Business Books

i am still reading the book as i write but i can tell you this is a definite
book for your personal library ! the pictures are breath taking ,the info on each crystal is superb covering emotional,physical,healt and methaphysical aspects and applications. excellent book!

This is an excellent reference for crystal collectors, particularly those who are interested in the metaphysical properties of minerals and gemstones.

What makes this book unique is that it incorporates several elements into one volume. Many books that I have encountered describe crystals with the assumption that you know what they look like or they have pictures and geological data but do not describe the use of crystals. This book does all of these things.

There are colored photos and, when possible, more than one version of a crystal is depicted so that you can see what the different forms look like. If you are new to the study of crystals, this is an invaluable resource because it helps you to identify crystals through pictures and through its mineral properties, so if you are a "rock hound" you can still get a lot of benefit from this book.

The only detriment to this book is that it doesn't include more crystals! It covers many of the popular gemstones like amethyst, quartz, hematite, and agate, so you will still get great use out of this book. I only wish it was twice as long so that more minerals could be represented.

I also am also glad that this book is readily available on the internet as it took me a long time to find this book in the bookstore. Though it is spectacular, I haven't seen it in many mainstream bookstores, so when you see it, get it, in case you don't see it again!

I bought a lot of books about crystals and minerals and all of them seemed copy-cat to each other, and a bit out of touch or sometimes too far from where we stand in THIS WORLD. Many of them sound like as if they were "guru" or masters of some kind without case study or their own experience. It is very frustrating the way many authors use certain words such as "psychic" and spiritualism in every page! Michel Gienger's crystal power, healing book is so different from all other authors. His approach to crystal healing is logically explained, easy to understand chemical components of minerals and how and why it works, practical and down to earth, even spiritual part is more based on how the change of our minds can change our lives by the aid of crystals, and not that crystals change our lives automatically. And photos are so beautiful that because of his book and its photos I bought so many crystals and minerals. Thank you Michael!!! I recommend his book to everybody who is interested in crystal power!

This appeared along my path for research for a book of my own because it scratched the surface of some topics that no other book even begins to contemplate. This book is thoroughly well researched, full of experiential knowledge, and elevates crystal healing to a new level. It is concise and simple enough for anyone to explore, but it is a great resource especially for the newer breed of crystal co creators that are emerging.

I cannot strongly reccomend this book enough to everyone!

If you've ever wonder why crystals and rocks effect you the way they do or if you are confused by all of the books out there that don't tell you how they arrived at what sometimes seems like arbitrary attributes...buy this book. This is a must have for any crystal healing reference library. Not your usual fare. "Crystal Power, Crystal Healing" supplies the missing pieces for working with rocks and crystals effectively. It explores why crystals have the effect they do..from their mineral classification and crystal structure to the actual chemical make-up....and how that effects their spiritual and healing properties.

A more artistic interpretation of the traditionally print-driven journal, Dan Eldon's records are colorful and compelling.

This is a very moving and powerful book from someone who was so young. It documents a movement of change and how Dan Eldon could find beauty in the simplest of things. The imagery will stay with you long after you've put the book down.

I love this book. The story of Dan Eldon is one everyone should read. It will change your perception of the world and how you live your life.

It's a shame Kathy(his mother) never wrote this book.
By far the most imtimate and well written part of this book was the last chapter that Kathy Eldon wrote.
Obviously Jennifer New loves Dan's life like we all do but unfortuneatly she never met him and that glaringly stands out in the biography. There is way too much creative license here,the fact he is raised to almost sainthood can be squeemish at times.Jennifer's writing leaves a lot to be desired, but through the clumsy writing you can't helped but be inspired by the life of Dan Eldon.
Dan is amazing!! His photos say more about him than any bunch of words can. 'The Journey is the destination" is a must have book!!
Flip through that and I guarentee your life will be changed forever!

I purchased both The Journey is the Destination and The Art of Life on the same day. Over the next two days, I rotated the books as I couldn't decide on which one to read first. Jennifer obviously dove deeply into Dan's life. The stories that are told from memories collected from Dan's closest friends and his family are engaging. There is no doubt that Dan left a mark on everyone he met. Even more incredible is that he continues to leave his mark on the lives of those who meet him through these books. His death may have been premature but he certainly didn't waste the short amount of time that he was given. He certainly deserves to be known as one of the twentieth centuries heroes.

This book gives real life examples for those who are entering the social work field. It gives a more real understanding to what goes on in a day of an individual who is already a social worker. Also it is helpful for those who are looking to become social workers or even for those that already are social workers and are looking for a source of an experience other than their own.

When I decided to buy this book it was becaus I was already thinking of a career in social work. And, I must say that the book is very inspiring and insightful.

The stories come from different types of social workers, in different fields, under different circumstances, and really gives the reader a sense of what each worker goes through on a typical day.

It's also very true to the field. Since buying the book I have had the opportunity to work in social service, and the day-to0day events adn issues the workers deal with in the book are very realistic and honest.

It's definately a must-read for anyone thinking about the social work field, no matter what service or population you are thinking about working with.

I thought it was filled with useful information, considering the different fields described in each chapter. PERSONALLY, I would have liked to see even more examples, but if you're leaning towards the medical field in social work, I think this is a great way to get an idea as to what you will be dealing with.
I would recommend the book to anyone since it's always good to understand how varied the field of social work can be.

Days in the Lives of Social Workers: 54 Professionals Tell"Real-life" Stories From Social Work Practice is an absolutely must read for unexperienced social workers as for experienced social workers.
This book provides the unexperienced social worker with the duties and responsibilities that are expected of you in your chosen field of practice,as well as in other areas. It also provides the opportunity for you to judge for yourself whether you are performing duties that are expected of you in your specific practice, and allows you to compare what you are being asked to do, with what others are doing in the same practice area . Moreover, you will feel motivated to join with other associations, and to volunteer your services as a means for professional growth as you read how other social workers manage to include these activities in their days.
For the experienced social worker that might be considering changing from one specialty practice to another, this book will provide a feel for what you may encounter in your new social work job.

If you are looking for a book that gives you information about the various specialties in the social work profession, then this is a very good start. I was looking for that and now I have a much clearer view of what areas I may want to study and eventually work.

I love this book. It should be required reading for all undergraduate and graduate business students. I'll be looking for Windham's next book.

I must congratulate Ms. Windham on her excellent book "Dead Ahead". I think I must have read it more than three times by now. I am a consultant and my company is involved in web design and development. On many of my assignments, I relied on this book as a guide and many of her ideas have worked very well with my clients.

Our company provides e-commerce and web presence solutions. We use "Dead Ahead: The Web Dilemma and the New Rules of Business" by Laurie Windham extensively to help us provide effective solutions for our clients.

Dead Ahead covers the 'new rules' of web-based commerce, from using existing businesses and strategies to succeed to establishing recognition and associations via the internet. Important chapters on investing in the right technology and conducting e-business make for important insights on the rules and atmosphere of the web.

This was used as a text book in my e-business MBA class and would recommend it to others outside of class. It covered a lot of issues relevant to the topic. I enjoy reading books like this that are up-to-date in a dynamic industry.

Almost thirty years ago, William Donaldson, using the pen name Henry Root, produced a few books of letters he had written to important people or companies and the replies he had gotten. He wrote outlandish and silly suggestions, and it was funny to read the replies back, most of which took his letters seriously, which made them all the funnier. It was, however, a little mean; the respondents were probably in their respective public relations departments and had to take Root's inquiries seriously at the risk of offending a customer. Such tricking of well-meaning clerks was thus morally questionable, but no one ought to fret over the same sorts of tricks being played now thirty years later on e-mail spammers, who deserve to be the butt of any pranks anyone on the internet can devise. Scotsman Bob Servant is just the prankster for the job, and in _Delete This at Your Peril: One Man's Hilarious Exchanges with Internet Spammers_ (Skyhorse Publishing) he has presented to us eight of his recent skirmishes, e-mails back and forth that confuse, anger, and waste the time of the spammers who have attempted to get his money. Servant seems to be, in the tradition of Henry Root, a pseudonymic creation of Neil Forsyth, who has written the introduction to the book describing the author. Forsyth explains that Bob Servant lives in the Dundee suburb of Broughty Ferry and is "a former window cleaner and cheeseburger magnate" who pals around with Tommy Peanuts, Chappy Williams, and Frank Theplank ("Frank the Plank"), who are sometimes pulled into the e-mail action transcribed here. Servant's book is laugh-out-loud funny, as he takes his new e-pals on aberrant and bizarre twists of correspondence, and anyone who hates spam will find his efforts not just amusing but inspiring.

The title of the book comes from a 419 scammer who sent his first e-mail with that line as the subject. The mail was from "His Royal Highnest Jack Thomson" whose father "King Arawi of tribal land" was poisoned for his wealth, which his Highnest is ready to share with Bob Servant at the rate of 25%. "Good morning your Majesty," comes Bob's terse reply, "I want 30% and not a penny less." By the time Bob has readjusted his desire up to 40%, he is also requesting to be paid in lions, as cash is too dangerous, and helpfully suggests to his new friend Jack that Frank the Plank once saw a talking lion on the television, and could Jack get one of those? Jack says one of the lions talks a little, whereupon Bob pounces, "I'm not sure about a lion that only talks a little, I'd like one that isn't so shy, if possible?" Jack replies, "Now you are saying the lion has to talk? What is this madness? Send me the £1700 that we agreed imeediately." Bob is undeterred: "What does the lion say when it talks. I am just checking that it won't get me into any fights." After delaying a reply, Bob goes on to apologize, "Sorry about the delay. I was round at Frank's earlier and got stuck up a tree whilst chasing a snake, then fell off and banged my head on a chicken. You know what it's like." There are ten further volleys in this insane e-mail conversation before it ends, with no money going to Jack and no lions to Bob. The other exchanges collected here are just as silly. When his new Russian girlfriend expresses some doubts that he is being serious with her, he replies, "What kind of weirdo would spend all this time emailing you if they were not serious?"

Indeed. Weirdo or not, Bob Servant/ Neil Forsyth deserves our thanks for his efforts in the war against spam, and for making them available to us in this absurdly hilarious collection. If you hate spam, it will be all the funnier imagining the targets of Bob's furious nonsense scratching their heads at the meandering replies after their initial certainty that they have hooked a likely meal ticket. One final reply comes from Nigeria when it has eventually dawned on the spammer that no money is going to be forthcoming and a good deal of time has been spent reading nonsense: "YOU ARE A STUPID MAN". Not a chance of it; deranged, perhaps, but Bob Servant is far from stupid. It is a pleasure to see such hilarity marshaled against foes who so deserve it.

Every day
Jamming your In-Box
Is SPAM

This book
Is about one man
Who replied

Watch Bob
Spam the Spammers
For laughs


The paragraphs below use some of Bob's examples to give the reader a sense of this book, which is really quite clever if you like this sort of thing.

[Warning: Replying to spammers can cause spam mail to increase exponentially]


Greetings to you in the name of the Most High.

A business acquaintance of mine visited your fine country of Scotland recently and recommended you as a fine and honorable gentleman who can be entrusted with a matter of the highest confidentiality and importance.

He has assured me that you are an expert in business and trade, and that you may have purchased already four golden lions, two leopards and an alligator from the only son of His Excellency King Arawi of Togo. I hope that they are thriving and bringing you much joy.

First, I will introduce myself. I am a former citizen of a Soviet country, but through good fortune and most reputable mail order organization I was able to get married to a good man from Nigeria, who owns both a textile company and a pottery barn. I also obtained for myself a PhD doctorate in Business and Finance through correspondence with major unaccredited university in the United American States.

I am sad to say that my husband is now late due to assassination by his competitors, and I am left alone with his business affairs to handle. I will also tell you that due to his relatives in the government, my husband has been able to save a lot of money which is in an account in my name, and I trust you to keep this information in confidence. My friend Bob, I am a beautiful woman of only 25 years, and I am unable to do business here with the men in Nigeria. My late husband's lawyer cannot be trusted with such matters, and I am looking to you to help me transfer 32 million Sterling pounds to Scotland, where I understand you own a Cheeseburger Business and an African Café.

I would like for us to get better acquainted and maybe you would like to become my husband. I can cook genuine African dishes, especially yam potage, Isi Ewu and Afang soup, which I am sure your customers will enjoy. We can achieve many great things together, you and I.

My dear Bob, I am so excited about this venture between us that I can hardly wait for your soonest reply. Please also send me your photo and the name of your bank and account number so I can begin preparing to transfer the money.



Modesta Spamminovitch-Upayme



This is a quick and funny read, and heartily recommended to anyone who has e-mail.




Amanda Richards, July 19, 2008

With the internet age has come all kinds of wonderful new convinces we now rely on every day. But with every plus comes a minus, and for most of us that minus is spam. Every morning, I hate wading through the massive amount of e-mails I get that I'm not even interested in reading.

One man decided to have some fun, however. And we get to share that fun because of this book. "Bob Servant" (and the observant person will pick up on that name faster than I did) decided to reply to some of his spam and see how long he could drag out the exchanges without the other side catching on or giving up. Here in, we get eight such exchanges and the results are hilarious.

Most of these e-mails start out all too familiar. There's the African native who needs Bob to get money out of the country. Theirs the Chinese company looking for a local person in Scotland to help with local payments. And there's Alexandria, who is more interested in Scottish men than her native Russians.

But what follows is anything but routine. It's hard to describe just how great this book because half the fun is watching how the events unfold. Twice, Bob turns a job offer into a potential job for the spammer when he pretends to be interested in buying a painting or a bunch of pots.

But my favorite exchanges cross the line into the absurd. Some of these involve wild animals and the postman. But that's all I'm going to say. Well, that and it reveals just how desperate the criminal spammers are to get the information they need. They are certainly persistent. And rather stupid themselves.

I've got to give the author credit. He has created a great world you real get involved in. In each exchange we get to see a different side of Bob and his friends. They provide half the fun.

While most of these exchanges are wonderful, I did think a couple went on too long. And they weren't quite the mostly clean stuff I normally enjoy reading. But that didn't dampen my enjoyment for long.

Ironically enough, I got this book because I replied to a spam e-mail from the author. And I'm glad I did. If you need a release from the constant attack of spam, this book is perfect for you.

Bob Servant, Delete This at Your Peril: One Man's Hilarious Exchanges with Internet Spammers (Skyhorse Publishing, 2008)

One of my rules of thumb is to take books whose subtitles contain value judgments with a grain of salt. The hilarious is never as hilarious as one would expect from the book's flashy title. I am happy to report that Delete This at Your Peril is that rara-est of avis-es: an exception to the rule. This slim book, which is composed almost completely of the promised email exchanges (with some footnoting from Neil Forsyth, author of Other Peoples' Money, who helped Bob whip the book into shape-- the footnotes are sometimes just as funny), is often the kind of laugh-out-loud gigglefest that will cause people to look askance at you on the bus. In each of the eight episodes here, Servant starts out by responding to a spammer as if he's seriously interested, then gets more and more absurd in his emails until they finally get frustrated and blow up at him. It's a wonderful hobby, and more people should do things like this-- and then write books about them. I have now become a huge Bob Servant fan, and as soon as he gives me his bank account details, I'll tell the world so. ****

A blurb on the cover from "MAXIM" exclaims "GENIUS! Highly entertaining and brilliantly deranged." I wouldn't go that far with the genius and brilliant part, but "Delete This at Your Peril" IS very funny and a bit deranged. I read the entire book in less than an hour, and although Servant is as long-winded at times as he is weird, I had some real laugh out loud moments.

The question is, does "Bob Servant," putative author of this humor opus that makes fun of Internet spammers and scammers, really exist? Or is he the bizarre creation of "editor" Neil Forsyth who holds the copyright to the book?

Not that it matters. What Bob Servant (or Neil Forsyth) does--and this has been done before, see, for example, Black Hat: Misfits, Criminals, and Spammers in the Internet Age (2004) by John Biggs--is play along with the spammers as though he is some unsophisticated rube who is falling for the con. What makes the book so funny is how Servant is able to turn the tables on the 419 scam masters from Nigeria and elsewhere and rope them into a lengthy and fruitless email correspondence, while holding out the carrot of his actually going to the bank. Servant piles it on relentlessly with misdirections and pratfalls among and with his ne'er-do-well friends and acquaintances in Broughty Ferry, Scotland.

In the first chapter, there is a certain "His Royal Highnest, [sic] Jack Thompson...the only son of late King Arawi of tribal land" who is seeking "a foreign partner" to transfer "$75m" to, "for investment," to whom he will pay 20% of the proceeds.

Bob Servant fires back with "Good morning your Majesty, I want 30%, and not a penny less."

After a bit of pulling line, Servant declares that he wants the money in lions, and he wants pictures of the lions. Thompson sends him a photo of four identical gold lions, but Servant is not satisfied. He writes, "There appears to have been a slight misunderstanding my friend, I was expecting four live lions, not gold ones."

So Jack Thompson replies, "I am buying four male lions from my friends private zoo and he has also arranged for shipment to Scotland." Thompson attaches a photo of a lion! But this isn't enough. Servant wants the lions to be able to talk. After some discussion of what the lions might be able to say, Thompson assures Servant that one of the lions can talk. Meanwhile Servant is pretending to get the funds ready to send via Western Union to Thompson. But then Servant decides he (and his buddy "Frank Theplank") also want "2 leopards, 1 elephant, 1 alligator, 2 parrots, 1 hedgehog."

At some point Thompson begins to shout: "BOB LETS GO STRAIGHT TO THE POINT. THE LIONS AND LEOPARDS ARE HERE WITH ME AT THE BACK OF MY HOUSE THEY ARE FRIENDLY AND ONE OF THE LION TALKS. BOB SEND ME THE £1700 SO I CAN COLLECT THAT MONEY AND SHIP THEM TO YOU."

Bob Servant replies by asking "What are the names of the lions?" and "What does the lion say when it talks? The bank is preparing me some forms."

To a Russian babe named Alexandra who wants to find a husband, Servant writes, "What a fantastic photo. My God, what a pair of bazookas..." She responds in part with "I do not like Russian men, their attitude to women. I want to love and be loved. Unfortunately, I have not found that in the country. I am gentle women but I am a tiger when I am in love!"

At length Servant sends Alexandra a photo of himself holding a very large, bloated carp. (Well, not himself but some old guy, whom Alex deigns to find interesting, although I don't think she got the symbolic intent of the caught fish.) Bob regales her with tales of life at Broughty Ferry with his buds, Chappy Williams and the regulars at Stewpot's Bar. And on and on and on. Finally in utter frustration (ha, ha, ha) Alexander fumes, "F-you!. To me has bothered to read your delirium."

Ah, such sweet revenge! Bob Servant has done a right bloody good turn for all of us in keeping these con artists at bay and wasting their time.

There are seven more tales in the book. One wishes there were a few more. Bottom line on the old laugh-o-meter: five stars.

If you decide to buy this book take a good deep breath. You should be good enough in algebra, and you should be quite comfortable with some six sigma basics. This book gives a good explanation in TRIZ and in the DFSS algoritm.
The axiomatic design could be better (lack of examples). It is well written.

This is a book with a lot of information. Each chapter can be used as a starting point for a specific six sigma technique. However, this is the worst edited book I have ever read. You can hardly find one page without errors/typos.

While the concept of six-sigma is a very popular one, it is not often that one can find such a comprehensive yet clearly-written volume devoted to the most important topics of six-sigma. A book that contains so much information and not just hot air is especially hard to find. Yang and El-Haik have successfully written one of the most impressive and useful reads I have ever encountered within this field. Especially intriguing and novel concept of TRIZ. A very worthwhile book, in any case.

I have not found such a comprehensive book for design of six sigma. I started using this book for advanced experimental design and taguchi methods, but ended understanding the complete roadmap for design of six sigma. The systems approach allows an enthusiast reader to start anywhere, without having to spend time refering back to earlier chapters. The relatively newer trends as TRIZ and axiomatic design have also been nicely dealt with.
Overall, this is a very nice and easy read book, with excellent and well defined examples. A must for everyone who wants a quick refresher on the design principles of six sigma.

This is an outstanding DFSS book for production development. It contains integrated information and some of which you could hardly find anywhere else, thus with one book in hand, you have all the tools to get to your destination. This is also a easy to read book providing the reader with a solid understanding- Concepts are clearly defined, real world examples/ case studies are fully described and the chapters are well organized. It can serve as a textbook for students/beginners and also can serve as a handbook for experienced engineers.
The title says it all- this is a roadmap for you to find the way correctly and easily. I am reading the book right now, and the book is really beneficial to me.

Not that detailed but great if you are not going to sit down and read an involved design book. Quick tips.

Most of the books of the same kind, you'll find 500 pages just with theory, things that you should do and you shouldn't. This one is just plane and simple, if you are an expertise graphic designer, it will show you really cool and fresh ideas.
If you are a designer with no background education, it will guide you step by step in the process of creation.
For the price you pay and the content you get, this book is one of its kind.

I've read literally hundreds of design books and frankly find most of them to be long on theory and have precious little to offer by way of concrete learning and real-world usability. This book (and The Design-It-Yourself Newsletter also by Chuck - which I also own) doesn't overburden the reader with "fluff." It's a pleasure to find a book that tells me what I should know and need to know rather than what some "expert" wants to tell me. These books are practical, useful, clear, and easy-to-follow. Do yourself a favor and invest a very reasonable sum in this book (or any of Chuck's books for that matter), and you will be a better designer for it.

Who is this book for? Non-designers trying to design their own logos, letterheads & businesscards.

How good is it? It's the best I've come across. And I've gone through hundreds of them. This book helped me design a logo and stationary for more than one business, got my creative juices flowing, gave me a lot of ideas - that I would've never thought about otherwise - and to top it all, gave me STEP BY STEP instruction on how to achieve simple but very elegant, clean & professional results!

The design of the book itself makes you want to buy it the very first time you look at it - very well organized, simple, elegant. Inspires confidence.

Does it deliver the goods as promised? SURE!

Another of Chuck's books that I read ages ago and is highly recommended and valuable even today: The Desktop Publisher's Idea Book. It still sits on my desk/bookshelf, and I go back to it often to get new ideas.

Finally, Chuck's web site - ... - is equally impressive, a treasure chest of ideas & resources for budding or amateur designers exploring the world of design.

Request to Chuck if he reads this - please let us have more of these in a series - Design It Yourself Logos 2, 3, 4... etc. PLEASE!

Bharat Suneja

I recently purchased this book at a local bookstore on my lunch hour. It was so difficult to eat lunch with my new treasure and then have to return to work. Right after dinner that evening I sat down in a comfortable chair and just read and read until I went through the entire book. I just couldn't put this book down. It was wonderful, interesting and very informative. The recipes were great and I will incorporate their use in my at home graphic design business. I have been doing graphic design for about 8 years and cannot get enough to read on the subject. I am self taught and this is just the kind of book that will help those who are just like me, or even give fresh new ideas to those who are experts. Thanks Chuck! I need more of this -- got any more like this coming?

Divide or Conquer offers fascinating insights into inter-personal working relationships. The portion of the book which addresses the value in sometimes "manufacturing hope" in challenging and seemingly "hopeless" situations is insightful, honest, and powerful. The book forces the reader to self-reflect on their own management and leadership style and is incredibly thought provoking as it weaves in real stories to help the reader contextualize the learnings.

Which sounds better to you? HAVING your relationships or being HAD by them?*

It might take a minute to think about this distinction, but I'd bet most of us would prefer the former. How do we gain perspective on the relationships we're in, particularly in business settings when bottom lines, bonuses and promotions are at stake? And if the relationship aren't working, how do we improve them, while preserving our dignity and our job?

In her book, "Divide or Conquer: How Great Teams Turn Conflict into Strength", Smith shows us how to look below the surface, to see the underlying patterns of our relationships and eventually, to transform them. The key though, is first to put the relationship patterns on the table. As Smith so aptly puts it: "To change the game, you have to see the game." And this is where "Divide or Conquer" hits a home run, especially for the visual thinkers among us. The book is filled with diagrams, cartoons, systems maps, and charts that make "relationships" -- a topic that some may think of as soft and abstract -- tangible and practical.

To top it off, Smith has the unusual combination of academic rigor, profound insight (based on years of hands-on experience) and a killer sense of humor.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to strengthen relationships, at work, or in any setting.

Linda Booth Sweeney

(*Thank you, Bob Kegan).

I'm burned out on business books at the moment, but Smith's book is different -- non-intuitive insights, distinctions that help you resolve complexity into useful patterns, ways of seeing and acting differently. And then there's the author's mischievous sense of fun. Who else quotes Woody Allen, Marvin Gaye, and David Foster Wallace (twice!) in a business book?

Divide Or Conquer: How Great Teams Turn Conflict Into Strength by Diana McLain Smith opened my eyes as to why business and personal relationships can start out so strong and then seemingly self-destruct for "no reason". Once you understand the structure and pattern of this event, you can start to take steps to correct it.

Contents:
Part 1 - Understanding Relationships: The Life and Death of a Relationship; The Anatomy of a Relationship; The Key to Resilience
Part 2 - Transforming Relationships: Disrupting Patterns of Interaction; Reframe How You See Each Other; Revise What You "Know" to Be True
Part 3 - Making Change Practical: Focus the Change Effort; Choose the Right Strategy; Motivate Change
Part 4 - Relational Sensibilities: Sensibilities for a Change;
Appendices: Appendix A - A Thinking Person's Guide to Behavioral Repertoires; Appendix B - The Ladder of Reflection
Acknowledgments; Notes; Bibliography; Illustration Credits; Index

The problem makes sense once you have it pointed out to you... It's a circular pattern of "how X acts, how Y frames things, how Y acts, how X frames things." The author uses John Scully and Steve Jobs as a prime example of this. When they both met each other and started out, they unconsciously chose to see only the parts of their personalities that they were focused on bringing into the partnership. Scully had the professionalism that Jobs needed and wanted, while Jobs had the enthusiasm that Scully admired. But as time went on, these same traits started to be perceived differently. Scully was acting as the coach and mentor, making exceptions for Jobs' failures. Jobs saw Scully as an indulgent father figure who was to pleased. Jobs then acted like the spoiled child, begging forgiveness to get back in Scully's good graces, but never making permanent changes. Scully was framing Jobs as the prince/king of Apple, and felt he had to maintain discipline. Over a relatively short period of time, this cycle led to Scully's failure and ouster from Apple as Jobs consolidated power and left Scully out of the loop.

Using a more down-to-earth scenario, she then takes you through this same type of spiral and shows how the simple act of stepping back, acknowledging there are other forces at play, and then asking how the other person is really feeling can bring the spiral to an abrupt halt. Once both parties understand the loop they've gotten themselves into, as well as the false assumptions they're making, then they can both choose to approach the relationship from a point of reality instead of assumptions.

Granted, this isn't an easy "do this, this, and this" process, and both sides have to be willing to open up and be vulnerable. But if you're dealing with a number of poisoned relationships at your job, Divide Or Conquer could be the first step to regaining control.

When I first got this book on hand, there was only one review in the Amazon.com. And when I finished the book, and wanting to write my comment on it, it already goes to nine (reviews)! And this is only one month's time. And I must say the responds to this book haven't surprised me. It deserves a full-hall stand-up applause.

I have heard about Smith's name for quite a while, mainly from the field of organizational learning, which her mentors Chris Argyris and Donald Schön are both big names in that field. Since I am a big fans to Argyris and Schön's work, and since I live from quite a remoted place (another side of the globe), the easiest and the most accessable way to know about these masters' work is through their writings. However, Argyris and Schön's work is never easy to penetrate, frustrated but not deterred by the difficulty, I started to cash after their disciples' work, which includes Roger Schwarz, Peter Block and etc, all are very good works indeed. Nevertheless, no one previous work is quite like Smith's new book.

Though there were so many writings written on Argyrian intervention. The sad thing, however, is, there's a group of very VERY good consultants in Action Design (google it, please), which by now they are the one whom most live-up to Arygris and Schön's spirit, they rarely write. Maybe because the work is so embedded in actions, and maybe they knew clearly that it is never easy to convey the practice, on paper.

And at one time, I stumbled on Diana's "A Reflection on Donald Schön" (after the death of Donald Schön), it was such a poetic piece, and indeed very beautifully written. And at that time, I am waiting for her work, really on her own, to get published. I didn't know when, I even didn't know if she had such plan, but that was really my wish, to see her work appears in this planet. And after reading Divide Or Conquer, I must say this is far better than I could imagine.

Interestingly, this book is one of my slowest reads. I read, I stop, I contemplate (on how the scene happened), I hold my breath, and I sigh, occasionally. Every word tells, is what I can say. If Action Science is such a tacit knowledge, such that practitioners know more than they can tell, then I think Smith has stretched the limit of `telling' to a new dimension. I guess, and could only guess, that her strategy to use a lot of narratives is a key to convey the message through the media, which usually would drained away by other ways of informing (like, writing in a third-person stance). Smith has put all the gems in those stories, and make it highly readable, and with a lot of funs and humors.

The whole book is nearly jargon-free, and Smith particularly picked Steve Jobs and John Sculley's story to set the stage, which she immediately showed her sophisticated ability to narrate, to analysis, and to pin to the heart that not many of us willing to and have enough practice to discuss: how key relationship turns bad, really bad.

Though the whole book is full of dialogues and stories, it still maintains a balance to give a very useful and actionable structure for serious practitioners to follow, and try out the similar intervention. I vow to follow and to practice on this structure. And I must say, it's not quite like Argyris, or I would say, it's beyond Argyris.

I once read Bob Putnam's (of Action Design) commented on the possible breakdown of applying action science, and he said, when it deals with the `relationship structure,' it is not quite useful to continue to use that knowledge. But I was hanging out there, until I read Divide Or Conquer, I start to know what relationship structure really means, and how to get out that kind of mug. It's definitely 30 years of practice in one shot. I bet this is not quite possible for one whom didn't gone through David Kantor, Donald Schön, Chris Argyris, and of course, Bruce Patten and Roger Fisher (all are the best practitioners in their own field), one couldn't possibly wrote a book like this.

I doubt that if this book could change the world, as our world is now in such a deep trouble. Nevertheless, I am quite sure, and have high hope that, this book could definitely transform a lot of relationships, and makes our live more appreciative and meaningful, including mine, hopefully.

For the most part this book is a very easy read and is organized very coherently - however, the author seems to digress sometimes by paying too much attention to certain subjects that are important and integral, but could use a 'lite' version. For instance, Chapter 3 is horrendous. Acronym after acronym really made my head spin.

I used this book for an E-Commerce course I've taken over the Summer'08 and loved reading every bit of it!

Given that there are incredible number of mistakes in the Chapter on Security related issues, but the pros out weigh the cons by a HUGE margin.

This book for me was an absolute joy to read, and I don't think I've read any book off late that has so much packed in it!

This was a great buy, The book came in the indicated condition and has been a great help!

I have used this textbook for several years - while it is a good basic source of information, it badly needs updating and supplementation in several important areas: RFID is not mentioned; Mobile/hand set E-Commerce is covered at a surface level, Search Engine and major Portal marketing needs updating, and much of the data are 3+ years old - very old given the rapid changes taking place.

If you are teaching an E-Commerce course from a Marketing perspective, with this book as the base, be prepared to suppement this textbook with books such as Spychips, and student subscriptions to WSJ or NY Times. Ad Age is another excellent supplementary information source.

This is one of the few areas in business where the textbook should be updated every 2 years.

Note from Spring 07 - the newer edition is better but still requires supplementation on areas auch as RFID and security.

I just received the new edition of Laudon and Traver's textbook on e-commerce and think its just great! I previously used the 2nd edition, which I also loved, and this new edition lives up to its predecessor. It contains all new and updated information and is extremely current. Its so well-written that it doesn't read like a textbook at all. I highly recommend it to anyone interesting in learning about e-commerce.

If you're looking for a guide on writing e-mails in a business setting, look no further. This book covers every aspect of writing e-mails and even some tips on how to organize your e-mail as well. The chapters take you through different topics regarding e-mail and at the end of each chapter are some activities that you can do to help build your awareness of your e-mail writing skills and how examining the messages you receive from others can help improve your awareness of writing skills. This book is perfectly designed for training courses, since each chapter could be completed in one training session. I recommend this if you are looking to write e-mails as professionally as you can.

Like it or not, we live in a world of electronic communication. E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide is a practical and helpful guide for those who aren't totally familiar or comfortable with the medium as well as for those who use it routinely, but perhaps not always effectively or appropriately. Most important, it urges people to take their e-mail communication as seriously as their other written communication - and tells them how.

This book is exactly what every e-mail should be (and so few are): clear, sensible and pointed. Compare the advice here to the emails you receive daily and you will agree that it is filled with uncommon good sense. You'll find yourself trying to figure out how to secretly get copies to your colleagues! Jim Knutsen, President, Boatz Knutsen Communications

Like it or not, all of us are up to our eyeballs in emails everyday. We feel pressed for time yet need to write coherent emails that effectively communicate important information. This guide is an excellent resource on how to write readable emails that come to the point quickly without leaving any of the important stuff out. After going through the material, I recognized a lot of mistakes that our company frequently commits in our frequent volleys of emails with clients. I wish I would have had this book sooner! Thanks for cutting through the jungle for us, Write it Well!
Thanks,
Mike O'Quin
PowerPointPartners.Com

As the author of an English reference guide/workbook, I think this book is exceptionally helpful to everyone needing to send out professional e-mails. E-mail has just about replaced informal memos and even reports. Therefore, we all need to learn how to convey the right tone, present a professional image, get our messages across clearly, learn the etiquette of e-mail, and avoid the pitfalls and hazards that e-mail technology poses. The author provides excellent, relevant examples and lays the material out in a logical, easy-to-understand fashion. I highly recommend it to individuals, HR departments, and training professionals.
Jane Straus
Author of The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
and
Enough Is Enough! Stop Enduring and Start Living Your Extraordinary Life