Letting Go

Tony Miller & Gordon Hall

It is now commonplace for employees to feel frustrated at work –  ground down by systems that are dominated by rules, protocols,  guidelines, targets and inspections. Tony Miller and Gordon Hall explore  the origins of ‘command and control’ management as well as the tyranny  of modern day ‘performance management’. They argue convincingly that  effective leaders and managers should ‘let go’ of their ideas on  controlling staff and instead nurture intrinsic motivation. The book  also shows that good managers need to develop management systems which  actively support the human spirit, enabling creativity and allowing  staff to perform their jobs properly.

The ideas in this book could breathe new life into struggling  organisations and are a breath of fresh air for thinking about the world  of work.

Tony Miller is an electrical engineer. He worked in both  industry, in the UK and abroad, and in academia. He retired recently  from the School of Engineering at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. As  well as engineering subjects, he lectured at postgraduate level on the  application of the philosophy of W. Edwards Deming to safety management  and the science of management.

Gordon Hall is the CEO of the Deming Learning Network in  Aberdeen. He is particularly interested in identifying the theoretical  assumptions underpinning current management practice, and also how we  cooperate within organisations and across society as a whole. He  initiated a group known as the Unreasonable Learners, whose basic aim is  to seek cooperation amongst the many forward thinkers across Scotland.

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