Primal Management: Unraveling the Secrets of Human Nature to Drive High Performance

by Paul Herr and Paul Herr

As human beings, we are fascinated by what makes us tick. We know that nature gave us certain biological appetites to ensure our survival, among those the need for water, food, sex, and love, but... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 081441396X
• ISBN13: 9780814413968
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: AMACOM/American Management Association
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A Revolutionary approach to ol' good management

Paul Herr delivers a fresh view of an old and overanalyzed subject. Management and the way organizations are run across the world has been subject of study for decades. For the last three decades the study of management has been filled with overworked concepts such as teambuilding, leadership, employee moral, motivation and more, and as managers try to apply this concepts, few really understand where they come from and how to make them transcend in the work place and in the company's long-term results. Paul shades a huge beam of light on the subject making an impressive and surprising move: Putting emotions at the core of people's performance in the workplace. His book is a well-structured and beautiful written masterpiece. Since Paul's approach is so defying to the traditional view of management, I expect few people to fully understand so many concepts in a brand new perspective, but this work will be slowly understood and will contribute to a revolutionary change in the ways corporations work and relate to their employees and even customers.

Must Read for Executives and Middle Managers

I've read hundreds of authors attempting to explain Human Performance. Paul Herr hit the nail on the head. Primal Management by Paul Herr, presents secrets of unleashing Human potential and having fun in doing so. What really motivates people capital, anywhere resides on the natural wiring Nature has programmed in the human brain. Herr is elocuent and clear for a layperson to understand. I am engaging my organization in the use of the horsepower metric, excellent tool at a very moderate price. Readers won't be dissapointed. Carlos

Very practical

This is a practical and logical approch and cimple way to gauge large scale change management activity. The argument for emotional reaction to an organization's culture and connecting to performance is very solid.

Help for Everbody in Business

Since most people don't really like their jobs or their bosses, and their bosses don't really like them, a book like this one is a welcome relief. Finally, there is a way for businesses to get back on track, and all it involves is using a little common sense. Simply create a work environment that is an enjoyable one for employees. This gets them engaged in the company's process of trying to make a decent profit, and now since they enjoy work, employees are doing their jobs well. Sometimes, the simplest remedies are the most effective solutions to the problem. This almost sounds too good to be true, but Paul Herr's secret to business success is based on 30 years of research, unveiling five "social appetitites" that every employee has ingrained in their soul. All that needs to happen now is for every manager in every company in the world read this book and implement its action plan. That's the tricky part, so I suppose we'll have to settle for a handful at a time. Let's hope the handfuls keep getting bigger as time moves on. The price for noncompliance is very steep, and the world's economic crisis needs immediate attention.

How Corporate America Can Fix Their Mess (Without a Stimulis Package)!

I have read hundreds of books related to management, but this is the best one I've ever read. Rarely do I write reviews, and rarely do I use exclamation points (as I did in the review title!), but after reading "Primal Management", by Paul Herr, I wanted to make sure I got your attention. For the first time ever, the secrets to what really motivates employees in any company, anywhere in the world, are revealed. What? Sure, there have been many, many books, chapters of books, articles on the subject of "employee motivation" written; and if you're in business, the subject has undoubtedly come up a few hundred times in various meetings, to the point of "motivating" the meeting participants to doze off, wander off for another cup of coffee, or remain seated with that glazed look on their blank faces, pretending to be listening. Paul Herr finally gets it right, because he had the audacity to "prove it" after three decades of research. Corporate America should be glad he was so persistent, because his findings will revolutionize the way Corporate America will be managing its employees, which so far, has been lousy. But we already knew that. The beauty of Herr's findings, is its simplicity (yet why did it take us so long to figure it out?). Just like humans need food, clothing, shelter, and the desire to procreate (you know), they have an equally predictable "social appetite" which makes up the five components of employee motivation, which I'm going to quote, verbatim from a nice chart you'll find on page 27 of his book: 1) Cooperation (warm family feel) 2) Competency (self-esteem) 3) Skill deployment (elation experienced with a win) 4) Innovation (curiosity and the eureka pleasure) 5) Self-Protection (feelings of security) These days, if you're the CEO of a company which has successfully avoided laying off any of its employees, chances are, you're already using the model, but didn't even know it. Congratulations for using simple common sense. "Common semse" still lives in certain segements of society, and that's worth an exclamation point! The fact of the matter (according to the Gallup Organization), only 31% of employees truly care about their work, meaning the other 69% don't care. So they prove it by doing a lousy job in whatever capicity of their organization they're screwing up. This leads to the obvious conclusion: The reason Corporate America is failing and is begging the government for "bail-out money", is they stink at managing their employees! They thought they had to act like a "corporate hierarchy" in order to rule their empire, but that approach is antiquated and should suffer the same fate as the dinosaur---become extinct. The new and improved Corporate America, by reading this book, and implementing its simple strategy, will have motivated, happy, and productive employees generating a great deal more profit for Corporate America. The Stimulis Package would never have been an issue, which in turn means that huge budg