Organizations Books

The story of humanity helping humanity - of a social transformation that, should we allow ourselves to drop our ego, should be more prevalent in our world today.

MANNA is more than merely a good read to be put on a shelf when finished. The people in MANNA stay with you, the lessons impact you in the deepest kind of way, and the goodness invigorates and motivates you. It leaves you feeling things that you can't describe which drove me to give it to others so that they can taste its goodness, too. I gave the book to my father (CEO of Family Services in Erie, PA) and he loved it so much he is giving it to his staff (over 100 in total) and his board because he felt it exemplified so much of what he hopes his organization will grow to model in terms of perseverance and sincerity of service.

I am a former graduate student of Dr. Smith's and loved reading his book, as it reminded me of the energy and inspiration he brought to each and every lecture he did for our class. The book inspires one to do good things, and more importantly makes one feel like doing amazing things is possible. The style of the book makes the reader feel like the auther respects him/her, and approaches the many subject matters presented within its pages gently, but also honestly. I highly recommend it.

Every so often, a book comes along that changes your perspective forever after. Manna is one of those. I will never again think of AIDS or homelessness in the same way.

Not only was Manna moving and inspirational, it also was so exquisitely written that I found myself reading it like poetry--in small doses, paragraphs at a time--so that I could absorb its beauty and meaning.

The following incident is illustrative of its impact: One afternoon, as I sat reading Manna at a friend's home, I was so taken by one of the excerpts that I read it aloud to him. His eyes filled with tears. A moment later, coming across another such excerpt, I did the same. His reaction was the same. This was repeated several more times, until we both realized that this was the case with every word, every sentence, every paragraph. He decided to get his own copy.

Indeed, everyone should have a copy to read, to ponder, to cherish.

This is a really helpful book - very much worth the $21.75 price.

The physical book itself is unimpressive (wire bound, etc), but it's what inside that really counts here. We use many of the helpful suggestions regularly. We came across it somewhat by accident, but we're sure glad we did.

There is a lot covered here. In fact, most everything you need to run, or improve a Summer Program....or any non-profit or Child Care program. I think it's all in the way you use it's many helpful hints - those that just read it and toss it aside will gain nothing but $21.75 less in their bank account. But, use the many suggestions (we love the helpful hints inside!) for improvement and you'll have a better program as a result.

If I knew what was in here before we bought it, we'd have paid $121.75 for it.

Ms. Stanco, if you ever read these comments - thank you from all of us at Rio Rancho Public Schools outside of Albuquerque!

I have both of Ms. Stanco's books and find each one to be terrific. Marketing Madness! The Essential Marketing ToolBook for Summer Programs is a must have for any educator/administrator. This book is an excellent resource and guide and an invaluable tool to assist you in marketing your summer program. I highly recommend it!

Just like her book Programming Madness, Marketing Madness is a quick and easy read with lots of helpful information. It takes the guess work out of what needs to be done when trying to market a summer program.

We own both of Ms. Stanco's books....Marketing and Programming Madness.

There are a lot of great examples of real world marketing and programming Summer Programs...just plug in and use if you need.

Text is big, and while it's not a long book, it's packed solid with good information. It's also an easy read - it can take you and hour if you skim thru it, or days if you try to gather all the wondeful details within.

This is a real find for anyone that has a Summer Camp or related situation.

I had lunch with Van Reid in August of 2001. He was as fun to talk to as his books are to read! I love the humor, the insight, the intrigue and the adventures of the Moosepath League! I agree that this installment is not as "heavy" as Daniel Plainway (at least to all but Ephram, Eagleton,and Thump!) but all the other elements are present. I laughed out loud several times while flying, which caused my fellow passengers to wonder about me, I am sure. Moxie!

How could I have missed this series? I enjoy stories set in this period because my own father was born in 1890; in Kentucky. He was a small-town boy, following the work to Ohio where he and several of his brothers settled.

I can picture him being a member of such a club as the Moosepath League and having small adventures such as author Reid depicts in this series of books. My father was not bumbling like most of these characters, but he was witty and funny and would no doubt have led them on even more exciting adventures.

Reid paints a vivid picture of a small town of the late 80s ... filled with characters who would make entertaining neighbors. They'd certainly liven up any neighborhood with their quaint, old-fashioned, yet quirky fun.

It's obvious this is a satire, and I love satire myself. (I discovered these books because on Amazon.com they were placed beside one of the books I wrote: THE TOONIES INVADE SILICON VALLEY. While the TOONIES does not disparage our lovely Valley in anyway, I certainly delighted in poking a bit of fun at our techie culture ... tongue-in-cheek humor, of course ... as Mr. Reid does in these books.)

Fun reads! Enjoy all four.

For excellent quality, humor, detailed plots, and kind, likeable characters, you can't beat Van Reid's "Moosepath League" novels. The latest, "Mrs. Roberto", seems to me to be a little lighter in tone than "Molly Peer" or "Daniel Plainway", but is still immensely involving and entertaining. This kind of writing just cannot be found anywhere else today. If you are fond of the classics or nineteenth century American literature, you will love Van Reid.

The willing adventurers of the Moosepath League of Victorian Portland, Maine, have lost none of their good-natured innocence in this fourth adventure, despite entanglements with tavern keepers, loose women, pickpockets, hoboes and worse. Indeed, Van Reid's droll storytelling depends upon it.

Misdirection and misunderstanding form the strong foundation of the meandering and digressive missions of the League's six members, who gather at the Shipswood Restaurant in the spring of 1897 for one of their regular dinners. They raise their water glasses (prohibition has been in effect in Maine for 46 years) to their only female member, Miss Phileda McCannon, who's making a journey to settle her deceased aunt's affairs. Mr. Tobias Walton, their chairman and the oldest at 48, is a bit subdued on this occasion as Phileda has not given an answer to his proposal of marriage.

Joseph Thump, Christopher Eagleton and Matthew Ephram are still in a small state of excitement after nearly running down a tavern keeper named Sparks who could have been Thump's double, but for his workingman's clothing and his high-pitched voice. The youngest member, Walton's faithful assistant Sundry Moss, 23, is the only one who dares to hazard that the crowd of ruffians backing away from the near-accident were pursuing Sparks rather than attempting his rescue.

The trio of Thump, Eagleton and Ephram have not seen the last of Sparks. Walking home through an unfamiliar and doubtful part of town, Thump happens to save a policeman from certain death-by-falling-piano, thereby incurring Mrs. Sparks' heartfelt gratitude for preserving her cousin, the perpetrator, from a murder charge.

This might again have been the end of it, but the trio, inspired by an incident in a play, determine that the lovely balloon ascensionist, Mrs. Roberto, must be in need of rescuing. Their mission leads them to a house of ill-repute (not that they ever realize where they are) and a run-in with the gang that's after Sparks, from which they escape thanks to Sparks' youngest son and his urchin friend who lead them over Portland's slippery rooftops. Sparks' network of less-than-respectable relatives continues to aid the trio as they seek Mrs. Roberto from Bangor to Dresden Mills, taking up with a large party of hoboes along the way.

Meanwhile, Moss, attempting to distract his employer, has taken Walton to visit his uncle in Norridgewock, though they never make it quite that far. The train is delayed in Bowdoinham where Walton is pressed to come to the aid of a glum prize pig. Perplexed by the locals' assumption of his expertise in porcine matters (the reader has been let-in on the misunderstanding), but as willing and easy-going as ever, Walton embarks on a visit to the Ferns, unhappy owners of the depressed pig, where Moss, a farmer's son and a bit more worldly than his fellow Moosepathians, soon susses the problem.

With digressions for the furtherance of romance and good acquaintance, Reid piles misunderstandings upon misunderstandings, constructing a hilarious journey through the towns and by-ways of Maine and the social strata of its best inhabitants. It all culminates in a spectacular and chaotic natural disaster, reuniting the League and necessitating numerous rescues and confusion and some wonderfully vivid writing.

Lots of local color and history round out the adventure. Reid's prose is playful, witty and dry, as well as eloquent and visual. The contrast between the transparent innocence of the steadfastly clueless trio and the sharp wits of Sundry Moss (think young George Burns and Gracie Allen) is a pleasure, further enhanced by the ready-for-anything calm of Toby Walton. Reid (whose Maine roots go back more than two centuries) leaves us with a tantalizing hint of the next to come in the League's adventures. These books are for anyone who enjoys wit and good-natured storytelling in the Dickensian tradition.

If you want a lot of information about the navy then this is the perfect book for you. If you don't want to read a large book with a lot of information then don't waste your money and look for the info on the internet instead (but you won't get as much detail and accurate as this book).

This product is exactly what I was looking for. It was especially informative as to how tossing the hat at graduation started.Naval Ceremonies, Customs, and Traditions, Sixth Edition

This book is clearly inteded as a manual for naval officers. I don't doubt that it would come in useful. It's a true treasure trove of information concerning US Navy custom and traditions. But the best part is the fact that it goes extensively into the backgrounds of many of the traditions and customs the Navy is steeped in. It is a scholorly book on history as much as it is about custom and tradition.

As a person who's not in the navy and just has an interest in it's history, this book was extremely entertaining and informative. If you're interested in such things, this book is defiantely worth a look.

This is an excellent source of knowledge with a wealth of information. If you want to know about the origins of Naval terms and how certain Naval traditions came about (ie..The Crossing of the Equator, Change of Command ceromonies) this book explains most of it. My only complaint is that it revolves around the officer community too much. I think it would have helped to add some more enlisted info too! So I highly reccomend this book! Fair Winds and Following Seas!

I read this book of revelations from ~1950 and I humbly profess that the insights are true to this minute at my job. I am preparing a training session inspired by the fundamental analysis that Peter Drucker conceived for the intrinsic economic, social and political dimensions of enterprises.

I delayed reading his early works thinking that they would be excellently written, but outdated. How wrong can I be? If you believe in the noble crusade of management "sheparding the scarce resources of society", then you will have every book he ever wrote.

I read the Arabic translation 20 years ago. I've trained as an engineer. Meanwhile, reading on political economy was one of my best interests. This book made the ultimate connection: The Concept of Efficiency. Since then I began to see the world in a very different way. The bigger the corporation, the more efficient it is, and the more beneficent. That's it. Corporation is GOD (It was the mistake of Microsoft to behave as an aggressive small business!). Corporation is the most likely patron of science and technology. It's simply the engine for evolution in modern civilization. Drucker's idea that corporations are made to serve not to profit is daring, sometimes hard to conceive, but in core... it's brilliant!

I read the Arabic translation 20 years ago. I've trained as an engineer. Meanwhile, reading on political economy was one of my best interests. This book made the ultimate connection: The Concept of Efficiency. Since then I began to see the world in a very different way. The bigger the corporation, the more efficient it is, and the more beneficent. That's it. Corporation is GOD (It was the mistake of Microsoft to behave as an aggressive small business!). Corporation is the most likely patron of science and technology. It's simply the engine for evolution in modern civilization. Drucker's idea that corporations are made to serve not to profit is daring, sometimes hard to conceive, but in core... it's brilliant!

I read the Arabic translation 20 years ago. I've trained as an engineer. Meanwhile, reading on political economy was one of my best interests. This book made the ultimate connection: The Concept of Efficiency. Since then I began to see the world in a very different way. The bigger the corporation, the more efficient it is, and the more beneficent. That's it. Corporation is GOD (It was the mistake of Microsoft to behave as an aggressive small business!). Corporation is the most likely patron of science and technology. It's simply the engine for evolution in modern civilization. Drucker's idea that corporations are made to serve not to profit is daring, sometimes hard to conceive, but in core... it's brilliant!

This is a must-have book for nonprofit senior staffs as well as for volunteer board members who aspire to leadership and stewardship of the organizations they serve. It definitely lives up to the promise of the assertion on the book jacket that the authors, "...who collectively have more than 70 years of experience as chief executives, board members, and facilitators in the training of more than 20,000 board members in 20 countries..."

The book is comprised of 37 short chapters (typically 3-6 pages each) in five sections, designed to address all aspects of board service and board/staff issues. Each chapter provides facts, opinions, tools, and a few "suggested action steps" to help a board address the issue or situation presented in the chapter.

In general, the authors reference John Carver as a good resource for the theory and practice of nonprofit governance, but they don't make Carver the precise and proscriptive recipe that some adherents do. They admit the possibility that other techniques and structures can work well for certain organizations, while "sticking to their guns" in presenting their experiences and insights as having inherent value for most nonprofits.

I was especially impressed by the distinction made between the role of the board and the role of board members. Many policy governance disputes stem from a misunderstanding that, somehow, all board members should have the same responsibilities and be treated interchangeably.

I would have liked to see a clearer treatment of the issue of board diversity; interestingly, the authors seem to agree, admitting that it's a very difficult subject to address. Many board "diversity" programs focus on narrowly-defined "diversity" and run the danger of leading to "tokenism," according to the authors.

The charts and checklists that supplement the text are simple and effective. They're easy for readers to re-create and use in their own organizations.

The book even admits of the possibility that nonprofits can (and sometimes should) dissolve and disband, and provides strategies for helping board, staff, and community understand, accept, and even support the natural cycle of life as it applies to organizations. It's an important message and not a negative one.

Although originally published in December, 1997, it has already had three printings as of August, 1999. With 15 million volunteer board members in the U.S. alone, the publishers could run through many more printings.

Drawing on two lifetimes of experience, Andringa and Engstrom have addressed a broad array of crucial issues. I enjoyed the fact that it was long enough to deal throughly with dozens of key issues and yet moved quickly from topic to topic. I had several, "I wish I'd thought of that" moments when Andringa and Engstrom crystallized a thought I'd been rolling around in the foggy recesses of my mind.

CEO's of Non-Profits should take special note of the practical suggestions in chapters 5, 14, 19, 21 & 26. Board members who are serious about making a contribution will benefit greatly from chapters 1, 4, 5, 7, 16, 22, 28 & 34.

The book reads quickly and can be completed in one sitting but serves best as a reference with short practical responses to frequently asked questions.

Engstrom has produced many excellent works but I hope we will see more from Andringa as well.

The book is organized with very straightforward chapters with suggested action steps. The combination of discussion and practical application makes the book the one reference book needed for anyone working with nonprofits.
Excellence in governance can be achived by following this book. Excellence in government results in the most efficient use of staff and financial resources in fullfillment of the mission of a nonprofit.

Absolutely, without exception, this should be required reading for both new and experienced board members and senior management. Andringa and Engstrom, clearly, are not theoretical "ivory tower" authors. They've been in the trenches with the rest of us--and offer sound, practical counsel. It's a helpful book to give to new board members as part of their board orientation. Certainly every board chair needs one. Well worth the price. Board meetings will get done earlier if you take just 10% of the authors' advice!

This book offers one-stop shopping for the nonprofit organization in need of money, political influence, credibility, free labor and all of the other benefits that members can bring. Not only does the book provide abundant information on recruiting members, it also offers, free and online, copies of forms and worksheets you can use to help advance your organization's membership campaign. It begins at the beginning, explaining what membership is. This may sound self-evident, but the very definition of membership has some surprising twists. This book will save you from making some very obvious mistakes - such as failing to convert people who contact you into members. It's a straightforward, no-nonsense workbook with excellent samples and examples. If you are an executive, board member, staffer or volunteer at a nonprofit, we offer its congratulations: at last, here's the right book for you.

In today's tough economic times, just about every non-profit needs help raising money. Members are one of the best sources of long-term funding and support for non-profits and this book tells all. A fantasic how-to-do-it guide to setting up and running a membership program. Lots of examples, worksheets, and - my favorite - practical tips and samples of results-producing membership letters. You can literally give this book to the person in charge of membership and they will know exactly what to do. Just about every non-profit has lots of room for improvment in the membership area. This book is packed with tips and advice from THE leader in membership development and fund raising, Ellis Robinson. You will not find a more passionate person to help your non-profit do a better job and be more successful.

This book gets my highest praise for putting a lot of valuable information into one easy to navigate source. My book is marked up with highlighter and sticky notes! Although I don't work for an "environmental" nonprofit, I found that the insight and experience easily translates into my field (long term care for the elderly). Very, very good. I highly recommend to all development/fundraising professionals and volunteers.

Ellis Robinson has helped hundreds of non-profits increase their memberships, both as a trainer and an employee. She's reached almost mythical status for building the membership of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy from 400 to 60,000 in three years. Now she shares her secrets in this easy-to-use guide. Whether you're a new community non-profit or an established national organization, The Nonprofit Membership Toolkit will give you a wealth of information to boost your ranks--especially important in this time of diminishing foundation grants. Ellis doesn't just give you the techniques. She also underscores the importance of developing your organization so that new members will want to renew their support. Her methods are well-rooted in community organizing, with emphasis on one-on-one recruitment, board involvement, and member participation. However, what really sets this book apart from other fundraising books is its use of materials from non-profit groups. Ellis has collected fundraising letters, brochures, surveys, membership plans, etc. from organizations in every corner of the country and presents the cream of the crop as models for your own use. The book is laid out well, with each chapter focusing on one aspect of membership development. As a professional fundraiser, I turn to The Nonprofit Membership Toolkit frequently to answer questions, inspire me to write yet another fundraising letter, or give me new ideas to try. I recommend The Nonprofit Membership Toolkit wholeheartedly to anyone involved with a non-profit organization.

I highly recommend this book for anyone considering a merger in the non-profit world. It is full of specific tools that help you think through the process. I appreciate the concrete steps presented in a simple, straight-forward fashion.

This is a fine reference! It asks the hard questions, and the workbook exercises are designed to help everyone over the tough answers. Readable, practical, most helpful.

"Don't merge without it!"

This book is invaluable when your nonprofit is going through any form of strategic restructuing, up to and including mergers. As someone who has participated in nonprofit merger negotiations--both as a consultant and a board member representing a nonprofit--I believe this book can make the difference between success and failure.

Not only does David La Piana talk the talk in this book, he has also walked the walk. As an Executive Director of a nonprofit for many years--and having successfully led that organization through several mergers--La Piana understands the realities facing nonprofit managers and board members. His approach to strategic restructuring is pragmatic, and has enabled his consulting firm to become THE experts on nonprofit mergers in the country.

Even if you're just thinking about restructuring your nonprofit, buy this book!! You will save your nonprofit time, money, and energy, as well as protect your own sanity during the process.

Shawn Reifsteck (Masters in Nonprofit Administration)
CEO, Philanthropy Associates

I wrote this book because there was no other resource available to nonprofit leaders that provided a thorough, easily understandable road map to negotiating and executing a merger. As both an executive and a consultant I have been involved with more than 60 nonprofit mergers and have learned what works and what does not in these difficult, emotional undertakings. This workbook provides all the tools you need: decision trees, worksheets, and special tips, to make your merger work. Check it out!

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

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

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

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

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

Dr. Marylouise Fennell, Hospital Board Member

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

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

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

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

School systems should do likewise.

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

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

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

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


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


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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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