Organizations Books

This short and concise book should be on the required reading list for all business school students and faculty,accountants, lawyers,CEO"s,CFO"s, corporate directors and shareholders. It emphasizes thhe view that there are other measurements of corporate responsibility than the "bottom line".

Such ideas as openbook accounting,executive pay for performance,independent outside directors,workforce diversity,and shareholder rights are advocated.

[...]"Value-led".

An extremely thoughtful, timely and portable book, very well documented. Should have been required reading for some very prominent business executives,accountants, investors who lacked perspective on what a value led organization could be. This is also important reading for the person who runs or is starting a small business, or not-for-profit organization. Particularly interesting is the chapter on E Dimension or the role the internet will play in the company's strategies. Carefully computing and comparing the cost benefits of various implementation modes is stressed. Hundreds of important issues are discussed, as for example, the efficacy of having workers tele-commute. Bloxham points out the pros and cons of these arrangements, and notes that a value led organization must weigh these factors before making a decision. Another key area is the discussion on globalization-must reading for a business person hoping to expand across national borders. If the book has a flaw, it is that the topic raised could all be greatly expanded and this reader feels a certain frustration in not being able to contact the author and discuss an issue in depth. But of course the book is intended to be an overview. On the basis of this I would also recommend the book to business students, because it will lead them to fruitful and in depth study of the more important issues facing entrepreneurship today.

Value-Led Organizations, by Eleanor Bloxham is a must for all companys, organiztions and those interested in money management. If corporations such as we have read, and heard about so often in the news these past few months had heeded what is expounded on in this book, we would not be in the terrible mess we now are. A must reading for financial people.

As an engineer I appreciate this well-organized book with its emphasis on the important elements of stewardship. It carefully explains the duties of management required for care over all of the resources entrusted to them. The key concepts of value enhancement and then implementation of the theory are dealt with in detail. Examples and illustrations abound. Yet, the book is short enough to be a good read on a plane trip. Anyone responsible for planning and executing a strategy for business success will find this book an excellent source of inspiration.

Today more than ever, corporate directors must focus their oversight efforts on organizational "value," ensuring maximum long-term returns to investors. As a guide for value-led organizations, this book is a gem: small--yet valuable, durable, bright, and multifaceted. Its 100+ pocket-sized pages compactly combine practical applications, theoretical foundations, and intelligent insights--all from a corporate director who knows how to think like a fiduciary, responding to multiple constituencies (e.g., both stockholders and employees) along multiple dimensions (e.g., both finance and ethics): 25-karat!

As with many epiphanies in life, this one had to be delivered by, of all things, a book about how stories "ignite performance." I never paid much attention to my use of stories or their power until I read Craig Wortmann's book. Like a new car owner who spots their recent choice EVERYWHERE, I am now gratefully aware of stories and their powerful role in our lives and work performance. I have even a few times chuckled aloud as I witness a story capture an audience or even as I begin one to a few listeners. But more importantly, Craig was spot-on with his thesis that "we become more aware of our stories, and that we embed our stories in our communications, because this is a great way to...manage our information and increase our performance."
Craig makes his argument carefully, taking the reader by the hand. He takes his time stating the problem, and then turns on the overhead light for us just when we need it: the answer to all those bits and bullets and cacophony in our busy lives is...the story. That's right, what has warmed us and kept us safe since childhood is the key communication element in our adult world! Like all great leaders, Craig also models the behavior he is recommending; "What's Your Story" is awash in steady argument, clear communication and story-after-anecdote-after-story. This is a great read for anyone looking for that communication elixir or that missing leadership piece. Great work, Mr. Wortmann. Now you have one more story to tell!

We teach what we know and have learned through many life-lessons. But unfortunately, our "words of wisdom" may translate as "war stories" in the retelling. "What's Your Story?" helps keep that from happening. This book helps you frame your experience as stories that can mean as much to your audience as they do to you. Wortmann follows his own formula of teaching by example, using vivid vignettes to dramatize key points. It's great "airplane reading" when you're on your way to make a speech. Keep a pen handy because you'll think of things you'll want to do differently.

Craig Wortmann has an amazing ability to connect with his readers from the very first page to the last. He reveals exercises and tips to help get the creative juices flowing so that we, too, can find our own powerful stories to tell. His acute awareness of the current state of the business world allows him the ability to offer positive steps people can take to get out of their ruts and become more effective leaders. "What's Your Story?" is a must read.

This is a great book about a simple concept - which is why it so valuable! Stories provide context that help us all learn. This book provides very helpful suggestions for how to use stories to affect behavior in any organization. I highly recommend it!

As a new business owner, I found the book to be very helpful. As we grow, I've used Craig's techniques to to develop a unique story that will establish our identity.

Immensely "Readable" guidelines for writing all types of fundraising materials. Barbato has written a timeless, easy to follow handbook that holds a special place on my reference bookshelf.

I took this book, along with many others on fundraising, out of my local library. Though I'm new to raising funds, I've made much of my living writing articles and books; I wasn't sure it would have much to teach me.

This book was so startlingly useful that I had to buy it. It will likely become your most dog-eared fundraising guide.

When I am on deadline and desperately in need of help, "Writing for a Good Cause" is where I turn first for guidance, solace, or inspiration (seeing as how our office manager objects to open containers of alcohol at one's desk). Not only is this book full of incredibly practical writing tips in handy list form, it is also very funny and a page turner.

The heart of the book is a clear guide to how to write a great proposal, but other valuable topics are covered, including newsletters, case statements, interviews, and the like.

In one section, the authors mix genuine examples of great fundraising writing with an imaginary proposal to fund the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. They not only convince you to help build the Brooklyn Bridge, you're ready to buy it.

The bridge is not for sale, but this book is. It is well worth its price of two fast food lunches. Buy it, read it, and be happy.

Not surprisingly, this book provides advice that -- if applied literally -- will assist you in writing excellent proposals to fund your non-profit organization's ventures.

Surprisingly, the advice contained herein -- if made more generic in your mind -- is excellent advice for entire areas of your life. Sounds hokey, true. But honestly, boiled down the advice can be listed as:

1. Identify what the problem is. Do your research until you really understand the causes of the problems and their many effects.

2. Identify how you will know when you have made the problem better. How will you know when the problem has been alleviated? What intermediate steps need to be taken? How will you measure your progress along the way?

3.Identify what tools are available, and which are still needed, to move towards a resolution, or diminution, of the problem. Be specific here. Vague generalities are useless, but the brass tacks of a solution are absolutely priceless. Who has access to these tools? Who can make difficult things easy?

4. If you are asking for someone to help you with this problem, present the whole equation to them in a light that makes the most sense to *them*. This doesn't mean to lie, or exaggerate. It only means to focus your proposal in a way that makes them see it most personally.

5. Proofread what you have written, to be sure it says what you want it to say. Then proofread it again. And again. Get it right, because it is a hard and fast representative of you. This should be true in everything concrete you put out in the world with your name on it.

Now, all of this can be applied to writing a grant proposal. And much of it can be applied to the other things in life. Filling a job position, finding a home, working out a deteriorating relationship, educating yourself or your children ... you name it.

It's so rare that a book directed at an audience of specialists resonates with so much broadly applicable truth ... and it was such a delight to find it. I plowed through this book last night, reading every word, applying its advice mentally to all sorts of issues in my own life. I am pleased to report that it opened my eyes to solutions that had eluded me until now.

Wonderfully written, amusingly told, full of great advice to writers of all persuasive materials, this book is a gem.

Excellent book with very practical tips on writing to get funded. There are many grantwriting books and resources available, but this is one of the better that I've found for writing persuasively for major gifts. Great practical advice on formulating winning proposals, concept papers and other grant writing tools. Definitely recommend to grantseekers of all levels.

Fun romp featuring repo men (and women) of DKA as heroes versus gypsy clans. The king of American gypsies has died, and the clans from around the US are vying to have their leader be selected as the new king. To this end, they are stealing Cadillacs left and right in order to show up in the proper style at the big gathering where the new king will be selected. Lots of fun to be had as Gores skillfully describes scam after scam after scam, both by the gypsies and the repo men. Both groups are sympathetically portrayed for the most part, and the background detail about modern gypsy life is interesting in its own right.

This book is full of heroes on all sides as DKA agents and gypsies strive to outwit each other throughout a very funny story. 32 CADILLACS is the best entry in the entertaining DKA series.

This book explores the world of gypsies, scamps and thieves and the offbeat group of Private Investigators who pursue them.

Always planning the next con, theft or bunko, a band of gypsies in San Francisco pull off a perfect crime. Using four branches of the same bank, slick tactics and phone banks, a group of gypsies manages to steal 32 cadillacs, all in the same day.
Facing a million dollar loss, the bank hires DKA, a local PI firm, to recover the stolen cars. Tipped off that a gang of gypsies was responsible, the DKA operatives, or repomen, start a chase that follows the cars across the US. Using very unconventional methods this quirky band of PIs, who are rejects and misfits, must use their wiles to "outcon the cons."

What makes this story really outstanding is the background tale of the gypsy life, description of how the cons are done and the plotting of the PIs to get the cars back. There is lots of action too including breakneck chases and escapes, including one where a DKA agent must leap into a car while his rear is filled with buckshot.

My favorite character is Ken Warren, a repoman with such a severe speech impediment that he barely communicates. But with extraordinary skills in hunting down and absconding with cars that no one else can get, he earns the respect of his fellow DKA agents.

A fun ride which I highly recommend.

... I found it to be a nice treat.

It was an interestinglook at the workings of the repoman and an enlightning look at the gypsy lifestyle.

The members of the DKA agency were wonderfully drawn characters...very Runyon-esque. The gypsy characters could not have been more colorful. The plots and sidebars were neatly tied together.

There is a lot of humor mixed in with the crime, trackdowns, deceptions, double dealings and repo procedural. This would make a great movie. The action never stops and Mr. Gores does a great job of putting the reader inside the mind of the players.

"32 Cadillacs" was very entertaining and my initial Joe Gores book. I feel like I have discovered a new writer and look forward to more fun reads by Joe Gores.

Why Joe Gores isn't a better known author is a complete mystery to me. Ok, Ok, he's won 3 Edgar Awards and all, but still you don't hear his name mentioned too often when asking for recommendations. His DKA Files series are full of action, humour, cons and scams and in short are pure entertainment. Well, no matter, I've discovered him now and I'm here to tell you that the series, and 32 Cadillacs in particular, is one that's not to be missed.

For the first time, the DKA Agency is pitted in a head-to-head battle with San Francisco's Gypsy community following a Gypsy scam that had netted a grand total of 31 Cadillacs. This is a once-in-a-lifetime job, recover the 31 Caddys for a nicely negotiated fat fee. But the Gypsies are crafty specialists of the long con and are exceedingly difficult to track down, so the recovery process will require the DKA team to use every resource available as well as every underhanded trick in the book.

To give you a head start, I'll introduce you to the central DKA characters. They are, Dan Kearny, Giselle Marc, Patrick O'Bannon, Larry Ballard and Bart Heslip. And two new characters are added to the staff, Trin Morales, a sleazy Latino who failed on his own as a PI, and Ken Warren, the genius carhawk with a killer speech impediment. Both bring tremendous dimension and entertainment to the DKA team.

But the real stars of the book are the Gypsies, colourful in character as well as in their various ingenious scams. Although they're such big thieves that they'd make a kleptomaniac look like a saint, you can't help but like them and hope that every now and then they'll catch a break.

Joe Gores is an author who has walked the walk, having been an agent in the real life DKA Agency. His first-hand knowledge and experience is apparent as his agents work through their cases. Rumour has it that the Larry Ballard could very well be modelled on Gores himself.

As a final word, if there are any Donald Westlake fans out there who have read and enjoyed his Dortmunder book Drowned Hopes, I would urge you to read this one too with a brilliant crossover of storylines. This book was an absolute pleasure to read and, I know it's a much-overused catch phrase but I would term it a "must read book".

I read this book after reading Thomas Ricks' "Making the Corps" so compared to that book, I was a bit disappointed.
The book had some useful information, but didn't tell you that much about boot camp. In addition, there are billions of sections. Almost every two paragraphs is sectioned under a new heading, which annoyed me.
Though it didn't give me quite what I wanted, I did learn some useful information about preparing for boot camp, and the appendix is wonderful! With the phonetic military alphabet, army ranks, workouts, PFT info, useful charts, and much more!

Pretty useful for someone who wants to learn about preparing, but I recommend "Making the Corps"... read about it at: http://www.aaronsinfo.com/makingcorpsreview.html and there's product link to it's amazon page to look at reviews or purchase it.

I purchased this and a another basic guide book for my son before he left for Army basic training. This one by far, is the most easy to read and covers more of what you really need to know. This book is geared for army enlistees and not those of other branches, so if you're going into the marines, etc., you will be disappointed, so buy a different book.

The book answered questions that his recruiter seemed to be unknowledgeable about or reluctant to answer. One of the most significant, that he could earn his first stripe before leaving for boot camp; which he was able to do.

I truly believe this book gave my son a better understanding of what to expect, a better list of what to take and not take with him and how to conduct himself once he arrived at basic. I wish I had a book like this to read before I went through basic years ago, but reading it brought back memories and a lot of a-ha moments.

This should definitely be in every recruiter's library and on every future Army soldier's must read list!

I am SO glad I found this book before I left for BCT this Winter! It had the perfect combination of brevity, subject knowledge, and personal experience. The book contains exactly what you need to know and why you need to know it. He starts out with Recruitment, moves through the entire enlistment process, and then breaks down the current Army BCT experience. I enjoyed reading it, but was only able to truly appreciate the knowledge when I was going through the training. I felt like I had already experienced much of it through the book, and felt much more confident in my ability to handle the change from civilian to soldier.

Since my MOS is the same as his, I sent him an email when I was at AIT. Not only did he respond, but we talked several times over the phone about the combat medic training, and he was able to refer me to some more excellent reference material that made the training much more understandable. He also talked to my younger brother over the phone about BCT (he leaves in June), and reiterated some of the things he talked about in his book. It's nice to have someone put their money where their mouth is.

This book isn't just nice to have; it's a necessity!

As someone who aspires to join the military one day and has read many BCT survival guides, I can proudly say there is no better book on the market than 63 Days and a Wake-up!!! It is intuitive, astounding, and to the point. Specialist Herbert did a remarkable job writing this must have book. It's as if you're already at BCT and know what to expect. Like Don says, he won't give you a 300 page book that contains 40 pages of substance. Every page is of helpful material to get you ready for RECBN/BCT or so you can just have a better understanding of what it's like. Starting with the recruitment process and ending with life at BCT, every single aspect is covered and explained. What I look for in an Army BCT survival guide and have not found in the many I have read are the helpful hints and tips found in this book for while you are in training or in the preparation process. It's easy to see that the Specialist wrote much of this while at BCT. Even if you're not interested in joining the Army, I would recommend this to anyone to better understand the "Army Strong Process" and for anyone seriously considering it, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THIS BOOK!!!

After reading this book, I immediately e-mailed Specialist Herbert and complimented on it. I also asked him if it would be okay if I could talk to him sometime with questions about the Army I had. He responded the very next day and gave me his phone number. I called him with the questions I had and not only did he answer all of them but he couldn't have been any nicer and insightful with the information he gave me. He is a truly outstanding guy and the best warrior America has to offer. I can't wait and look forward to the sequel to this book coming out soon!!!

As an Army Recruiter I cannot stress enough the importance of being ready, not only prior to training - but before you make the decision to serve. I am going to recommend this book to every potential soldier who walks through my door. It is the best source of information on the "New Army" BCT out there (it's even better than the Army literature). I have shown it to 2 of my Soldiers who just returned from training and they both said the book was right-on. The best way to describe the book is "the kind of information you can't appreciate until you go without it". With just a few pages assigned to each different, but important phase of enlistment (Recruitment, MEPS, Travel, Personal Business, etc..) Herbert does a better job of describing the processes than the Army ever has done - and we own the business!!!
I have been using the book as a tool to help future Soldiers understand what they can expect. I loaned it out to one of my warriors who wanted to know more about BCT before they committed to sign, and he brought it back the next day and was ready to sign-up. The book answered his questions and made him more comfortable in the decision - which is very important!
You should be comfortable with your decision to join the military, and this book will help you make the decision - one way or the other - with confidence.

Workers these days are like snow shovels in a South Carolina blizzard - not enough to go around. Some of the causes are simple statistics: economy up, unemployment down, working-age population falling, employers' demand outstripping supply. But others are cultural. Large corporations, the traditional source of jobs, are often perceived as uncaring engines of depletion, exhaustion, and downsizing. The young are choosing options, from lifestyle to stock, while workplace veterans opt for the dignity of early retirement over the desolation of forced termination. Employers' alternatives are stark: expand their supply, increase their appeal, or prepare for shortfalls and belt-tightening. Recruitment, retention, recession - remorse.

Were companies to examine their own assumptions on hiring and firing, they would find a pervasive and self-destructive premise: old is bad. But as Beverly Goldberg argues in _Age Works_, employers - indeed, society as a whole - have built this premise on an ill-considered, ill-defined congeries of prejudices and presuppositions. Believe it or not, Americans age 55 and above take fewer sick days, adapt to new technologies successfully, and are more loyal to their employer than are their colleagues thirty years younger. And perhaps more importantly, they may be the only untapped workforce available. As hidebound organizations throw fortunes at untested youth, others more far-seeing (including Travelers, GTE, and Baxter Health Care) actively recruit, train, and depend upon senior workers. In a shrinking labor market, corporations and their HR departments may find a surprising competitive advantage in coaxing older employees away from the brink of an often sterile and impoverished retirement.

Eager to dismiss this challenge to their standard practices, naysayers and doomsayers will demand proof. Fortunately _Age Works_ reads more like a position paper than a business book, and like any good position paper, it's loaded with facts. Age Works is the ideal volume for anyone itching for a statistical analysis of the American workforce 1950-2050, in all its hues and strata. Arguably Goldberg's love of statistics verges on addiction, but in the pharmacy of authorial dependence, statistics are a pretty benign habit. More distracting, although again less than fatal, is the book's policy-wonk style. Goldberg stands foursquare in the school of tell-`em-what-you're-going-to-tell-`em, tell-`em-, tell-`em-what-you-told-`em, and _Age Works_ sometimes reads like an executive summary that cannot bear to end.

Nonetheless, _Age Works_ is a cogent, serious, undeniably well-supported piece. Even those who resist the proposed solutions (admittedly the book's weakest section) will find the diagnosis difficult to dispute. Like it or not, America's workforce will continue to grow smaller and grayer over the next twenty years. And by the time the population bounces back, corporations' hiring practices will have appealed to all ages - or to none.

I read Age Works with great interest since I have been involved with this problem for 25 years and have recently published a web site exclusively for older workers. It is a free non- profit referral service. Go to seniorjobbank.org

For a decade we've heard a steady chorus of despair about the graying of America--that graying means paying, in the words of one leading credit. Beverly Goldberg, in this carefully researched, tightly argued, fluidly written, and ultimately extremely important book, shows us a different path. She demonstrates that older Americans are a potential boon to the economy and to the bottom line of forward thinking companies. She shows that they are a group that brings considerable experience and great stability to those that will make use of their talents. And she supplies a roadmap for how we can get there--as indivuals, as companies, and as a society. A great read and a great contribution to the growing body of literature about navigating what may well be the great demographic transition in our country's history, the aging of America.

Since the idea of totally retiring is not something that appeals to me, I found the suggestions for building different kinds of flexible work arrangements very thought-provoking. The numbers in the first couple of chapters will help build a compelling case for allowing those who want such arrangements to have them. I also found the stories of those who wanted out fascinating-they are an indictment of companies for the ways they handled downsizing and mergers. It clearly is time for all businesses to rethink their dealings with the people who work for them and to reconsider the value of older workers.

If managers think they have problems attracting and retaining human capital in today's economy, they haven't seen anything yet. Get set for the massive wave of retirements over the next ten (10) years. Beverly Goldberg conveys a compelling picture of why managers need to learn the value of recognizing, retraining, and retaining older workers. Age Works is a wakeup call to those caught up in the wastefulness of our "throw away" society. Older workers are a precious resource that can ill afford to be squandered. Ms. Goldberg demonstrates a better path and presents concrete ways for managers to benefit from the graying of America.

A very clear and practical view of the Balanced Scorecard tool. The text has the right amount of theoretical background and gives very enlightening exemples and advice to those interested in this field. However most of the exemples comes from private sector and non-profit organizations. Little from government and armed-forces.
But in general terms this is an excelent book. I recommend it.

This book is informative and keeps your interest. Lots of case studies and examples. The author keeps the focus on why scorecards should be used and places emphasis on how to keep them useful.

Balanced Scorecards make lots of sense for the For-Profit world for which they were originally developed. What makes this book so good is that they have concentrated on what makes Non-Profits different and how to conceptualize how the BC works in that arena. The book is well written and easy to understand. It is a must for all non-profit execs.

Very helpful approach in developing a measuring tool for monitoring ministry growth and tracking to Vision.

Managers face competing interests in running a company. Their compensation programs are set to try and focus their performance, but if it is only set on revenue the company might end up losing money while paying the top executives big performance bonuses. If it is on net income, they can manipulate the accounting by cutting the heart out of future business, again, damaging the company while getting a big paycheck. If you put them on straight salary, you won't be able to hire most of the best talent. So, what do you do?

The Balanced Scorecard was originally created in the private sector to create management goals that, yes, balance a variety of factors. You use historical and industry data as well as current performance metrics. The interests of shareholders and stakeholders are also balanced in some way, as are any other combination of factors that can help managers get a better picture of what matters to the success of the company and the benefit of its owners, its employees, and its stakeholders.

This book takes this tool and shows you how to adapt it to public sector entities and nonprofit agencies. Paul Niven draws on his years of experience and shows you how to tweak the model and use it to increase your organization's effectiveness. He also takes us through the success story of Charlotte, North Carolina.

If you are interested in this model and are a governmental agency or a nonprofit organization, this is a fine resource.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

For any non profit seeking to raise the visibility of its organization, we at the Giving Circles Network recommend that you read this book. It's all about branding and what you're saying to the world. If you are interested in gaining the attention of donors, including of Giving Circles, definitely a must read! Even if you are part of a Giving Circle, it is a great resource.

What impression are you making to your existing and potential donors? Want to do find out? Want to do more? Check out the book.

Far too often the basic "branding" discussion at the executive and board level quickly becomes stuck because few can agree what "branding" is and whether branding even applies to a non-profit or NGO. Some people ("purists") in non-profits have the illogical and counter-productive stance that anything and any term used in the commercial marketplace is not appropriate for a non-profit. Larry Checco does a wonderful job of defining and making "branding" approachable and understandable for staff, executives and directors. He makes it a natural, logical process that everyone will "buy into" and implement.
I've been a director of many non-profits and chief executive of two -- I wish I'd had Larry's book to help when I was updating and focusing their branding (logo, mission statement, appeals, etc.).
I recently wrote a book for which I sought out experts on various aspects of marketing, and interviewed Larry because of his expertise in positioning/branding. He's a 5-star guy in my opinion!
- Bruce Batchelor, author of Book Marketing De-Mystified Book Marketing De-Mystified: Enjoy Discovering the Optimal Way to Sell Your Self-Published Book, Practical advice from the inventor of print-on-demand (POD) publishing

Read Larry's book--loved it! I plan to order 20 copies for executive staff and board members as we head into a major rebranding campaign.
Karen Rayer, Director of Communications, IBS-STL U.S.

right on time, in good shape, and the book itself was very interesting and helpful.

Great book! In this era of huge advertising budgets and mega marketing campaigns this book presents concrete steps that small non-profits can afford to do. Very helpful and can be put into practice immediately. Highly recommend.

The book contains good overview information and good sample cases. The sample for future CRT sections seem to disconnect from the current CRT. This is very strange. Overall is good.

"Breaking the Constraints to World-Class Performance" "Can this book really tell me how to do that, Man that would be great. Well yes I believe it does.

So what is stopping your company from getting better? Do you know? The body of knowledge called the Theory of Constraints says there is usually only one constraint stopping you from making progress toward your goal, maybe two. Well, if you want a way of finding out what it is, it is in this book. But more can be done than just finding it. This book will teach you how to eliminate or manage the constraint to your advantage.

This book explains in general and in specifics how to change. You must answer, what to change, what to change to, and How to cause the change. These are the beginning thoughts. But think of it if you knew the answers to these questions.

If you want to learn HOW to do Theory of Constraints, no matter what level of experience you may be, this book is a must have. It is one of the most valuable resources on TOC that exists. It shows you step by step how to do things and also why they work. It is easy to use; Mr. Dettmer has a remarkable talent for clarity

How long do you stay on top as a world-class performer if you are just sitting back enjoying it. Not very long these days. This book is about making dramatic improvements with simple solutions. But it is more correct to say it's about a continual improvement process. I recommend you read this book and give it strong consideration. You just may find a Gem for your company, a whole new culture of winning.

The short and sweet is that I have read many books on TOC and this is at the TOP of the heap. It covers the whole range and makes for one stop shopping.

As someone who read the entire series of Goldratt's books and as someone who has been practicing TOC in project management for a few years, I rate this book '5 stars' only because six is not an option.

Step-by-step and in a didactic manner, Mr. Dettmer takes the reader into the world of TOC. If you read Goldratt's books and left with the test but without the 'know how' then this is the book for you.

Mr. Dettmer explains the basic building blocks and the terminology of the 'Thinking Process Toolkit' and he then, step by step, explains the 'how'.

How to build a Current Reality Tree - The tool for understanding the one core problem (few root causes) preventing your organization from achieving its goal.

How to discover and solve conflicts that cause your company to stagnate.

How to systematically verify that the solution you want to apply will actually lead to the desired effects, without causing other adverse ones.

How to systematically understand what conditions should be fulfilled in order to reach the company's goal, and how to build a 'winning plan' to achieve the goal.

I also read the first book of Mr. Dettmer on the subject (Goldratt's Theory Of Constraints) and I liked this one better.

At last, I think that every executive who wants to do something beneficial to his company should get this book.

Tip: Read Appendix D first and then go back to page one.

Contains an step by step general methodology for analizing problems by identifing the chains of causes and effects. It can be applied to solve business problems and analize personal situations. It is a very practical thinking process that you can use in a diversified variety of situations. Really powerfull. The book is very well written with examples of the use of the different tools of analysis: the current reality tree, the future reality tree, the conflict resolution diagram, the negative branch, the prerequisite tree and the transition tree.

Refreshing perpective about the non profit world. A truly global book. I enjoyed very much!

Imagine your fundraising abilities as a human toolkit: thoughts, beliefs, skills, experience, creativity, and intelligences. Now imagine that someone offered you a foolproof book to completely enhance your toolkit and revolutionize your thinking by combining the use of your tools in new and unexpected ways to expand your creativity and its results exponentially. Would you buy it for $28.00?

Bernard Ross and Clare Segal, co-directors of THE MANAGEMENT CENTRE (=MC) in the United Kingdom, offer just such an enhancement in Breakthrough Thinking for Nonprofit Organizations: Creative Strategies for Extraordinary Results (Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 2002) with their commitment "to inspire managers and board member managers in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to believe they can achieve extraordinary results, and to give practical strategies and techniques for achieving such results."

Leonardo da Vinci wrote: "Small rooms discipline the mind. Large rooms distract it." Drawing upon their extensive experience in working with nonprofits in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, and South America, Ross and Segal animate their strategies with persuasive examples that not only articulate the process of "re-tooling" outmoded ways of thinking, they also provide working examples of how different organizations have applied these techniques in order to achieve astonishing results. The discipline they teach is the "small room" eurekas of breakthrough thinking by making learning more creative, more collaborative, and more fun.

Is breakthrough thinking magic? Is it only for gifted individuals? Ross and Segal don't think so: "The lesson from our experience is that many breakthroughs-even if they are apparently from out in left field-are often the result of simple hard work and simple rules applied consistently and methodically...you need to create a culture and business structure that strongly reinforces innovation as well as creativity."

This joy of this book is that it outlines in clear, applicable language how different people are creative in different ways, how to stimulate personal and organizational creativity by simply challenging habits, attitudes, environments and work roles, and why innovation plays a crucial role in turning creative thinking into long-term organizational results. Refreshingly, Ross and Segal's practical strategies are easy to understand, enjoyable to read, and actually do work once you give them a try:

· Second Wave Thinking anticipates organizational decay by restructuring resources in advance of predictable future change and the inevitable decline in results

· Kaizen and Horshin Planning helps you to differentiate between programs that will benefit from incremental growth and programs that will support sudden, exponential growth to create new heights of sustainable development

· Mind Tiles allow you to create a radically new concept simply by building on the combination of two existing concepts

· Gardner's Seven Intelligences conceptualizes individual strengths and weaknesses as being related to physical/kinetic, logical/mathematical, spatial/visual, linguistic, creative/musical, emotional/interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences

· The Learning Cycle relates how individuals and organizations go through a common process of reflection, theorizing, planning, and action before change is possible and how each of these different learning styles needs to change in order to accomplish its own breakthrough

· Creative Mindmapping organically links strategies or issues through creative planning that helps isolate new ideas and opportunities for growth

· The Matrix Analysis helps position your organization against key competitors to assess its direction and the potential fate of its programs

· The Ladder of Implication demonstrates how the same information can be interpreted by different mind-sets to reach different conclusions and strategies

· Reframing is a simple and useful technique for taking a negative mind-sets and restructuring their positive attributes and potential

· The Five C's teaches you how to deal with champions, chasers, converts, challengers, and changephobics in the workplace when your organization undergoes transformational change

Not all of these ideas are new and not all of them will apply to any one individual or organization. But if reading this book gives you one breakthrough technique that leads you to that one amazing idea that transforms your job, your organization, or even your life, then your investment will prove immeasurable.

Throughout their presentation, Ross and Segal talk candidly about both their successes and failures. In fact, they differentiate between failing because of poor ideas and failing because of poor performance. They give a number of constructive tips on how to communicate openly within organizations in ways that allows individuals the freedom to disagree without causing personal recrimination.

My favorite tips are their suggestions to hold "sacred cow barbecues," during which participants are encouraged to articulate the "unthinkable thoughts" about an organization's most cherished beliefs which can then be either "saved or cooked," and invoking "champagne rules" for private group discussions on difficult topics so that anyone can feel free to say what they think, personal attacks are discouraged, and nothing is repeated or recorded outside the group's discussion except by agreement.

Nonprofit organizations face the constant challenge of accelerating rates of change, demand for new services, and competition for scarce donor resources. The key for any organization in meeting these challenges it to answer the following questions:

· Do we know what our organization's mission is and where it needs to go in the future?
· Do our programs and our practices measure up to the needs we serve and the resources we expend?
· Are we, both individually and organizationally, as creative and cooperative as we need to be in order to ensure that our planning can achieve breakthrough results?

Only a poor workman blames his tools. In an age of accelerating change and increasing competition for scare resources, true breakthrough results can only be achieved if we look inwardly at our skills and outwardly at our organizations in new and creative ways. You don't have to be an expert to achieve transformational results: you only have to aim higher, think better, and work smarter.

If you are comfortable with your human toolkit, you can write your own book. If not, buy this one.

Good book. I liked it! It was easy to read. Each chapter had a summary section so I could read the summaries before tackling the book as a whole. If you are managing a not-for-profit, or sitting as a board member to a nonprofit, and you believe your nonprofit could be doing things better, then consider getting a copy of this book and give it a read.

Back in July I read and reviewed "Managing Business Change for Dummies," by Beth Evard (ISBN: 0764553321), which focused on how managers successfully deal with employees who resist change in an organization. This book on the other hand focuses on how YOU, the manager, must deal with YOUR resistance to change so you can improve your organization's performance in the process.

The author lists nine "change drivers:"

1. New Mission or Vision
2. Speed of Business
3. Cost Reduction
4. Service Failure
5. New Technology
6. Change in Public Perception
7. Change in Priorities
8. Competition for Funds and Resources
9. Change in Technology

When your organization is hit by one or more of the above events you are going to have to implement change at your organization. This book provides examples of best practices as to how to do this. Also, the authors include exercises from their workshops on this subject. Both the best practices and exercises are very helpful to help us grasp what the authors are talking about.

If you are like me you can examine the Table of Contents for this book online and after doing so you will probably say: Wow, what is this book really about. The chapter titles are kind of weak is what I'm really trying to say. It's the chapter summaries, best practices examples, and exercises that make the book a worthwhile investment of your time.

I would have liked the book much better if the authors had organized it so it did not feel like just another book put together by a management consulting group. Yeah, it felt like one of "those" to me. And after you read 2 of them, they all start to sound the same. But since this book is informative, well written, and not too long I'm inclined to give it 5 stars.

Imagine your fundraising abilities as a human toolkit: thoughts, beliefs, skills, experience, creativity, and intelligences. Now imagine that someone offered you a foolproof book to completely enhance your toolkit and revolutionize your thinking by combining the use of your tools in new and unexpected ways to expand your creativity and its results exponentially. Would you buy it for $...?

Bernard Ross and Clare Segal, co-directors of THE MANAGEMENT CENTRE (=MC) in the United Kingdom, offer just such an enhancement in Breakthrough Thinking for Nonprofit Organizations: Creative Strategies for Extraordinary Results (Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 2002) with their commitment �to inspire managers and board member managers in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to believe they can achieve extraordinary results, and to give practical strategies and techniques for achieving such results.�

Leonardo da Vinci wrote: �Small rooms discipline the mind. Large rooms distract it.� Drawing upon their extensive experience in working with nonprofits in the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, and South America, Ross and Segal animate their strategies with persuasive examples that not only articulate the process of �re-tooling� outmoded ways of thinking, they also provide working examples of how different organizations have applied these techniques in order to achieve astonishing results. The discipline they teach is the �small room� eurekas of breakthrough thinking by making learning more creative, more collaborative, and more fun.

Is breakthrough thinking magic? Is it only for gifted individuals? Ross and Segal don�t think so: �The lesson from our experience is that many breakthroughs�even if they are apparently from out in left field�are often the result of simple hard work and simple rules applied consistently and methodically�you need to create a culture and business structure that strongly reinforces innovation as well as creativity.�

This joy of this book is that it outlines in clear, applicable language how different people are creative in different ways, how to stimulate personal and organizational creativity by simply challenging habits, attitudes, environments and work roles, and why innovation plays a crucial role in turning creative thinking into long-term organizational results. Refreshingly, Ross and Segal�s practical strategies are easy to understand, enjoyable to read, and actually do work once you give them a try:

· Second Wave Thinking anticipates organizational decay by restructuring resources in advance of predictable future change and the inevitable decline in results

· Kaizen and Horshin Planning helps you to differentiate between programs that will benefit from incremental growth and programs that will support sudden, exponential growth to create new heights of sustainable development

· Mind Tiles allow you to create a radically new concept simply by building on the combination of two existing concepts

· Gardner�s Seven Intelligences conceptualizes individual strengths and weaknesses as being related to physical/kinetic, logical/mathematical, spatial/visual, linguistic, creative/musical, emotional/interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences

· The Learning Cycle relates how individuals and organizations go through a common process of reflection, theorizing, planning, and action before change is possible and how each of these different learning styles needs to change in order to accomplish its own breakthrough

· Creative Mindmapping organically links strategies or issues through creative planning that helps isolate new ideas and opportunities for growth

· The Matrix Analysis helps position your organization against key competitors to assess its direction and the potential fate of its programs

· The Ladder of Implication demonstrates how the same information can be interpreted by different mind-sets to reach different conclusions and strategies

· Reframing is a simple and useful technique for taking a negative mind-sets and restructuring their positive attributes and potential

· The Five C�s teaches you how to deal with champions, chasers, converts, challengers, and changephobics in the workplace when your organization undergoes transformational change

Not all of these ideas are new and not all of them will apply to any one individual or organization. But if reading this book gives you one breakthrough technique that leads you to that one amazing idea that transforms your job, your organization, or even your life, then your investment will prove immeasurable.

Throughout their presentation, Ross and Segal talk candidly about both their successes and failures. In fact, they differentiate between failing because of poor ideas and failing because of poor performance. They give a number of constructive tips on how to communicate openly within organizations in ways that allows individuals the freedom to disagree without causing personal recrimination.

My favorite tips are their suggestions to hold �sacred cow barbecues,� during which participants are encouraged to articulate the �unthinkable thoughts� about an organization�s most cherished beliefs which can then be either �saved or cooked,� and invoking �champagne rules� for private group discussions on difficult topics so that anyone can feel free to say what they think, personal attacks are discouraged, and nothing is repeated or recorded outside the group�s discussion except by agreement.

Nonprofit organizations face the constant challenge of accelerating rates of change, demand for new services, and competition for scarce donor resources. The key for any organization in meeting these challenges it to answer the following questions:

· Do we know what our organization�s mission is and where it needs to go in the future?
· Do our programs and our practices measure up to the needs we serve and the resources we expend?
· Are we, both individually and organizationally, as creative and cooperative as we need to be in order to ensure that our planning can achieve breakthrough results?

Only a poor workman blames his tools. In an age of accelerating change and increasing competition for scare resources, true breakthrough results can only be achieved if we look inwardly at our skills and outwardly at our organizations in new and creative ways. You don�t have to be an expert to achieve transformational results: you only have to aim higher, think better, and work smarter.

If you are comfortable with your human toolkit, you can write your own book. If not, buy this one.

Good performance is no longer enough for nonprofits; nonprofits must set and achieve breakthrough goals. Managers and board members need to think in new and creative ways about how they define and meet the challenges they face and the strategies and techniques required to achieve extraordinary performance in fundraising, service delivery and overall results. Almost all nonprofits are affected to some extent by nine change drivers. There are five internal change drivers: organizations need a new mission or vision or they will run out of steam; the speed of business requires more decisions made faster; rising costs require new ways to deliver service from a distance; high profile service failure may require drastic measures such as clearing out top management to win back public confidence; new technology may make a nonprofit redundant or may offer opportunities to improve ways of doing business. There are also four external drivers of change: changes in public perception may result in being dropped from people's consciousness or require 24/7 availability; rapid public awareness of disasters quickly changes priorities; competition for funds has increased as distinctions between nonprofits, the public sector and the private sector has blurred; technology change can make old solutions redundant. Nonprofits that fail to answer two fundamental questions: where do we want to go? and how do we get there? may find themselves wandering in a fog, not knowing how they got into their current situation and wondering what is the right way to go. The decision to go for breakthrough is a strategic one involving risk and asking questions such as 'what is the worst thing that can happen if breakthrough goes wrong?' and 'how likely is it that the worst thing will happen?' and 'what can we do to minimize the risk of the worst thing happening?' and 'should we have a Plan B to cope with problems?' After appraising the risks and challenges and adopting a strategy you still need to decide on the approach required to encourage the people and innovation needed and the leadership required. Even then you need to ask 'to what extent do the improvements and changes made match up to what is needed?'

Once an organization has decided to transform its performance to have an impact on the need/performance gap or to achieve its potential, plotting the position on a life cycle chart can be very helpful. Organizations decide to change at various points in their life cycle and for different reasons. The challenge with the most common change point - just past the peak - is that the organization has to break out of its comfort zones and one way is to think about a dramatically improved level of performance. To drive that change a vision of the new performance level has to be agreed together with positive and negative drivers to provide pleasure and avoid pain. Two words have proved exceptionally useful in setting new goals - kaizen and horshin - because they describe not only the nature of the goals but the change process. Kaizen is slow, incremental change that leads, over time to significant improvement in performance. After the second world war Japan applied kaizen to a whole range of activities, including their car industry by setting a long-term world class performance goal and breaking it down into small, achievable chunks. Horshin is about sudden, exponential, discontinuous and radical change that leads to dramatically improved performance in a relatively short period of time. This process resulted in Sony's Walkman becoming one of the most widely used personal electronic devices on the planet. It was used by the National Trust in raising $7.5 in 200 days to save Mt. Snowdon in Wales for public use. In practice most organizations need a mixture of both kaizen and horshin as some areas of work need the stability and methodical progress of kaizen while others need the drive, transformation and vision implicit in horshin. An organization could have ten goals as part of a three-year strategic plan of which six might be kaizen and four horshin. Balance is important as you cannot transform everything overnight and you need to focus and emphasize a small number of key areas to transform quickly.

Engaging a horshin goal can be very stimulating such as Kennedy's "This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth" or Fords " My vision is to build a motor car for the great multitude. It will be at so low a price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one". Many nonprofits build on Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" to express mission as an overarching, simple, concrete horshin goal while others are more specific such as "To become a world-class center for research of childhood diseases and to radically reduce their incidence." To achieve breakthrough, language is important as it helps people to shift into a different mindset, distinguish breakthrough goals from ordinary goals and to think creatively about 'how to' as well as 'what'.

The remaining eight chapters of 'Breakthrough Thinking for Nonprofit Organizations' deal with unlocking potential, releasing creativity, creating a smart organization, mapping the possibilities, balancing creativity and innovation, challenging mind sets, driving change and working in a breakthrough organization. It is difficult to imagine than anyone connected with a nonprofit could not profit from this book.