Small Decencies : Reflections and Meditations on Being Human at Work

by John Cowan

A collection of essays exploring how to incorporate small decencies into daily business interactions, making work, life, and other aspects of life more meaningful and celebratory. 15,000 first printing.

166 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1992

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Cowan (1935- )

Reviews

[Kirtida Gautam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Expectation mismatch.
I picked this book thinking it will teach me how to conduct myself in American business environment. I am new to this country, and genuinely want to learn about its work culture.
But this book was some New Age philosophy that I have learnt to question.

[K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first rules most of us learnt in our personal lives—be nice to others—seems to be lost in a professional setting. Looking at the number of jerks, particularly in high positions, you encounter in a corporate setting, it appears that to succeed professionally, you can’t be nice. In his book, Small Decencies, John Cowan disagrees.
Building on his decades of organizational development work at large corporations, as a consultant and as a parish priest, he casts an incisive eye on our behaviour in and out of the workplace. The book is written as a series of vignettes, most featuring folks just like us and many his own family. Cowan reminds us that our everyday actions, whether in the attention we give (or not) to the company receptionist or security guard or when we cut off another sailor (or driver) while thoughtlessly zooming by, diminishes and makes us all a little less human.
Despite the easy reading and Cowan’s laid-back storytelling style, Small Decencies is a powerful book that gets under your skin, as you encounter people and events right out of your professional and personal life. And it hits home particularly when it reminds you of incidents where you were likely the jerk. Full review here

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book for Christmas by a friend who doesn't strike me as a reader and I didn't know what to expect. I certainly didn't expect I'd give it four stars, but I have to say that - for the most part - this was a very enjoyable, and even somewhat inspiring book. It is a toilet book (by which I mean it is filled with very brief essays that can be read in less than five minutes) that deals specifically with being human in the business world. Many are heartwarming (a mean trick, but done rather effectively), and most are deeply insightful. This would be a fantastic little book to read in preparation for a job in HR (I'm thinking of I/O students at the university).