John M. Ivancevich - Managing Einsteins: Leading High-Tech Workers in the Digital Age

This is a copyrighted work and The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (McGraw-Hill) and its licensors reserve all rights in and to the work. Use of this work is subject to these terms. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976 and the right to store and retrieve one copy of the work, you may not decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer, reproduce, modify, create derivative works based upon, transmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish or sublicense the work or any part of it without McGraw Hills prior consent. You may use the work for your own noncommercial and personal use; any other use of the work is strictly prohibited. Your right to use the work may be terminated if you fail to com ply with these terms.

THE WORK IS PROVIDED AS IS. McGRAW-HILL AND ITS LICENSORS MAKE NO GUAR ANTEES OR WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, ADEQUACY OR COMPLETENESS OF OR RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED FROM USING THE WORK, INCLUDING ANY INFORMA TION THAT CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE WORK VIA HYPERLINK OR OTHERWISE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. McGraw-Hill and its licensors do not warrant or guarantee that the func tions contained in the work will meet your requirements or that its operation will be uninterrupted or error free. Neither McGraw-Hill nor its licensors shall be liable to you or anyone else for any inaccu racy, error or omission, regardless of cause, in the work or for any damages resulting therefrom. McGraw-Hill has no responsibility for the content of any information accessed through the work. Under no circumstances shall McGraw-Hill and/or its licensors be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, punitive, consequential or similar damages that result from the use of or inability to use the work, even if any of them has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of lia bility shall apply to any claim or cause whatsoever whether such claim or cause arises in contract, tort or otherwise.

DOI: 10.1036/0071395458

The economy and the world of work are changing. For managers these changes are exciting, challenging, stressful, and occasionally so sudden that catching up to them is almost impossible. One of the obvious changes is the race to attract, hire, motivate, and re tain talented workers who can keep the technology working on time without causing delays, breakdowns, and crashes. This book is about these geniuses who can make computers hum and who can, through a form of mystical magic, help the not-so-gifted, less technologically savvy, use the technology in a somewhat proficient way. We call these supersmart wizards and technology lifelines Ein steins . Yes, Einsteins named in honor of historys most famous ge nius, Albert Einstein.

Some refer to Albert Einstein as the greatest scientific genius of the twentieth century. He is recognized throughout the world as being super intelligent, revolutionary, and an outspoken critic of command and control governments, military regimes, and bureau cracies. The Einsteins of today, like their namesake, are also super intelligent, possess revolutionary ideas, and dislike authority or power exerted over them by bureaucratic, only by-the-rules non-Einstein managers and organizational rules, policies, and rituals.

The need for Einsteins to lead the way in understanding and ap plying technology is reshaping industries, economies, and educa tional systems. The digital revolution has accelerated the speed with which information is processed, disseminated, and used. The abil ity to shape, direct, and redirect information rests with Einsteins. Although the book is about these Einsteins, it is written for indi viduals who have a responsibility to manage , lead , and facilitate the super intelligent, talented individuals and teams to accomplish organizational missions, goals, and programs.

vi i

Copyright 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use.