Practice Management Books

I bought this book a couple of months back and used it extensively in completing a couple of investments. As an investor, I found this book exceptionally useful. Clearly Mr Miller has excellent overall business and transactional understanding, which he has put down as knowledge in an extremely accessible way.

Miller's book is a comprehensive source of excellent advice for founders, technology executives and venture investors. Using a detailed but very readable style, this book brings together the wide range of topics relevant to a tech startup and covers each one thoroughly. Most importantly, it describes the interconnections between those topics that are unique to early stage companies, recommends actions, and provides the logic behind the recommendation. As a former CTO and CEO of venture backed tech startups, I would suggest that every early stage company exec would benefit from having this book as a resource.

Louis Hruska, Founder and CTO PowerSmart, CEO Akermin Inc.

Great book - very informative. Attorney Miller really knows his stuff (as he should since he's been around pretty much since the birth of the venture capitalist industry.) Whether you are running a tech company or thinking of launching one, this book is required reading.

Similar to how he does it in his recent book, Mergers and Acquisitions, Edwin L. Miller again displays a powerful ability to present complex information in clear and concise terms. His education and experience are indisputably top-notch, and he further uses this insight to cover numerous stages of a Technology Company in lucid and understandable detail. This is a must-read for anyone interested in starting a technology company, and it pays for itself within the first hour. The book is also comprehensive in that it covers the entire lifecycle of a Technology Company from start-up and formation to placements and acquisition. Easily five stars.

As an attorney who has worked with start-ups I found this book to be an incredibly valuable resource and suggest that anyone looking to start a technology company read it because it provides a roadmap to all of the business and legal issues that you will face when launching your technology company. From formation to funding to IPO or sale, Mr. Miller breaks down the issues that you will face in a clear and concise way, providing insight into all sides of an issue. I highly recommend it!

The challenges and opportunities facing companies today in the area of sustainability are more complex and have greater potential impact than ever before. Making Sustainability Work fulfills an unmet need for senior executives, board members, and managers seeking better ways to manage these challenges and opportunities. In this book, Epstein provides direction and guidance to help corporate leaders integrate sustainability into their daily decisions and to better understand and manage corporate social responsibilities and corporate performance. Making Sustainability Work is an outstanding contribution to the field. This book will be an invaluable resource for senior executives, boards, and managers searching for the best ways to integrate sustainability into their decision making.
--Mark L. Frigo, Ph.D., CMA, CPA, Director of the Center for Strategy, Execution, and Valuation, Kellstadt Grauate School of Business at DePaul University

Whereas others have argued for why corporations must attend to social issues, Epstein helps us understand how. Epstein provides in-depth, thoughtful analysis that integrates the relevant research in the field about how to more effectively manage corporate social responsibility. He grounds this analysis in extensive examples of companies actively grappling with these issues. In doing so, he provides a manual for both academics and practitioners to understand what we know today about how to manage corporate social responsibility , and provides a set of questions for the issues that we must grapple with tomorrow. This book is a must read for anyone who cares about the success of companies and who cares about the future of our communities and our planet.

If you want a single book on how to make your company sustainable, this is the book for you. Epstein distills the latest and greatest thinking into a sensible and comprehensive program for delivering environmental, social, and financial excellence. You don't need to look further for a guide to retool the machinery of your organization to create value for all stakeholders. Epstein is a renowned expert in the field of managing for sustainable performance. It's amazing how many insights and examples he fits into this easy-to-ready book. A great contribution to the field.

This book provides a detailed model that provides guidance on how managers can implement sustainability at their companies. However, it is excellent not only for managers, but also for consumers who want to know what companies are doing or what they should be doing to improve their social and environmental responsibility. It is easy to read and contains many detailed real world examples to help readers understand what corporate sustainability is and how it should work at global companies.

Making Sustainability work does a significant contribution for practitioners on how to put sustainability principles and ideas into practice. We have seen in the past other important contributions about sustainability. The difference regarding this new book is in putting these ideas in a very explicit way; emphasizing on the challenges of integrating sustainability into the business strategy and in the decision-making that encompasses the implementation of successful strategies at the firm level.

The book goes further giving valuable guidelines in practical methodologies on how to measure social and environmental risks and impacts and in the implementation of systems inside the firms for permanently monitoring such impacts. This has been a weakness in some of the literature we have seen in the past. Making Sustainability Work addresses the necessary evaluation of the impacts of sustainability initiatives on the financial performance to correctly assess the convenience of implementing them in terms of the benefits to both, the firm and the stakeholders. Finally, we have in a very amenable reading style, an important guide for practitioners on how to put sustainability principles into practice.

Julie Morgenstern does a great job of clearly talking about steps to take to be more efficient and effective at work. It is a great resource.

Julie Morgenstrom fills every page with practical tips on how to manage critical aspects of life at work. Since I began using her tips on email management, I am in full control. Definitely worth the investment.

Although the title of this book suggests that the content is purely work related, it is very helpful if you want to learn how to balance your personal and work life. The most helpful part of the book for me was "Control the Nibblers." I was able to recognize my blind spots, then after figuring out my top three time wasters and biggest interruptions, I implemented the author's helpful recommendations. I have also implemented her suggestions about organizing meetings with considerable success. I certainly recommend this book.

Typically, the mentoring process is a two-way dialogue that takes place over lunch, in the gym or on the phone. But author Julie Morgenstern changes the traditional mentoring model. Speaking out from the printed page, she mentors by remote. Morgenstern offers useful career guidance and concise tips, organized as concrete "Grab and Go Strategies." Her colorful examples, logical chapter summaries and chatty case histories make her book outstanding. Occasionally, her advice is repetitive, but overall it's hard to find fault, because she is so clearly smart, thoughtful and on your side. We recommend this mentor's manual to every professional, including the overworked, self-employed and underemployed.

Just what I needed in the nick of time. As with all useful popular psychology books, its efficacy is in the reader making an effort to follow through with a plan, and Morgenstern inspires me to do just that. I especially appreciated her quickstart program. Saving the procrastination-potential reading until I've got a handle on some of my clutter--in both time and space! Speaking of which, being as visual as I am, I especially appreciated her sketch/analogy representing the inside of a (my) closet as it aligns with the inside of a (my) calendar! They look the same. If I can organize my closet in space, I can organize my calendar in time!

Domain specific know-how is obviously essential to effective management. In this book, Peter Drucker discusses non-domain-specific know-how for management. Even though the book is long at 861 pages, it is NOT wordy and he makes every sentence count.

Insightful, practical, straight-forward and meaningful (to me) discussion topics included job design, organizational design, growing and selecting managers, improving organizational productivity, strategy, and managing innovation.

I had originally rented this book from the library with an intention of zipping through it to obtain a general idea and feel for the concepts presented. I found myself constantly stopping to take notes and unable to finish the entire book during the loan period. After renewing twice and hardly making it a quarter of the way through I decided I would have to purchase the book.

As the General Manager of a small business with no formal training and little prior experience in managing a company this was the best investment I could have ever made. I'd recommend you take notes as you read in order to get the most of this book. Read it a second time a year after you finish it.

I'll give 5 stars for the content of the book, but why is it so small in dimentions and so THICK. I don't understand why it was made this way. Along with this book, I have ordered four more Drucker books and the paper quality of all of them is AWFUL.

this book is just great. i find it a straightforward and no frills book. yet reading it makes business interesting and encouraging. a truly indispensable reference and guide to management, better than any textbook i have come across in terms of giving clarity to the big picture. for that i have huge respect and admiration for peter drucker.

peter drucker is just "the man" in management in my book.

This is a heavyweight tome with clear insight. Every manager should read this.

For example, Drucker writes what strategy planning is not:
a box of tricks;
nor modelling;
nor forecasting;
nor masterminding the future.

Methodically, he explains what it is: Analytical thinking & commitment of resources to action.

Drucker is famous for his simple questions which resonated across the corporate world for 50 years, and was especially influential with Jack Welch at GE.

In this book Drucker poses these questions as the framework for creating a business strategy:
*What is our business?
*What will it be?
*What should it be?
...And the killer: *If we were not committed to this today, would we go into it?

Written in '73. Valid today.

I work with four other transcriptionists for a group of neurologists, and this book has been used quite a bit (there is tape holding the binding together). The Stedman Word books are also excellent, but if you are looking for a phrase, more times than not, you will find it in this book. For instance, the doctor dictated "wall motion abnormality". None of us ever heard of this before, but I was able to find it in this book. I highly recommend it, and I hope to soon be able to get the new 2004 edition.

This latest revision - 4th edition (10/15/01) is even easier to use and more comprehensive (250,000+ entries) than previously. This is truly THE medical phrase resource. Nothing else comes close! We use it dozens of times a day.

When one hears one word in a phrase but is not sure of others, this resource is invaluable. Of all my resources for medical transcription, this is one of the few I use every day. Can't live without it.

Being in the medical transcription field having to look up new words and decipher dialects, this is one book every transcriptionist should have. To look up a word by disease and/or symptom is a lot faster than a flashlight without batteries in the dark! I highly recommend this book to medical transcriptionists whether a beginner, intermediate or experienced one.

There is much help here for the medical transcriptionist, but based on my experience I'd expect this is of more help to those only needing general help and not specific, detailed, intense assistance in deciphering the ever-changing world of medical terminology. The volume is the size of a good, stout English dictionary, and contains well over 1000 pages of words and phrases that the MT must know, but I can't tell you how many times I've been frustrated by searching for a term in this book only to find that I need to instead turn to a Stedman's specialty book (GI/GU, Orthopedics, Oncology, etc.) and find it there after a fruitless search of the MPI. There are a handful of instances it's worked the other way around, but in my three-plus years as an MT I've learned that I'll rarely find help here and that I should always go to Stedman's first.

HOWEVER, having said that, not everyone is able to invest a few hundred dollars in a set of Stedman's medical word books. While "you get what you pay for" is definitely true in this case, if you're in a situation where you have experienced co-workers who can help with the more specialized phrases you won't find here, this may suffice. It's not bad by any stretch, but if you need to work independently, this is insufficient.

this is a great book i used this book at home and in my office.

If you need to know the correct format for an office document or the correct way to address an official, it is in this book. This book covers the traditional means of communication as well as the electronic arena. It is well organized and very easy to use.

We are a small firm, and I am a licensed professional who types his own correspondence, contracts for clients, transmittals, etc.. Because the styles and forms of business letters have changed since I was in college, I decided I needed a good reference to help me with the tricky stuff that comes along occassionally.

This book did the job. Whether I need to know how to address a letter to an elected official, or pressure someone to pay an invoice, the Secretarial Handbook covers it. From punctuation to collation, this is the best single office reference I have ever used.

If you do your own administrative tasks, buy one for yourself for National Secretaries (Administrative Professionals) Day.

A superb one-stop reference volume covering topics highly relevant to the duties of secretaries and personal/admininstrative assistants, this handbook has withstood the test of time. The third edition dates from the early 1990s, but most of the many tasks treated comprehensively in this handbook have changed very little over the years: forms of address, basic grammar and punctuation rules, formal business correspondence, organization of meetings and travel, postal mail procedures, telephone etiquette and procedures, and so on. A few chapters that are very technology-sensitive (computers and word-processing equipment, desktop publishing, etc.) have dated considerably, but the handbook overall is so useful that it's worth having within arm's reach in just about any office-for both secretaries and their managers.

In an increasingly global business environment, this handbook is also very useful for assistants and secretaries outside the U.K. and U.S. who must deal with English-speaking colleagues on a regular basis by phone, e-mail, or mail.

We are a small firm, and I am a licensed professional who types his own correspondence, contracts for clients, transmittals, etc.. Because the styles and forms of business letters have changed since I was in college, I decided I needed a good reference to help me with the tricky stuff that comes along occassionally.

This book did the job. Whether I need to know how to address a letter to an elected official, or pressure someone to pay an invoice, the Secretarial Handbook covers it. From punctuation to collation, this is the best single office reference I have ever used.

If you do your own administrative tasks, buy one for yourself for National Secretaries (Administrative Professionals) Day.

This book gives a very clear and understandable explanation of many Buddhist as well as psychotherapeutic concepts. It is serious reading, but not too difficult; it is not necessary to be an expert in either subject. I read it twice and gained considerable insights. I have bought several copies to give to my children and grandchildren (college-age), and I recommend it without reservation.

Although the title of this text implies that this is a work best suited to professionals, I was delighted to find just the opposite. This is a book clearly presents some of the most basic aspects of Zen meditation written from a personal and inspiring perspective. It makes it possible for even the beginner to understand the rewards and challenges of just sitting meditation.
As a previous reviewer said ..."this is not just an intellectual polemic. Using a combination of honest examples from his own life, the wisdom of the Zen koan, and not least of all, humor, he repeatedly returns to how these issues inform our everyday life as we live it."
In addition this work includes a nicely written index making it possible to revisit those areas that made you think on your first read.

Don't let the title of this book fool you into thinking that this is solely a precise academic discourse on the relationship of Zen and psychotherapy.

This is a solid, discerning book of Zen for everyday life. Barry Magid has a warm, gentle, no BS style like his own teacher, the loved Charlotte Joko Beck. He has the capability to take big wisdom and intelligently share it with his readers in an accessible, heartfelt and encouraging way:

"..this is like looking into a mirror: without any effort, our face naturally appears. Whatever we experience, whatever doubt or difficulty we feel, is simply who and what we are in that moment"

This is one of those books that does not leave the spot next to the bed. I find myself reading this over and over and am softer and kinder for it. This book shines!

This book is one of the most engaging books on Zen that I have had the good luck to discover. In addition to providing a concise discussion of the relationship between the foundational notions of modern psychoanalysis and the day-to-day work of Zen practice, Magid provides a lively discussion of twelve famous koans. Not only does Magid use his experience as a psychoanalyst to inform his view of Zen practice, he uses his experience of Zen practice to elucidate concepts in psychoanalysis. Best of all, he has written a book that is intelligent, engaging, and practical!

Soto Zen teacher/psychoanalyst Magid compares Soto Zen with Freudian, Self, Object Relations, & Intersubjectivity psychologies. His thesis is that p. 8: "documented case after case of experienced meditators whose core conflicts & deficits have not only been inadequately addressed through their practice, but for whom meditation itself served to reinforce defensive patterns" which have led to a number of scandals for Zen leaders due to "Zen transference" & that Zen & psychotherapy can be mutually supportive/beneficial. He is very oriented towards gradualism: Soto vs. Rinzai Zen, pro-bottom up vs. top-down approach, & thinks peak experiences are chimeras-despite Richard Bucke's famous book, "Cosmic Consciousness" which describes how such experiences have markedly changed numerous people's lives. His view seems Extroverted (object relations, intersubjectivity, etc.) & Sensate (bottom-up/gradualist). He does provide nice concise descriptions of Self Psychology etc. but makes no attempt to integrate them into extant models (e.g. Jung). His Intersubjectivity appears to be an interpretation of Knowledge Management social network analysis using Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. The book has interesting explications of Zen koans & astute observations on important, often misunderstood, Buddhist doctrines: p. 95: quoting Aitkin Roshi--"The self is still present-but it is not self-preoccupied," p. 141: "Suzuki Roshi once said that detachment doesn't mean giving up the things of the world, but accepting that they go away," & p. 142: "Detachment means non-self-centered responsiveness to a situation...all detachment precludes is increasing the suffering of others in order to minimize your own." However, he seems to think p. 58: emptiness is perfection & Buddhahood is emptiness. He virtually ignores Buddha nature, stating that: p. 162: "It is only through the skillful use of forms, discipline, & the relationship that liberating change can occur. This is as true for psychoanalysis as it is for Zen." IMHO, this is not true for everyone--e.g. people have differing personality types per the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Thus, "doing by being" is comparable to "being by doing" & possibly more efficient. The moral is not to run slowly, it's to pay attention--the hare lost to the tortoise because he wasn't mindful. I'd recommend reading John Suler's "Psychoanalysis and Eastern Thought" which I prefer over this book.

Do you wonder if you are the only person crazy enough to think that your law practice is destructive to your spirit? Take heart, the book tells you that you are in good company. You must find a way to change your reaction to the stress, your path to sanity. This book offers a veriety of starting points

This book really captures the issues in the legal profession and gives useful advice on how to deal with it constructively.

Initially I thought this book might be too touchy feely for lawyers - like many other books on this topic. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

I think the author's experience in NY law firms makes him well qualified to address this topic. I found it had helpful questions and that doing the exercises was very revealing. Net net, it helped to identify the sources of stress and makes it very clear that if the lawyer is honest about his/her values, what changes need to be made.

Following the suggestions in this book it makes it almost impossible for a lawyer to claim that there is nothing that can be done to improve his/her situation.

Even though this book was published in 1997, it is still very timely. After all, the type of stress that lawyers endure hasn't changed and neither have the techniques used to overcome it. I recently re-read it and gave it to a friend (another lawyer) to read- both of us were very glad that we did. It's the kind of book you read every time life seems overwhelming and too complex. The book simplifies things. It helps you understand precisely why you are stressed out and what you can do about it. It is easy to read, very practical and at the same time very profound.

This third edition is destined to be the classic authority on stress management for lawyers. It's not one of those touchy-feely books with no substance. It is very substantive and perceptive, as well as succinct and pragmatic. The author obviously understands lawyers and has written a very readable, logical and well-documented guidebook. In some sections, the author even manages to be inspirational and humorous.

The book covers everything you would want to know about stress and lawyers. The most helpful sections for me were the ones that deal with how lawyers can develop more effective thinking habits, be more in tune with their own and others' emotions, and be more true to their own values. There is also a section on how to apply all of these new skills to improve your time management habits, law practice management skills, and even family life. I recommend it enthusiastically.

Marjorie Ryerson has orchestrated a symphony of color and meaning on every page of her book Water Music. Her fusion of prose, poetry, music from others with her own photography makes the book a full sensual, nearly audible, experience even though it is in fact a printed piece. For all those who know that water is truly one of the most sacred parts of our existence, this book celebrates that concept and reminds us of how varied and beautiful this life-giving gift is. With proceeds going to a United Nations fund to support clean water for families and to preserve natural water environments, your purchase of this book is not only a pleasure for your own senses, but a courageous effort to protect a resource that too many of us, at our peril, take for granted.

As someone who for many years made my living as a photographer, my first response to Marjorie Ryerson's photographs of water was artistic: the images are stunning; they work to convey the beauty, mystery, and power of water. Since then, watching as other people respond to Water Music on my coffee table, I see the power of the book to raise consciousness of an ever-changing and essential resource that where I live in Florida is fast disappearing. Even in the months since I bought my copy, I have seen news headlines about communities near my home where the water has been declared unfit to drink, as well as new research showing that the state will be running out of potable water some fifteen years sooner than previously predicted-now as early as 2006. In the short time that Water Music has been the centerpiece of my living room, water wars have started between northern and southern parts of the state. So I love this book. With its fantastic photographs and lyrical text, it sits there quietly shouting that water is very, very precious and that we'd all best wake up.

Cama-i (Aleut Greetings)

I am honored to be the 66th musician Marjorie Ryerson included in her incredible group of diverse and talented musicians in Water Music. Our discovery of each other was as magical and poetic as this project and has set the stage for what I believe will be a lifetime friendship. Marjorie's passion for the importance of this project, her love of Mother Earth, and appreciation for the music makers of this planet come together in a way that makes me so very proud to be an American Indian woman, a musician and an appreciative kayaker who LOVES the- Water! "Quyanaa" sister! (Aleut- Thank You) May Creator always bless your journey...

Mary Youngblood- Native American Flutist/singer/songwriter

....on water, music, the reveries of light and wind at play on the surfaces of our hearts and souls. This is a book to keep nearby. Should the room grow too small, the air too dry - push off, navigate whatever stretch most meets your needs and listen.
What life along the banks! What an intimate glimpse of some of our finest musicians and one of America's most unassuming and talented photojournalists! Go now!

The stunning photography that is the heart of this work reminds us of the inspiring Oneness of Earth, Water and Music. That Ms. Ryerson had the vision to recognize Music as the spiritual and artistic extension of this natural unity is a gift to the reader and viewer of this remarkable book. Sixty-six world-renowned musicians, including Kenny Loggins, Randy Newman, Garrick Ohlsson, Dave Brubeck and Taj Mahal, contribute text that draws a direct line between the Muse and the constancy, beauty and timelessness of Water. In his profound essay/poem, jazz pianist Marcus Roberts beautifully captures the framework of the book: "I respect the water. Because it's been here forever-feeding nature, quenching thirst, healing the land, nurturing the flowers. And it will be here long after we are gone, demanding and receiving respect. Singing the sweet song of eternal life..." Ms. Ryerson displays an uncommon organizational and aesthetic genius, not to mention a singular commitment to the cause of sustainable water sources, contributing the royalties for this project to the United Nations Foundation. But it is her photography that is the soul of this work. Witness the misty mirror image landscape on page 151, opposite the story by cellist Tilla Henkins. I rest my case.

A little outdated but I can't criticize that.

Gives a lot of ideas, breaks things down easily. I'm a very disorganized person, that it is helping me.

Havn't read the whole book yet, though so far I am will pleased. It is not really a how to manual. But like the title of the book says, it's more instruction on how to manage and organize things.

So far it has already changed many things. Plus it will give you ideas for a lot of stuff.

This resource is EXHAUSTIVE to say the least. From how to organize your office right down to where you need to put your trashcan. Everything from getting a job to leaving gracefully, planning budgets to insurance liabilities. The CD included must have 100 forms that are necessary to any ministry with students. Don't pass this up. The forms on the cd are completely customizable to your ministry. You need this book! What an incredible tool!

This is an excellent resource book for anyone working with youth or serving on a youth committee.

THis is a collection of excellent tools to use in youth ministry. When read as a reference upon which to build an organized ministry, it is an incredibly helpful book. I constantly refer to the forms in the back of the book which I then specialize for our youth group.

This is a good leadership book which also addresses specific issues found in youth ministry. I would recommend it for anyone leading youth or who is planning to lead youth.