Organizations Books

The Nun and the Bureaucrat is so simple, inviting, and fascinating that it is easily read in a sitting. It should be required reading for every university program in Nursing and Management. In fact, every administrator, faculty member, and graduate must in the future know the profound lessons this book so tersely describes. What a delightful way to begin a quality journey into systems thinking and organizational transformation so demanded in American institutions from business, education, government, not-for-profits, NGOs.

Ralph F. Mullin, Ph.D.
Professor of Quality Management
University of Central Missouri

Savary and Crawford-Mason have done an analysis of dramatic improvement in health care delivery in two hospital systems. This book provides insight into the benefits of using systmes thinking for organizational transformation. The authors allow the players--doctors, nurses, aides, administrators--to tell their stories.

Those hospitals challenged to improve patient satisfaction and optimum patient care will find this book inspiring. Those hospitals already doing continuous quality improvement will find interesting supportive examples.

The book is a good illustration of the benefits of total engagement of everyone involved in the process of review and recommendation for continued improvements in all processes.

Dr. Marylouise Fennell, Hospital Board Member

Since we have had several personal experiences of almost dying or being infected after a medical procedure, we tuned into the PBS broadcast of the documentary "Good News... How Hospitals Heal Themselves". It was so revealing that we got the book for both personal and business reasons. In our business, ESF, Inc., we frequently deal with hospitals and those in the medical and nursing professions. Both my husband, Dr. Peter J. Esseff, and I feel this book should be read by personnel in every hospital from administrator to janitor. The "Systems Thinking" initiatives put into effect by the hospitals in the two "Good News" health care systems (SSM Health Care, St. Louis, Mo. comprised of 23 hospitals, and the Pittsburgh Regional Health Care Initiative, Pittsburgh, PA, comprised of 40 hospitals) demonstrated how a variety of "hospital diseases" could be treated and eventually eradicated. These initiatives were used initially by Dr. W. Edwards Deming in helping Japan "work smarter, not harder" in improving their auto manufacturing industry. In these two health care systems, statistics are given that demonstrate how the hospitals were able to: focus more on patients' needs; reduce costs, deaths, suffering, infections, duplication of services, waste of time and supplies; avoid deadly mistakes; streamline their bureaucracy; and work as a Team, from the top to the bottom of the chain of employees, by not placing blame for errors committed and empowering their workers to recommend changes to improve the quality of care in the hospitals.

The Savary/Crawford-Mason book takes the reader through the step-by-step process used by the two "good news" health care systems and described what each step in the process achieved. "The Nun and the Bureaucrat" is filled with specific examples of what the problem was and how the hospital solved it, sometimes in creative ways, but more often in logical ways that make us wonder why someone didn't think of that sooner. The positive results achieved through these initiatives are astounding.

What an incredible impact it would be on our entire health care system if these "Systems Thinking" initiatives could be enacted country wide in every medical facility. It gives us hope for curing our sick hospitals. It gives us hope for reducing our ever-increasing health care costs. It gives us hope for raising the standard of health care.

Everyone should read "The Nun and the Bureaucrat--How They Found an Unlikely Cure for America's Sick Hospitals" and pressure their hospital administrators, community, state, and federal officials to apply these "Systems Thinking" initiatives to our health care system nationwide.

School systems should do likewise.

Read this book and give it to your doctor and your hospital administrator and they will learn how to reduce waste, suffering, hospital-acquired infections, costs, errors and improve patient safety and save lives. And additional money or government regulations are not required to begin this improvement plan.

In the book, doctors and nurses explain how they didn't believe systems thinking would improve their hospitals. But to their delight, it did and they are saving lives, making fewer errors and enjoying their work.

I am the co-author of this book and believe the comments from the experts on the back cover of the book say it all.

"If you think that hospital care cannot be significantly improved in quality and cost, you have another think coming. Read this book."
Russell Ackoff, Professor Emeritus, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Author, Ackoff's Best, Re-creating the Corporation, and Redesigning Society (with Sheldon Roven)


"This book describes the kind of leadership that's essential for making our hospitals safe and patient friendly and at the same time cutting costs by driving out waste. And that is leadership that employs systems thinking to realize an inspiring vision. Read this book to learn how two leaders educated and transformed their hospitals. They show the way that others can and should follow."
Michael Maccoby, MD, Anthropologist, psychoanalyst and consultant on leadership, strategy and organization. Author, The Gamesman; Why Work?: Motivating the New Work Force; and the Productive Narcissist: The Promise and Perils of Visionary Leadership.


"Most of us realize that living and doing daily work requires us to depend on other people and predictable work processes. Taking those understandings into health care and the work of improving it is a complex undertaking. These authors have created an inviting introduction to health care as a system. In the midst of widespread recognition that we must improve our health care, they offer a starting point for creating the changes we need. Their attention to the insightful people making these changes happen allows us to learn from what's working. They have seen what is hard to see at first: health care as a system. Their writing is clear and inviting. In short, this is a welcome addition to the public conversation. Read it, share it and tell your elected officials about what you now understand needs to be encouraged to make health care better."
Paul Batalden, M.D., Professor, Dartmouth Medical School


"If ever there was an idea whose time as has come, this is the idea and this is the time.
Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist

"This book gives me hope that we can make similar improvements at many hospitals around the country."
Kenneth H. Cohn, MD, MBA, Cambridge Management Group. Author: Better Communication for Better Care: Mastering Physician-Administrator Collaboration, and Collaborate for Success: Breakthrough Strategies for Engaging Physicians, Nurses, and Hospital Executives

If you're in a leadership position, try this book. I found it very helpful when leading my organization through a transitional period; it doesn't happen on its own.

This book contains a great collection of articles. I enjoyed it from cover to cover. I highly recommend it!

Dr. Michael Beitler
Author of "Strategic Organizational Change"

All of the books in this series are excellent. They are a collection of the best of the best--there was not one chapter I didn't want to read. This book focuses on change and how to prepare for it and make the most of it. Considering how quickly things change, this book is an important one.

I'm a fan of the whole Leader to Leader series. This book presents luminaries such as Peter Drucker, Peter Senge, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, William Bridges, Frances Hesselbein, and Jon Katzenbach. They address in short simple chapters the challenges of leading change. Who could provide you with a better supply of insight and inspiration?

I first read the sample chapters on the Drucker Foundation Web site. Now I'm sharing this book with my friends and children.

I am so pleasantly surprised by this book.

I consult to small and medium size nonprofits on how to either get started or how to get off a plateau or 'stuck' place. This book will now be foundational in how I address these groups.

Terrific, step by step, no nonsense direction.

There is no touchy-feely here, though. If you want hand holding and advice and coddling, this isn't it. This will help you lay down the a, b, c, and d of your plans to move forward. Fill in the blanks, type it up, and go get your work done.

I've used all three of Jim's One Page Business Plan Books, and this one is the best! Concise, informative, creative, and inspirational, The One Page Business Plan for Non-Profit Organizations is easy for both the consultant and client to use.

Non-Profit Organizations are businesses, too. Most people who write "how to" books for profit businesses aren't also writing books for the non-profit sector. Jim and his One Page Business Plan series is different. Jim and his books comfortably straddle both the profit and non-profit arenas, and are written from an informed perspective.

If you are non-profit organization and it's time to write a business plan, this is the book for you. Within as little as 3 weeks, you will have your business plan done, your board excited and energized, and everyone on the same page.

This is the only business plan I use with my clients -- non-profit and profit alike.

With extensive non-profit experience ranging from general volunteerism, management of non-profit outreach and assistance programs as well as board member roles, The One Page Business Plan for Non-Profit Organizations is one of the best tools I've seen. While serving as board chairperson for the non profit organization Willow Center for Grieving Children, I was able to triple the income in three years by utilizing my own POWER Planning Process expertise coupled with the precision of One Page Business Plan techniques. We've recently hired our first ever, paid Executive Director who will receive a copy of The One Page Business Plan for Non-Profit Organizations to take our organization to greater levels of success. I have no doubt that the assessment and accountability tools will serve as a vital roadmap to future accomplishments.

Horan includes solid techniques and tactics that effectively marry heart-based and business-minded volunteers and non-profit paid employees, alike. Plus, his one-page format is much more user friendly than the traditional SWOT analysis marketing/business plan that can be overwhelming to people who don't work with marketing and business planning on a regular basis.

Put simply, the one-page format keeps the entire organization on the same page (no pun intended) so that goals and objectives are met.

Lisa Manyon

First, I'm so glad in your introduction that you directly address non-profits current need to put business savvy and structure under their social goal orientation. I think this is not a pervasive perspective yet and it really needs to be to improve non-profit success in these days of leaner funding sources.

Strategies, Action Plans, Objectives - looks like you did a good job of translating the business OPBP version over, especially in these 3 more challenging areas.

The assessments starting on page 25, including a personal assessment (yes!!!), are wonderful and provide critical information for adjusting strategies and operational action planning. I think this is a really strong element of the book. People in organizations often don't know how to approach assessing themselves honestly.

Really liked your "Components of a Successful Non-Profit" page - brings it all together.

this is by Chris and Donald Schon, not David and the link for Author should go to Donald who has done great work
Fantastic work - great for all org dev researchers.

Individuals learn by absorbing new knowledge, finding ways to apply preexisting knowledge and to avoid tactics that fail. Organizational learning is much more complicated than that; it incorporates all of the learning tactics of individuals and includes the interactions of the people in the organization. The interactions are among peers, horizontally across different responsibility levels and longitudinally across time. However, the authors opt to use a fairly simple definition of organizational learning.

"Generically, an organization may be said to learn when it acquires information (knowledge,
understanding, know-how, techniques, or practices) of any kind and by whatever means. "

In this sense, learning can be in either the positive or negative sense, an organization can become either more or less efficient over time. The authors spend a great deal of time covering the concept of an undiscussable. An undiscussable is a topic where everyone knows that it exists, is probably a problem, but for some reason is not talked about. In the worst case, the undiscussables becomes undiscussable, meaning that you cannot even discuss the fact that there are things you don't discuss. There are many reasons for the development of an undiscussable, but the most common is the perception that higher levels only want to hear statements of a certain type.
The authors define two types of organizational learning: single and double loop. A single loop learning situation is one where strategies of action are changed, but there is no change in the underlying theory behind the actions. For example, suppose a company is convinced that hotels are needed in a particular area. If the hotel rooms do not fill up, then the company may try to change the style of the rooms. This is a single feedback loop, where the failure feeds back to cause a change in the implementation. A double loop learning situation is where there is a second feedback loop that can alter the theory behind the strategies. In the case of the hotel rooms example, this would mean that the company questions whether additional hotel rooms were needed.
The authors also define model I and model II learning. Model I learning is the most common, which has a single feedback loop. It is characterized by situations where emotions and confrontation are minimized or disallowed. When difficulties or conflict are present, the general reaction is to suppress the issues as much as possible. The definition of model II learning is:

"Model II couples articulateness and advocacy with an invitation to others to confront the views ands
emotions of self and other. It seeks to alter views in order to base them on the most complete and valid
information possible and to which people involved can become internally committed. "

Model II learning is characterized by double loop learning, where the positions people take are examined in the context of their emotional condition.
The book is occasionally very theoretical, which makes it dense and difficult reading. It is easy to state theories of feedback loops based on emotions, but it is hard to articulate an appropriate way to construct them. Humans have dealt with their emotions for thousands of years, and psychologists are still arguing over the best means by which we should deal with them. Nevertheless, there is much of value in this book, as long as you don't expect it to solve all of the problems your organization has in learning and executing different strategies.

The burgeoning literature that has grown up around organizational learning in the past twenty-five years is either uncritical (treats the phrase "learning organization" as a catchword for whatever it is the front-running Japanese or other organizations are doing and whatever the rest of the world needs to do to catch up with them) or distant from practice, skeptical and non-perspective.

In this book, the approach to organizational learning is normative and practice-oriented. The authors are mainly interested in productive organizational learning: how this kind of learning can be generated in real-world organizations and how practitioners can help to foster it.

The theory given in this book is primarily based on two types of learning: single-loop and double-loop. The authors have borrowed the distinction between single and double-loop learning from W. Ross Ashby's "Design for a Brain" (1960).

On case studies of known companies, such as Intel, General Motors, etc., the authors show "primary inhibitory loops" that inhibit organizational learning, and "conditions for error", and how to avoid them. The following list gives the most common "conditions for error" and how to avoid them:

- Vagueness : Specify
- Ambiguity : Clarify
- Untestability : Make testable
- Scattered information : Concert
- Information withheld : Reveal
- Undiscussability : Make discussable
- Uncertainity : Inquire
- Inconsistency/incompatibility: Resolve

In part I, the authors introduce the conceptual framework, both for organizational learning and for the relationship between research and practice. In part II, they introduce and illustrate concepts central to limited learning. Part III presents a brief classroom-based example. Part IV is the review of the recent history of the field of organizational learning.

Despite of the brilliant content, the book which is marked as "Reprinted with corrections August, 1996", which I have (paperback), is awfully printed. It is really the eye-killer. And nevertheless, it has some typos. Please try to find a version which is not "Reprinted with corrections August, 1996".

This is the definitive book on how people politics preventorganisational learning, especially when a company needs a doubleturnround. That is a change of culture as well as strategy. Some of the early chapters are a bit heavily academic, but the pursuit is worthwhile if you want to understand how many big old western organisations stop working - instead of reinventing themselves - whenever a competitor dramatically changes the rules of the marketplace. The authors seem to imply that what they call double loop learning across every department of an organisation is both so laborious as a change process and requires such extraordinary levels of mutual trust that it might be better to raise an old organisation to the ground, and start from scratch. Their research is full of evidence why the last two decades have seen so much downsized leadership. One question that occurs to me is will their pessimistic conclusions hold true now that companies can use internal media like intranets to turn all employees' thinking around at the same time? If you would like to discuss this or other provocations relating to this work, I would be delighted to help form an interactive book discussion club.

Chris Macrae, editor of Brand Chartering Handbook and MELNET www.brad.ac.uk/branding/ E-mail me at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk

Based on German WWII documents Tom Jentz gives the reader a rare look into the organization and combat tactics of German armoured formations in the 1943-1945 period. The tactics of platoon, company and battalion sized units are told by extensive quotes from wardiaries and battle reports. There are statistics on tank-availability in many individual units as well as numerous TO&Es. The book does not cover every unit in every theater of war, but uses examples to tell the story of small unit tank-combat in WWII. All in all it is 300 pages packed with info not available in any other book on the subject. As the author used many WWII German military terms, a certain familiarity with these could be helpfull to the reader.

This book uses after-action reports, and war diary entries to describe German armored operations. The material has an immediacy that one just can't find in other, excellent, works of the same subject. As an example, if you want to know what crews really thought of the Panther and Tiger, not what post-war technical analyses say, this is the series for you. You can also follow the evolution of tactics as German and Allied tank and anti-tank weapons evolve throughout the war. As a previous review said, this series assumes a certain familiarity with German WWII military terms and ranks-probably not for the general enthusiast.

It would be hard not to repeat what was written before by the previous three reviewers. I think they all hit it right on the money. Tom Jentz followed up his previous volume on this subject by finishing it on to the bitter end of the Third Reich. The book shows the continual development, evolution and usage of the Panzer units as they fought on against greater odds and worsting field positions. New panzers with their inherited problems caused considerable hiccups along the line but overall, the book revealed in all clarity, how the Germans developed their panzer units. Using after action reports and selective units, the author is able to traced the unit structure of several individual units.

There is host of detail information inside this book that will hold a mother lode of happiness to anyone who is interested in this subject matter. However, I must used the word of caution since this book was primary geared for readers who are already well read and well schooled in this subject matter. Any novice readers will definitely find this book bit over their heads. All the charts are all done in German style with a lot of German words inserted here and there. On the other hand, there are host of interesting photographs to look at.

Overall, this book comes highly recommended for anyone who wishes to advance their knowledge on the subject matter as long as its understood that material can get pretty dense if you are not familiar with the subject.

This book, along with volume one which covers pre-war development and early war employment of the Panzer divisions, is an excellent reference. Any information you need about German armored divisions from 1943-1945 is likely here. I can not recommend it highly enough.

Jentz picks up in this volume where he left off in the previous book. He provides a wealth of information on force structures (including how platoons, companies, battalions, staff companies, etc.) were organized. All of this is presented in tables and figures for easy reference. Each reorganizaton is accompanied by the translated order which created the change. As in the first volume, Jentz provides unit strengths, as well as listing tank types, for each division at the start of a new operation (or at the end of one).

Also included are numerous translated after-action reports, which reveal a great deal about German armored tactics and the performance of their tanks in the field. These are fascinating, and are not available anywhere else. One final table in particularly interesting: it presents the number of tanks available to each division at the end of the war. Many panzer "divisions" had only a platoon's worth of tanks left.

The end of the book presents a variety of data in a set of appendices. This includes charts showing monthly data on the on-hand strength of each tank type as well as comparative technical data for German and Allied late-war tanks.

Also strongly recommended is volume I of the set; with both, you have a comprehensive set of information on the Panzer divisions in World War II. I constantly refer to both of them, so much that they are usually out on my desk rather than back on the shelf.

Mand and Whipple do an excellent job describing how finance, business centers and top management can work together more effectively for optimum performance. The concept is powerful, and the examples from actual events are very stimulating. Best of all, they use a dialog method to make the message really come alive. "Listening" to the CEO and CFO discuss partnering makes the reader realize that the concept is not just another management theory, but can be readily applied to his or her situation as well.

A very concise and well-written book which appeals to the financial executive and the MBA student. The CFO's role is clearly delineated with the support of actual cases and experiences as noted by the authors. I found this book to be interesting and a "quick-read" and was an excellent summation of the role of the CFO in the 21st corporations.

A very thorough and easy to read book. The experience of the authors is clearly evident. Highly recommend to anyone working in finance or corporations!

PARTNERING FOR PERFORMANCE: Unleashing the Power of Finance in the 21st Century Organization, Martin G. Mand and William Whipple III, AMACOM, 2000.

As an attorney practicing corporate law in Delaware, I have been involved in many acquisitions, mergers, divestitures, etc., and have an understanding of the imperative for all companies and businesses to increase shareholder value. "Partnering for Performance" is the first book that I can recall reading which provides a lucid explanation of how a company can do so. The discussion is enlivened by numerous real world examples, as well as by an engaging dialog between the CEO and CFO of a hypothetical company.

The book goes on to sketch the wide range of activities that are conducted under the Finance umbrella, and offer suggestions as to how the value of these activities can be enhanced. There are two key thrusts the author recommends, which in many companies will require a significant culture change:

* Finance people must rethink their roles, and make the transition from functioning as analysts and controllers to "Shareholder Value Enabling."

* The business people and finance people in a company must work together as equal partners, otherwise known as "Partnering for Performance."

Drawing on their considerable experience as financial practitioners, the authors do not merely advocate such changes in principle. They also explain the obstacles to implementation, and offer solid suggestions for achieving the desired changes. The suggested game plan includes new roles and responsibilities for business people and finance people alike, demonstration projects such as overhauling the budget process, the integration of talented finance people into business teams, incentives for change, communications and training, and sample diagnostic tools (such as a corporate troubleshooting guide).

In sum, "Partnering for Performance" offers valuable insights about a low cost, low risk approach to increasing shareholder value. The book should be of considerable interest and value to a broad audience.

Excellent read !! There are many books about Therese. This one stands out because it presents her profound spirituality in light of the progression of her extensive illness of Tuberculosis. There is much to learn about both the effects of illness on the spiritual life and the almost ideal response to illness of one seriously seeking God.

Most books gloss over the last months of St. Therese, possibly because up until the last 40 years TB was so common that nobody really needed to hear an in depth discussion of it. After reading this book you will be deeply moved. St. Therese went through a long dark night of the soul and body and although physically crushed she spiritually soared above it. I would definitely say that this book belongs in your collection of works on the Little Flower.

This book provides a clinical report of the last agonizing months of Therese of Lisieux's life. The research is meticulous and the medical details are easy to understand. It is a complement to the Saint's writings because the reader can trace in this book her physical trials which help to understand her spiritual trials as well which were plaguing her at the time. My only criticism is that the second part of the book is a bit redundant to the first.

Rich in detail of Therese's last months; a powerful framework for Last Conversations.

I highly recommend this wonderful book as an inspiring companion to Gil Amelio's 'Proft for Experience: The National Semi-Conductor Story of Transformation Management', which I have reviewed earlier. Both books were published around the mid-nineties, but the relevancy & practicality of their lessons & insights have not faded.

It draws its intellectual cues from three principal strands of high performance: organisational, leadership & personal effectiveness. In some way, it builds on the author's two earlier books, 'The VIP Strategy: Leadership Skills for Exceptional Performance' & 'Firing on All Six Cylinders'. I have read the latter book, which has a primary focus on service/quality improvement.

What I like about this book is the author's introductory premise: Before you try to change anyone else, you have got to change yourself. Self-leadership is at the heart of effectively leading others. Self-improvement is the beginning point to team or organisational improvement. The author is also candid about his book: Many of the principles & insights are not new. In fact, they have been with us for decades, if not centuries. But we continually need to rediscover them for ourselves; repackage them for our times; & to make them relevant for today. The author is obviously driven by what works. He argues that, when dealing with personal & people issues, the fundamentals of what works have remained fairly constant through the years.

Additionally, I also like the presentation format of the book: each chapter starts with a 'Pathways' section, covering success strategies that really work, but also ends with a 'Pitfalls' section, where the author visits several Do's and Don't's for the individual as well as for the organization.

For readers who are seeking more real-world perspectives in initiating & guide change & improvement in a team, business or organizational setting, this book is definitely worth pursuing.

I have enjoyed reading this book, together with Gil Amelio's book, & I am confident readers will feel likewise!

In "Pathways to Performance," Jim Clemmer provides readers with an inspirational guide that will help anyone improve leadership abilities. It is clear that by following these pathways, great personal benefits will follow. And, of course, I loved the humor!

"Pathways to Performance" provides a valued sense of direction and reference for those struggling to behave differently and lead more effectively. Jim pulls together the many facets of leadership and management and shows how they fit to make the whole. It will become a guide for all our Team Leader/Managers.

I really enjoyed this book. It helped put leadership into perspective -- the fact that in order to change or influence an organization, I need to change myself. I appreciated Clemmer's ideas around working at becoming a better leader ("leaders are made, not born"), and the importance of continued, continuous learning. It is an easy read, with humor, lots of quotations, examples, and simple suggestions to begin *being* a better leader in all aspects of your life. It has made me stop, reflect, and write notes about what I am going to do to incorporate some of these ideas into my life. The idea of "victimitis" and recognizing the "Catch 22" of the poor-me syndrome was particularly pertinent. This book covers the entire spectrum of home life and career, which is why I find it so helpful -- many management books don't concentrate enough on the improving all aspects of life. It especially hits home the need for the leader to establish his/her own personal values and direction and to lead by example. I've purchased copies for people close to me that I'm sure will find value in this book.

Sherosky argues that corporations, like people, have a character and a soul and a set of values--and that molding toward humanistic values and away from those driven by greed is a central mandate for our time. Written well before the 2002-03 round of business scandals, it seems eerily prescient, if a bit dated in places.

A brief excerpt:

"...this whole corporate concept is still somewhat of an enigma. Governments do not know how to deal with it because legally there is this illusion of a lack of the human element. We never sat in conversation that the 'people within corporation X' did something. We just say that 'X did this or that'. We point to a collective entity as a singular, impersonal unit despite the fact that living human beings push the buttons... "Profit is not a sin, but it is the real motive and charter of corporate entities. In order to obtain a profit, those within the structure not only produce products and services, but legally hide if improprieties are used to garner the profit. Corporate structures become havens for profiteers with unscrupulous character.

"Since the corporate entity is not traditionally looked upon as a person, there appears a sense of inhumanity that is truly frightening.

"It explains how oil spills, price fixing and product failures can be treated so cold[ly] that human emotions appear missing. This inhuman quality, although a legal safeguard, is also a key ingredient to all business failures and bad press." (pp.67-68)

While the book is somewhat densely written and could have benefited by a good edit, his message is important and worth the effort.

With the recent bombshell of the Enron failure, it is becoming increasingly apparent that somethings are amiss in Corporate America. Those "somethings" are explored in this revealing expose' by Sherosky, a veteran himself of corporate structures both large and small. Vince Lombardi, legendary football coach of the Green Bay Packers once said, "winning isn't everything, its the only thing". This attitude has permeated the corporate world - nothing else matters except the "bottom line". Whether a company is a good citizen, or a concerned employer, or environmentaly conscientious has no relevance! Greed is god. Sherosky shows how this manageent philosophy is leaving a lot of money on the table. He counsels that attention to character and virtue in the market place and the workplace would result in ever-growing profits for consumer, employer and employee. If we continue the business practices of the past into the 21st century we will continue to reap the same disfunctional results. This book shows how that can be avoided. Must reading for the progressive and enlightened citizen.

Character is a quality issue, too. Integral to every business process, human nature is the greatest shaping force of corporate performance. Insightful lessons of this book promotes a deeper understanding of human nature; and teaches how to positively contribute toward perfecting total organizational quality. Audience: * Working Personnel of all levels, Managers, Union Leaders * Self-Help: Individual and Organizational Training Reading Advantanges: * Author's 28 years includes Saturn Corps. Launch Team * Exceptional insight into the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of human, organizational character development * Challenges the hot issues of teamwork, diversities of race, gender, position and empowerment

As a Professional Career Coach for women, I can see that the author has obviously spent a great deal of time thinking and researching his work. This is not your usual 'corporate strategy' book -- rather it is a work in progress. Sherosky has brought into focus the main issues between corporate success and spiritual happiness. Does one have to lose one to gain the other -- not according to the author. I agree. You can have both. His chapter on "Tapping the Power of Gender Teamwork" is one of the reasons I recommend his book to my clients. I recommend any professional, seeking a better understanding of the corporate world to read this book.

The joint project of organizational consultants and human resource experts Stephen M. Dent and James H. Krefft, Powerhouse Partners: A Blueprint For Building Organizational Culture For Breakaway Results is a handy guide to structuring a strategic partnership, whether between businesses, within a project, or with an individual, and applying the Powerhouse Model to smoothly coordinate and maximize efforts. Chapters outline a three-strep process: practicing focused leadership, building a partnering infrastructure to balance competencies, retain high-quality talent, and increase growth, and developing smart partners with creativity, openness, and connectivity to better allow for quick adjustments to unexpected changes. A practical guide for dealing with both individual and collective personalities, and making the most of human resources to focus on optimum goals.

I found "Powerhouse Partners" an extremely interesting and valuable book from two perspectives. First, as a trainer helping companies develop leadership skills it is refreshing to see Dent and Krefft focus on the concept of connections and how powerful they are in maximizing the potential of any person and any organization. They not only talk about the concept, but provide a framework any leader or person can use for building quality connections between people and throughout an organization. The specific tools and techniques described should be part of every company's leadership development program.

Second, as a CEO of a small but growing company I have been using connections and partnering since our incorporation in 1988, however after reading "Powerhouse Partners", I will be focusing even more on creating partnerships. I found the real-life examples and clarifying graphics extremely useful in understanding the specific concepts and will be using many of the exercises, forms and assessments provided in the book to help me build successful and productive partnerships for my comany.

This is a subversive book.

On the surface, Powerhouse Partners can be read as a useful guide to advanced managerial and organizational practice and techniques in the business book genre. Authors Stephen Dent and James Krefft share their business culture-building skills gained from years of practice in the corporate trenches. The book is a must-read for managers, but especially for a new generation of CEOs and CEOs-in-waiting.

The authors have written a much more powerful book than the jacket blurbs claim. Powerhouse Partners can be read as a book within a book. It is this text below the surface that interests me.

Althouh Dent and Krefft might not appreciate the comparison, I liken the book to Karl Marx's Das Kapital. Of course Powerhouse Partners has nothing specifically to do with Marx's massive text on political economic theory and his polemical critique of 19th century capitalism. But it may be like Das Kapital in its (understated) critique of outmoded practices and structures of corporate capitalism by means of an easily-read understanding of networking. Powerhouse Partners, despite the business seminar alliteration, is really radical stuff.

A descriptive title might be the more accurate Amplificatory Buiness Networking Theory and Practice, though no publisher's marketing department in their right mind would ever call it that. This book is not just a text on the latest managerial fad-du-jour, but a fundamentally different approach to organizational culture and praxis.

Network theory applied to organizational practice is the next big thing. I recommend reading Powerhouse Partners along with some other texts (this in itself would be "smart partnering," and follow the language and advice of the authors). The key partner text is Linked: How Everything Is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means by Albert-László Barabási (Perseus Books 2002). And why not two powerhouse partners for Powerhouse Partners? Throw in Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software by Steven Johnson (Scribner 2002). Perhaps any other texts on the networking theory and complexity theory bookshelf would also amplify Dent and Krefft's book in ways the authors would approve of.

"Partnering theory," (although it sounds too much like a text on successful gay marriages) would be better described by the as-yet unnamed theory-nexus where complexity, chaos, and network theory overlap. Whatever this emerging field ends up being called, complex network theory is a gateway to deep understanding of how the world works, It also, one hopes and prays, would lead to improved business practice that is not at odds with the real world outside of the dominant corporate commercial cultures overtaking national, cultural, and political life around the world today.

Here are some specifics. Dent and Krefft write: "Smart partners drive creativity by increasing the frequency, frankness, and fruitfulness of interpersonal connections, dialogue, and collaboration" (page 130). I wonder if this is a prescription that the average CEO would actually believe (though to be sure, some lip service might be paid to it in corporate communications or HR contexts.) Yet let's accept it as intuitively correct: it feels like it would work since it uses what seems like a deep, network principle.

Yet paradoxically, Barabási has observed that increased traffic along network pathways has a tendency to create hierarchies though the unexpected development of "supernodes." Is this the opposite of Powerhouse Partners observation that "Hierarchies are being replaced with networks" (page 157)? Networks may have counter-intuitive properties. Increased traffic in interpersonal connections tends to favor the person who is a node--i.e., the person who, through an initial lucky or brilliant state condition, is positioned to become super-connected to many others. This person, whoever she/he is in the imagined hierarchy, becomes powerful, despite what the organizational charts might say. Thus network dynamics create new hierarchies which may or may not include the guy who makes all the money--the CEO.

Powerhouse Partners could be the book that begins to change corporate culture and governance because it is friendly and non-threatening. When read with some other partnering texts, its true beneficially subversive nature is revealed. May corporate culture be changed forever, and may new organic networks develop that include the big world of interconnected nature and bioregional processes, thus both humbling corporate capitalism and yet allowing rightly-scaled, sustainable development and co-evolution.

This book walks the reader through the steps and benefits of developing partnerships within their organization. I found the book to have a logical flow of ideas and enjoyed reading the anecdotes. All of us would like to work for a company that used this model with their employees and customers.