Miller's Bolt: A Modern Business Parable

The Story

Miller’s Bolt is the fast-paced fictional story of a top-notch manager who is in danger of being fired. For although Jim Manion does his job well, his relationships with his coworkers have become increasingly antagonistic. Given just three months to turn himself around, Jim consults his friend Peter Miller, a personal performance coach, and together the two of them work to save Jim’s career.We watch Jim as he learns new interpersonal skills, manages change, and improves his performance. Thomas Stirr guides us through the techniques and conceptual tools that Jim uses, including Miller’s Bolt—a simple and logical tool that reminds us that our performance is never static. We are either getting a little better and moving up the threads on our bolt, or a little worse and moving downward—every day.Realistic characters and situations bring the story alive as Jim faces the challenges of a tense board meeting, a climate of lagging sales, and his personal nemesis, a manipulative coworker who tests Jim’s newfound skills. Each of these dramatic turning points further crystallizes the main message of the book: If we want our lives to be different in the future we have to make different decisions today. By taking responsibility for our perceptions, our relationships, and our performance, we gain the ability to learn and grow.As we read about Jim’s success and failures, we learn along with him the practical skills that we all need to thrive in today’s business world. Miller’s Bolt is a new kind of business book: It’s a page-turner.