Organizations Books

if you have ever been frustated because your life seem devoid of purpose, then this is the book for you! Bishop Long clearly outlines the role that the Church should be playing as Ambassadors for the KIngdom of God, and declare in no uncertain terms that God indeed has a purpose for all of our lives that is connected to his agenda for these times. this book will serve as a motivating tool to move you from the position of being "overtaken", to the position of "taking over". A must read for people of all faiths".

Thanks be unto God for anointing Bishop Long to go where no preacher of God's word has dared to go to lift and expose the veil of christian mediocrity. He writes in the spirit of Martin Luther King,Jr. by challenging the Church to change. This book brings conviction and challenge to ensure that our children and grand-children can live the optimum Christian life. The "Great Commission" comes alive in the book. Bishop Long's book transcends all faiths.

Most churches are not operating based on biblical principals but on mans principles. That is not what God intended. Read this book and discover how to get your church and your personal christian walk in order before the next millennium. God isnt playing games with us anymore. It's time for us saints to come from behind the four walls of the church and do what God has called us to do. True ministry. Satan has had his way with our children, the generations to come, for too long. I cannot urge you enough, this is a MUST READ.

Bishop Eddie Long really came to the forefront when he wrote this book. God's anointing was all in this book. I thank God that there are still real men of God on the Battlefield. We need the unadultreated truth. God's word has been sugar-coated too long! Thank you Bishop for letting God lead you in the way he did regarding his church or lack of it.

"Taking Over" challenges the body of Christ to move forward with God into the next millennium, or get left behind in erroneous traditions.

Praise God for Bishop Long's boldness, transparency, and obedience to pen what thus said the Lord.

I got it with an excellent price (down from the level I had seen it a couple of weeks ago) and it arrived very fast.

I received the book in a few days eventhough I had selected the standard shipping option. The book was packaged well and etc.

Tirole's book remains a classic IO reference for graduate-level IO courses even though it was published in 1988. The strength of the book is in its style of exposition - crisp mathematical models written in a style that is commonly found in journal articles. Therefore, reading the book prepares oneself for reading theoretical IO journal or working papers. This also implies that appreciation of the book requires that the reader is comfortable with mathematics and has some patience in working out the models (intermediate steps are sometimes omitted). However, those who persevere will reap the benefits.

This book is absolutely the "classic" in IO. The author amazingly provided very clear and coherent exposition to this huge, but diverse field. But, this book is not for everyone as some reviews below implied. First, consultants or managers may not find this book useful for the real-life application, because this is a (rather serious) "theory" book. It has no detailed cases, no practical managerial implications, and so on. For that purpose, there are many other good books like Schere, or Carlton & Perloff, etc. The virtue of this book lies in the author's capability to make accessible otherwise very complicated and abstruse models, which would be mainly the concern of grad students in econ, not consultants. Therefore, econ students who are interested in theory development in IO would quickly grasp the essence of important IO models with a simple algebra. I don't understand what part of the book some people think is useful as a reference for the consultants or even everyone.

Second, simple algebra in the book does not mean it is accessible to "everyone." At the introductory grad level, game thoery and information economics use only basic algebra, but it is still not easy at all. Of course, this book introduces almost all important topics usually taught in the first-year micro sequence at graduate school, like repeated game (Ch 6), basic mechanism design technique (non-linear pricing in Ch 3), principal-agent problem (Ch 1), and so on. It would be misleading if one says these topics are accessible to everyone because of "minimal use of math." Even chapter 1, the theory of firm, is a very deep discussion, introducing the concept of "incomplete contract."

In my opinion, this book will be ideal for econ grad students, who would want to quickly review relevant chapters before moving into more recent IO literature (of course, now with full rigor).

This book covers the main subjects in this field, with very clear and readable expositions and solid formalizations. Mathematics is not difficult (basic notions of calculus and optimization are required) and some exercises have been included at the end of the chapters "...to help the reader become familiar with the subjects and to broaden his or her knowledge..."

A bonus track: the book is also an excellent bibliographical guide to those who want to expand their reading.

Rawlings does a first-rate job of conveying elegant solutions to very arduous problems. If you find yourself in the trenches trying to bridge the technology gap between modern tools and older EDI or flat file based systems - this is your book. Those without the budget for a commercial product will especially appreciate do-it-yourself practical code and easy to follow examples.

This book provides practical advice and examples on integrating XML into existing business systems. The book is easy to read and follow. The approach of the book is to break the problem down into a chain of simple problems, addressing each as a data 'filter'. The end result is to connect the input/output of a legacy system with the input/output of an XML parser.

I recommend this book to anyone faced with the problem of using XML to extend the reach of existing applications.

Mike Rawlin's book deals with the reality that legacy business applications are not readily converted to processing XML-formatted information. While XML works fine as the interchange format, you need to convert between that interchange format and the format your applications understand. Mike covers all of the minor nuances that you need to consider, presents a wealth of knowledge in an easily-understood format, and provides examples to boot.

A lot of IT people are busy making different applications running on different platforms "talk" to each other. XML was invented as the "Esperanto" of the IT world to get these systems to understand each other. In practice however it just isn't that simple, as most of these applications don't talk XML yet, until this book.

This book is a real do itbook. It does not teach you XML or XSLT but shows you how to use it. What I especially liked is that he discusses his design considerations, he wants you to understand the whys. Once he thinks you know the basics he goes back to his basic design and improves it to make it make it fully reusable and modular, making it even beter.

Mr. Rawlins gives you toolbox of utilities, with the source code, that can become the building blocks for your own application integration system.

I have not come across a book with as much usable code in my IT career. We have already redesigned quite a few of our systems because of it. If you are into connectivityyou cant be without this book.

Ps. The word Legacy in the title does not imply big mainframes.

Easy to read, in a refreshing unpretentious style, Rawlins explains numerous complicated concepts associated with using XML. Especially useful are the chapters covering the conversion of EDI formatted data into and out of XML and the converting of one XML format to another XML format. The inclusion of Java and C++ considerations in appropriate chapters provides excellent practical advice.

This book is built on the premise that a lot of companies have, metaphorically speaking, the head of a dead elephant sitting in their boardrooms. The dead elephant's head represents conflict, disagreement and rivalry between the executives themselves. No one wants to talk about the dead elephant's head, because no one wants to admit that it's there. Unfortunately, it's a big, ugly reality that must be addressed sooner or later, and everyone knows it. Author and consultant Howard M. Guttman maps out a process companies can use to deal more openly and honestly with internal conflicts. He begins with the premise that conflict isn't inherently bad and can even serve a productive purpose, if it's properly managed and conducted according to the rules. We strongly recommend this book to corporate executives - and to the worker bees who have to duck when those Goliaths in the corner offices start slinging rocks.

When Goliaths Clash is full of great advice for managing confilict at the most senior levels of an organization. Since conflict is abundant at all levels in today's organization the same ideas can be applied to manage conflict at all levels. Gutman's advice to confront conflict, not avoid it, is valuable for all managers who want to move their organizations forward.

Great book! A structured insight into human behavior, different management styles and interactions in organizations. Describes real life situations and - more importantly - how to deal with them. Some very thought-full suggestions on how to interact with others at work as well as privately. A practical guide on organizational development and it's role to become more successful. Is easy to read and digest.

I'll certainly keep it close for reference when "Goliats clashes" in my company.

When Goliaths Clash was a practical and grounded guide to addressing issues prevalent in most leadership teams. Unlike other books of this nature, it was not academic or theoretical, but provided common sense advise on how leaders can identify and resolve problems that could be derailing their organization and preventing them from maximizing their effectiveness. I particularly liked the chapter on e mail; a new area of communication landmines and one that has actually exagerated the issues described in the book.

This book provides insight and understanding into the powerful dynamics of executive teams. The methodology, frameworks and practical tools are highly useful in creating a higher level of functioning for teams, starting at the top of the organization. Specific examples and case scenarios illustrate how these techniques have contributed to more fulfilling and productive work dynamics in several reknowned organizations. Focusing on the core skills of influencing and conflict resolution, as well as situational leadership, the book outlines a 'road map' for improving the effectiveness of senior teams and their individual players.

"Whole Scale Change: Unleashing the Magic in Organizations" and "Whole Scale Change Toolkit" introduce straightforward, systematic, and applicable approaches to successfully achieving effective change in human organizations. While most people acknowledge that changes are necessary and also recognize that changes are often resisted, based on the low success rate of effective change, few people appear to understand the dynamics of achieving progressive change. In the context of human organizations as functioning systems, Dannemiller Tyson Associates: define the dynamics of organization al change, acknowledge to forces for and against change, recommend constitutes whose collaboration and support must be earned, and describe practical processes for planning, executing, and institutionalizing organizational changes. To earn the reader's confidence, the authors use real world examples that demonstrate how "whole scale change" has worked in everyday organizations.
I highly recommended "Whole Scale Change: Unleashing the Magic in Organizations" and "Whole Scale Change Toolkit" for everyone working to achieve change in their organizations.

This is an excellent book! It pulls it all together. Answers many questions people often ask when involved with "Whole Scale Change" and thereby helps put our fears aside. Easy to read and well thought out. Bubbles with practical processes all can use. Shows why change can be very difficult if not done "Whole Scale". I really liked the phrase "Unleashing The Magic..." - it is so true. This book is definitely on my "A" list!

Lean Business Development Consultant

How can you think positively, involve (litterally) everybody, and make sure that the process is well managed? This book shows the way! I met Kathleen Dannemiller at the first World Congres on Systemic Thinking (May 1-6 2001, Vienna), and I really apreciated the message she had for the public. Probing further, I discovered that the method has generated impressive results as well! One of the examples has been a Whole-Scae process with the people involved in making the Mustang IV a success. At the moment Dannemiller was called in (around 1991), Ford was thinking about dropping the Mustang. In stead of asking what the problems where, people from throughout the organization were asked to dream about the "new" Mustang and how to make this dream come true. that car was developped in about 2 year's time, costed 22% less to build than a Mustang III and had limited problems at introduction. Some people at Ford even quote this car's introduction as "scary", because everything went almost as planned. One would wonder why Murphy's law didn't apply. The answer is simple: all people felt involved and they felt had to make this car a success. If you ask me what's missing? Well, dannemillers knowledge op people skills is "unconcious": her techniques do not cover the emotiunal intelligence one needs to make all this work. But that's where a book such as "7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence" will give you the answers.

If ever there was a book that sounded like it was written by a bunch of consultants it's this one. And - surprise - a look at the cover reveals that the author is none other than Dannemiller Tyson Associates, with about 15 people connected with the firm credited as contributors. With origins like these, it's no wonder that the book is chock full of phrases like, "If you facilitate a paradigm shift among enough microcosms, the entire organization will share the experience." But don't let the lame language scare you off. If you want to learn change management strategies, sooner or later you're going to have to pick up consultant-ese. Once you do, you'll be intrigued by the concepts set down in this book about whole-scale change and the use of microcosms in bringing about organizational change. In fact, we [...] strongly recommend this book for its innovative ideas, in spite of its tortured prose.

Relevant to my review is the fact that I was fortunate enough to intern with the late Kathie Dannemiller 20 years ago, when she was developing and applying her processes to improving student services at the University of Michigan. With this perspective, I can really appreciate the value of Whole-Scale Change, and attest to the reader about its worth, as I have personally experienced it.

The book is full of the authors' collective wisdom, and rich material that walks the reader through their model for changing the whole organization. Their concept of "One Mind, One Heart" is a great metaphor for getting everyone in an organization aligned with Purpose, and is really the "magic" behind Whole Scale Change. When everyone is aligned, the entire organization pulls together in support of each other to achieve its purpose.

Another huge benefit of Whole Scale Change is that the organization automatically achieves team building at the same time it is re-creating itself.

Organizational development practitioners and human resources professionals should be very interested in this book. Add to that any management consultants who are trying to effect a "culture change."

For those who would like to apply this process -- your own personal style & integrity are so fundamental to success that unless you can "walk the talk," don't even try it. Loving the work more than the money is a fundamental concept that a practitioner would have to have. Kathie Dannemiller especially was so real with clients that it helped them overcome barriers to openness, and enabled the magic to happen.

A few other key concepts that resonate throughout the book:
"Action Learning" is another way of saying you have to "trust the process" to get the right results, even though the steps to get there might change along the way. Life is like that.

Remember that in large-scale organization change, none of this has been done with these people, under these conditions, which means you will have to also make adjustments in real-time (also known as "improvisation") to deal with realities and learnings from the group events. Whole Scale Change does an excellent job by allowing for this, and cites many examples to show what it looks like. Also, "Everyone's truth is the truth" - to believe this you have to have a sincere & abiding respect for people - that may not be possible for every organization's leaders, which will limit the results.

The book includes excellent references for further reading, and also great discussions on how Whole Scale was influenced by other practitioners (a thinking bibliography) that were very valuable.

This is very comprehensive and thorough as well as good to read without a lot of fluf. I'm picky with books and this is really one of the better publications.

...this book shows you how. The author explains how costly untidiness and dirt can be. Imagine the cost of employees wandering around looking for tools instead of adding value through their work. This is one of the few books you can study and then implement the lessons learned from your study. For years to come every time you study it you will learn something new; therefore I recommend the sturdy hardcover edition. You will find your colleagues wanting to continually improve their 5S process too.

A simple "how-to-do-it" book (step by step) with many examples. When I started to talk to top management I did not have to convince them, the book did this.

As a quality and safety manager for more than 15 years, I STILL found this book to be wonderfully useful. A clean, well structured and smooth functioning work environment MUST be at the basis for quality and productivity. The text is well organized and presented with clearn B&W photos, flow charts and sample forms. Hirano also includes plenty of funny, true life stories to keep the book interesting. Highly recommended.

I checked this out from the library and read it in one day (I didn't do anything else all day, and I'm a fast reader). Hirano's style is very educational: he resorts to humor, he states his biases clearly, he details step-by-step instructions, he warns about pitfalls, he gives his own insight on overcoming those pitfalls. He walks the walk: the only photo of him in the book is of him cleaning the floor in a factory.

For anyone already familiar with Lean Principles, the focus of this book is 5S, of which the English translation is approximately Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Sustain. However, Hirano never or rarely uses those, preferring instead to use more accurate (but less alliterative) words like, Organization, Orderliness, Cleanliness, Standardized Cleanup, and Discipline. He explains strategies for starting and for sustaining these "pillars", such as a ruthless red-tag campaign to initiate organization, signboards to maintain orderliness, and 5S patrols to maintain cleanliness and to improve on what already exists. He includes sample forms and kick-off campaign letters.

Best of all, this book shows how 5S is the basis for all other Lean Principles, such as reducing muda and improving throughput. A fantastic resource that I know I will be using over and over.

The Accountable Organization: Reclaiming Integrity, Restoring Trust by John Marchica (CEO of FWI, a medical information services firm and one of America's fastest growing companies) offers insightful analysis and solid advice, enhanced with personal testimony and an informed expertise with respect to the vital connections between corporate integrity, accountability, and trust that is essential to success in today's post-Enron business culture. Offering readers a practical and actionable guidance on how to identify a company's values and purposes, then integrating those values and purposes into a strategic plan to serve as a focused "roadmap" for execution, The Accountable Organization should be considered rquired reading for all supervisory and management level employees of national and international corporations -- an on the mandatory reading list of every MBA candidate in the country!

The author shows how developing a corporate culture of trust and integrity will return profits by building raving fans - not only with his customers, but also with his employees. In this day and age where these factors are sometimes taken for granted, it is refreshing to have an example that we may follow.

This book gives practical examples in which we can model our own organizations. The positive ideas gained from this book are a must for all leaders and individuals in the workplace.

As a consultant, I have had the opportunity to work with John and his company FWI, and I can offer the perspective of someone who has seen him put into action the principles he writes about in this book.

Mr. Marchica lays out how it's important to conduct business with accountability, integrity and trust, but he's just as quick to point out that you still must take risks and be creative. The scandals and the slow economy are turning too many companies into wallflowers afraid to dance.

I'm using this book in my organization and I recommend it to anybody that wants to make a difference in theirs. You can easily apply these ideas to any level within a company. The positive results will spread the idea to all levels.

The Author offers a cerebral, but pragmatic approach to defining and applying concepts like "integrity" and "trust" (too often just rhetoric) in the modern business enterprise. His views on risk and trust completely changed my approach to marketing. Well thought out, insightful, academic, but with very practical applications. A must read not just for executives, but for everyone in your entire enterprise

The Accountable Organization is a timely book by John Marchica. It speaks to the heart of what has given corporate America a black eye. The value however is not just pointing out the problems that we are all seeing resulting from corporate leaders making self serving decisions. Rather, the book provides valuable insights into what any company of any size needs to do to be accountable to all its constituents, customers, shareholders, investors, employees and suppliers. Moreover, the result is not just being a good corporate citizen but the result is a very successful company. Success that works for all constituents. The Accountable Organization is a must read if you want to take your company to a higher level.

Ever hear of the ancient mystery religions from the ancient mediterranean world that supposedly influenced the new testament? This is just about the best book to actually read up on what the mystery religions consisted of. A good tool to check out for yourself if there are or are not any parallels between the mystery religions and new testament content.

The book is informative and well presented. It was required reading for a Masters Class, and it augmented the other required reading, as well as the classroom information. The author writes commentary on the background of the mystery, and then the sacred text.

As Marvin M. Meyer explains in his excellent introduction, the Mysteries (from the Greek myein = to close) were associations of individuals: 'The Mysteries were secret religious groups composed of individuals who decided, through personal choice, to be initiated into the profound realities of one deity or another. They joined an association of people united in their quest for personal salvation.'

Unlike the Catholic Church or State religions, the Mysteries had no power base and no organized structure. They were an easy target for those who considered them as enemies or serious rivals in their power search. The Catholic Church attacked them fanatically in speech, picture and scripture. After becoming the official religion under Constantine the Great, the Roman Church convinced emperor Theodosius the Great to commit one of the most savage crimes against humanity: he ordered in A.D. 391 the abolition of all pagan mysteries and the destruction of their sanctuaries, giving at the same time a religious monopoly to the Pope.

This book contains excerpts of very well known works like 'Bakchai' by Euripides or 'The Golden Ass' by Apulejus, but also texts which are difficult to find.
The editor wrote a small introduction for each of the mysteries considered together with excellent bibliographies.

Not to be missed by all those interested in Ancient history.

Marvin W. Meyer's "The Ancient Mysteries: A sourcebook of Sacred Texts" is a splendid resource for original texts pertaining to the ancient Greco-Roman mystery cults. Meyer covers the full range of mystery cults, from the mysteries of Demeter and Persephone, through the mysteries of Dionysos, the Great Mother, Isis, Osiris, and Mithras, finishing with the mysteries within Judaism and Christianity. The texts span a wide spectrum of viewpoints and sources, from relatively objective accounts by period historians, to manuals from within the cults governing discipline and worship, to actual hymns and stories by initiates such as Apuleius's "The Golden Ass." My favorite selection was his excerpts from the Orphic Hymns, reproduced from the incomparable translation by Apostolos Athanassakis, which inspired me to obtain and read the entire book.

Meyer provides a brief introduction to each form of the mysteries that he discusses, along with brief introductions to the excerpts he provides. This book is an excellent introduction to what the mysteries were, and how they were seen and experienced by initiates, dramatists and historians during the period when they flourished.

A very useful source book, I use it often. The division of the book into specific religions/cults makes it easy to use.

The only thing lacking are images/diagrams to supplement the texts.

The chapters on Isis, Osiris and Mithras are excellent.

An excellent review of the period of the Act of the Apostles, immediately following Christ's ascension, with a particular view to responding to the radical criticism of the Jesus Seminar. A very helpful book for any church library

I wanted to know what happened immediately post-crucifixion with those disciples and followers of Jesus. What took those earliest followers of Jesus, immediately following the resurrection, and put them on the path that produced the Christian church we see today. What did they do, how'd they do it, and where did they do it?

Unfortunately, I read Crossan's book first. It was a terribly long disappointment. Crossan never got to the point and buried the topic and me in minutiae. He never gave me any firm answers or clear and concise pictures of historical events.

Barnett, on the far other hand, writes concisely, logically, and provides connections and documentation to support his findings. Best of all, Barnett's book allowed me to lift above the details and see the story in a completely understandable light.

Amazingly, a shorter book by Barnett hits the bull's eye and gives me the information I'm seeking while a rolling explosion of methodology and diversion by Crossan never seemed to find the target.

What do you think? Did Barnett title his book "The Birth of Christianity" because Crossan had already published a book under the same title? Yeah, that's what I think, too. Barnett deliberately picked the title as a rebuke and a response to Crossan.

After leaving the priesthood, Crossan has spent his life doing what he can to destroy Christianity. And yes, he is the one who helped found the Jesus Seminar. In his book he argues that Jesus was a hippie-Cynic with no intention of founding a religion.

Barnett pokes holes--lots of holes--in this thesis by investigating what can be gleaned about earliest Christianity.

The problem for Crossan is that the time between the death of Jesus, most likely in 33 AD, and the first Christian documents is a scant 20 years. That's not a lot of time for myths to form. Furthermore, huge numbers of people who knew Jesus would still be alive. Facts could still be easily checked.

Most scholars agree that Thessalonians is the earliest Christian text available, written about 50 AD.

Barnett points out that "In no other letter does Paul so often appeal to what the readers already know" (P 47). Paul reminds his readers of the traditions the apostles passed on. So by 50 AD, therefore, "There is an existent, clearly formulated theology" that was agreed upon by the Christians. It is so well known that Paul can call upon this knowledge.

And what were the common points the earliest Christians believed in? Paul calls Jesus the "Son of God" and "Lord" and "Christ" in Thessalonians. It is, furthermore, the same language he uses throughbout the span of time he wrote his letters.

The conclusion is unmistakable. Paul's "Christology must have been resolved by the late 40s before he commenced writing" (P 67). For one thing, Paul claims to have "received" his beliefs from other people. This indicates a common pool of knowledge. Knowledge which he also gleaned from a first source, since he is known to have visited Peter. It is to this "tradition" which Paul "received" that he refers to again and again in his letters.

Barnett goes into some depth with Galatians, Mark, and John. With John, he notes the many pointers to a pre-70 dating. Barnett mentions the primitive feel to the gospel and the "extensive and intricate details....The war of 66-70 cut a broad swathe through the cultural landscape so that life post-70 became less and less recognizable in contrast to life...before" (P 172).

This is a relatively short book, especially when compared to Crossan's. Yet it's clear, well written, and right on target.

Barnett makes a strong case for the "conservative" position that the essentials of the Christian message as we have come to know it were there from the very beginning, as against the "liberal" position that Christology developed over time. His book is succinct, well-written, and tightly argued; a necessary correction to the other books on the topic of very early Christianity.

I do have some reservations about his arguments, though. Not only does he rely on the Acts of the Apostles as containing eyewitness reports, he takes specific passages such as the speeches of Peter as being an accurate account of what Peter said. It seems more likely to me that the author of Acts shaped such passages according to his understanding of the gospel, which may have evolved since the time of Peter.

On another point, while it is true that Paul says he is transmitting the gospel he received, it is also true that Paul had serious conflicts with the leaders of the church based in Jerusalem. The issue seems to me not a black-and-white one, that either Paul made up his Christology or he is passing along exactly what was first preached by the apostles, but a grey area--how much did Paul adapt the gospel to the Hellenist culture?

Overall, a very good book though.

--Alan Zundel, the HeartAwake Center

Paul Barnett has written a lucid, meticulous account of the first 20 years after Jesus died, demolishing a few treasured myths about how much we know about those early years. With wide-ranging scholarship and relatively few (and uncontroversial) historical assumptions, Barnett scours the New Testament for clues on what the apostles and followers believed after Jesus' death and why they believed it. By paying attention to details often overlooked by skeptical scholars, Barnett establishes the following: 1) the Christian movement had a very 'high' Christology almost immediately after Jesus death, 2)contrary to what many scholars assume, the writings of Paul are studded with the teachings of Jesus as found in Q and contain too much information about Jesus' earthly life to support the theory that Paul invented a Cosmic Christ out of mid-air, 3)the Gospel of John was likely written before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 because it refers in the present tense to structures and buildings which no longer existed after that date (and for other reasons), 4)Peter did not usurp the authority of James the Just, who did not preserve the 'real message' of an earthly Jewish rabbi but was fully orthodox about the identity of his brother, which seems to have come about as a result of seeing the risen Lord face to face, and 5) Acts is far from a piece of theological propaganda; it contains numerous historical and archeological details which have been impressively corroborated by secular historians of the time. By performing impressive mental gymnastics skeptics can always find a way to dismiss the most reasoned arguments, and in the case of the New Testament we find a movement which revered its Founder as Lord and Savior immediately after His death, spread the good news with fervor and turned the world upside-down. By far the best explanation of this stunning fact is the Resurrection of the Son of God.

Breakaway Management articulates what's true about workplace behaviors: all people have them and they are less than ideal. People bring along their less than ideal histories (Managers are people too!) and create barriers to change that keep organizations or work groups stuck. The dysfunctional patterns can be identified and named, openly dealt with, and constructively managed. The tools provided in this book help to talk about what's real in the workplace and that's a common sense approach that experience teaches works well

Finally, the fix-it for dealing with those "people problems" that ultimately cause organizational ineffectiveness and failure! Dr. Jones spends just enough time outlining the origins of dysfunction and the widespread impact of dysfunction to convince any business person that it is this dysfunction we must focus on first in our organizations--and not our structures or policies or procedures. Throughout his book, Dr.Jones develops the pathway for any manager to deal respectfully and responsibly with dysfunctional behaviors. No matter how rampant the dysfunction in your workplace, Dr. Jones has beautifully and practically developed the "way out" for managers so they can implement and foster the "way back" into functional behaviors which, ultimately, creates the "way to" organizational success.

Very insightful;full of useful strategies and information. Dr. Jones style is humorous and very down-to-Earth. Chapter 5 was a real eye-opener. I now have a better sense of how to approach discussion of the issues we've been avoiding for so long. Our Thursday morning staff meetings will never be the same. If you supervise 1 or 1,000 people, this book is for you!! John A. Wilson, Area Group Manager, DMS. Inc., California

Truly explains the the reasons behind the time, treasure and pain that Corporate America has endured through the misdirected and failed implementations of Total Quality Mangement, Teamwork, Re-engineering, Downsizing and Right-sizing that has prevailed through the 80's and 90's. This text offers the reader a practical, no-nonsense approach to many of the obstacles that prevent the successful implementation of continious improvement efforts in terms of viewing the organizaiton from the perspective of Dr. Tom Jones who has laced the pages with no-nonsense advice for understanding and improving your organization's effectiveness. If you're in a position to lead people and "been there and done that," I suggest that you re-assess your organization through the "hands on "experience and techniques conveyed by Dr. Jones...You'll find it as impacting and insightful as "The Goal" (Eli Goldratt) and potentially more effective than the scores of business books offering "silver bullet" solutions to the complexities of organizational life in the 90's

Many managers go home each night feeling sick, frustrated and demoralized from facing a daily struggle to reach goals and improve performance in a dysfunctional workplace. The practices they have used effectively in the past are not working, their people seem confused and hostile, and the job is suffering. This book is written for them. It is packed with ideas and techniques for overcoming the barriers to productivity that these managers face. Identifying the symptoms of dysfunction and specifically outlining steps to overcoming them will give managers increased options and tools that can bring the whole workplace team to a new level of productivity