Book Reviews

ZAPP! The Lightning of EMPOWERMENT

By William C. Byham, Ph.D.

Reviewed by Steve Buchwald, CIRM

William C. Byham, Ph.D., is president and founder of Development Dimensions International, a leading human resource training and development company.

What is ZAPP? It is about the basic principles of empowering people. It deals with how to get employees to take ownership of their jobs so they take personal interest in improving the performance of the organization. It is also about improving quality, productivity, and employee satisfaction. Although the presentation is somewhat corny as it is written as a modern day fable, ZAPP! does present an essential guide to creating and maintaining an empowered work force by ZAPPING and not SAPPING their potential. By applying these concepts an organization will be able to develop employees that will lead the organization to outshine and outlast the competition.

The fable begins with a background of The Normal Company, a typical American company where managers did the thinking, supervisors did the talking, and employees did the working, and two of the employees. The first employee introduced is Ralph Roscoe, a typical worker who because of the conditions and because he thought no one would listen kept his thoughts to himself. However, on this one occasion he got an idea so good he couldn't keep it to himself and he ran to tell his supervisor.

This supervisor, Joe Mode is the second employee introduced, who is so overworked fighting fires that he has little time or interest in following up on Ralph's idea.

What transpires next is how Ralph followed up on his idea himself and created the Ralphalator, a device for sending people into the 12th dimension. It was from this vantage point that Ralph and Joe saw some interesting things like people fighting monsters or just being dull and de-energized. It was from here that Ralph and Joe learned together what people really think and how to apply certain principals of ZAPPING employees to create a truly empowered workforce. Now you can learn how to avoid the deadly "SAPP TRAP" and how to apply these principals to maximize your company's productivity and performance. Do it by inspiring, by helping employees maintain or enhance their self esteem, by listening and responding with empathy, by asking for help in solving problems, and by offering help without taking credit. People who are ZAPPED have a sense of accomplishment and importance and strive for constant improvement. People who are SAPPED on the other hand become unmotivated and show little enthusiasm for their jobs.
Good reading!