Tools Books

As they explain, Allen and Jarman identify and then explain "the basis for conviction by believers in the process of collaborative development in manufacturing R&D that we are adding value to a system that will help to sustain and ensure the stability and progression of the economic engines that provide the foundation for improving society." Note the correlation the authors draw between increased manufacturing productivity and social benefit. They organize their material within five Parts: Collaboration, Ingredients of Collaboration, Starting a Collaborative program, Tools for Collaboration, Making Collaboration Work, and Tomorrow's Business Culture -- Collaboration. They then provide ten appendices which range from "Printed Wiring Board (PWB) program" to "Examples of Mr. Allen's Networks with Major End Users."

Here in a single source is about all that most decision-makers need to know when designing and then implementing a program by which to establish and then sustain collaboration with participation, as wide and deep as possible, by everyone directly and even indirectly associated with a given organization. Allen and Jarman also suggest metrics by which to evaluate the progress of such collaboration. Time and again, we are reminded that "you can't manage what you can't measure." I agree. But first there must be a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective program, one which is appropriate to the specific needs and objectives of the organization for which it has been formulated.

With regard to the future of collaboration, Allen and Jarman explain that their objective has been to "expand the amount of collaborative opportunity to people at all levels worldwide, to give them an easy means to learn, to escape the shackles of their culture, their nationalism, prejudice, and interface with the world as members of the human race." In that event, they will have "a positive appreciation for the culture and nation they belong to, yet foster better understanding as to how the world is integrated into one vast socioeconomic-political system." Only then can they "better understand their role in the world and how they can play a constructive part in ensuring that the future is better for their families." Whatever a given organization may manufacture, it also has the opportunity to create with all other organizations what the authors view as an infrastructure of spiritual values by which to nourish all of humanity.

This book was very difficult to put down, the information provided was without a doubt both stimulating and informative. Will enhance my career in R & D significantly. I will recommend this book to my colleagues and associates.

The collaborative Work System Fieldbook is one of the best reference books about teams, leadership, coaching, and a wide variety of collaboration topics that I have found. Working in the consulting industry for over 12 years you see a lot of books about similar topics but they are not well researched or well written - this book is both!

Over the years the Center for the Study of Work Teams has published a number of books describing the theory and practice of team dynamics. The latest edition of the Collaborative Work Systems Fieldbook simply sets the standard at a higher level. This book provides readers with a wealth of practical, team-oriented perspectives and applications for improving individual, team and organizational performance. If you are on a team, thinking about starting a team, leading a team or interested in creating a high performance culture, this book is for you.

Jerry and Elaine Heuring's E.C. Simmons Keen Kutter provides an excellent guide to identification and values of this brand's cutlery and tools, with color photos aiding in the process. This manufacturer produced a range of pocket knives, hand tools, catalogs and squares: all are surveyed and given current values here.

This volume (copyright, 2000) contains 192 pages and more than 750 full color, large, sharp photos. You'll find information about thousands of Keen Kutter items here. The book discusses Keen Kutter history, tradmarks and motto, reproductions, fakes and clubs. Price ranges are provided for each item. Major topics cover Advertising, Calendars, Catalogs, and Kitchen, Paper Goods, Saws, to Tool Boxes, Wrenches and Yard and Garden. A must have volume for collectors of this popular collectible.

The book has alot of information. I own one of the old Machetes and it was quite interesting to read about it. I would highly recommend this bood to anyone owning a Collins Machete.

Since I appear many times in the text of this book as an observor, as a facilitator, and as a source, it may be considered presumptuous for me to review it. But since I am competent to do so, here goes. Ed and I knew each other from 1971 when we first met. Since I am in MD and he was in CA our face time was limited but we kept in close touch by snail mail and phone. He made many trips to the source at Collinsville and I dug a large amount of materials out of the National Archives, Smithsonian, and the Library of Congress. Since Ed focused strictly on Collins products and only on the sub lines of machetes and I am interested in all military edged tools and cutlery as well as axe work in general, we overlapped our interests. Is this the book I have written or would have? Certainly not, but I know for certain that it is all in focus and, unless there is a new vast discovery of documents, if there is anything more to be known about Collins machetes you can put in a very small pot. By focusing as he did Ed was able to find things that I never did nor even thought to look for. The ultimate test of this kind of book is is it interesting, and is it useful? I think it is so, and I wll be able to chop out all the corporate history which was in my original work and refer the reader to this one. Carter Rila

This is an excellent book for both those interested in how those in law enforcement deal with informants & those in law enforcement who have to deal with informants. I found his admonition to control the informant especially important. Most CIs know how to work the system & if not careful they'll work you too. Should be required reading for anyone in law enforcement.

This book was well written, and detatiled. The lessions were followed buy examples that illistrated the key points. I am now prepareing to go into narcotic's, and the authur has vast knowledge in the subjct of narcotic's. This was an execllent begining to the use of informants. The authur has clearly set up the paramitors for the selection, preparation, and use of informants. The cases that are talked about in the book are from taken from current and historical cases, both narcotics and other crimes. I found this book very interesting. I have loaned it out to a fellow Officer who has commented that it is an excellent book and he has been in narcotics for 7 years.

Everyone who is facilitating conversations on difficult subjects and/or conflictual issues should read this book. Ron Kraybill gives us his best tools, learned from years of mediating and teaching, including years working in South Africa. Whatever your issue or conflict, there is a tool here that will help you.

A colleague handed me a copy of The Little Book of Cool Tools for Hot Topics: Group Tools to Facilitate Meetings When Things Are Hot (The Little Books of Justice and Peacebuilding). We both work in an organization, live in a community, have allegiance to a Land, and are concerned for the whole world - so conflict and disputes are all around us.

"It's a quick read, hands on, lots of useful techniques; you'll like it."

It was and I did.

Whether you are planning to lead a group through a conflicted time, or will be part of the group itself and want to learn more about taking a larger point of view - this little book is a great resource.

Bob Leming
Philadelphia

"The Crafting and Use of Ritual Tools" contains all the information you will need to craft your own wands, staffs, and ritual daggers. Construction details are in step-by-step format, and the authors have included guidelines for adding personalized decorations. Highly recommended!

Don't hesitate - get a copy of this book. It is the absolute best guide I've read on how to make and use your own spiritual and magical ritual tools. Why pay a lot of money for commerically made tools? It's fun to make your own! Learn how to make and use a ritual staff, wand, rune set, medicine shield, athame, and more.

I liked this workbook from the folks at LEI a lot. I have gotten lots of use out of Learning to See over the years and finally they have published a worthy follow up book that expands my thinking. This book provides a ton of meaty advice about the creation of a complete pull system for a typical discrete parts plant. Like the other stuff these guys write it is in the form of a case study answering sequential questions that unfold as you progress through the text.

The Pro's: 1) This format really helped me stay focused on the topic by providing a single complete end to end example. 2) The graphics and examples are very clear, 3) the 12 questions seem logical and complete, 4) the formulas are overall thinking are simple and logical, 5) It moves beyond a simple value stream with only one product The Con's: 1) I only have one really and it is true of all LEI stuff - I would like to see different examples from a variety of industries. Specifically some low volume high variation, more build to order stuff, and job shop or off the wall examples would help out a lot of us with diverse situations. (Maybe too much to ask for in one book). Overall though this is a minor detraction and it is a great learning aid. I can see using this a lot to lead some of the plants I am in charge of improving by expanding their pull systems in a step by step manner.

Every other lean management book encourages you to use "Value Stream Mapping" to improve your processes. The idea is that, having seen what is wrong with current processes, you will somehow "solve problems" and "improve the flow". In practice, unfortunately, it's rarely so simple. The real challenge of Value Stream Mapping is not just drawing the "actual state", but coming up with a robust "future state", and then to visualize it on the shop floor - which is a skill in itself. And in fact, there is very little published about it, apart from this remarkable workbook.

As a lean consultant, helping clients to come up with a transformed process and to put on paper an "ideal state" has been a recurring stumbling block, if only because there are so many new things to explain: leveling, kanban, material handling - all at once! This workbook has helped me immensely because I now get clients to work through it step by step to clarify and share their understanding. It's both general in its scope and explanations, and very specific in how to attack the problem. Indeed, it's one of the very few lean books that gets into the real nitty-gritty of how to redesign a flow beyond telling you to "just do it".

I can't recommend Creating Level Pull strongly enough to all those who try to really implement lean (as opposed to just talk about it). This is it: this is where lean really happens: capability vs demand, creating the pacemaker, controlling production. I'm really impressed with it because it explains clearly and simply some tricky and counter-intuitive lean mechanisms, which are at the core of just-in-time. Definitely a key to successful lean implementations.

A must read for any technical manager who is responsible for a system that uses replication or is planning to do so. Technologists (DBA, SA, DA, Developer,..) will also gain valuable insight into the world of data replication that the vendor documentation does not provide. The decision tree (pg215) and the case study take this book over the top.

It's tough to find an entire book on the subject of replication. Most database books give only a chapter's worth of lip service to the topic, if that much, and then move on to the other "important" chapters. I can't even count how many "advanced" database books I have that devote an entire chapter on introducing SQL, yet skip this advanced topic. Distributed apps require distributed data and this book defintiely covers a lot of ground in the right direction.

The only thing that kept me from giving it a 10 is the hope that something better may come along. But even if it does, I'll still thumb through Buretta's some more. The Case Studies are a particularly good feature, and one actually applied to the situation I needed resolving when I picked this book up

This is a great book- one that I find myself referring to almost daily. As it says in the books intro., each chapter provides a comprehensive view of the various components of a successful Win2K rollout. I agree with this statement, as it does it very well.

I bought this book along with a few othr titles from Syngress, Minasi, etc. This book is really good, and it'll be on my list of keepers as I can see it being a really useful reference tool.