Performance Books

do not read this book, it's Too Good.
i professed to a bookshop, "most people buy it because it's shiny, but it's actually a Great work of Genius," that was just a common marketing ploy used in media & politics, propaganda or more aptly, less-than-half truths used to mass-hysterically sway popular opinion. No one is buying Xerø.
the silver reflective cover designed to snaz-up the flashiness instead of causing the Art-Literary-Masterpiece to stand-out on the shelf actually only reflects the books beside it, making it essentially invisible.
the Work is such a complete Representation of Life you can't even see it. hence: "is what it ism" the religion.
also see ref. Xerø: "nutella & fluff on the common denominator of slice," Laruocco wants to be the dichotomy of eastern & western culture, spreadable, drinkable, freezable; the Lowest Common Denominator Of Language.

illustrated vibrantly with vivid photographs mixed with drawings, chapter titles include:
the Melding American Capitalism -&- the CAPITALIZATION of G O D.
the shapes the Vowels take on your face A e i o & u, & the double You. [---what part of "NO" don't you understand? ---the K & the W ]
"is what it ism" -- the religion. 'mASS':: word is a diction, words are a diction!
the 12-steps of Ass Synonymous, an in-depth synthesis application of a spiritual discipline.
the 'Ad(Ass) replacement strategy' an attempt to conform to language through trash chic advertisement.
products like: Butt & kNOwSe Curiosity Remover Cream™ - No's if's &'s OR's But's about it,-- Break your chains of thought!
'A Parody Keeps the Doctor Away.' etc.
Laruocco invented the mixed metaphor before they were called mixed metaphors, before it was looked down upon, that 'she mixes metaphors'. She'd patented her Laruoccan®™© technique before copyrights became fashionable & Genericide became poetic. her words make ¢. clairvoyant kleptomania when i stole your ideas before you have them.

Xerø is like a children's book for adults who liked the straightforwardness of the 3 bears but refined & tainted their intellect beyond years of mass media. The story begins: "She goes to the doctor to fix the crack in her ass." & it continues to conclusion.

i have schizophrenic sub-divisiaries hence the "La Ruoc & co." publisher who Represent you... so you can BLAME them when people look at your book & Gasp "WHO Published this!" i say... "the other girl." (im thinking the other girl too) but she's the same girl under the same wig at the same time.
Xerø sites references to: "the diamond sutra," the Buddhist bible; "I & Thou," Martin Buber; & "Magick, book 4 liber ABA" Aleister Crowley.

This here shiny book is just bursting with some of the most interesting pieces of artwork I've been privy to sift through in a great long while. If you're interested in playing it safe, and not expanding those brains of yours, then go and commit suicide... otherwise, go ahead and give a gander at this crazy masterpiece, known only as Xero!

-Blister Herzog

here is my homemade attempt at reviewing what is above reVIEWs/like a shirt for madonna concert in puff paint/ if you are looking at this before the new year begins, then reading this book would be a way to save yourself from another year in the dark. if it is after the new year, then don't wait any longer to read it. PreSUMing you are reading this, you like books, so you've got a chance. But all your life, you have probably been using words with some thought, but xero awareness of their vitality, ASSuming them to be iron little SOLDiers/soldEARS without souls or feathers or intentions of their own. LA Ruocco has somehow birthed what can only be described as a tremendously disorganized frenzy of thought/ picture a sky ravaged by comets/ basically, an exquisite wreckage of language, and on each page there are multiple moments when: when hunter s. thompson (may his gonzo genious requies in pacem /or Vegas) shot out the phrase "Buy the ticket, Take the Ride" he was talking about this.

La Ruocco's Xero is epistemological profanity at its cleverest. A chaotic but perfect world to explore. For the lover of art that makes you think and laugh, Xero is, as Robert Bork once said, an 'intellectual feast.'

Xero mixes free-associative, recursive, pun-filled, and at times startlingly clear prose on topics from religion to La Ruocco's ass. To itemize the topics, to give away too much detail, would be to ruin part of the fun, which is discovery. The book unfolds, the ideas link and fertilize each other.

Interspersed throughout is copious color photography, much of it including said ass and the rest of Laruocco's stunning beauty.

Collaborative portions include a conversation about intellectual property and pornography with John S. Hall, and documentation of a scheme with Michael Portnoy to replace Calvin Klein ads with their own ass-based versions.

Xero is less a book than a journey and a performance piece. But that's wrong. That's because we have preconceptions of what a book should look like, be like, act like. When you spend time with Xero you are provoked, stimulated, tickled. You don't just read about experiencing; you experience. You'll be enlightened, exhilarated and entertained by the journey.

--- (...)

If you haven't read Laruocco's Document Zippo, you have missed one of the more significant events in literary history.
Any fear that she was a one-shot author is delightfully vanquished by the publication of Xero. In an age when economy determines the list of authors released by major publishers, L.A. Ruocco is fiercely unique and independant. Xero bridges the gap between western and eastern civilization and bi-polar thinking in the lowest common denominator of a language which, although appearing to approach neology at times, is in fact precise and deep. Her work will be current and flourishing long after her detractors have learned to cohabit with the dust.

To be successful it is not enough for an animation to dazzle the audience visually. More importantly, it must tell a story in terms of the objectives and conflicts of its characters in a way that's new and surprising. And the audience must be able to empathize with its characters. Ed Hook's book is not only about acting for animators but also about the essence of good storytelling. It provides simple, easily employed techniques to create animations that appeal to people, whether they are 20 seconds long or two hours. And this book also gets you results. Sharon Coleman's first short animated film, Badgered, won an Oscar nomination in 2006 in part because she followed the principles in this book.

Ed Hooks' books are a must have for anyone serious about Animation and/or any character based type of storytelling. After getting used to his concepts it becomes second nature to look at scenes and put the finger right on the problem, if it has any.

This is the first book who explain the acting principles for animators, the book comes with one CD of demos from lessons.

Mr. Hooks has succeeded in condensing years of experience teaching his internationally recognized Master Class "Acting for Animators" into a manageably sized and reasonably priced book & CD combination. This is an expanded 2nd Edition of a title first published in 2000 and now in use around the world, as a source manual and text book, by industry leading professional animators as well as animation students in the most highly regarded animation schools.

Traditional 2D, contemporary 3D, and experimental animators devoted to "telling a story" with their characters will relish the wealth of straightforward insight presented on topics critical to character design and animations development such as movement and body language, power centers, using psychological gestures, scene development, knowing the audience, and much more.

Dispersed throughout "Acting for Animators"- entertainingly illustrating the principals discussed in each chapter- are delightful little line drawn characters from the pen of renowned animator and director Paul Naas. And, not only does this unique and timely book contain a remarkable "Acting Analysis" of the groundbreaking and sure to be classic feature length animation "Iron Giant," it opens with a glowing forward by the film's Director, Brad Bird.

Ed Hooks is the original and still leading "Acting for Animators" teacher called upon by animation studios and schools in the United States and overseas. The contents of this book parallel his teaching perfectly.

Speaking as an animator in training and a Producer in action- who has had the good fortune to participate in Ed Hooks' recent Master Class in Denver after first meeting him as an acting student in California at the beginning of his now 20 year career as a highly regarded stage, tv & film acting coach- I say this is a "must have" for any animator who wants their work to stand out from the pack and grab the audience by the funny bone and/or the heart!

Consult "Acting for Animators" right along with Richard Williams' "The Animator's Survival Kit" and your animations will rock!

Anne-Elizabeth
Denver, Colorado
inside@centralvectors.com

I wish I read this book years ago. I've been animating professionaly for years, but there's information in this book that has given me a different mind set into accomplishing what I need to create.
I've always been able to 'see' faults in my work and fix it without knowing consiously how I made the error in the first place. Now, after reading this book I take a new vantage point and can prevent any errors occuring (usually). I think my style of animation has changed a little too.

The book is fun to read and the chapters are straight to the point. Recommended to every animator.

I didn't expect this book to be so good. It's remarkable, wise, and soul awakening. Concepts such as all stress is self-induced, that all criticism is self-revealing, that every moment has total perfection, are mind stretching, liberating, and empowering. This is a classic book. I'm going to get copies for people I care about. Read it.

Breaking the is truly a life-changing book for me. Just another self-help book, I thought. It turned out to be unlike any other self-help book that I've ever read.

How is this book different? This is not a book that made me feel good, but never managed to change anything about me, leaving me feel more powerless than before. The authors, Kurt and Patricia Wright, actually manage to engage into a relationship with me, never leaving me off the hook. On the contrary, sometimes I found them to be so inquisitive and personal I put the book down or feel uncomfortable with their questions.

It is indeed the questions that are life changing. I never really new how to ask questions of myself and others that actually improve things. You know how in our conversations and thoughts we so often focus on what's wrong and trying to fix that? And how it never really gets us anywhere? Breaking the Rules is about that, about asking right, empowering questions. About learning to recognize your already existing strength and to build on those so we can all reach a state of effortless high performance.

After reading this book I can never look at myself the same way again. It's like that image where you could at first only see the old lady, unable to see that there was also a young lady in there. Once you see the young lady you can never "unsee" her.

If you are ready for looking at what's right in your own life and the lives of those around you, whether in your personal relationships or in business, you've found your book.

Kurt Wright presented a seminar to our management team ten years ago and it changed my life. I was fortunate to participate in a tele-seminar with him that was even more valuable. His approach to asking "right" questions that allows the other person to arrive at their own conclusions has deepened my relationship with colleagues, friends and family. It has totally changed me from a micro-manager to someone who trusts others to achieve objectives. I have rarely been let down when I showed confidence in other's competence to get things done.

(1/5)
When I was 20, I copied by hand Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People. By doing this I experienced a simple side effect, I made 7 million Deutschmarks. A lot of money in those days.
When I heard of Kurt and Patricia Wright's book, I copied/extracted the essence and sent my questions to the White House. You'll see, what's going to happen.
My only question to Kurt and Patricia is, why don't you change the title to the most effective How to Ask the (W)right Question and Succeed in Life. http://EnergyChallenge.de/091105.htm

This is a brilliant, provocative, intriguing, challenging, energising (literally!) book!

What was the best thing for me?

His concept of the Detached Control Achievement patterns (That's me!)

Other great things?

Clarity around how to GET my Life Purpose (two years of Landmark Forum training did not get me to GET that!).

We get more of what we measure (so measure what you want improved)

That I have a "powerful drive to learn" and all the behaviour/thoughts which go with that.

I look at the world through my own eyes, not those of others. No wonder when I ask people about me, what they see is so different from what I see myself! Powerful insights for me here.

And that I need to envision at least 10 years ahead (last year I created a goal of being "Alive, Alert and Active on my 100th birthday" so I've been thinking along the Right lines.)

It's amazing how my perspective changed when I thought in terms of having another 45 years of life to map out and plan!

This is not just a book - it is a working manual for driving through life on maximum revs!

I found the book to be well thought out. It definitely gives you a lot to consider up front went building a Team and could save you considerable time and headaches later.

Can I tell you how many SELF HELP, BUSINESS SPECIFIC, HOW-TO types of books on my shelves need dusting? and then arrived Dirk Zellers newest ACE; The Champion Real Estate Team. WOW! Emphatically I encourage other highly motivated,"out of the box thinkers", entrepreunerial spirits and WINNERS to grab this book and devour it, cover to cover! Well written,articulate and direct; I am so glad that my GUT instinct on this one was right. Dirk's 20 plus years of heavily trodden roads to Real Estate Success is not just depicted in stories; rather here is a real,meaty, hands on STEP by STEP instructions for team building success. I have personally spent the bulk of this year building my team, this is the "icing on the cake" that I needed; I am eager to begin implementing much of what he has taught. I have been "planting seeds" for two years now with modest seedlings; I expect 2008 will begin a strong harvest and I am so excited. THANKS Dirk!

Thanks so much for this book! It has really helped me get my team back up and running after taking a break in management. I learned from the first page to change some of the things I had been doing and have used it as a workbook in setting up systems and my business plan for the new year as I re-grow my team.

Dirk Zeller is one of the few who really understands the business of real estate and what it takes to be a top agent. This book follows on from his greatest work "The Champion Real Estate Agent" and outlines a blue print for and how to build a team - not just any team. A Champion team. His writing style is clear, incisive and he pulls no punches and tells it - like it is. Lots of great advice from someone who has been in the trenches and knows what it takes and needed to be great at this business. A great read and I look forward to implementing what he has written. Zeller has provided the blue print - the point is to now go and make it happen everyday.

I was so impressed with this book I ordered one for my Broker. It is clearly written, factual and has a real plan that I believe can help you develop a Great real estate team. This is for Brokers and agents - oh by the way there is also a book titled the Champion Real Estate Agent. It is equally helpful and should be on every real estate person's reading list.The Champion Real Estate Agent

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

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

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

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

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

I think dthe book is great. It has wonderful ideas and great teaching methods. Its a fine teaching tool and it a great project to work with.

This is an excellent book. The tools and origantially of it is amazing. If you are a teacher and are looking for a group project to do with other teachers, get this book.

B.Harris, R.Kiel, and K.Kohlmeier are my current English,Science, and History teachers. When our class did the crime scene investigation we picked jobs and wrote out an application to see if we were qualified. I wanted to be a prosecuting criminolgist and I made it....this project was fun, exciting, and about the real world. I enjoyed doing this because we not only had fun but did learn something as well. Kathy Baroutgian-pupil of Wilson Middle School.

It was a pleasure not just to read but also to be in the audinance. I think all of the teacher did a great job. Not only did the kids learn but they found out how the system works. We can look forward to alot of great kids when teachers like these go out of their way not just teach but make things almost life like.

B.Harris, R.Kiel, and K.Kohlmeier are my current english, science, and history teachers. When we did the crime scene, it was a great learning experiance and a great way to find out what lawyers and jury members REALLY go through. I really enjoyed doing this project. We took fiber samples, hair fibers, fingerprints, shoeprints and analized them in science. We wrote out the reports in english, and in history we recived our jobs from Kris Kohlmeier. I was a Defense Attorney. We had about two weeks to prepare for the real trial. It was really fun, but everyone was really nervous. I thought it was fun that they filmed us and that we had a real jury. My favorite part was when we found out the final verdict(even though 2 of our 3 clients were guily). But it was still fun! Over all I had a blast doing this and I learned alot!! I am really glad my teachers wrote this book, so other teachers can read it and teach other students, and give them the same experiance that I have recived. Student from Wilson Middle School, Windsor castle Brittany Cuen

This book examines the chief issues that Egyptian policymakers faced during the period starting with the Free Officers' revolution in July 1952 to the end of the Second Millenium (although there are occasional references to events up to 2002). The emphasis is on durable, structural issues, many of which continue to resonate with policymakers.
Readers looking for a detailed account of events on the lines of "this happened, then that happened" may be disappointed. Ikram's technique is to sketch out broad periods that shared major similarities and were largely affected by the same important economic events, eg, the period of the nationalizations and Arab socialism; the infitah or Open Door policy and the influx of oil revenues, worker remittances, foreign aid; the period of falling oil prices, squeezed resources, and major debt reschedulings; and the era of stabilization and the beginnings of significant structural reform, at least in the area of privatizing many of the public enterprises. He then examines the most important issues and questions that policymakers had to deal with during these periods. The emphasis is mainly on macroeconomic issues and policies. These are analyzed using tools of modern economic analysis, and supplemented by interviews with Egyptian policymakers (to see the compulsions that they were under) and from documents and discussions with representatives of the main providers of financial support to Egypt. A particularly fine chapter on what Egypt needs to do to sustain growth in the next 20 years or so rounds off the book.
The data in the book are more reliable than in any other study of the Egyptian economy, since Ikram has had continuous access to the data banks of the World Bank (the book's blurb says he is a former director of that organization), and of the International Monetary Fund. He also has had access to a considerable body of studies and other material from Egyptian ministries, the Central Bank of Egypt, and the Egyptian statistical agency. The book is written in a clear style, with a welcome touch of humor. In addition to appealing to students of Egypt and the Middle East, the book should provide excellent supplementary reading for courses in economic development and in economic policymaking.
This book is apparently the first in a new series from Routledge on Middle Eastern economies. It will be a very hard act to follow.

This book is a model of what an interesting country economic study should be. The author has the perfect credentials: a long association with Egypt, a previous book on the subject, access to the leading Egyptian economic policymakers, access to the data bases and analyses of the World Bank and the IMF (as director of the World Bank's Egypt department) sound training in economics (affiliation with Cambridge and Harvard Universities), and the ability to write fluently. The book, therefore, is informed by acute technical analysis and pertinent personal anecdote. Excellent.

I have monitored the Egyptian economy for a major international bank for almost 20 years and advised the donor organizations of the most important western country on economic developments in Egypt for nearly ten. I wish that a book of this caliber had been available earlier. It is a cut above anything else written on the subject. It analyzes the major issues, goes behind the scenes to examine the actions of policymakers, maintains a balanced treatment of the shortcomings both of Egyptian policymakers and of the donors (such as the IMF, the World Bank, and USAID), examines weaknesses in the data, and presents sensible and practical advice on strategy and policy, including required improvements in the functioning of key institutions. The book is written clearly, and the message of even the more technical chapters comes through easily. It should be required reading for everyone who has to deal with the Egyptian economy or has an interest in it.

The other reviewers have made the points that I would have liked to have made. I have read every significant book that has been written on the Egyptian economy in the last 20 years, and this is better than all of them. By skillfully combining acute technical analysis, the best available data, and insider knowledge of the thinking of international agencies and Egyptian policymakers, this book sets the standard by which all subsequent studies of the Egyptian economy will be judged.

In the 1980s, as a post-graduate student in Middle East studies, I read Khalid Ikram's earlier book Egypt: Economic Management in a Period of Transition (Johns Hopkins University Press). My Cambridge University professor described it as "outstanding." Now Ikram has written another outstanding work.
This book examines economic policymaking in Egypt in the period 1952 to 2000. The book focuses on the more durable issues that policymakers confronted during this period, rather than (to quote Ikram) "on a day to day chronology or on quotidian details." The issues are covered in chapters dealing with investment and productivity, the balance of payments, public finance, the capital market and monetary policy, the labor force and employment, and poverty and income distribution, in addition to three chapters that cover broader issues of political economy.
There is an excellent final chapter on what Egypt needs to do in order to sustain growth in the future, that, in addition to dealing with questions connected with an outward looking strategy provides an in-depth analysis of institutional issues, such as the bureaucracy, the commercial judicial system, the system of taxation, shortcomings in the provision of trained labor, the cost to the environment of economic growth, the constraints imposed by the availability of Nile water, and how the present system of planning and economic management is increasingly being hemmed in by globalization and privatization, and will probably have to be replaced by a more flexible method of indicative planning.
Ikram, a former Director of the World Bank's Egypt department, clearly enjoys unparalleled access to Egyptian policymakers, and the book contains insights from interviews with several Ministers responsible for economic policy. He also quotes from Cabinet studies, as well as from studies by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The book is a veritable tour de force, and I recommend it highly to anyone interested in the development of Egypt and of the Middle East.

This unique book is one of the best Film and Television Directing books that promises satisfaction and truth. Myrl A. Schreibman is an authentic and creative author that incorporates wisdom throughout the book rather than regurgitating his knowledge. Experience is another thing that this book offers which creates a pragmatic platform for the reader that ultimately functions as motivation and inspiration. This book is a powerful tool for any beginning, intermediate, and even advanced student or professional of Film and Television Directing.

The Film Director Prepares: A Complete Guide to Directing for Film and TV is a great text and resource for the beginner looking at the construct of filmmaking and the director's role as well as great advice and insight for those at intermediate and experienced levels. The added CD from Frame Forge is outstanding and invaluable for storyboarding your project. Overall an excelent resource!

This book is an entirely interactive book as it contains a CD-rom that has a 3d storyboarding software that makes it absolutely remarkable in being able to manipulate the images in the book to experiment with concepts and precepts that the author is knowingly speaking about. The Directors Guild of America calls this book the definitive book for directors and encourages not only those who are learning to direct but those who already direct to hacve this book in their library. It is told from a very easy and understandable perspective and full of practical stuff about telling stories, saving production time during production, working with talent, directing various forms of television and most of all what it means to do coverage to tell stories. This is one book that you must have!

I just finished a feature length screenplay that will soon become a feature length film. To prepare for production I decided to purchase two books: Creative Producing A to Z, and, A Film Director Prepares, both by Myrl Schreibman. Having just finished reading them both, I now know I could not have made two better choices. Buy them both, read them both, then read them both again! I promise, your film career will be well served.

Practical and easy-to-grasp, this book breaks down directing to its most essential elements: the philosophy and the process. The book is a great starting guide for the newbie. Use it to learn just the fundamental principles of filmmaking, and then go out and discover your own principles.

An excellent book that sheds new light on the theme of leadership at the top. How To Think Like a CEO and Act Like a Leader is a practical, no nonsense approach to leadership. Mr. Andrew captures the essence of leadership in this well written book.

At long last, here is a book about business that is easy to read, easy to understand, contains valuable quotes and covers just about all one needs to know in the business world. It has taken me 34 years to acquire this knowledge. If only I had this book to read, back then. I recommend this book not only to someone who is new to the business world, but for anyone, whether in business or not, for the knowledge, experience and insight it imparts. Thank you Mr Andrew.

A must read. Having received an MBA in the 70's and running a small business for over thirty years I found relevance on two major points. The writing is an excellent review of MBA principles and offers insight into current leadership thinking. A concise work I would recommend to all levels of management.

How to Think Like a CEO and Act Like a Leader: Practical Insights for Perfomance and Results is a book with simple, practical and everyday common sense. These qualities make this book a must for any person in business and in life. If our grade schools could teach the lifeskills addressed in this book to our young they would have a headstart in living a honest and rewarding life in the community as well as in business. I highly recommend this gem.

Reading How to Think Like a CEO and Act Like a Leader is like having access to many wise mentors who have distilled business practical truths into fresh perspectives and insights. It is quite readable, laced with related interesting tales, and has strategies and actions that are immediately applicable.

The essence of an MBA, this book presents a clear-eyed look both at leadership AND an understandable overview of key business tools and terms.

Relevant to leading in the fast paced business world, this book is must read for today's experienced leaders and tomorrow's upcoming leaders!

As is frequently the situation, I read this book in combination with another, Return on Learning, in which Donald Vanthournout and his associates on Accenture's Capability Development team explain how their firm achieved an ROI of 353% on its commitment to enterprise learning. I highly recommend both Return on Learning and this book and, if possible, read in combination. In the Introduction, Jay Cross makes a number of crisp assertions, several of which are certain to generate controversy. For example, "Workers learn more in the coffee room than in the classroom." Rather than take this out of context, I continue the excerpt: "They discover how to do their jobs through informal learning: asking the person in the next cubicle, trial and error, calling the help desk, working with people in the know, and joining the conversation. This is natural learning - learning from others when you feel the need to do so." So far, no pyrotechnics. Cross continues: "Training programs, workshops, and schools get the lion's share of the corporate budget for developing talent, despite the fact that...," and then, "this formal learning has almost no impact on job performance. And informal learning, the major source of knowledge transfer and innovation, is left to chance."

Presumably several of those who read this review agree with Cross (as do I) that the value of formal learning tends to be exaggerated when, in fact, much of it has little (if any) enduring impact; and, that the value of informal learning tends to be underestimated when, in fact, the extent to which an organization achieves its objectives (whatever they may be) is determined almost entirely by how effectively those involved (at all levels and in all areas) communicate, cooperate, and collaborate (i.e. the Three Cs) on what must be done to achieve those objectives. For those in need of a single source to guide and inform their design and implementation of a knowledge exchange program that maximizes the Three Cs, Cross has written it.

Here are a few of the key points he makes throughout his narrative:

"Formal learning is like riding a bus: the driver decides where the bus is going; the passengers are along for the ride. Informal learning is like riding a bike: the rider chooses the destination, the speed, and the route."

Comment: That said, all organizations need traffic control, once the ultimate destination has been selected.

"Formal learning takes place in classrooms; informal learning happens in learnscapes, that is, a learning ecology. It's learning without borders."

Comment: That said, it seems reasonable to expect productive and beneficial application of what is learned to avoid what Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton aptly characterize as a "knowing-doing gap." Cross duly notes, "Executives don't care about learning; they care about execution."

Meanwhile, we are well-advised to keep in mind what Peter Drucker observed in 1963: "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all."

"It's not who you know that's important; it's who those others know."

Comment: Obviously, ever-expanding networks of contacts is very important. Those we know can connect us with those they know. We are also obliged to reciprocate.

"Most training is built atop the pessimistic assumption that trainees are deficient, and training is the cure for what's broken."

Comment: I agree. However, there are formal training programs now available as well as superb instructors to conduct them that can substantially improve various skills that include reading, reasoning, writing, public speaking, decision-making, problem-solving, and situation analysis.

"Created long before knowledge work was invented, accounting values intangibles such as human capital at zero and counts training as an expense instead of an investment."

Comment: In most organizations, that is true but thanks to Peter Drucker, Howard Gardner, Peter Senge, Thomas Davenport, and others, the situation is changing (albeit too slowly) and recently published books such as this one and Return on Learning will accelerate the transition to enlightenment at the governing board senior-management levels.

Years ago, after a substantial tuition increase at Harvard had enraged many parents, then president Derek Bok responded with a suggestion: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."

"Imagine having an in-house learning and information environment as rich as the Internet. You'd have blogs, search, syndication, podcasts, mash-ups, and more. You'd also have a platform just about everyone already knows how to use."

Comment: And imagine such an environment that also provides formal training programs that strengthen various skills (i.e. those relevant to learning, communication, management, and leadership) of all who share that environment so that each can take full advantage of all the opportunities available. What about the bottom-line? "Management must assign enterprise-level accountability for learning." Cross is dead-on: Without proper governance, there would be chaos. Is Cross recommending a balance of learning with work? No. "As work and learning become one, good learning and good work become synonymous."

Don't stop there. Why not establish and then sustain outstanding learning that occurs both formally and informally? In that event, outstanding learning and outstanding performance become synonymous.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out the aforementioned Return on Learning. Also, John Hager and Paul Halliday's Recovering Informal Learning: Wisdom, Judgement and Community as well as Corporate Agility: A Revolutionary Model for Competing in a Flat World co-authored by Charles E. Grantham, James P. Ware, and Cory Williamson, Kevan Hall's Speed Lead: Faster, Simpler Ways to Manage People, Projects and Teams in Complex Companies, Dean R. Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure and Drive Organizational Success, and Enterprise Architecture as Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution co-authored by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson.

I've read articles by Jay Cross for years, and was pleased to get his book on the seminal topic of Informal Learning. Jay has a history of identifying trends and technology use for learning (he was among the first to use the term eLearning) so I was keen to read his thoughts on informal learning.

Widely acknowledged as the lion's share of corporate learning, informal learning is a difficult subject because it is even more nebulous and difficult to measure than formal learning. While there is a body of work on how to measure formal learning results including Kirkpatrick's levels, we have yet to determine realistic methods or measurements for informal learning. This book helps guide the learning industry in the right direction.

The value and ubiquity of informal learning is presented clearly and passionately by e-learning champion Jay Cross in this book. The notion of informal learning is very familiar, and most of us will understand immediately what Cross is getting at: every conversation, web site, conference, or collaborative enterprise tends to yield some new insight into the world. We are simply learning all the time.

The title of this review relates Cross's notion to one of my own observations about ubiquitous learning - namely, the "educational economy". Every one of these informal learning events is like a "transaction" in which some knowledge is shared, and in return the understanding or even reputation of the sharer is increased. The "real" educational economy, is very difficult to formalize, so what Cross would call "informal learning" is (to me at least) the portion of the educational economy that we have had trouble accrediting or otherwise keeping tabs on socially. Formal learning describes those artificial mechanisms, such as courses, (which Cross loudly proclaims are dead), that are easy to keep tabs on and can yield some educational benefit.

Informal Learning is, at its heart, a book rich with discussion of how we learn best, and what situations contribute to organic, self-driven learning - particularly in the workplace, but the ideas presented are really universal. Jay appropriately spends time discussing how the Internet has become the ultimate self-education tool, pointing out that "...my son and his peers [learn] everything from homework assignments to network administration on the Web. [That's] also where he learned a lot more than his dad ever did about meteorology, PERL, San Francisco politics, environmental action groups, obscure singers, and much more..." (166)

I'd like to sum up here just by sharing a quote from the book that I included on SR's website: "Many learners today are not self-directed; they are waiting for directions. It's time to tell them that the rules have changed. It's in their self-interest to become proactive learning opportunists." (175)

Jay Cross has written an invaluable book here for many reasons.

It can be hard to face up to, but the medieval basis of our education is suddenly and starkly out of touch with the needs of a post-network society. After reading this book, it's hard not to face up to that fact, because we now have a compelling, if nascent, alternative. The web enables a wholly different, but infinitely more effective approach to learning - through self-direction, and peer collaboration, motivated by individual choice, for example. As Jay points out, given the complexity and pace of change of 21st century life, we simply must change. (I have an 8 year -old daughter in school and it pains me to see what she's going through when it will all become obsolete in just a few years.) He outlines a kind of proto-pedagogical alternative, taking 'natural' learning as its starting point. He blends online/offline ideas with ideas from design, motivational psychology, etc, but is careful not to lose sight of learning objectives.

As an educator/trainer of over 20 years myself, I believe the book succeeds. Jay isn't a tremendous stylist, nor are his ideas wildly original, but he does exactly what is needed. He makes the case for alternative approaches to learning in a clear and simple way with plenty of diagrams, and examples. Although his focus is on corporate training, rather than traditional education, the implications reverberate. He brings years of training experience, together with an optimistic outlook to practice what he preaches. Having read his blog o ver the course of severalk months it has left it's makr on my own

The book is almost a metaphor for the kinds of challenge we face: hard to pin down, constantly changing, yet sometimes so obvious that we fail to see the significance. Jay doesn't have all the answers because that is the kind of (medieval) certainty he cautions against. He has brought an important discussion into the light of day. I don't know anyone who wouldn't benefit from this book.

Ken Carroll

Formal learning is like riding a bus, it goes, starts and stops when & where someone else decides (bus driver and urban transport committee) - informal learning is then like riding a bicycle, you choose the time, route and destination.

Way more learning happens in the coffee room than the classroom, but firms continue to spend way more on formal training than informal learning - there is a huge disconnect right there. The theme is similar in KM - formal structured tools, top-down mandates, ROI and the smells of project management dominance, do little to enhance agility, awareness, creativity, shared understanding and meaning - which add the real value.

Jay talks about unblended learning, emergence, grokking, envisioning, unconferencing, connecting, conversation, community, web2.0 and JDI (just do it). He makes the point that classes are dead, that every learner needs to cultivate an ecology, share via voicing, communicate using stories and build common text by collaborative editing (wikis).

Jay has written this timely book in the form of short stories and vignettes, recounting his experiences and perspectives. I did not find much new stuff, although there are many interesting examples and truths, but Jay managed to hit the high spots so often, I was nodding in agreement as I read along. Clearly we all have to assume responsibility for our own awareness, learning and critical inquiry. Jay neatly illustrates the tools, hints at the practices (which need more refinement) and paints the landscape.

http://informl.com/