Posted May 2, 2008 to Moving Forward | Section Home | Print

"Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?" Ask Religion and Management Faculty Authors

What do you get when you pair a management professor with a religion professor? At Miami University, you get a workplace advice book.

Charles Watson, professor of management, and Thomas Idinopulos, professor of religion, met in the 70s "in what was then known as the faculty lounge," said Watson. "Members of the faculty would gather every morning and enjoy lively conversations. Tom liked to engage the b-school faculty - particularly those who taught economics - in mind-bending conversations."

The two discussed possibilities of working together but nothing gelled until an editor suggested they get down "out of our ivory towers" recalls Watson, and suggested a title "Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?"

The resulting "Are You Your Own Worst Enemy? 9 Inner Strengths You Need to Break Self-Defeating Tendencies at Work" was released by Praeger Publishers.

The book suggests that the way to move ahead in the workplace is to use human capacities to the fullest: be more responsible, insightful, creative, self-disciplined and honest while avoiding self-defeating tendencies.

Chapters address topics like "make the most of what you are," "master the art of self-discipline" and "be of service to others."

Watson and Idinopulos based their advice on workplace interviews conducted in more than a year of field research. The book is filled with practical illustrations of how top-notch people make themselves more productive, more valuable and more fully satisfied with what they do.

Watson and Idinopulos have published widely in their fields and find the Worst Enemy project satisfying. Watson even spotted a copy on the shelves of Waterston's Books in downtown London over winter break.