Performance Books

This book is something i've used not only in my daily life in the classroom, but i've found so many other applications - its great new practical methods of personal and classroom development.VIVA great performance!

This is a great book for alternative assessment in both secondary and elementry classrooms! It is really good for teacher who want to try new things.

MLR Smith did an extrodinary job of portaying the military history of the IRA. He explicates the Anglo-Irish Treatry and implores the pragmatic achievments of Michael Collins. From the Civil War and hencforth, Smith examines the lapse of political ends in the IRA or the irregulars. He compares the fallacies in the bombing campaigns throughout the fifties to the philiosophies on Von Clausewitz' "On War." Never were there any political motives in the campaigns led by Sean Russel. Furthermore, One cannot expect to be victorius in limited warfare in Northern Ireland where the Protestants make up two-thirds of the population. An excellent military analysis of the IRA. Recommended to all readers.

An interesting, dispassionate analysis of IRA strategy from 1969 onwards. Smith is not concerned with moralizing, and takes no position on the justness of the IRA's campaign. Rather, he looks at the methods and strategy of the IRA and how well they have (or haven't) advanced the IRA's interests. He doesn't seem to consider the IRA's goal of a united and free Ireland as realistic, and continually evaluates the IRA's position in the most pragmatic terms possible. This can be somewhat off-putting for someone wrapped up in the principles of Irish Republicanism, but it is thought provoking and these are probably the kind of arguments that were used to bring the IRA's campaign to an end by pragmatists within it and within its political allies in Sinn Fein. For this reason it is a valuable book for Irish Republican supporters to read.

For people not very familiar with the struggle in the north of Ireland, this book is probably not the best place to start. I would suggest reading a broader and more general history first, such as "The IRA" by Tim Pat Coogan, which is excellent for those with no previous knowledge of the subject (and even for those of us who do have some). Then come back to this book.

A very helpful guidebook to assist children in their search for their true path in life.

"Guided Imagery with Children"
Successful Techniques to Improve School Performance and Self-Esteem
By Sarah Berkovits
Publ. Whole Person Associates 147 pp



Sarah Berkovits' all-embracing knowledge of children and the many problems that accompany them make this book an impressive source of ideas to help both parents and teachers. The book is well laid out enabling the professional reader to easily access easily suggestions appropriate to the problem at hand.

The vivid examples of childrens' writing and their art show clearly that guided imagery has a positive, beneficial effect on the child. It is most pleasing to have seen at first hand the significant change that takes place so eloquently conveyed in the book and witnessed too in my own professional work using Ms Berkovits' suggestions. I have seen at first hand the successful outcomes deriving from the application of these suggestions.

For those facing these problems in the classroom and to parents coping with them at home, I warmly welcome and recommend this book as inspiring, helpful and original.

JOY CHESTERMAN
B.Ed. (Hons.) A.R.C.M. Dipl. Music Therapy

I have learned more from this book in a far shorter amount of time than I have learned from a guitar teacher I am taking lessons with. I tried other books and this one blows them away. There's not alot of technical talk or theory in this book, just good solid hands on instruction. This book is very similar to the Author's other titles: " The Pre-Stage"... & "The First Stage"... I highly recommend any of Chris Lopezs' books !! GET THIS BOOK !!

This guitar book is very clear and to the point with bold and easy to understand illustrations. I also highly recommend The 'Next Stage' Guitar Book - Learn How To Play Scale Patterns & Tabs Easily & Quickly! Both these guitar books make a great package in learning how to play guitar.

As a trainer, Six Sigma Black Belt, Certified Performance Technologist, and Sr. manager for a leading BioTech firm whose job is to help my site adopt the tools, concepts and methods of HPT, Lean, Six Sigma, I use this reference all the time. Taking a "fieldbook" approach much like Peter Senge's FIFTH DISCIPLINE and DANCE OF CHANGE fieldbooks, the HANDBOOK FOR HUMAN PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY is THE "bible" in our field. Full of real world advice, insights, and helpful models and examples, don't miss your chance to have the best reference around in your toolkit.

Like its previous editions, the third edition of the Handbook of Human Performance Technology is a "must have" reference for all performance improvement professionals and those seeking to systematically and systemically identify and remove barriers to individual and organizational performance. Unlike many books on the subject that offer the views of an individual or small group of authors, the Handbook's fifty-five articles give the reader an opportunity to learn from the diverse experience of some of the best practitioners and academicians in the field.

Roger Chevalier, Ph.D., CPT
Rohnert Park, CA

It provides elementary and important knowledge to those who are interested in implementation of MRPII/ ERP on factories

Although this book is focused on material and capacity requirements planning from an MRP perspective, the information directly translates into ERP, making this book essential reading for anyone, business- or technically-oriented, in ERP. The reason is the techniques, issues and factors that this book covers are the same for either environment.

First, this book thoroughly describes materials management, workflow and production capacity, and does so in a clear manner. I especially appreciate the fact that the authors take pains to define and explain every term and concept that they introduce. This is a refreshing change from many book in which assumptions about the reader's knowledge is made, which often leads to frustration or misunderstanding. It also removes any ambiguity and ensures that terms that can have multiple meaning are placed into their proper context.

Second, some of the material is out of date. For example the cited limitations of MRP software applications that existed when this book was written in 1993 have long since been rectified in the newer ERP packages from SAP, Baan and J.D. Edwards. However, even in the obviously out-of-date sections of this book are hidden gems, such as the Class ABCD System that was first developed by Oliver Wright as a means of classifying the maturity of MRP implementations based on answers to a 35 question checklist. This checklist can be applied with virtually no modification to ERP systems. Other gems include the way the authors distill major concepts into their salient points, such as TQM, and show how they relate to MRP, again, the same comparisons can be applied to ERP.

The best thing about this book, however, is the detailed treatment of inventory control, materials requirements management, capacity planning and workflow - all of which are as integral to ERP as they are to the older MRP systems that this book describes. As you read this book you will gain an intimate knowledge of how everything works and fits together instead of a high-level conceptual understanding. That, in my opinion, is the best reason to get this book and thoroughly read it. In addition to this book I also recommend "Manufacturing Data Structures: Building Foundations for Excellence With Bills of Materials and Process Information" by Jerry Clement, John Sari and Andy Coldrick. That book adds the information systems perspective that is based on modern ERP systems and seamlessly augments the material in this book.

This book is a combination of pure Annie Sprinkle and the deconstruction of Sprinkle as provided by critical theorists. The academic sections can be heavy going if you're not used to that kind of writing, but this book is definitely worth getting, even if you end up skipping over the academic parts. The theory is like a frame around the artwork of Annie's life and like any good frame, takes up a small portion of the book, leaving the bulk of the pages for the actual art and information by and about Annie. Annie's art and life are just as vibrant and gorgeous whether you look at the frame or never notice it exists. The critique can help to set Annie's work into a larger context and it's worth reading, in my opinion, but if you love Annie Sprinkle but aren't into the post-modern scholarship thing, don't let that scare you away from "Hardcore from the Heart."

So what else is in this book? Well, there are great photos of Annie from important moments in her life, interviews with Annie and with others about Annie, a fantastic and respectful debate between Annie and an anti-porn feminist, biographical info about Annie and selections of Annie's work -- both scripts from her performances and work written by Annie. If you enjoy collecting and reading Annie Sprinkle's words, you need this book because it has things that don't appear in any other book by or about her. Overall, the book is a buffet of Annie Sprinkle, examining her from every imaginable angle, inside and out.

Annie Sprinkle has been delighting us at the intellectual and visceral levels for at least a decade with her cutting edge approach to sexual taboos. I love the humor and wisdom she brings to the world of sex, and the way she makes me thinkthinkthink about the IDEAS underlying my sex life. Great stuff from a brilliant sexual philosopher and an adventurous feminist. Brava!!

This is one in a series of several dozen volumes that comprise the "Harvard Business Review Paperback Series." Each offers direct, convenient, and inexpensive access to the best thinking on the given subject in articles originally published by the Harvard Business School Review. I strongly recommend all of the volumes in the series. The individual titles are listed at this Web site: www.hbsp.harvard.edu. The authors of various articles are among the world's most highly regarded experts on the given subject. Each volume has been carefully edited. Supplementary commentaries are also provided in most of the volumes, as is an "About the Contributors" section that usually includes suggestions of other sources that some readers may wish to explore.

In this volume, the reader is provided with eight articles whose authors provide a variety of perspectives on how to become a high performance manager. Given when they first appeared in the HBR (1982-2002), some but remarkably little of the material is dated. Here are some of the important business issues to which the contributors respond:

How to delegate effectively so that report-to's are personally accountable for fulfilling their obligations? ("Who's Got the Monkey?," William Oncken, Jr. and Donald L. Wass)

How to focus only on what is most important? ("Beware the Busy Manager," Heike Bruch and Sumantra Ghosal)

How to decide what to do despite uncertainty and an enormous amount of potentially relevant information? ("What Effective General Managers Really Do," John P. Kotter)

What is the "performance pyramid" and how can this model increase professional performance and improve quality of life? ("The Making of a Corporate Athlete," Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz)

How can executives effectively organize day-to-day activities, improve their performance under pressure, and get subordinates to become more productive? ("Managers Can Avoid Wasting Time," Ronald N. Ashkenas and Robert H. Schaffer)

What are some of "the very real dangers of executive coaching" and how to avoid them? (Steven Berglas)

Note: In another article, "All in a Day's Work," Harris Collinwood and Julia Kirby co-moderate a discussion of various leadership issues by six experts from the corporate world, the non-profit sector, and academia.

Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out the recently published Harvard Business Review on Making Smarter Decisions as well as other series title in the Harvard Business Review Paperback Series such as those on Change, Corporate Strategy, Decision Making, Effective Communication, the Innovative Enterprise, Leadership, Leadership at the Top, and Measuring Corporate Performance.

Also Michael George's Authentic Leadership and True North, Jack Welch and Suzy Welch's Winning, Michael Ray's The Highest Goal, Ram Charan's Know-How, and James O'Toole's The Executive's Compass.

This review is supposed to tell the potential reader what to expect from this book, based on the confession that I highly recommend reading this book.

This book is NOT A RECIPE. If you look for a "recipe" as to how to become a high performance manager, I would recommend Stephen Covey's classic on the 7 habits of highly effective people.

This book IS a perfect checklist to compare your behvior as a manager to the recommendations of people who have given the topic "high performance management" much professional thought. The art of excellent delegation and time management is broadly discussed. Multiple warnings are placed concerning the "busy manager" - one of the most dangerous symptoms in management.

If you are one your way as a junior or senior manager, read this excellent checklist - the investment will pay off.

With massive globalization concepts such as sex, gender, race, healing practices and medical anthropology are being re-examinated. Global and local societies throughout the world are called upon to redefine the way they are culturally constructed. The result of the North Americanization of the world has left an impact on healing and religious practices in Bali. Although Bali has been drawn into the process of globalization, the people seem to have remained remarkably genuine; at the same time they are conscious of change and modernization. In other words, Balinese have retained a certain pristine approach to life.

Dr. Angela Hobart's book is a contribution to medical anthropology as the research focuses on the healing processes in Bali, an island in the South Pacific. It may appear as if Bali is remote for people who live in the West and the Americas. Yet I would like to share with the reader my perception after reading the book that there are many parallels and particularities between the continents. The book highlights the complexity of the Balinese healing system which is politically and socially constructed and linked to power relations.

The book is composed of seven chapters. It is neither dense nor difficult to read. Throughout the book, the author gives insight into the particularities of the local culture underlying the healing processes, as well as the aesthetics associated with them, or perhaps more aptly experienced together with healing in Bali. I would like to suggest that book focus on how the Balinese people heal; how do they construct health, sickness, good or evil. In line with this, the reader is asked to reflect on the peoples holistic vision of life - a vision in which body, soul, nature, life and death are united.

This book is written after years of deep research on the island. Balinese culture is complex, holistic and extremely paradoxical, especially when compared with the Judaic-Christian medical, predominantly Cartesian system of the West. Dr. Angela Hobart explores in depth different ways of healing in Balinese society and the Hindu, Buddhist and animist historical background of the traditional medical system. The book guides the reader into the multi-dimensional healing practices found on the island. In so doing the study explores the spiritual dimension of healing, the interweaving of light and shadows inherent in the healing practices that include masks, rituals and witchcraft. Throughout the holistic vision of life is emphasized which implies, for example, that a person is potentially ambivalent - both evil and virtuous. Body and soul are not split from one another as conceived by most Westerns!

According to Dr. Angela Hobart there are different types of folk healers in Bali: the main ones being spirit mediums, scholarly healers and sorcerers. In the West we have psychologists, psychiatrists and MD doctors. These scientifically trained practitioners have senior positions in the medical hierarchy. In Bali folk healers are still greatly respected. In other words, Balinese healers do not adhere to a positivistic scientific framework. Dr. Hobart explores the role of village healers and ritual performances in the society, with special reference to the belief system of the people.

I myself found this book was precious in helping me to understand many aspects of healing practices in Brazil. The plurality and singularity of the indigenous voices that come to the fore in South America are in some ways similar to those in Bali. This is evidenced in the numerous mediums who work in Brazil and the overwhelming belief of the people in spirits.

The book also contains a wide-range of pictures carefully selected of healers and some landscape scenes in black and white and color. There is also an exquisite selection of healers' drawings used in healing.

I recommend highly this book for postgraduate and undergraduate students of psychology, anthropology and cultural studies. But, it is a must for psychotherapists, art-therapists, dance-therapists, and for general research into alternative or folk medicine. It is a handbook which compiles essential, useful and up-to-date information on medical anthropology in Indonesia. Finally this book helps one to understand how human beings live and construct their worlds in societies which are not affected by obsessive positivistic Western paradigms.
By Joe Oliver
London 2006

As far as I know this is the first book of its kind. It is a study of the traditional healers whom we in Bali do not often speak about but all visit from time to time. I met Dr Angela Hobart on one of her many trips here and was delighted to learn that she speaks High Balinese. This is rare for a Westerner as it is not an easy language. It is, however, a vital attribute to carry out research into this arcane area properly.

There are many types of traditional healers in Bali, who are mostly consulted at times of illness or trouble. They are a bridge between the seen and the unseen worlds and are highly esteemed by us. Whereas Western trained doctors cure illnesses from natural causes, traditional healers or `balian' cure illnesses from supernatural causes. They communicate with the spirits of the unseen world through trance.

They are also consulted on the causes of family problems. We believe that such matters have specific causes and the balian can ascertain them. Angela Hobart sets out a number of case studies and explains the rituals and mechanisms at work. She also examines the wider healing processes of whole villages through a discussion of the roles of the Barong and Randa masked figures during religious ceremonies.

Balian advise how to rectify mental or physical problems. There is no conflict between the work of a balian and a scientifically trained doctor. If we suspect our illness has been caused by the unseen world, we go to a balian and if we suspect it comes from the seen world, we go to a doctor. As Angela Hobart points out, they refer patients to each other. She sets out a table of their separate roles.

Balian often prescribe herbal medicines, provide amulets for the patient to wear and hand out protective drawings with sacred syllables on them. Angela Hobart says that knowledge about traditional medicine is dying out. It is a lot easier to go to the pharmacy and get a pill than make up concoctions of roots and leaves mixed with egg white and honey.

Many people are sceptical about traditional healers but balian do have successes. Patients believe in them and that goes a long way. Angela Hobart explains that they can shift a patient's consciousness and change his attitudes, so that he engages more fully with his family, enemies and community. After a session the patient or victim of bad luck sees things differently. He's on his way to being cured. She gives various examples of successful treatments.

Even in the West placebos work in mysterious ways in curing various illnesses. A person's beliefs and hopes about a treatment can have a significant biochemical effect. It seems to be a case of mind over molecules. Changed behaviour and attitudes, how one feels, and how one acts, can even affect one's body chemistry.

I am pleased that Angela Hobart has written this interesting book and highlighted the balian's role in Bali. Few tourists who see the lion-like Barong parade through Balinese villages to the sounds of the gamelan orchestra appreciate the forces at stake, but if they read this book, they will. I also hope that it is read by those who may be able to support the role of the balian in Balinese society.

Murni
Ubud, Bali

This book, which chronicles the struggles and the triumphs experienced by the organziers of fashion shows to benefit AIDS, makes a wonderful addition to any library. The profiles of the famous people the author worked with (especially Elizabeth Montgomery) as well as the heroic victims of this devastating disease will make you laugh, cry and, best of all HOPE. One of the best books of it's kind ever written!

I never got to go to the star studded fashion show extraveganza'a that Mr. Anketell writes about, but now I can via his wonderful book, and be both in the audience AND backstage. Out of tragedy and tears came beauty and joy, and all that is in between, and Mr. Anketell tells it all with humor, pathos, and genuine affection. Kudos! Brava! Encore! A perfect gift.