Organizations Books

As a participant in the reform process described in this book, I was anxious to read Dr. Bain's depiction. He has captured the essence of the change process in a very readable format. The strategies for implementing comprehensive reform are laid out in manageable, instructive chunks. The concept of comprehensive school reform takes on a whole new meaning in this book. Every aspect of a school's complexities has been thought of. The core business of schools - teaching and learning - is a central theme that permeates throughout. I recommend the book for anyone interested in learning about the theory behind effective educational reform and how a complete plan for implementing such reform can take place.

As schools and school systems continue to look for research-based approaches to school improvement, Alan's book provides the research in a way that is directly tied to proven practice along with examples. Both small and large school systems (along with school departments, teams and grade levels) grapple with how to scale up reform by not doing "more". Alan provides "I can touch it and feel it" examples for doing less and getting more.

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in planning, creating, implementing or reforming schools for diverse learners on a large, or small, scale. The author responds to all the commonly identified issues that have emerged from recent literature. The topic of the book fills a gap in current knowledge and makes a very comprehensive contribution - it respects and responds to the challenge of site-based reform with a complete theory-based approach. The author's themes are clearly stated and he puts technology in a meaningful context and includes actual examples. The book gives evidence of a theory into practice approach supported by a longitudinal account of a change process. The author's own perspectives and interests are demonstrated by addressing controversial issues relating to performance evaluation and student feedback, with a new emergent approach to feedback that emphasises the role feedback can have as a basis for collaboration about the learning process.

The Self-Organizing School expresses its case clearly and is highly readable.

I picked up Janice Calnan's book mostly out of curiosity since I have a keen interest in the smooth implementation of new projects and ideas. Shortly thereafter, and with very little warning, organizational convulsions suddently started to happen. My department was changed overnight. Some people were let go, others reassigned, new roles were in store for those that remained. "Change" was now very up close, personal and not a lot of fun. The book helped me focus on the right things in order to get through it all.

The "secrets" are a collection of new and simple ideas that caused a shift in my assumptions and behaviours. Once I began to think about and understand the concepts over a period of time, I found it much easier to manage my emotions and produce results.

Janice Calnan's book SHIFT was brought to me about a month ago while I was conducting workshops at a government accountability conference in Ottawa. In just the five minutes I had to scan the opening "Letter to the Reader" and Introduction, I knew I was onto something special. I have been involved in the work of quality and organizational improvement for about 20 years. I am a certified "business book junkie," consuming dozens of titles a year. Janice Calnan's SHIFT is a remarkable piece of work. Ms. Calnan offers a simple, clear path for people to begin the process of personal change needed to craft more effective and successful organizations. It is obvious that Janice Calnan has spent a great deal of time working with, and learning from people at all levels of organizational structures. She has distilled the complex and seemingly arcane art of organizational improvement into a clear and transformational process. The book's ideas are set out in a simple, straightforward style, that is likely to appeal to even the most entrenched "old thinking" business practitioner. Janice Calnan's book has earned a top spot on my own reference shelf, along such classics as Peter Scholtes' TEAM Handbook, and the works of Deming, Juran, Townsend, Peters, and Wheatley. If you are engaged in the work of organizational change, I would highly recommend this book.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER: Bruce Waltuck is a 25-year veteran of the United States Department of Labor. In 1989 he was asked by Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole to "rethink the Department's management system." Together with colleague Jim Armshaw, Bruce co-created the DOL's award-winning Employee Involvement and Quality Improvement System. Bruce has lectured and taught throughout the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Singapore. He is widely known for his expertise with labor-management cooperation for quality improvement, strategic planning, data collection and performance measurement, and Baldrige-based assessment. He has authored book chapters, and published numerous articles in academic journals and magazines. He is currently pursuing his interests in the application of complex adaptive systems science to organizational behavior and improvement. He is listed in both U.S. and international editions of Who's Who. He resides in central New Jersey.

The ideas and tools offered up in Janice's book are positioned for business leaders, but are useful for the other half of your waking hours. Janice includes many stories outside the work place that demonstrate how her ideas impact the personal life of her clients and herself. Well read or trained business people will be familiar with a lot of the concepts, what is unique and useful is; the different perspective, the connection of the ideas and the exercises Janice presents to the reader. The understanding of human nature gained as a psychotherapist is clear in each chapter as Janice explains how to change the way people behave in organizations. The ideas and tools are carefully woven into a logical progression throughout the book, however you can get value by starting anywhere or reading a single chapter. At the end of each short chapter you will find some exercises often phrased as questions to the reader. I found the exercises very useful for putting the ideas into action. The saying good things come in small packages applies here, a physically small book with a big impact.

Most of what is found in this book is in False Prophet and Islam in the End Times. But there are still little nuggets here and there that are worth reading. I just skipped over the other stuff I already knew. All in all, I would say this is a book worth having. You can never have enough [spiritual] ammunition.

"He who testivies to these things says, 'Yes, I am coming quickly.'" Revelation 22:20

Verses like this in the Bible have plagued me with doubt as long as I can remember. How could the Lord be coming quickly if these words were written 1900 years ago? Throughout the last two millenniums, Christians have always believed the Second Coming was at hand. Doesn't this seem to take away from the validity of the Bible? I struggled with this problem until I read this book.

SOZO by Ellis Skolfield is a must-read to any Bible scholar, skeptic, or student. It is intense reading filled with historical facts backed up by prophetic scripture. From the Islamic mosque, the Dome of the Rock, sitting high on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, to the uncanny victory of Israel in the Six-Day War, this book does what no other book on the market does: its shows us how Bible prophecy is real.

This book challenges your beliefs....makes you get into the WORD and question what and why you have been taught the doctrines of your church..... make your minister and friends read it to begin a worthy discussion

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was packed full of very precise, useful information and the included CD-ROM was a terrific bonus! I especially enjoyed the straight forward approach that the book presents. Sponsorship has evolved and our company's views about sponsorship need to as well. This book provided us with the information and tools that we need to move our corporate sponsorship program into the twenty first century.

This book was indispensable! It helped me understand how wise corporate sponsors determine who gets accepted for a sponsorship! If you are having difficulty obtaining a corporate sponsor, I would highly recommend reading this book. Understanding how businesses make their sponsorship decisions gives you an edge over your competition. I am now better prepared to pitch my presentation and have high hopes of landing a great sponsor! The cards are now stacked in my favor.

This book is outstanding. It has totally revolutionised the way we approach our investment in sponsorship. I had never realised we were so backward until I read this book and it made so much sense. We are now in the process of renegotiating many of our sponsorships to get better results for the brand, not just put our logo in front of people.

The tools and checklists that are included in the book and on the CD-ROM have made changing our approach much easier. They work on all sizes and types of sponsorship. We have even customised some of them for our regional marketing people so that they can do a better job on the smaller sponsorships that they invest in.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in sponsorship.

Very very good condition, no complaints.
Acctually, I tell all my friends what great deals I get from Amozon! I may just be one of your top advocates.

Commenting on the communion of saints in heaven and how their various differences of temperament and intellect must ultimately complement one another in some as yet utterly unimaginable variegated whole, St. Therese of Lisieux once said: "Delightful and surprising will be the friendships found there - I am sure of it ... [A] simple little child may be the intimate friend of a patriarch." Dwight Longenecker in his new book, St. Benedict and St. Therese: The Little Rule and the Little Way, sees in this almost casual remark the kernel of a much larger reflection: how the nineteenth-century French Carmelite saint - not much more than a little child herself at the time of her death - might indeed easily be imagined hand-in-hand with the Father of western monasticism, the sixth-century St. Benedict of Nursia; for, despite the apparent incongruence of this unexpected pairing, their "Way" and "Rule" are in essence one. The "little way" of St. Therese of the Child Jesus is really nothing less than an utterly radical faith and dependence on Jesus Christ. "Sanctity," she says in her final days, "does not consist in performing such and such acts; it means being ready at heart to become small and humble in the arms of God, acknowledging our weakness and trusting in his fatherly goodness to the point of audacity." (p. 215) Such conviction, expressed while nearly at the point of death, finds its spiritual complement in St. Benedict's "little Rule for beginners": "Let us then never withdraw from discipleship to him, but persevering in his teachings in the monastery till death, let us share the suffering of Christ through patience, and so deserve also to share in his kingdom." (p. 38)

Longenecker has provided us with the good fruit of his experiment of exploring and interrelating the timeless wisdom of these two immensely influential saints. A Benedictine Oblate himself, he has already shown himself to be an enlightening guide through Benedict's monastic Rule, as applied to family life, in his Listen My Son: St. Benedict for Fathers. Some of his insights are carried over into this new book, but enriched and expanded as they interact with the Carmelite saint's doctrine. (Here, I note in passing, Longenecker summons to mind others of the school of Benedict who have proven themselves able commentators on the writings of great Carmelites: e.g., one thinks of Blessed Columba Marmion's indebtedness to St. Teresa of Avila, and Dom John Chapman's masterful grasp of the concepts of St. John of the Cross.)

Longenecker movingly tells of his own "encounter" with St. Therese while visiting Lisieux; and how later he found that, beneath the conventionally sugary language of her writings, so typical of her place and time and youth, the deceptively sweet "Little Flower" was in actuality a "steel magnolia". Perhaps most worthy of note, as Longenecker stresses, it is really her ordinariness that provided the rich soil for her remarkable holiness, and thus her holiness can be a model for us all. In this she reminds us of the holiness-in-ordinariness implicit to Benedict's Rule. Longenecker writes: "The Benedictine way is a `little way' because, like Therese of Lisieux's little way, it relies on surrender, not superiority; grace, not greatness." (p. 41) Noting how much of the Rule is given to liturgical, disciplinary, and household concerns, he says:

By focusing on the mundane matters of everyday life Benedict points to a deeper truth: that these
details are the stuff of reality, and that by paying attention to the details of ordinary life we will
find our way to heaven. Someone has said the devil is in the details; Benedict thinks the divine is
in the details. (p. 45)

Likewise, St. Therese insists that it is the day to day details in which real, practical sanctity is cultivated. She recognizes this fact as the hidden basis of even the holiest of all earthly homes: "What does me a lot of good when I think of the Holy Family is to imagine a life that was very ordinary ... their life was the same as ours." (p. 214)

Longenecker has also interwoven into the fabric of his own reflections valuable "Thoughts and Prayers" which launch every chapter, as well as the insights of such writers as Chesterton, Balthasar, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and others throughout the text. His own thoughts on humility and spiritual childhood are particularly well worth our prayerful pondering, and, though these might conceivably have been presented by a lesser devotional writer in cloying or sentimental fashion, Longenecker keeps before us the nitty-gritty realities and often painful sacrifices such crucial elements of genuine discipleship demand. We are, throughout this valuable little book, never far from the truth that "the Gospel command to become as little children is a call to return to a state of innocence through the excruciating path of experience." (p. 62)

For those searching for solid Catholic spiritual fare, or for an introduction to either of these saints (or, of course, to both), this book is unreservedly recommended.

St Benedict & St Therese can be read for several reasons and will appeal to a variety of readers. First, it offers an insightful analysis and comparison of the spirituality of Benedict "The Little Rule" and Therese "The Little Way." On another level, it is offers a practical application of their principles for our own spiritual direction. And to add pleasure to delight, it presents both of these in a VERY well-written, sometimes Chestertonian style. Longenecker often surprises you by reaching past the usual spiritual platitudes for the deeper truths. His manner is sometimes humorous, but never trite. His style is often breezy, but never without weight. Here are two examples:

ON MIRACLES: "The main problem for sophisticated people is not that miracles are incredible, but that they are an error in taste. . . . Benedict and Therese call us to follow a little way, and it may be that for humility to begin growing, our grown-up taste must be the first to go. Miracles, relics, sentimentality, pilgrimages, and wonderful answers to prayer lie at the heart of ordinary religion, and since Benedict and Therese are apostles of the ordinary it is fitting that their religion sits happily among the sentimental, the miraculous, and the tasteless." (p.47-48)

ON OBEDIENCE: "Obedience promises freedom, but there is a huge risk because obedience also threatens the most odious form of slavery. Religious people have an unfortunate taste for Pharisaism, and the call to obedience attracts two kinds of Pharisees - those who love to dominate and those who love to be dominated." (p.86)

Anyone who bemoans the meager fare of 90% of what is currently published to inspire and educate the aspiring Christian, should buy this book to ensure that the more worthy 10% will not disappear forever. If you or a friend has a liking for St. Therese or St. Benedict, you don't have to worry that you are buying a repeat of a half dozen other books you've already read. This book contains a fresh and useful approach. I hope to see many titles from this author in the future.

Not a very large book, only 190 pages, but chock-full of crucial advice and helpful perspectives. The layout is friendly on the eye, but I never felt like I was cruising through a bunch of bullet points. The author knows how to write. I am so very happy that I got my hands on this.

Smutny covers the basic concepts and issues facing the families of gifted kids. Better yet, she provides concrete, detailed strategies for parents as they negotiate the best possible education for their gifted children. Lots of real-life stories, lots of nuts-and-bolts advice, right down to the questions to ask and the things to _avoid_ saying.

I have read many books on the subject of parenting gifted children and trying to meet their academic needs -- this is one of the better ones, and certainly one of the most practical. It will help parents navigate the school system and advocate for their child's educational needs. Reading this book was like talking to a friend who has "been there." It is full of good reference/resource advice and is easy to read.

If you've ever lived or visited Minneapolis, you might have never been to a food cooperative (or even know they exist all around the city). Or maybe, you consider them a staple of your household and your neighborhood. Storefront Revolution is an excellent story of how the co-op movement gained momentum during the 1960s, but the story of food co-ops is almost a sidenote.
What I found extremely interesting is its view of Minneapolis and the rich (and tumultuous) countercultures that existed there. If you're a resident in the Twin Cities, you'll probably run into names every few pages that you'll recognize; former city councilmen and civic leaders. Like the rest of the country, the 1970s led to a huge dissolution of idealism in the Twin Cities. When some of the city's oldest co-ops started up, many of them were very unorganized and practically lived on hope alone. As they grew in distribution and reciepts, so did the trouble. 1975 was the year of the "Co-op Wars," a struggle between those who wanted to provide cheap food to impoverished and working class neighbors, and those who wanted to provide healthy organic food.
It may sound like a ridiculous cause to go to battle for, but Cox certainly lays the idealogical and political framework in context for the city, the state and the country at that time. If you're a Minneapolitan or St. Pauler (or whatever they're called) and are interested in a road less traveled in local history, this book is well worth the money. Of course, if you're a true believer in the co-op communal ethic, you can get it at the library.

This book gives a history of the food co-ops in Minneapolis in the 1970's. I found this book very interesting, mainly because I am a resident of Mpls and learned the history of the co-ops I shop at today. I found the tales of the co-op wars, in which the anarchists and communists battled for control of the co-ops, to be most interesting. I learned what worked and what didn't work in such a large coaliton of people working for the same goal. For readers who don't live in the Twin Cities, it is still an interesting study of co-ops and the anti-capitalist movement.

This book gives a history of the food co-ops in Minneapolis in the 1970's. I found this book very interesting, mainly because I am a resident of Mpls and learned the history of the co-ops I shop at today. I found the tales of the co-op wars, in which the anarchists and communists battled for control of the co-ops, to be most interesting. I learned about what worked and what didn't work in such a large coaliton of people working towards the same goal. For readers who don't live in the Twin Cities, it is still an interesting study of co-ops and the anti-capitalist movement.

The Liturgy has endured for around 2000 years as the primary means of worship for most Christians. We even have an early Eucharist Liturgy in the Didache, the 2nd century early Church manual. Due to the importance of the liturgy, every scholar and church leader needs to engage its development. This book will help in this task (at least for the scholar or priest/pastor. It's a bit academic to keep the interest of the average person in the pew).

This collection is grouped into three main sections: Theology and Rite, Development of the Liturgy, and Pastoral Orientation. Within the Development of Liturgy section there are seven sub-sections: General Intro, Initiation, Eucharist, Ordination, the Divine Office, the Calendar, and the Setting of the Liturgy. There are 65 essays total including, `A Theology of Worship,' `(Initiation in the) the Modern Period,' `The Anglican Eucharist,' `The History of the Christian Year,' and the ever-elusive `Methodism (and the Eucharist).' The essays cover a wide range of topics, interpretations, and time periods. Both Catholic and Protestant thought are represented nicely, in order to provide a truly useful survey. Also included are numerous glossy black-and-white photos of churches, liturgical manuscripts, and old church manuals.

I highly recommend this book for the liturgical scholar, the early or later Church historian, priests, pastors, and the interested layperson. The scholars are all top-notch, and the book is illuminating and will answer most questions about the Liturgy. The only drawback is that this book is priced rather high, since it is considered a textbook.

The Study of Liturgy provides an easily readible and comprehensive history of the development of Liturgy. This study shows how such things as seasonal colors, vestments,Church calenders,and specific prayers came to be part of liturgical worship. What makes this book so useful is it's quality writing. Here, both students of Liturgy and interested laypersons can find facenating answers to their questions concerning liturgical function and ritual. How does the wearing of vestments impact worship? Why do the participants do what they do and when? What is Lent? What's up with all the bowing and hand gestures? Liturgical worship can be an awesome and majestic expierence. This wonderful book will demystify this type of worship for liturgical church goers and those of more reformed traditions alike.The authors have produced a quality work that can be read by non-technical persons and thoroughly enjoyed.

Study Liturgy?
The late Dean of St. Paul's, was dining at a high table in Oxford and was asked by his neighbor, a distinguished liturgist, whether he was interested in liturgy.'No,' said the Dean, Neither do I collect postage stamps'; quoted from : Couratin ,Introduction to Liturgy, the Pelican Guide to Modern Theology, Vol. 2. But, even though he criticized Dr. Inge's estimate of liturgical study - a trivial branch of archaeology - his study was part of volume 2 : Historical Theology.

What is liturgy?
Liturgy is neither 'historical' nor a collection of prescribed forms for public worship as per webster's student dictionary. Liturgy is the work of the laity and ministry for their life in the spirit, a real participation in the mystical body of Christ. This is what the outstanding editors of this masterly book reflect in this revision: the last two decades of intense liturgical productivity, ecumenical openness among not only scholars but also ecclesiastical corpus.

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi
When you browse through this book you will find out about Will Durant's "Mansions" of liturgy, after you read some chapters you will realize the "pleasures of Liturgy". Ecumenical character of this monumental work is maintained by a panel of 25 contributors who seem to believe in what they write, practicing scholars.

The Editors and contributers:
G. Wainwright (Doxology) was my guarantee to the first edition , P. Bradshaw (Daily prayer in the early Church) enhanced my decision to buy an additional revised edition.
Just read the last chapter "Pastoral orientation" to find out how D.Tripp ingeniously sammerizes the real impact of liturgy on the people of the Lord. You may as well start with E.Yarnold's:
"The liturgy of the Faithful",I challenge you to stop reading!
I would love to find K. Ware and G. Bebawi , both of Oxford U. within the future contributers of the next edition, since liturgy is only whole with eastern orthodox authenticity.

At last,the Book: The Study of Liturgy:
I learned from this book more than what I learned in fourty years about the liturgy of the One Holy Universal Apostolic Church. Brought up in the ancient Church of Alexandria as didaskalos (teaching deacon, a tradition of the Alexandrine Megalopolis that started with Origen), I hope you appreciate what liturgy and its study can do for your enlightment, spiritual revival may also be a fruit, but for sure ecumenical fellowship in the Corpus Christi, the ever living.
Look at the table of contents and make your decision, because when you read this book, it will invite you to a new life, an ancient tradition of the real Church that will never be old.
If you have only one book on liturgy it should be this work, but it will be the first love, others will follow , some of those mentioned in the preface.

The challenge for most organizations is recognizing change often means culture change and it's one of the hardest things an organization can do. Too many times, initiatives fall to the wayside due to the inability to manage change. These become the "flash in the pan" or "flavor of the month" efforts that many organizations know all too well. The author does a great job in explaining successful techniques to accomplish this change. Include the workbook in your purchase.

Jeff Shiver, CMRP, CPMM

This book is extremely helpful and unlike any other organizational change book out there. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the topic.

This book addreses a market that has really not been tapped. There are many books out there about change but none that address it from a users perspective. This is a "how to do it" book that helps those of you tasked with the difficult process of change in your company to effectively address the issues and make the change process a success. As I say in Chapter 1, "it does more than start you on the road, it accompanies you on the journey." It is well worth your while to obatin a copy and use it as you go through the process.

The wisdom of the heart must be aligned with the presence of the force of life. Rumi said "In between all right doings and all wrong doings there is a field. I will meet you thEre." This must be revered. Bow now your head to the east. As Ellen said in one of her funny episodes of "Ellen": I must bow toward Mecca Now". A joke, but it's true. We must bow toward the force..Good day.

This book presents personal stories of outstanding, contemporary Sufi women, describing how they came to the "straight path" of Sufism and how this path has transformed their lives. Here are some examples of strong, intelligent women, many of whom are Islamic Sufis, who challenge the image of Muslim women often presented in the media. Compelling stories.

It is about time that a women's movement show the immense contribution women have made to spirituality, and Sufism in particular. These stories of modern Sufi women are truly inspirational for the feminine in all of us. Women often feel religion is a masculine field. Yet, this book, published by the renowned Sufi Women Organization, shares the struggles and triumphs of contemporary Sufi women ... who are shining examples of the strength of women's spirituality. The only book of its kind that I have come across.