Economics Books

As a seasoned professional, I found myself laughing, nodding and occasionally giving myself a "V8" thump on the forehead. Had I mastered instincts number 14 and 15, starting over at age 51 would have been a much smoother transition. Confessions should be required reading for every rising star. Great insight!

This is an excellent read for the recent college grad or anyone in need of a jump start. The instincts are easy to implement and live by. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to the follow up.

This book is easy to read and full of good advice on how to advance your career, but also good advice for life in general. The relationship between the authors keeps the book upbeat.

Good book to share with fellow co-workers.

This book has a lot of practical advice. I have already put one idea to work. It gives insight on employee and customer relations that would be valuable to anyone. It is easy to read and would be a good addition to anyone's business library.

This is a brillant "how to succeed" manual that illustrates how one can be witty, passionate and yes, respectfull while climbing to the top! Emotional intelligence is the foundation of Moore's and Aylward's leadership styles, lessons that all executives should take to heart. Two lessons learned that have stayed with me: Don't stop looking for a corporate soul mate and put away the blackberry while on the hunt. Bravo!

I just bought this book and already have learned so much i cant put it down.
Lots of great advice from an expert. I already have checked out the web site she recommends and hope to get started as a freelance proofreader soon.

It sounds corny, but this book made me believe in myself as an aspiring copyeditor. The chapters on freelancing are especially helpful for someone with no experience and no idea how to break into the industry. This is the book I had been looking for!

easy to read and great info on editing and how it can work for me and my career. enjoyed learning from it...highly recommend it.

I've been doing some freelance proofreading work, but I didn't know how much I still had to learn until reading this book! Sue Gilad has a lot of information: everything from grammar rules and spelling mistakes to the differences between copyediting and proofreading (glad SOMEONE could finally pinpoint the differences!). This book is clearly written and a wonderful resouce. The only thing I think it could have improved upon was the secion for finding freelance jobs. In Gilad's online book Paid to Proofread (paidtoproofread[dot]com), she offers more in-depth suggestions about creating a resume from zilch, and also ofers more in depth info about approaching editors. On the other hand, the Dummies book contains way more information about resources and grammar. All in all, this is the most comprehensive and clearly written book on proofreading I've read.

This book is easy-to-read, straightforward, and so informative. I've been able to build my at-home business as a freelance proofreader much more quickly than I anticipated; all thanks to this invaluable resource! Learning the ins and outs of copyediting and proofreading is made simple, quick, and fun.

I have been in the consulting business for the past 20 years. This book proved itself by consolidating many business concepts and ideas.

This book is very informative. It contains invaluable Knowledge on a variety of tpoics such as Security clearances, apostille, etc. These topics are rarely seen discussed in this level of detail.

Dr. Uchil writes in compact, easy to digest chapters about the broad sweep of ideas necessary to successfully navigate the corporate world. "Essential Information" can be viewed as vital intelligence to get your plans lined up with your goals, especially for those retiring from/leaving one career and seeking an exciting and radically different one in the corporate marketplace. I have used this candid guide to chart my own course and, when discussing life plans with friends, his words often come to mind. I have already recommended this book to several friends on the verge of major career decisions.

Dr Uchil's Survival handbook is an incredible tool to bring us back to the basics of navigating the corporate world. As a Healthcare Project Director in the Consulting arm of a Multi-Billion dollar software and services company, it is always helpful to be reminded of the basics and the importance of influencing others in order to survive in a large corporation.

Navigating the corporate world and creating the necessary environment allows individuals the ability to get things done and is crucial to individual and corporate sucess.

Key areas of Interest for me were the chapters on Consulting, Resumes(reviewing), Proper business etiquette, Human Resource matters, and most importantly the Balance of work demands and family. With 4 kids ages 9-16, it is always difficult to balance Work vs. home needs and still feel sucessfull.

Highly recommend reading this book and getting back to basics.

Dr. Uchil's book is an excellent primer on the culture and nuances of the corporate world. This book should be recommended reading for all those new to the corporate eco-system as Dr. Uchil's observations provides insightful tips and techniques to successfully navigate the corporate world. I highly recommend this book as both a guide to those new to large corporations as well as useful reference for the seasoned professional--an outstanding read.

The content is great and very applicable... touches on critical communication skills including seeing other points of view (facts and feelings) in order to influence to action.

This book is not only excellent in its content, readability, and usefulness, it is outstanding in helping any of us become better communicators in business and in our personal lives. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to make a difference in their workplace, their communities, and in their personal lives.

There was Something about the Title of the book Cracking the Code to Leadership that got my attention...great title.

After reading this book I had wished this book was available years ago.
It seems like the one thing that people are looking for in their business and personal life is better communication..more so with today's use of technology..
Effective communication is more important now then ever before
The Par skills are the key to personal and professional success

"Cracking the Code to Leadership is a must read.

Patrick Malone and his team wrote an easy-to-read book that is packed with nuggets of time-tested wisdom. You will want to read it and keep it handy for constant reference.

Cracking the Code to LeadershipThe PAR system described in "Cracking the Code to Leadership" is the most successful method of interpersonal relationship building that I have seen in my 37 years in business. We initially trained our commercial team in the PAR process in the early 90's and subsequently had the most profitable growth period for my business unit. This book does a wonderful job in providing an easy to follow roadmap with real world examples. It should be on everyone's reading list who leads or interacts daily with people.

This book is packed with ideas on winning back customers. It takes CRM to a new level. The authors have a great understanding of what motivates the customers' decisions.

We have utilized Customer Winback as a tool in taking our organization to the next level of service recovery. As a healthcare organization renowned for service excellence, we found that this book assisted us in developing new approaches through the case studies and examples offered by the authors. The information provided is clear, straightforward and easy to translate to any industry. It is refreshing to read a book that focuses of the value of keeping existing customers rather than constant recruitment of new customers. I would highly recommend Customer Winback.

This book deals with the often neglected area of bringing customers back once you have lost them. Griffin and Lowenstein give the reader numerouse specific strategies and tools for winning back lost customers, saving customer before they defect and "making your company defection-proof."

As I have stated in my review for "The Journal of Consumer Marketing",each chapter summarizes the points succinctly in a method that allows the reader to digest the material for long-term memory.

This book is right for people who have,had, or hope to have customers. It is one of the most comprehensive books on getting,keeping and getting back customers that I have encountered. It is for people who teach marketing and for people who do marketing.

Customer Winback has great information and wonderful examples (presented in depth) of what companies can do to address a much-neglected area of customer service--winning back lost customers. It shows how this concept is just as important as emphasizing customer loyalty and customer satisfaction in not only maintaining customers, but keeping them delighted and coming back to buy more.

It is very well organized, well-written and covers a wide range of material. It also gives you many ideas to implement at your own company. Just one chapter provides you with more substance than many entire books. This is an excellent customer service book and a must for customer service managers. I recommend it highly.

Customer Winback has great information and wonderful examples (presented in depth) of what companies can do to address a much-neglected area of customer service--winning back lost customers. It shows how this concept is just as important as emphasizing customer loyalty and customer satisfaction in not only maintaining customers, but keeping them delighted and coming back to buy more.

It is very well organized, well-written and covers a wide range of material. It also gives you many ideas to implement at your own company. Just one chapter provides you with more substance than many entire books. This is an excellent customer service book and a must for customer service managers. I recommend it highly.

All of the office politics, dishonesty and clawing that was going on around me was stressing me out. I was about to join in reluctantly for fear of being left in the dust. This book was a real eye opener and has helped me deal with what I have learned to be a universal corporate problem (which explains a lot about why corporate America is continuously critisized). If everyone is clawing their way to the top, who is actually working and getting the job done? Thanks to this book's funny approach to dealing with office politics, I am and I hope it will not go un-noticed.

This book covered some of the most interesting topics of real human life in the workplace, and not only in the United States. It also applies in places like Spain, where I'm from. Jean's experience in dealing with all these subjects makes the book and her advice very useful and realistic. Also I very much enjoyed reading this book -- it's certainly not boring! I strongly recomend this book to my friends, to people who work in companies or institutions, and also to the general public. I'm sure they will learn from it as well as enjoy it. Thanks, Jean, for this excellent book.

I will admit I was skeptical when I picked up the book but I quickly found myself laughing and learning. In a light, funny and to the point "Dear Abby" style Jean answers tough questions about today's changing workplace. Covering everything from when to conduct business durng a business lunch to how to deal with the gum-smacking co-worker, Jean sheds light on many issues. Using real life examples, she gives the reader tools to get ahead in the workplace. No matter what your line of work there is bound to be something in the book for you.

Dear Jean is one of the most useful books for dealing with the everyday antics of the workplace. Jean stresses the importance of personal responsibility that is so often missing in today's employees. To get her career started in the right direction I gave my daughter a copy on the day she started her first real job.

Jean's writing style makes reading this book an absolute joy. Every office should keep a copy for reference.

Dear Jean provides key insights and tips that can help improve our interpersonal relationships at work. The book provides a variety of real cases and issues that we may face at work. The book can become a very powerful "personal skill software" that will avoid us being caught up in messy personal issues at work that may hinder us from accomplishing our full business potential. Alejandro Sucre Director of Caracas Teleport / Otassca

This is an excellent book on debugging. Whether you're debugging mechanical systems, electrical circuits, or software, the methodology presented is extremely practical and systematic. The author presents nine debugging rules that can be applied to any problem. The text is well-written, engaging, and humorous. The author also included a wealth of war stories that are worth the price alone. Highly recommended.

This Book Demonstrates How you could debug SOMETHING systematically, from most important principle to least important principle.(All 9 As the Book name said.) The Examples covers software, hardware, electrical, mechanical debugging. It is just amusement to read the example. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Quite liked it. I now have a game plan for approaching bugs in a nonrandom manner (including intermittent bugs):


Understand the System
- Read all related documentation
- Draw a system diagram and understand how things are connected
- Know the capabilities of your debugging tools


Make It Fail
- Start from a clean initial state
- Consider automating lengthy steps
- Make it fail in situ; don't waste time simulating the environment
- For intermittent bugs: list possible factors and try varying them one at a time; output a logfile and look for patterns


Quit Thinking and Look
- Watch it fail
- Use Remote Desktop / VNC
- Add logging and monitors
- Don't start thinking until you've limited the number of possible causes


Divide and Conquer
- Binary search
- Use test data with an easily identifiable pattern
- Start at the failure point and work backwards
- If you discover other bugs that may be related, fix them before continuing your search


Change One Thing at a Time
- Don't panic
- Back out changes that have no effect
- Compare the logfile with that of a good system
- Check earlier versions


Keep an Audit Trail
- Keep a detailed written log


Check the Plug
- D'oh!
- Have the components been properly initialized?


Get a Fresh View
- Try explaining the problem to someone (or something)
- Ask an expert: co-workers, the vendor, documentation, bug database, the web
- Report symptoms (including possibly unrelated observations), but not your theories


If You Didn't Fix It, It Ain't Fixed
- Fix the root cause
- Make the problem happen again by undoing your fix

I worked with Dave Agans for over 10 years and I can tell you first hand the man knows what he's talking about. From developing hand-held controllers in the late eighties to single-board OS/2-based videoconferencing products to software collaboration tools, we have debugged problems of every ilk. Whether the problem was an FPGA bug, a faulty component in a board, a race condition in a device driver or a dangling pointer in a DLL, Dave always approached the problem with his same set of debugging rules, and they never let him down. Read this book. It's engaging and fun to read. But more importantly it will make you a better debugger, whether you're debugging hardware, software or your lawnmower.

This book is absolutely indispensable for anyone working in any job where things occasionally work in an unexpected manner. It's concise, funny, well-written, and full of immensely useful tips on how to go about debugging problems.

One of the great things about this book is that it's generalistic in nature, not specific. Agans's decades of troubleshooting experience has given him great insight on how to go about debugging in all sorts of environments, so he lays out nine rules for approaching any problem:

Understand the System
Make it Fail
Quit Thinking and Look
Divide and Conquer
Change One Thing at a Time
Keep an Audit Trail
Check the Plug
Get a Fresh View
If You Didn't Fix It, It Ain't Fixed

[...]

Debugging isn't an art performed only by folks with some odd genetic disposition, it's a critical craft which can and must be learned. I was fortunate to have some good troubleshooters as mentors during my days working radar inflight in the Air Force, but I've fallen out of many of the good practices those folks beat^H^H^H^Hinstilled in me. Agans's book is helping me pull out of the thrash and churn mode of debugging.

This book's only 175 or so pages long and is well-worth adding to your library. Actually, substitute "a critical addition" for "well worth adding". I'm also going to make sure this book gets added to the professional development reading list I'm working on creating.

This book is a very good introduction to Deming's teachings. It is filled will examples to drive points home.

I bought two of them and gave them to business associates.

This should be required reading for anyone in a leadership position. Dr. Deming is the "father" of the Japanese business revolution that took place after WWII.

Timothy Kendrick Author-PTSD: Pathways Through the Secret Door

Mr. Aguayo writes as one who studies the efforts to produce quality, from an MBA, trained in the field, to view and review the management training in the US with that taught to the Japanese by Deming. His insightful examples and comparisons are invaluable to the reader, in furthering our understanding for the need to improve quality. Quality not as a product, but as a means and total way of life.

The Quality is far beyond a simple theory. It is a vision of the life and how it must be lived .
There is a powerful statement of the Samurai code : Do not make anything useless.
And this is the way you get close mre and more to the essential doctrine and quality philosophy .
Deming was a pioneer in this sense, because he knew to establish patterns of behavior and systematic direction for an issue that mostly of the real artists own in his inner world .
His reading is absolutely recommended for any kind of reader .
And his presence must be a perpetuum mobile for the management no matter your discipline field is!

This is a good that has stood the test of time that is very useful for those who need a gentle introduction to Total Quality Management. Although the book is about 15 years old with some rather dated examples, the message it gives is still relevant and important.

The book written in plain language that focus on the essential quality and productivity message without statistical abstractions, which make it easily understandable to a wide readership. Those readers that have not read Deming's "Out of the Crisis" or Mary Walton's "Deming Management Method" will benefit the most from reading this book.

I have known and worked with Ardi Kolah for a number of years and have found no one with such an in-depth understanding of the legal side of marketing.

In today's highly litigious society, knowledge of what is permissible in marketing is essential, even more so given the complex regulatory framework in which organisations operate today.

This book is well written, easy to understand and is a must for any truly professional marketer.

I have known Ardi Kolah since he was an outstanding post graduate law student here at University College London. On the basis of that contact I am sure that Essential Law for Marketers is an exceptional book in terms of its content and clarity of writing. It is important that such a book be read by all law students who are interested in working within the creative industries and those who need a robust introduction to the way in which law has influenced this important sector.

Ardi Kolah has captured many of the substantial legal issues that marketers could face as regulation and compliance standards increase. This book offers clear explanations of relevant law, with examples and practical advice for maintaining marketing momentum.....

Ardi Kolah's Essential Law for Marketers has been written with the legal virgin in mind and that includes a surprising number of advertising practitioners who should at least have a basic knowledge of the laws governing their business. This book is full of practical tips and suggestions that will also be relevant to the seasoned campaign director and is sure to prove essential reading for anyone in the advertising industry who needs to get up to speed with this complex area.

If you want an intelligent overview of the application of the law for marketers, then this is it. It should have been around years ago ...

Roger von Oech is one of the power houses in creativity books. This particular tome is an example itself of a creative endeavor. Perhaps some of these ideas are expressed elsewhere by Oech or others but the presentation here is what makes a difference. I found myself ruminating and thinking of how each of these sayings can help me out of current conundrums and I did find myself at least seeing situations from different perspectives, which can sometimes be the way to start finding a solution. The book is a very quick read and should be a reference in anyone's creativity book collection.

I am a raving fan of Roger von Oech's creative work as embodied in his books & card decks, namely:

Books:

- A Whack on the Side of the Head;
- A Kick in the Seat of the Pants;
- Expect the Unexpected;

Card Decks:

- Creative Whack Pack;
- Innovative Whack Pack;
- Ancient Whacks of Heraclitus;

I have used all his creativity stuff ever since I started my own strategy consulting (& book store) business in late 1991.

From my personal & professional experience, I would like to say that the entire collection of Roger von Oech's creative work has been designed to serve three strategic purposes:

- understanding - & removing - your mental blocks;
- breaking your habitual patterns;
- shifting your focus & changing your paradigms;

As a matter of fact, once you appreciate & commit to these three strategic purposes in your life, you will soon realise that there is nothing in this world to stop you from getting rid of old ideas & getting new & fresh ideas.

Allow me to quote Edward de Bono: "...the mind is habitually uncreative - it is usually preoccupied with organising masses of incoming data into convenient patterns. Once this pattern is established, then the mind tends to rely upon that pattern in future situations, in order to facilitate decision making & action in an otherwise complex world..." (The Use of Lateral Thinking).

Breaking old habitual patterns is definitely the first & foremost priority in your journey to creativity!

Once your shift your focus, you begin to change your paradigms or the way you look at the world around you. Always remember this: Your brain follows the direction of your dominant thought. Once you focus on something, that thing becomes the foreground. Everthing else will fall into the background. Most opportunties are unfortunately hidden in the background. The moment you begin to shift your focus, you are pushing the 'foreground' into the 'background', & pulls the 'background' into the 'foreground'. Get it?

'A Whack on the Side of the Head' will help you to break through your mental blocks. They will open up your mind for innovation. This book is filled with provocative puzzles, exercises, stories & helpful tips.

'A Kick in the Seat of the Pants' takes you on a guided tour through the four stereotype roles of the creative process - Explorer, Artist, Judge & Warrior. Understanding - & applying - these roles will fire up your personal & professional creativity. Tactically, they will change your mental focus as you change to play each of the four roles. I would like to add one more role from what I have learned from the Japanese creativity experts: Antique Dealer. This singular role will allow you to combine all the four roles into one.

'Expect the Unexpected' uses thirty of Heraclitus' (the world's first creativity master) epigrams as creative springboards. It has intriguing questions designed to topple old habits of thought & fire up your imagination.

All the three card decks are basically extensions of the three books, to allow convenient usage during brainstorming sessions.

From my strategy consulting experience, these three card decks have proven to be inexhaustible sources of inspirations.

In fact, the Innovative Whack Pack combines the creative power of both the 'Creative Whacks' & 'Ancient Whacks of Heraclitus'.

I strongly urge readers to seriously consider having the entire collection of Roger von Oech's creative work added to your Creativity & Inovation Library, & all the three card decks placed permanently on your desk top at all times.

Seems to me a different approach and format with the same recommendations as his other books. Read the authors other stuff along the way and this one is creative in its layout and approach but found it more of the same. Had trouble staying with it.

Roger von Oech, the founder and president of a consulting firm that specializes in stimulating innovation and creativity, has written a very enjoyable and mentally invigorating toolbook for unleashing the power of thirty of the passed-down paradoxical sayings of the ancient Greek philosopher, Heraclitus (500 B.C.E.). If you want to improve your ability to "think outside the box," then this little book may be just the right tool for you.

Why Heraclitus, and what is his connection to creative thinking and innovation? According to von Oech, "I've been consulting Heraclitus for many years, and he rarely lets me down. Indeed, if creative thinking involves imagining familiar things in a new light, digging below the surface to find previously undetected patterns, and finding connections among unrelated phenomena, then I believe that Heraclitus is the world's first creativity teacher. His ideas not only inspire us to think in these ways, they also provide us with strategies to understand our problems in a fresh manner. For these reasons, Heraclitus is the guide I turn to whenever I need a new perspective."

The book is well researched with a lot of good supporting stories, examples, and historical anecdotes that brought to life the meanings of Heraclitus' sayings. Von Oech did a great job of showing how these sayings can be applied to everyday situations when creative and innovative solutions to problems and challenges are needed. The book also contained many thought-provoking sketches and good introspective questions to further stimulate individual creative thinking.

Von Oech identified three ways to read and use the book. The first is to read it straight through like a creativity workbook to find some ideas you can apply to your life. The second way is as a source for daily meditation by reading and focusing on one saying each day for the next month. Lastly, you can consult it like it was an oracle to help you break out of your normal thinking patterns when you need a shot of creativity. I read it like a workbook, liked how it made me think, and now I am using it for daily meditation. I will also use it as an oracle to help me deal with some challenging issues.

I believe that this book has the ability to unlock the potential of my creative spirit, and I believe it can do the same for anyone who reads it.

I was first tempted to give this book only one star for disparaging the notion of "pure philosophy." But then I began to question what the purpose of philosophy was. Who has done philosophy more of a disservice, Von Oech, who sees the creative potential in Heraclitus and passes it on to willing readers, or the academics, who have purified and rarefied philosophy into something quite unrecognizable to the ancient Greeks? That was the easiest question I've had to answer in quite a while. Von Oech gets what the pointy-headed pettifoggers of academe do not: philosophy is only effective as it relates to the world. It is not a mere matter of linguistics nor an interpretation by each textual reader, but rather a force guiding humans towards creativity through its answers to our everyday questions. There was a time in the past when philosophers wrote for the educated public. Nowadays, philosophers write for other philosophers, substituting rhetoric and wordplay for creativity. The loser is our culture, which depends upon philosophy as a lynchpin.

Von Oech's fascination with Heraclitus goes back to 1971 while studying in Germany. Picking up a book of Heraclitus' epigrams, Von Oech became instantly hooked when he read "the way up and the way down are one and the same." He writes that this caused him to spend the next several weeks trying to figure out its meaning. Since then, he says, he's wanted to put out a "creativity tool" based on the works of Heraclitus.

And what a creativity tool he has created. His grasp of Heraclitus is firm and, moreover, he is able to apply each epigram he examines to the problems of thinking and creativity in the workplace. The reader will also notice a warmth coming through: a deep love of the subject and philosophy in general, something we do not always get from our academics, as anyone who had to sit through Philosophy 101 with a boring pedant will tell you. And Von Oech will succeed in doing what our friends in the ivory tower have failed to do, and that is to instill a love of wisdom in the heads of his students. For that, Roger von Oech, I salute you.