If you’ve read and enjoyed previous books by Lencioni such as Death by Meeting or The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, this book will not disappoint. Lencioni’s writing style remains the same here as he spins A Fable for Managers (and their employees).

The genesis of this book was Lencioni’s realization that most people in the workforce do not enjoy their jobs; in fact, they are miserable. He notes that it doesn’t seem to make any difference if the person is a professional athlete, a CEO, a waitress, or a teacher. Income doesn’t seem to influence the bottom line of job satisfaction either. Taking into consideration his own experience and his observations of others, Lencioni set out to form a theory about why so many people are miserable in their jobs, and what it takes to go from job misery to job fulfillment.

Lencioni warns readers in the introduction—and rightly so—that “the remedy I propose here is going to seem ridiculously simple and obvious at first glance.” He contends that the book is necessary, however, because the bulk of managers fail to put these simple, obvious ideas into practice, and as a result workers continue to suffer through miserable jobs which breed frustration, cynicism, and fatigue.

Lencioni illustrates his theory by telling a story, or fable, about how retired CEO Brian Bailey discovers the three signs of a miserable job. Lencioni explains, “A miserable job is not the same as a bad one. A bad job lies in the eye of the beholder. One person’s dream job might be another person’s nightmare. But a miserable job is universal. It is one that makes a person cynical and frustrated and demoralized when they go home at night. It drains them of their energy, their enthusiasm and their self-esteem. Miserable jobs can be found in every industry and at every level.”

Through the tale of Brian Bailey, the author identifies three factors that make a job miserable. The first is “immeasurement” (yes, a term coined by Lencioni). “Employees need to be able to gauge their progress and level of contribution for themselves.” Employees become frustrated if they do not have a sense that they are making progress. The second is irrelevance. “Everyone needs to know that their job matters. …Without seeing a connection between the work and the satisfaction of another person or group of people, an employee simply will not find lasting fulfillment.” And finally, the third sign of a miserable job is anonymity. “People cannot be fulfilled in their work if they are not known.” Bailey muses to his wife, “How can a person really feel good about going to work when they don’t feel like anyone there knows who they are? Or cares?”

Whether you are a manager or an employee, I think this book is worth your time. I picked up this title at the airport knowing I was facing a long delay. My wife Ingrid was with me and was intrigued by the title. She started to read and did not put the book down until she reached the last page just as we hit the runway at O’Hare. Furthermore, she went to school the next day and told her fellow teachers that this is a must read! If my wife responds this way to a business book, I suspect that you, too, will find it a worthwhile read.