Ask a Manager

Ask a Manager: How to Navigate Clueless Colleagues, Lunch-Stealing Bosses, and the Rest of Your Life at Work by Alison Green, 287 pages

Green is a workplace advice columnist. She has been answering questions for more than ten years through her blog. Her intent is to give the perspective of a manager. I didn't have a specific question I wanted answered. I like to see what perspectives advice columnists have and was curious about hers.

There are four chapters and they address conversations with different people. They are with your boss, your coworkers, when you're the boss and with your job interviewer. The questions range from the ordinary to the strange. A strange one that stood out to me was a situation where an employee was threatening to curse (as in magic) a coworker. A lot of them address issues that a lot of people feel awkward about bringing up. I am not sure that her advice will always work but almost all of it seems like a good way to approach the conversation. A lot of it is geared towards collaboration and finding solutions. Or tactfully addressing the situation without making assumptions.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for advice on work related issues. If you can't find a relevant question her approach may inspire a good way to address the issue or you can ask her through her blog. It can also serve as a primer for ways to approach any issues that come up in the future.        

What should I do?

What should I do?: Philosophers on the Good, the Bad, and the Puzzling edited by Alexander George and Elisa Mai, 212 pages

Askphilosophers.org is a website that allows people to ask for advice from philosophers. The questions are supposed to have some type of philosophical consideration. The book contains questions and answers pulled from the website.

The book is broken up into four sections that have subsections. It starts off with the Personal, continues with the Public, moves on to the Political and wraps up with the Nature of Morality. Each question is presented with a philosopher or philosophers answering. The answers present some philosophical ideas but are pretty short and get to the point relatively quickly.

There are a lot of good questions and accompanying answers. At the end I wasn't as impressed as I had hoped I would be. I think the problem was that the questions and answers are only one to three pages so I would immediately jump from one to the next. It would probably be better to read a limited amount each day and think about them. It might also be better for a teenager or young adult who hasn't considered all the subjects covered by the questions and answers.

Adulting

Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown    273 pages

Aimed at recent college graduates, this book is a humorous but helpful guide to navigating the world. Including tips on what to look for when renting an apartment, office politics, cleaning and more, this book "makes the scary, confusing "real world" approachable, manageable-and even conquerable."

I picked up this book after attending a program on library programming but also because I read something about the book (somewhere. I have no idea where I read about this book).  I wasn't sure what I'd find, advice-wise, but was surprised by how much practical advice is contained here.  While some of these things seemed really obvious to me, there were other pieces of advice that I might not have thought of.  It seems like forever ago when I had my first apartment in college, and had to figure out budgeting, bills, rental contracts, and more.  

This might be a good book to give college freshmen (or anyone, actually, who is about to set out on their own and be independent from their parental units).

The Forgetful Gentleman

The Forgetful Gentleman: Thirty Ways to Turn Good Intentions Into Action by Nathan Tan.     224 pages

I had found this little book on a cart waiting for evaluation (because the book has not circulated at all) and even though it's aimed at men, I thought it would make for an interesting read.   The summary on Goodreads says: "An illustrated reference guide instructs and informs readers on the subtle art of being a contemporary gentleman by incorporating both traditional and modern practices. This book offers action-oriented guidance on a range of subjects, including advice on managing social networks, choosing the right suit silhouette, fostering the art of conversation, hosting a successful party, mixing a signature cocktail, developing creativity and much more. "

The author divides down his advice into different chapters, and that's one of the quibbles I have with this book.  It's not that they are divided into chapters, but rather that I felt the chapters didn't flow well.  For example, the chapter on how to iron a dress shirt goes to a following chapter on mentoring. Perhaps it would be better to have the chapters on clothing, shoes, ties, etc. all follow each other in a logical progression.

I did find some of the advice to be helpful, especially the information on digital and business etiquette, table manners and a chapter titled "The Courage to Encourage."  However, I felt that the book was a bit much when it came to chapters on microbrews, "The Gentlemanly Escape," and how to "Start an Honorable Gentleman's Club,"   Whether it's tongue-in-cheek or not, though, there are some interesting things to glean from this book.