Practice Management Books

New to field of medical coding so can't compare it to anything but has helped immensly w/ classes

This edition of ICD-9-CM is wonderful! Everything is tabbed and easy to find. This is an excellent resource and the spiral binding is a nice extra too!
I highly recommend it!

Received shipment of manual in a very timely manner, sooner than expected! The manual was wrapped , new and in great condition, no rips, no alterations. Very pleased !

This book is great and easy to use and is updated to keep me current with the medical field

greatly improved over the previous year addition. User friendly and easy to follow.

The base to write a scientific paper. You can learn the most important criteria to conduct and write a scientific research according with international guidlines. It is the style!

The Manual is a complete guide to the AMA style and also an excellent grammar book. The topics are easy to find and the tables and lists are comprehensive. It is a great companion to The Chicago Manual of Style because it details the grammar preferred by the AMA and contains needed terminology. This is a necessary reference for medical publications proofreaders and editors.

I really liked this book. I was searching for such a useful manual for a long time, and at last found it! It is not only helpful and authorative but also written in a very user-friendly fashion. All those who are involved in medical writing can learn from (and perhaps enjoy) this book. Go on and take a look at it before starting to write your next piece!

I read the book , I feel that work is very nice ,and I give that 5 star ,

The specific goal of the American Medical Association Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors is to codify and collect the myriad instructions, rules, and dictums that AMA applies to the many journals, books, and other publications that are printed under its imprint. The more general goal, perhaps not stated, is to broaden the influence of those standards so they encompass more of the medical publishing community.

The book, developed by a committee of writers, editors, and publishers, is organized around five major categories, Preparing an Article for Publication, Style, Terminology, Measurement and Quantitation, and Technical Information. Each of these categories is, in turn, broken down into chapters that probe various aspects of each category. Finding information is easy, and the writers have used examples generously to make the points clear.

The first section, Preparing an Article for Publication, is, naturally slanted more toward authors and those who toil to prepare author�s manuscripts for publication. There are many guidelines offering advice that ranges from preparing the abstract to preparing any of six different types of acknowledgments. Editors and copy editors would do well to review this chapter as well. The section on citing Web sites alone is crucial reading.

I suspect, but cannot prove, that many researchers will not read deeply beyond the opening chapter, feeling that the remaining sections are more the province of copy editors and journal editors. Perhaps there is some merit to that line of thinking, but all authors in the medical sciences would benefit from the copious advice here, and the better writers, I�m sure, do follow the principles of grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and usage set forth in the section on style. Common mistakes, such as confusing case and patient, redundancies, and the ever so ticklish topic of race/ethnicity are some of the many points discussed thoroughly.

The section on terminology is so mind-bogglingly detailed that all one can hope to do is remember that the AMA Style Guide will almost always have the answer if you have a question about an abbreviation (how many times is something mistakenly called an acronym instead of an initialism?), medical nomenclature (a huge chapter that is the heart of the book), or eponyms (which, thanks to this guide may now be a topic we can quit haggling over).

Measurement and Quantitation continue to be a bane for many writers and editors, though without delving too much into specifics, let�s say that this section will answer most questions but not without careful reading and perhaps a look at the Chicago Manual of Style for a bit clearer presentation on this topic. The chapter on statistics, unique to this guide, notes how to express confidence intervals, confirms that the word Student in Student t test is capitalized (sorry, but this text editor on Amazon.com does not display the italic t), provides a list of statistical symbols and abbreviations, and offers valuable tips about displaying equations. And those examples barely hint at the wealth of information here.

A final section on technical information provides a thumbnail guide to good layout and design of printed materials, worthy sets both of copyediting marks and proofreading marks (which are no doubt often photocopied and posted in a visible location), an excellent primer on how to edit hard copy, and a glossary of publishing terms.

If you are a medical writer or editor, odds are that you already either have a copy of this guide or you borrow one from a colleague. If you are an aspiring medical communicator, you will need your own copy so you can mark in it, attach tabs, and leave open on your desk.

This book is helpful because expert coaches share their best tips on becoming a great coach. Extremely helpful.

Author, "Trust is Everything: Become the leader others will follow"

This book starts strong, but drags a little in the middle. The book covers coaches from all areas and many of the coaches have similar things to say. The research in the beginning and end are useful and the editors contribute some of the best work in the book. I think it's worth reading but I would skip sections that are not applicable to the area of coaching that you are most interested.

Editors Howard Morgan, Phil Harkins, and Marshall Goldsmith have done everyone tremendous service by using their considerable stature and reputation in the Coaching/Leadership field to pull together this amazing list of professionals; as well as sharing their expertise on the topic. The format they've used makes this an immensely useful reference. If you have an interest in executive coaching -- are a senior executive in transition, or are thinking of hiring a coach -- this book belongs on your "must read" list. In fact, make it your next read.

Peter Clayton, Senior producer www.landed.fm

If you are a line executive or an HR leader - you will find this book useful. It takes you through the process of selecting the right coach and then allows you the opportunity to hear from the best. This is the best coaching book on the market currently.

A great survey of the "best of the best." Useful and practical and meets a real need. I particularly liked the format of the book -- mixing the advice of some of the world's best coaches with practical step by step advice.

No matter what may have happened to the author, this book has a ton of great information, advice and suggestions. It makes sense to do the things discussed in the book to help protect yourself from whatever might happen to you. I found the information on family limited partnerships especially helpful.

I had heard of some of the things Frasier says in his book, but I also learned quite a bit. The quizzes and suggestions were really helpful in giving me ideas on how I should move forward to protect my family from potential creditors. The book was easy to understand and written in plain English. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning how to plan ahead to protect their assets.

Here's a guy who has done work for the rich and famous and took the time to show the average person how it's done. Very eye opening information and the quizzes and charts really helped me understand how everything ties together!

Frasier's book is one of the best I've read on the subject of asset protection. What separates this book from the others is the way Frasier approaches each technique as though it will be challenged in court. In theory, there are dozens of ways to protect assets, but in reality many of these simply don't hold up under scrutiny due to either their complexity or changes in case law which have eroded their protections. Frasier tells it like it is.

This book shows you how to protect yourself before you get sued by some yahoo.

The news about public school education has been bad for almost 30 years. Statistics published by city, state, and federal information banks show that kids are just not learning what they need to know, schools are overcome with violence, teachers are demoralized, and yet billions of dollars are literally shovelled into the system. Where does this money go, we have all asked,as we walk down our children's school hallways and have seen the paint falling off the walls and ceilings, the broken desks and chairs, and we have heard about the lack of services and resources going to our kids. There has been little documentation of the misappropriation of these funds until now. Lydia Segal has written an excellent and important book on this topic that will become THE textbook on corruption, theft, fraud, and patronage within the Board of Education not only in New York City, but also in Chicago and Los Angeles.
Lydia Segal, a former Investigator of the New York City public schools, says that very little of the dollars allocated to students in our public schools actually gets used by them. She details how coding problems, the procurement process, compartmentalization and opacity of information leave administrators with only two options: good corruption (which ultimately helps the kids) and bad corruption (which never helps anyone but the perpetrator and his/her allies and accomplices). Indeed, the system fights those who try the good corruption route. Ms. Segal describes in graphic detail the "godfathers" and "godmothers" (the school board members), who obtain jobs for their "pieces". Furthermore, no one who reads her chapter "Lessons From Local Political School Control", with the sub-headings "How Language Illuminates the Pathology", "No Real Accountability", "The Ease of Building a Patronage Army", "Controlling the Tools For Patronage", and "Exploiting Parents' Poverty" will ever listen to a school Principal, Superintendent, or School Board official in the same way. Our perception of public school education is changed forever by this book.
The pathology of this corruption suggests the remedy, Ms. Segal says, which is decentralization of power into the schools and the hands of the Principals. The 52 pages of footnotes, interviews, and reference materials as well as the easy reading style make every word Ms. Segal writes believable, although depressing. There is no question, however, that anyone who is interested in school reform and/or who works toward a goal of establishing an education system that puts children first must read this book.

I almost did not buy this book. I would like to understand why our schools are doing such a bad job at educating our kids. The title to this book suggested a narrow focus on issues such as bribery, which, while interesting to a District Attorney, do not seem central to the problem.

What I discovered, however, is that this book really covers alot more ground that the title suggests. Yes, Segal is a lawyer, and she started out in this area by investigating honest to goodness corruption. She is concerned about bribery, waste and abuse, all of which are larger problems than I had realized.

The book goes way beyond those relatively small issues, however. It really gets to the heart of WHY our schools stink, in a way that I have not seen anyone else do. What Segal really gets into are the reasons why our largest school districts are such ossified bureaucratic dinosaurs. She tells a number of really hair-raising stories about how totally the system does not care about efficiency or educational quality, and, perhaps more imporartant, she explains WHY the system can not care. It is a very interesting story. It goes back to the early 20th century when the Progressive Movement was fighting urban corruption, and scientific management was all the rage. The bottom line, however, is that our large systems have fundamental, systematic problems that make it astonishing that they teach as well as they do. As Segal makes very clear, tinkering around the edges with curriculum reform and such like will do next to nothing, until the organizations are fundamentally retooled so that basic efficiency and educational quality become a focus again. As things stand, there is so much red tape, so much administrative ho-ha and general bureaucratic nightmares that there is no possible way that the system can deliver a quality product at a reasonable price.

Very important book.

As a mother of two, facing the tough choice between public and private schools, I found this book full of critical insights as to how the public schools really work. Segal's analysis of the perverse incentives, corruption, and overwhelming bureaucracy that are dragging down our schools is compelling and persuasive. Her suggestions for what should be done to fix the system are intelligent and long overdue. Everyone with school-age kids should read this book now!

A real eye-opener, this very well-written and powerfully argued book finally helped me understand why
urban public schools never seem to have enough money
to educate our children despite repeated national and local efforts to change that. Ms. Segal contends that waste and abuse are the primary culprits and offers thorough and persuavie doumentaion that this is indeed true.
Because she concludes that the problem is with
pathological systems, not people, she spends a good quarter of the book discussing how to overhaul the systems.
The suggestions are overwhelmingly intelligent, inspiring, and above all, realistic.
This book is a must-read for anyone looking for concrete and specific ways to improve our educational system.

A real eye-opener, this very well-written and powerfully argued book finally helped me understand why
urban public schools never seem to have enough money
to educate our children despite repeated national and local efforts to change that. Ms. Segal contends that waste and abuse are the primary culprits and offers thorough and persuasive documentation that this is indeed true.
Because she concludes that the problem is with
pathological systems, not people, she spends a good quarter of the book discussing how to overhaul the systems.
The suggestions are overwhelmingly intelligent, inspiring, and above all, realistic.
This book is a must-read for anyone looking for concrete and specific ways to improve our educational system.

5.0 out of 5 stars Pithy and powerful leadership tool, September 1, 2008
By Laura Klapper - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
David Peck's book on leadership is a pithy and powerful tool to help people become effective, and genuine, leaders of their organization. While as CEO I have found many of David's practices to be valuable, I believe his thoughts can help people at all levels become more successful in their business and personal life.

David presents his practices in bite-size bits of knowledge, which makes the book enjoyable to read and easy to follow.

I encourage other leaders, and people who want to learn how to better motivate and inspire others, to read David's book!

David Peck has found a core to leadership advice. The pieces are short, useful, and pithy. They are not preachy, they seem to have some unique way of holding up a mirror in front of me, clearly but gently reminding me of what I am and am not doing; and providing a step back from the daily pressures of leadership which can so quickly obscure and overwhelm our best intentions and what we learned from our last old school book or seminar. This is cool and new school!

People pleasing ... wishful thinking ... eternal optimism ... the glass is half full ... this management style brought me to the brink of bankruptcy until I took a hard look in the mirror. Page 63 says it all. Well done Mr. Peck.

Peck's book is built with pearls of wisdom. The best part of it is that the pearls are un-strung! You can read it front to back if you wish, but it also lends itself to re-reading bits and pieces in any order.

It's ideal for the busy leader as the pieces are short and sweet. Easily take in a couple here and there; in between flights or meetings. If you can't read it in one sitting, no problem!

'Beyond Effective' is the real thing. It doesn't just theorize about how to be a better leader, it actually gives you specific ways to make it happen!

If ever there was a manual for a leader, this is it. "Beyond Effective..." packs so much substance into its pages that all leaders would be well served by having a copy in their briefcases AND shirt pockets. The book serves as a daily reminder that truly inspired leadership is cultivated from within. By applying even just a handful of the lessons highlighted in this text, readers will be forced to develop their ability to self-evaluate. And if the ancient Greek phrase "Know Thyself" is the mandate to living an inspired, joyful, and powerful life, then Peck's work serves to carry that theme forward with a detailed roadmap.

I especially appreciated the substantive and essential focus on these "lessons". There is very little abstract theory here. You will not find tomes of complex analysis, which in my mind, would obscure what entrepreneurs and effective executives already know: it comes down to practice and application. Each page has a gem of an insight worth pondering... and then applying.

I highly recommend this book to aspiring leaders, effective leaders, and inspired leaders. People who are willing to confront their own self-imposed limitations will certainly benefit because, as it turns out, leading one's self is the most demanding task of all.

This book is, without a doubt, the most valuable business book I have ever read. No theories, no conjecture, just real world experience and guidance on how to create a stable and defensible business. If you are starting a business and want to do it right, or if you're lying awake at night worrying about the next fire that you're going to have to put out, you need this book!

This book offers valuable and practical risk management advice for business owners and CEOs. Solid how-to examples help those who are addressing these issues for the first time as well as experiened executives who want a fresh, unbiased perspective.

A must-have resource for owners, CEOs and those who work with them.

What a truly awesome book for continual process improvement! We have begun implementing many of its systems and I would strongly urge any size business owner to read this and share it with all key decision makers. Brad Forsythe's "PreAct" philosophy provides a systematic methodology to continually evaluate and improve upon all areas of your business freeing you from the potential risks by addressing them in advance...how liberating.

I keep this book within easy reach in my office and use it regularly to help my CPA firm clients as well as for the business of running our firm.
This is a great reference tool for those who wish to grow as fast as possible while minimizing risk.

Bulletproof Your Business is the most practical, cost and time saving business book I have read to date. A must read for both existing and just starting business owners.

The advice on:

* How to protect your firm from competitors/visitors `stealing' employees/secrets,

* Creating effective/thorough vendor and customer contracts,

* Employee confidentiality, termination, and non-compete forms,

* Management responsibilities and authorization forms

is thorough, easy to read, and the examples are exceptional. Several examples of a contract are provided depending on the complexity of the business - standard manufacturing or does the business work with Intellectual Property.

In addition, this book addresses two areas that I have not seen covered with such clarity - how to select a Lawyer and an Insurance Agent.

No doubt one of the most important Reference books I will be using to run my business in the future.

An ambitious book (derived from a business school MBA course) that uses experts to deliver an overview of market structure/dynamics in Pharma, Biotheraputics, Medical Devices and Informatics. The material is generally interesting and reasonably well presented although the partiality of the authors is often a little too noticeable ('irrational exuberance' is probably the best way to describe the chapter on medical devices). There are also surprising omissions - medical imaging is dismissed in a short paragraph, WTO discussions on compulsory licensing non existent and the issue of reference pricing is mentioned but left unexplored.
The content is also beginning to show it's age (2003 imprint) and the data underlying some of the chapters is nearly a decade old.
That said it's a good overview particularly of pharma and remains readable and coherent throughout.

The book provides a comprehensive look at the economics and rationale of product development, pricing and marketing in the healthcare market. Anyone who thinks that we (collectively) are being gouged by the medical device or pharmaceutical industry should take a look at the signficant costs incurred and capital risked by companies trying to innovate in that market.

While the approach taken in the book is largely academic, the information provided is easily understood by a general audience.

For all U.S. taxpayers and those who employ them, healthcare is one of the most important industries and yet, for most of taxpayers, it is probably the least understood. According to Burns, almost all attention has previously been focused on those who pay for and on who provide healthcare services. He explains that, in this book, he and other contributors focus their attention on the producers of healthcare products.

This book was primarily written for two different audiences: students and their teachers in graduate programs of health administration, and practitioners in each of several sectors (pharmaceutical, biotechnology, genomics and proteomics, medical device, and information technology) "not so much to educate them about their own sphere of activity, but rather to educate them about the other sectors that are increasingly interdependent with their own." The five industry sectors "are responsible for supplying a majority of the innovative products utilized by physicians and hospitals and which are increasingly demanded by consumers." As is later explained, "This supply and demand logic has exerted both positive and negative effects."

Of special interest to me is what Burns and other contributors have to say about innovative thinking and why it is not only important but indeed essential to the healthcare industry. (Much of the innovation is achieved in the information technology sector which Jeff F. Goldsmith examines in depth in Chapter 7.) Because the aforementioned five sectors are all for profit, Burns and associates examine the business models and corporate strategies of firms in those sectors. "As a result, the book may be more at home in health administration programs located in business schools [e.g. Wharton at which Burns is the James Joo-Jin Kim Professor, and Professor of Health Care Systems], but it may still be useful for programs in schools of public health and public administration." Given the rapidly increasing costs of healthcare, and especially given the fact that there is not as net a national public health program, my own opinion is that all public officials should read this book. I also highly recommend this book to all organizations which currently do business -- or are planning to business with -- producers of healthcare products.

Make no mistake about it: This is not an "easy read" but I hasten to add, that it rewards generously those who read it with appropriate care. Although healthcare students and their teachers comprise one of its primary audiences, this not so much a textbook as it is a rigorous analysis of urgent issues and significant crises which should also be of interest to senior-level executives of organizations which assume the substantial costs of coverage for those involved, for example, and to those in the news media who have -- until now -- devoted little (if any) attention to producers of healthcare products, other than to draw attention to their quarterly and annual financial data.

For me, the most interesting and most valuable material is provided with the last chapter, "Healthcare innovation across sectors: convergences and divergences," which Burns co-authored with Stephen M. Sammut. Obviously, it is highly advisable to read the seven chapters which precede it to derive full benefit from it. Burns and Sammut summarize the technological developments across all of the five segments (i.e. pharmaceutical, biotechnology, genomics and proteomics, medical device, and information technology) and suggest what can be learned about the business of innovation in healthcare. They carefully examine "various changes in market structure of each sector, the major business models used in each sector, the key success factors and distinctive capabilities of firms in each sector, the convergence between and among sectors, the formulation of value-adding alliances, and the managerial skills needed to sustain innovation and change in each sector."

Obviously, this is not a book for everyone but, now that I have read and then re-read it, I think The Business of Healthcare Innovation will be of substantial value to far more people than I originally assumed.

Bravo!

The market dynamics, business models, and corporate strategies of pharma, biotech, genomics, medical device development, and health care information technology are converging. And you better get ready.

Written by business gurus at the Wharton School and health industry executives, The Business of Healthcare Innovation provides an invaluable analysis of key business trends in the manufacturing side of health care. Editor Lawton R. Burns, Ph.D. and contributors focus on the producer side of health care and demonstrate how manufacturers serve as the principal drivers of health care innovation.

Specifically, The Business of Healthcare Innovation:

1. Provides an insightful, detailed overview of the most influential players - namely, the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, genomics/proteomics, medical device, and information technology sectors.

2. Describes and assesses the market structures, business models, and corporate strategies of each of these six sectors.

3. Shows how the six sectors are converging, drawing increasingly on the trends, tools, and solutions of each other.

A compelling, business-savvy look at the manufacturing side of health care, The Business of Healthcare Innovation is highly recommended for executives, policy makers, investors, and consultants to business and government decision makers.

The Business of Healthcare Innovation, a new book edited by Wharton Health Care Management Professor Lawton R. Burns, is a must-read analysis of key commercial issues in the four major business sectors developing innovative healthcare products - pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, and information technology. Thoughtful executives will be grateful for the book's solid research foundation and unwavering focus on practical business strategy issues.

Each sector receives a chapter-length analysis that includes market structure, key players, product development, commercialization, alliances, business strategy, and growth prospects. The contributors, who represent both Wharton faculty and industry executives, have done an excellent job of explaining the dynamics behind each sector. The chapter notes also provide an invaluable guide for further research.

Executives on the commercial side of the pharmaceutical industry should be sure to read the chapter on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), which reviews all known empirical research on the surprisingly limited benefits reaped from M&As. More practically, the chapter describes the most important managerial processes needed to extract synergies from M&As, with particular emphasis on the critical role played by the broader healthcare value chain.

The final chapter intriguingly suggests that the frontier of innovation lay in the convergence of these four sectors, such as new drug-device therapies or greater use of imaging in surgical treatment. This technological convergence will undoubtedly require new hybrid value chains, suggesting many exciting opportunities for the executives and companies responsible for moving drugs to market. Executives could profitably use this chapter as the basis for a rich strategic planning discussion.

What makes this fabulous book unique is that rather than focusing just on the law of zoning or just on the politics of same, Merriam does both- and in language that a nonlawyer can understand. He writes not just about the basics of zoning procedure, but also about how to assemble experts and present your case in a way likely to persuade a zoning board or city council.

In addition, Merriam's work contains some inadvertent clues as to why most American neighborhoods and suburbs are so sprawling and expensive. State and local laws typically require that an attempt to rezone property must be accompanied by some form of notice to neighbors- and so to get government approval, a developer must get neighbors' approval.

And to get that approval, developers must often change their plans in ways that increase the price of housing, make neighborhoods less walkable, or both. For example:

*The neighbors might be worried about traffic congestion. So the developer tries to appease them by widening the roads on its property, thus making that subdivision a scarier place to walk (and also reducing the amount of land available for housing).

*The neighbors might be worried about density. So the developer has to reduce the units in its subdivision, thus reducing housing supply.

*And sometimes, the developer has to just give something to neighborhood groups, essentially bribing them for permission to build. For example, Merriam points out that he sometimes has bought neighborhood goodwill by offering to pay a neighborhood group's lawyers and experts. He also suggests other little payoffs, such as setting aside open space for a neighborhood. I suspect that at least some of these costs are passed on to home buyers.

This book is a great overview of zoning. It gives you the basics -- all of them, but it is definitely for people who know very little about zoning. If you are finding yourself in your first zoning battle, make this your first book. If you already have a general understanding of zoning and its processes, then you already know everything in this book.

Whether or not you will absolutely love this book or find it a waste of money is dependent entirely on your level of knowledge and what you are looking for. This is perfect for those who are just learning about zoning or those who need to brush up.

As the Director of Planning and Development for a mid sized city in CT for the last 16 years, I highly reccomend this book. All planners and developers should read it.

The Complete Guide To Zoning: How Real Estate Owners and Developers Can Create and Preserve Property Value is a no-nonsense guide to understanding what zoning is and how to use it to protect one's property rights and interests. Zoning and Land-Use Law controls what can be done with land and how it can be developed; The Complete Guide To Zoning offers the lay reader a very short course in the law, the importance of knowing what one has, what one wants, and how to get it, the value of creating and leveraging relationships, when to reach out for support, preparing winning applications and making successful presentations, strategies for winning zoning battles, and much more. Chapters give equal focus to pursuing one's desire to develop land commercially, or the desire to see that adjoining lands to one's residential area are not developed commercially. Written in plain terms, The Complete Guide To Zoning is highly accessible regardless of the reader's legal background, and a "must-read" for property owners everywhere.

The Complete Guide to Zoning
By Dwight H. Merriam, FAICP, CRE
Review by Donald J. Poland, AICP

As planners, we tend to take the complexities of zoning and the land-use approval process for granted. Zoning is complicated system of government regulations that impact property rights and property values and more importantly the lives of any person who owns real estate. Dwight H. Merriam, in his new book, "The Complete Guide to Zoning" has successfully written a comprehensive account of zoning and the zoning game. Similar to Chris Matthews' book, Hardball, an insider's look at how the game of politics in played inside the Washington beltway, The Complete Guide to Zoning provides insiders look at how the zoning game is played. With over 25 year's experiences in planning and land use law, Dwight provides many lessons learned through his own experiences.

The Complete Guide to Zoning is formatted into six sections, "What is Zoning and Land-Use Law," "Getting Ready to Make Your Move," "Putting On Your Case," "Posthearing Follow-Up," "Winning Strategies," and "Protecting Your Property Rights." In a plain English and conversational voice, the book walks the reader through the basic law associated with zoning, the complex land-use approval process, and how to get what you want need out of zoning. From a variance for a backyard pool to developing a major expansion to a regional mall, The Complete Guide to Zoning shows the reader how zoning works and how to get the most out of your property and/or project.

While the book provides mostly a developer's perspective (the applicant seeking an approval), it also provides a unique insight and lessons to be learned by the neighbors or opposition groups who want to protect their properties and their rights. Most importantly, The Complete Guide to Zoning emphasizes the important of good communication between all parties, realizing that all or none approaches may not get either party what they want, and that all efforts should be made to avoid litigation.

Dwight's experience and perspective provides insight and understanding to the neophyte or layman, while reaffirming what the seasoned planner, engineer, or land-use attorney knows. We have all been involved in those applications that appear bigger than life and become more than just a job or an approval, but personal parts of ourselves. Be it as the developer who wants the 12-lot subdivision approval, the neighborhood who is fearful of increased traffic on their street, or the planner who has assisted the commission in drafting a new regulation, we all have been personally vested in the outcome of a zoning decision. Dwight reminds us that, "To be successful in resolving these disputes, you need to leave your ego at home. Whether you are the developer, the property owner, the leader of the neighborhood group, the lawyer, or the engineer, it is never about you. It is about land, the objective is developing or saving it, and zoning."

The Complete Guide to Zoning is a must read for anyone who owns real property or is involved in zoning. From the neighbor to the developer, the engineer to the architect, the commission member to the zoning official, the planning student to the veteran planner, this book should be on your desk, night table and available in the planning office and/or local library for applicants to read. The time spent reading "The Complete Guide to Zoning" will save any applicant from many frustrating hours of trying to figure out the land use approval process and weeks if not months of time in gaining a zoning approval. As we all know, saving time saves money and when it comes to development and zoning, time is money.

And last, I assure anyone who reads this book, when you are done reading it you will want to say, "Dwight, you magnificent bastard!" (An inside joke you'll get in reading the book.)

In "The Consultant's Manual", Thomas Greenbaum presents a concise, well-thought-out guide for starting a consulting business. Although a bit outdated (published in 1990), the content of Greenbaum's manual is just as applicable now as it was in the 1990's.

His first chapter deals with marketing, a good place to start. He stresses that focusing on a target market and defining what you have to offer are the key aspects of building a successful business. "...nothing happens until someone sells something" is right on page one of his Introduction section.

His chapters on proposal preparation and handling objections are right on the money. His essay on ethics at the end of his book is well written and to the point.

Greenbaum taught consulting classes at Harvard University before he wrote this book. His depth of knowledge is evident.

I highly recommend this book.

Mitch Paioff, Author, Getting Started as an Independent Computer Consultant

Getting Started as an Independent Computer Consultant

I am setting up a small consulting business and found The Consultant's Manual by Thomas L. Greenbaum to be extremely informative and quite valuable in the detail that it provided on the planning and implementation of a successful consulting business. It was highly recommended by my colleagues and friends. I would pass that recommendation on to anyone who is in the process of setting up a consulting business.

Making money as a consultant means meeting prospective clients who are decision makers within their businesses and standing by your fees, because you never know when competition and technology will get the better of you. Also, it means getting business prospects to think of you, not only as a customer of advertising and print shops, but as a breadwinner too who likes cashing regular paychecks. You can get paid to make business-boosting connections by appearing on radio and television, giving industry and trade talks, teaching courses, and writing articles and books.

So Thomas L. Greenbaum is particularly helpful on the financial side of becoming a consultant. His book, THE CONSULTANT'S MANUAL, makes consulting dreams come true, along with Geoffrey M. Bellman's THE CONSULTANT'S CALLING, Herman Holtz's THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CONSULTING CONTRACTS, Peter Meyer's GETTING STARTED IN COMPUTER CONSULTING, Janet Ruhl's THE COMPUTER CONSULTANT'S GUIDE, and Howard Shenson and Ted Nicholas' THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CONSULTING SUCCESS.

It doesn't come with a free CD, accompanying website or an appendix of checklists. There's not even a photo of the author. It's not about how to consult (the part you're excited about!), it is, rather, about how to run your consulting business for a living (the part you're not particularly excited about, but is necessary). Based on Greenbaum's Harvard consulting course (which is what attracted me to the text, along with, honestly, its affordability), the subtitle "A Complete Guide to Building a Successful Consulting Practice," really sums it up. Just because you have a developed area of expertise does not mean you will be a successful consultant from your own financial perspective. You have to manage and grow your business.

A business plan is just as important for a service business as for a product-based enterprise; perhaps even more so. A carefully constructed image ("company identity") including promotional materials parallels development of an effective business plan. A personal selling strategy needs to be in place, including details of billing and contracting, before you begin, or at least get in too far. The chapter on "Planning Your Company's Finances" was of particular interest to me, since it is often taboo in casual conversation among colleagues.

I initially thought the author was extremely hard-sell, but to be successful long-term, confidence and forethought are essential. Competition is fierce in many fields, and you need to get and keep your slice of the target market pie. As I read further, reality set in, and this book is reality and experience-based.

Be honest, and go for win-win situations; you are in business to make money by providing honest, consistent, quality customer service. The last few chapters, particularly the chapter on ethics, provide nice segue to perhaps another book.

For the money, this is a good survival manual from the consultant's point of view for a beginner or a professional already in the field. It's an easy read meshing the marketing and business principles you'll need to supplement your given areas of expertise. For more complete (and pricey, but worth it if you're serious) information and advice, check out Elaine Beich "The Business of Consulting and Beyond" and/or Peter Block's "Flawless Consulting" sets of workbooks/case studies plus texts.

L'expert-conseil se trouve couronne de succes lorsqu'il fait bien son boulot et, tres important, lorsqu'il ne bouge pas sur les honoraires a recevoir. Il ne faut jamais oublier que les clients sont des decisives chez eux, qu'ils cherchent toujours a minimiser les frais et maximiser le travail des autres. Alors il vaut mieux demander les honoraires les plus hauts possibles parce que la concurrence et la technologie, ca change tout vite. Il y a des instants ou l'expert-conseil devient lui-meme client payant, c'est-a-dire dans les imprimeries et les agences de publicite. Ces fois-ci il n'a qu'a se presenter comme chef de famille, un gagne-pain comme tout le monde qui a des frais et qui a donc besoin des jours de paye toutes les quinzaines. L'expert-conseil arrive a attirer les clients et, tres important, en reste paye, lorsqu'il passe a la radio et a la tele, parle aux reunions des gens de l'industrie et des affaires, enseigne des classes du soir, ou bien ecrit des articles et des livres.