Chris Webber Books

i loved this book, and chris webber is my favorite player. everyone should read this book.

his book is even better. hes a great man on the court and off. this book shows that.

Chris Webber is my favorite playor sence 1993.I recomend this book to enybody who Likes Chris Webber and for enybody that likes Basketball.

After reading this book, I recommended it to several friends, who in turn told several friends, and so on. This is a powerful and insightful glimpse by a trained observer, into organizational dynamics. I've used Turner's stories and exercises, always with profound results. Her focus on the human aspect of the organization is critical for those wishing to bring change to the vapid, smokey halls of corporate America. "When the student is ready, the Master will come". Turner is Masterful.

Chris Turner is a maverick turned loose onto Big Business, in this case Xerox. She questioned and made changes to the top-down autocratic management approach in order to stimulate interest and growth in Xerox. All Hat and No Cattle is a phrase she uses to describe managers who have no idea of what is really going on in their department/company. She inspired people to stir things up and try new ideas and concepts to get people/employees fired up setting up "camps" where people met/networked in a free-spirit open method. Once they understood what was the goal, which was growth and saving money, they were off and running on their own. She introduced new ways of doing things to stimulate them and it worked. They became very enthusiastic and zealous in their endeavors to make this work. Many managers use key words such as "empowerment, innovation and learning" without anything to back it up, no substance. All meetings are the same with power-point slide presentations and the same topics rehashed and never resolved. No one learns from these types of meetings she determined. She states that we "resist idiocies that will disappear shortly to be replaced by the latest flavor of the month. People resist inane organizational programs because people are smart." Chris Turner uses humor to describe corporate complacency and has you acknowledging you've experienced managers/leaders that she describes. As a nurse manager myself, she has us understand that with true employee involvement and giving them appropriate tools to work with they can surprise you with their adaptability, innovation and enthusiasm. Out of this involvement change can come, change for the better- bottom line cost savings, increased profit and increased employee morale. All of this really shakes up the bosses, who feel threatened by this increased employee involvement.

"All Hat and No Cattle" purports to be an insider's account of, amongst other things, the lessons learned from being part of a bloated bureaucracy run amok. The title comes from the Texas term for "all talk without any substance." Indeed the foreword by Alan Webber extols the virtues of the author's genuine honesty. He even says that she "writes with a Texas twang!"

Trouble is, if that's the only real thing here, it's not enough to make up for the sloppy thinking and other defects that make this book such a waste of money. (Wish I could get a refund on grounds that the book had nothing of any value to say!)

My ex-husband and I both attended the Xerox Business Services (XBS) "Camp Lur-ning" organized by the author a number of years ago. She contends that the positive effects to the company are still felt to this day. Oh yeah? If true, why'd she bail like so many of us did? Tom Peters obviously failed to consider this when he cited Chris Turner as an example of passion and caring transforming large organizations into creative enterprises.

The book really has only about enough substance for a small pamphlet but embellishes to the point that the final pages degenerate into an incoherent diatribe, nah--it's just mush--of how all the ills of society are the result of white males running the show. Readers are encouraged to do everything from writing their elected officials to voting for Ralph Nader!

Not realizing that she had nothing much to say in the first place, the author tells readers that this is a story without end so she gives, in the book's final pages, a URL where readers are told not to be strangers (the contraction "Y'hear?" seemed missin' y'all!). Even here, most of what is posted reflects the ignorance keeping the author from assessing reality in a way that would have let her draw conclusions that made sense or, even better, would have been of some use.

The problem with Xerox in general, and XBS in particular, is the drag on operations by the bloated levels of bosses. Coupled with the incompetence of the over paid executives and it's no wonder the stock has tanked!

The biggest falsehood Chris Turner spreads is the myth that XBS was the only financial money maker within the corporation. Any XBS "profits" over the years were at the expense of the rest of the enterprise, mostly getting credit for the profitable part of the sale of equipment "bought" from manufacturing (at cost) along with the "services" (mostly slave labor) provided for running the same equipment. The dime-a-dozen vice presidents belched forth by XBS then actually believe their own propaganda--that they know what they're doing--and executives in the rest of the company follow their flawed example!

Chris Turner's a nice person but her book is no better than the phonies she used to work for. Too bad! Don't waste your time or money on this terrible, incoherently rambling, shoddily thrown together, replete with misprints, work which, with even a little bit of thought, could have risen to the level of fluff or, perhaps even, all hat and no cattle?

The single star given was generous. (Star of Texas?)

The book began as an interesting concept, but quickly I realized that the author was never at a job long enough to see any results. She never was in a position of importance in any of the companies, so I don't really know where she gets the idea that these programs will actually work. She has views about almost every company and suggestions, but so far I've not been able to find anything that would lead me to believe that what she says had any validity. Save your money and buy another book.

There is an old syllogism of organizations. 1. We must do something. 2. This is something. 3. We must do this.

Many a budding institutional innovator, frustrated by the hidebound habits of her colleagues, has nonetheless stifled her creativity for fear of losing influence, job, or respect. Then there are those like Chris Turner, who resolutely turn their horse's head and take the road less traveled. In Turner's case, that means donning the proud mantle of change agent, leading corporate learning programs at Xerox Business Services. Since leaving XBS, Turner has turned consultant and speaker, using her irreverence, Texan argot, and impatience with untested convention to inspire revolution.

Turner wants change, and she wants it now. She wants to replace institutional fear with "love-based systems." She believes in "disturbing the system," doing something - anything - differently to provoke a reaction. Most of all she castigates "all hat and no cattle," a Lone Star State expression for all style and no substance. Pay for performance, obsessions with measurement, corporate welfare, bad PowerPoint slides: "all hat and no cattle," declares Turner, and she delights in taking the high and mighty down a notch or three.

Irreverence can be entertaining, even when it fulminates on a soapbox. But like another successful Texan who partied throughout college, Turner tends to assume that the people in charge are self-interested, greedy mediocrities who can't be trusted. Appealing though they may be, generalizations cut both ways: we mustn't assume that all managers are automatically right, but nor should we assume that they're automatically wrong. Turner is mad as hell and not going to take it any more: fair enough, but by condemning any activity that perpetuates the status quo, she often veers from passion to petulance. It's imprudent for a sans-culotte to show frustration at not being queen.

If you're a stymied OD professional, you may be inflamed by this call for revolution. You'll certainly welcome Chapter 6, in which Turner offers specific, detailed suggestions for revamping organizational meetings. And you can always add to your storehouse of quotations, as Turner strews aphorisms across her pages with Barlettian generosity - Emerson, Wilde, Einstein, Didley, all are grist to her mill. But in the end All Hat and No Cattle suffers from the same syndrome it so gleefully diagnoses: too much prate, not enough practice. Change agent, heal thyself.

Moo was not what I expected from the slogan,which seemed to reflect a way of living rather than a way of business success.

For a book that's about being remarkable, it's ironic that this is so unexciting. The book had a lot of potential - but with the exception of two or three pages, it's a huge letdown.

This was an amazing find. For two reasons.
1. Tons of interesting stuff, packaged into short articles from top-authors. I just cannot tell you ow much easy it is on the mind - just like reading a book of short stories once in a while, if you are a reader of fiction.

2. The liberty to share what I read. I can just photocopy/ scan the pages to share with my friend as long as mention the source.

Together with such a fine articulation of content, The Big Moo makes for a easy readiung and creating a balance, ann puts things in perspective.

Must read!

The Big Moo feels like a collection of blog posts from several thinkers that have gained Godin's attention, a merit which speaks for itself. I love the idea of forming books around small, cohesive articles based on a theme; I wish there were more of these. This one's theme basically is "think differently and be inspired." It's worthy of going back to whenever you get into a rut. Things that stand out about this book:

* unique and varied writing styles
* short and sweet
* concision -- not enough space to drag out a point
* anecdotal stories
* entertaining
* thought-provoking
* inspiring

My favorite posts:

* Chopping Onions (differentiation)
* When Everything Is Free (open source model everywhere)
* They Say I'm Extreme (be very different)
* Be Like Reggie (exceptional service)
* Isaac Newton's Head (importance of naming)
* What Do You Stand For (perseverance)

I have to stop here with just that sampling; it's hard to exclude many from a "favorites" list. So many gems!

I really wish the articles were individually online since they make great links, and warrant further discussion. Wouldn't that be the purple way? Maybe someone will devote a blog to expanding their topics.

I bought this book, cause other Seth Godin books offer extremely important insight in today's business and marketing.

This book does not. It's a list of semi-inspiring stories from "business leaders". Most of them are rather obvious and don't offer the type of knowledge/usefulness that are characteristic for other Seth Godin books.