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Results Without Authority book club questions
Here are 12 book club questions for Results Without Authority by Tom Kendrick, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. Copy them, print them, or bring them up one at a time.
Results Without Authority addresses a challenge that most project managers and team leads face but few management books deal with directly: how to get work done when you have responsibility but no real authority over the people doing the work.
Tom Kendrick · 2006 · 4h 20m
Full summary and key takeaways →The 12 questions
- 1.
Kendrick argues that influence is a more sustainable tool than authority. Have you seen a manager use formal authority in a way that undermined the team's performance?
- 2.
Think of a project you worked on where the team genuinely felt ownership. What conditions created that? Could they be replicated deliberately?
- 3.
What's the difference in your experience between a project charter people contributed to and one that was handed down? Did it affect follow-through?
- 4.
Kendrick emphasizes managing relationships with functional managers, not just team members. How much time do you actually spend on those lateral and upward relationships?
- 5.
When you face competing priorities for a team member's time, what's your current approach? What would a more systematic version look like?
- 6.
Metrics and transparency are presented as tools for self-regulation, not surveillance. Where's the line between those two things in practice?
- 7.
Think of a project that failed or struggled. Was the root cause a technical problem, a structural problem, or an influence failure?
- 8.
Kendrick says some project failures are caused by genuinely broken structures that no amount of influence skill can fix. How do you recognize that point, and what should you do when you reach it?
- 9.
Which of the four project phases — initiation, planning, execution, closing — do you handle least well? What would change if you focused more attention there?
- 10.
How do you currently recognize contributions from team members who don't report to you? Is it visible to the people who control their career progression?
- 11.
Cross-functional teams often have implicit status hierarchies based on function or seniority. How do you counteract those when they undermine collaboration?
- 12.
What's one specific technique from the book you could apply this week to a current project or working relationship?
How to run the discussion
- Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
- Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
- Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
- Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.
Themes worth steering toward
If the conversation stalls, these are the threads that usually restart it.
Common questions
What are good book club questions for Results Without Authority?
Here are 12 book club questions for Results Without Authority by Tom Kendrick, ordered to open easily and end somewhere worth arguing about. The strongest openers ask what each reader noticed rather than what they concluded, and the discussion usually turns on project management, influence, leadership.
How long should a book club discussion of Results Without Authority last?
Most groups run 60 to 90 minutes of actual discussion. That is roughly six to eight questions, not all of them, so pick the ones that suit your group rather than working down the list in order.
What are the main themes in Results Without Authority?
Project management, Influence, Leadership, Teamwork, Communication. Those are the threads most likely to divide a room, which makes them the useful places to steer a discussion that has gone quiet.
Picking the next one? See books like Results Without Authority or questions for other book club picks.
