About
I've worked for several organizations including IBM, Cisco Systems and Britain's Department for International Development (DfID). DfID was called the Overseas Development Administration (ODA), and was in those days the aid wing of the British Foreign Office. I've also co-founded internet startups.
Education-wise, I have an MBA from Cass Business School (London), an MA in International Journalism from City University (London), and a BSc in Physics, Maths and Electronics from St Joseph’s College, Bangalore. I also have an honours certificate in Psychology from St Joseph's.
Story Behind The Book
Hello there. My name is Chetan Dhruve and I'm the author of the book Why Your Boss is Programmed to be a Dictator. Thanks for reading this book sample.
Here's the backstory.
I had studied Systems Thinking as part of my MBA, and we had done a case study on a low-cost airline called People Express. The airline was extremely successful when it first launched, but folded later.<br />
As part of the study, we were given a software tool that simulated the case. The aim was to prevent the airline from going bust. We tried several things - when demand spiked, we would buy new airplanes. If service levels dropped, we would hire more staff. But whatever we did, something else would go wrong, leading to the collapse of the airline.<br />
The thing was, we were looking at each problem in isolation - analytically. Instead, we should have looked at the problem wholistically, that is, using Systems Thinking. It sounds easy and obvious, but it is actually a profound, fundamental shift in thinking.<br />
The lesson was this: systems matter. Good people in bad systems produce bad results.
Reviews
<p>"Read this" - The Guardian (London)<br /><br />
"This book is a breakthrough" - Sally Bibb, former director, the Economist (London)<br />
</p>
<p><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS';"><em>"Why Your Boss is Programmed to be a Dictator</em> takes an extra step back from similar books that look at the problems of bad bosses, looking at the bigger picture and giving thoughtful, articulate insight into the root causes of why such negative working environments and behaviours exist.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS';">The explanations as to why we have such a wealth of bad bosses become almost shockingly obvious once approached from the angle of systems thinking.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS';"><em>Why Your Boss is Programmed to be a Dictator</em> reveals innovative solutions that have had little mention in the current business books on offer."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS';">- <a href="http://www.management-issues.com/2007/6/22/display_book/why-your-boss-is-programmed-to-be-a-dictator.asp">Management Issues </a></span></p>