Resources Books

For a church that is in conflict, this book will help keep you sane.

I found this book to be very enlightening in dealing with antagonism in the church. It is well organized and well written and very informative. I am having my elders read the book so that they can understand the dynamics behind conflict and how to deal with it. I wish I would have read it years ago before some of the church discipline issues we have had to deal with already. Many of those issues could have been avoided.

Frank

No one who has had to personally dealt with antagonistic individuals in a church setting or watched the damage such people can create will be able read Kenneth Haugk's book with anything less that a sigh of relief in realizing that such people are not reacting to some failure in your Christian conduct, but would act this ways with anyone.

The author provide excellent material and explainations for why these type of people must be meet with opposition from the entire body of the congergation and not just the pastor and church board members. This advise run contrary to the way most churches try and handle conflict doing their utmost to avoid involving the entire congergation and yet the method of involving limited personel leaves the congergations at risk and unwittingly plays into the hands of the antagonist who has no concern like you do about trying to protect the weak and nieve, indeed the antagonist has no qualms about recruiting just such ones as followers. In the author's words, "Turning the other cheek and letting the antogonist continue to behave disruptively is the wide and easy road that leads to destruction."

My only real complaint is that the examples were mostly of congergational members being antagonistic. This is understandable as it is the most common situation, but dealing with an associate minister who was antagonistic it would have been nice to have a little more informations on leaders who become antagonistic.

Most useful were sections on how to conduct interviews with antagonists. using authority, documentation, and to leave or not to leave.

If you have ever had to deal with antagonists you are going to wish you'd had this book. If you are dealing with antagonists, you NEED the book. Finally if you are a minister or church leader, board member, etc. and haven't had to face an antagonist, praise God for his mercy and read this book so you can be prepared for what's coming. Rare is the minister or church that escapes them and blessed is the church whom's leaders and members are prepared to effectively deal with it.

I attended an outreach conference. This book was the first to sell out on the book table. Pastors think they are called to keep everyone happy. They have no idea about dysfunctional antagonists who first put you on a pedestal and then tear you down later when you somehow fail them and their agendae. Haugk counsels church leaders not to be paranoid, but to trust their sixth sense, too. Chapters four and five on the makeup and modus operandi of the antagonist are the key portion of the book. Sadly, antagonists, or potential antagonists, exist in every congregation. While this book will help you understand what is happening, it may not enable you to counter the destructive actions of that antagonist entirely. There is not always a happy ending.

"Antagonists in the Church" is one of the best books on the topic. As the subtitle suggests, Haugk helps readers to distiguish between constructive criticism and down-right destructive conflict. He then suggests biblical, practical, and relational methods for proactively, and when necessary, reactively responsding. Every pastor and church board should own and use this book.

Reviewer: Dr. Bob Kellemen is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction," "Soul Physicians" and "Spiritual Friends."

How could Southwest Airlines achieve 23 consecutive years of record revenues and profits while other airlines were hemorrhaging red ink? How could GE produce refrigerator compressors at a cost substantially less than its foreign competitors, despite an unfavorable cost differential of $15 an hour? This fascinating book suggests an answer.

In 1996, authors Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden noticed that every single one of the top 15 companies listed in Fortune's "Most Admired Corporations" were also widely recognized as exceptional places to work! Hmmmm.... Catlette and Hadden conducted a study of such companies over a ten year period, with interesting results: Compared to their top competitors, the "Contented Cow" companies consistently enjoyed big financial gains in every important way--productivity, revenues, and growth.

The book is not without its flaws. For example, Wal-Mart is listed as one of the "Contented Cow" companies--a designation that Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America certainly puts the lie to. Still, CONTENTED COWS makes a strong case for the connection between sound human resource management and successful financial management--a connection far more direct than many managers think. So in my opinion this book is highly relevant for today's globalized-and-outsourced Corporate America.

Doni Tamblyn is author of Laugh and Learn: 95 Ways to Use Humor for More Effective Teaching and Training and The Big Book of Humorous Training Games (Big Book of Business Games Series)

Don't be deterred by the title (initially I was) because it is appropriate to the authors' purposes in their essentially serious analysis of why only some companies sustain market supremacy and profitability...and why the others don't. Years ago, Jack Welch (then CEO of GE, one of the six companies featured in this book) explained why he admires entrepreneurial companies:

"For one, they communicate better. Without the din and prattle of bureaucracy, people listen as well as talk; and since there are fewer of them they generally know and understand each other. Second, small companies move faster. They know the penalties for hesitation in the marketplace. Third, in small companies, with fewer layers and less camouflage, the leaders show up very clearly on the screen. Their performance and its impact are clear to everyone. And, finally, smaller companies waste less. They spend less time in endless reviews and approvals and politics and paper drills. They have fewer people; therefore they can only do the important things. Their people are free to direct their energy and attention toward the marketplace rather than fighting bureaucracy."

These remarks are directly relevant to the key points which Catlette and Hadden make in this book. It is no coincidence that the most highly admired companies (i.e. those for whom employees of their competitor companies prefer to work) are also the most profitable as they dominant their respective marketplaces. They include FedEx, GE, Hewlett-Packard, Southwest Airlines, 3M, and Wal-Mart. Revealingly, each of these six was founded by entrepreneurs and each has since retained its entrepreneurial spirit. They are among the "Contented Cows" which have outgrown the "Common Cows" (e.g. Consolidated Freightways, General Motors, Texas Instruments, United Airlines, Xerox, and Sears) by a margin of roughly four to one. Catlette and Hadden explain why.

At one point in their book, they assert that "just as productive employees are not always satisfied, satisfied employees are not always productive." A "Contented Cow" company offers generous employee benefits, including those which address personal needs. For example, EDS has a car repair facility, bank, store, day care center, and dry cleaners on-site. However, a "Contented Cow" company also has leaders (at all levels) who recognize the importance to their employees of meaningful work to do, high standards to which everyone is held accountable (a "level playing field"), a clear sense of purpose and direction, feeling appreciated, and finally, meaningful opportunities for professional growth.

There is a "Summary" at the conclusion of each of the 14 chapters. These lists of key points will be invaluable to those who may wish to re-read the book (all or in part) as they attempt to formulate strategies and tactics to transform their own organization into a "Contented Cow." I hasten to add that these key points are relevant to ALL organizations regardless of their size or nature. "To become Contented Cows. companies must realize that just as they have choices, their employees (particularly the better, more skilled ones) do so. The new rules of the game have been set, and now it's only a matter of time before everyone learns how to play, and play it to their advantage." Quite true. Contented employees should never become complacent employees. I am among those who believe that great leaders inspire rather than motivate others: they activate in them what is, in fact, self-motivation. Davenport and Beck address this in The Attention Economy, correctly suggesting that there is a form of ADD in the business world which has serious, indeed profound implications for managers at the executive level.

Decision-makers in "Contented Cow" companies understand full well what will attract the attention of those for whom they are responsible. The challenge is to involve and then engage them productively and enthusiastically, indeed passionately in the given enterprise. Only if and when they are can the nature and extent of relationships with customers ensure sustainable profitability. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out David Maister's Practice What You Preach. His key point, with which Catlette and Hadden obviously agree, is that individuals as well as organizations must have impeccable integrity. "Contented Cow" companies are nothing more and nothing less than human communities within which such values are constantly affirmed, not merely in word but in deed.

We are using this wonderful book as a tool for understanding why companies are successful. As future investors and entrepreneurs this book will always be our guide. Want to know how and why a workforce is happy, get a Contented Cow. ZM Stevenson, 7th grader

Having spent eleven years in one of the winning companies profiled in Contented Cows, I can personally vouch that the strategies and methods recommended by the authors will truly produce a world-class, highly-motivated workforce that will in turn produce exceptional customer service and financial results. Not occasionally, but every time! What is so impressive about the authors approach is that they first thouroughly researched the "people" practices of truly great companies, then show how those practices in turn naturally and inevitably lead to great bottom-line performance. Too many business authors first create a "neat" model or premise, then go out and find examples to validate what they hope will be the next management "magic pill," establishing correlations that in reality, if they exist at all, are quite tenuous. These guys have done their work the old fashioned way, and you can (and will) take their recommendations to the bank!

This is not rocket science! No matter what our managerial "level", we all have a boss somewhere. Don't we perfom our best when we are treated as some who is valued, someone who matters? That's all this book is telling us, with facts and examples of successful companies, large and small, who "walk the talk"! Read this book and them commit yourself to leading your folks based on it's simple principles (which are not new, we just just needed the authors to write them down for us!)

this book does a good job of helping Christian see the potential for getting involved in their community. Rusaw does a good job of not only telling the pluses but he also shares some of the challenges as well.

This insightful book will inspire followers of Christ to impact their communities through the power of authentic relationships. The authors present thought-provoking strategies designed to equip churches to play a significant role in community transformation. Concrete examples back up every strategy, and the pages at the end of each chapter are very practical for implementation. Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson are on the leading edge of this important movement in the church, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to make a difference in the world.

The Externally Focused Church is an excellent, practical book - a must read for Pastors and leaders who dream of a church of mobilized ministers who are effective at sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our church has changed because of this book.

Excellent Book!

The Exteranlly Focused Church is going to be a blueprint for how the church I serve as Director of Outreach will serve our community. It is inspiring us to look beyond our four walls, to love and serve the people of the community with Christ's love, and to serve the city itself. The case studies called, A Closer Look, give incredible ideas for impacting the community, many of which can be adapted to any size church.

We were so sold on this book and the biblical truth that it shared about being a "show and tell" church that we started a new congregation of believers whose DNA would be externally focused rather than internally focused. Our lives have been forever changed. I now teach conferences all across Georgia to churches and associations of churches on this subject. Lives are being transformed socially, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Buy this book and see the purpose of the Church from a brand new light. I know the authors -- they don't just write on this subject -- they live it. I also recommend their followup book that takes this subject to a more personal level ("Living a Life on Loan").

Without succumbing to ambiguous metaphors or descriptive processes, Dr. Kaner and his co-authors capture the nuts and bolts of relevant, useful facilitation skills. In clear, understandable language, he makes the concepts of this book available to newbies and the experienced alike. His diamond of group dynamics and linear diagram of the gradients of agreement are common sense approaches that allow groups to understand themselves. I have both used and recommended this book to hundreds of my peers as well as clients in many social sectors.

I am a project manager that works closely with various stakeholders for solutions to business solutions and IT solutions. Many times I found it extremely hard to have people focus on needs instead of their wants. By using the different methods alternatively, it is relatively easy for me to explore what people's interests are, instead of what they want.

In mentoring Project Managers, Agile Coaches, and Scrum Masters about the need to be facilitative, objective, and team-oriented, I have always recommended this book as a MUST READ. In fact, this book changed my work in the technical world of software development. Through Sam Kaner's very clear view of what good facilitators do to help teams move through the "Groan Zone", I found great depth in exercises and techniques for drawing out the true wisdom of software teams. The result is that I have relied upon these brainstorming, prioritizing, conflict management, and other divergence/convergence practices for creating great software organizations worldwide. It was a great resource for my own book Collaboration Explained: Facilitation Skills for Software Project Leaders (The Agile Software Development Series). And, as I continue to conduct training in agile team work or help organizations adopt a very participatory decision style for software development teams, I always recommend Kaner's book. Its approach and conviction around team power also plays wonderfully into the Lean concepts of "Empower the team" and "Amplify Learning". Facilitative leaders in software really can empower their teams and amplify their learning following Kaner's advice. Buy it!

This book is a key resource for me when designing a facilitation session. It is a much depended on resource that has guided me through some challengeing situations. The section on Building Sustainable Agreements is full of wonderful techniques to help groups meet their goals. I have to mention the "Gradients of Agreement", this is an amazing tool for gaining group consensus. The Dynamics of Group Decision making is foundational knowledge for any facilitator. When I talk to groups about this they can really relate to the "Groan Zone".

Regardless of your role, after reading The Facilitator's Guide your perspective on how to get the most out of group participation will be changed forever. Never again do you have to walk into a meeting unsure of what will be accomplished or whether the outcomes will be met. Using the tools provided (i.e. creating effective agendas, chartwriting, building sustainable agreements, and meeting closure), along with understanding how to apply the principles and values of participatory decision-making (i.e. full participation, mutual understanding, inclusive solutions, and shared responsibility) will completely energize both you and those you are working with. The material within this book is foundational to my own consulting practice, and clients rave about its usefulness, ease-of-understanding, and immediate application to their current situation. Regardless of what group dynamic you are dealing with, this book offers solid, effective, and transforming methods to re-vitalize the situation. After reading this book, words such as collaboration and partnering will take on new meaning in actionable ways. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to those within organizations wanting to more effectively involve and engage their employees.

Katherine A. Hart, EdD, Principal Consultant of KA Hart & Associates, BAodn Board Member, and ODN member

Chip needs to talk to my boss and your boss ... our company culture is soo lacking and if we followed Chips methods I know the culture could be great. That would make our customers, employees and investers happy too.

Instead of "the beatings will continue until morale improves" why not take the team to the beach and throw around some ideas!

Great read for executives, managers and people in startups. Buy this book help spread the happiness ;)

Bill

Loved it. I can't wait to read it again. I bought a second copy and gave it to my CEO.

What is so wonderful about this book is that its lessons can be applied to anyone with passion for making things better. While I may or may not be an executive one day myself, the concepts of self actualization resonate in sales and pretty much all areas in business.
A must read for anyone serious about business and how the human element is motivated for success.

Chip Conley presents a cogent perspective on achieving self-actualization in business. It is refreshing and inspiring that in today's competitive, dog-eat-dog world, businesses are finding that success is possible through providing a culture where people can find meaning. By engaging mind and heart, employees will become tied to the success of the organization. Applying this same concept to customers and investors, Chip Conley is able to demonstrate, through his experience at Joie de Vivre, that you can withstand even the most difficult of market conditions by applying Maslow's theory of self-actualization. This book is a must read for business leaders and entrepreneurs alike.

There is considerable print, film documentary and factual evidence on the critical and pessimistic side of how businesses and corporations are surviving and thriving today, - but Chip Conley is relentlessly optimistic, practical, responsible and idealist - as much in his business as in his writing. The development of his company has been remarkable to watch from the sidelines, and this book effectively explains how he has done it and why it works. A great read that makes cynicism hard to hang onto!

This book is proof that there are thoughtful, caring, and people driven entrepreneurs. It is possible to be very successful without being driven by insatiable greed and boundless narcissism. The author, Chip Conley, is a Stanford MBA who has carved out a great reputation and financial success with a California based boutique hotel chain called "Joie de Vivre" (you can find their website at jdvhotels dot com).

Conley has all the great personal stories showing his personal commitment to his businesses, being willing to sacrifice personally to give it time to succeed (the entrepreneur who has not lived for extended periods without a paycheck is the exception rather than the rule). What makes Conley quite special and someone it seems I would like to know (despite our likely polar political views) is his how thoughtful he is about what he is trying to do and his reaching into the meaning of his work shows on every page of this book. Just look at the end of each chapter for a list of additional reading on the subjects discussed!

Abraham Maslow is a hero to many thinkers, however, the closer you get to the front lines of business survival the more his ideas seem like a luxury rather than foundational principals. However for Conley, Maslow's philosophy is the bedrock of what Conley is about. He uses Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs and its usual presentation in a pyramid as the model for his own trio of pyramids to express what his business tries to accomplish. Conley turns Maslow's five section pyramid into three section transformation pyramids that consist of a base of survival, a middle section of success, and the peak section (note the title of the book) of transformation.

The author sees his work in three constituencies (and provides a group of chapters on each one): employees, customers, and investors. The sound principle being that without great employees who embody your business you won't have customers and without successfully building a profitable customer base you can't reward investors. However, Conley wants more than the base part of the pyramid for each of these stakeholders.

For employees the transformational pyramid is: Money (survival), Recognition (success), and Meaning (transformation). That is people come to work for their paycheck and feel good about their jobs when the business demonstrates that it sees their contribution. However, when the employee sees their job as a way to express their own values because they align themselves with the company's mission, it can create a meaningful transformation to the employee's life. That is, the paycheck provides motivation, recognition creates loyalty, and meaning sparks inspiration.

The transformational pyramid for customers is: Meets Expectations (survival) which creates satisfaction, Meets Desires (success) which creates commitment, and Meets Unrecognized Needs (transformation) which creates evangelism. For investors the pyramid is: transaction alignment (survival) which creates trust, relationship alignment (success) which creates confidence, and legacy (transformation) which creates pride of ownership.

Obviously, there is much more to these statements than I can bring out in this little review. My hope is that by listing them you will become intrigued about what Conley is talking about and want to get the book and read it carefully. I think it is an interesting read that will fire you up to want more for and from your business than a fatter bank account (although that is indeed a part of the story). The author illustrates his points with many examples from his own work that demonstrate how practical and desirable these principles are.

Bravo.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Lester Brown gives us a solid plan to save civilization from the ravages of Peak Oil and Global Warming. But at $190 billion a year, it just sounds too easy.

In fact Peak Oil is now becoming Peak Everything (the title of Richard Heinberg's latest book), driving huge price increases in many key commodities. This means that the actual cost is likely to become twice Brown's estimate or more, the longer we delay, the higher the price. To keep costs down will take a global mobilization, with many agreements like the proposed Oil Depletion Protocol (subject of another Heinberg book) and massive rationing or taxation of non-essential consumption.

One way or another global economic decline is in the offing. This is a scary issue, especially for politicians, but it needs to be faced. This is because there is a huge difference in how this decline occurs. Business-as-usual decline (Plan A) will lead to collapse, possibly by mid-century. Decline imposed through mobilization (Plan B) will lead to survival, though with far less of many of today's luxuries.

Here's how decline will hit home, even with mobilization. Brown, along with the Apollo Alliance and many others, are now talking about a new economy of "green collar" jobs, with re-localization of much outsourced productive activity. What they don't tell you is that most of these jobs will pay far less in real purchasing power than most white and blue collar jobs in today's top industries.

But good people will take these Walmart-pay type jobs anyway because of layoffs that will skyrocket in the coming decades. That is, today's wealth is based primarily on cheap energy, so with many more people competing there will a lot less wealth to go around as we head down the Peak. Much of Plan B amounts to learning how to live with less. Many of those who've looked carefully at the numbers don't see the resources to build and maintain the renewable energy we'd need to replace all of today's fossil fuels.

This brings up the population issue. Brown says that we must stabilize at eight billion people. But will we really have the resources for 8 billion people to live sustainably and with at least basic middle class amenities (decent food, clothing, housing, health care, education, transportation, ...)? Some people are now saying that we need to think two billion or less.

Radical population reduction seems impossible without invoking the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. But it's actually very simple in concept: Women have only one child, on the average, and that child is born in the woman's mid thirties, again on the average. Mathematically this will reduce the population by a factor of 4 in 80 to 100 years. Sure, this would take a global cultural mobilization, but it is possible. As Brown points out, Iran cut its population growth rate in half in less than a decade, and Thailand did too. Perhaps we need Al Gore to show the world the kind of Apocalypse that happens when an exploding population uses up all its resources.

This book does a good job of suggesting that the United States trims it's military budgets from the largest to a very slim one.

and demonstrates how necessary it is to move away from oil, thru the use of windmills and electric cars.

It does a good job of putting into laymans terms facts which most people do not consider in their daily grind, and how decisions made by super powers when it comes to (over)population levels, econimic models, and the environment must be addressed.

According to the book, every single member of the US Senate was given one copy hopefully they read it so they can grasp the issues discussed.

The numbers don't lie. Lester Brown has presented a very informative synopsis of the most pressing issues facing our planet. The trends are all pointing in the wrong direction as far as the environment. He does offer an extremely innovative solution to get us back on a sustainable path. The scary thing is the narrow window of time in which we have to make some monumental changes in the way that we live. This is especially true for us Americans. We need to realize that there are another 6+billion people on the planet and that we all can not consume and waste as Americans collectively do. Great job Lester. I bought 8 copies of the book, which I never done before in my life to circulate to people to get the word out. Buy this book, you will not regret it.

This is a difficult book to get wrapped around. Which is good news, and then again it is bad news.

The good news is that this is an excellent and wide-sweeping run-up to the current health of our Earth.

Such topics as Our Socially Divided World, Eradicating Poverty, Designing Cities For People, and The Great Mobilization are spread over 287 pages of dense statistics and research, backed up by nearly another 100 pages of footnotes.

The bad news? There is far more content than is of interest to me - the motivated renewable energy reader. Some day I will wade through the less interesting parts, and then leave the remainder as a source reference.

The book cover heralds "REVISED AND EXPANDED". Actually, I would have preferred the less-is-more previous edition.

Then you must read this book. It clearly lays how mankind is on the road to ruin if we don't change our ways and the U.S. is no ways immune. It is hopeful also to read about tangible plans on how we can change our ways and build a world for all of us to thrive in, maybe compramising just a little bit for the better well-being of all of us. The book is extremely well writting and the documentation of sources is impressive. My only complaint is that some of it is unessecarily redundant, but I don't blame the author for trying to hit home key points. Anyone with any concern for the future needs to read this book, and take some action, even if just a little.

Dear Dr Rampersad, I completely read your English book - Total Performance Score card. This is a fascinating concept. The processes involved in implementing TPS have been explained very simply using simple language. It is indeed a revolution in thinking to keep the 'integrity' as the core area around which other processes are developed. This is an essential part of any management concept for without integrity and commitment any new initiative is bound to fail. -S. Ramachandran, Human Resources, Ramco Systems Ltd, Chennai, India

"Total Performance Scorecard is a desperately needed direction that management of organizations should adopt. It stresses the importance and need of developing an organizational structure and philosophy that combines the goals and aspirations of the individual with those of the company. It is a melding process, which results in a corporate culture that is both individually and organizationally driven. The concepts embodied in this management concept
provide solutions to preserving and utilizing individual rights and capabilities while adjusting the organizational structure and philosophy to this new environment." --Edward H. Barker, Professor at University of LaVerne, CA

Äußerst systematisch aufgebaut, entwickelt Hubert Rampersad in einer stimulierenden und praxisnahen Sprache ein integriertes Managementsystem auf der gedanklichen Basis mehrerer erfolgreicher und äußerst aktueller Managementkonzepte, wie dem der Balanced Scorecard, dem des Total Quality Managements, des Wissens-, Kompetenz- und Performancemangements, des Changemanagements sowie dem der lernenden Organisation." --Professor Dr. Christian Schuchardt, Professor für BWL und Internationales Management an der School of International Business der Hochschule Bremen

"Successful companies are High Performance Systems, something that is true today even more than ever. A condition to make these levels of High Performance possible is the alignment of personal and organizational targets and interests, irrespective of company levels or sectors. The Total Performance Scorecard (TPS) is a new management instrument that introduces this alignment and creates value based, ethical acting on a sustainable foundation. Dr. Hubert Rampersad has achieved a large and very important jump forward with the presentation of this concept". Professor Dr. Kuno Rechkemmer, Director DaimlerChrysler, Germany

"Dr. Rampersad's book is just as timely an exhortation to American business as was In Search of Excellence. In this case, the survival of corporations depends on possessing an integrity that can both fuel their drive for performance
and keep it in check. Such integrity cannot be legislated by government or management. Fortunately, Dr. Rampersad's processes bring organizations face-to-face with their own moral fiber (and many other important issues). He couldn't have come along at a better time." --George Cline, MBA, President, VitalConcern, Tampa, FL

This is a great book for your managers. We are using it as a trainig tool through our entire dealership. It's a good read.

I'm in the car business and this is the best book that I have ever read about running my business. I bought a copy for each of my managers and have used the principles discussed in the book to make significant changes in my operation. I highly recommend this book for any retail business owner or manager!

This is 3 books in book. A Leadership Book, A Daily Hands On Template of required tasks, and above all a long term Step by Step Program of how to turn a business around. If anything it is a Roadmap To Success.

Unlike most business books I have read this one is a clear step by step instruction manual of what needs to be done,how it needs be done, and why it should be done. Written in a down to earth style with a no nonsense approach it reinforces clarity of action which gets positive results. Dave has starts at ground zero and work outwards - an area of business activity ignored by most writers who are more interested in the theory of business rather then the nuts and bolts of running and holding a business together.

Thank you Dave

In a recent Maximum Impact message by John Maxwell on "How to Overcome the Six Temptations of Successful Organizations" he acknowledged the source of his message as coming from Dave Anderson's most recent book, "Up Your Business".

I wanted to see what other pearls of wisdom Dave had to share so I bought his book. I was not disappointed! Congratualtions to Dave on a great leadership book!! It is the best thing since sliced bread!!

I especially enjoyed Dave's direct, no nonsense, no-holds-barred style that identifies the entitlement culture that much of our society has bought into and his get-tough advice on how to replace it with a merit culture.

Dave's insights and pearls of wisdom were huge for me as I have more than 38 references penciled in the front of the book that I am taking to the bank.

It's about time someone cut through the pablum surrounding sales strategies, tactics, and all the rest and got to the heart of the matter. We have truly met the enemy...and it is US. In 'Up Your Business' Dave Anderson takes the blinders and the gloves off and offers a practical, honest, straightforward guide for effective management in the automotive industry (or any other people/sales/customer endeavor).

In his usual 'tell it like it is' style Anderson has created the BEST management book I've read in over 15 years of directing sales departments in dealerships. Whether your store sells 50 or 1500 cars a month you'll gain some new insights from the book - and you'll walk away with a new and honest appraisal of your own abilities and efforts.

I couldn't recommend the book more. The best part is...Not only will 'Up Your Business' fulfill its title's promise in your business, it's just a flat-out great read!

I thought I was terrible at math until I picked up this book for a college calculus course. In contrast to virtually every other math textbook I'd ever been forced to use, this book explained concepts clearly and simply, providing examples that increased gradually in complexity. I happened to have a good professor that semester, but whenever I didn't understand something in class, I taught myself from this textbook. It was a rare pleasure to feel I could learn such a difficult subject independently. I ended up getting an A in the class - and more importantly, I learned I wasn't bad at math at all.

To add a bit more information to the raw data of these reviews, I've mapped the universe of all possible readers of this book onto a set of x-y axes. Let the x-axis run from "non-Math-types" up through "Math-types." Let they y-axis go from "non-geniuses" up through "geniuses:"

- Quadrant I: genius Math-types will probably be both irritated and bored with this book. Their irritation will spring from the fact that not all of the pure-math proofs they'll be looking for are here. The book focuses more on explaining and doing calculus than on proving it. Most of the material is proven (properly: no missing steps), but the proofs that would get in the way of doing calculus are omitted. Quadrant Is will be bored because the author does his best to pound on a topic until practically everyone can understand it. Genius math-types, since they're inherently capable of grasping this material from proofs alone, will not be pleased by this repetition. For Quadrant Is, some version of Tom M. Apostol's Calculus books (ISBNs 9686708103, 842915003X, 8429150013, 0471000051, 0471503037, 0471000078, or 0471000086) would be a better text.

- Quadrant II: genius non-Math-types will probably prefer the fact that the author skipped some proofs in favor of applications. However, like the Quadrant Is, they'll probably be somewhat bored by the author's "slowness" in moving on after he introduces a topic. This book will be OK for them, but they'd probably prefer a more "terse" presentation. Unfortunately, I don't have any recommendations for such a book.

- Quadrant III: non-genius non-Math-types (i.e., "normal" people), will find this book just right. As noted above, the author's focus is on teaching and using calculus, not *necessarily* on proving it. If the proofs are complex enough that they'd distract from that mission, they're either relegated to Appendix G or omitted (though most proofs are present). Best of all, the author doesn't skip steps in his proofs: all the steps are there in their detailed glory. Later in the book, he will occasionally skip a simplification of an expression, but none of the "proof" material is missing. In the latter half of the book, he sometimes does the "proof is left as an exercise for the student" routine, but those are for non-essential proofs. After the author introduces a topic/theorem/method, he always gives multiple (at least three) examples. So, if the readers are having trouble with the equations and proofs, they'll have several chances to figure out what he means from the examples. Also, all the odd problems have answers in the back of the book. There are no steps included with the answers, but usually that's not a problem (since there are so many examples in the book). I also found the appendices giving explanations of pre-Calculus math facts very useful: it's been a long time since I've seen those things, so I needed the refresher.

- Quadrant IV: non-genius Math-types will join the Quadrant Is in disliking the skipping of several proofs, but, like the Quadrant IIIs, will be pleased with the thorough, step-by-step nature of the existing proofs. Not the best choice of a textbook for them, but for those who are having trouble with a "pure math" Calculus book, this is a good supplement.

Overall, this is an excellent book (I rate it 5 stars out of 5). The author did a wonderful job matching his material to his chosen audience (Quadrant III, "normal" people). For non-genius non-math-types, I highly recommend it. For genius non-math-types and non-genius math-types, it's OK. Genius math-types should avoid it and try something like Apostol's Calculus.

I'm learning Calculus with this book and I'm finding excellent!
My college changed Swokowski's book (it's out of print in Brazil!!!) by Anton's book. This book -together with Swokowski- is highly recommended for the beginners undergraduates. For me, Anton is very better Stewart's book -for instance-. Therefore, buy "Calculus a new horizont, 6th edition!

Well am trying to find out where can i get all answer sheet for the questions which is provided in the book.

I have found answers to odd-numbered exercies, But am looking for all answers. How can i get it please.
Thanks for helpping customers

This is a book mainly geared toward classes, possibly overcrowded, that have students from different disciplines (engineering, chemistry, physics, math, etc). This is the book for the Let's-get-this-over-with-quickly approach. I think that this book will probably disapoint physics or mathematics undergraduates - assuming, of course, they care about physics or maths.
The task of carefully choosing a balance between mathematical rigor and applications is the main one that falls upon an author of a calculus text at this level. Not dumbing down the mathematical notation and theorems too much, while being able to keep the dots between the abstractions and the applications, therein lies the art of writing. The more I look at this book, the less the author's choices seems to make sense. If you look at it, it's just an ordinary modern calculus text, nicely illustrated and all. That's the problem. Too many calculus text are copies of other calculus text, and have not put in the effort to connect the dots through the student's eye. Even little things...like defining a parabola as x^2 = -4py, instead of y = -(1/4p)x^2, because, after all, we're used to y=f(x)...Sure, all the theorems are there...So what? Wouldn't be a calculus book if it didn't have the theorems. I ask myself: if you give little boxes of theorems in nice typography, cool illustrations, together with scissors and glue, will little children put together a nice calculus book for you? Will a thousand monkeys with keyboards write mathematics textbooks?
The first book is better than the second. If you can avoid it, don't buy volume II (that is, don't buy the Combined edition). Even in volume I there are problems. For instance, there's omission of integration of algebraic functions resulting in the arctg, IIRC (there's just a formula thrown at you).
Volume II is below average (Multivariable Calculus). Don't expect to learn much along the lines of the /reasons/ behind what you are doing here. Why must you parametrize a curve? To transform a path integral in an ordinary integral in one variable, perhaps? Should you use a position vector or just autoparametrization? Did you see the relation between conservative fields, the gradient and potential energy? Do you think you can relate a map of the density of a population of a certain species to a double integral? All these are examples of issues that you'll not glimpse into using this book. It does not bring you *understanding*. Of course, if what you expect is learning by rote, than this book does that: trains students to calculate little numerical problems or perform algebraic manipulations. No doubt that's important, but that is not all. They performed as you expected. You measure them by that stick, fine. Everyone's happy. Goodbye. Next class. Calculus was invented to solve real problems, let's not loose sight of that. My experience with this book was that it made the explanations so disconected, so without grounding, that I had to look for other texts. Edwards and Penney, Thomas and Finney, Guidorizzi, Kaplan, Piskunov, until I settled for McCallum's Multivariable Calculus. I wasted a substantial time trying to fill in the gaps with other books.
Don't expect to read even a mildly reasonable explanation of partial differentiation. Not rigorous, not enough demonstrations. Some explanations are really bad, like Lagrange multipliers. Oversimplifying explanations is not adequate, IMHO. There's not enough geometric visualizations for the issue of gradients, for instance. Parametrization and the analytic geometry for the second half of the book is interpersed throughout the first half, and in a somewhat awkward order. I've seen better ordering of the material. Total differential and total increment are a little over a page in length.
I blame this book, in part, for the high "flunk rate" on Calculus II at my University. However, it seems the publisher is being very successful in marketing it all over the world. All it means to me is that the marketing department is competent.
In my ordeal through The Quest for Answers, I have found other books that I think are better, at this level. Look for Edwards & Penney, McCallum's Multivariable Calculus (this is probably the best choice) or Thomas and Finney. Anton does not succeed in making you achieve a reasonable working knowledge of the material in terms of comprehension.
On the bright side, the wealth of examples is nice (although your exam will probably be more like the exercises that start at number 40 or so, instead of the examples). The layout is good too. But there's absolutely nothing in it that justifies it as "different" ("New Horizon") or that makes it stand apart from the other books geared at the same audience, unless, that is, you compare it to a 1969 book.
Also nice is how the use of a CAS is blended in the book, so that if you do those CAS exercises, you will be on your way to become proficient in some CAS package wrt Calculus. A note here: I think the author should've mentioned open source CAS - there are at least 2 packages: Axiom and Maxima; they bear no cost to the student and have years of research behind them. Also, Scilab from INRIA (Institute National de Recherche et Information) replaces Matlab and is also open source (but both Scilab and Matlab are not for symbolic manipulations).
3 stars because it does its job of covering the basics. But no "classic", just average.
If you're having trouble with this book, see my review of McCallum's et al. Multivariable Calculus.

CDB! (Stories to Go!)

I was very excited to find this book for my grandbaby. We had great fun with it when her aunts were small. Who would have thought back then that William Stieg invented 'text speak'. I even stumped my youngest daughter with NQ!

I ordered this since my sister received it and thought it was a great book. Unfortunately, this copy does not come with the answers. Look for the hard cover version, that has the answers in the back.

This book is as intriguing and entertaining was it was 25+ years ago when I read it to my children. As an educator, I discovered this book to be a source of entertainment and challenge to my children as well as a wonderful tool to help my students as they struggle with reading skills. I recently purchased it again for my grandchildren since my copy was misplaced over the years...and they love it as their mother when she was their age.
Buy it and use...it will help dust off the gray matter and delay alzehemier. :)

smart! adorable! unexpected! (the book, not my kids...)
This book really has us rolling in laughter. My sons (ages 4 and 6) and I have been playing with an electronic toy: push a letter and the thing says the letter's name. We had been using it to make word sounds -- pressing U R A Q T for "you are a cutie" and so forth. When I saw this book I just had to get it. It is amazingly clever -- and to think it was written in 1968. It's fresh, not at all dated. My sons are very good readers for their respective ages, but it is definitely appropriate for them. I had to explain a phrase or two (they didn't know the word "ecstacy" when they saw X-T-C) but otherwise it was totally on their level. I still crack up reading it, and I've read it at least ten times. The watercolor illustrations are perfect. Stieg conveys a lot of emotion and expression with just a few brush strokes. When a boy sees someone with a lollipop and tells him "I N-V U," you can see the envy.
I won't mind if my kids want to read this one again and again. I M N X-T-C 2!

This book helped me learn to read when i was 3 years old. As long as you know the alphabet you can read this book, which makes it perfect for children who are learning to read.