Monday, May 22, 2006

Review: BAIT AND SWITCH

Here's my reivew of Barbara Ehrenreich's new book, BAIT AND SWITCH.

I am a HUGE fan of Ms. Ehrenreich, being very impressed with the research and work that she put into “Nickled and Dimed”. Ms. Ehrenreich has the courage to discuss political issues – all without the nonsense of the media circus clowns from either the right or the left. I very much looked forward to reading Bait and Switch, her newest work. After reading it, I wanted to give it 5 Stars, but simply couldn’t for the reasons described below.

CONS

* LESS SUBSTANCE - I found this book to be far thinner than NICKEL AND DIMED. A quick read, I read through BAIT in a day and was disappointed that it didn’t have the depth of research or analysis that NICKEL did. The overall impression that I had was that BAIT was rushed to press before it was fully completed. I agree fully with Maureen Killoran (below), in saying that I was disappointed that Ms. Ehrenreich seemed to save her analysis for the all-together-too-brief final chapter, and expected more than an “ain’t it awful” from a social critic of her caliber.

* CRITERIA – I can understand the PR angle (in keeping with the author’s background), but I was puzzled by the $50,000…why this amount? In 2005, the US Dept. of Labor reported that the average salary in the U.S. was $39,795…so why $50,000? (I’ll readily admit that the author’s experience in not getting ANY job offers certainly makes this a somewhat moot point…)

* COACHING - I also agree with Ms. Killoran’s comments on coaching. I’m an executive coach, and disappointed that Ms. Erhernreich chose to take cheap shots at the coaching industry on the basis of her work with two clearly untrained coaches. Furthermore (as a previous reviewer also pointed out), if Ms. Erhernreich was so clear that the two coaches she chose were charlatans, then why did she continue working with them (and paying them), and writing about them? There are incompetent people in every field. Writing about these coaches subjects the reader to unnecessary (and irrelevant) data. Unlike Ms. Killoran however, I am not a fan of the Coaching Associations that have sprung up to safeguard this new profession -- a 15 week teleseminar training program does not a coach make. (Sadly, I’ve met far too many coaches like Kimberly.) As in all things, caveat emptor. If you seek a coach, do your homework and get recommendations from friends and colleagues.

* MBTI - Furthermore, Ms. E. gave a biased account of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The MBTI has been around for over 50 years and has been researched in over 100 studies. Ms. E. describes studies that show the MBTI to be lacking in validity, but she fails to cite these studies. Furthermore, later in the book, Ms. E describes her (Full Disclosure: I do not administer the MBTI in either my coaching or clinical practice, nor have I ever made a dime off the MBTI. I simply find the personality analysis that the MBTI provides to be a helpful tool, both personally and professionally.)

Ms. E.’s point about the concerns around personality testing for job applicants were valid, but I would have preferred a more finer distinction between the personality instruments (which were researched for clinical purposes and, at least in the MBTI’s case, appear to have some validity) and the use of personality instruments as HR hiring tools (for which most, if not all, of these tests were never designed or intended). A big difference here.

* Editing/Language Issues – BAIT needed another once-over by the editor (another data point in support of the argument that BAIT was rushed to press). The typos and poor sentence construction seemed to be beyond industry standards. While my friends would hardly describe me as a prude, I found several instances of unnecessarily vulgar language (i.e., “a cold douche” – why not simply “cold shower” or other metaphor?)

* WHAT’S IN A NAME? Like other readers, I’m not clear on the “Bait and Switch” title (other than it’s similarity to NICKEL AND DIMED”). I needed a clear bridge to connect the book to the title.


PRO’s


“INSIDIOUSLY MANIPULATIVE CULTURE” - The above criticisms aside, I am greatly indebted to Ms. E. for the work she put into this book. Her experiences confirm my own as an executive coach and clinical counselor. I have worked with many clients who have fallen victim to this “manipulative culture” that has grown up around downsized executives and preys on their fears about finding a job.

Even more interesting, I have observed this “manipulative culture” being played out WITHIN the coaching field itself. As the field of coaching is a truly rare bird that grew directly out of the field (and not from some academic setting), the entrepreneurial spirit espoused in coaching often becomes twisted into an insidious spirit that preys upon people new to the coaching field. A quite disturbing trend that, while targeted toward a different audience (new coaches), plays out systematically very similarly to what Ms. E. describes.

SYSTEMIC ISSUES -
I’m grateful for the author in sketching out the larger systemic issues at play here. The shame of being laid off or downsized is so great that people often blame themselves (in a simple extension of the victim blaming that Ms. E. identifies so well) to the extent of missing the larger systemic issues. I’m strongly considering offering BAIT to my clients for reading.

I have 6 siblings, ages 30 – 42, all but one who have a least a bachelor’s from college, and none of us have been as economically successful as our parent’s generation. Some of my siblings and I have had repeated conversations around this phenomena, and BAIT goes a long way toward sketching out some of the dynamics.

NETWORKING – I’m becoming increasingly convinced that networking (at least as it is currently practiced) is nonsense, and BAIT offers solid data for this conviction.


All in all, I found BAIT AND SWITCH to hold the promise of addressing some crucial questions about the middle class white culture. The author did address some of these issues, although nowhere near the depth of analysis that she used for her previous book NICKEL AND DIMED. While I applaud Mr. E. for bringing these important issue to the table, I strongly encourage her to bring more of her intellectual power to bear on whatever subject she tackles next.


BOTTOM LINE:'Bait and Switch' is an important book for leaders to read

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