Book Reviews by Sarah Fraser

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 06:51:00 +0000

I didn't realise this was a vampire book until I was well into it. I would not have chosen to buy it because of my prejudice about vampires and literature, however, the concept of the book is redeeming and engaged me. It works well as a "vampire-book-for-grown-ups".

Cade is a 160 year old vampire who is morally chained to the Office of the US President and who ultimately is the only person left to solve a crisis. The characters are believable and push the story forward. At times I felt there were too many people as new characters are introduced all through the book.

The back story and context is dealt with very well. Most chapters start with a quote from an "official" text which provides information necessary to understand the characters and the plot. Towards the end (trying not to provide a spoiler...) there is some confusion over whether there are three or four "thingies". It felt like the author originally had three and then edited to change to four, changing the numbers but not specific plot details. It took me three read-backs to work out what was going on. Until then the narrative flowed smoothly.

The vampire protagonist is a great character and I'd happily read another book by the same author with Cade in the lead. Though I'll be expecting the plot to be less convoluted and easier to follow.

Minor note to the author and publisher: the title Blood Oath has been used in other books, in a popular Star Trek episode and in vampire games. Consequently, an Internet search does not bring up details of this book without a bit more digging.

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:45:00 +0000

I can't recall ever before reading a book three times. I may even read it for a fourth time. This is a best-seller and truly deserves its position. It needs to be a compulsory textbook for all scientists, journalists, healthcare professionals, teachers, parents - well, everyone can benefit by digesting its contents.

Ben Goldacre has carved a niche for himself in highlighting the daft and downright dishonest reports that abuse statistics to sell products, pills, methods and interventions. If he writes a sequel, it hope he names it something like "Wise Up, You Idiots!".

Through compelling and sometimes controversial case studies, Goldacre teaches the reader how statistics can be and are manipulated for the benefit of some. Although I am not too bad at handling statistics I finished this book, each time, with a far greater understanding of the analysis, manipulation and presentation of data. For me, the best best aspect of the book is the totally no nonsense approach of the writing. It is perhaps toned down a wee bit compared to his blog http://www.badscience.net/.

So if you want to know the statistical facts behind the Brain Gym, the Media's MMR Hoax, Dr Gillian McKeith, Homeopathy, Professor Patrick Holford and other juicy topics which form part of our perceived wisdom, then read the book - at least twice.

In Good Company; how social capital makes organizations work by Cohen & Pusak

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:12:00 +0000

I had to stop and check out the publishing date of this book. Heavens, it is ten years old, yet seems as fresh as the this morning's dawn. What impressed me was its ability to focus on the social without getting lost in the technology aspects of social. That was my heads up to this book being written before the advent of the "bright and shiny" social networking (as in on-line) era.

The authors focus on the concept of social capital. Their definition of this is "Social capital consists of the stock of active connections among people; the trust, mutual understanding, and shared values and behaviours that bind the members of human networks and communities and make cooperative action possible".

The chapter on trust made more sense to me than most of the consultancy-type frameworks that proliferate. They explain how it is the key to social capital and how it is a demonstrable social system behaviour.

Networks and communities are a fashionable topic and have been since the onset of debate about communities of practice. These authors focus on the role of social groups, the basics of communities and networks, as well as the value of the networks. I wonder how much we know about our organizational networks and whether we have stopped to value them?

I loved the chapter on space and time to connect. In these impatient days of quick fixes, rapid cycles of change, the flurries of new ideas on how to do something, we can all do with a refocus on what it is that is the glue in the system. This glue is of course the social capital. Social capital is a by product of many processes and structures, and most importantly needs attention to time and space. When last did you calculate the return on investment of your lunch half hour away from your desk sitting at a table with some colleagues. The trouble;l with this book is I agreed with everything and in the same instant felt the impossibility of it all. Nevertheless there are some thought provoking issues to consider. For example there is no point in exhorting storytelling as a method of engaging staff in change unless we personally experience story telling, walk the talk, take the time to tell stories and more importantly to listen to other people's stories. The chapter on social talk and storytelling is a must for any leader who is evoking this as a method for change.

If you're not convinced so far then the chapter on the challenge of volatility is crucial. Here we learn how social capital can transcend and transform, against all circumstances.

In case you think they missed the boat by not considering the technology opportunities the chapter on the challenge of virtuality says it all, without getting lost in the technical details.

This is another book that has languished on my bookshelf. Something triggered me to buy it all those years ago. Having read it I felt affirmed and inspired. I'm going to reflect and work on my social capital. And you?

PS there are some great books written by Laurence Prusak - check out his website. There are also videos by him on storytelling and knowledge management.

Performance Drivers; A Practical Guide to using the Balanced Scorecard - Olve, Roy, Wetter

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:39:00 +0000

On the one hand the topic of this book seemed old and faded - there must be 10 new methods for change and improvement being issued every day - yet on the other hand, it seemed fresh and comforting, like a newly washed pair of favourite socks. It was comforting because it answered the questions I had in a way which build on my existing knowledge, and fresh because it left me with new ideas and measurement strategies.

Part I covers the reasoning behind the need for a Balanced Scorecard and how it is effective for strategic control. I liked the way the authors explained how the dynamic between measures is so important. I think so often this interdependence is lost, with the result that we have undesirable knock on consequences in our systems or we miss valuable opportunities for improvement.

Part II takes you through the process of building a Balanced Scorecard. The cases from different industries illustrate the diverse ways you can do this. There is more detail in here about understanding and using causal relationships between measures.

Implementing a Scorecard is discussed separately to building and designing one. This section, Part III, covers IT systems that help as well as the facilitation process to ensure the scorecard is used to develop a learning culture rather than performance management straight jacket.

Part IV explains how you can use Scorecards to inform parties outside the organisation and there is also a chapter on their use in the Public Sector. If you are working in the Public Sector you may like to start with this chapter.

Finally, Part V has hints, tips and advice on making the scorecard process a success. If it were me I would have put these notes earlier in the book as they are important.

If you are bereft of any ideas on what measures to use then the authors have helpfully compiled a "starter for 10" list in a useful Appendix.

I recommend this as a handbook for those who are searching for ways to measure the dynamic variables in a system or organisation, with the aim of learning from the output.

The ABCs of Evaluation - Boulmetis & Dutwin

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:16:00 +0000

I've rediscovered another older book (2005) on the bookshelf. I was browsing round the home library searching for inspiration in developing an evaluation for a leadership development program. I remembered what I liked about this book the first time round.

The authors have produced a book which is set out logically. It covers the choices you have and steps to take to carry out an evaluation. I found the section describing different evaluation models and which one to choose was just what I was looking for:
1. Discrepancy Model: use when the program is so interwoven within the organisational context it is difficult to discover freestanding changes
2. The Goal Free model focuses on the participants needs and is independent of the organisation's needs.
3. The transactional model is similar to the goal free model with the exception that the evaluator plays a more active role in the evaluation process.
4. The decision makingg model focuses less on the success of the program and more on the longer term sustainability
5. The most popular model is the goal-based where the outcomes are assessed against the organisation's objectives (or program objectives)
The authors do also list other evaluation models and I would be interested in using systems analysis with my healthcare programs. The version using art criticism where you bring in an expert in the field to review progress is an interesting one I had never thought of. The adversary model where participants present their views and a "jury" hears their evidence might be useful for the rapid assessments we sometimes need to make.

The evaluator's role is covered as a continuum from the start of the program through to the end as well as the level of active participation in the evaluation process.

I was interested in what an evaluation is supposed to measure. Having got used to most healthcare evaluations answering "has the program delivered its objectives" it was good to see that "was the program efficient in terms of cost and staff time - was the expense worthwhile?". What we often mean when we say sustainability, the authors use impact. I like this as it covers not just the sustainability of the results but also the magnitude of the results as contributing to the organisation's long term objectives.

The book also includes the types of data, how to present it and the process of writing up your report.

I'd recommend this book if you're starting out in evaluation or need a refresher. If you're a seasoned program evaluator I suspect you will find other books go to more depth.

http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787979023.html

(Book Cover image from Wiley)

Rapid Transformation; A 90 Day Plan for Fast & Effective Change - Tabrizi

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:30:00 +0000

The change, improvement and OD fashion at the moment seems to be about speeding up the process. Part of me is a bit suspect about this because I believe change is a very personal and behaviour driven thing. However, another part of me believes that getting some momentum and steam behind an initiative is incredibly important.

Rapid Transformation was an easy read and I found many of the exhortations obvious, reasonable and at times felt like nothing new. What is new, however, is the exhortation to get your skates on and do stuff in 30 days that you might previously have taken 12 - 36 months to do. Another underpinning theme of the book is that incremental change is not enough. To survive and thrive organisations need to transform their businesses - and do so continuously and quickly. (Leaves me breathless just thinking about it...)

According to this book - and also in my experience - planning is everything.

Pre-planning stage: this is about ensuring you've fully diagnosed what the problem is that you're trying to solve. There seems to be no clear timeline on this and maybe this is where the devil lies. Maybe all change takes a long time to figure this out. SO if this preplanning stage takes months and years then the "rapid" is lost.

1st 30 days: Do the assessment; gather data and information and look to turn it into knowledge. This is a key stage and one which may at times be left out. Trick here is you get a max of 30 days to do this activity. Now that is new.

2nd 30 days: Get your future vision sorted, make sure all the goals are linked together and get this vision out to the organisation. You get 30 days to do this. In my experience the method of creating the vision and the method of communication is important. Somehow the author leaves me feeling this is an easy task to be done in 30 days.

3rd 30 days: Develop your plan. This is where you sort out the schedule for change etc.

So where is the implementation?

Ah, implementation begins on day 91.

I can see how for organisational transformation which is quite complex, that the implementation will take a long time (well, more than 90 days). However, with the preplanning stage and the implementation stage taken out of the way, this book focuses on just the getting started phase. While it does provide some useful ideas and methods for getting the right wax on the snowboard so you get a good combination of grip and slide, I do feel it is only part of the transformation story.

You can get more information about the book, the method and the author here:
http://www.rapidtransformation.com/index.html

Spiritual Capital; wealth we can live by. Zohar, Marshall

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:55:00 +0000

You know about IQ. Along came EQ. And now we have SQ - Spiritual Capital.

Published in 2004, this book languished on my bookshelf filed somewhere between management books, self-help and fiction. Having read it I will now file it permanently under management texts. Although it is written for an individual to read and contemplate their own SQ, it is framed for wider thinking covering society and organisations.

The authors provide explanation of the different type of Capital:
IQ: Material Capital, rational intelligence - What I think
EQ: Social Capital, emotional intelligence - What I feel
SQ: Spiritual Capital, spiritual intelligence - What I am

SQ is defined at what a community or organisation exists for, aspires to, takes responsibility for. These combine to provide a moral and motivation framework for existing. "Spiritual" is described as human beings asking why we are doing what we are doing and suggest we seek a better way of doing it. It is not, as the authors state, about shrines in hallways or calling employees to prayer.

SQ links to corporate social responsibility (CSR). When I read this I wondered how much public sector organisations monitored their CSR - being funded byt he taxpayer does not automatically create CSR.

The authors spend a few chapters unpicking various theories of motivation. Nothing new in here if you've covered this before, however, I liked the way they framed their discussion and the use of their motivation scale.

They suggest twelve principles of transformation. These alone are worth the read. So much of the change management and improvement work I am involved in is focused on transformation. These authors provide a thought-provoking, simple yet rich framework for conceiving of and applying transformation.

The book ends with a chapter on corporate spiritualism and asking the question "Is it still capitalism".

If you are trying to figure out your own meaning at work, leading others through change processes or concerned about your organisation's "soul", then this book will provide you with some language and structure to frame your thoughts.

(book cover photo from Amazon.com)

Sustaining lean healthcare programme; a practical survival guide - Eaton & Phillip

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:51:00 +0000

Different book styles appeal differently, to different people. This one appealed to me because it is relatively short (94 pages plus appendices), well organised, uses bullet points and lists, checklists, diagrams and has some short examples to illustrate points.

Contents include:

Where are you on your journey
Why do only 24% succeed?
Going Lean
The top ten signs of a failing programme
Creating a lean healthcare organisation
Four key checklists
The next eight things to do...

So do only 25% succeed? The authors suggest there are 8 critical success categories Communications. resources, involvement, training, implementation, compass, achievement and leadership (yes, these do spell "critical"). If you like wordplay then read the book and discover PRISM, CAD, VSE, RIE, RPE, FIT, FMEA etc. Not as bad as it looks in a list here. I found them a good description, and sometimes reminder, of basic principles.

The chapter on the top 10 signs of a failing program is easily read. For each reason there is an explanation of what you may experience, why it happens and then what you can do about it.

The four checklists you need? One each on people, success, tools and culture. Nothing really new to me, just nicely organised.

I particularly liked the Appendices which included key lean phrases and concepts (worth the price of the book for its organisation and simplicity), audit form, guide to common saying (fabulous!), and then a number of "how to" guides.

I know Mark Eaton has actually implemented lean in healthcare. This book is a demonstration that when written by someone who has got their hands dirty it turns into valuable desktop reference.

You can't order change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing - Peter Cohan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:12:00 +0000

I was attracted to this book because the title said what I have always thought yet doesn't seem to be what I get involved with doing! I spend a lot of time on Boeings so I felt I had an interest in knowing what they doing and how they are doing it.

A while back Boeing was in a mess - stockprice was down, staff were complaining, revenue was not as anticipated, key people were leaving, lawsuits abounded and generally everything was on a downward trend. Enter CEO Jim McNerney who gained a reputation of requiring results to speak for themselves rather than putting himself on a pedestal.

This book takes you through the CEO perspective and actions in turning around a self-destructing monolith. The view I got form the book was the importance of people stuff, relationships and leadership in times of trouble. Sounds obvious but in my experience I see organisations go down the route of more rules, process redesign and the like when the crunch hits.

Cohan interprets McNerney's approach as expressing what is required from leaders in the organisation, working with people so they jointly own these leadership attributes and encouraging communication at all levels. He also got rid of the people who didn't make the grade while investing in those who were growing into leadership roles with the right skills and capabilities. After people, the big message is the importance of the person who manages the finances. Then there is also the piece about customer involvement.

Written in summary here all this looks like the standard stuff of management and leadership texts. However, Cohan does explain all these actions in the context of Boeing. Still - to me, much of the diagnosis ended up a bit samey. Maybe that is more a reflection of my expectations - was I looking for something unique? Maybe the answer to large scale change in large organisations really is simple - the difficulty is in applying the tactics.

Overall - nothing new in here and maybe that is what is new.

Sway; the irresistable pull of irrational behaviour by Brafman & Brafman

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 06:45:00 +0000

Irrational behavour? Me? Never!

The Brafman brothers write a compelling story of how irrational our behaviour is in a variety of circumstances. While most of the book is well evidenced they bring each of the issues alive with stories that make sense - perhaps too much sense.

I'm getting a bit tired of the constant use of the airline industry as a safety example. So it was with interest I read through the case study on the crash at Tenerife which was one of the largest loss of life incidents. The authors demonstrate how the perception of loss played an important part in the creation of the incident.

Next up is a football team in the US which managed to beat all the major players but relinquishing their commitment to the predominant method of play. The story here is about how our commitment to a certain way limits our opportunities for growth and advancement. The authors show how loss and commitment add together to become a powerful irrational pull.

The chapter on value attribution is quite scary. They use a number of examples. One is of a famous violin player dressed casually playing complex tunes in an underground station during rush hour. hardly anyone paid him any notice at all. Yet some would pay large sums of money to hear him play on stage dressed in his dinner suit. The book is worth the read in this chapter about the discovery of a human fossil and how scientists of the day were not prepared to give it credence because the discoverer wasn't "one of them".

If you are currently either interviewing people for a job or going for interviews yourself, then the next chapter which looks at how initial diagnoses or decisions sway our long term responses to individuals.

Perceptions, beliefs and context come under scrutiny in the next chapter. If you want to understand why the USA has a Bipolar epidemic then read about it here. If you are involved in training and developing individuals then the examples of belief are important to understand.

So what is fairness? Read on to discover the importance of context.If you think monetary incentives are a motivation to change behaviour then the next chapter provides some examples which may rattle your thoughts. By now I was beginning to understand just how irrational we are as human beings. And just when I've grasped a bit of my own irrationality, the authors move onto the irrationality of groups, particularly looking at blockers and dissenters.

If you are wondering why no-one is following your instructions, why it is too difficult to plan something, why you always seem right and no-one else wrong... etc. then I thoroughly recommend this very readable book. It is an easy and relatively quick read (once - I had to reread to make sure I grasped what was being said).

Go to the book's website for the author's blog, a preview and other information (great videos):

http://www.swaybook.com/index.html

Tribes: we need you to lead us; by Seth Godin

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:28:00 +0000

All of Seth Godin's books are amongst my favourites - sometimes you just resonate with an author. I like the way he speaks his mind and is unafraid to test out new thoughts and ideas.

He explains a tribe is nothing ore than a group of people connected to an idea, a leader and one another. His point is that with the web as it is developing we have more ways to find people of similar ilk and to join the "tribe". However, not all of these groups are fruitful and they need leaders and facilitation in order for them to be productive and constructive. This leadership angle is important.

Seth Godin's thoughts as I connected to them in this book is that being a leader of a tribe is tough and demanding. Often tribal leaders are accused of being outside the norm - a bit of a heretic. He believes that the leaders who are perceived as such and who stick to their views will win out in the end.

What does the author suggest we do to grow these tribal social movements?
1. Publish a manifesto; state who you are and what you are about
2. Others need to find and connect to you - make this as easy as possible
3. Keep the financial stuff in the background
4. Publicly track your movement's momentum and growth
mmm easy on paper though I wonder just how easy it is to do these things.

As good as his books, I also recommend Seth's Blog http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ and you can find out more about him and his books at http://www.sethgodin.com

The 29% Solution by Misner & Donovan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:54:00 +0000

How can you improve your networking skills so you become one of the 29% of people who are separated from the rest of the world by six degrees? After explaining that we are not all connected to everyone by six degrees and that it takes some work to be in that position, this books provides a 52 week guide to achieving this.

Here are the week by week headings (it is worth reading the book to understand the detail underlying each one):
1. Set networking goals
2. Make time to network
3. Profile your preferred client
4. Recruit your word-of-mouth marketing team
5. Give to others first
6. Create a network relationship database
7. Master the top 10 traits of an effective networker (these include positive attitude, trustworthiness, good listening skills, helpfulness, timely response etc)
8. Diversify your contacts
9. Meet the right people
10. Reconnect with people from the past
11. Talk to your family
12. Break out of your "cave-like" routine
13. Participate in a web networking group
14. Become a centre of influence (develop magnetism)
15. Go the extra mile; be value-added
16. Become a catalyst who makes things happen
17. Find a networking partner to help accountability
18. Volunteer visibly
19. Send thank you cards
20. Follow up today
21. Be available 24/7
22. Create catalyst events beyond the workplace
23. Have purposeful meetings
24. Make first impressions count
25. Seek out a referral networking group
26. Join a Chamber of Commerce
27. Sponsor events
28. Host a purposeful event
29. Ask questions of others
30. Talk about benefits not features
31. Comunicate your business succinctly
32. Speak about your business
33. Leverage your business card
34. Give high-value presentations
35. Create an informative newsletter
36. Write press releases
37. Write your own identity
38. Ask for written testimonials
39. Share your success stories
40. Write your own personal introduction
41. Blow your own trumpet (or toot your own horn if you're in the USA!)
42. Ask for feedback
43. Adopt a host mentality at functions
44. Use the law of reciprocity
45. Write a letter of support
46. Ask for referrals
47. Read the paper with the intent to discover referrals
48. Conquer your public speaking fear
49. Become the hub of a power team
50. Become a networking mentor
51. Recruit an advisory board for your business
52. Commit to lifelong learning

(I've tweaked the wordings on the list a bit to suit my own understanding.)

Overtreated by Shannon Brownlee

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:33:00 +0000

The subtiutle of this book is "Why too much medicine is making us sicker and poorer". This book was quite shocking. I know there is a lot of what goes on in healthcare that is unnecessary yet to find a huge amount of detail and information in one place really put the issue into perspective. It is focused mainly on the USA though there are many parallels with other health systems.

Throughout the book, the author provides stories and examples to illustrate the data and statistics that without the stories would appear cold and less shocking.

As I read through the book, particularly in the early chapters I found myself going "I know him/her"! Shannon Brownlee hooks a fair amount of the debate onto the actions of some of the current health leaders in the USA (you might like to read the book to see if you are mentioned...!) There is an excellent chapter on the VA Healthcare systems, how it has improved and in many cases how it is an example of how healthcare in the USA could look and feel.

Chapters include:

Too much medicine: complelling arguments as to why population based healthcare would be a real improvement
The most dangerous place: beware the hospital and what might happen
Your local hospital: how uncoordinated care and overtreatment results in poor outcomes
Broken hearts: how the latest fad takes root, based on economics
The desperate cure: an argument for evidence based care if there ever was one
The limits of seeing: an expose on the limits to radiology tests
The persuaders: mmm who is influencing whom, and why?
Money, drugs and lies: why not to believe everything published in journals
The doctor isn't in: all about managed care
When less is more: some ideas to cope with over-capacity and overtreatment in the USA

This book is a must for every health care improver who believes their own project is making a difference... The strategic and tactical issues raised in it really provide a new perspective.

There is a website for the book, with extracts at http://www.overtreated.com/the_book.html

The Art of Changing the Brain by James Zull

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:29:00 +0000

I was recommended this book by Paul Batalden and he was right - it is excellent.

The subtitle is "Enriching the practice of teaching by exploring the biology of the brain". The author manages to integrate biology and neuroscience with educational and learning tactics. For me the book brought to light the process of learning in the sense of how the structure of the brain influences the process.

Zull explains the natural relationship between the structure of the brain and learning, how brain connections change data into knowledge, the way that evolution of the brain is linked to how we are motivated in our learning, and the importance of emotions in the learning process.

While the book covers some breadth of biology at no time was it too complex to follow for someone like me who has limited knowledge of the subject. I think, if you did know more about biology, then you would possibly get more out of the book than me.

Parts I really like was when Zull got practical and linked the discussion to how teacher can then use this knowledge to provide better learning experiences. Having made the links to brain structure it really made sense. I have been testing out some of the ideas and techniques and they do seem to work for me and for those with whom I work.

If you're a fan of PDSA cycles then on reading this you will probably have a major "Aha" moment as you figure out just how they work!

Groundswell by Charlene Li & Josh Bernoff

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:33:00 +0000

The authors define a groundswell as “…a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions”. mmm that sounds like an important thing to know about if you think you're a traditional institution, or if you think you're breaking new ground, or if you're a consumer wondering why you're starting to feel left out the loop.

What I liked about the book was the examples and case studies. Usually I skip these, however, I foudn these ones riveting reading. Who needs thriller novels when the business world presents us with such chaotic and roller coaster events. Fabulous.

I also found the way the book was constructed and organised to be very helpful, especially when faced with a disconcerting topic. Far from being disorganised, the underlying structure helped get the message through.

Read this book and it will move you on from thinking about "all we need to do is have the odd blog and a fancy web 2.0 website" and get you into strategising about your social media presence. I have always been convinced that social media is not just for the youngesters and this book has all the examples and conceptuals models to help you create some of your own thinking for your business to prove it is for everyone.

The book has, as you would expect, a great website. http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/index.html It is good to see them practising what they preach. They have a blog and there is also a social media profiling tool you can download and use.

I'm not one for giving 5 stars to a book, but this one deserves it. I might just read it a second time.

New Age of Innovation; Prahalad & Krishnan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:25:00 +0000

If you're interested in large scale change and innovation then you'll find this book fascinating. On the one hand it felt like there was nothing startlingly new to me yet on the other it was neatly put together in a readable way that made sense.

A key premise is the current trend of personalisation and how value is based on the unique experience we all want. The authors refer to this as N=1. Current technology drives this, social networking, web 2.0 etc. How can we co-create value with our users and consumers? What are the challenges with managing who owns the knowledge? All good questions. They also suggest we need to make the most of collaborative networks, electronic and face-to-face, be flexible and ensure scalability. I liked the section on scalability and in my mind there is more in here than what they covered. This is a key element and is also linked to their second premise.

The 2nd key premise is the one that resources need to be global and they use another little formaula: R=G. Here they suggest the issue is that access to resources is more importnat than providing products; namely it is the solutions that matter rather than the kit or pieces. I think I agree with this. Again, scalability comes up.

They mention social movements and how they figure int he process as well as organisational transformation. There was nothing much new in the organisational process other than the context of the infomrational technology infrastructure - well, that is rather new and for some people rather perplexing.

If you've not yet engaged with Web 2.0 and new technology then this is definitely worth a read.

The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:47:00 +0000

It's quite annoying to find out that groups make better decisions than you can as an individual - but a very powerful thought. However, the groups need to be diverse, independent and decentralised (so that may exclude a few crowds I can think of...)

We are essentially cooperative beings and meld our behaviour around that of others. One of the examples in the book is how crowds flow in shopping centres, how we move on staircases etc. We do all this even when there are no explicit rules. Mind you, as someone who regularly travels to the US from the UK I know what it is like to accidently move against this flow when I forget to walk on the "right". So maybe there are more socialised rules and logic than the author makes explicit.

One theme in the book which did appeal to me was the notion of the difference making a difference. While it seems inefficient, having a diversity of ideas seems to allow meaningful differences of ideas, especially at the early stages of decision making - and this is important. Groups also need to be able to distinguish good ideas from bad ideas and having more to choose from helps.

There is some helpful work about distinguishing the difference between situations which are easily defined by a single answer, such as the weight of an ox, and those which are more co-ordination problems, such as traffic manageemnt. Co-ordination problems come when all individuals want to go their own way. Here the wisdom of the crowd sound a lot like complexity science and simple rules and I wasn't totally convinced of all of his arguments. However, they were interesting.

A thought provoking book which much more to say that the few bits I have mentioned here.

The book's website is here http://www.randomhouse.com/features/wisdomofcrowds/ where there is a lot of detail and audio to download.

NO! How one simple word can transform your life, by Jana Kemp

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:14:00 +0000

This makes a change from all the "Yes, you can" books! It's basically about getting over the fear of saying now and taking control of any circumstance without negative consequences. A critical aspect as you might imagine is tone of voice and the author words hard to ensure we understand that it's critical we get this right - not too fast, too harsh and to make sure we choos the right words when we do mean it. It is also key to stick to your decision when you've make it.

Kemp has a model called the POWER of No which has an acronym from POWER: Purpose, options, when, emotional ties and rights/responsibilities. She suggests that using this acronym will help us to make a yes / no decision based on the right issues at the time. For me I find it a lot to think about when considering a yes/ no response online, though I suppose you get better at it with practice.

In essence the decision prcess goes like this
- think about the purpose and context of the decision
- what option do you have? What resources are available?
- when is it due? What is the deadline and can you meet it?
- be realistic about the emotional ties
- consider your rights and responsibilities

I'll be trying out some "No's"....

Time Traps by Todd Duncan

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:06:00 +0000

You can't manage time but you can manage your thoughts, actions and tasks - that is the underlying premise of this powerful book. I read the book a couple of years ago and in a rare moment, I decided to read it again as I found I was often using the mantra of its premise and was seeking to find more ways to satisfy my desire to get a grip on the slippery slope of the balance between time and tasks.

The book is written with sales in mind though I didn't find this detracted at all from my personal context and I expect anyone who deals with many interactions with others will find it helpful.

The author talkes the reader through a number of traps. The first is the identity trap. This is how when time is monopolised by our work we become our work - and thus how important it is to rethink time, to rebalance as part of regaining our personal identity. Secondly there is the organisation trap where the author suggests that most sales people are disorganised, out of control and say they lack the time to catch up. Well, that sound like a lot of the stories I hear from many people! And what I say sometimes as well!!! He suggests learning to stop all unnecessary tasks before they steal time, admit legitimate tasks onto your list of things to do, and make sure you know the difference between necessary and productive tasks. Then take action and assess how you're doing.

He also talks about the Yes trap, and then how to say No, or sacrifice more sales for the benefit of others. He has some interesting things to describe on the value of saying no. Then there is the Control Trap and the issues of letting go and learning to delegate. The technology trap should be familiar to those caught by their email, and for sale people he discusses the Quota trap. And if you're not trapped out yet, there is also the Failure Trap and the Party Trap.

I know this book changed how I felt about time and the management of it the first time I read it and certainly, the second time around, I was reminded to take some more detailed action steps.

Go to here http://www.timetrapsbook.com/ to download a chapter or to carry out the self assessment on the eight traps.

Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, Mcmillan & Switzler

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:06:00 +0000

This book has the subtitle "Tools for talking when the stakes are high" and I found there was not a single page that disappointed me. Part way reading through the book I thought this is all common sense, and of course a lot of it is. However, the authors are showing and telling in an extremely compelling manner that you just can't help going "aha", oh-yes", "of course" every few minutes. My copy is full of notes, highlighter marks and pages turned over.

So what's the meat in the book?

At its heart is a dialogue model which is about me and the other and how we each act, feel, tell a story and see/hear. In our dialgue we are aiming to create a pool of shared meaning and there are a number of factors that impact this, such as safety, and silence (withdrawing, avoiding, masking) and violence (controlling, attacking, labelling). All this sounds cold in this description, what brings this book alive is the way the authors develop the model with the use of various tools and stories. It's impossible to read it anot feel connected yet at the same time feel empowered to do something about your next high stakes conversation.

You can download book chapters and sample MP3 audio from http://www.vitalsmarts.com/books_more.aspx . There is also the stress test to discover your style under stress.

If you want to page through some of the book check it out here http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Gzjj9mSPAGEC&dq=crucial+conversations+review&pg=PP1&ots=Aj4jGSI6IL&sig=euh96h7xAwU8GJ3PkqiAlDFXfvU&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.co.uk/search%3Fsourceid%3Dnavclient%26ie%3DUTF-8%26rls%3DGFRD,GFRD:2008-06,GFRD:en%26q%3Dcrucial%2Bconversations%2Breview&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail