Killing Giants by Stephen Denny - Book review

Killing Giants

10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry

By: Stephen Denny

Published: March 31, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 1591843839
ISBN-13: 978-1591843832
Publisher: Portfolio/Penguin













"What connects each is a desire to do the impossible, every day: kill the giant in their industry", writes strategist and marketing consultant Stephen Denny in his thought provoking and insightful book Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry. The author describes how a small player in any industry can topple the giant industry leader through a combination of brains, street smarts, and agility.

Stephen Denny takes the provocative position that the small competitor in an industry can out think and out compete the leader in that same field. The concept that a Goliath in the market can be felled by a little David is counter to conventional thought. When considered objectively, and without the fear of being trampled by the behemoth, the idea that the little guy can prevail takes on new meaning. The small less bureaucratic business, is much more nimble and able to respond to changes in the marketplace and the overall economy, than the much slower moving giant. This ability to act quickly decisively, serves to level the playing field on behalf of the giant slayer. What is critical for the small player is to think and act in new and exciting ways, and take advantage of smallness, to displace the established industry leader.



Stephen Denny (photo left) reminds the would be giant killer that the market conditions of today actually work in favor of the small player. The economy and the marketplace of the past, that worked to the benefit of the giants, no longer exists. Stephen Denny points out that the giants, being slow and resistant to change, have not yet grasped the evolution in the marketplace. As a result, customers can be taken right under the nose of the oblivious giant. Stephen Denny not only provides a detailed examination of both giants and giant topplers, but also offers ten very intriguing strategies for taking down the unwary colossus. The tactics are presented in the form of tales of giant killing successes, and what worked for the smaller competitor. The stories not only contain overt lessons, but on additional examination yield up also deeper philosophies of winning what is on the surface an unfair game. For the would be defeater of giants, the stories are more than just a collection of case studies, but are a series of stories of reinventing the marketplace to one that tilts the scales toward the small company.

For me, the power of the book is how Stephen Denny describes both the theory and the process for defeating the giant in any industry. The author presents a solid case on behalf of the smaller, more responsive competitor as holding much more power than they usually believe they possess. Stephen Denny points out that not all giants are identical, and this important factor also works to the advantage of the would be giant killer. The differences in the forms and sizes of the largest players offer different options and opportunities for the small company. The author illustrates each of the book's ten strategies through intriguing stories, in a self contained chapter format. The tactics can be read sequentially, or as stand alone lessons from the real world.

To his credit, Stephen Denny resists the usual desire on the part of business book authors to offer standard advice and best practices. Instead of this usual technique, the author shares the stories of companies who overcame the challenges presented by facing an overpowering giant in their market. What the stories provide, that the simple reciting of advice does not, are the variety of giants and of the types of smaller companies that defeat them. A combination of the tactics employed by the successful giant slayers, or any one of their methods, might work for any small business. What is important is the understanding, as conveyed so well by Stephen Denny, is that small is a virtue and an advantage in today's marketplace. The old rules no longer apply, leaving the giants more vulnerable to being overwhelmed than ever before.

I highly recommend the essential and must read book Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry by Stephen Denny, to anyone seeking to dislodge the seemingly invincible leader from their industry. This book will change forever the way that you view the large players in your market. Instead of being dazzled by their sheer size or market share, you will discover how to identify and exploit their structural weaknesses.

Read the industry transformational book Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry by Stephen Denny, and be prepared to challenge the leaders in your industry for market supremacy. You will soon learn that the bigger the giant, the harder they fall.

Tags: Killing Giants: 10 Strategies to Topple the Goliath in Your Industry, Stephen Denny, market competitiveness, business book reviews.

The Brain Mechanic by Spencer Lord - Book review

The Brain Mechanic

A Quick and Easy Way to Tune Up the Mind and Maximize Emotional Health

By: Spencer Lord

Published: January 3, 2011
Format: Paperback, 144 pages
ISBN-10: 0757315569
ISBN-13: 978-0757315565
Publisher: HCI Health Communications, Inc.











"Basically, cognitive behavioral therapy demonstrates that our thoughts - not external things like people, events, or situations - cause our feelings and behaviors", writes educator, consultant, and seeker Spencer Lord, in his empowering and insightful book The Brain Mechanic: A Quick and Easy Way to Tune Up the Mind and Maximize Emotional Health. The author describes how people possess the power to change the way they think, perceive life, and respond to stress, resulting in real transformation in their lives.

Spencer Lord takes the mystery out of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in a readable, and and easy to understand manner. For a topic as potentially complex in explanation as CBT, this engaging and accessible format is important for the reader. The author presents the concept as a series of very practical and simple to perform exercises. With these useful and helpful exercises as examples of how the process of CBT works, Spencer Lord is then able to provide the more theoretical framework as to why the concept of cognitive behavioral therapy is so effective for the individual. For the author, the entire journey is based on changing the way the individual thinks, with the end results being the important goal.



Spencer Lord (photo left) presents a complicated subject in easy to understand manual, using a tool box analogy. The four overall sections include:

* The cognitive model
* Change your beliefs
* Exercises for living
* Five quick steps to emotional well-being

Utilizing this logical, and module based approach helps the reader to discover the concept of CBT as one that changes how the world is perceived, and then followed up with advice for making that transformation a reality. Spencer Lord provides leading edge brain science as support for the concepts, describing effectively how and why the change is partially a function of how the human brain works. In effect, Spencer Lord teaches the reader that even the brain can be rewired to improve the quality of a person's life. The presentation is not only about the brain, but also includes a very important emotional component that offers a sense of spiritual peace with the changes as they happen. The entire book guides the reader to release the dangerous negative emotions that prevent a breakthrough to a happier and more fulfilling life.

For me, the power of the book is how Spencer Lord presents the very complex topic of cognitive behavioral therapy in accessible and understandable language. The author also shares the techniques for utilizing CBT effectively to make real progress in breaking free of the old barriers and obstacles to changing behavior. Whether the emotional problem is depression and anxiety, addiction, weight issues, or mood, the exercises offer release from the old patterns of self-destructive behavior. To his credit, Spencer Lord admits that his methods are not for the person with severe emotional problems. For those individuals, the author recommends seeking professional guidance.

For the average person, however, this book is an excellent primer in how the brain functions, how the brain can be taught to think and react differently, and how real breakthroughs and insights can be achieved successfully. Spencer Lord also shares his personal journey, making the book a revelatory experience as well. For business people, the advice for enhancing communication skills, overcoming fears of failure, and enriching relationships is both helpful and easy to apply in everyday life. In the end, the discovery that anxiety only breeds more anxiety, and that positive emotions also multiply in a good way, offers a basis for overcoming obstacles in one's own life.

I highly recommend the practical and outlook altering book The Brain Mechanic: A Quick and Easy Way to Tune Up the Mind and Maximize Emotional Health by Spencer Lord, to anyone seeking a useful and results oriented approach to changing negative emotions and behavior into positive outcomes in life. The author offers a solutions based approach that provides a system of procedures for creating real change.

Read the perceptive and concise book The Brain Mechanic: A Quick and Easy Way to Tune Up the Mind and Maximize Emotional Health by Spencer Lord, and put the power of cognitive behavioral therapy to work for you. The result will be a happier life, filled with more confidence and deeper emotional relationships.

Tags: The Brain Mechanic: A Quick and Easy Way to Tune Up the Mind and Maximize Emotional Health, Spencer Lord, personal development, business book reviews.

Shraga Biran: Opportunism: How To Change The World One Idea At A Time - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio



Entrepreneur and founder of one of Israel's leading law firms, and author of the visionary and yet very pragmatic book Opportunism: How to Change the World--One Idea at a Time, Shraga F. Biran describes how social and intellectual capital trump the traditional measures of capital. Entrepreneurship and opportunity are the new wealth. As a result of the rise of global technology, and the instant sharing of information, the need to protect intellectual capital takes on new importance. Shraga Biran points out the importance of government and society protecting the creators of this new idea based wealth. He describes the need to extend to all individuals the rights and stability necessary to own whatever opportunities they create as their private property. As a result, Shraga Briran proposes a new social and legal framework to make opportunity a tangible, valuable, and positive asset. The new framework will transform the idea from just a means to create wealth, but into a form of wealth itself.

Shraga F. Biran is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Tuesday, March 29, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Entrepreneur and founder of one of Israel's leading law firms, and author of the visionary and yet very pragmatic book Opportunism: How to Change the World--One Idea at a Time, Shraga F. Biran describes how social and intellectual capital trump the traditional measures of capital. Entrepreneurship and opportunity are the new wealth. You will learn:

* What opportunism really means in today's economy

* Why social and intellectual capital are the new wealth

* How opportunism can transform society to a more democratic economic model

* How to protect intellectual property as real wealth itself



Shraga Biran (photo left) is the founder of one of Israel’s leading law firms and an entrepreneur specializing in energy and international real estate.

He lives in Tel Aviv.

He is the author of Opportunism: How to Change the World--One Idea at a Time.

My book review of Opportunism: How to Change the World--One Idea at a Time by Shraga F. Biran.



Listen live on Tuesday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with entrepreneur and founder of one of Israel's leading law firms, and author of the visionary and yet very pragmatic book Opportunism: How to Change the World--One Idea at a Time, Shraga F. Biran as he describes how social and intellectual capital trump the traditional measures of capital. Entrepreneurship and opportunity are the new wealth. As a result of the rise of global technology, and the instant sharing of information, the need to protect intellectual capital takes on new importance. Shraga Biran points out the importance of government and society protecting the creators of this new idea based wealth. He describes the need to extend to all individuals the rights and stability necessary to own whatever opportunities they create as their private property. As a result, Shraga Briran proposes a new social and legal framework to make opportunity a tangible, valuable, and positive asset. The new framework will transform the idea from just a means to create wealth, but into a form of wealth itself on Blog Business Success Radio.

Tags: Opportunism: How to Change the World--One Idea at a Time, Shraga F. Biran, intellectual property, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.

Opportunism by Shagra F. Biran - Book review

Opportunism

How to Change the World--One Idea at a Time

By: Shraga F. Biran

Published: January 2011
Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
ISBN-10: 0-374-17578-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-374-17578-8
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux













"Opportunism is an approach to life that seeks to combine the elements of time, place, and initiative to as to dismantle an already existing set of circumstance and reassemble them in a new way, to combine them with new and hitherto unknown elements. Opportunism is fatalism's opposite: it can generate unexpected results", writes founder and owner of top ranked law firm in Israel, Shraga F. Biran and Co., Shraga F. Biran, in his visionary and yet very pragmatic book Opportunism: How to Change the World--One Idea at a Time. The author describes how the underutilized concept of opportunity contains the underpinnings of a new social and legal framework, that transforms opportunity into a tangible asset that constitutes real wealth itself.

Shraga Biran understands that opportunism has long been considered a negative concept, filled with connotations that are often shady and even dishonest. The author takes that idea to task, and replaces those older views of opportunism with a fresh, positive, and democratic principle of opportunity as a benefit to all. For Shraga Biran, opportunism is both realistic and pragmatic in its approach to the world. Since a number of possibilities always exists, and the outcome not preordained by events, opportunism opens up exciting value building ideas to anyone. Opportunism operates on the twofold basis of objectivity and subjectivity. The objective side includes empirical facts and circumstances, while the subjective element depends on how people utilize those tangible facts, events, and real world conditions. The brief, shining moment, when the individual sees and acts upon the possibilities and potential in those conditions, is when opportunity is created.



Shraga Biran (photo left) provides a strong overview of the nature of opportunism, and in effect, develops an entire new concept of opportunism. The author explains that opportunism is also a theory of opportunity that leads to social and economic renewal that benefits all of humanity. Opportunism is also a dynamic concept that involves change, reform, and transformation instead of continuity and the status quo. Creative thinking and innovation go to the core of opportunism, rather than being a result; they are a root cause. Opportunism goes far beyond initiative and and invention, but these two ideas are part of the opportunity process. For the author, the very populism and democratic nature of opportunism, as ideas that can be seized and acted upon by anyone, give the concept a universalist and inclusive value. Shraga Biran then describes how to protect this new form of wealth, as an end and asset in itself, and not simply a process or conduit to wealth. This change in thinking forms the transitional basis for an entirely new legal, social, and economic system and mode of thought.

For me, the power of the book is how Shraga Biran develops and articulates the important new societal, economic, and legal theory of opportunism. The author provides a complete background of what the new paradigm of opportunism means, and then describes how it works to transform the way people think about new ideas, intellectual property, and the nature of what constitutes wealth itself. Shraga Biran supports his concept with a compelling assessment of how innovation and opportunity, as well as entrepreneurship, are the new wealth supplanting the traditional measures of capital value. Social and intellectual capital have overtaken the concept of of physical asset based wealth in the twenty-first century. The author provides the intellectual background to this profound change society, law, and economics.

I highly recommend the intellectually satisfying and idea transformational book Opportunism: How to Change the World--One Idea at a Time by Shraga F. Biran, to anyone seeking a fresh and original analysis of the transition from an asset based wealth system, to one where intellectual capital and entrepreneurship represent the true wealth of an economy. The author describes how and why this intellectual property, which forms real wealth, changes societies, and how to protect the ideas in the hands of the opportunity seizing the opportunity.

Read the society and economy changing book Opportunism: How to Change the World--One Idea at a Time by Shraga F. Biran, and discover how if given chance, opportunism has the power and the potential to enhance society, build companies, and enrich economies in new and exciting ways. Opportunism is an idea whose time has not only come, but represents a critical path to creating real wealth now and in the future.

Tags: Opportunism: How to Change the World--One Idea at a Time, Shraga F. Biran, intellectual property, business book reviews.

Seeing Red Cars by Laura Goodrich - Book review

Seeing Red Cars

Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Future

By: Laura Goodrich

Published: February 7, 2011
Format: Paperback, 192 pages
ISBN-10: 9781605097275
ISBN-13: 978-1605097275
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers











"You could be getting more of what you want - more new ideas, more teamwork in your department, and a more positive attitude in the company", writes internationally recognized expert in the field of workplace dynamics and relationships, Laura Goodrich, in her inspirational and very practical book Seeing Red Cars: Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Future. The author describes how we get more of what we focus on, and shares the tools for enhancing and sharpening the focus on what we really want.

Laura Goodrich points to the very familiar phenomenon of the purchaser of a red car suddenly seeing red cars everywhere. The author recognizes this sudden appearance of red cars as simply a fresh focus on red cars on the road. In fact, the red cars were there all along, but without the focus on them, they went unnoticed prior to the red car purchase. With this change in concentration, writes Laura Goodrich, a dramatic and very noticeable change in outcomes is possible. Unfortunately, as the author describes, people will often concentrate their focus on what they don't want. The result is that those people also receive the bad things on which they sharpened their gaze. Laura Goodrich shares how the world doesn't have to be that way, and guides the reader to focus on the desirable outcome, and how this reversal of direction makes all the difference in the world.



Laura Goodrich (photo left) understands that not only can individuals change their outlook, but that entire corporate cultures can be transformed as well. Instead of concentrating on weaknesses, the author demonstrates how entire organization can enhance strengths, increase passion, and develop a more engaged and productive workplace. Combining the change in thinking with the tools necessary to make the transition from a negative focused culture, to that of one where the positive outcome is sought, the author provides a system that provides real bottom line results. While many companies expend their energy on what they believe is preventing problems, the more effective organization creates an atmosphere where overall success is the goal. With this profound difference in organizational culture and behavior, any company can get what it really wants.

For me, the power of the book is how Laura Goodrich utilizes the red car phenomenon effectively to describe how people see and receive what they focus on in life. The author combines effectively the theory of why concentration on anything either good or bad, produces that result, with practical steps on how to change that concentration problem. Laura Goodrich bolsters her theoretical framework with the latest research in how the brain processes information, and how it focuses upon either good or undesirable results. The author shares the tools, including an online toolkit, to effectively rewire the brains of individuals or of entire organizations to effect positive and lasting change.

Along with the theory and practical exercises, Laura Goodrich also shares real world stories of companies who have made the leap to a focus on positive goals. The results of these corporate cultural changes are both dramatic and motivational for anyone seeking to improve morale within the company culture. Engaged and positive employees are also more productive and increase the organization's revenue and profitability. Happy workers, concentrating on seeing the shiniest red cars in life, are more likely to be creative as well. When innovative thinking is sought, bold new ideas and initiatives seem to arrive out of nowhere. Just like the red cars, those fresh ideas were there all along.

I highly recommend the innovative and results oriented book Seeing Red Cars: Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Future by Laura Goodrich, to anyone looking for commitment, both individually and on an organization wide basis, to focusing on positive events. Looking for what you really want will surprise and delight the seeker of good things in business and in life.

Read the negative pattern breaking book Seeing Red Cars: Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Future by Laura Goodrich, and discover how to make positive change with both realistic and effective techniques for personal and organizational transformation. You will be seeing red cars everywhere in the office and on the road of life.

Tags: Seeing Red Cars: Driving Yourself, Your Team, and Your Organization to a Positive Future, Laura Goodrich, organizational behavior, business book reviews.

Peak Everything By Richard Heinberg - Book review

Peak Everything

Waking Up to the Century of Declines

By: Richard Heinberg

Published: July 15, 2010
Format: Paperback, 240 pages
ISBN: 9780865716452
Publisher: New Society Publishers













"We really have reached Peak Everything...but we've barely had a chance to enjoy the view; how brief was our moment at the apex! From here on, it's going to be a bumpy, downward roller-coaster ride", writes leading educator on Peak Oil and Senior Fellow-in-Residence at Post Carbon Institute, Richard Heinberg, in his provocative and thought provoking book Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines. The author describes how in the light of diminishing global resources, that traditional concepts of economic growth will have to be reassessed, and replaced with fresh thinking on how society and the global economy will operate in the twenty-first century.

Richard Heinberg paints a dismal picture of how all resources are in decline, and how current rates of consumption are unsustainable even over the short term. Growth in those rates of resource use is simply not possible, according to the author. In a series of perceptive and self-contained essays, Richard Heinberg describes the resource shortage problem in several critical industries, and how the end of the oil and resource era will usher in a new paradigm based on sustainability. The author offers a glimpse of a grim future for all of humanity, if the current course is not changed dramatically. Throughout the book, Richard Heinberg presents alternative ways of thinking, acting, and living that are both sustainable and respect the dignity of everyone on this planet.



Richard Heinberg (photo left) provides the numbers and graphic evidence of resource decline, and the twenty-first century will experience crises in the following areas unless steps are taken now to change consumption rates:

* Oil, natural gas, and coal extraction
* Yearly grain harvests
* Climate stability
* Economic growth
* Fresh water
* Minerals and ores, such as copper and platinum

While Peak Oil attracts the vast majority of the headlines, the author points to the other resources that are also experiencing decline. Fresh water and food are even more essential to human life than oil and minerals, and unsustainable practices threaten their availability, and will create shortages. While Richard Heinberg stresses that not all peaks will occur at once, they are all close or have already passed their apex. For the author, without a dramatic change in attitudes toward the planet and its resources, the twenty-first century will be a very dismal place for almost every person on earth.

For me, the power of the book is how Richard Heinberg describes the rapidly escalating problem of resource shortages in a matter of fact, and non-sensational manner. He provides evidence of decline, and shares the wisdom of others regarding the development of a new era of sustainability and respect for the environment and for all people. The book is formatted from a series of stand alone essays, covering technology, agriculture, and the arts in the first group. The second grouping of essays focuses on nature's limits and the human condition. The third section describes the end of one era and the beginning of another new era. Taken together, the three sections and their subsidiary essays provide a solid overview of the growing problem or resource decline, how they affect the increasing global human population, and what must happen to prevent a catastrophic future for all humanity.

The book is a well structured, convincingly argued, and very eye opening account of the challenges facing every person in the world. The author invites readers to examine their own lives and attitudes, as the age of excess slips into the past, and how the age of sustainability can be ushered in successfully. The various essays can all be read in any order, and each one contains a warning, and an opportunity for fresh thinking and action. The future doesn't have to be a nightmare, but first everyone must recognize and understand the severity of this onrushing crisis. The author does a good job in conveying those concepts to the reader.

I highly recommend the important and must read book Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines by Richard Heinberg, to anyone who is serious about understanding the challenges posed by peak everything. Anyone who wants to create a better, cleaner, more just, and sustainable world would do well to read this book.

Read the enlightening and complacency shattering book Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines by Richard Heinberg, and discover how the future will happen with or without your cooperation and support. This book offers the choice to become part of the solution, rather than remain a part of the problem.

Tags: Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines, Richard Heinberg, peak oil, environmental book reviews.

The Startup Game by William H. Draper III - Book review

The Startup Game

Inside the Partnership between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs

By: William H. Draper III

Published: January 4, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
ISBN-10: 9780230104860
ISBN-13: 978-0230104860
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan










"When people ask me whether venture capitalists are born or self-made, I tend to waffle. I suspect it's a little bit of both, with definite shading toward the self-made", writes pioneering venture capitalist and founder of Sutter Hill Ventures in Palo Alto, California, William H. Draper III, in his fascinating and insightful book The Startup Game: Inside the Partnership between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs. The author describes, from both sides of the table, the intimate and often challenging relationship between the venture capitalist and the entrepreneur.

William Draper shares his extensive experience as a long time venture capitalist. He provides stories of successes, that include household name companies including Skype and Hotmail, and how and why those investments worked so well. Perhaps, even more importantly, the author describes his failed investments as well. There are critical lessons, for both investors and entrepreneurs, to be learned from the mistakes as well as the success stories. William Draper offers both the bright lights and losing investments, to show how the venture capital industry really works, for both the investing firm and the entrepreneur. Along with the author's insider perspective on how venture capital really works, is a description of why venture capital is of critical importance to the present and future of business.



William H. Draper III (photo left)n understands the symbiotic and mutually supporting partnership between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Ideas need money to fund them and to transform them into viable wealth building companies. Investors need great entrepreneurs and their teams to generate more capital for further growth investments. William Draper provides ample evidence of how the partnership between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists enhances economic growth and strengthens the economy. At the same time, the author describes how venture capitalists can partner with global entrepreneurs to develop businesses to build more robust economies around the world. Throughout the book, the author shares his failures and bad investments as object lessons as to the nature of both entrepreneurship and the life of the venture capitalist. As William Draper points out so honestly, and with total candor, there will always be huge losses in many if not most of the investments made in emerging companies. As a result, the book also offers advice for both entrepreneurs and venture capitalists for increasing the odds of success.

For me, the power of the book is how William Draper provides an engaging and personal account of his career as a venture capitalist, international business leader, and philanthropist, that also shares valuable lessons on the role of the venture capitalist and entrepreneurial partnership in building the economy. The author presents a clear eyed view of what the venture capitalist does, how that role is filled, and why they make their many investment decisions.

William Draper removes some of the mystery and even the mystique that so often surrounds the venture capitalist firm, and opens their mode of thinking and operations to the reader. For the entrepreneur, the information on what venture capitalists seek in terms of opportunities, what is expected of the entrepreneur, and how decisions are reached, make this book an indispensable resource. Wrapped up in an entertaining narrative, with the added bonus of the author's thoughts on helping others, the information in this book is both enjoyable to read and to understand.

I highly recommend the intriguing and very informative book The Startup Game: Inside the Partnership between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs by William H. Draper III, to entrepreneurs seeking real world advice from one of the truly great venture capitalists. The experience and practical advice shared in this fine book are priceless for anyone seeking investment through a venture capitalist. The book is also an excellent guide for practicing venture capitalists, as the wisdom of a seasoned expert in the industry, will improve their investment performance as well.

Read the passionate gem of a book The Startup Game: Inside the Partnership between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs by William H. Draper III, and discover the world of venture capitalists where collaboration with entrepreneurs and their ideas, can and will build a growing economy that benefits everyone.

Tags: The Startup Game: Inside the Partnership between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs, William H. Draper III, venture capitalism, business book reviews.

Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People by Edward M. Hallowell, MD - Book review

Shine

Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People

By: Edward M. Hallowell, MD

Published: January 13, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
ISBN-13: 9781591399230
ISBN-10: 1591399238
Publisher: Harvard Business Press












"The more a manager can help the people who work for him or her to shine, the greater that manager will be, and the greater the organization as a whole", writes child and adult psychiatrist, and founder of The Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health, Edward (Ned) Hallowell, MD, in his groundbreaking and results oriented book Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People. The author describes how managers can bring out the best in their employees through an effective process that combines the best of performance management and the latest brain research.

Ned Hallowell recognizes that the job of the manager has become more difficult in today's challenging business climate. The workplace is affected by the troubled economy and by rapid ongoing changes in the marketplace. Employees are being asked to do more with less, and the pressure affects their productivity and morale. Managers are very often at a loss as to how to get the best from their employees, as so many fail to achieve the results expected from their potential. Ned Hallowell combines the latest in brain research with proven performance management to create an effective process for managers to bring out the very very best from their employees. The result is that the employees live up to their fullest potential and shine like stars in the organization.



Edward M. Hallowell, MD (photo left) understands the problems facing both managers and their employees, and provides a process where managers can accelerate their employees to achieve peak performance. The author offers the five step Cycle of Excellence that enrich the workplace and inspire staff members to strive for and reach their fullest potential. Taken together, each of the critical steps in the process will transform the workplace from the mediocre to the outstanding. The five steps in the Cycle of Excellence are:

* Select - choosing the right people for the job
* Connect - building their teamwork levels
* Play - encouraging creativity and innovation
* Grapple and Grow - overcoming job pressures
* Shine - using the right rewards to build loyalty and create excellence

For me, the power of the book is how Edward M. Hallowell, MD combines the latest cutting edge research in brain studies with forward thinking performance management concepts to produce a workplace transformational process. The author combines theory and practical advice into an effective process that any manager can utilize to help their employees shine as stars. Ned Hallowell also provides illustrative stories, within the various chapters, to demonstrate the steps of the process in action. The stories bolster understanding of the concepts as they answer many of the questions that arise about each of the five principles of the Cycle of Excellence. At the same time, the stories underline the importance of each step to the overall goal of attracting the best performance from the entire staff.

I highly recommend the innovative and insightful book Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People by Edward M. Hallowell, MD, to anyone seeking a practical and workable process to enhance the performance of their employees in a positive and engaging manner. The author shares a system that is both workable in any organization, but is also one that should be embraced by the employees as well.

Read the essential and work environment building book Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People by Edward M. Hallowell, MD, and put the five steps of the Cycle of Excellence to work for your organization. You will discover that your company has more stars shining brightly than anyone could ever have imagined possible.

Tags: Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People, Edward (Ned) Hallowell, MD, personnel management, business book reviews.

Fostering Sustainable Behavior - Third Edition by Doug McKenzie-Mohr - Book review

Fostering Sustainable Behavior

An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing Third Edition

By: Doug McKenzie-Mohr

Published: February 1, 2011
Format: Paperback, 192 pages
ISBN-10: 0865716420
ISBN-13: 978-0865716421
Publisher: New Society Publishers




"Behavior change is the cornerstone of sustainability", writes award-winning environmental psychologist and specialist in sustainable behavior, Doug McKenzie-Mohr, in his seminal and action oriented book Fostering Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing Third Edition. The author describes a revolutionary system for designing and implementing effective and behavior changing environmental programs.

Doug McKenzie-Mohr recognizes that behavioral changes truly matter in sustainable environmental systems applications. The change in actions and behavior not only have an impact on the environment, but they also affect how the people taking the actions view themselves. As the author points out, individuals engaging in environmental activities see themselves as the type of people who care about pollution, climate change, deforestation, and other environmental issues. As a result, those same people will be much more likely to support environmental protection policies. For Doug McKenzie-Mohr, action is required to cause behavioral change. Education, and reading brochures won't create the internalized attitude that supports sustainability. Only a more active approach will be effective in generating long term changes of habits and attitudes.



Doug McKenzie-Mohr (photo left) understands that economic incentives alone are not enough to facilitate changes in sustainable behavior. Since the monetary incentive fails to reach the person on a deeper level, the full impact of the program will be less than expected by planners. For the author, the developers of a sustainable environmental policy must look past economics and take a more holistic approach to the system. Doug McKenzie-Mohr proposes a community -based social marketing approach to replace informational campaigns and economic incentives. The author shares how to build support for a community-based program, and how to utilize a multi-disciplinary concept to involve the entire community and all facets of the population and their activities and goals. To achieve success, the author presents a plan for total involvement, complete with activities large and small; and both personal and community wide.

For me, the power of the book is how Doug McKenzie-Mohr combines theory and practical techniques into a holistic system of behavioral change. Not only does the author provide a step by step process for designing and implementing a system successfully, but also includes tips and advice for developing and enhancing the changes made within the individuals themselves. These personal changes are then transferred and and multiplied into support for the efforts on behalf of the entire community. The book is nothing short of a manual for operating a community-based social marketing system. The author shares ideas both large and small, and provides the tools and techniques for putting those ideas into practice.

Doug McKenzie-Mohr goes far beyond economics, informational and educational programs, and other traditional approaches to environmental sustainability, making this book the go to guide for policy makers everywhere. Filled with checklists, take away hints and tips, and important case studies, the book is useful to both an individual, a community, or even a larger political organization. The book is essential reading for everyone from individuals, to community leaders, to government officials. There is powerful information for removing barriers to buy in, or to taking action, that help to keep the system on track to ensure the desired change in behavior and community culture.

I highly recommend the definitive and must read book Fostering Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing Third Edition by Doug McKenzie-Mohr, to anyone serious about creating a sustainable environment policy or plan, and for implementing a system of community-based social marketing. This book will be read over and over again, and makes the ideal textbook for developing and enriching behavioral change regarding sustainability and the environment.

Read the landmark and now classic guide Fostering Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing Third Edition by Doug McKenzie-Mohr, and discover some fresh thinking, and a community based approach to sustainable development. This book provides the framework to transform people's behavior and their lives as they change their behavior and attitudes toward the environment and sustainability.

Tags: Fostering Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing Third Edition, Doug McKenzie-Mohr, social marketing, environmental book reviews.

The Price of Everything by Eduardo Porter - Book review

The Price of Everything

Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do

By: Eduardo Porter

Published: January 4, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
ISBN-10: 1591843626
ISBN-13: 978-1591843627
Publisher: Portfolio/Penguin












"Every choice we make is shaped by the prices of the options laid out before us - what we assess to be their relative costs - measured up against their benefits", writes New York Times editorial board member, and commentator specializing in business, regulation, trade and international economic relations, Eduardo Porter in his fascinating and insightful book The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do. The author describes how prices affect peoples' decisions and lives, and how a deeper understanding of the importance and influence of prices, can help people make better choices.

Eduardo Porter takes the reader on a guided tour of the world, and how prices affect peoples' lives in very different ways. From the value of garbage in India, to the price of human kidneys on the open market, to the various ways that weddings are financed, the author presents a lively overview of the costs and benefits of individual decisions. Whether the choice is as deceptively mundane as the price of work, to more philosophical discussions including price of happiness or a human life, Eduardo Porter recognizes that a price point can be discovered for the value. Even the seemingly free item or service has a price and a value. Throughout the book, Eduardo Porter demonstrates that goods, services, and even ideas, have a wide range of values to different people, in a variety of places. As the author points out, even the future has a price.



Eduardo Porter (photo left) recognizes that the old adage that everything has a price is true in both a theoretical and literal sense. Even the very concept of what people consider to be change in the culture, is related to how people adapt to changing prices. Different times and cultures place different values on the tangible and the unseen, and that variation is reflected in the price. Prices shape, not only how people shop and influence what they buy, but prices have an effect on how people make daily decisions in general. The choices may be as small as deciding which coffee to purchase, to life changing decisions to get married or have children. The concept of a cost-benefit analysis takes place in every decision made in life. The calculation may be conscious, or completely in the subconscious mind. The important thing, is that price consideration is part of the thought process. In other words, for Eduardo Porter, prices rule our lives in both explicit and implicit ways.

For me, the power of the book is how Eduardo Porter describes both the hidden and obvious influence of prices on the everyday and long term decision making process. The author provides both a theoretical framework to show the impact of prices, and the multitude of ways that they influence both individuals and very large groups of people. Eduardo Porter adds many interesting examples of pricing in action, including at the daily choice level, and at the more esoteric values level. Even the concept of free takes on a price value in this tremendous study of prices. The societal effects of prices are both subtle and profound, and pricing can even alter social behavior in unexpected ways. A

Eduardo Porter includes an important chapter on how prices can also fail to deliver on their promise. As with the price itself, the failure of prices also creates a profound influence on human behavior and activity. The author, while reflecting on the influence of prices, doesn't subscribe to the idea of rational economy theory. The rational theory of selfish self interest, and always rational behavior on the part of people is discarded for a deeper and more profound concept. The author seeks a more holistic economic model where values and prices are not determined entirely by selfishness, but through deeper behavioral and psychological processes. Overall, the author's multi-disciplinary idea is more realistic, and closer to the way people actually express preferences and make decisions than the sterile and discredited rational market theory.

I highly recommend the very engaging landmark book The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do by Eduardo Porter, to anyone seeking an entertaining and profound examination of the role that price plays in everyone's decision making process. The assessment of price and value may be explicit, or it may be hidden deep within the subconscious mind, but it influences the way we act and behave as individuals and as entire societies.

Read the important and fresh thinking filled book The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do by Eduardo Porter, and discover how prices influence your daily life, and your long term decision making process. You will never look at prices and your personal preferences in the same way again.

Tags: The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do, Eduardo Porter, behavioral economics, economics book reviews.

Split-Second Persuasion by Kevin Dutton - Book review

Split-Second Persuasion

The Ancient Art and New Science of Changing Minds

By: Kevin Dutton, Ph.D.

Published: February 3, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
ISBN-10: 0151012792
ISBN-13: 978-0151012794
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt














"It's largely because of persuasion that we have a "society" at all", writes psychologist and research fellow with the Faraday Institute of Science and Religion at Cambridge University, Kevin Dutton, Ph.D., in his insightful and thought provoking book Split-Second Persuasion: The Ancient Art and New Science of Changing Minds. The author describes how people have developed a sense of persuasion that works to protect them, influence others, and to build a working culture and society.

Kevin Dutton provides a highly readable and very entertaining discussion, not only of how people are inclined toward persuasion, but also why persuasion is such an elemental aspect of human life. For the author, persuasion is a natural part of being human, and as a result people persuade, or are persuaded, hundreds of times each and every day. The art and science of persuasion, as described by the author, is so critical to human society, that people could not exist without it as a societal bonding agent. Although people are hardwired for persuading and for being persuaded, not everyone shares equal abilities to convince others of an opinion, idea, or action. Kevin Dutton shares ideas for improving persuasion skills, why different people possess different persuasive skills, and why these are important concepts to consider for everyone.



Kevin Dutton, Ph.D. (photo left) recognizes an inborn strain of persuasive ability that appears, in many different and seemingly unconnected form,s and in very widely diverse people. The very principle of changing other peoples' minds is not only important from a societal viewpoint, but can even mean the very survival of the individual. Kevin Dutton shares stories of ordinary people, and of the super persuaders who have finely tuned mind changing skills. Through an understanding of how these exceptional persuaders achieve their goals, the author discerns the skills necessary for the improvement of persuasion skills overall. Kevin Dutton points to newborn infants as a perfect example of extreme persuasive skills that appeal to everyone, even people entirely without connection to the baby. The author also examines how group dynamics influence the ability to persuade or be persuaded, by applying the latest studies into brain science. He even looks into how brain activity can cause a person to believe completely something that is demonstrably not true.

For me, the power of the book is how Kevin Dutton describes the concept of persuasion in an engaging and persuasive manner. Indeed, the author utilizes the power of persuasion in presenting his case, making the book even more important to read and understand. Kevin Dutton combines the latest research in brain studies and neuroscience, with stories and anecdotes of real world persuasion in action. Drawing examples as different as shamans, advertisers, hostage negotiators, and psychopaths, Kevin Dutton emphasizes that the techniques of persuasion, and of being convinced to change one's mind even in the face of factual evidence, are universal. With both the real world examples, and the latest scientific discoveries in hand, the author provides important advice for improving one's own persuasion skills; and for recognizing when those same methods are used by others. Since people make decisions in an instant, the information and discoveries offered in this book make it an important volume.

I highly recommend the must read and groundbreaking book Split-Second Persuasion: The Ancient Art and New Science of Changing Minds by Kevin Dutton, Ph.D., to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of how and why we are persuaded to make the small and major decisions of our lives. This fine book teaches the average person how the most persuasive individuals change the minds of others, as well as how groups of people can experience a mind changing event as well.

Read the entertaining and idea filled book Split-Second Persuasion: The Ancient Art and New Science of Changing Minds by Kevin Dutton, Ph.D., and discover the hidden importance of both the art and science of persuasion to society. The concepts presented in this book will change your mind about how your mind is changed.

Tags: Split-Second Persuasion: The Ancient Art and New Science of Changing Minds, Kevin Dutton, Ph.D., marketing and advertising, business book reviews.

Death of the American Investor by Nico Willis - Book review

Death of the American Investor

The Emergence of New Global Eshareholder

By: Nico R. Willis

Published: January 2011
Format: Paperback, 237 pages
ISBN-10: 0615392628
ISBN-13: 978-0615392622
Publisher: Networth Publications











"To understand our present situation, we must acknowledge and learn from the past. The stock market is consistently cyclical in nature", writes President and CEO if NetWorth Services, Inc., Nico R. Willis, in his visionary and empowering book Death of the American Investor: The Emergence of New Global Eshareholder. The author takes the reader on a guided tour of the tumultuous past, the unsettled present, and the fascinating future of Wall Street and of the investment world.

Nico Willis recognizes the importance of studying and understanding history to create a deeper insight into future events. The author shares an insider history of Wall Street through its many cycles of crashes, booms, and times of relative tranquility. The author knows from history that the stock market is cyclical in nature, and that those cycles occur at very regular intervals. Nico Willis points out that bubbles can turn quickly to crashes, and that at the lowest points of the market the market begins a fresh upward climb. Through an examination of the past, Nico Willis provides a powerful crystal ball peering into the stock market's future over the long term.



Nico R. Willis (photo left) Examines how the past cycles of the stock market continue to the present day, and will continue to function well into the future. The author looks at how today's roller coaster market, complete with its bubbles, crashes, and ponzi scheme operators, is just one more part of the long cyclical market history. The historical study, of a market driven by emotion and social mood, provides both a warning and a promise for the average investor. Nico Willis sees the market as rising like a phoenix from the ashes, and a new form of stock market developing, based on electronic trade and a cashless society. The author describes how modern investments function and operate in the current market economy.

Nico Willis shares a vision of a new global eShareholder appearing as a direct outgrowth of globalization, high technology, and the internet. Armed with better information, and much more education than past investors, the eShareholder will operate like a professional market trader. The future of investing relies on the knowledge of the cyclical nature of the market, access to information, management of expectations, and proper execution of trades.

For me, the power of the book is how Nico Willis provides a strong historical background to his investment strategy. By examining closely how the market cycles have worked in the past, the author helps the investor recognize the market cycles and their regular appearances. With this knowledge, an investor can avoid being trapped in a falling market, or miss out on gains in a rising market. Through a study of the present market conditions, Nico Willis offers a real time case study in how the market operates at any given moment. The combination of the past and the present, along with a clear understanding of the cyclical nature of the market provides a clear insight to consider the future of the market. Nico Willis shares in vivid detail his own vision of the market.

Nico Willis describes the rise of the global eShareholder as a natural outgrowth of today's investor, and he also places this new electronic investor into a clear historical context. The author emphasizes that stock market cycles will not disappear in the future. He also points out that emotion, in the form of the investment social mood, will govern the mass entry and exit from the market. This has always been the case, and will continue to be the case in the future. Overall, Nico Willis is a clear eyed realist, who applies that reality to creating a vision of the future of the stock market. With that historical knowledge in hand, any investor can benefit from reading this book, and put that information to work for them.

I highly recommend the concise and thought provoking book Death of the American Investor: The Emergence of New Global Eshareholder by Nico R. Willis, to any investor who seeks a long term appraisal of the stock market, from both a historical perspective, and a vision of the future. This book provides solid analysis of the past, present, and future of the stock market in a realistic and clear eyed manner. Nico Willis doesn't pull any punches or gloss over problems. The author's straight talk makes this book an excellent read and a useful long term textbook for investors.

Read the valuable and informative book Death of the American Investor: The Emergence of New Global Eshareholder by Nico R. Willis, and put this wisdom and experience shared in this fine book to work for your investments. This book will prepare you for investing today, and to become a global eShareholder in the future as well.

Tags: Death of the American Investor: The Emergence of New Global Eshareholder, Nico R. Willis, stock market investing, business book reviews.

How To Get Out Of Job Jail by Audrey B. LeGrand - Book review

How To Get Out of Job Jail

Eight Ways to Have the Career You've Always Wanted

By: Audrey B. LeGrand

Published: November 1, 2007
Format: Paperback, 97 pages
ISBN-10: 0615201717
ISBN-13: 978-0615201719
Publisher: Innovators & Motivators







"Unless you are the president of your company, you probably have your eye on a job that is different from the one you have now", writes corporate trainer and human resources consultant Audrey B. LeGrand, in her engaging and very hands on book How To Get Out of Job Jail: Eight Ways to Have the Career You've Always Wanted. The author describes a step by step process to manage a career from an entry level job, to a top management position, or an entrepreneurial success story.

Audrey LeGrand recognizes the critical importance of not only getting a better job, but of finding and landing a position in the career that best suits the person's goals and passion. For the author, to feel trapped in an unsuitable or undesirable job is the equivalent of being in job jail. Audrey LeGrand guides the prospective jail breaker through her system for not only finding a dream job; but for landing a position in a dream career. The author starts at the logical point of helping the job seeker discover the most desirable job to launch that ideal career path. The journey continues through self discovery to include the necessary qualifications to do an exceptional job. With the goals and qualifications in hand, Audrey LeGrand shares some valuable preparation tips, and the motivation to make the leap into that great career.



Audrey B. LeGrand (photo left) presents her valuable and easy to remember CAREER system, where each letter represents an essential part of the journey from job jail to the dream career:

C - communication skills
A - abilities
R - responsibilities
E - etiquette skills - entrepreneurial traits
E - enthusiasm - ethics
R - relationship skills

Audrey LeGrand guides the job seeker through each of these crucial steps, to ensure that the prospective employee or future entrepreneur, is offering the total package of skills and personal traits. With this sound advice in hand, the prospective job jail escapee is equipped to not only make a career change in a good economy, but in a recessionary period as well. Exceptional employees are in high demand in any economy, and this book teaches a person how to be the applicant who stands out in the crowd.

For me, the power of the book is how Audrey LeGrand wastes no space with unnecessary information. Every page in this fine book provides either a critical lesson, or helps in the self-assessment process to ensure that the person understands their own passions and goals. To break free of job jail forever, a person not only must know the job requirements of the sought after position, but know themselves as well. The author shares her secrets for knowing oneself better, and for transferring that knowledge into career action.

The book contains numerous checklists, and self-assessment forms, resulting in a book that not only provides very useful information, but is a study guide as well. Reading the book is more than simply absorbing the wisdom, but also an exercise in learning throughout. Every chapter concludes with a handy summary for quick review, to make sure that all of the concepts are understood and internalized by the reader. The author also includes important chapters on employment ethics and on etiquette, that are so often missing from career change guidebooks. Overall, the book is one that can help the prospective job seeker enter into that dream career, seamlessly and with flair.

I highly recommend the highly practical and discovery oriented book How To Get Out of Job Jail: Eight Ways to Have the Career You've Always Wanted by Audrey B. LeGrand, to anyone seeking to escape an undesirable job, and needs some powerful advice for entering that dream career. This book provides the tools and skills necessary for making the transition from dead end to extraordinary employment.

Read the handy and results minded book How To Get Out of Job Jail: Eight Ways to Have the Career You've Always Wanted by Audrey B. LeGrand, and put the power of CAREER thinking to work for you. Your escape from job jail will be a glorious event, as you embark on the exciting career that you were born to live.

Tags: How To Get Out of Job Jail: Eight Ways to Have the Career You've Always Wanted, Audrey B. LeGrand, career management, business book reviews.

How Frank Lloyd Wright Got Into My Head, Under My Skin and Changed The Way I Think About Thinking by Sandy Sims - Book review

How Frank Lloyd Wright Got Into My Head, Under My Skin and Changed The Way I Think About Thinking

A Creative Thinking Blueprint for the 21st Century

By: Sandy Sims

Published: July 26, 2010
Format: Paperback, 212 pages
ISBN-10: 1449961312
ISBN-13: 978-1449961312
Publisher: CreateSpace











"Overcoming fear in the face of a challenge is a common theme. On the surface, it merits no special recognition, except when it is happening to you", writes successful advertising agency entrepreneur Sandy Sims, in his engaging and deeply personal book How Frank Lloyd Wright Got Into My Head, Under My Skin and Changed The Way I Think About Thinking: A Creative Thinking Blueprint for the 21st Century. The author describes how his encounter with the thinking of legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright affected him deeply, and changed his approach to thought and creativity in a life altering way.

Sandy Sims shares his experiences of developing property in Hawaii, but that surface narrative is simply the framework for a more profound spiritual journey. As the author enters into a building project, he draws on the design and creative genius Frank Lloyd Wright for inspiration. Along the way, what was ostensibly a land development project transforms itself and the author in ways he never imagined possible. For Sandy Sims, the combination of a health challenge, a career crossroads, and the wisdom of Frank Lloyd Wright provide a gateway to a deeper spiritual awakening. The inward voyage toward self discovery, attained through the assistance of some of the most cutting edge thinkers and philosophers, changed the author's view of life forever.



|sandy Sims (photo left) offers a more profound, and personally challenging vision than one of architectural design and creative thinking. With a powerful spiritual curiosity, combined with a hands on desire for empirical and observational evidence, Sandy Sims enters into a world where the material world dissolves into dust. The author tests his perceived limits as a human, and discovers inner powers that he never knew were part of his material body. Crossing what prove to be artificial boundaries between where science ends and the paranormal world begins, Sandy Sims sees those lines blur, and then disappear entirely. For the author, the worlds of the shaman and the physicist are one and the same, when examined at their deepest levels. Along with the blending of the spiritual and physical worlds, the author sheds the doubts that held him back, and help him to tap into personal powers he never knew he possessed.

For me, the power of the book is how Sandy Sims combines the seemingly separate practical worlds of building and business, with the world of the metaphysical and spirituality. The author discovers the profound truth that not only are the inner world of the mind and spirit connected to the outer world of action, but that one affects the other in unexpected and critical ways. For the author, the journey within, where he bares his soul to the world, provides him with the wisdom and strength to overcome the challenges facing his business and his physical body. With the boundaries between the inner spirit and the outer body being disintegrated, the author is then prepared to challenge and overcome the also artificial boundaries people place between the supposedly real world and that of the mind and spiritual world.

Using the autobiographical format effectively as an outline, the author successfully creates more than he expected with his encounter with the thought of Frank Lloyd Wright. Instead of a mere building and design problem, Sandy Sims moved to a dimension of life where few dare to tread. The personal courage displayed by the author, as he takes life to the very edge of the unknown and the unknowable, is an inspirational lesson for everyone. The author recognizes that he didn't take his inner journey alone, but had his invisible guides to help his transition from conventional thought, to his entry into the realm of the shaman.

I highly recommend the inspirational and compelling book How Frank Lloyd Wright Got Into My Head, Under My Skin and Changed The Way I Think About Thinking: A Creative Thinking Blueprint for the 21st Century by Sandy Sims, to anyone seeking a guide into the spheres of human existence where few ever venture. The book will open a person's eyes to the unlimited possibilities that all people can discover and use to create their own better and richer life. Along with the book, the author also offers a valuable and very hands on accompanying workbook Creative Thinking for the 21st Century that enriches and expands upon the lessons shared in the book itself.

Read the thought provoking and potentially life changing book How Frank Lloyd Wright Got Into My Head, Under My Skin and Changed The Way I Think About Thinking: A Creative Thinking Blueprint for the 21st Century by Sandy Sims, and begin your own spiritual journey, sharing the creative thought of your own personal invisible partners, as you extend your personal powers beyond the everyday world. This transformational book is an excellent starting point for a voyage of self discovery that will help overcome the obstacles of your life.

Tags: How Frank Lloyd Wright Got Into My Head, Under My Skin and Changed The Way I Think About Thinking: A Creative Thinking Blueprint for the 21st Century, Sandy Sims, spiritual journey, business book reviews.

You Can't Fire Everyone by Hank Gilman - Book review

You Can't Fire Everyone

And Other Lessons from an Accidental Manager

By: Hank Gilman

Published: March 17,2011
Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
ISBN-10: 1591843782
ISBN-13: 978-1591843788
Publisher: Portfolio/Penguin












"But the biggest problem is that no one ever trained us how to be a good boss - or any sort of boss, for that matter", writes deputy managing editor of Fortune, Hank Gilman, in his very entertaining and perceptive book You Can't Fire Everyone: And Other Lessons from an Accidental Manager. The author describes, through acute observation and often bitter experience, how creative people are seldom taught how to be good managers; and the often questionable results speak for themselves.

Hank Gilman recognizes that the same skills that made him a very successful journalist, failed to equip him to manage other journalists and support staff. The author provides in often hilarious detail how he received on the job training as a manager. In effect, Hank Gilman became a manager by accident and circumstance. The job was never his by design or desire. Hank Gilman points out that very qualities that make for a great journalist, are exactly the opposite of the skills essential to managing successfully. For the author, a good journalist is very often a loner. A manager must have strong interpersonal skills. This disconnect of skills and personality, with the requirements of the managerial role, are the source of many problems for the accidental manager.



Hank Gilman (photo left) understands the critical importance of providing training for new managers. For people in creative, artistic, or individualistic professions, the training is even more essential. All too often, people are simply promoted to managerial roles, without having sought them, or even having expressed an interest in the position. The results, as Hank Gilman's humorous anecdotes illustrate, are not only ineffective managers, but tragically bad managers. Through his learning management skills by the seat of his pants, and through trial and error, Hank Gilman distills some valuable advice for any new manager, regardless of industry or profession:

* Moving from peer to boss is not an easy transition
* Firing a ill suited employee is often the best thing for the person
* How to manage the best employees successfully to keep them motivated
* Why it's better to focus on employee strengths, and minimize their weaknesses
* Helping others succeed, helps the newly minted manager to succeed too

For me, the power of the book is how Hank Gilman pulls no delivers his hard earned wisdom in an engaging and memorable format. The information is packaged neatly into short chapters, with each story providing an important managerial lesson. The author admits that he was not an effective manager when he got the job, and his honesty is refreshing for a book on management. The fact that Hank Gilman never aspired to a managerial role gives him a unique perspective on a highly variable role. As the author points out so candidly, not all trained managers are effective with their staff either. By putting his employees first, and ensuring their success, Hank Gilman discovered one of the most timeless and important managerial lesson. People who are treated with respect and dignity will perform their jobs well and with engagement.

I highly recommend the delightful and wisdom filled book You Can't Fire Everyone: And Other Lessons from an Accidental Manager by Hank Gilman, to any any first time or seasoned managers. The author's straight talk on management skills can be read with profit by any business person. The author's experiences strike a universal chord with all managers, and the ideas he shares are helpful to any supervisor, manager, or executive.

Read the engaging and hands on book You Can't Fire Everyone: And Other Lessons from an Accidental Manager by Hank Gilman, and discover how to better work with employees, in any size organization. The advice offered is helpful to all managers at any stage of their careers. This is the ideal book for an accidental manager, who is given the sink or swim managerial training course. It can even be a real career saver for the inexperienced manager as well.

Tags: You Can't Fire Everyone: And Other Lessons from an Accidental Manager, Hank Gilman, personnel management, business book reviews.