Richard Harris Books

This is one of the books that I've dog-eared, underlined, and referenced over and over, so much so that I'm on my second copy. It goes beyond the typical change management information, and gives valuable tools for assessing the readiness for change, identifying roles people assume in a change situation; charting responsibilities in a change process, among others. In my opinion, this isn't a book for scholars, it is a book for managers and those who help them plan and manage complex organization transitions.

Beckhard and Harris' book on organizational transition is easily one of the worst I have ever read on the subject. It is not necessarily the kind of information that is conveyed here, nor is it the style with which it is done. Rather, if you have even the slightest concept of the meaning of OD and related topics then your knowledge is perhaps well beyond the scope of this book. Though the book does represent a nice introduction to the management of change, it is hardly worth its price.It barely surpasses the quality of an average pop-psychology book but certainly is of little value to scholars.

I've read lots of books that discuss retirement places so I was eager to get one that specialized in the Pacific Northwest. I was anticipating lots of reference-type information that itemized relevant statistics about the areas and allowed me to compare my two top choices: Spokane, Washington and Portland, Oregon. To my dismay, the book NEVER EVEN MENTIONS Spokane. How can you have a book about the Pacific Northwest that doesn't even mention Washington's second largest city? There are only 24 pages on British Columbia so do not buy it for that either. The only major factual data provided is that of climate, income taxes, and general real estate prices. It is written in a narrative style that requires you to read through the entire passage--it has mostly qualitative type descriptions that reflect the authors' impressions and opinions about the areas. I had hoped for more of a reference book that compiled important information about the various areas all in one book. The travel guides I purchased provide more useful details that this does.

Overall the guide is only marginally usefull. It does contain a few usefull tips about what one might do off the beaten path.
There is something troubling about the book though. There a number of mistakes in the book that could only be made by someone pretending to have done things like riding city buses or searching out local fare without actually having done those things.
At one point the author suggests you can catch a city bus from the airport but need exact change. You can indeed catch a municipal bus from the airport, but you don't need exact change. The drivers all make change within reason as they do everywhere in Mexico.
In the dining section the author mentions that it's hard to find mexican food in Vallarta. This claim is absurd. There small mexican restaurants all over Vallarta. Vallarta is after all a destination for mexican vacationers too, and there is a solid demand for decent mexican food, especially Jalisciense food (e.g. birria), a demand met by hundreds of small to medium size restuarants all over town. There are even a couple of large fondas serving basic mexican food to hundreds every evening.
Another error in the book makes me think the author doesn't even spend much time in Mexico at all. He mentions the Cinco de Mayo holiday and says that it celebrates the battle of Puebla, which it does, but he says that the battle ended french occupation, which it didn't. The Battle of Puebla was a victory against the french, but at the beginning of the intervention. The intervention followed, with Maximillian installed as emperor etc. The battle is celebrated as a holiday becuase immediately after the battle Juarez declared it a holiday and no one has dared to remove it, even though the battle itself was ultimately of little historical consequence.
Overall the book gives the impression of a not so astute armchair traveller who really doesn't have that much to offer in terms of how to enjoy Vallarta in a less touristy sort of way. More troubling than the errors that pepper the book is the sense that one gets that the author is trying to pass himself off as something he is not: an expert in travelling off the beaten path in Mexico.

I was looking for more detail about the area. For instance, the hotel we chose was not listed. I had read that there was a place in the area where we could swim with the dolphins and that information was not listed in this book. If you are looking for general information this is a good book.

The author of this book needs to check his research next time. He wrongly claims that the early settlement of Auraria grew into the present suburb of Aurora--page 45. This is completely incorrect. Auraria was located on the west side of present down-town Denver and merged with Denver in the mid 1800s. Currently the Auraria Higher Education Center, a tri-institutional campus, rests atop the former location of Auraria. Aurora can be found east of down-town Denver and is an independent suburb of Denver. There is no physical way that Auraria became Aurora. How can the author claim to know the hidden charms of Colorado when he demonstrates a complete lack of understanding regarding the state's history and geography?