Uncle Tony's Management Tips & Jokes
A congenial reference text, Uncle Tony’s Management Tips & Jokes is replete with hilarious examples of learning from other people’s mistakes.
Wm. Allen’s anecdotal management guide Uncle Tony’s Management Tips & Jokes is a compilation of hard-won business advice designed to encourage other people to find success.
Tony, who never talked about work except to say that “people were always asking him to fix this or that,” was a manager who knew how to build, and benefit from, interpersonal relationships. He shared advice, stories, and jokes with his nephew; here, they are gathered into a congenial reference text, replete with hilarious examples of learning from other people’s mistakes.
The book’s ninety-nine topics are arranged alphabetically for easy navigation, ranging from “Action” to “Volunteer.” They are each handled in short order and are prefaced by epigraphs from historical figures, including Maya Angelou and Carl Jung. A poem by Max Ehrmann appears at the book’s end, though it is out of place in a text that is rooted in Tony’s everyman appeal.
Throughout, the subjects are reached by way of related anecdotes. On the topic of “Action,” for example, Tony asks how many frogs would be left if there were five frogs on a log and one decided to jump off. The answer is that deciding to act isn’t the same as doing: there are still five frogs on the log. This example, in turn, reinforces advice to act and continue to pursue one’s goals.
Their language casual and accessible, the chapters are reliant both on humor and brevity. Their stories are resolved with levity, either poking fun at a person who made a mistake or leaning into one-liners. Still, in the end, the book functions more as a tribute to the man at its center than it does as a generally applicable guide. Indeed, this text celebrates Tony’s life with vigor, making note with pride of biographical details such as that Tony didn’t pursue higher education; instead, it says, he maintained a consistent drive to do his best and help those around him succeed. His approach to business was focused on people rather than numbers, and he was respected as manager. As such, he is upheld as a shining of example of bringing joy to himself, his employees, and his family via his affable approach to leadership.
Uncle Tony’s Management Tips & Jokes collects a lifetime of wisecracks and anecdotes into an easygoing resource for business leaders who hope to inspire those around them.
Reviewed by
John M. Murray
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
