The Three Signs of a Miserable Job

By: Patrick Lencioni

Narrated by: Dan Woren

Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

In his sixth fable, best-selling author Patrick Lencioni takes on a topic that almost everyone can relate to: the causes of a miserable job.

Millions of workers, even those who have carefully chosen careers based on true passions and interests, dread going to work, suffering each day as they trudge to jobs that make them cynical, weary, and frustrated. It is a simple fact of business life that any job, from investment banker to dishwasher, can become miserable.

Through the story of a CEO turned pizzeria manager, Lencioni reveals the three elements that make work miserable: irrelevance, immeasurability, and anonymity. And he gives managers and their employees the keys to make any job more fulfilling.

As with all of Lencioni's books, this one is filled with actionable advice you can put into effect immediately. In addition to the fable, the book includes a detailed model examining the three signs of job misery and how they can be remedied. It covers the benefits of managing for job fulfillment within organizations, increased productivity, greater retention, and competitive advantage, and it offers examples of how managers can use the applications in the book to deal with specific jobs and situations.

©2007 Patrick Lencioni (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Insightful, simple look at all employee's needs

Patrick once again has written a very insightful and entertaining book regarding leadership. In this case, he concentrates on how management can change the culture, increase output and productivity, and improve employee commitment and retention. He identifies the important traits/needs of everyone, and provides some great tools and examples of how to utilize these in motivating and working with your employees. By applying these, it would appear that drastic improvements of employee morale can be attained. To think that it is just three factors: Irrelevance, Immeasurement and Anonymity, that destroy our framework for working effectively in our jobs is just brillant, but so simple. This book is an easy and must read for all that manage people.

25 of 25 people found this review helpful

Another gem

Would you listen to The Three Signs of a Miserable Job again? Why?

Yes - The fable format works for me, making the concepts memorable.

What other book might you compare The Three Signs of a Miserable Job to and why?

Anything else by Patrick Lencioni. Everything he writes has some gems. He simplifies complex issues and yet keeps focused on organizational health.

Any additional comments?

The three signs are anonymity, irrelevance and lack of measurement. In other words, to enjoy a job, we must feel a personal connection, know that our work has meaning and know how to measure it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great Book.

Great Book. Easy to follow and relate to everyday life and work situations. Highly recommend

taking this to all my bosses

i absolutely love the story of how this came to be. it's so simple and is a game changer for employees and employers!

Better than expected

Interesting approach. Uses good old fashion story telling to prove a point. Agree with the concepts and ready to try new things at work, and at home.

A book for all workers

This book lets you view your job from a wonderful perspective. It shows where you are and where you should go. The reader is fantastic. Seriously a must read for all workers.

Great book for anyone pursuing management

This was a great read and a great book. It presents great concepts in an easy to understand way and gives great examples to drive the point home. The narration is great as well and makes listening to the book very pleasant and easy to follow along. I highly recommend this book.

Every Leader Needs to Understand

The fable makes the philosophies easy to understand and the technical concepts are explained at the end.

Another hit from Lencioni. Inspiring & actionable

Nailed it. I've been in miserable jobs and with hindsight certainty can say Patrick got it right. As a fan of his other work, I'm not surprised by that. As someone who now helps others recover from or avoid job misery, this will be a valued resource moving forward. It should be required reading in college or high school.

Absolutely the best for anyone leading anything.

This is so real, it supersedes any other management techniques. Simply the best for anyone's leading anything.