Resources Books

The last book from my `vacation reading list" is Think Better: An Innovator's Guide to Productive Thinking by Tim Hurson. Some of you may remember a brief mention of this book in a post titled "Critical Thinking vs Creative Thinking".

This is a very interesting book full of great information....kudos go to the author for writing in a style that is engaging and easy to read.

The premise of the book is to stop trying to think `creatively' or `critically'....start thinking productively. The author introduces the "Productive Thinking Model" that helps to combine and balance both creative thinking and critical thinking.

This model is made up of six steps, which are outlined below.

Step 1: What's going on?

In this step, you are encouraged to answer five questions to get a feel for what issue you are trying to resolve. These questions are:

* What's the Itch? This question helps you determine what needs to be fixed or improved.
* What's the Impact? This question makes you think about how the issue is affecting you.
* What's the Information?This question forces you to examine the information that you have about the issue to determine if you have enough information to address the issue.
* Who's Involved? This question takes a look at the stakeholders and what might be at stake for each one.
* What's the Vision?This question helps you make the switch from `what is' to `what might be' by asking things like "What would the future look like if the issue is resolved?"

Step 2: What's Success?

Using the Vision developed in Step 1, begin to think about the future if the issue is resolved. Begin to imagine what life would be like with the problem solved. Once you've got a good feel for how life might change, you would then create a list specific, measurable outcomes.

Step 3: What's The Question?

In step 3, you begin to develop the questions that must be answered in order to reach the vision of success that you developed in Steps 1 & 2. During this step, you rephrase each issue/problem as a question to help your subconscious understand there is something `to work on'. An example conversion given as the Problem Statement "We don't have enough budget" can be converted to the Problem Question "How might we increase our budget?". During this step, you would try to generate as many problem questions as possible....you want a long long list. Once you've exhaustively listed your questions, you can then begin to narrow them down to the two key questions that would have the most impact on the issue.

Step 4: Generate Answers

This is where you generate the ideas to answer the questions created in step 3. You again create a very long list of answers and then sift through them looking for the most ideal and promising answers.

Step 5: Forge the Solution

This step is where you take your most promising answers from step 4 and develop them into a robust solution.

Step 6: Align Resources

This final step requires you to identify the necessary steps and resources for implementing your solution. In addition, you ensure that all implementation steps are assigned to a designated resource who will be held accountable for their implementation.

With these six steps, the author has provided a framework for thinking more productively. The key throughout all six steps is to keep an open mind at all times. Do not criticize ideas. Do not discard ideas. By keeping an open mind, you'll be amazed at how many ideas you are able to generate.

If you are the least bit interested in the topic of creative/critical thinking, go buy this book.

what a fascinating book! unfortunately it is littered with typographical errors which are REALLY irritating. examples: "The stem brain or gator brain processes and teacts to sensory input(p. 21)"..."Nothing is perfect. The word is full of things we can do better(p.7)."..."As Nicholas Negoponte, the founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, has written...(p.43)"

such a shame. if there is ever a second printing, perhaps these and other unnecessary errors can be corrected.

Tim Hurson explains that the premise of this book "is that success in our business, professional, and personal lives is less a matter of what we know than of how we think. If we can develop the thinking skills to generate more options and then evaluate those options more effectively, we can all live richer, fuller lives - and so can the people around us." The focus of the this book is on the thinkx Productive Thinking Model (PTM), developed by Hurson and his colleagues after rigorously evaluating a number of other methodologies that include the Creative Problem Solving Process (CPS) and Integrated Definition (IDEF).

There seems to be greater emphasis on improving problem solving than on improving any other function of better thinking (e.g. generation, evaluation, and selection of innovative ideas), although the PTM process consists of six interlocking steps that can help to achieve a variety of objectives. Each step includes a variety of tools and techniques that Hurson explains, citing relevant real-world examples throughout his narrative to illustrate how various companies have used the PTM. Hurson devotes a separate chapter to each step.

For example, Step One responds to the question "What's Going On" and requires a situation analysis. Here are some issues to address at the stage of the process:

1. "What's the Itch?" (i.e. problem to be solved, question to be answered)
2. "What's the Impact?" (i.e. pay-off, benefits, improvements)
3. "What's the Information?" (i.e. what is currently known about the situation)
4. "Who's Involved?" (i.e. Who are the stakeholders? Who else will be affected?)
5. "What's the Vision [or "Target Future]?" (i.e. ultimate objective as well as its implications and consequences)

In Chapter 13, Hurson recaps the Productive Thinking Model (PTM) and offers a number of observations and suggestions to those who are considering use of this model as well as those who have made it commitment to it and are now engaged in the difficult but necessary processing of making appropriate modifications of it to accommodate the needs, resources, and objectives of their own organization. Then in Chapter 14, Hurson suggests four essential criteria for developing productive thinking skills and embedding productive thinking in organizational cultures.

In this final chapter, he also asserts that -- as practiced in much of corporate America -- training "is an astonishing waste of resources" when there is no follow-through on front-end training to embed and then strengthen even more the skills taught. In fact, the word "training" has lost its meaning because it is now more commonly used to refer to information transfer rather than skill development. "Hurson prefers the word "entraining." Why? "In chemistry, to entrain means to trap suspended particles in a solution and carry them along. This concept is an apt metaphor for skill development...Entraining results in a new and different workflow. Keeping those new skill particles suspended in your workflow requires the forging of new synaptic connections, new neural pathways."

Hurson includes an especially apt quotation that I now use also when concluding this review:

"In theory there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is." Yogi Berra

* * * * *

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Tom Kelley's discussion of how IDEO conducts brainstorming sessions in his two books, The Art of Innovation and The Ten Faces of Innovation. I also recommend two of Henry Chesbrough's books, Open Innovation and Open Business Models, as well as John Medina's Brain Rules, Howard Gardner's Five Minds for the Future, and Creativity in Business co-authored by Michael Ray and Rochelle Myers. Those feeling especially frisky and convinced they are up to the intellectual challenge are encouraged to consider reading Gerald Edelman's Bright Air, Brilliant Fire and Albert Borgmann's Holding On to Reality. Most of these books are available in a paperback edition.

This is basically a 'self help' sort of book. According to the author, if you buy this tome, read it, and apply the contents, something great will happen.

So I bought it. And I read it. And I applied the contents.

What this book is about is thinking more creatively, not thinking more deeply, as it were.

The core premise of the book is that typical thinking relies heavily on what we've done previously. Learning by experience is what humans do. Hurson calls this 'reproductive thinking' as it reproduces the past. This is frequently a good way to do things. But no amount of reproductive thinking will turn an adding machine into a spreadsheet. To make this leap, you need "productive thinking."

The crux of the book is how to think this way. Suppose you have some problem. You assemble your team of people (works individually too, but that isn't his focus) and write down every solution the team can think of to that problem. Analysis is not allowed - just raw ideas. Within a few minutes, people have called out the obvious solutions. The leader of the group keeps writing them down and asking for more using a number of techniques in the book. Before long, people will start giving dubious solutions. This is good. Finally, at some point, the answers become bizarre. This section is what Hurson calls the "third third" of the list. He posits that the good stuff - the truly innovative solutions - are at the bottom of the list. Most of the time, they are worthless. But if you allow these fledgling ideas to live for a while, sometimes they attain flight status.

While we had our power outage, I had 9 days to try this. I am designing some software. I started making a list of the solutions to my problems (this software has many facets which constitute many problems.) I wrote down ideas, concerns, drawings - anything. What I found was that once I ran out of ideas, I'd make some connection, and I'd get 25 more ideas. Then I'd be empty. But the next day it would happen again. It was difficult, but I finally - finally - made it to 100 ideas and thoughts, an arbitrary goal designed to make me stretch. Then I saw another connection and wrote down 30 more ideas! I stopped because the ideas, if valid, were straying from the actual problem domain and started applying more to an alternative piece of software.

I ended up with 3 really good innovations. (I'm sure others would think of these things instantly, but by God they were new to me!) One of these innovations would allow the software to perform a seeming completely different function with only trivial modifications - if it's built right.

There's a lot more to the book, as it talks about how to make the ideas to concrete solutions, walking through phases of idea-to-solution. Again, posing each step a problem then using these free-flowing lists of solutions to find the most innovative answers to problems.

So, the pros:

1. The technique seems to work for me as an individual.

2. Trying it is cheap. You need a) the book and b) office supplies. You do not need a guru, a Change Process Facilitator, pure Tibetan mountain spring water, or to sacrifice a chicken.

3. There are probably 6 phases and numerous sub-phases in the full solution process. So there are other parts of the book that I didn't mention but are worthwhile. For example, he mentions that some people in the organization may work against you. Commendably honest. Such a person is treated as a problem to be solved. You write this person's name down so you can make lists of solutions to this persons behavior. This section is short and I can't help but feel he stopped short for political correctness - and perhaps legal reasons!

The cons:

1. The book is almost certainly a sales tool for the author's consulting company which he mentions repeatedly. Perhaps the book is an answer to the problem, "How can we educate people about our system and thus make more money?" in which case it's a very practical proof of concept!

2. I can't imagine a team of people using this technique because it feels 'new age.' You'd have to have a lot of trust among coworkers.

3. The book is repetitious. Make lists! Make lists! Blah.

4. TMCBSHA. I mean, Too Many Cute Business Self Help Acronyms. The industrial strength solution he discusses has many phases and sub-phases. It seems like every one of them as some hokey acronym associated with it. examples:
IF (imagined future)
DRIVE (do, restrictions, investment, values, essential outcomes)
AIM (advantages, impediments, maybes)

Now, each of these sections may be worthwhile but my god it's killing me. This is what makes me suspicious about the technique. I feel like he's putting the sizzle before the steak. I don't need sizzle to work a problem. But Hurson might need it to sell his book!

5. The numerous steps (and their acronyms!) in the full solution need to be in a diagram so I can follow them.

Finally, if you make your living by thinking (versus, say, by chopping off ninja heads) and you're in a rut, consider _Think Better, an Innovator's guide to Productive Thinking_ by Tim Hurson. I give it a 4 of 5, where no such book can possibly score a 5 due to the built-in hokiness and cheerleading of it all.

http://tony-stormcrow.blogspot.com/2008/10/think-better-innovators-guide-to.html

Think Better: An Innovator's Guide to Productive Thinking

This book is based on the outstanding premise that how we think is more important than what we know. Tim explains why thinking skills are likely to be even more important in the rapidly changing future. The book then expands on exactly what productive thinking is and why we need to do it! Although initially based on the proven concepts of the Osborne Parnes Creative Problem Solving Model, Productive Thinking takes the ideas of divergent and convergent thinking, and together with an excellent choice of thinking tools and techniques, weaves them together in the 6 step Productive Thinking Model. Elegant in design, thoroughly researched and proven in practice. An easy to read and very informative piece of work. Well done Tim.

Ken Wall - Australia

Our dog abruptly went blind on Father's Day which is not that uncommon
for our breed. We subsequently had to have his eyes removed due to irre-
versible and painful end-stage Glaucoma. We were, of course, devastated
as our dog just turned 6 last March. Our animal Opthalmologist suggested
this book as a great source for us and our acceptance of his delemma and
also some valid suggestions for helping our pet have as normal a life as
possible. These suggestions have worked well so I highly recommend this
book for others to read in similar circumstances.
Mary J. Hathaway

The majority of us dog owners love our pets but know little about what happens--or in the present case fails to happen--behind those happy eyes. Caroline Levin's lovingly written guide to living well with and for man's best friend when he can't see is a tremendous resource for such human pack leaders, brimming over as we are with good intentions but a little slim on the science side.

It's telling that so many reviews of Levin's work begin by telling the story of a beloved dog's loss of vision. Few of us come to Levin's instruction out of theoretical knowledge. Rather we desperately need to know what to do.

This reviewer and his family have not seen a dog lose his vision. Rather, we recently adopted an abandoned Rhodesian Ridgeback who is already blind. Sammy joins a home with a seeing Ridgeback who has done extraordinarily well in adjusting to life with the bumptious fellow.

Levin's book helps me understand our new dog's psyche, how to ameliorate his fears, and why he loves our voices and cowers when strangers speak the same words.

Sixteen chapters begin with the basics of how people and dogs grieve, how the canine eye is designed to work, and the reasons why it stops doing so. From there the author expertly leads us through behavior change and how to adjust our lives to that our sight-impaired pets can get on with theirs.

The book is peppered with photos of blind dogs and their owners and affectionate reassurances that living with a blind dog can be as joyful as tragic and often more so.

The book has large print--one wonders whether a nurse of ophthalmology presses her editors for this concession--and wide margins. As such, it reads quickly. In this reviewer's case, it will occupy an easily accessible place on a shelf for quick reference as we help our Sammy rediscover the playful, confident sub-alpha male that bounds playfully in his dreams and behind his happy smile.

My vet recommended that I get this book. I am so glad that I did take his advise. What I have read so far has been a big help. Before getting this book, I felt helpless. Now I know that Merlin and I will still have a great life together. Thank you so very much.

Sincerly,
Peggy Parker

This book was such a big help I thought my dog that went blind in three days would never have a good life. But since reading this book and using the information I gained from it I and my dog are enjoying things again and we are doing all the same things but just a little different.

I didn't find this book to be very helpful. It seems to be geared to having a pack of dogs as opposed to a single dog.

Either my dog is incredibly bright (okay, he is) or the book implies that dogs need far more training than I have found it to be for my dog.

My dog is completely blind. It happened over a period of a couple of months. He does very well at home and away and does not require all the aids the book suggests a blind dog might need.

With Martha Finney, Libby Sartain has written a book that is, in her opinion (as of 2003), the first one written "by an HR practitioner for HR practitioners about managing your own unique career as well as dealing with the special challenges of daily life in the world of human resources." As she explains, most of the stories she shares are taken from her 13-year tenure as Vice President, People at Southwest Airlines. Since 2001, she has served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Chief People Yahoo at Yahoo! Inc. This book was published in 2003.

She is a staunch advocate of what she characterizes as a "fully empowered" HR career, viewing it as a "calling" and asserting that it can - and should -- provide a competitive advantage to any organization, especially now when competition for human talent is almost ferocious. Those equal to the challenges of such a career in HR possess both highly-developed business acumen and what Daniel Goleman defines as emotional intelligence. Sartain insists (and I wholly agree) that a corporate culture "based on respectful treatment of all the company's employees is essential to the company's long-term success...The most successful companies are the ones that make it their business to help their employees achieve their highest potential and use their gifts and talents most fully." It is no coincidence that on Fortune magazine's annual lists of those companies that are most highly admired, most valuable, and best to work for, several of the same names appear on those lists year after year after year. Presumably each of exemplary company has "fully empowered" HR resources and capabilities.

With regard to Sartain's advice to those already embarked on a career in HR or who are now preparing for one, she focuses on "six essential ingredients of every great HR career" in Chapter 3. She commits a separate chapter to each and they are best revealed within her narrative, in context. Throughout her book Sartain addresses just about every conceivable issue relevant to those "essentials," helping her reader to consider all plausible options and then make decisions appropriate to his or her own talents, experience, goals, and concerns. She also suggests a number of "dos" and "don'ts" based on what she has learned throughout her own career thus far. She seems by nature to be an enthusiast, one who would prefer (as the old bromide states) "to light a candle rather than curse the darkness," but she also reveals an abundance of street smarts.

She is passionately committed to helping HR executives to establish and then sustain a "fully empowered" career, in terms of both personal and professional development, one that is fulfilling and thus satisfying to them but also in terms of how much value they can add, not only to the given organization but also to the personal as well as professional development of those whom they are privileged to serve. I use the phrase "privileged to serve" deliberately and presumably Sartain concurs.

If empowered with sufficient resources (including the support of senior management) and if properly prepared and fully committed, a HR professional who is both competent and compassionate can help to achieve objectives such as these:

1. Continuous recruiting of those who have the talent, experience, and character that may one day be needed

2. Interviewing and hiring procedures that are rigorous, thorough, and cordial so that each candidate is given every opportunity to "shine," of course, but is also treated with utmost respect

3. Orientation that accelerates the process by which each new hire becomes an integral part of the given organization and its culture

4. On-going formal and informal training that develops in participants the leadership and management skills that are needed at every level and in all areas of the given enterprise

5. Performance measurement conducted formally (at least quarterly) and informally (each day) that is based on criteria that are clearly explained, mutually understood, and consistently applied

One of Sartain's key points is that hearts as well as minds must constantly be nourished. In many (too many) organizations, HR professionals have been "so distracted by the need to be taken seriously that [they have] been tempted to jettison any discussion of how [their] personal feelings and principles are factored into the business equation. As a result, the HR profession has been cultivating a reputation that I am tempted to say it often deserves - that of being a single-minded administrator with a big, red, rubber stamp that reads: `No! Against Policy and Procedures!'" Sartain is convinced that in human resources, indeed in all relationships within and beyond the workplace, head and heart should not be mutually exclusive. "That's what it takes to build a great business." In the concluding chapter, "How Do We Get There From Here?," she suggests nine "major points" that must be covered to reach that destination.

Bon voyage!

Those who share my high regard for HR from the Heart are urged to check out The New American Workplace co-authored by James O'Toole, Edward E. Lawler as well as The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy, and Performance co-authored by Brian E. Becker, Mark A. Huselid, and Dave Ulrich. Also, two of Fred Reichheld's books (The Loyalty Effect and Loyalty Rules), David Maister's Practice What You Preach, two of Jac Fitz-enz's books (The 8 Practices of Exceptional Companies: How Great Organizations Make the Most of Their Human Assets and The ROI of Human Capital: Measuring the Economic Value of Employee Performance), Dean R. Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure And Drive Organizational Success, and Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution co-authored by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson.

I had seen Libby present at a conference and bought her book there. I read the book on the plane ride back and dog eared several pages. It is a good no nonsense book on what HR professionals do. I liked it so much that I purchased a copy for our entire HR department and we used it as a discussion during Business Partner meetings.

The group loved it...you will too.

Writing this book as an HR professional's guide is a tragedy! Part 2 (HR is Your Company's Best Asset) is a truly enlightened guide on people management and should be read by everyone who is in, or who aspires to be in, a leadership position in any organization. Including Part 1, (Your Own Career is Your Best HR Asset), this from her heart advice guide by practitioner Libby Sartain (Southwest Airlines) is not just well written, it is superbly written - the thanks for that may go to Martha Finney; but the thoughts are surely the wisdom of a hands-on expert in people management.

Focusing on Part 2, let's look at a few examples of what Sartain has to say: Hire the Person, Not the Resume - hire for fit; Don't Forget the Stars You Already Have in Your Ranks - promote from within; Start Your High-Potential Employees in Customer Relations - they carry an understanding of customer needs ...throughout their entire career. And, her "Show Them the Money!" and "Using Benefits to Build Relationships" chapters may be the best ever for understanding compensation's role in engagement. But, it gets better; Chapter 32 is titled: Recognition, Rewards, Fun: The Triple Crown of Employee Engagement. I could go on, but you get the picture; this Part 2 of the book contains wisdom for anyone in a management role. The whole book is recommended as a must read for HR professionals, Part 2 is recommended as a must read for managers.

Dennis DeWilde, author of
"The Performance Connection"

HR from the Heart is an amazing guide for HR professionals who genuinely want to serve their companies. Lifetime learnings and analysis of human behavior have been compiled in this book.The book is wholistic and it is a guide for all aspects of the HR function. Today's companies need to have unique recruitment, orientation, learning, developmental and performance systems. Great people attract great people, and great people want to work for great people. Companies mission must be a cause around which everybody is motivated and energised. The companies need to have a differentiating culture and all leaders in the company must promote the culture. All leaders must embrace new attitudes and conduct themselves in new and different ways. The language of communication is important as it give the company it's edge over the competetion. The workplace should be friendly and people must have fun doing their duty.Lastly, HR's job is to serve others and to humanise the work.

I have been involved in the HR field for some 21 years. Like any HR professional, we have a lot of stories to tell. In this book, Libby Sartain has a way of melding her stories with solid HR theory. At times, the book is simple and colloquial but more often than not it weaves its simplicity into a picture of HR I think and practitionaer would want to establish at their workplace.

A lot has been said about HR "at the table" and being a "strategic partner". This book shows how that is accomplished not so much by providing means to that end but by showing how doing what is right and good can get us to that end.

Judging from its Amazon sales rank (88,428 at the time of this writing) the book hasn't made it into too many hands. But don't let that stop you. If you are in HR (or someone who wants to be) this book is essential for giving you the big picture and getting you started on the path to achieving your end.

I enjoyed 7 Practices. It was inspiring, practical and will help in refining a ministry philosophy with my staff.

I was made to read this book as a part of a group I was in. I put it off and thought that it was just another book by a famous preacher's son (Charles Stanley). A few pages into this book, I learned why I was made to read it and that Andy Stanley is not just free riding on daddy's coat tails. This book is great, and I don't know how I ran a ministry without its wisdom.

The book compares ministry to a baseball game through some creative writing during its first half. It then gets technical and explains the principles during the second half. I consider this an essential read for leaders on my team.

The leadership team of my church did a study using this book, and it absolutely transformed our thinking. The material presented by the staff of Northpoint is liberating for those who have become trapped in a mindset of inward rather than outward thinking in church. This is good stuff--simple and powerful!

This book is a breath of fresh air for leadership teaching. I especially liked the "playbook" sections of the book. These sections are real ministry illustrated strategies that were played out by Northpoint church. I like it when church leaders share their failures as well as their successes. The book is open and honest.

I have been amiss in not writing a review of this book. It is a great little book on effective ministry. His ideas of seeking the win are great. Everyone wants to be on the winning team, and churches need to define what a win is. Also, his stuff on reviewing ministry is important. So many congregations do the work every year, but some of the programs are dead, but no one will stop them. His thoughts on narrowing the focus are wonderful. Many churches have followed the mega church model of program after program, that even Bill Hybels admits is not effective in transformation. Then finally his thoughts on listening to outsiders is needed. Most times we ask members how to grow, but really most members do not have a clue. We need to ask those who are not coming, they know why they are not there. This is a great book.

Culture Clash is one of the most helpful books I've ever read, but it is also an easy book to read. It is helpful if you manage any kind of team, even if you're not working in another country. But if you work outside of your native country, you should definitely read this book.

The 21st century has witnessed the shrinking of the world into one global village. Today, businesses and financial markets are irrevocably interlinked. The internet has spawned a remarkable revolution which enables people from around the world to communicate for free with one another through email and online messengers.

As national boundaries become less important, people from all over the world have to interact with each other. Cultural clashes can be inevitable unless people learn to understand how other cultures think and behave.

Thomas Zweifel's book is a must read for today's global managers, diplomats, students, world travellers - infact just about anyone who wants to be a part of the globalized free world.

I have just finished reading Thomas Zweifel's book on culture clash and high performance. Each and everyday curtural clashes take place in public schools,and this very good leadership book should be used by public school administrators to assist them in dealing with their diverse student bodies. I especially like the lab sections because they were built on thinking and questions and not a simple listing of the commonplace activities. Walk down any public school hallway and you will see a great deal of diversity and it was refreshing to see a book that contained ideas school administrators could use to help these students in their daily ives.

You cannot truly talk about multinational business issues much less work in a international professional space without understanding the cultures in question and the many pitfalls associated with "diving right in" with possible good intentions but little cultural knowledge. This small yet information heavy book is essential in understanding and navigating Culture Clash.

This book is a must read. For anyone in business looking to climb the corporate ladder this book offers very valuable insight. The author shares his broad and fascinating experiences working with different cultures. I couldn't put this book down. It was a real eye opener.

The Dream Manager is a remarkable book. It is simple and powerful. The book presents one idea: if you are looking for engaged relationships with people, find out what people are dreaming about and assist in making these dreams possible. This applies to yourself as well, to become more engaged yourself, state your own dreams and work to make them possible.

The first part of book is written as a story about a company that develops a program for making the dreams of their employees come true. It shows the steps taken, the obstacles, real and mental, and how to overcome them and the benefits of the program. The format of a story makes for an easy, short and interesting read. The second provides resources to start working on realizing your own dreams and those of others.

This book is a quick read that motivates anyone to manage, lead, and live at a greater dimension. Engaging the workplace and those around you is a wonderful gift and sharing true compassion & good will to see others dream come to pass it what AMAZING leadership is all about. Thank you for challenging us to think better so that we can lead better. Awesome book!!!

The Dream Manager offers some keen insights into how we may take control our own dreams & aspirations while assisting employees, family & friends realize & accomplish theirs as well. Our dreams can & should be our motivating force. Its critical that we have dreams & persue them.
Matthew Kelly is a gifted, understandable author & speaker.

This is one of the best business concepts that I have ever heard. This book is a must own for everyone, but especially for business owners. The wealthy already understand this simple (yet profound) premise. What are you waiting on?

-ski

Being in a management position, I thought the book was supposed to teach me how to be the dream manager. I soon found out that it is much better than I expected. It teaches you to start dreaming again. The reason why people are so miserable at work is because they do not feel that they make a difference. I live and breathe this philosophy now at work and in my personal life. The 12 areas that we can dream guide you toward your personal achievements. I am forever changed in the best way possible. A must read for all.

Parents might worry that their child will find inappropriate sites on the Internet. It is important for parents to monitor their child's access to the World Wide Web and teach them proper use of it. This is not a television set with a limited number of channels. It is the information superhighway to the whole world. Think of it the same as traffic safety. You don't leave a young child playing unsupervised by a busy roadway. They could be hit by a car or kidnapped or attacked by a neighbor's dog. An older child after being taught basic principles is allowed more independence in that same situation.
Provide clear guidelines. Let your children know there are subjects or areas that you prefer to be off limits and explain why. Explore cyberspace with the child and talk about what they are seeing and doing.
Teach children safety rules for dealing with strangers online such as never giving out their full name, address or telephone number; never giving out a credit card number; or arranging to meet someone online without your permission. These are the same guidelines you probably use for telephone use in your home or for talking to strangers on the street.
Don't miss out on all the wonders of the World Wide Web. Take your child by the hand and set out on that information superhighway.

Our police department has worked with the author of this book in trying to help victims of cybercrimes. She really knows her stuff. She has even shared many things that my teens wish she hadn't. Now when they type POS, I know it means that they are telling their friends that their parent is looking over their shoulder.

When I don't know where to turn, I just turn to this book. I keep it next to my computer so my children can rely on it too. I was amazed that they enjoyed it as much as I did.

Next time, I'll buy the book BEFORE I buy the computer and set it up right.

a country mom.

I read this book when my mother bought it for me and my friends to read. I was very interested in what this person said about online safety and teens. Most talk about how terrible the internet is, but she thinks it's great for teens as long as we use it following safety rules.

My girlfriend was chatting with a boy she met online. He sent her pictures and said he loved her. She even talked to him on the phone. When he asked to meet her at the mall, I told her about the stories I read in this book, and gave her the book to read.

She didn't meet him after she read the stories about bad men who tried to trick girls into meeting them offline.

Her parents found out and found out that this boy wasn't really a boy.

Mrs. Aftab helps keep teens safe. I want to work for her group and help other teens.

Thank you Mrs. Parry Aftab for caring about teens. we love you!

a sixteen year old girl

My 12 year old daughter was stalked by someone online. I went to Cyberangels for help. Parry Aftab (the author) runs Cyberangels, which is the world's largest and best safety group. This book supports the group, and after Cyberangels helped me find the stalker (someone we knew!), we bought this book to read together. My daughter and her friends in Girl Scouts are now creating an online safety club, thanks to this book, and this incredible woman. Please buy it and support online safety and protect your family online.

I read Parry's first book, and all the other ones that copied it. This is by far the best book out there. It's got every answer to every conceivable questions, easy to understand and fun to read.

I'm a teacher and need to keep up on this subject, and no book, not even her first one, comes close to this book. It feels like she is giving you free tutoring on any question you have about your kids online, right at your side.

I recommend this to all the parents at our school. Trust me on this...only buy one book - this one. And if you have any questions, e-mail Parry, she answers all of them personally. parry@aftab.com (her name)

This is a very informative book. Some of the information is focused on historic preservation, but overall a very good reference book.

It's funny how you can drive around your whole life and not notice or appreciate a good roof. I live in Wilson North Carolina, and it is amazing how many beautiful older houses have their original slate roofs (and probably will out-last the house itself?) It is just such a shame that this wonderful material (Slate) is so little understood or cared for?

This is THE book for anyone who is fortunate enough to have an intact slate roof. Caring for and repairing one of these historical treasures is either impossible, or horribly expensive, unless you are willing to learn and do the work yourself. The Slate Roof Bible is clearly written by an expert in the art of slate.

I'd highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in slate roofs. Very comprehensive and detailed. Exceeded my expectations.

very useful and very usable. Instructive for those with background in roofing, but helpful for most people..good book, worth purchasing

Whether you are and experienced slate roofer or a homeowner who might be considering investing in a slate roof, you'll enjoy this book.

I'll let the other reviewers talk about pictures and text and history and other aspects of the book. But the overwhelming sensation I got from this book is the passion Joseph Jenkins has for slate roofs. This is a man who absolutly loves what he is doing. When reading this book I really received the impression that slate roofs are a part of Joe Jenkins soul and he really, really wants to tell you all he knows about them. It's rare in life to find someone so impassioned about their occupation. I became absorbed not just for my own self interest but because Joe Jenkins knows what he is talking about. I was interested in finding out about slate roofs before I purchased; after reading this book-- I REALLY wanted one.

$30 is cheap tuition to have Joeseph Jenkins experience.

Just think: with these four volumes, you'll be able to pray ANY of the prescribed hours, at any time and day of the year. Knowing that you're in company with millions of others doing the same thing is awe-inspiring and spiritually enriching. These are very easy to use so there's no excuse not to enter into the prayer life of the Church. Mass for me is made even better when I arrive early and read the Office. I personally find Night Prayer comforting and extremely nourishing-- it helps me get ready for the coming day, and soothes my conscience during the examination. If the set comes with the handy annual Index, helping you to find each day's prayers... all the better! Otherwise you can get that Index at a religious goods store-- it costs about three dollars.

This product is preciecly what I needed. In addition to the four volumes of the Liturgy of the Hours (Advent/Christmas, Lent/Easter, Ordinary Time I & II) it included the St. Joseph Guide, the Supplement and inserts. This was just what I was looking for as I was heading off to seminary school.

The set was very well priced and the shipping being included definitely helped the sale. Being a new item, it is in excellent shape. I have told others about this and recommended they look to Amazon first if they are interested in purchasing this set.

Excellent edition. Easier to use than the one-volume Liturgy that the Daughters of St Paul put out. Comes with helpful accessories. If you can't afford to buy all four volumes at once, buying them one at a time is a great alternative.

These volumes are excellent quality. The paper is thin and buff color, the printing is two color, and the font is readable. They were much better quality than I was expecting. Thank you.

Carl is a wonderful writer and brilliant scientist, this book covers a wide range of issues while keeping it lively and hopeful.

I bought this book for my daughter who will go to graduate school to study marine science next year. I have not read the book but based on other reviews I think this must be an excellent book especially my daughter is very much concerned about preserving nature. Anyway, I was a litle bit disappointed when I received the book. I ordered soft copy and the print was so small that I don't know whether it will turn off my daughter's interest since she is very nearshighted. I don't mind if the book is thicker or bigger.

Part exploration, part eloquent plea for action, this is the report of a scientist's journey toward understanding the plight of our seas. Safina travelled with tuna fishermen and coral research teams, salmon boats and conservationists fighting for the Columbia Gorge. Their stories are here, in their words, set against a backdrop painted by a Yale professor with the soul of a poet. The litany is one of collapsing fisheries and dying reefs, huge nets that are scraping the sea floor into a featureless, lifeless plain, unbridled greed, and people whose heritage as sailors and fishermen is disappearing in a generation. Here also is the graceful breach of a humpback whale, the slow lazy lolling of an ocean sunfish, and the bullet quick movement of bluefin tuna under Atlantic sunrises and Pacific sunsets. An altogether beautiful book about the slow death of the sea. Safina believes we can protect the bounty and diversity he so eloquently describes. The question he poses is, "Will we choose to?" and suggests that one way to help answer that is to ask another. "What if we don't?"

This is one of the most beautiful, powerful books I have ever read. Safina's journey encompasses the entire world and all points of view. His words have inspired me to pursue my dreams and opened up new worlds of knowledge. Now, every time I hear of politicians doing something stupid to the oceans or rivers, I just shake my head and say "'Song' should be required reading for them before they can draft a piece of legislation dealing with the oceans."

I'm only about halfway through this book, but it's so moving that I decided I needed to rave now. Carl Safina uses an amazing grasp of language to paint mental pictures of what he writes about. I work in the scientific community and have spent a lot of time on that water, and his writings are not only objective and scientifically sound, he constructs them in such a way that they are beautiful. You will have a thirst for each topic and region of which he writes. I borrowed this book from the library and had vowed to buy it before I'd finished the first chapter. It has only improved as I've proceeded.