"Begin With the End in Mind" - Stephen Covey

I've never been a big fan of some of Covey's programs, but I do like his organizational tools for setting priorities, etc. and I like some of his effectiveness maxims. One example is when he talks about the circles where things affect you and the circles where you can do something and about how you should try to focus your business activities on where those two overlap.

True, there are some good points he makes, but in the real world of production, who has the time to implement his maxims?

Actually, I've seen a company able to do stuff like that (not Covey, but a similar system). They were absolutely ruthless and would have sacrificed a schoolbus of orphans in order to meet one of the production metrics. Not nice folks, but...

Overall, I agree with you. I hate all slogans and cute programs. I'd rather have my nose hairs removed with an acetylene torch than participate in a "team building" exercise. But, management idiots geniuses love those things.