While most managers are primarily concerned with being able to make decisions quickly, manage meetings efficiently and drive innovation, there is often little time for reflection in a business world where opinions must be formed and decisions taken on the hoof. It often seems counterintuitive to stop the clock and take time to think things through. Philosophy, on the other hand, addresses the basic questions of our existence, our identity, our role in the world and the models for living that might inspire our actions. By understanding philosophy, it becomes more possible to provide meaning to many of our management practices and to business at large, while enhancing self-satisfaction and happiness at work.
This latest book from Professor Santiago Iniguez presents a collection of management ideas inspired by renowned philosophers. It provides a framework, as well of a series of business situations, for analyzing decisions from the perspective of values and principles. With insights on topics such as, how to gain respect at work, how to cultivate an optimistic outlook and how to shrug off failure, it offers timeless advice for managers that can be applied for their personal and professional development.
Offering a unique perspective and valuable insights on what leadership is, and the relevance of values and principles to becoming a successful, recognized manager, this book presents a thoughtful guide to anyone who wants to install meaning into their management practices and their lives.
Author(s): Santiago Iñiguez
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 200
Acknowledgments
Guide to This Book
Contents
1: Part I: Wisdom—Why Should We Practice Philosophy?
1.1 What Does Philosophy Have to Tell Us About Business?
1.2 Why Managers Should Develop the Habit of Examining Their Actions
1.3 Philosophy and Common Sense: Lessons from a Seventeenth-Century Cleric
1.4 Does Meritocracy Apply to Business?
1.5 Do We Deserve Our Talent? Not According to John Rawls
1.6 The Matthew Effect: Michael Sandel on Merit
1.7 Inculcating Knowledge in the Young: John Locke’s Golden Rules of Children’s Education
2: Part 2: Leadership—Who Do I Want to Be?
2.1 Beware of the Charismatic Candidate
2.2 Why Humility Is a Sign of Strength
2.3 Where Would Business Be Without Its Supporting Actors?
2.4 Why Are Geniuses Often Unreasonable? The Case of J.S. Bach
2.5 True Leaders Only Win the Argument When They’re Right
2.6 Let’s Be Honest, Success Is Usually the Exception
2.7 Why It’s Natural to Sometimes Feel Like an Imposter
2.8 What’s in a Name: Do You Want to Be Remembered or Forgotten?
3: Part 3: Insight—What Can I know?
3.1 Why the Days of Magical Realism Are Far from Over
3.2 What David Hume Can Tell Us About Cause and Effect in Business
3.3 Just How Rational Are We?
3.4 How to Keep Your Head in the Fog of War
3.5 You May Not Know It, But You’re Probably Guilty of the Naturalistic Fallacy
3.6 Why Not All Prophecies Need to Be Fulfilled
3.7 What Do Plato and Steve Jobs Have in Common?
3.8 Who Wants to Live in a Goldfish Bowl?
4: Part 4: Vision—What Does the Future Look Like?
4.1 What Would Thomas Hobbes Made of Mark Zuckerberg?
4.2 What Will Reality Mean When We’re All Living in the Metaverse?
4.3 Siri Would Certainly Have Given Wittgenstein Food for Thought
4.4 What Makes a Robot Tick?
4.5 Let’s Not Forget: Robots Are Neither Good Nor Bad; They’re Our Creation
4.6 The Remote Working Debate: It’s Not Just About Productivity and Convenience
4.7 Why Have So Few Philosophers Written About Work?
4.8 Let’s Remember That Education Is Not Just About Transferring Knowledge, It’s a Journey
5: Part 5: Honesty—How Should I Behave?
5.1 What Makes the Best Strategic Mindset: Business First, or Ethics Above All Else?
5.2 Kant and Appiah, Two Routes to Cosmopolitanism
5.3 Speaking Truth to Power: The Pros and Cons
5.4 Why Keeping One’s Council Is Often the Best Course of Action
5.5 Pay Credit Where Credit Is Due and You’ll Be Seen as a Better Leader
5.6 What Schopenhauer Can Teach Us About Respect
5.7 Where to Draw the Line on Lying?
5.8 Why Teaching the Humanities Is the Best Way to Improve Management Studies
6: Part 6: Optimism—Is Happiness Attainable?
6.1 If Life Is a Comedy, Why Not Laugh More?
6.2 Aristotle, a Man Who Understood Happiness
6.3 Why It’s Best to Accentuate the Positive, Within Reason
6.4 Solitude, Plus Contemplation, Equals Happiness
6.5 Will We Ever Really Understand Humor?
6.6 Why We Need to Learn to Laugh in the Workplace
6.7 Finding the Strength to Go On: Resilience Explained
Index
