Everywhere I Look I See Management

Following are some management musings generated from books I've been reading:
I've been reading a book about managing innovation entitled The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson. One of Johansson's concepts is that great innovation is realized at the intersection- a place where ideas from different fields and cultures meet, collide and blend.
At the intersection of rock and classical music sat Mike Oldfield. His creation, Tubular Bells (in the movie, The Exorcist), wasn't a rock band playing classical music. Instead, Oldfield created a blend of rock /classical themes and instruments that resulted in a truly innovative musical piece.
To achieve this type of innovation Johansson suggests the following:
Highly varied experiences are critical.
Hire people that make you uncomfortable or that you don't need yet.
Work with a diverse group of people.
Be prepared to change your plans- they'll need adjusting.
Reward idea generation as opposed to the success or failure of those ideas.
Generate an explosion of ideas. The more ideas the greater possibility of good ones.
Some of this goes against the grain of most managers. We tend to hire people like ourselves, look only for people who have the experience necessary for the job, reward good performance and punish failure. Incremental innovation is possible but true breakthroughs remain elusive in this environment.
If you're seeking real innovation you may want to consider hiring someone from another discipline or someone from another culture. Then place an emphasis on idea generation. That's when the gems appear. For example, only about 35% of Mozart's work is played. That means he generated a lot of work to result in the few magical pieces known and loved throughout the world.
Another book I'm reading is First, Break All The Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. Following are the 12 questions they suggest asking to discover the strength of a workplace:
Do I know what's expected of me at work?
Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?
Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
At work, do my opinions seem to count?
Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
Do I have a best friend at work?
In the last six months has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
This last year, have I had opportunities to learn and grow?
Great questions to have your employees ask themselves. My question is do we have the confidence to have our employees answer these questions? And if we did, would they be too fearful of retaliation to answer honestly?
In the book, Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die, author Dr. John Izzo, interviewed hundreds of people who have achieved happiness to discover the secrets of happiness. The following characteristics of truly happy people emerged:
Be true to yourself
Become love
Give more than you receive
Live in the moment
Leave no regrets
I think there's a management philosophy in there somewhere, don't you?
Finally, how about the book The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann? In this short but interesting parable type book, the authors make a substantial case for five values the call the Five Laws of Stratospheric Success:
The Law of Value- How much value you give determines your true worth.
The Law of Compensation- How many people you serve and how well you serve them determines your income.
The Law of Influence- How abundantly you place other people's interests first determines your influence.
The Law of Authenticity- The most valuable gift you can give is yourself.
The Law of Receptivity- Stay open to receiving.
I believe these books provide managers with views expressed in fresh ways. Namely, that to be a good manager is to be true to yourself, be productive, stay open to others (and to new writings!), be a giver, listen empathetically and receive with grace. That's not only a good practice for management but it's a good one for life.