The 9 warning signs of bad (project) management

by  Preben Ormen

Some time ago, I started reading Henry Mintzberg’s book Managing (Berrett Kohler, San Francisco, CA, 2009). It was laid aside due to various distractions. In the meantime, I also picked up his predecessor opus called Managers not MBAs (Berrett Kohler, San Francisco, CA, 2004), which contains a lot of the foundational material developed further in Managing.
I am interested in Mintzberg’s work because he has examined the nature and essence of management – or managing, as he likes to call it. His opinions are controversial and not very complementary to either the general business press, most educational institutions that teach management in general and those that teach MBA programs in particular.
Mintzberg elaborates on the many faults of MBA programs and the graduates. At one point in the book he describes what he perceives as the general attitude of MBA graduates towards management. Or as he calls it “the impression left by MBA education”.

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