Organizations Books

This is a book that every Christain should read. It is truely a wonderful read.

Prior to reading, I was familiar with Allen Ross (Holiness to the Lord), but this was the first Ross title I've read. Overall, I think it's a masterful study. I was skeptical on whether it would really be a book for all Christians, "regardless of tradition." Really, there are very few theological biases that enter the book. Ross's central concern is to understand the development of worship in the Bible. He admits that all denominations do things well, and his purpose is not to make one change denominations, etc. I truly think all Christians with appreciate this book, and glean great insights. Ross, himself, is somewhat difficult to pen down. He's Episcopal, but in the past has been Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian. He approaches many issues from a Reformed point of view, but I think Arminian and Catholic readers would get a lot out of this book.

For several years, something has been missing in my life--this book has shown me exactly what that is. Genuine, heart-felt worship. The book is well written. It opens up the entire scripture (along with early church history) and leads the reader right to the feet of Jesus--and thats where I found I needed to be. For the most part, it is instructional, but has many moments which are magnifiicent and which stirred in me that "knowing" that I already know but have forgotten or let grow dim. My thanks to the author for helping me to be reminded.

Many local churches have been torn apart by what has called the "worship wars". Battles between "oldtimers" with their set way of doing things as Baptists (or Methodists or Presbyterians or ...) have always done them against the "young turks" with their marketing surveys and praise choruses over the format of worship with each side determined to have its way. Often the solution is to have different style services that imposes a congregational split along generational and socio-economic lines. Unfortunately, there seems to have been an assumption that the Holy Scriptures have little to say on the issue and it is merely one of style and not substance.

Allen P. Ross, a professor at Beeson Divinity School, goes a long way in demonstrating the fallacies of this line of thinking in his important survey of Biblical worship Recalling the Hope of Glory. Working his way from Genesis to Revelation, Ross sheds light on just how much the Holy Scriptures tell us about worshipping the Lord God. Dividing the book into ten parts, each dealing with a phase of development, Ross outlines how God's plan for worship was progressively revealed just as His plan for our salvation was revealed. From the creation to the last trump, we are being led to our true end in the communion with the living God. It is absurd to think that there has not been revealed some level of understanding that is to assist us in moving us toward that final destination.

Ross begins by discussing the purpose of worship. We cannot understand the purpose of worship, the author contnends, until we see its link with the nature and atributes of God. The knowledge we have of God from the revelation of Him in Holy Scripture (i.e., God is holy, God is omnipresent, God is righteous, etc.) all play a role in our understanding the glory of God. Our response to being confronted with the glory of God is to be fear, adoration, confession, commitment, and finally the participation in ritual acts and religious observances that reflect upon God's glory. The observances of God's people have always centered upon sacrifice, proclamation, praise, prayer, and covenant renewal. Each of the ritual acts can be seen from an intellectual, aesthetic, corporate, and moral sense and each of these views satisfies a need of the human spirit. True worship can thus be seen as the celebration of being in a covenant fellowship with the triune God by means of praise, adoration, commitment, and ritual as we have faith that God's covenant promises will be fulfilled.

Ross then examines how the memory of paradise impacts worship. The construction of the Temple with its different levels of access to God symbolically reconstructs the world before the fall while emphasizing that access to God is no longer direct but requires a mediator. The effect both looks back to paradise but also looks forward to reconcilliation with God through the one true mediator Jesus Christ.

Pointing out how, at the time of Abraham, worship since the time of Noah had deteriorated into fertility cults governed by elite priests, Ross shows how God called Abraham and his descendents back to a true worship of Him. An important part of the worship was a sacrifice accompanied by a proclimation of faith in God at the altar. This proclimation was not only through words but also in ritual acts that demonstrated faith in the promises of God throughout the believer's life.

Ross then turns in successive sections on the details of how sacrifice and praise were integrated into the worship of Israel. The combination of prayer and ritual are not in opposition as commonly believed by many but are complementary in true worship. The author follows the development of Jewish worship from Sinai to the Temple and how the two formed a cohesive plan for the Jewish liturgical celebration.

Even with the establishment of worship ordained by God, the fallen nature of man still led yet again to corruption. The author covers how, on different occasions, Israel fell into pagan idolatry. Even when not turning to pagan beliefs, there was also the hypocrisy of those who claimed to be holy but bore bad fruits as injustice and immorality reigned. In such times, God chose prophets among His people to rebuke them and announce both punishment and eventual redemption.

Then turning to the New Testament, Ross shows how Jesus continues the prophetic call to Israel to turn from the hypocrisy of its religious leaders but also now institutes the New Covenant worship. New Testament worship is worship of Christ that is done in Christ as the believers are identified with as His Body. Worship was transformed by Jesus at the Last Supper where He identified His body with the bread of affliction and identified His blood as to be poured out as He pointed to His coming sacrifice on the cross. The institution of the Holy Communion serves is not a mere memorial in the modern Western sense but serves to keep alive the New Covenant promises for the believer.

The author then points out how the New Testament Church would build upon the existing Jewish liturgical tradition with this new ritual. Jewish concepts were reinterpreted through the New Covenant with Christ. All aspects of worship became Christocentric with both Word and Sacrament an indispensible focus of the liturgy.

Ross goes into much detail on the structure of the early Church liturgy, its reliance upon Jewish precedent, and its subsequent development to reflect the new Christian covenant. Many Evangelicals might be surprised and perhaps uneasy by the "Catholic" appearance of early Christian worship. It should be pointed out, however, that all Christian worship until recent centuries followed this basic form. The worship of Israel was always liturgical as was the early Church and all churches that can trace its history from before the Reformation. Among the Churches of the Reformation, the Lutherans, Anglicans, and many Reformed also retained the basic structure of the historic Christian liturgy.

One element that has until recently been downplayed is the eschatological ends of worship. As we come together to thank God and praise Him we should also be reminded of His faithfulness not only in our past and present but also in the future as His plan will be fulfilled. Ross shows how the views of Scripture about the end of days are brought into the liturgy and how elements of true worship point to the coming eschaton. Just as the liturgy and the structure of true woship has always pointed back to paradise, so it also gives us a glimpse of the coming day when we will experience the full presence of God in His glory.

Ross finishes with a list of principles for more glorious worship. These serve to transcend the "worship wars" that too often center on passing styles that are peculiar too a particular generation and places the focus squarely on Christ and how we may proclaim His glory. The implementation of these principles would call for a change among worshippers of the "megachurch" or "emerging church" movements but also among many Evangelicals whose liturgical outlook was formed by earlier "revival" movements that sought emotional experiences at the expense of losing a sense of God's transcendent glory.

Rarely has a book dealt so frankly and honestly with the issue of liturgy and its implications for Evangelical Protestantism. Allen P. Ross has given us a rich and powerful evaluation of the essential elements of true woship that is deeply rooted in the Holy Scriptures and communicates how the true worship of God has developed in response to the progressively revealed state of God's Word. Recalling the Hope of Glory is a challenging work that should be read by anyone concerned with the worship of the God of Glory.

Not since Jonathan Kozol's "Death At An Early Age" (1967) have I read such a gripping account of the daily struggle present in an urban school mired in poverty. Written by a teacher, this first person account illustrates the sense of futility felt by faculty, staff, parents, and most importantly, students. Add to this mix the impact of decisions made by a high-priced business turnaround team, none of whom had any experience in the field of education, which resulted in decreased test scores, huge loss of accreditation points, and lack of basic services. Anyone who cares about the entrenched culture of generational poverty must read this book.

This book addresses the educational situation in the St. Louis Public School system during the 2003-04 school year. The picture painted represents the reality of real issues face in an inner city school and does not attempt to gloss over the numerous problems encountered by today's teachers throughout the country.

The author recounts her experience working in the St. Louis Public Schools during a watershed year in which the school board hired a business turnaround team to improve the school system. The outcome was catastrophic and a bad situation became far worse as test scores dropped, schools were closed, and many employees lost their jobs. Interestingly enough, the turnaround team has been hired by both the New Orleans and New York Public Schools to consult within the past 2 years. Couple this with the problems found in urban schools throughout the country, which are articulated here as well, and you truly have a recipe for failure.

For those of us asking the question, "What is happening to our city schools?" this book has the answers. Marilyn takes her reader along as she embarks on a journey she never expected or imagined. The combination of her careful research and teaching experience at a city middle school makes this a "jaw-dropper" of a book. Read it if you truly want answers; it will challenge, enrage, and inspire you!

The author's inside perspective should cause the educated reader to consider the immense harm that a school board can cause children in the district when the board succumbs to organizational thinking and outsources the discharge of its fiduciary duty. Definitely a well written eye-opener. Reliving the author's experiences as an educator in the St. Louis schools was somewhat like watching a train wreck, only in written form.

This book is essential for anyone need to involve with BPR.

Other books tell you about reengineering and its benefits. Rarely do they tell you how to do it. This book is the exception. Its main focus is the "how". It provides enough details on a reengineering methodology to guide a project. Normally, the only other way to obtain a methodology is from engaging consultants. The methodology discussed in this book is comprehensive and practical. This is a must read for any person involved or going to be involved in business-focused or reengineering projects.

Manganelli and Klein posit a process reengineering methodology that they call 'Rapid Re(TM)'. It consists of five phases: Preparation, Identification, Vision, Solution, and Transformation. The book explains each of the five phases and breaks them down into a 54 step action plan. Successfully communicates how their strategy should work and provides a number of concrete tools and examples for implementing this kind of project.

Over the past few years, re-engineering has gotten a bum rap. At best, it's been trivialized as a Dilbert-ism; at worst, it's a code word for layoffs. But as "The Re-engineering Handbook" shows, re-engineering is a very real -- and very sensible -- tool for evaluating and enhancing workplace productivity and competitiveness.

The book provides a concise overview of business process re-engineering. The exact process that the book uses (Rapid Re) is straightforward and manageable, especially when compared with other approaches such as Six Sigma. And no, the book doesn't simply recommend layoffs (in fact, it emphasizes job reassignment and re-training over wholesale terminations). The book is informative enough so that a workgroup with minimal re-engineering experience could at least get a healthy start into the process without first turning to a pricey consultant, though more background into specific techniques such as project management and process mapping are needed.

Written in the pre-Internet era, parts of the book seem dated. But the core techniques remain sound. "The Re-engineering Handbook" should be at the top of the reading list of anyone who expects to get involved with a re-engineering effort.

Anyone who has ever worked in an organization has witnessed the paralysis that sets in with failure, reprimand, disappointing results or unfulfilled expectations. That recognition is palpable throughout this book. The deepening loss of power that follows seemingly small pitfalls or mediocre human interactions is extremely damaging and spreads to each and every aspect of an organization. Martin does a great job of both carving out the territory of these viral disempowerments, and of showing us how to bring greater authenticity to our work and communication to turn around these conditions. A correction in the psychological or cultural environment can be powerfully segued into an opportunity for more strategic thought and alignment of behavior with an organization's vision. Having seen so many of these cultural viruses do irreparable harm to both people and business results, the book has become a wonderful addition to an arsenal of tools that is never complete. I highly recommend The Responsibility Virus to business-people of any level of authority.

Amie Devero, Author of Powered by Principle: Using Core Values to Build World-Class Organizations

Ever notice how offices (maybe even yours) are split between the doers and the idlers? Ever notice the resentment that accrues in workplaces where control freaks do everything and ne'er-do-wells do nothing? Ever wonder how such jaded office environments came to be, and whether they ever could change?

Well, step right up, dear reader, because this book decodes the phenomenon that cruelly saps the morale out of even the most capable of offices. Labelling this task imbalance as the `responsibility virus,' Roger Martin seeks to render a diagnosis and prognosis of this nefarious sickness. Martin, with the assistance of psychological and biological principles, explains how the basic `fight or flight' response leads many to assume too much or too little responsibility in times of stress. This results in a causal chain reaction where the other workers correspondingly take positions on the opposing end of the spectrum to best complement this initial game opening. As Martin ably explains, these positions are never static; over-responsible persons eventually become under-responsible, and vice versa. This is essentially a never-ending dance that may eventually destroy an entire office.

So what to do, you ask? Martin proposes four separate strategies that are designed to purge the workplace body of this virus, all of which may be used on their own or in combination with the others, depending on the state of the virus' evolution and the players' goals. These different methods all have the share the same central goal: maximizing inter-office collaboration and thereby ridding the workplace of the responsibility virus. They are all very easy-to-understand and readily adaptable to many workplaces. Martin's generous use of case examples also provides a context to identifying problems and their respective solutions.

Martin's most intriguing strategy is to redefine the nature of true leadership and, by extension, corresponding `followership.' Martin entreats the reader not to accept the canard of the `man on the horse;' the heroic, all-knowing, all-powerful leader who can jump into the fray at any given moment and single-handedly solve a vexing problem, while his minions listlessly stand by waiting for the hero to save the day. Rather, true leadership fosters collaboration; followers contribute to the best of their abilities and open lines of communication are maintained throughout the various levels of management.

In all, this is a persuasive read that is very ably argued. Although I felt the conclusion was a bit rushed (where Martin makes a u-turn from his central argument that people's actions are dictated by their governing values), readers would be hard-pressed to write the book off as unhelpful. Use it in your business life or even your personal life; the book is a powerful suppressant of the responsibility virus.

This book explains in very simple terms why some people are so driven while others just go on a cruise and the relationship between the two.
If you ever feel overwhelmed at work and often find yourself wondering why others don't pull their own weight - this book is for you.
If you feel like you could do so much more at work if only given a chance but lack the confidence or the knowledge to go for it - read this book.

Roger Martin has lain down business organizations in the therapist chair, but you won't notice it because the author avoids skillfully the psychological labels currently in vogue.

If you often wonder about why you end up working more than others, why some people don't understand what you clearly state or why everybody sees what is wrong in the company and they don't do anything to fix it, this book is for you. It goes to the root of the problem, explains it plainly and offers a step by step program to solve it. The book also provides a better understanding of what's behind the Enron debacle and the government agencies mishandling of security issues before, during and after September 11.

It doesn't matter if the reader is a CEO, a manager, a professional or a secretary, he or she will find familiar faces and situations; people that could be your boss, your vice-president of sales or your managing editor. Why do we have the chance to see ourselves and others in these pages? The book is simply about human nature. It deals with the underlying emotions, culture and language that make many bureaucracies what they are: an incompetent and unfulfilled mass of otherwise intelligent, good and hard working people.

Martin explains that lack of collaboration between leadership and other parties in the organization brings an unbalanced approach to responsibility. The author describes what he calls the "heroic leader", which takes more responsibility that he or she should. Conversely, the other parties react giving up responsibility. Once the leader is unable to meet the goals, he or she sits back and takes the position of the followers. Meanwhile the frustrated followers take responsibility for their part, but because they can not attain the needed broad or bold solutions, parties induce the leader to take again more responsibilities that he or she can handle, and the infectious cycle of dependency starts again.

The mysterious Responsibility Virus is nothing more than the very human fear of failure. According to Chris Argyris, cited in the book, there are "governing values" that guide the way we interpret and deal with the world. They reside so ingrained in human nature that they apply to people across ages, cultures, economic status, and educational levels. Humans-Agyris claim--will always try to win, maintain control, avoid embarrassment and stay rational in any situation. Fear of failure triggers the governing values and they make us either take more responsibility (fight) or abdicate responsibility (flight).

Martin proposes the use of some "tools" to improve collaboration (choice structuring process), eliminate the mistrust and misunderstanding (frame experiment) and to balance capability and responsibility (responsibility ladder) among the parties in the organization. All these tools have the general objective of untying the person from the situation that requires attention and put aside the biased frame of mind from which we see the problem. Once all the parties involved in decision-making have a better perspective of the issue, they are in a position to find a middle ground between capabilities and responsibility.

It is at the end of the book, redefining leadership, when Martin describes the leader as what sociologists or psychologists would call a mature personality. According to the author, a leader should be capable of splitting responsibility through dialogue, apportioning responsibilities in keeping with capabilities, but more importantly, making apportionment discussable and subject performance to public testing. Although he doesn't mention it, you have the sense that it is the leader a significant carrier of the responsibility virus and also accountable for spreading his or her fear of failure throughout the organization.

In these times of leaders finger-pointing at each other and frustrated managers turned into audacious whistle-blowers this book is a timely required reading to understand not only organizations but the world around us.

Why can't we hear God and understand what He is saying today is the question and "Restoring God's House" tells why. We look like Christians but the things we do as Christians are an insult to God. Dr. Reid has made it simple to understand. We have fallen into a spirit of religion. I thank God I am free, that I have a relationship with God. This book is a good tool for anyone seeking the truth about what God is telling us to do in this hour. Somebody once asked, "Can you handle the truth?" It's time to take the full responsibility for the truth.

God has turly blessed Dr. Reid ,to have his finger on the pulse of what the chuurch of the 21st century really needs to regain its rightfull place as a change agent for society. This book is a gift to the entire body of christ and can and will radically change the lives and ministires of all those who read it. Thank you Dr. reid for this tremendous gift .

This book by Dr. Frank M. Reid, III is a vital piece of information for the leaders of today and tomorrow. Dr. Reid is a remarkable teacher and preacher who has a heart for the people of God. If you need your marriage, home life, or work life restored, read this book and watch the transformation. It has changed my life and made me a better servant for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you Pastor Reid for your revelation knowledge.

Dr. Reid has articulated the core requirements of Kingdom Living. Inspired by God this book has caused a revival within that offers priority,promise and provision for me and others willing to follow the guidelines discussed in this book. I am convinced that readers will be blessed, allowing us to commit ourselves to Restoring the House of God! This is an excellent read.

Finally an evaluation measurement system that works! I have used this approach as a foundation for creating, redesigning and managing two corporate universities in Fortune 100 companies. The RESULTS method worked where the traditional approaches didn't. The Kirkpatrick approach was too complex to implement and our senior management customers wouldn't buy into it.

The RESULTS model worked so well that in both situations, our HRD budgets increased even as the organizations were cutting costs. The RESULTS model provides a simple, easy to implement, business framework for rationally calculating return-on-investment decisions about training, organization development, and performance improvement projects. You may know that your work as a performance-improvement professional adds value, but not feel that you are getting the recognition you deserve. Use this approach to prove your contribution to your organization's bottom line.

Even if you think no one cares, your internal customers are making these decisions all the time when they approve, slash, or don't approve your budget and projects. Why not give your customers real numbers to work with rather than let them use their imagination? You will find that your credibility increase exponentially. Systematic Human Resource Development is a solid, cost-effective business investment.

My only critique is that there isn't more data showing how well the approach works.

Richard A. Swanson and Elwood F. Holton, III, based this book on valuable material, drawn from various organizations' positive reactions to their Results Assessment System. However, the book's writing actually obscures the value of their material and method. This would be just a subjective matter of style if the book were dull and boring. But that is not the case. The writing is disjointed and unclear, severely handicapping the reader's ability to discern much of what the authors are trying to convey. Nevertheless, we [...] recommend that human resources professionals all pick up this book, simply to extract the authors' system for measuring employee performance and learning. The system itself is - the creators should thank their lucky stars - a much more valuable resource than this documentation of its logistics and performance.

This book is the most useful resource I've encountered in the assessment arena for training and organization development efforts. The book outlines three areas of assessment: PERFORMANCE (system outputs and financial results), LEARNING (knowledge gained by participants & expertise that can be demonstrated by trainees), and PERCEPTION (reactions from both participants and stakeholders). The processes are described for each area using straightforward language, and sample templates show how deliverables could look for each type of assessment. Overall, the structure of the book is logically assembled with references to research supporting the main ideas. I especially found useful the discussion on performance drivers, measurement of outcomes, critical outcome technique, and the certification of core expertise. The book also contains usable information on drawing conclusions from assessment data, key questions to be answered when planning an assessment, and advice on conducting practical, credible assessments. Finally, the assessment framework described in the book makes sense from a business perspective and should help almost anyone be more effective as a practitioner. If you are planning or designing an initiative that involves changing how people do work, you'll likely find benefit from using the framework, tools, and techniques outlined in this book.

This book is a must for every Human Resource Development (HRD) professional! Swanson and Holton make the case for the need to measure performance results, not just stakeholder reactions, if HRD is to be seen as a legitimate business partner and contibutor to organizational performance. To this end, the authors have written a book for the everyday HRD practitioner, not the theorists. They present a comprehensive system for assessment of HRD interventions built around a logical five-step process. A full compliment of simple, yet powerful, tools is presented, which will enable any HRD practitioner to conduct reliable and meaningful assessments of performance results.

In the future, HRD must sit at the table, not only as a contributing business partner, but as an organizational leader in performance improvement as well. This book is a starting point for HRD leadership. I've used it - it works!

This thoughtful, faith filled workbook provides a user friendly, clearly developed process to assist pastoral councils in their work at every stage.

To date I have bought nearly 100 copies of this book and use them when facilitating the formation of Parish Pastoral Councils. It is a wonderfully thorough text.

Built on research and loaded with examples of how it works, this approach led us through the re-visioning process at Good Shepherd parish here in State College PA -- right to a "pastoral Plan" for our parish. Having a framework we could all understand, and the steps to follow are invaluable when working with volunteers with so many other demands on their time.
A word of caution: get ready for change! Not everyone will want to. Mary Ann's process will take you to new places.

Our parish began the challenging process of building a new pastoral council two years ago, using this book as our initial guide. The book has been an extremely valuable reference tool for defining council responsibilities, criteria for membership, consensus decision making, and setting goals and objectives.

We initially found the "seven essential elements" an effective model for designating ministry clusters, or organizing councils, but have since reduced the number to five based on Thomas Sweetser's book. However, we will undoubtedly continue to reference the Gubish workbook for years to come.

Mal has done it again. This book takes you through every step to incorporate the power of direct mail into your fundraising plans. Whether you're a large established organization or just starting out there are important tips that can help you understand the direct mail business and implement them. It is written in an easy to read style and was quite enjoyable. The techniques will greatly impact our fundraising plan this year!

This book should be required reading for every non-profit organization using direct marketing. Whether you are using a direct marketing agency or doing it all in-house, this book explains not just "how" but "why" and is an invaluable reference that you will turn to again and again. Most of the questions your board has ever asked about direct marketing are answered here. Plus, the author uses real client examples with supporting spread sheets as illustrations. You can't help but be a better fundraiser after reading this book.

Mal has done it again. This book takes you through every step to incorporate the power of direct mail into your fundraising plans. Whether you're a large established organization or just starting out there are important tips that can help you understand the direct mail business and implement them. It is written in an easy to read style and was quite enjoyable. The techniques will greatly impact our fundraising plan this year!

Sometimes I wonder if Mal Warwick ever sleeps. He is the most productive author in the fundraising field and he turns out wonderful books - full of sage advice.

Readers will be happy to see that this completely revised edition of his classic has many examples and hundreds of ideas that will help raise more money. Moreover, it is extremely well-written, unlike many fundraising books!

If your nonprofit has a direct mail program - or you need to convince your executive director to use the mail - this book is valuable.

Revolution in the Mailbox goes on my staff list of "must-read" books - half of which Mal has written or edited. If I could give this book six stars I would.

A very cool appraisal convincingly indicating that Freemasonry provided a social cement for the post-revolutionary era.

Steven Bullock has added a great deal to the study of Masonry with this book. If nothing else were accomplished he makes clear to the Freemason the true difference between ancient and modern Masonry. This book is also a fine study of the social history of the United States in its early years. Often overlooked by historians, the importance of the Freemasons in the early republic is finally looked at in depth.

Freemasonry often claims a large role in the advent of the Revolution which according to Bullock does not seem to be the case. On the other hand its importance to the American cause during the Revolution can hardly be overstated. Southern planters like Washington and Lee had little in common New Englanders such as General Greene, a Quaker from Connecticut. They had even less in common with the likes of Lafayette and von Steuben. Their one common link was Freemasonry. It seems that the officer corps of the American army forged its strong bonds around the fraternity. Not just the generals but many officers of all ranks seem to have bonded through Masonry. Military lodges spread the fraternity through out the army and soon some regiments actually marched with the officers wearing their Masonic badges of office.

Freemasonry as the title of this book suggests seems to have been important in the transformation of the American social order after the war. Masonry acted somewhat as a school for democrats but the fraternity itself began to grow into an elite order of "nobility" that almost became a new aristocracy. This status would help bring on the antimasons as the brotherhood which had helped mold early America's social order failed to change with changing times. The more open democracy brought on by the age of Jackson made a seeming aristocracy like the Masons seem out of place. In an odd twist, the father of this age was himself an active Mason. Jackson in fact served two terms as Grand Master of Tennessee.

There are only two small things about this book that I can fault. The writing style as is often the case with history professors is just a tad dull. The wealth of information to be found tends to make up for the style though. The more serious problem is the manner in which Bullock decides the Masons grew out of the stone masons guilds. There are many ideas about the origins of Masonry that deserve more attention. Bullock may well have taken the true path but he fails to document his conclusion in the way he documents his other insights.

Finally, this book which was written as a history offers important warnings for today's fraternity. As the brotherhood failed to change with the times during the antimasonry frenzy and almost died the changes in society today are also slowly killing Masonry. The fraternity must take the warnings given us in this book and learn from our past mistakes. Change is hard but sometimes necessary.

As the first third party in an American presidential election (1832) the Anti-Masonic Party has usually appeared suddenly in the story of the Jacksonian Era with little explanation except that the Masons were suspected in the murder of one William Morgan, who threatened to reveal their innermost rituals and secrets. The prosecution of the case was hampered by the fact that Masons dominated local and state government, which came to be seen an secret, elitist plot against democratic institutions. Steven C. Bullock traces the history of the Masonic movement from England to America and demonstrates how Masons were critical to the success of the American Revolution and the creation of a new nation under the Constitution of 1789. As such the Masons were not a sudden a aberration in American history but a group central to the early history of the nation. Masonic meetings gave members a place to learn how democratic government worked, how to socialize, how to argue without resorting to force, and how to participate in establishing a concept of national interest, or virtue, in the language of the times. Bullock's volume is one of the most critical interpretations of this period in American History. Do not be put off by its academic style or philosophical tone, especially in the first chapter. It really moves along afterward and demonstrates how an organization that boasted such diverse members as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Joseph Smith (the founder of Mormonism), and Andrew Jackson came to be seen as a conspiratorial institution that needed to be curbed for the betterment of an egalitarian American democracy. It also illustrates how the Masons sprang back from near destruction to be the charitable organization better recognized by Americans living today. It's well worth while!

This is a "must have" book for the person wanting to add a solid, well researched, and reliable study of the history and role of Freemasonry in these United States.

This book is written for the software tester and/or test manager, but not just those professionals who test eBusiness Web sites. Rather, there is something in here for any software tester, or IT manager who has responsible for software quality.

In some ways this book is actually 4 books in one - the first part of the book focuses on using Risk to drive the test strategy for a product being evaluated, an approach that works as well for testing embedded software in aircraft engines, as for testing a Web site used for eCommerce. For example, in Chapter 3 Paul & Neil pose age-old software testing questions such as; "how good was your testing?" and "when can we stop testing". Later providing answers based on a systematic (& defensible) approach, as opposed to good old fashioned "gut feel".

Part II provides a high-level overview of some of the more common risks that a Web site might face, and then applies the risk based testing strategy discussed in part 1 to this particular problem domain. In effect, providing a high-level generic case study for risk based testing.

Part III is the largest section in the book, and is a series of 9 Chapters that go into the details of how to test Web sites. The last chapter in this section focusing on tools that can be used to automate many of these tests.

The last part of this book; looks at some of the common challenges a testing team might face when trying to implement any new approach to software testing (i.e. many of these aspects being applicable to any testing environment, not just eCommence Web sites).For example; how to handle incident management, staff retention, and Beta testing.

In summary; this book has something for anyone involved in software testing (whether it is as a test executioner or in a test management capacity). Please do not let the title lead you into believing that this book is only appropriate for testing Web app's; there is plenty that is applicable for any software testing effort - especially the concepts of applying a risk based approach to determining what to test, and when to test it.

Note, additional details on this book can be found at [...]
Also, in the vain of "full disclosure", you should know that I've known Paul for many years, and consequently I cannot be considered a completely impartial reviewer.

This is a relevant text now. And even when e-business ceases to be a buzz word, this book will still have enough material, on the broader needs for risk-based testing in an organization, to remain relevant.

Each of the 20 chapters reads like an individual essay allowing you to dip in and out for reference purposes and, given that some of the sections have a lot of useful information buried in them, I suspect that you will want to do this.

The approach to risk based testing presented in chapters 2 and 4 is a useful one for helping the reader plan and approach test planning. From an identified risk, the tester builds a test objective. These are used as high-level test conditions which, hopefully, help determine if the risk has been mitigated or not. The later technique chapters provide examples of the risk->test objective translation and that is obviously a useful thinking technique.

Chapter 4 in particular 'Risk-Based Test Strategy' will be a popular reference source for many testing projects.

The web testing coverage is pragmatic, introduced in good order and provides a good overview of the technicalities of web testing. There is an interesting section in the Appendix which demonstrates how effective simple homegrown automation can be for web testing.

More important for this text though, than the drilling down to extreme testing of web technicalities, is the extended coverage of web testing over the life of the project and understanding how the traditional phases of the testing life cycle apply to e-business projects.

In summary then, a good book for management, and for testers that want to look beyond their collection of test scripts and concern themselves with the needs of the business.

Although the focus is on e_business testing this book has changed my views about the realities of risk-based testing for any environment. First, the authors give a dose of reality regarding the differences between 'best practices' provided in the testing body of knowledge that is growing into hundreds of books (less than two years ago there were only a few dozen books on software testing, so this is a positive trend for the profession as a whole). Second, the fallacies in conventional risk-based testing are exposed. Here the authors propose that testing be exclusively focused on product risk, instead of trying to encompass the wider scope that includes project and process risk. This, in my opinion, is sage advice and keeps testing focused on areas where it can contribute to a project's success.

Among the strong points of this book are it's clear writing, which is full of examples, and the logical sequence in which the material is presented. In addition, the clear definitions of general risk management and associated processes and procedures, and how it all ties together are among the most succinct I've read. However, the best aspect of this book is the way the chapters build upon each other, and the complete coverage of risk-based testing.

Specifics include a general chapters on risk-based e-business testing and types of web site failures that lay the foundation for the technical aspects of the book. These are followed by chapters that show how to develop an e-business test strategy, how to fit risk analysis to a test process, and a comprehensive treatment of test techniques and tools. The latter is especially valuable because it covers the full range of testing techniques that are tailored to e-business testing, which includes static, web page integration, functional, service and usability testing. This part of the book also includes security testing and large scale integration testing - both of which make this one of the most complete collections of test techniques for e-business as well as general testing.

The remainder of the book covers the context of e-business testing (including brief advice on how it fits within Extreme Programming and the Unified Process), E-business test organization, planning and specifications (a wealth of information for the test manager), and E-business test execution (which also addresses important topics such as incident management and testing in a live environment). The two appendices, Essential Web Technologies for Testers and Web Testing Using Home Brew Tools are also valuable.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is involved in E-business testing, and also recommend that it be used in conjunction with Systematic Software Testing by Rick D. Craig by Stefan P. Jaskiel (ISBN 1580535089), which nicely augments this book.

The title of this book need not deter you. Yes, it is aimed at both Test Managers (the risk elements) and at web testers (the E-Business content). However, if, like me, you fall into neither category, it is still a very worthwhile addition to your reading list and workplace library.

The authors use very practical examples from real life testing to illustrate points. A continuous analogy of an individual E-Business being like a shop, with potential walk-in customers, works very well. Some rather startling facts emerge too; the average visit to the Systeme Evolutif web-site (of which Paul Gerrard is the web-master) is less than two minutes. I am sure that is true of a lot of sites, including those that are payment-now, real business sites.

Everyone in testing seems to promote 'risk'. Here is a strategy for answering the inevitable questions on ready-for-live issues based on whether risks have been addressed. "When enough tests have been prepared, executed and passed to convince the risk-owners that the risk has been addressed, enough testing has been done".

I have dabbled in web testing, both formally and informally (the latter probably every time I use the internet). The techniques for addressing real and perceived E-Business risks have a large carry over into other (i.e. non E-Business) test forms. The sections on performance, usability and Large Scale Integration rung some bells with me, and the use of tools is both encouraged, and discouraged. Strange as it may seem, the way of doing this did not seem to be contradictory. The sections on why the concept of E-Business is different only seeks to place MORE emphasis on why a coherent risk strategy is necessary. With web applications, not only is the time-to-market critical, but the price of failure can be so much more disastrous.

Use of American spelling and currency (everything is quoted in dollars) jars for the British reader, and look out for the words "we", "us", and "our". These are sometimes used a little ambiguously. (Ask who "us" refers to). However, expect to be challenged, and encouraged on to the land of better testing. There is a wealth of source material provided, especially on tools, and toll providers. There are lots of web-based references; additionally, a significant number of articles and books referenced are from 2001 or 2002.

The preface gives one of the reasons for the book being the ordering of the vast quantities of information that there is around. What was set out as an aim has been achieved, and both Paul and Neil have brought their experience, knowledge and communications skills to benefit us all. One of the dedications says: "To all those testers who do the best they can, but always think they should do more". I for one appreciate that the book was written for me. Thanks.