John’s Blog

Up the Organization, by Robert Townsend

A very quick business book that’ll be good to reread every now & then. Robert Townsend was the CEO of Avis for a long time, and was a particularly direct executive. Some of the stuff is a little outdated (like the bit about making sure you feed your board a big lunch & cocktails so they get sleepy), but lots of good things to remember in your day to day. Takes about 45 minutes to read every word.

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Michael Palmer 1 month ago 1 point
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Townsend also did an updated version of Up the Organization in the mid-1980's called Further Up the Organization. This version had thirty new chapters and brought Up the Organization into the 1980's. Some of that stuff is a little dated as well (the entries on Japanese management). Like the original book, it is good to reread every now and then and has lots of good things to remember in your day to day.

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Michael Palmer 1 month ago 1 point
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Also, the bit about feeding your board a big lunch and cocktails was in Further Up the Organization as well.

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