QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

After reading this book, and then going on Amazon and seeing the ridiculous amount of prise this book has received has forced me to review "What I can do?" to stop people from wasting money on this book.

Please - I plead with all of you, individual and corporation alike spend your cash on higher return investments.

The entirety of its message begins and ends with my short quotation, and is simply a short collection of "stories" that the author believes to be inspiring. They are not. In many cases, what is suggested as "personal accountability" is entirely unfeasible in a business setting.

The very first "story" about the author dropping into an extremely busy restaurant, being disappointed that there was no Pepsi and his server, who being extremely himself, utilised "Personal Accountability" -- by sending his manager outside the store (at an incredibly busy time, I remind you) to purchase this one single customer a Pepsi. Great story. Managers everywhere, heed this, this story tells your staff that they can tell you to go do something for them if they feel that they are too busy.

Satire aside, the premise is good, which is the problem. A book is not simply about a premise. No one praises a movie for its premise.

Imagine it: "Wow, that movie's premise was really good. It could've been a really good movie. The acting, the script and the rest of the plot really sucked.. the direction was bad.. the effects were terrible.. but really! The premise! It _could_ have been spectacular! We should buy the DVD."

I admitt now, in the spam of four lines, that I could not end my satire regarding this book. It really is simply fluff, and because of it, and its simplistic message, it will be embraced by upper management everywhere. Sadly, for any intelligent staff, it will have exactly the opposite effect -- they will truly feel their intelligence is being insulted by their own management.

Before giving anyone this book, realize that the majority of the time, if you are giving it to your staff, it suggests to them that you are "blaming" them, or otherwise telling them they need to adhere to it. What message does that say about manage and their own sense of "personal accountability?"

Again, please - I plead with all of you, individual and corporation alike spend your cash on higher return investments.

As a district mgr in a retail firm, I find it necessary to stay on top of my personal accountability game. It's easy - as John Miller writes in QBQ! - to slip into blame and victim thinking. We have big goals and quotas and we all want to win, but it's easy to ask the worng questions like "When will others carry their weight?" and "Why can't corporate support us more?" But then I work to create what Miller calls QBQs - questions that help me eliminate the blame and complaining. I begin to ask "What can I do?" and "How can I contribute?" and it's amazing how fast I am refocused. We are using the QBQ! training program with all our managers along with the book, and this whole concept of accountability is taking root. Our culture is changing and as we gear up for the end-of-year, it's apparent that people are asking QBQs and we will have better results. I know I will. Miller's book is a fast read, practical and humorous - I recommend it to any person or company wanting to really take personal accountability seriously.

Enjoyed it so much we used it as a topic in a two day management seminar in our company and it was well recived by all attending.