Resources Books

By applying the guidelines found in Afsaneh's Change Thrivers, I have learned to recognize, embrace, and employ the forces of change in my life. From finding love, enduring divorce, losing a job, and becoming an entrepreneur, the process of managing change in my everyday life has been guided by the principles that Change Thrivers outlines so clearly.

This is a book to be read again and again. It helped me so much when my life was turned upside down during my divorce. It was so helpful that when my brother and his wife separated I bought them both a copy. There are a ton of exercises that make your brain think of things in a whole new way. It forces you to think outside the box and helps takes the emotion out of important life changing decisions. This is not just a lot of philosophy but a hands on guide with worksheet pages that allow you to create the life you want. Let's face it we are all changing and at a record pace. Twenty dollars is a small price to pay for this kind of help.

Change is a part of my daily life as a systems analyst. Change Thrivers helped put this into perspective for me. I would recommend it to anyone who works and or lives in a constantly changing world. The exercises are clear and easy to follow. Ms. Noori gives great examples from her rich and greatly changing life!

This book is a wonderful way for Afsaneh Noori to share some of her gifts and talents. Public Speaker, Teacher, Counselor, Author, I consider Afsaneh to be a "Physical Guide" because she has a unique gift of guiding souls during their physical time on earth. Change Thrivers is a resource I will turn to time and again.

If you ever get the opportunity to hear her speak; you will be amazed at her insight.

Most books out there have you sitting in the audience listening to a lot of professional advice, leaving you to have to figure out exactly HOW to repeat it on your own. Change Thrivers actually gives the self-studier the tools to work through the phases of change and the person doing the action is you. I would recommend this book for personal and professional types, for profit and non-profit sectors, for leaders, employees, and parents. The difference with this book - when you are done - it won't be just another book on your shelf, you will have completed the steps necessary to move through what could be your most difficult situations.

This book clearly articulates a strategically important concept. As the Chief Strategy Officer of a company in an industry that seldom dares to be strange, I hope that no one else in my industry reads this book. Implementing the ideas in this book will become my competitive advantage.

The correct platitude often offered up by a company is that their people are their most important asset and competitive advantage. But in reality, most staff is like electricity... you can't run your company without them, and it's the entry level cost of doing business. In Change To Strange: Create a Great Organization by Building a Strange Workforce, Daniel M. Cable examines how to create a "strange" workforce that actually *is* a competitive advantage over your rivals. It all comes down to your definition of "strange"...

Contents:
Preface; Be Strange. Be Very Strange.; Shine a Flashlight into the Black Box That Exists Between Your Workforce and Beating Your Competition; Organizational Outcomes - How Do I Know I Am Winning in the Way I Want to Win?; Performance Drivers - What Must Customers Notice About Us So That We Win?; Strange Workforce Deliverables - What Our Workforce Does to Make Customers Notice and Love Us; Job Specific Strangeness - Different Deliverables from Different Jobs; Strange Workforce Architecture - What Systems Will Produce the Deliverables I Need From My Workforce?; Strange Workforce Architecture - Breaking Out From the Pack; Strange Workforce Architecture - Taking the Next Step; The Magic of Metrics - Creating and Implementing Measurement Systems;Conclusion; Index

The "strange" that Cable talks about here is a workforce that obsesses about one or two key items that make a difference to the customer. For example, Whole Foods has a workforce that is obsessive about their product and presentation. These people can tell you just about anything you want to know about what they sell, because they believe in it completely. Their hiring systems are geared around making sure that new people coming into the system share that same obsessiveness, and the group is rewarded based on how well each person does. If you're not pulling your weight or if you're not obsessed like everyone else, you'll wash out. It doesn't mean you're not a hard worker or aren't cut out for working in food retail. It just means that you're not "strange" in the way you need to be to work at Whole Foods. This differentiator often is considered crazy or uncopyable by the competition. But since the customer loves it, Whole Foods has a niche all to themselves. And their people truly *are* a competitive advantage for them.

The other issue that makes this difficult is the measuring and metrics. Getting information from your customers about the few things you want to be strange about is hard work. The numbers often aren't easily obtainable without putting some effort into it. Which is another reason competitors don't want to follow that direction, and why changing your workforce to a strange workforce isn't easy. But if you want your company to stand out and be different/strange, it's a requirement to be able to track those factors and measure your people against them. Otherwise you may end up with good solid people, but just not ones that are strange in the areas in which you want to be viewed as unique.

This book also struck me as something you can do for yourself and your skills. Perhaps you want to be known as someone with an obsessive attention to deadlines, design, or quality. You could use this same technique to find your own strange quality/qualities, figure out how to measure it, and them shape yourself into a competitive advantage over others...

While I don't expect an overwhelming majority of companies to run right out and change their HR departments to match this model, reading Change To Strange will at least open up that small window of doubt about whether you really are hiring people who are a competitive advantage for you and your company.

Companies often give a lot of lip service to the value of their employees but then go about treating and using everyone just about like every company treats and uses its employees. That is, with indifference and standardized "best" practices. Unsurprisingly, when an organization treats its people just about the same as every other company treats its employees (as inputs to be standardized and minimized), its dreams of having the company be something special, valuable, and unique are seldom to never realized.

Daniel M. Cable tells us that only a strange workforce, that is one that doesn't do things like everyone else, one that knows and has confidence in its uniqueness and specialness and in its goals and methods, can create something that is special, unique, valuable, and with a sustainable (ongoing - but adapting) advantage in the marketplace. Cable explains how and why your workforce can become something valuable and a driving force behind your success.

He starts off the book showing us how we too often treat our employees and the whole HR process as a kind of black box that just happens. We assume that if we are following the laws and standardized HR processes and avoiding being sued we are doing a good job. When we turn things around and start to view this whole concept the way the author frames it we can see that this kind of idea is indeed absurd. It is like building a process to build standardized widgets that claim no special qualities in the marketplace and then later wondering why, despite our fine leadership, those widgets fail to gain special attention in the market place or market dominance.

What I like about this book is the way Cable plays with our perceptions along the way. This is not your standard business book. He asks us questions that seem odd at first, and then we realize that is the point. Have you ever looked at the back of your hand and for some reason your perception changes and it looks a different size to you and in some ways quite different than it ever had before? That is what this book will help you achieve with your workforce. The author admits that building a "strange" workforce takes a great deal of effort and probably will take some time to achieve, but if you want to be regarded as special by your customers you have to be special. And to be strange (not normal - not typical - not ordinary) you have to have strange people working for you who have a strange sense of mission. This requires you to hire strangely, train strangely, measure performance strangely, and provide strange products and services (that is, surprisingly good and surprisingly desired products and services).

Cable provides a simple framework for this complex process and shows us how achieving this strangeness will get us noticed in the marketplace, allow us to satisfy our customers, and avoid the stagnation that often comes with initial success. The old tragic story of sticking with what works until it kills you has to go.

One of the great complaints among employees today is that they don't matter to management. Employees see through the rhetoric and that is why most companies are not only boring to work for, they are boring in the marketplace. Here is a way to turn that around and energize your company by unleashing the real power in your workforce. Of course, once you head down this path, not all your employees will go with you and there will be some significant turnover. Even good "ordinary" employees have to go. Because they provide inertia against becoming successfully strange.

So, get strange.

In this book, Cable puts forward a very interesting idea that more managers should have the courage to take seriously and perhaps even execute. The point is that managers should make a concerted effort to hire people that are "strange" rather than those that are similar to all other potential hires. His point is that conventional thinking and execution is inherently limited in the level of success that it can achieve. By strange, he does not mean "weird" or disturbed, the term is used in the sense of being capable of doing constructive and successful thinking outside the box.
Several examples of companies that have adopted such methods and are very successful are presented. One of the best is an explanation of the career of major league baseball general manager Billy Beane. Beane's position is that the standard criteria used to evaluate baseball talent are simplistic and incorrect. Since he rose to the position of general manager of the Oakland Athletics, Beane has fielded a team that ranks at the bottom in terms of salary and near the top in terms of wins. Much of his emphasis is on the "quality at-bat" where a player forces the pitcher to make extra pitches and is willing to accept a base-on-balls, even when there are runners on base.
Since this is a skill undervalued by all other teams, this has allowed Beane to acquire players for much less than other teams are willing to pay them. By molding the team in that image, he has developed a very successful team, although the Athletics have had a difficult time winning games in the playoffs. Given the current financial inequities that exist in major league baseball, this is truly a major success story that others should pay attention to.
Another example is the policy of Home Depot to hire contractors to work in the appropriate sections of the store. Therefore, when the do-it-yourself customer comes in, the person helping them is very knowledgeable and can provide the highest level of customer service. This service translates into an enormous competitive advantage over other stores and can increase sales several orders of magnitude over the extra salary expenses.
To his additional credit, Cable also is clear in stating that hiring "strange" employees is not for everyone. It requires courage to be willing to adopt a novel business or a non-traditional approach to an old one. In nearly all cases, the initial expenses are higher than in other areas and exterior observers are generally very skeptical of the new and novel ways of doing business.
I once participated in a faculty development seminar entitled, "A Whack on the Side of the Head." The purpose was to try to get us to think of new and novel ways to present our material. This book reminded me of that seminar, demonstrating that while going down a different path can be extremely challenging, it can also be very rewarding. From personal experience, those rewards are more than monetary; there is a form of satisfaction in being successfully different that is like no other. Perhaps the key to your success can be found in this book.

In less than 175 pages, Dr. Daniel Cable delivers something "strange"; a 'how-to' book that nails the organizational performance connection between strategy and people! Written in a direct, talking style, by a Professor whose writing implies he is fun to learn from and with; this book argues the benefits of strategic differentiation and then explains in practical terms how to link effective strategic performance drivers to the people who must deliver that differentiating strategy. Using the term "strange" to emphasis the differentiation element of a successful strategy, the professor uses his 'strange workforce value chain' to show the steps from strategic theory to customer value creation.

1. Organizational Outcomes - three year out lagging indicators of strategic success.
2. Performance Drivers - what customers need to notice for the strategy to win.
3. Strange Workforce Deliverables - ways your people must be `strange' to make the performance drivers happen.
4. Strange Workforce Architecture - design and construct of your people management systems cause your workforce to be `strange'.

An obvious fanatic on measurement as the way to speak strategy with an organization, Dr. Cable noticeably understands the difficulties, time and hard work involved (as well as the many nuances) with creating and maintaining an organization's connection with its strategy. In fact, he is so concerned about the need for an understanding of the specifics, that he holds his favorite chapter, "The Magic of Metrics", for the final chapter of the book. In the meantime he covers "Job-Specific Strangeness" where he distinguishes the strategic leverage of jobs (not leadership positions); sorting them into executor (direct deliverers of 'strange'), operator (essential players in creating value), and outsourcer (cannot be linked to `strange' performance drivers) positions. In subsequent chapters he explains his "Strange Workforce Architecture", supplementing the specifics with numerous examples of 'strangeness' in action.

From uncovering the 'strange' performance drivers of a 'strange' strategy, to hiring and managing the `strange' people who fit with a 'strange' strategy's delivery, the professor conveys a compelling and instructive narrative. This book is recommended for anyone who has used or considered the balanced scorecard; it will put you on a 'strange' and better path.

Dennis DeWilde, author of
"The Performance Connection"

My aunt bought me this book for Christmas when I was about three or four, back in the late 70's when it was new. I loved it. It was my favorite book. My mom used to read it to me over and over again. I still have it, even though saddly the original cover is no longer with it. And I will never get rid of it. To this day I still every once in a while pull it off the shelf and read it, remembering those nights long ago when my mom was reading it to me. This is a great book, and if you can find a copy of it somewhere, I would highly recomend picking it up.

This was my favorite book when I was little. My father read it to me over and over again until I had it memorized! The repetition is wonderful for young readers; even if your children can't read, Jeffers' illustrations are enough to make anyone a little sleepier. I still dream of ending up in the treehouse at the end of the book. It's a pity Close Your Eyes is no longer in print.

My son loves this book and it's a great way to prepare him for bed. Its words are simple and easy to remember. He's already memorized parts of the book (as have we). And the pictures are great. Colorful and full of recognizable objects and animals. My son actually anticipates each page. I'd recommend this book to anyone who uses reading stories as part of the bedtime ritual.

Over the years of reading books to my children, Close Your Eyes became both my favorite and my daughter's. The lyrical story is told on two levels, perfectly complimented by the illustrations. As a father, I identify with the dad in the story. My daughter is in college now, but we occasionally recite the story to eachother in our correspondence, and still treasure the countless bedtimes that we read this book together. It is, indeed, the perfect gift for new parents.

The lyrical poem and duel illustrations make this book a treasure. Susan Jeffers' illustrations of a father and his child's bedtime struggle add a whimsical touch. We have read this book so many times both my girls can recite it word for word. My eighteen year old daughter is threatening to steal the book when she leaves for college in the fall. I am browsing for additional copies in case she follows through on it.

I work as a Communications Specialist... sounds impressive, but really it is all about listening...and this book gives real world examples and steps for improving how you communicate change in your company. Perhaps I enjoy it because it supports my own theory that a chat or memo from the CEO is nice, but who is the guy/woman? really?...the immediate supervisor is the one I interact with everyday... that person is the key to clear communication and the conduit to change.
This is an easy-to-read book, presenting clear practical solutions.

After years of being force-fed communications theories that didn't work, it was a real joy to see reality documented. The solutions presented are too simple to be acceptable to anyone more interested in documenting "quality" than running a business. These "rules" help: they work in practice (when was the last time you heard that about a communications theory?): and they will change your world.

Nearly every CEO of a large corporation believes that words directly from his or her mouth will inspire front-line employees. Five decades of research show just the opposite, explain consultants and authors T.J. and Sandar Larkin. Their investigations emphasize the importance of communicating change through low-level supervisors, a group that has more credibility with front-line workers. They maintain that CEOs must go beyond simply telling supervisors what to do; they must also listen to these key employees and empower them by taking their suggestions seriously. The authors provide plenty of real-world examples to bolster their case. We recommend this clearly constructed argument to CEOs and to anyone charged with communicating with large numbers of employees. This engaging treatise, a classic, is ready to persuade its next crop of managers.

I'm an academic--a professor of corporate communication--and this is one of the few books I recommend to students in this area. Larkin bases every one of his assertions on applied research in organizational communication--very refreshing from the "I did it in my organization, so it must work in your company" perspective of most business authors. Larkin also completely shatters myths around traditional corporate communication practices (e.g. the executive should communicate directly to employees around major change areas), and bases such assertions on research in the area *plus* his own consulting experience (of which he has a great deal). My students also loved this book. If you buy one book on employee/corporate communication, this is the one.

My line of consulting has a lot to do with change management and communicating change so this was a good book to refer to for additional ideas and tools for the toolkit. One of the chapters that sticks out in my mind is the one that talks to how people prefer to hear certain types of messages (e.g. from their direct mananger, through an email, at an all hands meeting etc) The author uses actual data from surveys to back up his ideas which I fpund helpful - not only in helping me recommend certain vehicles for communication but also convincing others. Good resource.

I am just getting into solar cooking and we made a solar cooker. Great fun. Now that autumn is almost here, I probably won't be using it as much.
This book has lots of recipes and helps you to see that almost any recipe can be used in a solar oven. I feel great when I don't turn on my oven and save energy.

This book is easy to read and use. The information is presented clearly and it is easy to understand. This book is a great source book to teach yourself solar cooking. It is also easy to include younger children. Older children could pick it up and teach themselves from reading it. The recipes are of a wide variety so there should be a favorite for just about everyone. It isn't too "new age" as some other books on this subject. Outlines food safety issues very well with easy to remember rules and suggestions for building your own solar cooker. Easy enough for a child to do.

Just picked up the book yesterday and read it from cover to cover last night. Great opening section about how solar cooking works. I haven't seen it explained more clearly anywhere else. Great explanations on how to build your own- two types. And the recipes look wonderful. I'll be trying many of them when I finish building mine.

I must say this book is a real gem. It is small but contains some good information. Half the book is information on solar cooking and it even tells you how to build two simple solar cookers from things you probably have around the house or can get cheap. The other half of the book contains recipes for cooking with your solar cooker. Excluding the recipes, the book can be read in a few hours at most. After which you will know enough to be able to build your own solar cooker and be cooking in no time. The book also gives sources for buying a cooker should you really want to do so.

I built a panel cooker in about an hour or two following the easy instructions. The next day I cooked a meal with it using a recipe I modified a bit to work with the cooker. It turned out better than I thought it would to be honest. I have cooked several dishes using the cooker now and everything has turned out great. I personally find the food to be of better quality than the typical high heat cooking usually done on stoves and ovens.

Most recipes can be adapted to be cooked with sunshine so you are not limited to what is provided in the book. As the book says a general rule is a conventional recipe will take about twice as long to cook in the solar cooker. I found this to be about true, though it might take just a little longer but doubling the time seems to be about right.

If you are interested in learning how to build a solar cooker and start cooking with one then I recommend getting this book. It keeps things pretty simple and easy while still giving you the information you need to start cooking good meals with free energy from the sun.

I usually preview my books by borrowing them from the library to see if they are worth buying. This is one that I chose for my personal collection.

I also checked out "Cooking with the Sun" (by Halacy and Halacy), which had some good introductory information and interesting-looking recipes. However, as soon as I got to the list of supplies needed for actually building their solar oven (plywood, fiberglass insulation, 1/16" thick aluminum or iron sheets, double-strength window glass, etc.) I gave up. My tools are limited to hammers and screwdrivers, and I didn't even know what some of the required items were, much less what to do with them.

This book, by contrast, has wonderful, step-by-step, illustrated directions on how to make a solar oven (box cooker) using simple stuff I have at home (cardboard boxes, newspaper, aluminum foil, turkey oven-roasting bag, Elmer's glue, etc.). There are also simple-looking directions for making a reflective-panel cooker.

I love how this book caters to the average Joe (or Josephine) who wants to cook with solar but doesn't want to spend a bundle to get started. The book gives lots of recommendations for improvising inexpensive options in cookware, explaining what works best and what doesn't work so well (and why!). For example, two dark 9" cake pans held together with large binder clamps (those things used in offices to hold large quantities of paper together) can work just as well as an expensive enameled dutch oven.

Coping with Toxic Managers, Subordinates ... and Other Difficult People: Using Emotional Intelligence to Survive and Prosper (Financial Times Prentice Hall Books) This provides a great insight into the 'heads' of these difficult working types. Highly recommend.

Recognising what is toxic to you is perhaps a good starting point. Many of us spend more time with the people we work with than those we've chosen to spend our lives with. Most of us make assumptions that what offends or upsets us is the same for everyone else. This is not so.

In this book, Dr Lubit provides - with humour - descriptions of different types of managers and of different management techniques that can make working life hell.

Being aware of toxic behaviour and being able to manage its impact are two quite separate things. Dr Lubit provides insights into the former and resources to help individuals and groups deal with the latter.

I've had this book on my management bookshelf since it was published and find it an excellent resource both on a personal level and as part of mentoring other staff.

Highly recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Lubit's volume, "Coping with Toxic Managers and Subordinates," should be considered a standard reference for veteran and new professional staff, experienced and beginning managers, and leaders of all non-profit organizations, especially cultural ones. Colleagues have said that these conclusions apply to all organizations.

Non-profits and cultural organizations face major management challenges today. For example, while the number of museums has increased, there has been a great decrease in total funding. To stay competitive, these organizations have had to make fundamental changes in their operations and rely on a new breed of managers and professionals. This has been complicated by strong internal resistance to change. As a result, many cultural organizations find themselves unable to harness the talents of their staff and, instead, find productivity decreasing and morale dropping rapidly. High turnover, unhappiness and anger make for unmanageable environments.

Lubit's book contains excellent strategic thinking for dealing with the rapidly changing settings. Incorporating insights from experience in psychiatry, business management, and organizational leadership, Lubit provides a a comprehensive, hands-on guide for dealing with your superiors, subordinates and peers. This book is very complete. It describes the most troublesome types of negative and "toxic" personalities, explores the underlying reasons for the behaviors, and moves the reader from theory, to examples, to exercise sections called "Your Turn". The book is well organized, snappily written, and easy to use. It is complete with detailed "how to" sections, charts, and examples with both good and bad endings. This book will facilitate not just survival, but productivity and well-being in the workplace -- and elsewhere. I recommend it highly.

I wasn't sure I would like this book. The topic of workplace psychology can be done wrong in so many ways. You can present it too clinically and thus lack any practicality. And you can slide the other way and shower the user with pop psychology check-lists and acronyms.

This book walks the ideal path deftly and presents practical workplace issues with the right blend of psychology background and practical wisdom on how to handle individuals with personality issues.

The book is organized by disorder. Each type of personality is presented in it's own chapter with what to look for. As well as how to handle that individual as a boss, a coworker and as a subordinate.

A fascinating read on it's own, and practical advice for people stuck in tough jobs where they have to contend with coworkers who have personality problems.

This book is an excellent handbook for managers who struggle with motivating 'challenging' people. It enables the reader to quickly identify types of toxic managers and provides guidance on effectively dealing with each type. Should be required reading for anyone responsible for improving company/individual performance.

A well researched book detailing the advantages of "E" learning in the corporate world. By combining interviews, various "E" learning techniques and the IBM experiences the author is sure to change how "E" learning is viewed in the classroom and in business. By following the blueprint set up by IBM, utilizing "E" learning in tandem with traditional means of learning, this book shows that "E" learning will become the corporate model going forward to be used jointly with traditional instruction.

This book surpassed my expctations, in that the author laid out a highly detailed and disciplined business approach to reserching and documenting his findings. The author doesn't present IBM's experience as the "corporate" model. He extracted the business case elements and decision points critical to the successful development and application of E-Learning techniques. While written from a business perspective I think it has great application value to the academic world - given the ever spiraling upward costs of formal education.

If you are considering an investment in e-learning or looking for a competitive advantage Tai has done a major portion of the research to allow user and reader to make an informed decision. This research is very beneficial to corporate decision makers and students considering a degree on-line. Well worthwhile for anyone researching e-learning. Having an insight into best practices at IBM is an added benefit. Should be required reading for teachers and corporate trainers.


Liam Collin Eugene

While this book focuses on e-learning (electronic learning) as a powerful tool for corporate training, there are many insights and recommendations that could be useful for professional educators in high school, college, and adult education programs. As both a business executive and college teacher, I found ideas throughout the book that could expand both the reach and effectiveness of my educational activities. Here are some examples:
-- E-learning can provide "just in time" training, rather than "just in case" learning. Computer technology can bring information to an employee's desktop or laptop at the very moment they need that information to complete a task. This is called "on demand" learning.
-- Electronic technology allows you to "repurpose" or re-use valuable material or content for future use. For example, the information from a dynamic live business conference can be captured on video, edited, and delivered to a broad audience through e-learning.
-- Using e-learning for "pre-class" work provides students with a common starting point and the same degree of preparation prior to traditional classroom or hands-on training. It provides students with the "threshold knowledge" required for a class. This concept of "blended" learning is adaptable to any educational situation.
-- There is no substitute for a gifted instructor and a skilled teacher in delivering an educational program or course. There will always be a need for face-to-face instruction. Some educators have rebelled against the emergence of e-learning. Enlightened educators need to grasp the power of the technology, such as the ability to reach thousands of students at one time rather than just a handful. It does not replace traditional instruction. It supplements it.
I highly recommend this book. It is must reading for corporate training professionals and for professional educators looking to expand both their reach and effectiveness.

Unlike other e-learning books which focus on e-learning implementation problems, this book covers the e-learning lifecycle from justification through execution and illustrates the effectiveness of e-learning as measured by IBM's experience. Extremely well researched, the author's in-depth interviews documents the how and why e-learning programs are developed and instituted. The book exemplifies the concept of why e-learning is not a field of dreams. Because you built it doesn't mean they will come and learn. Above all, the author demonstrates through IBM's experience why e-learning should only be considered if it makes strategic and economic sense. A must read for any corporation contemplating e-learning.

I used to read a lot of the church growth books, but became rather disillusioned with many of them. Too much marketing strategy or this is the way we did it at First Mega Church (which means it probably won't work very well at Small Town USA Stuggling Church). This is among the better ones I have seen. It sounds like the strategies would work. Some good food for thought and some good exercises for church leaders to be involved with to discover their church's identity.

This book was the foundation on which a 'new' (or rather renewed) church is being built. I've had the privilege of working with Richard and Robert and am seeing wonderful changes in our church as a result. We've been able to put into words who we really are and be true to ourselves. As a result we have been able to attract those who have been seeking a church just like us. They have been able to find us now that we can say "This is who we are! Join together in our spiritual journeys toward God!" I look forward to both Book #2 AND Book #3...especially #3!

I've been implementing some of the procedures in Cracking Your Congregation's Code, and I've found it answers many basic needs of busy pastors and lay leaders. I know it helps answer mine. It's a practical book, that's easy to read, and easy to use. It describes how a church can transform itself. The surveys the authors provide for the four congregational systems give a church a way to quickly evaluate and strengthen their work. From my standpoint, as someone looking for how-to's, I'd say the information in chapter seven on how to create a strategic map is worth the price of the book alone.

My congregation worked with Southern and Norton over the course of several months. We found their strategy for church growth and renewal to be easy to follow, highly participatory, and full of wisdom. It has totally transformed our congregation and organizational systems!

"Cracking Your Congregation's Code" is a great contribution to the church growth movement! It not only offers a theoretical framework for congregational health and vitality, but provides easy to use surveys and inventories. Their recommendations for church growth and renewal are not "one size fits all" but are easily tailored for each congregation's unique "DNA". The end result is the development of a "strategic map" that will guide one's congregation to a new place of enthusiasm and growth!

Concise, easy to read, easy to understand. A good read for any pastor or church leader who wants to get some clarity on the strengths and uniqueness of his or her congregation. The REALLY good news is that this is NOT another "How I Did It" book. To be sure, "How I Did It" books are inspiring, and you can pick up a lot of good tips and tricks. The trouble is that most of them probably won't work in YOUR situation! What Southern & Norton have done is given us a method which will help us understand and analyze our own unique settings - to discover our own congregation's values and unique giftedness - so that we can focus on doing the things that are right for us, not for somebody else! Share this one with key leaders in your congregation!

Graham and Englund have achieved something quite remarkable in the second edition of "Creating an Environment for Successful Projects." The original book from 1997 provided a very good road map for organizations looking to improve their project and program management capabilities, and this update significantly improves on it. There are many fresh insights and specifics about what works (and what doesn't work) drawn from an extensive circle of organizations, including many that the authors consulted with personally.

Even more than in the first edition, the message is that excellence in project execution does not just happen - it requires planning, ongoing investment, and the right encouragement. I think the best parts of the book are chapters 3 through 8, because they provide the most concrete and actionable advice for managers of project leaders; they are filled with good practices on what to do and on what to avoid.

This book was reviewed in "The Journal of Product Innovation Management" May 1998, an international publication of the Product Development & Management Association (PDMA):

A book which discusses how companies can effectively create a healthier and more nurturing environment for product development, based on companies like Hewlett-Packard, DuPont, Raychem and others.

"As the title implies, this book is about managing project management, not about managing projects - an important concept... Its purpose is to get upper management to understand how and why to develop project management as an organizational competency... Relevant across industries from high tech to low, from product to service, and from consumer to industrial or business-to-business... Its key strengths are: 1) its comprehensive treatment of key issues from the role of strategic direction across the project portfolio to the need for cultivating project management learning; 2) its practical recommendations for change; and 3) its easy-to-read examples... The book is well organized with an overview chapter that includes a call to action and an overview of the remaining chapters. The next seven chapters go on to describe each of the elements of creating an environment for success projects. Laid out as pieces of a complete puzzle to signal their importance as a system" (Mark Deck, Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath, May 1998)

As a project management consultant, I get asked alot 'how do I implement PM into my company'. There is no one cookie-cutter approach to this since every company is different. There is also no one book out there that adequately covers this subject. This book is the closest thing that there is. If you are looking for a good coverage of the things that you need to be aware of in implementing PM into your company, this book is a good start. It is also well suited for executives looking to implement PM into a company who are curious what PM involves - since a major problem in implementing PM into a company quite often involves executives who are unaware or unconcerned what their responsibilites are for PM. All in all, a useful book that I have used extensively for clients.

If you want to understand the underpinnings of what makes projects work or not ... this book is a "must read".

It is full of the kind of plain yet profound logic that my grandmother used to pass on to me when I was child. It just made so much practical sense ... .

One of the better books on project management, the focus is not so much on specific best practices for project managers to implement on their own within their teams, but how upper management can create an environment that is conducive to project success. This book is exceptionally good at helping to understand how management causes organizational perversity - mucking things up by applying departmental best practices that are totally inappropriate and bad practices for project teams. Great insights into how this happens without upper managers being aware they are doing the opposite of what they intend. Could be used by a Project Office to convince upper management that they might be the main problem that keeps other best practices from being effective. It also highlights those areas where you can get the most leverage, most out of your efforts to get an organization to improve its overall project management effectiveness.

Amazing how a book written in 1997 seems like it was written for current times.

I purchased this book to help me see a better way to really implement differentiated instruction into my classroom. It was of great help in giving me real examples and ideas to putting differentiation into action!!! =)

This book was a fountain of knowledge. I am slightly overwhelmed after reading it. Every aspect of DI was described, breifly so you understood it and yet didn't spend hours reading it. The reason I bought it was because of the activity and response forms for both students and for myself as a teacher. These forms made the overwhelming infor easy to manage for lesson planning. The only thing missing was a chapter or reference to classroom management. DI is only as good as the classroom manager and as stated in Teachers Change your Bait (2005) by Martha Kaufeldt DI can be a "three ring circus..." (132). I do, however, reccommend this book for the information and response forms. I reccommend Kaufeldt's book as well.

Super book with clear explanations on theory and a wide variety of practical suggestions, templates and examples. Great for all classrooms including secondary.

Differentiation in Action presents a wealth of strategies, tips, techniques, and resources on differentiated instruction that is easy to use for all educators. I have used it with groups of teachers and they readily find ideas that can be implemented in their classes immediately. Each chapter presents a specific topic with the theory neatly complemented by a wide array of strategies, so the book would be a wonderful resource for a study group in any school setting. Judy has taken the best ideas and put them all into this one powerful, teacher-friendly book. A must-have for teachers.

I have known that differentiation in the classroom is key to student success. Practical application has been my stumbling block. Finally, a resource has surfaced that offers theory and practice! I was able to use the strategies immediately. The format of the book is easy to follow. I have already recommended it to my teammates. This is a must-read for classroom teachers. (I wish my own children's teachers would read it as well!) Another plus is the abundance of other resources, including websites for more in-depth information.