THE ENJOYMENT OF MANAGEMENT.

By Frederick C. Dyer T'48 and JohnM. Dyer. Homewood (Ill.): Dow JonesIrwin, Inc., 1971. 187 pp. with illustrations and charts. $7.95.

In a volume concentrating on modern management one is surprised to find allusions to the Persian poet Firdausi (940-1020), Saint Francis as Assisi, W.C. Fields, Bishop Sheen, Rumpelstiltskin, Beerbohm Tree, Robert Penn Warren, Nelson Algren, John Stuart Mill, John Keats, G. K. Chesterton, and Shakespeare. In such a book devoted to the dollar and commercial success, only 187 pages shortened by cartoons and graphs, what place have these poets, saints, literary critics, novelists, and, to uncoin a phrase, The Bard of Avon? One would rather expect to find Machiavelli, and, sure enough, there he is, more amused than ill at ease among so many dreamers and idealists.

No highbrow, Frederick Dyer does not seek to gloss over hard-boiled realities with references to hyacinths (Firdausi), a dwarf and flax in German folklore (Rumpelstiltskin), the aesthetics of Italian ornithology (Saint Francis), green carnations and the Gay Nineties (Beerbohm Tree), nightingales and Greek vases (John Keats), the beauty of Roman Catholic ritual (Chesterton), or the pathos of melting flesh (Hamlet).

Praiseworthy is the Dyer freedom from jargon found often in writers obfuscating the complexities of modern business. As stylists, the Dyers are as uncomplicated as the chapter cartoons to which even busy executives tired at night can respond. Rumpelstiltskin becomes a theory of management, and Rumpel is the one man, usually unrecognized and unrewarded, who does all the work in an organizational unit. As marauders in literature and religion, the Dyers purloin what can throw light on business success to be achieved even perhaps by Caspar Milquetoasts absorbing Dyer strategy. Samples: (1) "Bishop Sheen once said that lust was the besetting sin of young men; power the temptation of mature men; and greed that of old men." Then a point is made about a bank balance. (2) Quotation from Nelson Algren: "1. Never eat at a place called Mom's. 2. Never play cards with a man named Doc. 3. Never sleep with anyone who has more trouble than you have." (3) Elucidation: 1. Beward of slick advertising. 2. Don't play outside your league. 3. Avoid quicksands.

The book consists of 15 short chapters devoted to such make-or-break themes as motivation, leadership improvement, organization, the fight-the-report syndrome, committee morasses, executive health, and training for futures. Admirably organized, each chapter is simplified with a leading cartoon, short sentences, brief paragraphs, dramatic examples with sharpened truisms, and summaries with main points tacked down or hammered in.

Frederick Dyer has lectured widely and written a dozen books. Blueprint forExecutive Success, Executive Guide toSpeaking and Writing, and Executive'sGuide in Handling People may suggest his range and his enjoyment of management.