to create a "fun" workspace. His main definition of fun was one in which people would be able to be creative, and contribute in a meaningful way. He also stated that by cutting the staff at new plants in half, he was able to double productivity. It sounds like good advice for governments.

However, I don't really recommend the book. It seems like he is trying to do the same thing as Covey, but with a vastly inferior style. He has some good points and interesting stories, but it just doesn't seem to connect for me. Also, this book serves a mission that is rather common to CEO's that get booted: justifying their actions. He never seems to connect the fiscally prudent management strategy of eliminating debt with his removal. In the book he emphasized his Evangelical beliefs, so perhaps he should talk with Dave Ramsey, another public figure who emphasizes his Evangelical beliefs, about staying out of debt. It was debt that killed AES when the Enron fraud was discovered, and Bakke never seems to really admit it or believe it. It is all fun and games until you have to pay the piper - something governments should remember.

On other book notes, a lady I set next to on an airplane was reading "The Forgotten Man," which I reviewed a while ago. She was very excited about it as well. We talked about how the conditions leading to the great depression mirror the current economic and political climate. Here are another couple of blog articles discussing the book for you enjoyment, by Peter Galuszka and Pat Woodward. Longer discussions include an interview with author Amity Shales in Reason maganize from January, 2008, and a review from the Libertarian von Mises institute by C. J. Maloney.

I spent the flight reading "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. I have now finished it, and I will discuss it in a later post.