Business Books

This is a wonderful book....written in a way that is easy to understand..as if she is sitting there talking to you in a normal conversation....I loved this book...couldnt put it down!!

I bought this book because I had signed up for a seminar with Tama Kieves. The book is a wonderful inspirational tale for anyone who doubts in their abilities to forge a new path in their lives. Tama shares her vulnerable side and foibles along with her success, making her story accessible to the reader. She did it and so can we! She is especially good at leading the reader to trust in themselves. I followed her recommendation of savoring each chapter,rather than reading it all in one sitting. If you are thinking of leaving your career to be an artist or writer, this book is helpful. I plan to read it again. Better yet, sign up to hear her speak!

This book is so well written, funny, and has truly helped me to question my fear and dare again to be the person i most want to be. i yearn less for a partner to complete me and now am more curious about the ways i can draw out of myself the qualities i so often seek in others.

I enjoyed Tama's writing style and honesty. This story is inspirational to people who are stopped by 'shoulds' and judgment in their lives. She shows us how to trust our inner voice during times of change, how to remain constant and sacrifice the superfluous for what matters most. She is an example of making a difference in this world by having the courage to follow her true path.

Tama Kieves was a successful Harvard grad/lawyer who walked away from her office with a view and high paying job to do what she most wanted to do. When she made her choice to jump in with both feet, she lowered her expenses and took a waitress job to sustain herself while she followed her dream.

She believes that people can and should be able to make a living doing whatever they are naturally gifted at and love to do. She wrote this book and when it didn't get picked up by a publisher, she self published it and then a major company approached her and bought it.

I have read a lot of self help and "Do what you love.." type books and I have to say that this one is awesome. I couldn't put it down. There is so much good advice on just about every page, and the thing is, it's all stuff she knows because she's experienced it.

I wish I had known that the secret to life is doing what you love to do when I first started working. But then, how would we know what we love if we didn't do all those things that we didn't/don't love in the first place?

This is a great book that I highly recommend and would give as gifts.

I was lucky enough to be given a preview copy of a great new book by Craig Stull, Phil Myers, and David Meerman Scott called Tuned In. I got the preview, but it is being published today. It was a very interesting experience to read this book, because I feel as though I understand the authors' perspectives so well already. But even though I know where the authors are coming from, I was still riveted by this book. They tell so many great stories that illustrate their big point, which is that you need to be willing to listen to what's going on around you to really produce a business breakthrough. I found myself sorry when the book ended, because the stories are so helpful in driving the philosophy home, and each story is interesting on its own merits.

I am a big fan of David's, and if you read his last book, you would be too. So, I recognized David's voice in places throughout the book, especially when it explains how to detect the difference between tuned-in and tuned-out marketing.

But I also recognize the voices of Craig and Phil, because I am a certified product manager from their company, Pragmatic Marketing. So when the book differentiates between listening to your customers and listening to your overall market, I hear them. When they tell you that you need to get out and talk to people to identify the ideas that will resonate, I remember hearing in class: "Nothing good ever happens in the office."

So, nothing this book said really surprised me. And that's the real genius of the book. So often, a really great book says something that seems completely obvious--right after you hear it. This book is one of those.

Well of course you need to talk to your whole market and not just your existing customers. Well sure you'd rather have real information on which to base your decisions than "gut feel." Certainly innovation for innovation's sake is doomed to failure.

There are these kind of "Well, duh!" ideas on every page. But they are obvious only in retrospect. Most companies don't act as if these ideas are obvious--just the opposite.

In my last book, I tried to help people take these approaches in Internet marketing. This book has a bigger agenda, where the authors help you see how to succeed in all the parts of an offering, from product development to marketing. And they succeed, both because of these blowhard-skewering truths and because they have a rich set of stories that put these ideas in action.

I was fascinated by the case study for Zipcar, a business I was aware of but had never tried. The way they first identified the needs of city dwellers who occasionally need a car, but don't need the hassles of owning one, was an eye-opener for me. But I was even more surprised to hear about how they've targeted other groups to help them, ranging from politicians interested in telling a green story to landlords looking to add Zipcars as a differentiator against other rental properties.

Zipcar is just one of dozens of stories that bring the Tuned In principles to life. If you've ever wondered why your company is stultified in its strategy, and why it strangles every successful product idea before it ever sees the light of day, read this book. It will challenge you to transform your company or leave it.

[...]

Great Book!! Your own personal opinion is irrelevant no matter what situation you are in. You can accomplish more than you've ever imagined in your personal and professional life by observing and listening to others and what they want. And whether it's right or wrong, let it go. Just give them what they want and the paybacks will come. This book is another great spin on the principles of Dale Carnegie.

This book is a must read for all entrepreneurs and their marketing department. If you're lucky enough to read this book before developing your business plan, you're going to benefit greatly. This book really helped our team dig at how we were developing and marketing our application and our business.

The examples of the book are unique and interesting, supporting the entire premise. Perhaps the best feature of the book is that it can easily be used as a checklist for your company, your product or your service. This book must be purchased by you and must be read by your staff.

This straight-talking book is a great addition to any entrepreneur's bookshelf. When positioning a company or a product - or a candidate for public office, there are several rules to follow, among them: Who is your customer? What is important to your customer? And how does your service or product meet the "perceived" needs of your customer? The key words are "perceived needs." You must know what your customer is buying and why, and what they want to buy. You also need to know what they are not buying - and why. It's all about establishing authentic connections, or as Myers, Stull and Scott say, how we tell our buyer that we've solved their problems - so that they listen to what we have to say, buy our products or services, or vote for us. (The reviewer is author of two books:Personal Publicity Planner: A Guide to Marketing YOU and Top Cops: Profiles of Women in Command.)

I've been through the seminars on Practical Product Management delivered through the authors' firm (Pragmatic Marketing). As a CTO it was an eye-opener to see an approach to Product Management that meshed with the concepts of Agile Development in the software field. The two disciplines work well together to create software products that resonate with customers.

This book is not so much breaking new ground, but distilling years of learning into a simple introductory form for folks who might be interested in moving from an inside-out/command-and-control view of the market. It makes a strong empirical business case for doing things differently.

Highly recommended if you're starting a business, launching a new business unit or product line, or simple want to spark growth in existing efforts. You might even learn which existing efforts are not tuned-in and pull back on their funding so you can invest in products and services that the market wants.

It's about time someone cut through the pablum surrounding sales strategies, tactics, and all the rest and got to the heart of the matter. We have truly met the enemy...and it is US. In 'Up Your Business' Dave Anderson takes the blinders and the gloves off and offers a practical, honest, straightforward guide for effective management in the automotive industry (or any other people/sales/customer endeavor).

In his usual 'tell it like it is' style Anderson has created the BEST management book I've read in over 15 years of directing sales departments in dealerships. Whether your store sells 50 or 1500 cars a month you'll gain some new insights from the book - and you'll walk away with a new and honest appraisal of your own abilities and efforts.

I couldn't recommend the book more. The best part is...Not only will 'Up Your Business' fulfill its title's promise in your business, it's just a flat-out great read!

This is a great book for your managers. We are using it as a trainig tool through our entire dealership. It's a good read.

I'm in the car business and this is the best book that I have ever read about running my business. I bought a copy for each of my managers and have used the principles discussed in the book to make significant changes in my operation. I highly recommend this book for any retail business owner or manager!

This is 3 books in book. A Leadership Book, A Daily Hands On Template of required tasks, and above all a long term Step by Step Program of how to turn a business around. If anything it is a Roadmap To Success.

Unlike most business books I have read this one is a clear step by step instruction manual of what needs to be done,how it needs be done, and why it should be done. Written in a down to earth style with a no nonsense approach it reinforces clarity of action which gets positive results. Dave has starts at ground zero and work outwards - an area of business activity ignored by most writers who are more interested in the theory of business rather then the nuts and bolts of running and holding a business together.

Thank you Dave

In a recent Maximum Impact message by John Maxwell on "How to Overcome the Six Temptations of Successful Organizations" he acknowledged the source of his message as coming from Dave Anderson's most recent book, "Up Your Business".

I wanted to see what other pearls of wisdom Dave had to share so I bought his book. I was not disappointed! Congratualtions to Dave on a great leadership book!! It is the best thing since sliced bread!!

I especially enjoyed Dave's direct, no nonsense, no-holds-barred style that identifies the entitlement culture that much of our society has bought into and his get-tough advice on how to replace it with a merit culture.

Dave's insights and pearls of wisdom were huge for me as I have more than 38 references penciled in the front of the book that I am taking to the bank.

I'm planning to take my two teenagers cross country this summer and this is a GREAT book for finding interesting places to show them. It has excellent maps, clear directions, and well-written descriptions of what you will (and won't) see so I can figure out what sites will best entertain the different family members. I only wish we had time to see more of the places they describe. It even tells you what other nearby attractions there are. Kudos to the authors!

My wife and I love to go on factory tours and visit company museums when we travel. It's corny, I know, but fun. This book gives wonderful examples of some of the best tours and museums around. Whenever we're going on a road trip, we always consult Watch It Made in the U.S.A.: A Visitor's Guide to the Best Factory Tours and Company Museums (Watch It Made in the USA) to help us decide where we might like to go. I would very much recommend it for families with young kids who might enjoy such tours, and probably retirees who have the time and interest for them, as well.

This is an excellent book for anyone who is interested in things made in the USA. It gives a nice description of the facilities, locations, tour times, cost and lengths, age appropriateness, and phone numbers.
We like to travel the country and will use the information to plan our trips. The book is well organized and very helpful.

This is my first review in Amazon.

I am always curious about how things are made,
and after watching many episodes of "How do they do it",
and "How it's made" on discovery Channel.
I started to look for extra resources for a better understanding on these "behind the scenes" mysteries.
Then, I found this book.
And this book is a real treasure!
The book is well organized,
It provides many detail information about the factory tours,
and the brief background of the companies.

Thanks to this book,
now I have some itineraries in mind.
I plan to visit KitchenAid's factory in the near future for my mom.
(My family is in Taiwan)
She is a big fan of KitchenAid mixer. ha.
I will also visit Airstream company as well,
Owning a travel trailer is my dream, and I want to know how it is made,
And I will be more determined to realize this dream!
Maybe one day I will write a similar book "Watch it made in Taiwan" in a mobile trailer office. Who knows?!

Great book, I did not know that a book like this existed. Will definitly come in handy when planning trips. Checked information on places we have already been and information was accurate.

What's important about work? What's important about life? What would you tell your kids if you wrote them a letter about what's important, what work and life mean to you?

Bill Jensen is a self-described simpleton dedicated to fighting corporate stupidity. Living a simple life in this complicated world is challenge enough, but this brave soul has committed to an even deeper mission. Cutting through the stupidity, bureaucracy, and politics, you'll discover that corporations are comprised of people. People. Ordinary, heart's-in-the-right-place people. These people have feelings, experiences, perspectives, and stories to tell. They have vital messages to pass on to others.

Jensen has collected those messages. Thousands of them, in the form of letters. Written documentaries from the depths of consciousness of the writers. Some are short, some long. Some deep and profound, others relatively shallow. Each has a message. This book is a collection of samples of the letters Jensen has collected. They are assembled on these pages, not to be read necessarily from cover to cover, but to be selected and absorbed at will. Picking and choosing letters, as the author suggests, is not easy-you'll probably read most of them anyway.

The letters are organized into chapters representing what Jensen calls his Five Discoveries: Finding Yourself, Finding the Lessons to be Learned and the Questions to be Asked, Finding the Choices that Really Matter, Finding the Courage to Choose, and Finding Joy, Serenity, and Fulfillment.

The book concludes with a valuable chapter on getting started with your own understandings and choices. This publication is a learning, a sharing, an inspiration to look more carefully at your own life to see what really matters. Curl up with this book next week-end.

What Is Your Life's Work? by Bill Jensen is more than just advice: it gathers life stories and case histories of those who succeeded in identifying what really matters, using the letters and work diaries of others to mirror reader struggles. While the overall message lies in identifying life purpose, all the advice in What Is Your Life's Work can be directed to business solutions and issues as well as more general life concerns over risk, worth, and achievement. An excellent, cathartic inspiration for change.

How often do we define ourselves by our work? How often do we equate who we are in life with our job title: assistant director, associate vice deputy, CEO, chairman, stay-at-home mom, etc.? So many people focus so tightly upon their job description as their identity that they ultimately lose sight of their true self.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S WORK examines what truly matters from a distinctly human perspective. It does so not by dry, formal statements of principles (e.g., the 7-steps, the 10-tenets, the 9-objectives, the 431 value-added theorems . . . you get the picture). Rather, the author offers the wisdom of numerous individuals, precious metals refined in the furnace of everyday existence. The letters and journal entries, selected by Bill Jensen from countless thousands, answer the questions of what really matters in life and how one awakens (or reawakens) the passion in one's soul. The lessons are personal, poignant, and powerful; they are also as unique as are the individual personalities.

In lives of depth and meaning, certain themes emerge: self-respect, integrity, balance, the importance of family, faith, passion, selflessness, and compassion (to name just a few). Mr. Jensen's selections, for the most part, emphasize the transcendence of the individual toward a greater purpose than the accumulation of possessions, or the aggregate of mere activities and accomplishments.

There are two individuals, whose legacies to their children are sadly that of egotistical arrogance and strident selfishness. The reader will quickly recognize these shallow individuals - their stories too are most valuable.

Although a scant 200+ pages, WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S WORK packs a tremendous wallop, a wonderful wake-up call to those who have languished in a low-level comfort zone, or to those who aspire to a higher place. It is a wonderful series of discoveries to those seeking a life of fulfillment and meaning in those areas that truly matter.

This is not one of those how to feel better about one's self or situation. Nor its instructions on to be better in life. The subject matter is like a brilliant snap shot of all sorts of people from various backgrounds and professions and levels of society. They share some of the most amazing fears, tears, and most of all lesson learned within their experience. there is no good and bad...its just a collection of REAL stories written by real people like u and me!!

get this for sure if u want to feel collected and want to reconcile yourself. I know i pick this up every time i feel lost and hopeless; it doesn't care if u made it or not as far as material is concerned. I had recommended this book to 3 people whom are very well off and yet they too have felt lost in their "supposedly" full lives. I gave this as a gift to another who just started their first job out of college. ItS fantastic stories that move u :)

If you've ever wished you had a parent or mentor who would have shared with you what it is that matters most in life, because you've noticed that people who get such mentoring seem to have some kind of natural edge in the world... you're in luck. Bill Jensen's book WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S WORK contains some of the most powerfully moving written exchanges between people that you are likely ever to find, and these gems of real life stories will set you on fire with their honesty and love. Every counselor, life coach, parent and child can benefit from reading WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S WORK, as some of the most important life lessons are touched upon in deeply personal ways.

In an age when it's been said that the art of letter writing is dead, this book dares to raise the subject of we can best find a balance between work and the rest of our life. The intense passion conveyed in most of the letters helps bring this subject to life in a way that is sure to help anyone rekindle their own inner fire, and regain a sense of what it is we're all working for that really matters.

Dense like lead is dense next to tin, Chomsky's serial revelations of atrocious U.S.A. histories will leave you burdened to suspend belief. If you can read and you are a citizen you will contend with your complicity of the 'us' in U.S.A. These plotted histories(many times not linear by the way)spill you through hundreds of years of stuff you don't think 'we' could do and up into 1992. Instead of pushing the weary citizen reader to the safety of the beach and THE END you will realize it is 2004 and we, the U.S.A. are the same.

If you cannot suspend belief you will bend over dazed, thoughts spinning like an errant compass, by the time you finish a few decimals of the first chapter, let alone if you can possibly fight through the moral exhaustion to reach 288.

If you have heart you will finish. If this is your first Chomsky, 288 will not be the end as the Notes and Bibliography begin and spider into more places to go. This is the densest calorie of writing as behind each thought and twitch you sense the colossus of study behind that tiny notice called a footnote. You will feel that this word 'footnote' should be dismissed as a derogatory description for these 288 moments - they should be called Massivenotes or something.

This is a sorrowful journey that is impossible for rationals to contend with. All i can do afterward is know 'yes, i am American.' I feel as if orphaned and wanting to know who I-Am-We-Us are. And 501 hasn't left me alone.

I happened to be reading this on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attacks; on the same day my local paper carried a Mallard Fillmore strip which tried to mock the liberal media by having a stereotypical liberal media commentator intoning, "Today the Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor. Let's examine how we brought this on ourselves." Amongst many other topics, Chomsky actually does show how we brought Pearl Harbor on ourselves. The "Pacific War" as he calls it was not just an unprovoked act of aggression. The Japanese imperialists, even though (as Chomsky points out) they were every bit as brutal as their white rivals, had an arguably legitimate political goal: that is, they wanted Asia to be ruled by Asians rather than by Europeans.

As others have noted, this is a pwerful, angry and wide-ranging book. As you can see just from the title: "Year 501" refers to the 501st anniversary of Columbus's first voyage, but Chomsky's story ranges all over the globe abd all over history.

If you're like me, you know Chomsky's political works primarily from his extensive collaborations with David Barsamian, which are based on speeches and radio interviews. Chomsky voice is much more fiery when, as he is here, he speaks without Barsamian as a moderator.

Chomsky's Year 501 is another engrossing work from this erudite and learned treasure and scholar. A good place to start is the concluding chapter as it presents an incredible analysis with an astonishing array of facts and figures relating to the domestic American scene and the conditions that have befallen the average U.S. worker. He brings the same studious approach to this area of inquiry as he's done for the last forty years regarding the international arena and linguistics. Along with Michael Parenti's Democracy For the Few, it's simply some of the best work available on this pressing topic. Deindustrialization, increasing underemployment, rising poverty, the increasing gap between the super rich and middle class, and the business community's relentless assault on unions - Chomsky touches on all these issues. He summarizes these developments by writing that the United States is showing the characteristics of a Third World country by becoming a two-tiered society. That the child poverty rate in New York city is approaching forty percent is just one example of the many nuggets of information a reader can garner from Year 501.

Of course the majority of the book covers an incredible amount of ground pertaining to international politics and economics with particular emphasis on Latin America. As always these passages shine with insight and brilliance while being backed up with rigorous documentation and research. Colonization to neo-imperialism are broached along with the two rip off machines known as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Since he's always refused to punk out to mainstream corporate opinion Chomsky's a somewhat cruel reminder to the orthodox pundits and intellectuals of what intellectual responsibility is truly about. The New Yorker recently ran a hit piece against him; this of course demonstrates that he's still pontificating and writing truths the black-tie cocktail party set refuse to countenance. Year 501 follows in the tradition of a long line of Chomsky books that make the establishmentarians a bit uncomfortable.

This is a book by Chomsky that is probably even more scholarly than usual. At least in the way it is written. Chomsky wrote this book on the 500th anniversary in 1992 of the beginnings of the invasion of much of the world of what Adam Smith refered to, in a rather narrow context as "the savage injustice of the Europeans ("revealing himself to be an early practicioner of the crime of 'political correctness,'"Chomsky comments sardonically)". Chomsky begins his survey by analyzing the policies of the major European powers and the United States as they grew to dominate the world. Such policies., he explains, are not the free market doctrines stressed by right wing talk radio hosts, University of Chicago professors and other such bores and frauds but by massive state subsides, huge tarrifs to block foreign competitors, extreme violence and colonial occupation.

Places like India and Bengal (Bangladesh) which were highly advanced industrial societies by the mid-1700's but all of the industries which were superior to their counterparts in Britain were deliberately undermined or simply forced out of existence by the British colonisers. India and Bangladesh became extremely poor, feudal agricultural countries supplying Britain with raw materials and as a captive market for British goods. The latter is a familiar pattern outlined by Chomsky in this book. The West, since World war II, dominated by the U.S., has always sought any way it could to block advanced economic development in the third world. The exceptions to this that Chomsky points to are Japan and its former colonies in Asia who violated all the laws of the free market to create very dynamic, if, of course, very far from perfect economies. The British, noted Chomsky, started to adopt "free trade" as policy as the United States would do later under similar circumstances, around 1846 when they had no competitors in their field but this changed around 1930 when they, along with the Americans, French and Dutch erected high tarrif walls around Japanese exports to their colonies in Asia with which they could not compete, a major factor in staring Japan's wars of conquest.

He examines the U.S. role in the slaugter of half a million people in Indonesia in 1965 as the independent nationalist Sukarno was overthrown and "a staggering mass slaughter of communists and pro-communits." The U.S. media, rejoyced at the massacre of landless peasants and the destruction of the only mass-based political party the communist PKI. General Suharto took power initiating ongoing plunder and exploitaion of Indonesia's resources by Western corporations while engaging in mass murder in the U.S. backed occupation of East Timor and elsewhere. He examines the media reaction to this slaugter and the reaction back in 1990 when this great event was brought up again by Kathy Kadane.

He examines the showcases of capitalism in the third world like Brazil, whose liberal capitalist president Goulart was overthrown in 1964 with U.S. aid by a group of Neo-nazi generals who compiled over the next few decades a truly horrific human rights record but who were praised for producing an "economic miracle" as the population sunk into quite horrific levels of malnourishment and disease and land became ever more concentrated in fewer hands and millions of street children arose in the big cities. And Nicaragua where the massive terrorism, celebrated by the media liberals that Chomsky quotes, brought to force upon the Nicaraguan people a defeat of the Sandanistas in "democratic election" in 1990 (the 1984 election won by the Sandinstas dissapearing into the memory hole). This has predictably resulted in a terrible rise in starvation and disease and drug running and street children and on.

He continues with an in-depth examination of the woes of Haiti and the American and Western efforts to ravage it since 1804, and particularly since 1915 when the U.S. invaded and reestablished virtual slavery, with a U.S. imposed constitution ratified with five percent of the voting public participainting under the U.S. marine bayonets, reversing the ban on foreign ownership of land.

He compares the podering of the unique evil of Japan in being unable to fully face up to their past crimes and the comparable ignoring of things like the hundreds of thousand of tortured victims of U.S. chemical warfare in South Vietname, which occasionally elicits a comment in the science pages of the newspapers about how we are missing a great opportunity to study the effects of dioxin on a control population

This is a powerful book indeed. The facts are there for those willing to check them out. For some people this maybe hard to acknowledge , but Chomsky is writing an account of History that everybody should take a time to read and investigate. In so doing , I am sure that you will have a new understanding of how things are , how the world really works and why.
When you read all those books praising globalization , world free trade and neoliberal economics...take a time and verify...go to the real world...and see what is really happening to the majority of the people...Capitalism is a better system , I'm sure...but some adjustments need to be done to the way the big economies are trying to impose it to the little countries....It is creating more poverty and social unrest..and I am afraid that there will come a time when we are not going to be able to control this...

The Spanish have the great idea of "work to live," many American s though have the "live to work" mentality, finding themselves not doing what they want to do, or being who they want to be. If you truly want to be something or do something, then this is a book that will help you overcome your own self-doubts, and your own worries knowing that if you are happy and doing the things you should be doing, then everything else follows along nicely. Nevertheless, if you want to learn what people have been saying about people being successful, in that if you listen to your own inner voice because you know you best, then you want to read this book.

Business schools teach that the top 10% of people carry the organization providing over 50% of the total revenue of the company. What is common about these people is that they all are doing something that they believe in, want to do and in many cases love to do. This is the key to the book, clear out your mind of all the things that don't make sense, and start being your own person, your own boss, and start doing the things you want to do, the things you love to do, and if you are very good at it, then you will do just fine in the longer run.

Five of Five stars for this book, was very good to read, and should be part of anyone's own personal business discovery.

You have an "inner CEO," a confident, balanced, successful executive persona that wants to emerge. Allan Cox provides insights, models and assessments to help you let that persona bloom. He develops his material at a certain pace and it gets stronger as you move deeper into the book. Bypass the book's sometimes puzzling charts and read the text for fresh perspectives on your career. Cox discusses building strong relationships, and explains why both learning and mentoring are important. //getAbstract// finds that his material on developing your vision and your company's mission is helpful, and recommends this book to those CEOs who have been so busy being bosses that they sometimes forget to be people.

As a Top CEO Coach, it was clear to me that in reading Allan's book that he had the credentials and experience to help CEOs seeking to refine their skills. In my book Leadership Matters...The CEO Survival Manual: WHAT IT TAKES TO REACH THE C-SUITE AND STAY THERE I put forth many thoughts that compliment the information Allan provides. I would strongly recommend that any executive interested in becoming a CEO purchase Allan's book and refer to it often.

An outstanding book by Allan Cox, executive coach and respected author, filled with invaluable ideas and thought-provoking insights that are applicable to the college graduate about to enter the business world as well as the experienced senior executive. It's a must read for anyone seriously focused on self-development and planned career growth.

Thank you Mr. Cox, you are a Master Teacher and you have another winner here in this very compelling book.

Allan Cox's book, "Your Inner CEO", is a true gem and hidden treasure for any executive. It will soon be recognized as a business classic, carefully prepared and documented by a seasoned expert who knows the ropes and has been there, on the front lines, numerous times. It should be required reading for anyone who aspires to be a CEO, is a CEO or finds themselves thrust into a position of leadership and wants to effect true and constructive change within themselves and in the lives of those in his or her environment or field of influence.

Cox systematically shows the reader how to dive within and do the inner house cleaning and self-evaluation and self-discovery needed for one to be clear, effective, productive, practical and powerful on the surface. Highly recommended, especially for those who understand and believe that the top job and head position is open and available to those that have the courage to look within and gently, effortlessly yet constructively, face their weaknesses.

It is refreshing to see that this book truly delivers and helps the reader rediscover, re-boot and get in touch with their hidden goals, unique talents, and core strengths in order to be an effective, confident, enlightened leader.

Accidental Genius is a quick read, but has a series of ideas that will keep you reading your favorite author (yourself!) for a long time to come.

This book is about using private writing to sharpen your own thinking. This is not a book about written communications. If you're looking for written communications skills, you can't do better than The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto - which is considered The Bible among consulting firms.

If you're like me, you would have noticed that your typing fingers have a mind of their own - ideas start forming *after* you've started writing about them. Words starting forming on their own, and before you know it, you have a fully formed idea staring back at you on the computer monitor. This book writes out a few ways you can actually use this writing momentum to your advantage. The writing you would do as a result is meant for your eyes only. Writing in free-form and then reviewing the text makes the ideas present themselves to us in black and white (literally!), allowing us to refine them until they're ready.

I travel on long flights, and have found the approaches in this book extremely useful in clarifying my thinking, and passing time.

How many times have you looked at a new idea or invention and said "I thought of doing that once..." How many times have you forgotten things because you didn't write them down? Answers: lots of times, lots of times.

Now ask yourself "How many good ideas have come to me pure, shining forth with no clutter around them, precisely when I needed them?" The answer is likely to be "Never."

Accidental Genius tries to capitalize on these truisms by suggesting that the mechanism of writing can liberate the mind and allow the good ideas to pour forth - amid lots of debris, even nonsense. "Write fast, as close to the speed of your thinking as you can," says Levy, and with a timer (one that doesn't tick). And be relaxed while you do it.

The private writing log, which is Levy's main tool, can contain a journal, jottings on a problem or a wish, conversations with self or imaginary interlocutors, fantastic scenarios ranging from phenomenal strokes of good luck to horrifying catastrophe.

During the time you assign yourself you pour it all into your log, which only you will see and use. Later, perhaps much later, you will look over what you've written and try to extract the gold nuggets. For the price of a pencil and a pad of paper, you have built yourself a personal brainstormer.

Thought-logging has a long tradition among writing; many writers cannot survive without a notebook. Too many character sketches, images, details, dialogue and states of mind would be lost forever. However, the stated purpose of Levy's method is not to become a great or even a publishable writer but to keep a record of your thoughts for revisiting and future profit. The book is aimed at businesspeople but, at least in theory, anyone could benefit from the Levy method.

First, the method, which seems inspired by meditation techniques -- paradoxically, it replaces mind-quieting with page-filling --, requires a relaxed state of mind before starting a thought-logging session. Thus, the practice will be much easier for experienced meditators than for people who constantly carry unacknowledged tensions, fears, or other obstacles.

Someone capable of quieting his mind and relaxing may find it disconcerting to subject himself to a fast-paced exercise in free writing. Indeed, such a person may not want to get good ideas in this seemingly crass and haphazard way. Yet, in principle, the Levy exercises are no more absurd than practicing archery or repeating mantras.

True, the tone of the book is boosterish, the author being almost too eager to tell you his secret recipe -- but as in food recipes, literary polish matters little and the results are everything. Wonderful things can be done with cabbage, raw fish and snails (ants and cockroaches, too).

Despite its rough surface, this brief book has the bones of a fine meditation manual for businesspeople and a possibly useful tool for removing mental obstructions and even promoting a degree of self-knowledge in the age of commodity and show -- Levy's tacitly assumed and accepted scenario (whether the acceptance is reluctant or not, we don't know).

Talking to yourself in writing cannot be a substitute for the lost art of civilized conversation, but it will likely be a useful exercise. At worst, the technique can work as a placebo or not work at all, in which case you have lost nothing (think homeopathy).

At best, it can inspire you to pay attention to your thoughts and to develop an eye for good ideas, as well as good work habits. And if it teaches how to be comfortable in your own company, this book will have been not just a good buy but a steal. Good bones.

Many people have preconceptions about how the writing process goes. Grueling, frustrating and aggravating are just a few. This book shows you how to let go of your inner editor using private writing to let those unpolished gems come to the surface. Writing is work, but there are ways to make it easier and this book gives numerous useful strategies for moving past writing blocks and barriers when you have to write. It is very clearly, creatively and humorously written. Leavy illustrates many of his concepts with examples from his own writing. The most useful thing about this book is that it demystifies the process of writing and shows you multiple ways to create new ideas, strategies and perspectives. These are real, useful strategies, not "learn our new system and you will be successful" systems that are so complicated that you never use them after you read the book. I started using them when I was a quarter of the way through the book and produced 20 pages of single space material in one day. Not all that was great, but I was surprised at how good some of it was. It turned out there were a lot of good ideas in my head just waiting to get out. We are moving toward a knowledge society and most companies get their best value from ideas. This small, potent book will pay you back many times over by helping you get your ideas onto paper and into the world.

Accidental Genius: Revolutionize Your Thinking Through Private Writing )
by Mark Levy

I have had this book for quite a while & I have also reread it several times. I have been attracted to the book in the first place by what the author writes in the Introduction:

- Every recognized innovation has, in some way, been a product of human thought. It stands to reason, then, that the thoughts appearing in your mind have an enormous, potential value to you & the world;

- Sometimes your best thoughts must be coaxed out, & played with, before they reach their fullest potential;

- The world's most progressive companies have sophisticated infrastructures just to develop, and protect, the kinds of thoughts that you've already had or are capable of having;

What does this book do, in a nut shell: it teaches you how to get at what you're thinking on paper, so you can convert the raw material of your thoughts into something useable, using an energising body of techniques called 'private writing'. It entails examining all kinds of work/life situations & creating solutions for them through personal reflection and free-form writing.

The chapter on 'Extracting Gold from a Business Book' is my personal favourite.

For me, I have often used the author's writing techniques as a catalyst to guide my own best thinking on paper. I use what I often like to term as my 'scratch pad', foolscape-size, spiral-bound, 100 pages per pad, 100 gms weight, similar to the type artists use, in conjuction with a multi-colour/multi-utility pen from Rotring. At one point in time, (for about 3 years) I used the Bienfang spiral-bound note/sketch pads until the only local supplier went out of business unexpectedly.

On many occasions, I have astonished myself by being able to wrestle with the valuable business & life insights from my own seemingly disparate 'private writing' pages. I have translated many of my valuable insights into pragmatic projects. One of the sideline projects is writing reviews on amazon website.

I have noted that one of the most outstanding results of 'private writing' is honing my own critical & creative thinking processes.

Because of my personal interests in visual thinking, I often incorporate the 'rapid visualisation' & 'deliberate doodling' techniques I have picked up from Kurt Hanks as well as Joy Sikorski into my 'private writing' processes. As most readers may know, Kurt crafted the classic book, Rapid Viz, among many others. Joy crafted the following three marvellous doodling books, which I also own:

- How to Draw a Cup of Coffee & Other Fun Ideas;
- How to Draw a Radish & Other Fun Things to do at Work;
- How to Draw a Clam: A Wonderful Vacation Planner;

I have drawn phenomenal power from my purposeful integration of 'private writing' with 'rapid visualisation' & 'delberate doodling'. That's why I always use a multi-colour/multi-utlity Rotring pen in my work. My scratch pad is always a visual smorgasbord of relatively heavy text, mystical doodles & logical illustrations (thanks & no thanks to my engineering training!).

To conclude my review, Accidental Genius, is a real, rare gem. I strongly recommend this book to any reader who wants to explore powerful insight generation, &/or to apply some structure & purpose to - & at the end, extract some value from - all those notes you've been writing to yourself.

This is a great book. It's short, easy to read, and entertaining. But it's also a very powerful book that will change the way you approach creativity and learning.

It's not just about "private writing", it's about how to generate creative ideas and increase your learning and retention of what you read. It's also about how to clarify your thinking. The book has more than enough ideas to improve your life than what you would expect in his 141 page book.

I give it an A+ in my rating scale. This is a MUST READ for those who want to increase their learning, creativity and retention.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

Around the Horn was excellent. I especially like the trade logic in finding set ups off the daily charts to find day trades for the next day. It makes sense. In essence, the author teaches readers how to find buying or selling pressure from the prior day's session when the stock is otherwise pulling back or doing something else that indicates it's ready to resume its trend and then put on a day trade to profit from the follow-through the next few days. Different from most trading books out there because everything is practical and easy to implement and profit from immediately.

The book is full of robust patterns. Each is geared toward a certain market condition and each works well when applied as per the chapters in the book. Highly recommended.

To further incorporate the author's baseball jargon, Around the Horn is lean and mean, yet jammed with vital stats. Nearly every paragraph gives you a tangible idea that's easily understandable as well as theoretically palatable. There's no razzle-dazzle or wasted passages. It's the kind of book a systems' fanatic like me can't resist, and I look forward to converting Dr. Manz' setups into mechanical strategies.
Art Collins, author of
Beating the Financial Futures Market

I have been watching and using the setups in this book for about four months now and can say that when they present themselves in the "real world," they provide solid trading ideas. Dr. Manz posts a free list of the potential trades and how they relate to the patterns in the book on his traderinsight service, and that serves to clarify the ideas in the book and to point out which setups are working at a particular time and why. The author has answered my email quetions and provided links to free information that clarified any questions I have had. A great book, full of solid ideas and an author who is willing to support his work by interacting with his readers. Highly recommended.

Dr. Manz has put together a conservative trading methodology for those who are disciplined to follow it consistently every trading day. The book lays out step by step each of the patterns off the price bars on the charts. The methodology is based on the most basic market principles: Price and Time. A group of Price Bars not only represent the price action of the security, but also the psyche of the trader crowd at a particular time. An astute and experienced trader such as Dr. Manz recognizes these patterns that setup low risk, high probability trades for the next morning. Risk is managed by selection of near-by natural price action support and resistance. As one reads on and studies the charts and trading guidelines, one notices the absence of typical computer generated indicators.

The methodologies are fully revealed and explained with no secret "trading tool" withheld. The TraderInsight web site publishes every day a "Stocks to Watch" list and a very thorough review of the preceding day's performance. This review covers the potential entry and exit points, as every trader's real time execution would be different. For further learning, one can visit the trading chat room and observe how various traders successfully execute these setups.

The setups look nice and simple to apply when you read the book, but it does not give the same results when it was used in the real world of trading. It did not hold water when it was back tested. It is lacking lots of stuff to be useable or profitable. The book is big in size and empty of good reliable trading ideas. I personally recommend Dr.Elder or Tony Oz or Ed Ponsi Trading books and methods, for whoever wants good ideas for trading which will give good results in the markets; These authors offer way better alternatives to this elementary book of trading (that has few selected poor trading examples every one in more than one big page.)
Who needs this big size empty papers? Even this inflated appearance of the book does not off set the lack of substance. I am not convinced with the five star reviews because they do not specifically say why they like the book even if it does not give a single strategy that can give good results with mechanical or discretionary trading. Stay away from this book, or at least open your eyes wide when you review it, before you decide to buy it or not. Good luck any way.

The most important thing for me in reading Bonnie's book was recognizing the number of things that my personal assistant could be doing for me which I had not asked her to do. The most critical one was managing my calendar. I've always done it myself, but it is quite liberating for me not to have to think about it. I have had my assistant read the book also, and we have used the information and suggestions it contains to help us work with each other to make her job more satisfactory and my life easier, (even though I'm not a celebrity - yet!)

I would highly recommend buying this book on line. Once I purchased the book Bonnie emailed me straight away to say "hello, thankyou, and the book was on the way". I was thrilled to have instant contact. It also goes to show how good Bonnie is at her job - step one for being a fabulous assistant....Be organized and communicate. I was excited about this book before I even received it!
The book is such an easy read. The way it is laid out & the size was perfect for me. I could take it with me to set in my binder and have it at my side. My favorite part of being an assistant is being able to find things at a moments notice and you need to be CREATIVE. Bonnie's tips for this were fantastic. I learnt so much. Other points I got the most out of included -How to deal with "personalities" - networking - bad traits of an assistant- and tips of being the best assistant. The other great thing is Bonnie's always happy to reply to any emails & questions I may have. How many authors will do that? That is an amazing extra benefit with this book.
I would highly recommend this book. After reading it I felt so confident in being the best assistant I can be. I'm NOW excited to be the best assistant i can be!!!!

Bonnie is a client in our salon. She generously gave us all a copy of her book. Two weeks later she came and spoke about her experiences. Wow!
The biggest concept she relayed was "What if, we treated all our clients like a celebrity?" I told my clients about this and the responce I recieved was truely amazing. My clients were most impressed that the salon had the foresight to offer this help to it's staff to improve on an already good customer relationship. The clients loved that they were to be treated like celebrities. I feel anyone in the service industry could benefit from reading this book. (espically now, when $$ is tight and we need every client). Thank You Bonnie.

This is a great buy for any one interested in learning what it takes to become a celebrity assistant. I read this book as research material for a film project and it was eye-opening to learn just how valuable the roles high-profile assistants play maintaining the lives of their employers. You don't have to work for a celebrity to use the tools this book provides. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in becoming an assistant, want to be a better assistant, or even if you want great tips on managing your own life more effectively, this book is loaded with great tips from the pros.

Bonnie Low Kramen's book has become a valuable resource for me as an executive assistant in a high-profile investment firm. Bonnie's style of writing is one that makes you feel like you are sitting across the table from her, enjoying lunch and a chat while she reveals her secrets to success as an assistant. I have read the book in its entirety more than once and still pick it up often to read different sections, each time getting something new out of the book. Bonnie writes with poise and grace, which is obviously indicative of how she handles herself as one of the best celebrity assistants out there. This book is a must have resource for anyone who wants to excel as an assistant!