Organizations Books

I bought this book because in my business, if you don't prospect regularly for new clients, you won't be in business for long and I wasn't prospecting.
When I got it, I thought I was afraid of rejection but what I learned is that I'm afraid of success. Did that ever piss me off! Now I'm in action and prospecting 2.5 to 3 hours a day, 4 days a week. I learned that I didn't have a fear of rejection at all. I could care less if someone said no. They probably aren't qualified anyway. What I thought was fear of rejection was something else entirely.
This book could be largely to credit for saving my career, one that I really love. It's a simple book, very helpful and I'm thankful to the "force" for leading me to it. Go in peace!

Are you sitting in front of the phone, but can't stand the thought of making your daily sales calls? Are you extremely nervous before a speech you must give tomorrow and afraid someone will humiliate you? Are you feeling down because a customer criticized your product? Feeling bad because you've been voted off a desert island?

Dealing with rejection is something we all need to learn. Successfully bouncing back from rejection and staying in the game is crucial to success in business and in life.

If you are looking for ways to strengthen your resolve, confront rejection wisely, and bolster your self-confidence, I highly recommend "Starting from 'No'" Jaffe identifies some of the underlying psychological reasons we fear rejection, including 1) A fear of not being liked; 2) A fear of being humiliated; 3) A fear of success which might force us to "abandon our comfort zone" and 4) A fear of financial disaster.

For each fear, Jaffe offers self-tests and projects to see how badly the reader is affected by the given fear.

For those who fear humiliation, Jaffe suggests taking an acting or dancing class, or even trying stand-up comedy. Jaffe says you should confront your fear where you objectively have little at risk and can afford to look silly. The newfound confidence will probably transfer into your business dealings.

Jaffe hits a key point, when she gives her best advice about public speaking, "When you look out at that huge sea of faces and you are scared to death about your performance, shift your focus from trying to impress the audience to how you can best serve them. When you take the focus off of yourself and place it where it belongs-on the client-you will be much more effective."

Today, this is the hallmark of performance psychology. Once we start worrying about how well we are doing, we won't be at our best. Just as an actor or athlete watching and judging his performance won't be "in the moment," self-preoccupation only makes us more susceptible to feeling rejection and bringing it about.

One of my favorite chapters discusses finding what motivates you in your business. It discusses the value of strengthening your motivation for success to help you overcome difficulties and rejection. Jaffe writes about positive motivation (moving toward a dream goal, for example) and negative motivation (moving away from something, needing to prove your worth to others, for example).

However, rather than just saying negative motivations are bad, Jaffe shows us how some negative motivations can help propel a person toward success. It is a matter of accepting a balance among all of the forces motivating you.

Jaffe writes, "Although positive visualization and goal setting is essential to business success, the drawback to positive motivations is that they can be vague, elusive, and not powerful enough to get you to do what you need to do today to succeed." Too true!!

Peter Hupalo, author of "Thinking Like An Entrepreneur"

This is a great book, with many helpful business ideas. What is great about this book is that in every chapter there is a section that says try this, and some of these ideas are very good and ideas that I am looking forward to trying.

There is much I like about Azriela Jaffe's writing, but what I admire most is her up-front honesty. She uses examples from her own life & from her family to 'tell it like it is'.

There's no writing as though she's a guru on high dispensing wisdom that's nothing more than theory.

When you read anything from Azriela, be it her books, web site, or newsletters, you get a very clear picture of the woman behind the words.

"Starting from 'No'" is a workbook filled with self-tests, charts, checklists, worksheets, quizzes, tips, & strategies. Everything is backed-up with examples, stories, and real life experiences. The suggestions for working though problems are down-to-earth and do-able. No 'pie in the sky' for Azriela.

And the examples come from small business people, sales people, home-business owners, writers, consultants, coaches, and more. These are real people, like you & me, who have come up against the same fears, problems, & rejections & lived to tell about it.

Chapters cover:

=> fear of rejection & why rejection is just the word we use for fears of all kinds -- failure, success, humiliation, approval (or lack thereof), and more

=> how to make yourself rejection proof. What concrete things can you do to overcome the fear that cripples you?

=> what are your limits? Can you stretch them? Are you taking on more than you can handle & setting yourself up for failure?

=> the power of your mind. The only thing you have to fear is fear itself -- now who said that!?

=> resiliency & flexibility -- do you know when to hold fast & when to give in? Do you see yourself as a victim? Do you see negative situations as everyday occurrences, use them, & move on?

=> maintaining detachment -- take a step back & assess situations.

=> asking for referrals, building rapport, keeping yourself motivated, & knowing when to take a break.

=> staying in the game -- do you know the difference between temporary setbacks & when to throw in the towel?

Shall I go on with more examples? Nah. Just know there's much more.

I found so much useful information in this book. One section that caught my attention while thumbing through the book is what Azriela calls "The Jaffe 3-5 Rule".

Many of us were taught the '3-Foot Rule'. It means that anyone within 3 feet of you is a possible prospect.

Talk about pressure! I never could figure out how to bring up products while standing in line at the post office.

Azriela rejects this notion, too. Her '3-5 Foot Rule' has no pressure attached & reads like this:

"To prosper in your business, focus your efforts on no more than three to five major target markets, using no more than three to five primary marketing tools, and making the most of your three to five greatest business skills. Be sure you spend your time in three to five major business responsibilities, and if possible delegate the rest." (p. 144)

You're not left in the dust after this statement. Azriela walks you through a step-by-step way to implement the idea so it'll work in your specific business & situation.

Then she shows you how to draw up a chart so you can see what needs to be done & then prioritize your tasks.

I'm not categorizing this book. It's not self-help, though it has those aspects. It's not strictly a management book, either.

Let's call it a success book. It will prepare you for the pitfalls of running your business, show you how to avoid them, and, if you do get caught, how to get out of them.

I highly recommend this book. You won't be disappointed...

I loved this book. Not only was it interesting and easy to read, the suggestions offered were y useful for life's rejections as well as business. I appreciated the self-tests at the beginning to help me analyze what I am most afraid of (i.e. cold calling, rejection from a friend) and suggestions on how to deal with these. The cartoons were delightful and the "Try this" section at the end of each chapter gave me specific goals to work on to deal with the fears. I admire Ms. Jaffe's openness about her own family's difficulties in starting a business and appreciated the stories gleaned from 120 interviews with business owners. This book was recommended to me by a fellow intrepeneur and I will certainly pass it on to others. Deb K.

Outstanding. Reminded me of everything I'm supposed to be doing in my fundraising letters but have forgotten over the years. It's the bible for fundraising letters!

This is a wonderful tool that allows you to ask for donations "nicely." I really recommend this book to all who assist charities for a living whether on a professional level or as a volunteer.

Excellent for a review of those with experience and super for those new at the experience. We have used it for both occasions

I am not an expert in writing fundraising letters. So, when I found a book with a title "How to write successful Fundraising Letters" it was as if I had won the lottery. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it because I was on a dealine to write a fundraising letter for a non-profit organization for which I had volunteered. I ordered the book, and paid just as much to have it deleivered the next day (local bookstores do not carry it). I found the book to be a tutorial and not something I could quickly benefit from. It is written to teach how to properly write and follow-up a fundraising campaign letter. The samples provided were very specific to 3-4 scenarios and did not offer much context. I guess I was looking for a book with hundreds of samples so that I could pick and choose phrases, paragraphs, etc.

If you ever think you will have to write a fundraising letter, you NEED this book. Too many people think it is just like writing any other kind of letter but it isn't. There is a rhyme and, more importantly, a reason to it. Don't write a fundraising letter without reading this book first.

This book was recommended to me by several people at a recent ESOP conference. Feeling that employee input was one of the best ways to build an ownership culture, I purchased the book. I was only 3/4 of the way through it when I found that we had another employee working on an ideas program, planning to give 10% of savings as employee bonuses. I quickly passed the book on to him. As it did with me, it totally changed his way of thinking; he scrapped his initial plan and will be proposing a completely different program that rewards all employees who submit ideas, without the reward being based on the savings.

In "Ideas are Free," the authors synopsize idea programs at several high-performing companies worldwide. They also point out the pitfalls of trying to develop and manage rewards based on savings, instead recommending making idea generation and implementation a part of everyone's job. Finally, they help walk you through how to implement a program at your workplace (although I haven't been able to read that part yet, because my co-worker still has my book! -- He has ordered his own, so I hope to have it back soon.).

I highly recommend this book. It is non-technical and easy to read.

Since my company has an idea program which I believe could be improved, I've read this book. It's short and to the point. It addresses the importance of small ideas for the improvement of the company and the engagement of its employees. It accompanies most of the points with real case stories which make the point even more compelling. Also very important is the chapter related to rewards and the counter-intuitive effects.

Alan G. Robinson and Dean M. Schroeder's IDEAS ARE FREE is for employers who would tap into the riches of employee ideas and insights. Employees are quite opt to recognize both problems and opportunitiestheir managers pass by - but most organizations don't encourage sharing such insights, much less reward them. IDEAS ARE FREE: HOW THE IDEA REVOLUTION IS LIBERATING PEOPLE AND TRANSFORMING ORGANIZATIONS shows how to tap this hidden wealth.

Ideas Are Free: How The Idea Of Revolution Is Liberating People And Transforming Organizations by Alan G. Robinson (Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts) and Dean M. Schroeder (Associate Dean and Director of Graduate Programs in Management at the College of Business Administrations at Valparaiso University) is an innovative guide to saving money, effort, time and also provides an informative introduction to entirely new ways of doing business with front-line employees, making the most out of opportunities and maximizing the benefits of sound, effective management. Robinson and Schroeder aptly examine the intricacies of the business life and include an analysis of a more prosperous, ease-filled advancement for opportunities granted to all, and situational manipulation for a more competently finalized project. Ideas Are Free is very highly recommended reading for all business consultants, corporate executives and departmental managers.

The authors show how important it is to gather ideas and encourage people to think creatively. I wish they would have described more how they could gather these ideas more effectively.

I enjoyed reading this book because I felt it was the first organizing book in which the other thinks the way I do. It was a refreshing change from othe organizing books. The topics were clear and the suggestions were practical. It is also unique in the use of images showing products out on the market that are mentioned in the book. I was happy to see things covered that I hoped I would find in a book on garages and was intriqued by others I didn't know about.

I purchased this book as a gift for my husband. It is a good information book. I am very pleased with it.

Barry's book covers all the bases. He starts out by helping set a goal, create a plan, and envision the finished project. Then using small steps and understanding humor he guides the reader through the important basics of the organizing process as it applies to storage areas. From there Barry opens the world of storage options. Do you hang it, put it on a shelf, in a cabinet, or a drawer? He has pictures galore of different products and tricks you can devise yourself.

These suggestions are invaluable for someone who needs to know what he or she has to choose from. And he addresses how you can use what you already have for storage, the cost of what you will need, and having a garage sale.

Some of the best chapters are the extra ones about storage in sheds, attics, and basements. He even throws in a chapter on storage of seasonal and holiday items.

Barry has left no stone unturned. If you need to organize your garage, you have what you need here.

I have read a lot of books regarding garages and this so far is the best one on step-by-step how to do it. The author has experience and knowledge and ability to put it in an easy to read book.
The basis for organizing can also apply to closets and other things.
Book is in a format that allows you to read only what applies to you.
I highly recommend this book for someone starting on this seemingly overwhelming task

This book is full of tips, shortcuts, and handy tidbits YOU can and will use to finallly clean up your messy garage. It is well grouped.
Buy the book, clean and organize your garage, then be proud of yourself for your accomplishment! Aren't you glad you bought the book?

Appreciative Inquiry Handbook offers a rich, navigational guide for industries across the spectrum. Appreciative Inquiry Handbook reflects a new paradigm in American and global industry; a must-read for industry leaders!

I think this book is an essential first book on the theory and practical application of the positve appreciative process.It defines the terms, provides the research and background of the process and gives first hand stories of its application in the real world.

Excellent, I was very satisfied with the theoretical explanation as well as the practical guides for solving the change management issues.

The handbook is clearly written and introduces not only a new paradigm in thinking about orgaisational change work it also supports change agents in their endeavour to create sustainable and learning organisations. Great practical materials and tools across the spectrum of AI are designed with a lot of ideas how to apply any AI initiative.
This book is well organized and readable and a must for every OD practicioner and change agent.

This handbook guides you in applying appreciative inquiry methods in a variety of settings. We have had good results conducting two facilitation assignments with "Appreciative Intent".

In our most recent assignment, our client was impressed with the quality and quantity of the information gathered. Additionally, members of the client's leadership were also impressed with the level of participation from some of the more "quiet" people in the organization. The one-on-one questionnaire technique levels the playing field for people with a more introverted personality. Also, if you like applying a "Theory of Constraints" approach to operations you will observe that using the interview/questionnaire approach creates a multi-channel process when brain storming. (i.e. more conversations can be carried on simultaneously, thereby creating a larger stream of information or ideas in less time)

The CD alone is worth the investment!

Pellicer's book was an excellent book for anyone in the education field. Through short essays, he gives a clear, sometimes humorous, always honest view of what it takes to be a successful leader. While reading this book, I was able to personalize many of the experiences he speaks of and apply the lessons that he has learned through the years to my own life and career goals. Because of the way it is written, the reader has the ability to "skip around" and read the chapters that seem the most pertinent at the time. As a classroom teacher, I found this book to be a source of inspiration to me--inspiration that I desperately need at this mid-year point! After reading his thought-provoking, encouraging essays, I think I might just be able to make it until the end of the school year after all!

Caring Enough to Lead was an easy to read, interesting, thought-provoking book. By sharing personal experiences and perspectives in his book, Dr. Pellicer helped me begin to understand what it means to be a leader and to focus on some of the attributes and attitudes of an effective leader. The questions at the end of the chapters caused me to stop and reflect on my role as a leader in my school and in my classroom. The short chapters in the book enabled me to read one or more chapters at a time depending on how much time I had available.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dr. Pellicer's book, Caring Enough to Lead. It was easy to read and very entertaining while at the same time very applicable for teachers in any situation. It gently reminds us of why we choose teaching in the first place, to touch lives. Dr. Pellicer also reflects on several ways to lead as well as the responsibilities that come with leadership. It was easy to reflect on myself as a leader as I was reading this book. I was able to relate my own experiences to most of his chapters. His writing style of vignettes and questions was fun and unique to read. The short chapters made it convenient to read a chapter or two at a sitting and come back to it later.

This book, written by an education professor, should be required reading for everyone in the field of education. It is a very readable challenge to educators to reflect on their beliefs, practices, and reasons for becoming an educator. While reading the book, I highlighted many passages in order to come back to them and to share them with colleagues in the future. In reflecting on a career in education, the book helped reaffirm my belief that it is important to care about others and pointed out the fact that it is important to care about yourself also. This is a book that educators and leaders can read without feeling burdened with a lot of theory or extra rhetoric. The entire book can be read at one time or it can be read in small segments. It is a book that causes soul-searching and one that should be in every professional library.

Can a series of essays on leadership be described as pleasurable, thoughtful reading material? It can if it is Caring Enough to Lead by Pellicer. Pellicer presents twenty essays that are thought provoking as well as entertaining. Personal stories lead the reader into more in-depth philosophical questions about leadership. The essays contain countless statements that lead the reader to stop and think.
"Life affords us too few opportunities to show others how much we care, we can't afford to waste these opportunities."
"I wish I could find a way to encourage all the teachers in our school to run around and flap their arms on a more regular basis."
"Leadership is never about ruling others, it is about serving others."
"A good teacher can give a child power over his or her own life."
Pellicer feels that becoming a leader requires some who cares, excepts the responsibility of leading, and nourishes and supports others who care. All this is required in order to successfully educate our children.

An excellecnt book on the subject of worship and worship leading. It covers everything from theology of worship and becoming a leader to practicle warm-up and rehearsal tips. It really covered a lot in a way that kept you wanting to turn every page and read the next one!!!
Joe O' Donovan, Eire.

I bought this as a fairly new worship leader and it provided several details and information that was needed as I began the journey.

Kevin Navarro draws on personal experience and a solid biblical foundation to create this truly complete guide for anyone interested in becoming a worship leader of excellence. His writing style is never high handed yet it is impossible to read this book without being thoroughly aware of the fact that this is the work of a scholar. The only way to be successful as a worship leader is to put God first in all you do and this idea is wholeheartedly endorsed by the author, but God also expects you to use your talents in an excellent way. This is where this practical handbook really comes into it's own. Follow the principles and suggestions in this book and you will experience a new level of worship.

I am an Iranian, My name is Roozbeh, and I am a Christian Composer, and conductor of a Christian Music band named "Messiah". I am serving the Lord Jesus Christ through Worship and Music in Iran. It was a grace to study the book written by my brother Kevin J. Navarro "The Complete Worship Leader". I have learned many deep lessons and I taught it to others as a worship course. This book really helps us to be Complete Worship Leaders in His service. My dear brother Kevin, I thank God for you and say God bless you for this wonderful book!

A truly successful Worship Leader needs to be a theologian(to know why we worship God), disciple(to guide people, we ourselves must be guided by God), artist(know the ins/outs of music and performance) and leader(to guide people successfully)
I have read so many Worship books that only address one of these areas. The Complete Worship Leader addresses all of these areas in a comprehensive yet straightforward manner. Trust me, when the author said "Complete" he REALLY meant it. This is a "must" for Worship Leaders of any level.

I read this book with my wife each taking assignments and reporting back after a day or two. What an incredible read and experience. There is a wealth of challanging material in this book to help anyone wishing to expand themselves into a more thoughtful person.

A pure blessing that has potential and material to make a substancial upswing in one's life.
Rocco

I have been a fan of the Merills, since their synergistic work with Stephen Covey with "First Things First".

I am not married yet, nor do I have a job, but I find this book so practical and I am convinced as I grow up into the various future stages of my life, the wisdom within it, will become more and more obvious.

I really like the idea that balance is not in "balancing the scale" but in "balancing".

The sections that deals with Time Matters and Money Matters, is worth more than the price of the book. When I was browsing through the book, and got to read the Money Matrix diagram, I almost jumped out of my skin. I always felt the Time Matrix is always applicable to one's personal finance. I was so delighted to know the Merrills felt the same and has wrote and developed it further in this book. The book also feature a quote from my favorite personal finance guru, Robert Kiyosaki.

If you have a friend who is getting married, this would be an excellent gift to a newly wed couple. I recently gifted one to my best friend. Since the book is quite expensive for us living in India, I along with a group of friends, decided to give it together.

It's a book worth to be made a family heirloom. I am sure anyone would find it helpful. Its a rare diamond in the overly cluttered world of self-help books. Most self-help books offer advice, but ended up with platitudes and rehash of ideas. We need books like this one.

Another beautiful aspect to this book is the author's recognition that more than offering answers to people, it is more important to help people develop their ability to find the answer within. This is what they called navigational intelligence. It is the effort to develop personal conscience, and listening to it.

Its a book that will never leave my reading desk and will be refered to again and again and again, till I end this life and buried six feet under.

Thanks Roger and Rebecca for an enduring legacy for generations to come. I pray more and more people will embrace your message. If we all do the world will be a better place to live in.

New books telling you how to improve your life come off the presses every week, maybe every day. Some are bad, and you realize you have wasted your time. Some are average, and you might learn a few new things, but they aren't all that memorable. Some are great, and you go back to them again and again. "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" is one of the great books. Years later people remember it, talk about it, and reread it.

"Life Matters" is a great book. It covers a lot of good ideas, the thoughts and observations are well presented, and the book reads quickly.

The first chapter starts off talking about what is important in life. The authors focus on four areas: work, family, time, and money. They have a quiz to help in your self-assessment of how you are doing in each of these four areas. A big message of this book is there doesn't have to be conflict between the four areas.

The next chapter covers three things you have to do in any area of your life. The three "gotta do's" are:

1) Validate your expectations. You have to confront reality, for if you have an unrealistic expectation you will be frustrated. The authors make the point that the direction you are heading is more important than how fast you are going.

2) Optimize Effort. Look for ways to get the maximum benefit for your effort, and make sure your decisions are aligned with your goals.

3) Develop your "Navigational" intelligence. This is the ability to be aware of your changing environment, so that what looked like an important task at the start of the day may have to take a back seat when your boss gives you a new assignment, or a child needs attention.

The next four chapters are on: work, family, time, and money, with a chapter on each area. The authors weave each of the above three "gotta do's" into each area. For each area they explore different ways people see the area, for example how do you see your family, or your money. And then they discuss what is the reality. They have a list of "optimizers" which are techniques for getting the maximum benefit for your effort. And they talk about how to be flexible when situations change.

"Seven Habits" mentions a Time Matrix, which is a two dimensional matrix based on how important something is, and how urgent it is. Many people waste time on things that aren't important, or get caught up doing things that are important and urgent. Stephen Covey explores why doing things that aren't urgent, but important, can make a great difference in your life. For me one of the gems of "Life Matters" was exploring this same matrix in relation to money. The Merrill's point is that it is best to invest your money with the same Quadrant II focus, things that aren't urgent, but are important. For me, that idea alone was worth reading the book. There were a number of similar gems scattered through the book.

The last chapter was titled "Wisdom Matters" and here the authors explore why wisdom is important, and how to improve your wisdom. One of the points they strongly make is to develop an ongoing daily self-important program. The idea is to spend a few minutes each day improving your understanding of life, and how to make better decisions.

This is a great book. If you are interested in improving your life, buy this book, read this book, and then reread it. It will help you get better control of your life. For as the Merrills say, life does matter.

This book is one of many that build off Stephen Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," and is a more in-depth discussion of prioritizing (Living in Quadrant II for those who speak Covey). This book is divided into four sections that reflect the four biggest concerns Americans face--the workplace, the family, time, and money. The basic message of the book is that one must think in terms of "investing," whether it be money, time, or effort. It is important to examine what one invests in so that maximum returns can be paid on that investment. As an example, investing money in a car yeilds a much lower return (a negative return) than investing in a mutual fund. Investing time in televison watching yields a much lower return than helping your child with his homework. Investing in effort in a long-term project that is still months away yields a much higher return than filling out some pretty-unnecessary paperwork. Other commentators are correct when they say that the examples of theory-in-action can be fairly unrealistic (even though they really happened!), but they illustrate the authors' points well. I would first recommend the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. If you find that helpful (and I imagine you will), this book is an excellent follow-up to it.

Prioritizing the building blocks of life - family, work, money and time - is paramount to happiness. Some people do it unconsciously by living within their intellectual and monetary expectations. Others need a framework for balance, such as the one that authors A. Roger Merrill and Rebecca R. Merrill provide. To achieve personal balance, the authors suggest becoming a better team player, working more effectively, learning about finances and setting home and work priorities. They establish the goal of building a strong family, centered around parental "family leadership." Do they successfully address the knotty issues they raise? Yes, in a folksy way. This is a useful self-help manual with checklists, self-assessments and personal anecdotes, which are sometimes touching, but sometimes impractical or saccharine. Though the management advice dons motivational language, the sections on family and work are particularly worthwhile. The authors deliver a solid antidote to misplaced modern values, albeit wrapped in some fluffy trappings. We recommend this book to corporate officers and human resource personnel, as well as to individuals seeking balance.

I found this book well written, researched and presented. It is an academic work that reads easily and has application and relevance across many platforms including many that are not mentioned (e.g. health care). The examples are clearly presented. Like many books written along these topic lines, the examples are represented in iterative formats to draw out the specific issues. To many readers this may appear repetitive but it does enhance the understanding for those that wish to develop more depth.

Weick and Sutcliffe provide exceptional insights into high reliability organizations (HROs) and how lessons learned from HROs can be applied to other organizations that are not satisfied with just being good. The authors address the five hallmarks of mindfulness that distinguish HROs from all other organization types. The authors provide detailed checklists through which company leaders can audit and assess organizational readiness for dealing with unexpected events. The authors address the critical value of organizational culture in dealing with unexpected events and how organizational leaders can build the capacity to "manage mindfully". The text is well-documented and well-indexed. Each of the six chapters is summarized for rapid review; however, with ony 173 pages of substantive text, this "must read" can be completed in only a few hours. Knowledgeable leaders who are interested in creating resilient organizations should also read Ian Mitroff's "Crisis Leadership" (John Wiley & Sons) as an accompanying text.

This book is to be read by anyone really interested about how organizations work.

The main point could be explained in a single sentence: We can get valuable lessons if we pay attention to organizations who work in high risk and unpredictable environments.

This is my own view and, actually, I tried to show this using aviation as a kind of learning field. That is why I hope the authors will be lucky. My own experience was unsuccessful and that itself shows that the authors are right.

When I started to get conclusions from aviation to business management, I found that the more interested people came precisely from aviation. I'm afraid the authors could suffer the same experience and people interested in their concepts could come from air carriers, nuclear-powered plants and some other examples they use.

The authors could be three or four steps in advance of the present situation in business management. They try to extract the right lessons from other fields. However, they would not be surprised if their intent "bounces back" and it is picked-up precisely from the fields that they try to show as examples, not from business management.

In this well written, easy to read, analysis of organizations in highly complex and dangerous settings that persistently have less than their fair share of accidents - High Reliability Organizations - Professors Weick and Sutcliffe provide the recipe for a `learning organization'. Noting that HRO's share the hallmark of "mindfulness", the authors' define this characteristic as consisting of five key elements that every organization can use for dealing with the unexpected. The authors' call these five elements:
1. Preoccupation with failure - treating any failure (often small ones) as a symptom that something is wrong with the system, they are continually updating their understanding.
2. Reluctance to simplify interpretations - ensuring a more complete and nuanced picture, simplifying less and seeing more.
3. Sensitivity to operations - paying attention to relationships at the front line, where the work gets done.
4. Commitment to resilience - maintaining a deep knowledge of the technology, the system, one's coworkers, and one's self as avenues for improvising and keeping the system functioning.
5. Deference to expertise - cultivating diversity to do more with complexities, they push decisions down to the people with the most expertise, not the most rank. They also move issues around/across the system, migrating problems to someone with the knowledge and capabilities to address them.

Together, these elements give the organization `mindfulness', and this organizational mindset allows it to handle the unexpected with more responsibility and thus a higher probability of success in the face of change. Although the HRO's analyzed (aircraft carriers, nuclear power plants, and others) operate in more dangerous environments than the average business, today's rapidity of change causes the unexpected to happen to every organization and it would seem that the five elements of mindfulness could benefit nearly every organization today.
Dennis DeWilde, author of "The Performance Connection"

I was please with the writing of this book. Not only is it a good easy read, but Weick presents the material in an intersting fashion. SO far, it has been most helpful in understanding the components of managing a situation that is completely unexpected.

This is not a book which you read through over a period of hours. In fact it is quite possible that you will never read all of the book, but yet find it invaluable.

Fox breaks the sales stage down into logical segments and provides good "plays" to make the sales process more productive. Sales segments include: Thinking, Reaching, Engaging, Keeping.

None of the plays are innovative, but they are relevant. He provides the reader with good insight and detail on "plays" such as print advertising, Linkedin, PR, Customer referrals, Customer surveys etc. He also makes an effort to cost out these plays. I did find some of his costings on the high side, but it is up to you "the player" to make sure you get your value for money.

The book is not cheap, but if you want a good reference, idea book at your fingertip, it is good value.

Marketing Playbook: The Manual for Growing Organizations is a compendium of 102 marketing strategies to meet sales goals. A football-style theme and trappings capture the reader's eye, but at its heart Marketing Playbook is all business. Tips, tricks and techniques include the basics for creating a good business card, how to create a series of "thank you" postcards with impact, using web conferencing to give a sales presentation without leaving one's chair, how to break through voicemail, and much more. A surprisingly intense amount of detail on each topic and full-color photographs on every page distinguish Marketing Playbook as a top-quality reference and resource for marketing professionals.

Over the past several years there has been an outpouring of titles dealing with the topic of effective marketing techniques that has spawned a cottage industry of thousands of books, and whose publishers rant that by purchasing their book you will invariably be led to the Promised Land.

I don't doubt that most authors of marketing books often work extra hard to find new and creative perspectives on their subject. Unfortunately, however, most fail, as very often their approach is filled with a great deal of hype, but little useful content.

Now, along comes John M. Fox's fresh and innovative approach with his manual Marketing Playbook: The Manual for Growing Organizations 102 of the Best Marketing Plays to Get Your Sales Team Across the Goal Line, where the author uses the metaphor of a football playbook to tutor his readers on how to develop an effective and winning marketing plan.

The manual organizes itself into 102 plays, each comprising one glossy page with full color images, wherein you have the following sections: a diagram, illustration or picture of the Play when correctly executed, next to the image you have the number and name of the Play, on the left hand side of the page you have the strategies and costs, while the center of the page consists of the Assignments and Coaching Points, and the bottom of the page indicates the Primary Receivers as types, their level, and who is the product or service best suited for.
In addition, Fox includes a value-added bonus by providing at the end of some of the pages a section called Extra Points, where you can download from the author's website extra information pertaining to the Play. There is even a scoreboard that rates the Play's strategic or tactical applicability.
For example, if we look at Play 35, Press Releases That Get Ink, we notice that the focus of the strategy is to get your news story in the press, what are the expected costs of a professional writer, how the marketing team and the PR agency should work together, and ends with vital coaching points.

By presenting the material in this way, devoid of technical jargon, verbiage and redundancy, fundamental principles are broken down into understandable messages that everyone can easily follow. Moreover, the book is as informative as it is fun, as the author has taken pains to be clear and concise, while keeping the tone light and approachable. Although, the author states in his notes that he has written the book from the first-person to company leaders, rookie employees and the self-employed will likewise benefit from its reading.
For those who wish to explore the various topics further, the author provides a bibliography of references, resources and additional reading that correspond to each of the Plays. There is even at the end of the manual a glossary index containing a listing of some familiar and unfamiliar terms the author uses in his presentations.

Norm Goldman, Editor Bookpleasures

This book is very engaging, in fact, hard to put down. As a seasoned marketing executive, I am often disappointed with marketing books yet this one was a pleasant surprise and loaded with useful information. John's suggestions are easy to implement and focused on helping sales make sales! Too many marketers focus on brand image to the exclusion of lead generation and customer aquisition. What good is a brand if there is no money in the bank! This book will keep new and seasoned marketers in growth companies on track with cost-effective ideas to ring the sales bell. An excellent feature is a list of sample vendors and the approximate cost of various "plays"; this alone will save new marketers research time and money and allow them to maximize tight marketing budgets for maximum results. This book is worth every penny and there is something inside that will work for every type of business.

Whether a company needs to know how to get its news in front of people who care through news distribution, or how to present it in a binder, John Fox's Marketing Playbook lays it out ... plus John gives you the names of sources who will help. It's the kind of book anybody in marketing and sales will keep and refer to often.