Organizations Books

There are other books I list below, but as I make my life transition from being a for-profit at any cost to a non-profit that respects "true cost" and the importance of community, I am finding a number of books that can only be called "essential." This is one of them.

Bottom line from the authors: Collaboration builds social capital.

An edited work, it offers us the view of the best of the best, and while the book does not contain a single "sales" element, over-all, and in the concluding appendices, it makes clear that we can learn a great deal by attending the training sessions offered by the Institute for Civic Leadership, and I have made my own mental note: when we have resources, the Earth Intelligence Network needs these folks as advisors and facilitators when we bring together key minds on each of the ten high-level threats to humanity, etcetera.

The box is organized into Meta (importance of collaboration), Macro (principles & frameworks), Micro (practices), and Examples (stories).

This is a totally impressive and educational volume. I end my notes with:

01 Take their courses
02 Retain them as mentors and facilitators
03 Share this book with others.

A few other books that complement this one:
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter
Democracy's Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life
Doing Democracy
All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (BK Currents)
Escaping the Matrix: How We the People can change the world
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
The new craft of intelligence: Achieving asymmetric advantage in the face of nontraditional threats (Studies in asymmetry)
(This last one is free online, there is also a hardcopy on Amazon)

In 2004 a group of 100+ nonprofit, business, and government entities in Rhode Island began collaborating on one goal: to get thousands of new affordable housing units publicly funded and built. It was a long shot at best. Yet, in 2006, the HousingWorks RI (HWRI) coalition could claim a major victory when voters overwhelmingly approved a $50 million bond for affordable housing. A post-game analysis of the HWRI success story discovered that, by accident or design, the coalition, in building itself, had followed every best practice set out in Mr. Chrislip's practical, balanced, authoritative Fieldbook. If you're attempting to move mountains using a civic coalition, skip the trial-and-error phase and read this book before you start.

This book will be the standard for all other books about collaboration to measure themselves. Mr. Chrislip is among the best facilitators of collaborative processes anywhere. The author is also a skilled teacher and is able to convey both his knowledge and lessons of experience in this book. Clearly written, this book is well balanced between intellectual knowledge and practical experience. A step-by-step pathway is presented as well as specific examples of successful collaborations. Anyone interested or involved in collaboration in the public or private sector will benefit from this book. Facilitators of collaborative efforts will find themselves pulling this book off the shelf often as a useful guide and reference.

Everytime I purchase something some Amazon, I am always happy with the prices, my selections of items are always sent in a timely manner. I rather shop online than go out to the department stores.

I have been teaching for thirty three years in an East Coast urban district in schools that all have great variety of people and circumstances. I read Colormute last spring. I was intrigued by the title and the introduction and opening chapter. Though the setting of Colormute is California, I still recognized so much of the race/ethnicity talk. I could easily call up parallel experiences as a life-long teacher and student of race talk. I loved the dichotomous chapter headings each of which lays out a dillemma that usually has two opposing "solutions". She chronicles shifting definitions of personal identity among school people and shifting allegiences and shifting values about the meaning of one's race. I love that Ms. Pollack is a white woman listening hard to student and teacher talk about race and that she is not easily satisfied. She keeps digging deeper with those she is talking to and she does not propose pat or easy conclusions.
This book is real, thoughtful, honest, and useful. I really liked it.

Fascinating book about race talk in the US. The author presents her findings in a very ordered, clear and easy-to-follow way. Interesting for etnographers, teachers, psychologists, and anyone interested on race.

During the past ten years,my focus for reading Christian books has been on studying authors who wrote from 50-300 years ago. It seems that turth was not "what was relevant" back then, but for men who were the true spiritual leaders of the day, it was their life source, and came out their intimate passion for Jesus and love for His saints. The most important thing was true salvation, not building big churches, and sanctification, not self-actualization. In this freat masterpiece, Editor John Armstrong has brought home a hard hitting message to the "Laodician Church" of 2001. We are being greatly deceived, by our World around us, and consequently the Church is conforming to the world instead of to the standards of Jesus Christ and our early forefathers. Dr. Armstrong has assembled leading theologins in critcal areas of Christian wisdom, and compiled a book that should be a warning and a lighthouse for the Body of Christ in the years to come. Sadly, outstanding works like this do not achieve their highest cudos until long after their relevance is most needed. Thank you Dr.Amstrong and team for a truely distrubing( in a good way) book.

The evangelical church in America is dying from the same thing that kills its members: obesity, sloth, overindulgence, and ignorance. Church members are fat-headed, too lazy to read and study for themselves, quick to gorge themselves on pop theology, and don't want to hear the truth. Thus, any book that attempts to point out these failings is often read only by those who are already aware of the problem; the messenger isn't killed for bringing bad news, because no one who would find it offensive is listening. Nonetheless, I hope that "The Compromised Church" gets a wide hearing; its message is vital for today. The book is a compilation volume with contributions by some of the brightest evangelical pastors and scholars around: Al Mohler, David Wells, Sinclair Ferguson, Ed Clowney, etc. The topics covered are at the heart of the current crisis in evangelicalism. Just to whet your appetite, I will list a few: the authority of Scripture, the doctrine of the Trinity, "church-o-rama or corporate worship," baptism, church discipline, and preaching. Each subject is given careful, biblical and sociological treatment. A quote from the chapter by Monte Wilson ("Church-O-Rama or Corporate Worship") should give you the overall flavor of the book:

"Evangelical worship is becoming an oxymoron. Our songs are either belted out in the same mindless intensity with which we ............."

Strong stuff. This book addresses the problems of the church in a compassionate but firm manner, and offers viable solutions, but not a quick fix. If you find yourself appalled at the sorry state of American evangelicalism, take heart: there are influential and intelligent pastors and teachers who share your disgust. They have taken the time to analyze the problems, and they have solid, Bible-based answers to help you address them. Read this book. Share it with your pastor, your Sunday school teacher, your Bible study group. Prayer for revival should always be accompanied by careful thought and analysis of the world around us. "The Compromised Church" will promote just that.

If you want to know what it is happening with the evangelical faith in our days, please read this book. Great truths are analyzed carefully through this. The people of God need to stop and to meditate on everything that is examined in this book.Highly recommended.

Want to know everything and anything of the Confederat navy during the American Civil war?

This book pretty much has it all. Everything about organization, men, ships and equipment and the forces that determined its activities. Well organized and well researched. A must have for anyone interested in the history of the blockade and the civil war.

Dr. Still, the dean of Confederate naval historians, is the proud editor of this tour-de-force overview of the Confederate Navy. His contributors include Bob Holcombe of the Confederate Naval Museum, Dave Sullivan, well-known researcher of the Marine Corps in the Civil War, and virtually every authority on the Confederate Navy and the naval Civil War writing today. Well-coordinated, well-illustrated, well done! Small wonder that it's advanced by the Naval Institute Press, which has a tradition of promoting and publishing fine books.

Although intended as a companion book to Lincoln's Navy: The Ships, Men and Organization, 1861-65 by Donald L. Canney, this book is also very useful in conjunction with A History of the Confederate Navy by Raimondo Luraghi, which is the definitive book on the CS Navy.

The book is organized by topics (such as shipbuilding, types of ships) and presents these topics in more detail that is generally found in Luraghi's book. While I was hoping that it would include a Jane's-like section with drawings or photographs of every ship, this book is well illustrated. (For even more illustrations see The Confederate Navy - A Pictorial History by Philip Van Doren Stern.)

Highly recommended.

Every seminarian and Priest should read and digest this wonderful work. It offers insights and suggestions for more meaningful administration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation [Penance] in a condensed, well-written format.

Often, Catholics avoid Confession out of fear. How sad this is, for it is in this Sacrament that the Mercy of God is so clearly manifested. Christ empowered His Priests to forgive sins in His Name. What an awesome responsibility. What an awesome Sacrament. It doesn't matter what one has done for the Divine Mercy of Our Lord is there ready to clear the soul of all that is sinful. Like an ocean of mercy, our sins drop into a sea from which they cannot be found any longer. Our sins may be numerous but if we are faithful to confess them all with true contrition and a firm purpose of amendment [a resolve not to commit them again], God is faithful to forgive them.

Now is the time for Mercy before Christ comes as the Just Judge. Now is the time before it is too late. If you know a Priest or seminarian, get him a copy of this book. It may be one of the best gifts he has ever received and you yourself one day hopefully can reap the benefits of this wonderful Sacrament. Don't put it off.

Although written to help priests be more effective and gentle, helpful confessors by gaining a deeper understanding of what their people are saying (or trying to say or hide )in confession this book can also help laity confused about the sacramment of reconciliation. It can show you clearer and more precise ways to express yourself, or how to ask your confessor for the kind of guidance this St. Meinrad's professor would have him offer. Confession is difficult for priests, Father Stasiak points out, because it is the only sacrament they can not watch others priests administer.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation seems to be one of the less-attended to in seminary training. Rites of Initiation and Eucharist receive much more attention, which is rightly deserved. A Confessor's Handbook provides good training and assistance for seminarians wishing to learn more about this sacrament, as well as to continuing clergy looking to become better confessors.

The general approach can be summed up as, "Why is this person here?" "From what are they seeking to be freed?" The methodology is valid, as it addresses the pastoral needs of the situation; it is helpful, as it immediately cuts through the nice, but irrelevant conversations; and it's is simple, which makes is easy to implement and follow.

Also included in the back is a helpful bibliography of other books on the subject, for those who wish to do further reading.

This is a great book for anyone, not just consultants. It clearly explains the value and process of personal and organizational change. The material is useful, practical, and immediately applicable. I highly recommend it as a book that you will use again and again.

You don't have to be a consultant to enjoy this book. It's a wonderful explanation about personal change and how it is accomplished. One person told me that it contained everything she had learned through years of therapy, in an elegant, enjoyable style. I will use this book over and over. My business has already expanded because of what I have learned from it.

I have always focused on the client, but this book deftly describes how my own thoughts and process help or impede a positive outcome. It is correctly titled because it truly does bring the "conscious" to the consultant. I highly recomended it.

I loved Eichler's book because it is so well-written - funny and informative, and it has changed the way I negotiate, both in my work and in my personal relationships. This book is not just for community organizers - it's for anyone who is interested in social, organizational or even personal change. It's a wonderful book. You can bet the next time I'm stymied by a situation, I'll be thinking, "What would Eichler do?"

Michael Eichler's book was easy to read, easy to absorb and easy to apply on a day-to-day level in my work and in my relationships. It poses a new method of working to mobilize the community for the purpose of affecting positive social change, and is an extremely valuable read. Highly recommended by people in the social services, environmental and non-profit community.

I have personally slept through more of Mike Eichler's presentations on consensus organizing than the number of people who voted in the last election.

However, Eichler's new book is a very engaging summary of the consensus method of organizing which he pioneered. Not only is the book informative, but it reads like an extended chat over a hot cup of coffee in Mitchell's diner in the Mon Valley.

Eichler's voice in this text is impassioned, analytical, and humorous all at once. He has mastered the art of conveying complicated ideas through the use of memorable and enthralling stories.

Take, or example, his story about how he introduced an audience in Buffalo, New York to the legendary organizer Saul Alinsky. I doubt that anyone can read that passage without finding themselves sitting on the edge of their seat by the time Eichler reaches the story's climax.

Eichler has a story teller's eye for just the right details to make the reader feel as though one is on a journey through the multi-faceted terrain of organizing, yet he never strays far from the lesson he intends to convey.

Eichler also has a passion for social justice, but he does not come off as being preachy or ideological. This has been one of the keys to his success in organizing.

Eichler emphasizes looking for partners with expertise that is relevant to the problem confronting the community; seeking to build relationships with these partners so that the community group and the expert partners have a shared stake in the outcome; and getting everyone involved to frankly articulate their self-interest.

Self-assessment of the diverse assets of the community group and assessments of the assets of potential partners is at the heart of Eichler's approach to neighborhood organizing.

Again and again the organizer must ask: (a) What do we (the community group) have to offer in order to strike a deal? (b) What does our potential expert partner have to offer? (c) How can we cut the deal?

Eichler's passion for community organizing is contagious in an age where there is cynicism and escapist fantasizing in community practice.

If his readers have lost the capacity and the energy to care; if they have lost the ability to believe that good people with sound strategies can still make a difference, then reading Eichler will re-energize them and stimulate their creative juices to go out and become catalysts for social change.

He also provides his readers with opportunities to develop their strategic and analytical skills as he takes them on a tour of US revitalization efforts on the diverse terrain of the urban landscape.

What more can a reader ask for?

Now, about Eichler's take on Madonna...

The book focuses on working with clients - any one with whom you work. Discusses partnering with others, and building trust and commitment. Covers the skills and techniques that make up the consultative approach, managing interpersonal relations with clients, and considers several types of partnering roles. Includes a glossary, resources and references. Our review finds that this is an informative book that offers considerable value to anyone working in an organization. Recommended.

It's really refreshing to read a "business" book in language that speaks in a balanced way to both the practicality of tools AND the more conceptual threads that weave the tools together. But then, this book is all about balance, and how we can begin to create balance in the workplace for our clients (and ourselves!).

This book offers great tips and ideas for all professions who want to provide fabulous service and be more of a business partner

This is a very practical guide for consulting work. There are some usual forms that are free to be used by individuals but unfortunately there was no accompanying CD so they need to be copied or re-typed.

I loved this book. It was written for consultants who provide (or will provide) various kinds of help to nonprofits. More specifically, the help provided falls into two broad categories: help for nonprofit programs, and help with organizational issues like management structure, finances, fundraising, etc. And the help one can get from reading this book will definitely help strengthen the quality of their consulting to nonprofits.

The book was split into just four chapters. I would have liked it better if it had been split into the following nine chapters (each of which received a summary in the book):

1. Consulting roles, dynamics, and ethics
2. Consultation and the nonprofit sector
3. Contracting
4. Gathering and analyzing data
5. Planning the work
6. Implementing and monitoring
7. Sustaining change and evaluating impact
8. Terminating the consulting project
9. Managing your consulting practice

For two years I worked as a consultant to nonprofits. I worked for a firm that provided capital campaign direction to nonprofits involved in multi-million dollar capital campaigns. So much of what I lived and experienced during those two years I found written about in the pages of this book. I found the blurbs interspersed througout the book covering quotes from 30+ consultants from across the US made the book special. Without them I think the book might have gotten a 3-star rating from me.

Since the 1970's the hiring of consultants by nonprofits has become part of doing business in the US. And this book does a wonderful job answering what the most common kinds of consulting are. I can say that when I made the move to nonprofit consulting for two years I was not prepared for the culture shock. For-profit consulting is all about getting the job done quickly and competently. Little sugar coating of the services is required. But in nonprofit consulting people skills exuded by the consultant are so critical and important. And this book explains the difference in the consulting styles. The writing of this book was necessary because of the people skill factor in nonprofit consulting.

Dealing with a nonprofit executive director is not equivalent to dealing with a for-profit CEO. In the nonprofit sector the real power is usually held by the nonprofit Board. A savvy consultant will always keep this in mind. And after reading this book they won't forget it. Deal with the Board! And at page 29, Diane Brown is quoted as saying that if she bid on a whole project with a nonprofit that she usually took a bath. Why a bath? I say because she was dealing with a nonprofit. You have to approach nonprofits differently as a consultant than you would a for-profit.

I would have liked the book better if the title of the book had been "Consulting to Nonprofits." Consulting "with" a nonprofit makes me think of someone going to a nonprofit for advice. And the instant book is about consultants providing advice to nonprofits. 5 stars!

Not only is Lukas's book easy to read and engaging, it has gotten me very excited about my career. Lukas draws not only on her own wealth of experience, but also on the experience of countless other consultants. This adds a depth to the book that I never expected. Instead of reading about one person's style of consulting, I am privy to expertise and stories from the trenches of the pioneers in the field. The worksheets, examples, appendices and bibliography will serve me well in my career. I anticipate that this book will be a constant resource for me - it will look dog-eared and well-used in no time at all!

The Corporate Intranet by Ryan Bernard covers every crucial point necessary to "create and manage an internal web for your organization." The language used is easy to understand, gets to the point quickly, and moves from subject to subject with ease

If you don't have a clue where to start when speaking about Intranets read this book. From A to Z, explaining everything in a very simple way

Ryan Bernard's book (published title "The Corporate Intranet"), is one of the best technical books I read lately. It is very clear, useful, well written and practical. The book answered many of my lingering questions. Its "cookbook" approach, well selected and presented examples make it very easy to follow. Unlike in many other books, no new terminology is used before it's explained. I highly recommend it to anyone starting to build an Intranet. Susan Farkas, NYLCare Healthplans, N.Y.C.