Narratives give practical strength to The Book of Hard Choices

By Daniel R. Gangler

The Book of Hard Choices: How to Make the Right Decisions at Work and Keep Your Self-Respect by James A. Autry and Peter Roy (Morgan Road Books, 2006) reads as a practical primer on the process of making good and lasting decisions rather than another how-to book on making decisions. Even though it's a book based on business decisions, the over riding theme is good management based on ethics, a must for the management of the church.

Its strength becomes evident within the first few pages. Each chapter is based on a true-life story told mostly by those in business of how managers, CEOs and other leaders took the more difficult higher road of integrity rather than the fast-fix road to an immediate short-term solution.

Autry and Roy define the five most important aspects of integrity as doing what you say you're going to do, putting other people's needs first, behaving courageously, ensuring the common good above all, and maintaining focus on respect, honesty, trust and fairness.

The book is divided into twenty-two chapters. Each chapter is based upon a principle written in the form of a question, such as: "Look the other way or face down the corruption?" The question is then answered by a true-life story told from the viewpoint of a manager usually in relationship to employees and other managers including presidents and CEOs.

With this literary device, the authors tell twenty-two stories interweaving their own comments. In these commentaries, why becomes more important than what. Doing is secondary to being and the personal integrity of the storyteller.

Two stories deal directly with stories about Christian belief. One is in chapter seven about the story of a woman senior pastor who "fires" an associate pastor. Another is in chapter twenty-one about the CEO of an amusement park in Missouri who made moral decisions about gambling and alcoholic beverages which cost his company millions of dollars in revenue.

Like the Gospel stories, there is a moral or practical dimension woven into each story that is worth repeating and applying to real life. Like real life, the higher road usually takes longer, is risky but often results in a major change in the climate or culture of the workplace.

I found chapters three and five particularly important as the North and South Indiana conferences of the church make decisions on being a new conference. In chapter three the authors write, "It is critical that leaders understand the long-term and short-term implications of their possible choices, and to understand that the implications are not just about money but also about vision and values."

In chapter five, they comment: "You've got to get decision-making as close to the customer as possible. That requires trust."

Another strength is a summary following each chapter - "Lessons to remember" - that give advice considered in the chapter just read.

The book is a fast three-to-four hour read, but one that would be more easily digested chapter-by-chapter to give time for reflection.

Like previous books in the Bishop's Bundle of Books, a blog is available to those who would like to comment or read comments by others about this book at www.bookofhardchoices.blogspot.com. This book is available from www.Cokesbury.com (both in hardback edition or as an e-book) and from www.Amazon.com (new, used and electronic).

Last updated on 25 Apr 2008

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