HELPING

by Edgar H. Schein

A brief review byKazuhiko Akutsu
February 27th 2014

Preface to review

Why do I read this book?
• Trust-based relationships are the foundation
for achieving the right organizational results.
• Mutual help is the most effective way toestablish trust-based relationships.
I want to learn the essence of “helping” and torethink about human relationships.

Preface to review

Importance of relationships
Trust-based relationships are essential
to help our organization go right.

http://arbingersoutheastasia.com/pyramid/Translated version of theARBINGER Pyramid of Influence

The Anatomy of PEACE
Resolving the Heart of Conflict(Original)

Translated book of“The Anatomy of PEACE”

Book choice
English or Japanese?

←English version（Original)

Some reliable Amazon reviewers said,“Japanese version is not good.”

Information about the book
• Title: HELPING

How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help

Understanding Effective Dynamics in One-to-One, Group, andOrganizational Relationships• Author: Edgar Henry Schein (1928--)• A Professor Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
• Copyright: 2009
• ISBN: 978-1-57675-863-2• Short book (167 pages)

Author’s purpose• To provide practical insight that might improve thereader’s understanding and skill in helping.

Contents of the book
• Preface• Acknowledgments• Main Chapters
1. What Is Help?
2. Economics and Theater: The Essence ofRelationships
3. The Inequalities and Ambiguities of the Helping
Relationship
4. Helping as Theater: Three Kinds of Helping Roles

Contents of the book (continued)
5. Humble Inquiry: The key to Building andMaintaining the Helping Relationship
6. Applying the Inquiry Process
7. Teamwork as Perpetual Reciprocal Helping
8. Helping Leaders and Organizational Clients
9. Principles and Tips
• References• Index• About the Author

Social economics• Help is “one of the most important currencies thatflow between members of society because help is oneof the main ways of expressing love and other caring
emotions that humans express.” (p. 14)

Examples of the social currencies arelove, attention, acknowledgment, acceptance, praise, and help.

One down and one up• In summary, at the beginning, every helpingrelationship is in a state of imbalance. The client is
one down and therefore vulnerable: the helper is
one up and therefore powerful. Much of what goes
wrong in the helping process is the failure toacknowledge this initial imbalance and deal with it.
(p. 107)
One up(helper)

One down(Client)

Imbalance

Asking• Asking temporarily empowers the other person in
the conversation. It implies that the other person
knows something that I need to or want to know.
• A conversation that leads to a relationship has tobe sociologically equitable and balanced.
One up(helper)
One down(Client)

Asking(to the client)

Imbalance

Equitable and balanced

Teamwork• In other words, the essence of teamwork is
the development and maintenance of reciprocal
helping relationship among all the members.
(p. 107)

Leadership• One of the most counterintuitive principle ofmanaged change is that you can’t change anyone
until you can turn them into a client who isseeking help from you. (p. 128)
• As leaders interact with others, they must realizethat the best way to improve the organization is
to create an environment of mutual help andto demonstrate their own helping skills in theirdealings with others in the organization. (p. 143)

“A Final Word” of the Book
“What I have tried to do in this short book is toreframe many social processes as variations of“helping.” These include building trust, cooperation,collaboration, teamwork, leadership, and change
management. In doing so, I have come to recognizethat helping is at the heart of all social life, whether
we are talking about ants, birds, or humans. It would
seem then that if we can be more effective as
helpers, it will improve life for all of us. ” (P157)