Publications and Media Books

Over the years, I have read many books and written reviews of some that attracted my attention for various reasons. Recently, I discovered a book series that uses historical events and key persons to illustrate concepts and initiatives that could apply to business. The series, Lessons from History, is the creation of a consultant, Mark Kozak-Holland, and the intention of the series is to examine complex business problems by applying lessons from history. He uses historical case studies to demonstrate how challenges were overcome, offering a unique view for business and technology management to apply the lessons of history to their situations.

The book, Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise: Lessons for Business Today, brings the reader to the late 1930's and early 1940's with descriptions of the world situation and the state of politics and lack of preparedness for World War II that existed in Great Britain. When Churchill became Prime Minister in May 1940, his country was facing the onslaught of Nazi Germany alone, France and the Low Countries had fallen under Germany's control, and Britain was poised to be Hitler's next victim. As we know, Britain survived, it regained strength and allied itself with the United States and the Soviet Union to defeat Hitler and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The questions "How did he do that?", "What were the actions and practices that enabled Churchill to emerge as one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century?" are the subject of Kozak-Holland's book.

This book is fascinating reading, despite the fact that the outcome of WWII is known to the reader. Kozak-Holland explores Churchill and his Cabinet and other advisors' actions to show how, under tremendous pressure, the Prime Minister transformed his organization to the modern-day version of an Adaptive Enterprise. An Adaptive Enterprise modifies the way an organization behaves, how it addresses and responds to change, giving it a competitive advantage.

With no room for error, the use of organizational adaptation, business practices and current technology, combined with the inspiration of the leaders, gave Britain and the allies the opportunity to turn the tide of the war to their favor.

In reading about the practices, technologies, and organization that Churchill established, we can see the emergence of governance and decision-making concepts well before they are widely believed to have been invented. Although the teams created centers of excellence for code-breaking, military command and executive oversight (Bletchley Park, Bentley Priory, Storey's Gate, respectively), the overriding need was for data and process governance, so that these centers could operate both separately and coordinated, depending on the need. These centers handled large amounts of disparate data from multiple sources, and the executive committee needed consolidated data in real time to make immensely important decisions. Developing a data governance approach and framework was essential and it had to be implemented in an unbelievably short time, with the future of Great Britain (and the rest of the world) hanging in the balance.

Churchill's need was for competitive intelligence, and the data supporting that effort was required to be as accurate and timely as possible, given the limitations of technology that existed in 1940. Data quality was deemed to be of utmost importance, and many analysts were employed to perform the data validation and meta data management tasks that are part of the modern data steward's activities. Validated raw data was given to leading analysts ("chief data stewards") for some synthesis and applied to answer the executive committee's questions and address challenges that erupted by the minute. At Storey's Gate, a sophisticated control center was created. It tracked real-time events from all theatres of the war, showing data identified as essential indicators for the allies' performance. The WWII version of an executive dashboard, the command center / map room became so important to Churchill that it was recreated for travel (train and airplane). When Franklin Roosevelt saw the traveling version on Churchill's first visit to the US, he had a similar center created. Eventually, the two command centers were aligned and governance was given the highest priority, enabling the fateful collaboration between Britain and her former colony (SHAPE - Supreme Allied Headquarters - Europe).

Can history teach lessons for modern business and technology management? Quoting Kozar-Holland, "Churchill's use of executive dashboards, real-time event models, institutionalized decision-making, and competitive intelligence analysis helped turn the course of history. It was the first time that intelligence (and governance) had been used on such a scale, across an enterprise and in such a strategic capacity." Modern business may not be engaged in the epic struggle that was World War II, but the use of concepts such as governance, and practices from historical events can give some perspective on their application in 21st century organizations.

There must be some kind of way out of here say the joker to the thief.
-- Jimi Hendrix

Today's business gurus evangelize the benefits of story like a TV evangelist on a book tour. Still, there are few authors who use story to teach business strategy. Enter Mark Kozak-Holland who uses the stories of history to teach the lessons of the adaptive enterprise. Long after you've read and forgotten strategy concepts taught in standard text books, you'll find yourself remembering and applying adaptive enterprise concepts through the stories in Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise; stories that breathe life into the sense and respond organization.

In Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise, author Mark Kozak-Holland shows how to create an adaptive enterprise by using lessons from World War II. In spite of Britain's stunning defeat at the Battle of Dunkirk, and her subsequent limited resources to wage war, Churchill was able to stave off German occupation and give America time to join the war, by making an entire country agile.

The author writes of how the German Luftwaffe believed they were on the verge of wiping out Britain's Royal Air force, and yet, Churchill, through a sense-and-respond network was able to make 50 British fighters seem like hundreds, and demoralize the German air command. Indeed, Churchill had his watchtower.

From a story perspective, this book is brilliant. First, the author didn't try to make up his own story, or worse, create a fable to teach the adaptive enterprise. No, that could of been a disaster. Why? Because Churchill's stand against Hitler is an archetype that is almost impossible to improved upon. I mean, even Spielberg, if he wanted to... would find it difficult to produce a better protagonist and antagonist than Churchill and Hitler. And that's why Saving Private Ryan is the story that it is. It's a story within the context of a larger story.

Second, the book provides a business case for agile.

Finally, if you're brilliant, you'll tell the Churchill stories to each other, so you change your corporate culture. And when your customers start to brag about your products and how you run circles around the competition, you will have differentiated your product in a way that others can't match. What's more, you'll now have your own stories to tell each other and new employees, keeping your adaptive organization alive and well.

To be successful in life or war, you need to be flexible... adaptive. Churchill was a socially adept animal -- He knew how to change and evoke change from others. Within Churchill lived a transformation machine. His mad writing skills were not bestowed upon him like the Queen's crown. In grammar school, when the teacher criticized his writing, he studied and practiced grammar patterns for hours. Later in life, when asked about his facile writing skills, he credited the grammar exercises for his renowned ability to turn a phrase.

Yep, Churchill was one hep, adaptive cat. When others were silent, he gave inspiring speeches; when others embraced rigid processes, he created agile frameworks; when others worried about the fate of England and fled to Canada, he calmed the masses; when others sought shelter during the bombings, he ventured boldly into the firestorm.

I truly believe that in order to move forward, we have to look back at our history. I believe the same is true of business. One of the best ways to solve problems and create innovative strategies is to look at those in our past who succeeded in these areas.

Churchill is a model for adaptation and problem solving. His business was Britain which was faced with two overwhelmingly difficult challenges: keep the British economy stable while also keeping the country safe from German invasion. In order to be successful in these endeavours, the leader had to focus his resources wisely to stay one step ahead of the enemy.

Despite it's usefulness as a model for business problem solving, Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise is a somewhat difficult book to read. The text is filled with IT and business terms so the average business person will need to flip to the glossary in the back of the book frequently to fully comprehend each concept. Moreover, many of the historical examples require somewhat in-depth knowledge of Churchill's exploits. I suggest reading the appendix at the back of the book before moving onto the regular text.

In May of 1940, England faced enormous odds. Since the previous September, the German armies had handily conquered Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and the combined armies of Britain and France. France had surrendered and although the bulk of the British army was rescued from Dunkirk, nearly all of their military equipment was now in German hands. Furthermore, the Italians had entered the war on the German side and the German alliance with Russia seemed firm, as both sides had so much to gain by maintaining it.
Now essentially devoid of significant allies and low on supplies, the only hope the British had to carry out the fight was to make more efficient use of what they had. Therefore, the British carried out one of the greatest improvements in managerial operations ever achieved. Winston Churchill selected the right people for all positions, relying almost solely on talent rather than political or social position. His only concessions to political necessity were in allowing some leaders of the political opposition to have high government posts. For example, Clement Attlee was appointed Deputy Prime Minister during the war years. The direness of the times allowed Churchill and his appointees' great range in their actions and power. Fortunately for the British side, they were men of sense and effectiveness.
In this book, the actions of Churchill and his wartime staff are used as a set of demonstration cases for how effective adaptation can be in the business world. Despite the serious differences in the circumstances, after all, no business staff is really battling for its very life, the analogies work. Kozak-Holland does an excellent job in toning the circumstances down to a set of fundamental business circumstances. It has often been said that we must learn from history, this is a book where several lessons can be learned from history and in this case not all of the lessons are direct.
As Churchill showed, a strong will is necessary but not sufficient for success. You must be willing to delegate responsibility and be willing to let the people do their job without micromanaging. When the circumstances warrant it, you must be willing to fire people and also to hold the line against firing people even though others believe that they should be removed.
There is a great deal of business management knowledge that can be learned from this book. It has been said many times that the modern global business competition is just the next generation of warfare. While that is certainly debatable, the points of the debate are not about the fact, just about how far the analogy can be extended. As can be seen here, there are many similarities between modern total war between nations and competition between businesses.

Reviewed by William E. Cooper for Reader Views (6/06)

Mark Kozak-Holland has written one of the best and most fascinating management, leadership, and business books I've read. As a retired Chief of Police with two graduate degrees, and one who teaches graduate school courses, as well as being the author of my own book "Leading Beyond Tradition," I found this to be a "can't put it down" book. It is a literal page turner, comparing Winston Churchill's incredibly complex set of problems at the outset of and during World War II with today's management issues, then providing legitimate and very well thought out solutions.

It is about the tremendous change the world and our organizations are facing and the need for being agile and adapting to frequently changing conditions. It is about getting the right people in, the wrong people out, and the right people in the right places. It is about having a vision and a strategy for achieving it; it is about change management. The examples used are incredibly profound and clearly applicable to today's business needs and environment. This book is a must-read and should not only be in every manager's library, but should be a university text book and part of every library. I strongly recommend Mr. Kozak-Holland's book. Well done sir.

I enjoyed this story about a cowboy and his girl told as the tale develped and it kept me up way past my bedtime to see how it all turned out. Altogether it was an enjoyable tale and very moving. The loss of a loved one was an undercurrent throughout the book until a new life is born into this world. Good stuff!!

When reading this book you may not realize just how much of Mr. Cord's own life experience influenced the characters. However, by reading this story you'll actually gain insight into his personal life tragedies. In effect, this book is part autobiography and part fiction, truly a labor of love from Mr. Cord.

A Hollywood legend who starred in "Airwolf" (1984-1986), Mr. Cord is perhaps best known for his proficient horsemanship and appearances in high-profile westerns such as "Stagecoach."

This book is absolutely amazing. Having lost a child, I found that Alex Cord captured the true essence of a parent facing the loss of a child. I laughed and cried at the touching force he gives as a greiving parent, finding the love of his life and bringing a new being into the world to love and cherish, but never trying to let him take Damien Zachary's place, just fill the void. The horse language is true in every sense of the word, to imagine the majestic beauty of the Cutting Horse. Truly a book well worth reading. Thank you, Alex!!

As a Radio Talk Show Host I have interviewed 100's of authors. Alex Cords' "A Feather in the Rain" is a MUST READ! To find out about the real Alex Cord, I would recommend that you read this book. Its to bad that there are not more men like him in the world today! If you have ever seen a horse, I say READ THIS BOOK! I would also have to say that, BAR NONE!, also the best Radio interview that I have ever had and, believe me, I have had alot. Without ever meeting Alex in person I consider him a true friend.

If you have suffered loss, some personal healing will be found in the pages of this book. Alex opened up his heart on this one. Just read it!

Not only is Hilary Page a fine artist, but she writes wonderful books that explain art technique.

If you aren't pleased with the results you are getting when mixing colors, do read this book.

If you are a watercolorist, the Guide to Watercolor Paints by the same author is valuable reading as well.

I'm new to watercolor painting and suffering from the beginner's consequence of too many books and too many paints. I wish I would have bought this book first, much time and $$ would have been saved. Her suggestions for testing each tube of paint to learn unique pigment qualites, pigment colors, color theory, color schemes, primary colors, complements, and optical mixtures have proven invaluable.

The excercises included are easy to follow and serve to instill her unsaid mantra. Learn your paints learn your paints learn your paints! I've had this book for several months - still working through some of her excercises and foresee that I will continue to refer to this book many times in the future.

After reading Hilary Page's book, it occurred to me how painting classes should maybe start with lessons on color rather than charcoal drawing. Her detailed explanation of color is grouped in three main aspects: objective color (measured by instruments), optical color (perceived by eye) and practical color (working with pigments). The theoretical aspects are then proven in practical examples which are also used for demonstrating her watercolor techniques, producing some very pleasing artwork.

Details on pigments are particularly valuable. Pigment properties like clarity, tinting strength, purity, value range, degree of opacity, consistency related to the degree of sediment, wet-on-wet behavior, staining when rewetted etc. will be new to many. Knowing such details will help you prevent some strange "accidents" that can spoil your work.

Rare books on color point out the difference between the pigment-color contrasts and the light-color contrast. Hilary Page is very specific regarding these contrasts: she shows two types of color wheels and two sets of primary and complementary colors. She also explains "spectral reflectance curves" that give us an insight to understanding why printers use "balanced" primary colors.

A book on color naturally requires high quality print without any color distortion and this one doesn't fail here either.

I just finished reading this well-thought-out and completely researched watercolor book. I am still new to water colors and am challenged and frustrated by this medium. Page's chapter on the history,nomenclature, and categories of pigments was incredibly interesting and will become a permanent edition to my water color reference library. I have seen many variations of color wheels in my 35 years of teaching---her watercolor pigment wheel is based on her own palette, and includes placement of saturated, unsaturated, and neutral pigments. I slso found the chapter on optical color effects fascinating.

As a professional watercolourist with over twenty five years of experience and an advanced understanding of colour I can tell you that this is an excellent reference book. Definitely a great tool for art instructors. Even though the writer sees it as a book for beginners I feel that the complexity of the subject will probably be overwhelming for beginners.

As part of my daily job, I lead agile projects in a large organization. I usually use a number of different sources to get the information that I need on different aspects of agile development and leading agile projects. I really like this book for a number of reasons: (1) I like the fact that it is written by a number of respected experts in the area; (2) I like its style in chapters like 5 that summarizes lessons learned in a set of principles; (3) Chapter like 14 clears confusions on topics like "agile documentation".

I enjoy and benefit from this book and you should find it useful if you are also engaged in leading and managing agile projects.

Reviewed by Regan Windsor for Reader Views (3/07)

"Managing Agile Projects" provides a comprehensive and well-balanced look at the various components of agile project management. It contains a compilation of "chapters" from seventeen industry authors.

Describing the key elements of agile methodology, "Managing Agile Projects" provides an analysis of iterative and incremental delivery, active stakeholder participation, communication, agile documentation, extreme testing, and quality focus. Through real and hypothetical examples readers gain a thorough understanding of how agile methodology is applied to project management.

Kevin Aguanno has done an excellent job of compiling publications and agile community expertise into an easy to read, articulate guidebook covering the history of agile methods, how the methodology differs from traditional methods, when the methodology works, and in what situations it may not be appropriate in its entirety.

"Managing Agile Projects" is a recommended read for all project managers, software developers, and anyone with an interest in leading edge methodology!

This is the book I use the most when I need agile techniques for my projects. It contains all the info you need from a managers perspective; when you need a technique, and how to apply. I am very happy with all the fundamental explanations on why certain techniques can help you out with a project problem. Stakeholder participation, requirements, testing, development strategies, it is all in there. And best of all, without hype.

My favorite chapter is "Stealth Methodology Adoption" which explains how to sell to higher level management that you are going agile.

With contributions from Scott Ambler, Alistair Cockburn, Larry Constantine and Ronald Jeffries you know that the advice presented is from real experts.

Aguanno's book is an excellent overview of agile project management methodologies and practices. Aguanno assembles leading authorities in the field to contribute their experiences and knowledge directly from real experiences. The numerous management techniques discussed will help you use agile methods to increase the value and effectiveness of all your projects. Anyone wishing to learn more about agile, or project management in general, will benefit from this book.

I first bought this with some concern that it was another book just espousing the need to adopt agile project management/agile software development methods; however, I was delighted to see that the book included so much more. The first couple of chapters do explain the history of the evolution of the agile method, but do so in a way that focuses on the benefits to the business stakeholders for allowing technical teams to adopt these methods, such as the several different ways that agile methods reduce risk. The next section of the book talks about how managing agile projects is different from traditional projects, and gives specific examples of the differences and how to change your project management behavior to match the new environment. The third section of the book was amazing -- it detailed a number of agile management techniques that I could adopt today into my project, without the need for necessarily adopting a whole new methodology. The last section of the book talks about some of the "gotchas" that we have to watch out for when using these agile methods. One special nugget was the last chapter which gives instructions on how to adopt these techniques and practices into an organization or onto an existing project without attracting the notice of the "process police" in an organization. I like this concept of changing the way I work while flying under the radar. I HIGHLY recommend this book to project managers, business managers, and senior technical leads of teams who are using (or would like to use) agile software development methods.

My daughter loves this book. She plays the songs everyday. She now knows all the characters from Sesame Street. The pop ups are great but just a little flimsy.

My [...] son received this book for his birthday and it became a fast favorite. He loves to push the buttons and listen to the music. He also quickly found the "stop" button and likes to stop the music if he doesn't like my singing--then he laughs. This is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.

My son received this as a first birthday present and still reads it everyday (7 months later!) The pop-ups are all torn, but he loves the music. This is one of his favorite books!

Elmo is everyone's favorite character come alive in this musically interactive book.

My 19 month old daughter LOVES this book! She spends more time with this book than anything else. I wish they would make more books like this. I would definitely recommend this book!!! Not only keeps your child busy but gives mom some quiet time. :)

The "Blank Star" review at the bottom is actually just a snipet of self promotion from the book's author Rob Howard. It's strange that he does this because it drags down the average rating which could affect sales. I suppose that since this book is out of print it doesn't matter, but anyway, great book, one complaint: Some of the tools that Howard recommends are no longer manufactured and it would be nice to get some existing alternatives.

This is one of the beswt books i have in my collection. I have studied arts in Holland. I like gouache very much. (www.loekweijts.nl) It's a pitty however Holbein gouache is not available in the Netherlands. Falling in love on the mighty gouache. Amazed myself with the results. A MUST to have.

This is almost the only book you'll need to get started with gouache. As the medium of such outstanding artists as the late Bob Peak and industrial design master Syd Mead, gouache has so many possibilities IF you can learn how to use it and this book will tell you exactly how to get started! Be sure to do the exercises, get some decent sable brushes, and use one of the quality gouaches listed. Winsor Newton is pricey but Holbein's Acryla gouache is incredible once you figure out their color names (not standard like W&N or Holbeins standard gouache). His basic color palletes are a great start & his recommendation of the Quiller color wheel is right on. There is a new Quiller wheel out but the one in the book will not lead you astray. Study(!) the sections on color and color mixing and you will soon have a leg up on every other "beginner" and start seeing "what" makes some art professional as opposed to "straight out of the tube" amateur attempts. This book is great and I recommend it highly to anyone who wants to paint in gouache.

This book is an excellent introduction to the best techniques for painting in gouache, also known as opaque watercolor. Gouache has been a standard medium for illustrators for generations, yet it is not often taught in American art schools. It also has been used by fine artists for centuries. Gouache is remarkably easy to use, has low toxicity and is easy to clean up. Considering all that, it is amzing how little information about is available for professional artists.

Howard's book goes a long way toward correcting the problem. He explains how to select the right type of paint for your project, reviews several different brands of paint, and gives sound advice on color mixing. Even if you don't want to use opaque watercolor, the book is worth buying just for Howard's chapter on "Color Theories That Don't Work."

This book is jam packed with valuable information for not just painters who work in gouache, but all painters. If you only have room or money for just a few more books, make sure that this is one of them. It is excellent, I have worked in illustration and and have painted in watercolors for 24 years. Many gouache techniques and properties, for some reason, are not commonly taught. Some of the working knowledge in here is the type that one only learns either on the job, or as an assistant/apprentice. The author has been very generous to be so informative while writing this book. Definitely not your average "how to" book!!

Get this book. Do anything you have to in order to own it. I paid $250 at the Art Institute of Chicago because I was afraid I would miss out...again. This is a collector's piece if you got the first edition. If not, don't hesitate. It is interesting, intriging, thought provoking, ahead of it's time....and not just for 'creative' types. Something good for everyone.

This is the most extraordinary book I've ever owned! I missed out when it was first published as a limited edition and I vowed that if it ever came back,I would grab one. Bravo to Rizzoli Publishers for re-issuing this hard-to-find classic!

These facsimile pages from the twelve issues of Flair are a celebration of Fleur Cowles zest for creativity in the arts. The 338 pages must have been a challenge for the Hong Kong printers, they had to cope with various foldout pages, die-cut holes, different paper stock and bind in several short pages, two concertina foldouts and five sixteen page booklets.

Sumptuous though the book is I feel that Flair is resting in its reputation. To my mind, having worked as a publication art director, the photos, typography and layouts are very conservative and do not show any particular innovative design. Other magazines and designers were much more creative in the fifties, 'Fortune' with Will Burtin, 'Glamour' with Cipe Pineless, 'Harper's Bazaar' with Alexey Brodovitch and 'Vogue' with Alexander Liberman. Certainly the covers with their die-cut holes (sadly only six of the twelve are included) and the bound in booklets were unique to consumer magazines at the time but I think that Flair should be remembered as a magazine concept rather than a magazine full of creativity.

Fleur Cowles writes a short piece about the origins of Flair (handwritten in gold on dark blue paper) but does not give enough detail (I believe each issue involved several printers and binders) and as there were only twelve issues a list of all the articles should have been included. Another reviewer has commented that the high price (reassuringly expensive?) and the cloth covered box the book comes in reflects snob appeal, I agree but I'm still pleased to have a copy.

I first became acquainted with Fleur Cowles' revolutionary 'Flair' magazine during my childhood in the fifties. At that time the publication impressed me with its cultured blend of cosmopolitan sophistication and innovative design, although it didn't escape me that its pages also included a great deal of elitism, snobbery and self-congratulatory arrogance. Although I wasn't fortunate to keep any of the original issues, the magazine became a significant influence in the development of my literary and artistic tastes and in my life-long quest for beauty and elegance. For that I was grateful. So it was a joy to learn that a best-of compilation put together by Fleur Cowles herself had finally appeared. The original 1996 printing sold out before I could manage to acquire a copy and when Rizzoli recently published a second run I quickly got one. This edition has a foreword by writer-socialite Dominick Dunne. Now, is it really worth the rather steep price of [price]? Well... I think that for that kind of money the publishers could have managed to provide us with something much more substantial, for example: a slipcased set containing facsimile editions of all twelve original issues, rather than this comprehensive but ultimately limited look. A complete reprint would have given us the full impression of the range and period feel of a unique magazine, and at this price I think that they could have well afforded to do it. I understand that part of the reason for this expensive price tag is the snob appeal that has always been a part of the Flair mystique and that perhaps this offering is to be regarded as literary caviar for the more discerning (and well-off) among us. On the plus side I must say that the large-format book is lavishly printed, that the articles are indeed very well selected - containing not quite all but much of the best of the short-lived magazine - and that the presentation is very handsome indeed. Several of the covers are reproduced with their distinctive die-cuts and embossing and the book is housed in an elegant cloth-covered box. I still think it could have been more reasonably priced but there it is. Caviar lovers, enjoy it before it disappears again!

Culturing Live Foods
By
Michael R. Hellweg

Since Mike Hellweg is an old and valued friend/colleague in the tropical fish hobby, my opinions about his new book "Culturing Live Foods" may be a little biased - although they really need not be. "Culturing Live Foods" is a much-needed, and excellently written book, and it is an important contribution to the aquarium hobby. Mike is well known throughout the hobby as not only an accomplished writer, but also a master breeder, and he shares with us the fact that much of his success in breeding fishes comes from giving live foods to both the breeders, and the offspring.
"Culturing Live Foods" starts with a very interesting discussion of the history of fish foods, and the reasons for feeding live foods today, even though we have a wide variety of excellent frozen and dry foods available to us. The book then discusses the tools and containers needed, and getting starter cultures, for live foods. The foods themselves start with the smallest ones that are used - phytoplankton, or "Green water". Protozoans, or "infusoria" are then discussed, and then somewhat larger foods such as copepods, rotifers and vinegar eels. Much space is devoted to brine shrimp, which is fitting as they are probably the most common live food in the hobby. Mike discusses hatching, enriching and growing live brine shrimps to adults, as well as decapsulating the cysts (eggs).
As the book progresses we move up in size for the live foods, from worms (whiteworms, tubifex, blackworms and earthworms) to snails and crustaceans such as daphnia, moina and mysis shrimps. Other shrimps such as glass or grass shrimps and various species of Neocaridina are covered. Insects are the next category, and they include flour beetles, fruit flies, mealworms and mosquito larvae - including the constant battle between hobbyists and spouses about whether the standing water that has been left out was left there on purpose or by mistake, the net effect being a nice population of mosquito larvae that the hobbyist finds terrific for feeding fish, and the spouse sees only as a source of biting insects. The final group of live foods are fish, and here Mike mentions the problems with buying feeder fish from the local fish store (or bait store), and he strongly suggests that hobbyists raise their own feeder fish if at all possible.
Mike's book is packed with a wealth of detailed information, and yet it is much more than a simple "How To" book. It is an interesting, well written and very informative book, and covers all aspects of live foods, from starting cultures to collecting foods from the wild. There is an excellent group of resources at the end of the book in terms of related books, magazines, Internet sites and suppliers of live foods and cultures. "Culturing Live Foods" should be in the library of any fish hobbyist who wants to keep, and breed, fish successfully.

This is a terrific, up-to-date resource by Mike Hellweg, a master fish breeder whose success with fish is built on his success in feeding his fish appropriate live foods.

I've been discussing the culture of various live foods with Mike for several years now, and studying a lot of what has been easily available on the internet, and even put together my own web page reviewing the techniques I've used with my own cultures. But this book has already given me new tips and tricks on creatures I thought I knew all about, and given me confidence to try some that I've failed with in the past. The details are just right to enable success with each organism, and there are good sources for more information if you want or need it.

This book is also an excellent primer on spawning fish, because several species are discussed as easily bred feeders for larger fish. Those are tips you can use to propagate those and related species for your own enjoyment even if you don't keep predatory fish.

I can't recommend this highly enough for the aquarist who wants to keep and spawn happy, healthy fish.

I'm really happy to see this book. It's been a long time since we have had updated comprehensive information. This is presented beautifully and very well written. Any serious Aquarist should plan on this book for their collection. You won't be disappointed.

Let's face it; the subject of this book has the "Uggh!" factor. Raising worms and plankton and shrimp to feed to your fish does not appeal to everyone. But if you have ever had blackworms in your refrigerator or brine-shrimp in your freezer, you need this book in your library.

This book tells how certain old-school aquarium keepers had success raising difficult-to-breed fish using live foods, and then shared their methods by word-of-mouth with others. This book is filled with advice passed on from an accomplished hobbyist.

An alternate title for this book might have been "Culturing Fish Using Live Foods". The author explains how using live food leads to success in conditioning fish to breed and in raising their offspring. Then he explains in clear detail how to raise the live foods. Use Amazon's Search Inside feature to find some examples related to your interests: cichlid, livebearer, killie, etc.

This could be a coffee table book for tropical fish enthusiasts. Any serious hobbyist would have to pick it up and leaf through it. It's a visually attractive book with a lot of fantastic photographs and bold colors throughout. The book is well organized and has a fair amount of sidebar articles. The book also gives detailed, practical information for raising live foods.

For someone that doesnt know much about Geckos, this book was an awesome introduction to the speices and their general care and well being. At the time of purchasing my gecko i couldnt identify the species but was educated about its rarity once reading this fully demonstrated book with lots of pics and info about my newest pet. Highly recommended for those beginners wanting to know more.

Very thorough. Tells you everything from A-Z about every breed of Gecko you can think of. Recommended VERY HIGHLY!

AWESOME!! Has many facts on every species of gecko imaginable. A must for the true Gecko enthusiest!

This is a great book for any gecko owner, be he/she a begginer or a professional breeder, this wil be very useful to everyone.

As a cofounder of a startup computer company, I found Watson's advice to be quite cogent. There are all sorts of elaborate methods for management of large scale projects, computer-related or otherwise. Like the Capability Maturity Model Integration from Carnegie Mellon. But this and others of its ilk can be offputting to a new manager, who has to supervise a small group. Much of the functionality is simpler unnecessary or too time consuming. And the books that explain those models can be many hundreds of pages long. Daunting to even start reading, let alone to decide whether to use those or not.

A virtue of Watson's book is that you can quickly absorb it in a few hours. You don't have to risk a huge commitment of your time, to form an opinion of it. Turns out that the procedures it describes are very easy to do. Plus, you don't necessarily need a computer to keep track of the tasks. The book's diagrams show a process that can be documented on paper or blackboard.

There is very little of a quantitative aspect here. No metrics. Somewhat of an old fashioned approach, before computers became prevalent and made it possible to quantify a lot of processes. So this is not a book for quality control or six sigma type tasks in a production line.

The smaller project is often overlooked in books about software and project management. Many authors give the implicit signal that only the large projects need to be managed, as if the small projects can be run in an ad hoc manner. That is of course not the case; the small project needs focus and direction, just like the large ones. In some ways, since the small project will often have a more rigid delivery window, it requires a more consistent focus.
Watson sets down some basic guidelines for such projects, starting with some simple forms. Being short and simple, these forms could only be used on small projects. However, like all forms, they should be considered a rubber sheet rather than a rigid slate. Even small projects require a high degree of adaptability as things are rarely constant.
There is no question in my mind that the guidelines set forward in this book will work in helping you manage your small projects. While they will not scale up to the larger projects unaltered, there is much of the structure that will. And to the extent that a large project can be split into a sum of smaller projects, you may find that these principles may also be of enormous benefit, even when your project is large.

There exists the PMBOK which stands for Project Management Body of Knowledge and long with it a certification program for project managers. This consists of a tried and true set of procedures, forms, techniques, and software to assist in the management of projects.

This book has an opening sentence: 'Many of the methods and techniques used in traditional project management look like proverbial sledgehammers when directed at smaller projects.' He is absolutely right, the use of a full scale project management system on a smaller project will likely take more effort than is to be spent on the project itself.

Instead the author has come up with the SP (Smaller Projects) Method. It keeps what is useful but eliminates the 'luxuries' of dealing with smaller projects. For instance one part of big projects is team building. The smaller project 'team' may well have just a single individual for a month or two.

To go with the information in the book, one of the appendices includes a series of forms that you can use to work with the smaller projects that will assist in its management.

Reviewed by Kathleen Dowdell for Reader Reviews (10/06)

The purpose of Mike Watson's guide "Managing Smaller Projects" is primarily to help people manage smaller projects logically and effectively. This might seem like a simple task, one that could be applied by studying prior project management methods used by large corporations on large projects. This is not so. Watson explains the what, why and how of managing smaller projects so that these smaller projects are not overlooked and left to their own devices and ultimately become a financial burden to the company.

One of the 16 chapters in the book discusses the challenge of managing a project alongside your normal work load. This is extremely useful in evaluating your time commitments by measuring where you spend your time. The author suggests completing a time sheet for 3-4 weeks to get an actual account of how you spend your time at work. Additionally, a chapter on project initiation outlines eleven strategic project factors that are a useful, practical approach for tackling your project. Once the answers to these project factors are drafted and out in the open, two things are accomplished. First, you can communicate the conditions surrounding the project. Second, the project plan (developing a strategy) can be built around these conditions. Then these strategies can be listed in "pieces" or "chunks" which will make it easier to manage the project.

When beginning a small project you must be very clear about what area of your current operation you are trying to improve. In reviewing your objectives, the goals of your plan, the roles and responsibilities, and resources your target will be in sight and you will not waste time scattered about in every direction.

Some practical information that the author shares is to resist the desire to buy project management software thinking it will manage the project. "People manage projects, not computers" is the author's viewpoint on this. I would agree with this theory. I have purchased software programs that I thought would cut down on my work only to find that the programs caused more work and were not appropriate for what I wanted them to do. A computer is more useful for documenting and holding the many tasks but it will not manage the project. As the author quotes "you wouldn't buy an accounting package, give it to a novice and then rely on them to produce company accounts for the next month end, would you?" What it can do for you though, is keep track of your task list, break the list into doable units, keep spreadsheets on your progress, and organize your resources. There are seven standard forms included at the end of the book along with two checklists to remind you of useful techniques for each stage of the project

Mike Watson has been a consultant, project manager, and trainer for over 30 years. His practical approach makes "Managing Smaller Projects" an invaluable tool for people who lack formal management training as well as those who work in formal management who want to control smaller projects without the formal corporate burden that is often felt in that environment.