Employment law attorney Michael Maslanka reviews the book Death To All Sacred Cows: How Successful Business People Put the Old Rules Out to Pasture by Bill Schwab. Review highlights book theory about how email does not always save and tips for effective use of email.
I just finished reading a really funny book, Death to All Sacred Cows: How Successful Business People Put the Old Rules Out to Pasture
In the old face-to-face world, we spoke our minds, had our differences, and resolved the dispute. In the brave new e-world, we just keep responding to endless e-mail chains that date back to the very first e-mail, which was probably about how useless e-mailing is.
They offer some really good ideas to stop the e-mail carnage:
• E-mail should be used to deliver news, not opinions.
• E-mail works when you use it to tell several people the same thing.
• Get out a stopwatch. If it takes longer than 20 seconds to read the e-mail, don’t send it. It’s inefficient.
• Don’t say something in an e-mail you wouldn’t say in person.
• Don’t send e-mails in all capital letters. It’s as if someone is shouting at you.
I’ll tell you, e-mails breed a-holes like swamps breed mosquitoes. (If you want my article on preventing workplace abuse, drop me an e-mail at mmaslanka@fordharrison.com.)
Here’s my favorite of their sacred cows because it’s something I passionately believe in: The sacred cow of “everyone deserves a second chance” needs to be sent toward the white light to the afterlife. Here’s what the authors have to say on the subject:
Too many businesses operate from a position of weakness and appeasement. When a new hire makes a mistake, he or she is given another shot. Fine. But frequently that new employee keeps getting shot after shot, no matter how many times the same mistake occurs. No one likes to fire people . . . . And certainly no one likes to get fired. But sometimes identifying a wrong fit at the workplace and dealing with it right away is in the best interests of everyone involved.
I couldn’t agree more. I truly believe that the most unethical thing a manager can do is to keep someone in a job for which he’s not suited. Every day an employee is in a job that he’s ill-suited for and cannot make a contribution to is one less day he could be in a job congruent with his skills to which he could make a contribution.
When managers are fearful about dealing with those situations, it’s because they’re making it about their own needs (it’s easier to let someone skate than to confront him) rather than the company’s needs. As long as corporate America is signing your paycheck, the ethical thing to do is to be a manager and make it about the company and not yourself. I really like the book and recommend it highly. Also, it’s only 206 pages, which is short enough to read on a long plane flight or long enough to stretch out for a week on the beach.
Michael Maslanka is the managing partner of Ford & Harrison LLP’s Dallas, Texas, office. He has 20 years of experience in litigation and trial of employment law cases and has served as Adjunct Counsel to a Fortune 10 company where he provided multi-state counseling on employment matters. He has also served as a Field Attorney for the National Labor Relations Board.
Mike is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and was selected as a “Texas Super Lawyer” by Texas Monthly and Law & Politics Magazine in 2003. He was also selected as one of the best lawyers in Dallas by “D” Magazine in 2003. Mike has served as the Chief Author and Editor of the Texas Employment Law Letter since 1990. He also authors the “Work Matters” column for Texas Lawyer.