Robertson Books

Although to many, the rate of change in the IT area has slowed down from the frenetic pace of the dot com era, to most that is just as much an illusion as the false profits of the dot com era were. The rate of change is still rapid, and in many areas the extent of the change is hidden. If your task is to make a "small" change to a large program, that single change may be monumental, in approach, execution and consequences. Therefore, when talk turns to being an adaptive enterprise, it must include both the ability to create new products in order to enter new markets and the capability of adapting current products to respond to smaller changes in customer needs. It is not possible to consider one to be microchanges and the other macrochanges, as either one could be large or small depending on the circumstances.
In both cases, it is not possible to be adaptable without adopting the appropriate mindset, which involves emotional and organizational adjustments. Emotionally, one must become tolerant of change and organizationally, it is necessary for information to flow quickly and in both directions along the hierarchy chart. The emphasis in this book is on the organizational adjustments that need to be made, although the emotional adjustments are occasionally mentioned. The organizational adjustments are handled very well, described in enough detail so that there is no ambiguity in understanding what they are and how they are performed.
The emphasis is on reusable components, not all of which are constructed of software. In chapter 2, there are descriptions of the physical components, functional components and interface components. Several different types of organizational patterns are described, what they are, how they are used as well as the consequences of their use. Chapter 3 covers the general categories of transact patterns, publish patterns and collaboration patterns. A transact pattern is any application that writes structured information to a system. Publish patterns deal with data that is presented in a read-only form, although it also includes any summaries and other analysis done on the data. The collaborate patterns deal with the sharing of data between peers. Each pattern covered is then summarized in sections describing the benefits of using it as well as the weaknesses that it exhibits.
In chapter 4, the emphasis is on the creation of adaptive services, which are shared structures that are static and permanent, reusable and have a different lifecycle than the physical infrastructure. As the authors mention, the key to providing adaptive services is to identify those parts that need to change independently, and structure the service so they can be altered without changing the other components.
Chapters 5, 6 and 7 deal with the strategies used to define the business problem(s) to be solved, developing arguments to justify the project and obtain the funding, managing per-project processes as well as periodic processes, communicating with developers and customers, and the management of the people in the process. This section is a summary of the best practices in how to identify and solve problems using methods that will lead to subsequent problems being easier to solve.
After a great deal of ink has been used to explain the failures of software development, the IT crowd has made relatively little progress in solving many of the problems of software development. Some of that ink might as well have been spilled, but not so for the ink used to create this book. Packed with sound advice as to how to build a solid yet flexible developmental infrastructure, this is one book that all managers of large projects should read.

The infrastructure management approach that the authors give in this book incorporates practices from systems (and software) engineering, and is a blueprint for success. The objectives are: (1) end-to-end management with no gaps in ownership, (2)cost efficiencies through reuse and component-based strategies, (3)holistic view that looks at business, operational and technology (instead of the common 'technology only' view), and adaptability (an infrastructure that is managed to long range goals, but can be quickly adapted to emerging and immediate business needs).

How the authors meet these objectives is by identifying physical, functional and interface components that make up the infrastructure and integrating them into a service-oriented framework. This is consistent with component-based software engineering, and it is a remarkably good fit to infrastructure management. Moreover, the authors introduce patterns, also borrowed from software and systems engineering disciplines, to map business requirements to design in an efficient manner that promotes reuse. Another advantage of patterns is this approach captures knowledge (something not directly pointed out in the book). If you're not familiar with process patterns the book I recommend for infrastructure professionals is More Process Patterns by Scott Ambler. This is the second of a two book set and it directly addresses patterns that are related to infrastructure (the first book, Process Patterns, is more focused on software engineering).

The two chapters I liked the most are 4, Developing Adaptive Services, and 5, Services Starter Kit. These chapters tie services to infrastructure and go into fine detail about how to integrate services and the underlying technology. I especially like the way the authors use multiple life cycle management for each layer in the infrastructure. Chapters 6 (Processes and Methods) and 7 (Packaging and People) neatly pull together the preceding chapters into a coherent, process-oriented strategy. The single appendix is also valuable because it gives a comprehensive component catalog. This catalog can be used as the basis of the infrastructure blueprint as well as the foundation of an encompassing asset management initiative.

Peter Robertson worked with us in the office of the CEO for the HP/Compaq integration. Though we had a high performing team with piqued strengths in leading large scale horizontal change, he helped us understand how the makeup of the team needed to change as the charter changed. Against typical instincts (why change what's working) we consciously supported some departures and refashioned the team for the second phase of organization effectiveness, after initial integration was largely complete. We also used Peter's approach to advise our own internal clients on how their teams needed to change to accomodate expectations that became apparent in the press 6 months later. His thinking and tools were a major quiver in our value to HP at an unprecedented period of change.

A fresh, new approach to how people respond to change, individually and within organizational settings. Ethology, taking in Freud and Bolby's work, shows how it is not consequences, but security and "attachment" which will predict and help in the management of personnel.

The catchy title takes in one application of this method and tool, that the composition of any team, whether athletic or organizational, is dependent on where the organization is on the "S"-curve or business cycle. For instance, if you are trying to innovate new ideas or products, you need exploratory people versus those attached to stability. On the other hand, once new products have been identified and created, you want more stability-oriented people who will stick to the plans and schedules to get the product out the door.

Very good examples from actual application at HP and other major organizations.

Wow! If you are an elementary music teacher, buy this book as soon as you find it. Read it and start applying it to your classroom as soon as you get the opportunity. It has songs, games and methods to teaching children where they will learn how to read music in a fun way. I have met one of the authors and have attended classes where he presented.

You can't go wrong buying this book. : )

Thanks,
David

Buy this now!!!!!!!!! Also get the yearly plans. Clear methods, laid out in order of teaching and how to incorparte all different areas of music including reading, writing, singing, playing, part work, improvisation, inner hearing, and memory. You children will read and sing and appreciate music. Full of games for teaching, strategies, and songs.

Owning about 40 books on architectural antiques and related subjects, I found this book extremely helpful and insightful.
I learned more than I thought I would and came out a lot smarter in the end.
Thanks for writing the book Alan.
Toby Beavers
Historic-Homes.com

A beautiful collection of architectural antiques, displayed and photographed creating dramatic effects. This is a really helpful guide in obtaining the incredible architectural antiques and how best to show them off! I highly reccommend you tracking down a copy.

Fantastic, a book that covers all.Well worth a look at if you are interested in Australian plants.

Probably the best reference book available for Australian Native Plants

I bought this for my husband at Christmas. He loves it! Very cool book..super old. Heck, even if you don't read it, would make a good coffee table book for a conversation starter.

Make no mistake, this one is the small, "red book" that all other books refer to. If you want the real deal this is it. Evidently it is still printed in small volume, as several buisnesses in Adams sell it. The Adams museum, and the Bell Cave, both have it in stock in "new" condition. Both of these places have relatives there, who were a part of the mystery.Also these 2 places are extremely near the main haunting area! Most all of the current residents do not want to discuss it though. It seems that two schools of thought prevail there, one is that it never really left, and another is that since it missed its last return date, refering to it may cause it's return.

These side stories really do add depth to the entire saga.

In Volume 26, the longest story in this collection focuses on the rebel leaders who are the ancestors of the characters from the main story. There is are also a couple of stories about the past of some of the characters from the main story. And there is a parody, which takes place in an alternate reality where all the Basara characters are actually in a pop-singing competition. A must for Basara fans. People unfamiliar with the main story probably won't appreciate the shorter stories or the parody very much, but might enjoy the longest story, which is really a prequel for Basara.

Volume 27 focuses on what happens to the characters after the end of the main story. A must-read for Basara fans, since these stories address some questions which the main story had left open. Since most of volume 27 happens after the main story, there is little point in reading it if you haven't read the previous volumes.

With the official storyline over, I was sure these final two volumes were dryed out leftovers. I was SO WRONG. The short stories were interesting and well developed, pertaining to the characters and the background story. Yumi Tamuara always has shown quite a bit of humor expertise throughout her series and she delivers a hilarious alternate fan-fiction of her own characters. I consider this volume a must read for all fans of Basara. You want more Basara and she delivers. :)

Mr. East had decades of experience designing and building golf clubs, and also taught golf in Australia and in the USA. He knew the exact physics involved in correctly hitting a golf ball, yet managed to outline them simply in this useful book. Some of the recommended exercises and drills can be performed indoors, and the photographs are quite good as well.

The title of this book may be misleading. Of course is it impossible to become a better golfer in only 5 minutes. What makes this book so interesting, are the insights into the beginning of rational club-fitting. Not a book for every body,
but a real find for people interested in the technical aspects of golf like my.

Having managed to track down a copy of Big Fish and Blue Water on the internet - my hopes were dashed when I was told "Will not ship internationally" - one of the problems of living in England I suppose!

This is the definitive book on this subject by an author with wide-ranging first hand knowledge. Extremely well researched, with many years of interviews covering historical fishing in the Pacific. The photographs are spectacular!!

This author is really worth reading for his exceptionally communicative passages in not only these two stories, but also My Brother Jack - the first of the Trilogy.

George Johnston published a number of novels, many of them "pulpy" in nature to earn a living, before he turned the subject of his writing to something closer to home: his own life. And in doing so, he not only gained incredible fame and adoration, but also reserved himself a place in Australia's Literature canon. The strength of George's writing lies partly in the attention to detail and his beautiful evocation of parts local and foreign (local: Melbourne, foreign: Hydra, Greece) but it is marked also by the honestly which pervades all his work. "Clean Straw for Nothing", I believe, is his masterpiece - an intensely personal exploration of ex-patriation, poverty, the nature of success, illness and sexual jealousy. All these conflicting emotions are heartbreakingly rendered such as few Australian writers have ever dared to do, let alone so well. His alter-ego, David Meredith, speaks volumes in the way he conducts his life, about the journey of life and career, and the extent we can push ourselves in one direction which may not necessarily be the best for us. David, like Johnston himself, is driven, passionate and yearning, but also flawed in his insecurity, stubborness and self-centredness. Nevertheless, Meredith is indelible and moving because of this.
I read "Clean Straw for Nothing" when I was twenty-one, and credit it with changing so much about life and my attitude towards it. This is a neglected classic, deserving to be better recognised. In my eyes, Johnston was leagues ahead of his contemporaries.