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Author Bio
Click HERE for a PDF copy of Ingrid Martine’s bio


Author Photos
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Book Cover Photos
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Fact Sheet
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Press Release
Click HERE to view the March 2012 Press Release


Table of Contents
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Major Message Points
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Interview Questions
 | Click HERE to download Interview Questions in PDF

Q:  What’s the significance of the title The Un-Game?  How does the book deliver on the promise of the sub-title? Sub-title:  Four-Play to Business as Unusual.  How do you define “business as unusual”? And is there a reason for italicizing the “un” in a word like unusual?

A:  The Un-Game is the purposeful, fun process of uncovering beliefs, opinions and conclusions that run our life without our permission.  We want to see those so that we have a conscious choice about what we do or not do with them.  That’s power. When we see what we haven’t seen before, we can produce extraordinary results.  Extraordinary is what I mean by “business as unusual.”.  We can produce extraordinary results when we see the same old thing with brand new eyes. The reason for the italicized “un” in words otherwise not italicized is that it is a physical reminder that uncovering previously hidden beliefs can be unsettling even when it’s fun. It’s unusual.



 

Q:  You maintain that conventional management wisdom and practices no longer work.  Can you give an example of a practice that’s still in use despite being obsolete?  What should take its place?  Are any corporations known for the new practices?  Which one(s)? Do managers in The Un-Game demonstrate the new wisdom and practices?  Who among well-known management experts would agree with your assertions about this?

A:  Conventional managers act as if they should control and correct their employees. That doesn’t work well.  Instead, the manager should be a catalyst. The two mind-sets produce completely different outcomes behaviorally. It demands a far higher skill level to be a catalyst.  Catalyst know how to motivate and develop their people. They know how to inspire collaboration and transparency, all values that promote great relationships and great business outcomes. Businesses like Patagonia, Seventh Generation are businesses that have known this for a long time and have built their success partially because of this. Tom Peters, Peter Block, Peter Senge, Kenny Blanchard would all agree with the assertions I make in this example. The Un-Game characters embody these “catalyst” qualities.  It will be apparent to the reader through their actions and through the atmosphere that surrounds them.



Q:  In The Un-Game you feature a four-step process  you call four-play that helps managers become great managers.  What are the four steps and why do they produce great managers?

A: I could tell you the four steps, but it’s better to discover them in reading the book.  If I tell you, it may have a “so what?” feel.  That’s because you can get the steps and the principles in the book at a conceptual level—which I consider the booby prize—or you can get them through the coaching in the book, which is the real prize.  It’s the real prize because you get them at a deeper level which is more like “Wow,” rather than “So what?!”  Think of it this way:  When someone tells you something, it’s not as useful to you as when you learn it through experience.  That said, the four step process does not help any manager become a great manager.  It may help any manager to be a better manager, but it will only help talented managers become great managers. You see, talent can’t be taught.  Skills and knowledge can be taught, but talent can’t, and only talented managers can become great managers.



Q:  You say there are many ways to play The Un-Game.  Why did you choose this four- step process and not another?  Can you give an example of another powerful process that managers and leaders should be aware of for playing The Un-Game?

A:  I chose this model because I saw its power in its simplicity, immediate impact, and the sustainable results it can produce for people. It certainly changed me first.  They say you can’t coach what you yourself haven’t experienced. I find that to be true. But there are other ways in which experts can help people surface the thinking that holds them hostage, that is, that they’re not aware of.  One model I absolutely love because it’s also simple and elegant—although forty years of combined experience have gone into making it so simple—is Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey’s “Immunity to Change” work and book by the same name.  They teach at Harvard Graduate School of Education and are experts in adult learning. I’m licensed to take people through Bob and Lisa’s process, but I don’t feature it specifically in The Un-Game.  I wouldn’t mind writing about it next.  It’s great work.


Q:  What benefits accrue to people who know how to play The Un-Game?  What are pre-requisites, if any, for becoming a great player? If there were only one major benefit you’d promise readers of The Un-Game, what would it be?

A:  Ultimately skilled un-game players will experience a greater sense of freedom and power to design personal and professional “games” worth playing and goals worth playing for.  They’ll have greater focus, and they’ll connect their activities to that which has a lot of meaning and value for them.  They’ll probably have more fun.  Their new skill-sets will help them produce uncommon results with clarity, focus, and ease. Their relationships will be better.  They’ll enjoy life more and struggle less.  They’ll be more creative.  They’ll be able to get less upset because they’ll see so many more options for how they could be and what they could do. There’s lots more.  The biggest prerequisite for becoming a great un-game player is to be willing and to go into the learning to become such a player with the attitude “I don’t already know everything.”  Genuine curiosity helps a lot. The one major benefit I can promise people who will only read The Un-Game (not while multi-tasking, please!) is that they’ll walk away hopeful that maybe the changes that they’ve wanted to make but somehow couldn’t, or at least couldn’t make stick, might not be so elusive after all. Hope is a great benefit.  It can move people into action to do more on behalf of their once buried goals.



Q:  There is a lot of unrest, uncertainty, and complexity in the world at this time.  You say that modern managers and leaders need the skill-sets that are up to dealing with uncertainty and complexity.  What are the attributes they need and how would getting coached in learning and applying un-game principles help them “up” their game?  What are some examples of what people would learn and how might they apply what they learn to beefing up their bottom line?

A:  To deal with uncertainty and complexity people need resilience and flexibility.  The knee-jerk reaction to uncertainty is to exercise more control, but thinking we have control is an illusion.  It’s to disregard what I call the “facticity” of life, namely that things in the real world are always unpredictable and impermanent.  Not accepting that is like arguing with gravity.  But most people do it all the time. Coaching helps people have better strategies for dealing with the limits of the real world. Being able to do that automatically “ups” people’s game. Being open and receptive to what they might learn that is of value in their day- to- day reality are great attributes to bring to learning to play The Un-Game.  However, even if people don’t bring those to the table, coaching actually helps them bring those attributes forward in themselves. It’s hard to say what people will actually learn because they come to coaching with different needs and wants.  So what they learn is very individual.  However, if someone came to coaching in un-game principles and wanted to learn to be a better delegator, she would learn to be that.  If someone wanted to be able to develop his people’s team-work, he would learn to build a better functioning team. It’s easy to see how being able to delegate and having a more effective team would impact on the bottom line. 



 

 
 
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