Great Mondays by Josh Levine
218 pages; $28.00
Published by McGraw Hill
www.mhprofessional.com
How important is workplace culture? Consider that the guru of 20 th century corporate management Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” When today’s workforce is educated, mobile, and looking for meaning—not just a paycheck—company culture is crucial.
Josh Levine’s new book, Great Mondays is a guide to creating a workplace where people actually want to come to work on Monday. Recognizing that culture is a core business capability, as well as a competitive advantage, Levine lays out a six-part framework for culture-building. Separate chapters explain how to create a sense of purpose, a set of values and a list of preferred behaviors that can help bring a culture to life. The next three chapters show how to sustain that culture, through recognition, rituals, and cues that bind the “what” of work to the “why.”
Great Mondays goes beyond a description of the components that make a culture tick to put in reader’s hands a tool kit. This is a book designed to be used. Each chapter includes hands-on exercises, quick-starts, worksheets, and checklists that connect the dots from theory to practice. For HR execs, brand strategists and designers who wrestle with these issues every day, Great Mondays is invaluable. The chapter on defining an organization’s purpose is worth the price of the book alone.
Best of all, Levine’s system is self-reinforcing. Put the pieces in place, and watch as the right people are drawn in, rewarded, and reinforced as they build an organization designed to reach its purpose.
Written by: Sam McMillan, Wordstrong