Book Description
Under Andy Grove's leadership, Intel has become the world's largest chip maker and one of the most admired companies in the world. In
Only the Paranoid Survive, Grove reveals his strategy of focusing on a new way of measuring the nightmare moment every leader dreads--when massive change occurs and a company must, virtually overnight, adapt or fall by the wayside.
Grove calls such a moment a Strategic Inflection Point, which can be set off by almost anything: mega-competition, a change in regulations, or a seemingly modest change in technology. When a Strategic Inflection Point hits, the ordinary rules of business go out the window. Yet, managed right, a Strategic Inflection Point can be an opportunity to win in the marketplace and emerge stronger than ever.
Grove underscores his message by examining his own record of success and failure, including how he navigated the events of the Pentium flaw, which threatened Intel's reputation in 1994, and how he has dealt with the explosions in growth of the Internet. The work of a lifetime,
Only the Paranoid Survive is a classic of managerial and leadership skills.
The Currency Paperback edition of
Only the Paranoid Survive includes a new chapter about the impact of strategic inflection points on individual careers--how to predict them and how to benefit from them.
Customer Reviews:
Enriching Personal Real-Life Account by Someone Who Had Managed a Mega-Size Corporation!!! .......2007-03-20
The real value of this book is that it is written by someone, Andrew Grove, who has actual experiences and managed a start-up right up to a mega successful corporation. There are tons of management and marketing books written by people, based on case-studies and analysis, but lack actual experiences managing or working in a corporation.
The main concept of this book is on strategic inflection point, which is a time in the life of the business when its fundamentals are about to change. This change can either infer an opportunity to rise to new heights or signal the beginning of the end. Hence, this book is about the impact of changing rules, guidelines to assist in identifying those situations and about finding your way through those uncharted territories. This book serves to raise our awareness of going through cataclysmic changes and to provide a framework in which to deal with them.
This book uses Porter's competitive analysis strategy in terms of the 6 forces as a base. The 6 forces are
1. Power, vigor and competence of existing competitors
2. Power, vigor and competence of complementors
3. Power, vigor and competence of customers
4. Power, vigor and competence of suppliers
5. Power, vigor and competence of potential competitors
6. Power, vigor and competence of substitutes
Once a very large change happens in one or several of these 6 forces, a "10X" force is in effect. Very often the transition from a normal business environment to that of a "10X" business environment is very gradual and thus, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact time in which the "10X" force came about. Strategic inflection point comes about when this balance of forces shifts from the normal environment to that of the new "10X" environment and it is difficult to pinpoint its exact occurrence.
The circumstances that help to identify this strategic inflection point are
1. Presence of troubling sense that something is different such as changes in customers' attitudes, entrant of new competitors, etc.
2. Growing dissonance or misalignment between corporate statements and operation actions.
3. Emergence of new framework or actions.
4. New set of corporate statements is generated.
Andrew gave an analogy of working your way though a strategic inflection point to be just like venturing into the valley of death, the perilous transition between the old and the new environments. It is difficult to know the right moment to execute the appropriate actions. Since timing is everything, it is attractive to undertake these changes when the company is in a healthy financial state. This means "acting when not everything is known, when the data aren't in.", merely relying on "instinct and personal judgments" (Chapt 2). Hence it is a matter of training your instincts to pick up a different set of signals.
The only way we know whether a change signals a strategic inflection point is through the process of clarification that comes from broad and intensive debate. This debate should involve technical discussions, marketing discussions and considerations of strategic repercussions (how will it affect our business if we make a dramatic move; how will it affect if we don't?). The more complex the issues are, the more levels of management should be involved because people from different levels of management bring completely different points of view and expertise. The debate should involve people from outside the company, customers and partners with different areas of expertise and interests. When dealing with emerging trends, you may very well have to go against rational extrapolation of data and rely instead on anecdotal observations and your instincts. (chapter 6). Constructively debating tough issues and getting somewhere is only possible when people can speak their minds without fear of punishment.
Andrew offers a few guidelines to discern "signal" from "noise"
1. Is your key competitor about to change? Suggested using the "silver bullet test": If you had just one bullet, whom among your many competitors would you save it for? When the answer to this question stops being as crystal clear, it is time to sit up and pay special attention.
2. Is your key complementor about to change? Does the company that in the past years mattered the most to your business seem less important today? Does it look like another company is about to eclipse them? If so, it may be a sign of shifting industry dynamics.
3. Does it seem that people who for years had been very competent have suddenly gotten decoupled from what really matters? If key aspects of the business shift around us, the very process that got us where we were might retard your ability to recognize the new trends.
Generally you cannot judge the significance of the strategic inflection point by the quality of the first version or release of the product. You will need to draw on your experiences to discern its possible impacts.
Strategic dissonance is the divergence between actions and statements; saying one thing and doing another. Strategic dissonance is an automatic reaction to a strategic inflection point that probing for it is perhaps the best test of one.
Clarity of direction, which includes describing what we are going after, as well as, describing what we will not be going after, is exceedingly important at the late stage of a strategic transformation. This book defines strategic plans as statements of what we intend to do, whereas strategic actions as steps we have already taken or are taking. Strategic plans are abstract and are usually couched in language meant for the company's management. Strategic actions matter because they immediately affect people's lives. The most effective way to transform a company is through a series of incremental changes that are consistent with a clearly articulated end result.
This book mentions the "Taillight" approach - some companies may profitably wait for others to test the limits of technological possibilities or market acceptance and then commit to following, catching up and passing them.
A question that often comes up at times of strategic transformation is whether you should pursue a highly focused approach, betting everything on one strategic goal or should you hedge. It takes every erg of energy in your organization to do a good job pursuing one strategic aim, especially in the face of aggressive and competent competition. It is hard to lead the organization out of the valley of death without a clear and simple strategic direction. Demoralized organizations are unlikely to be able to deal with multiple objectives. Thus, hedging is expensive and dilutes commitment, and is not recommended.
"Most companies don't die because they are wrong; most die because they don't commit themselves... The greatest danger is in standing still" (Chapter 8).
The leader needs to show interest in the elements leading to the strategic direction, by getting involved in details that are appropriate to the new direction and by withdrawing attention, energy and involvement from those things that do not fit. At times like this, the calendar is the most important strategic tools in communication. Andrew emphasizes that communicating strategic change in an interactive exposed fashion is important and necessary such as corporate email announcements and meetings, etc.
Companies that successfully navigate through strategic inflection points tend to have a good dialectic between bottom-up and top-down actions. Bottom-up actions come from the ranks of middle managers, who by the nature of their jobs are exposed to the first whiffs of the winds of change, who are located at the peripheral of the action where change is first perceived and who catch on early. But by the nature of their work, they can only affect things locally. Their actions must meet halfway the actions generated by senior management. While those managers are isolated from the winds of change, but once they commit themselves to a new direction, they can affect the strategy of the entire organization. The best results seem to prevail when bottom-up and top-down actions are equally strong. When the top management lets go a little, the bottom-up actions will drive towards chaos by experimenting, by pursuing different product strategies, by generally pulling the company in a multiplicity of directions. After such creative chaos reigns and a direction becomes clear, it is up to senior management to reign in chaos. A pendulum-like swing between the 2 types of actions is the best way to work your way through a strategic transformation. What is needed is a balanced interaction between the middle managers, with their deep knowledge but narrow focus and senior management, whose larger perspective could set a context.
An organization that has a culture that can deal with these 2 phases - debate (chaos reign) and a determined march (chaos reined in) is a powerful, adaptive organization. Such an organization has 2 important attributes:
1. It tolerates and even encourages debates. These debates are vigorous, devoted to exploring issues, indifferent to rank and include individuals of varied backgrounds.
2. It is capable of making and accepting clear decisions, with the entire organization then supporting the decision.
This book emphasizes on the concepts by reliving a few of Intel's crisis; the mid-80s shift from memory to microprocessors business, RISC vs CISC architecture and during the fall of 1994 the floating point bug associated with Intel's flagship device; the Pentium processor. The magnitude of this crisis is so significant in that a tiny flaw in the microprocessor's floating point unit could mushroom into half a billion dollars' worth of damage in less than 6 weeks. This was later narrowed down to 2 key factors. First the success of Intel's merchandising "Intel Inside" program, which has projected a strong Intel image right to the end-user, became a double-edge sword in that end users directly contact Intel for a replacement microprocessor. In a normal incidence, it is likely to be the computer manufacturers who will perform the recall and replacement. But Intel's identity is so strong with the end-users that they became the ones asking for a recall and replacement. Second, the other factor is attributed to Intel's sheer size. Intel had become gigantic in the eyes of the computer buyers. And thus the huge cost in replacement.
This book also relates the transition of the computer industry in the 80s vertical alignment to that in the 90s; the horizontal alignment. This came about with the appearance of the microprocessor and then the personal computer. The "10X" force came about when the technology permitted the integration of several chips into one single chip and this same microprocessor enabled the production of all kinds of personal computers. As the microprocessor became the basic building block, economics of mass production worked its charm giving extremely cost-effective PCs. Over time, this changed the entire structure of the industry and a new horizontal industry emerged. As a result of this trend, companies previously successful in the vertical alignment, but who failed to adapt or recognize this "10X" force failed and no longer existed today. Examples are Wang and Cray. At the same time, this change also spelled opportunities for new entrants such as Dell and Compaq. Thus when an industry goes through a strategic inflection point, the practitioners of the old industry may have trouble, while on the other hand, this new environment provides opportunities for new entrants into this industry.
The key characteristics of horizontal industries is that they live and die by mass production and mass marketing, bringing cost-effective solutions and more specialization, i.e the best in class for that particular market segment such as TV monitors, memory, storage devices, etc.
The new rules of the horizontal industry are
1. Do not differentiate without a difference. Do not introduce improvements whose only purpose is to give you an advantage over your competitor without giving your customer a substantial advantage. Example is a "better PC" departed from the mainstream standard and hence giving rise to software incompatibility.
2. Grab opportunity when there is a technology break or change coming along.
3. Price for what the market will bear. Price for volume. Work like the devil on your costs so that it becomes profitable. This leads to economies of scale whereby by being a large-volume supplier, you can spread and recoup those costs. In contrast, cost-based pricing will often lead you into a niche position.
To be a leader or survivor in a horizontal and commoditized industry, this book provides some food for thought. A prime example is Intel exiting the commoditized memory industry in which they were once in the lead, until the entrance of the Japanese manufacturers.
Rhetoric and boring!.......2007-01-11
This book is rhetoric and boring with a few examples of successful and unsuccessful ventures so I started reading about Grove and his background.
The influence of communism in his early years seems to have put Grove in the paranoia groove. The culture of paranoia is clearly seen in Intel's business today- slow decision making, trust issues with employees and even customers!
Hire and fire culture has made the remaining employees work the system to `survive' rather than innovate and thrive.
Compare and contrast this Apple or for that matter even AMD and you will realize these companies are more in tune with their customers and employees (and hence their stock holders) in terms of basic trust.
We are not in a communist environment anymore. By being paranoid Grove's Intel has proved, you can only survive and barely at that.
Only for business managers?.......2006-08-28
Contrary to popular opinion on this website, I found this book to be boring, repetitive and badly written. It was so boring I struggled to finish it during a journey where I had little else to do. This book summarizes a few events that were significant to Intel and offers advice on how similar business changes should be handled. Being an engineer, and not a manager, I found this to be vague and rambling. However I do agree with the book's title - Only the Paranoid survive. I think this outlook is useful for everyone, and not just business types.
Lengthy Writing.......2006-01-27
I picked up this book after seeing some good reviews about it.
The whole book is about "Strategic Reflection Point".
I was disappointed that Andy Grove didn't try to explain SRP in a more concrete manner. After finishing the book, I still have very vague & abstract knowledge on SRP.
Nevertheless, Andy Grove is still one of the best CEOs I admired.
How to survive in the new economy.......2006-01-22
This a good book based on facts. Andrew Grove goes on describing how Intel managed to shift from a semiconductor to the microprocessor company while he was the CEO... (now it is shifting again under Paul Otellini).
Although the example a bit outdated since it was written in 1996, the same principles still apply. A must read if you want to understand why some great and big companies suddenly go down while others emerge quickly.
You always need to learn the history to understand the future.
Book Description
Let's admit it: Things will go wrong online. No matter how carefully you design a site, no matter how much testing you do, customers still encounter problems. So how do you handle these inevitable breakdowns? With defensive design. In this book, the experts at 37signals (whose clients include Microsoft, Qwest, Monster.com, and Clear Channel) will show you how.
Defensive design is like defensive driving brought to the Web. The same way drivers must always be on the lookout for slick roads, reckless drivers, and other dangerous scenarios, site builders must constantly search for trouble spots that cause visitors confusion and frustration. Good site defense can make or break the customer experience.
In these pages, you'll see hundreds of real-world examples from companies like Amazon, Google, and Yahoo that show the right (and wrong) ways to get defensive. You'll learn 40 guidelines to prevent errors and rescue customers if a breakdown occurs. You'll also explore how to evaluate your own site's defensive design and improve it over the long term.
This book is a must read for designers, programmers, copywriters, and any other site decision-makers who want to increase usability and customer satisfaction.
Customer Reviews:
only for beginers.......2007-02-05
If you already have some design experience, or use the web a lot in your daily life, or just have common sense you will most likely find this book utterly useless. But even for people who are just starting out in the field, at 236 pages this book can easily be compressed into 37 with one page per "signal."
Here's what specifically bothers me about the content:
1. Wordy. The authors take a simple problem and run with it for pages. How many examples do I really need to understand that limiting text fields to, let say, 200 characters and not letting users know that there is a limit is a bad idea? One? Two? There are 5 examples beating the same dead horse. And this is going on pretty much for every example they have.
2. Clueless. One of the complaints in the book is about an error message that TicketMaster displays when they can't find tickets for you (page 75). Specifically, the message is "We are unable to fulfill your specific request. We may not have the type of tickets you requested or the number of seats together that you are looking for." The authors' beef with this message is "[...] the error message still leaves me scratching my head. If TicketMaster knows the event is sold out, then why not just say so?" Perhaps, they don't say that the event is sold out because it isn't? First, just because TicketMaster is out of tickets doesn't mean there are no more tickets left. TicketMaster usually only gets a percentage of tickets. Second, if I'm looking for cheapest seats and they don't have any left, doesn't mean there aren't more expensive available. Thirdly, if I'm looking for 7 seats in a row and can't find that many available doesn't mean I can't buy them on other combinations.
3. Superficial. When talking about handling 404 "Page not found" errors, the author completely neglects to mention the intricacies of handling these conditions which can have profound effect on your site's SEO.
All-in-all, I'm taking my book back to the store.
Common sense distilled.......2006-09-09
This book is a nice collection of what should be common sense rules (obviously common sense is not so common, as the examples of actual web sites in the book prove). I would assume that it would be most beneficial to a beginning designer, although it's a book everyone involved with web design or programming should browse through every now and then.
A complete waste of time for anyone in the industry........2006-03-21
I received zero (0) value from this book, and I can't figure out why anyone would recommend it. I kept waiting for something to learn, but alas, there is nothing but common sense included in this book. To say nothing for the fact that each page contained about 2 paragraphs of text (an image caption) with an image showing Good or Bad examples. What a waste of money, time, and energy. Unfortunately the individuals behind 37 signals had just enough clout to get a book published and have caused me to look elsewhere for authors/teachers. NOTE: their software at 37signals.com is great, but even their own blog is hard to read. Overall a major disappointment. NOTE: absolute beginners may find a 1 star value out of this book. However, 30 days on the job will teach you everything here.
Too much emphasis on error reporting/recovery.......2005-10-24
The sub title of this book should stop at "How to Improve Error Messages". The focus of the book is on recovering from problems, either from user input or from the system. That's all well and good and their ideas are fine. However I was hoping they'd spend some time talking about how to lay out your forms so they are mor effective and less likely to cause problems for the user in the first place.
Especially useful would have been web oriented techniques for forms that span multiple pages.
Anyway they didn't put it in the book and that's their choice. What they put in is servicable if all you're interested in is recovery.
A helpful checklist.......2005-09-12
This book contains 40 guidelines on designing websites to cope - and recover - from failure.
Each guideline is presented with real life examples of best and worst case behaviour for dealing with a particular situation.
Obviously these are general guidelines, and they apply to many sites, however there are always exceptions to the case, and the guidelines should be taken as these - rather than rules.
The real life examples clearly show what is currently happening in the online world, but I feel that some of the guidelines could have better been communicated as a chapter rather than choosing from specific real life examples - perhaps there are good guidelines that don't have a real life example to show. This format does mean that nothing that isn't already out there is described.
I was surprised that Site Maps were not covered, and I would have liked some more generic guidance on language and communicating to customers rather than the real life examples, which don't always provide enough range to best see the right solution for your particular problem.
The quality of the paper and printing is not the best, but for the low price this can be expected.
Overall this is a book that I would prefer to borrow from the library that own. A good book to read once, but I don't think that I'll be using it as a frequent reference.
Amazon.com
Massive change is hitting corporate America at a furious and escalating pace, writes Andrew Grove in
Only the Paranoid Survive, and businesses that strive hard to keep abreast of the transition will be the only ones that prevail. And Grove should know. As chief executive of Intel, he wrestled with one of the business world's great challenges in 1994 when a flaw in his company's new cornerstone product -- the Pentium processor -- grew into a front-page controversy that seriously threatened its future.
Book Description
Under Andy Grove's leadership, Intel has become the world's largest chipmaker, the fifth-most-admired company in America, and the seventh-most-profitable company among the Fortune 500. You don't achieve rankings like these unless you have mastered a rare understanding of the art of
business and an unusual way with its practice.
Few CEOs can claim this level of consistent record-breaking success. Grove attributes much of this success to the philosophy and strategy he reveals in
Only the Paranoid Survive--a book that is unique in leadership annals for offering a bold new business measure, and for taking the reader deep inside the workings of a major corporation.
Download Description
The founder of Intel, Andrew Grove is one of the great business leaders of our time--and 1997 "Time" magazine Man of the Year. Under Andrew Grove's leadership, Intel has become the world's largest chip maker and one of the most admired companies in the world.
Customer Reviews:
Waste Of Time.......2005-11-25
This is by far the worst business book I have read in recent years. It is hard to believe that Andy Grove actually thought that this material was worth putting into a book. As other reviews have said, this book at most should have been a short article in Business Week...but even then it would require some actual content to make it worth reading. The best part of the book is the quotes on the cover from Steve Jobs et al. It makes me wonder if they even read the book.
save several valuable hours of your life- skip this book.......2005-10-19
Maybe I haven't read enough "management" books (though I do have an MBA), but if this is considered "great" for this genre- WOW. This entire book could have been summed up in a couple pages without losing any major points, but I guess you can't have a bestseller that way! One reviewer said it was too technical. Are you living in a cave? I found it condescendingly written- absurdly simple and dumbed down. Granted, it's over a decade old, but I doubt everyone was really that much stupider ten years ago.
All Fear the Status Quo.......2000-07-20
Andy Grove has verbalized the mindset that we must all develop to survive in the 21st Century. While his idea of constantly looking over your shoulder has always been applicable, the speed of the Internet economy requires that we do it much more frequently and penalizes us much more quickly if we do not.
Grove does a great job of showing how one man's crises is another's opporuntity and uses the term strategic inflection points to describe these periods of 10x change.
This book is a good reminder for anyone who thinks that what made them successful to this point is any guarantee that they will be successful in the future.
Nothing new here.......2000-07-07
This is something that any first year business student could have written. It is a fast read but it provides no new insights.
Want to be a great manager - Go to West Point.......1999-12-02
I was very dissapointed by this book as a lesson in management. The lessons learned are basic management and military strategy that every CEO should now. i.e. Basic lessons from the book: include understanding the nature of the battlefield (6 forces that affect business), recognizing change (strategic intelligence), listening to the troops in the field, making sure you're not insulated from the bad news, seperate the noise from real intelligence, have the courage to make changes, issue clear orders, re-evaluate and adjust as conditions change, be prepared to replace the top management (not for incompetence, but to get fresh perspectives (change the old guard and the old ways of doing things), Realize that your company runs on the quality of middle management (i,e NCO and junior officers in the military). Give them clear goals and empower them to act. I have a lot of respect for Andy Grove, and the insights into his business was great, but if you want a good management book, read a military strategy manual. There's nothing new here.
Book Description
In Boiling Point, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ross Gelbspan argues that, unchecked, climate change will swamp every other issue facing us today. Indeed, what began as an initial response of many institutions-denial and delay-has now grown into a crime against humanity. Gelbspan's previous book, The Heat Is On, exposed the financing of climate-change skeptics by the oil and coal companies. In Boiling Point, he reveals exactly how the fossil fuel industry is directing the Bush administration's energy and climate policies -payback for helping Bush get elected. Even more surprisingly, Gelbspan points a finger at both the media and environmental activists for unwittingly worsening the crisis. Finally, he offers a concrete plan for averting a full-blown climate catastrophe.
According to Gelbspan, a proper approach to climate change could solve many other problems in our social, political, and economic lives. It would dramatically reduce our reliance on oil, and with it our exposure to instability in the Middle East. It would create millions of jobs and raise living standards in poor countries whose populations are affected by climate-driven disease epidemics and whose borders are overrun by environmental refugees. It would also expand the global economy and lead to a far wealthier and more peaceful world. A passionate call-to-arms and a thoughtful roadmap for change, Boiling Point reveals what's at stake for our fragile planet
Customer Reviews:
Enviro-skeptics are barbarians at the gate!.......2006-10-24
Better than your usual global warming book..and there a lot of good ones..(this is one of my favorite genres so to speak). Yes..this is a little more interesting. While it speaks about the science, there is more needed analysis of the "debate" and politics of this pressing and vast subject as well a very much needed scathing indictment of the American press' approach to the subject. The author offers some breathtaking solutions to this problem that could really make for a great new world. If only. If only. I'll mail a copy to the next president. Now..if only someone would write a whole book about how science is too dangerous (biotechnology excepted of course) for America as it threatens to make Americans think and challenge the status quo. Espcially at this point in our history. The Vatican once had America's attitude about science.
The Cusp of a Change.......2006-02-12
Gelbspan argues convincingly that we are all aparticipants in our environmental well-being and that the changes wrought are just beginning to be felt. Climate change, he asserts, has come from our relentless production of greenhouse gases and it seems the weight of scientific opinion is lining up behind him.
The effcts are multi-dimensional including changes in weather patterns with resultant decrements in crop production and distressing increments in disease distribution as insect vectors find the warmer climate more to their liking.
His logic is, unfortunately, hard to refute, his prose easily comprehended and his tone earnest, if alarmist. This book should be read by everybody in congress.
Hot stuff!.......2006-02-06
Gelbspan is angry. His wrath is prominent on nearly every page of this stimulating work. He's irate because he's convinced climate change looms as a threat to our planet. Certain that today's nearly runaway "global warming" is at least accelerated by our society, if not basically initiated by our industrialised lifestyle, he vigorously censures the perpetrators. Living in the USA, and aware of how much his nation contributes to the worsening condition of our biosphere, he addresses his treatise directly at his fellow countrymen. Resource and energy industries have combined to blind North Americans to the results of their high profit commercial ventures. "Wake up!", Gelbspan admonishes. "You've been led into a bad situation! Fix it!"
The author's unsparing in his condemnation of lax standards and half-hearted solutions. No segment of contemporary US society, whether energy producer, consumer, politician is exempted from condemnation. Even environmental activists don't escape his lash. His primary target is the fossil fuel and coal industries. With their long-standing role as the foundation of US economic growth, they've grown nearly omnipotent. That power has been applied to guiding political figures in their development, or dearth, of policies regarding environmental issues. As the planet's largest producer of polluting agents, Gelbspan wants the US to start countering the prowess of industrial lobbyists in his nation. The time for action is overdue. And the solutions are available to be implemented. The first step is for the current adminstration to recognise that climate change is happening and much of it is human-induced. The time for obfuscation and delaying tactics is past.
Knowing how difficult it is for most citizens to cut through the propaganda they've been inundated with, Gelbspan provides a wealth of references to studies justifying his ire. The mass of evidence should convince the "enviro-sceptics" dominating the Bush administration and guiding journalists. Gelbspan recognises the "equal time" philosophy dominating most issues in the US, but charges that "equal time" is a fallacy when "the other side" is producing false or misleading information. Publishing "selective results" is anathema to any researcher worth the name, but it's rich fare for subservient politicians and lobbyists.
The solutions are available, says Gelbspan. He lists and examines several proposed plans of action. Most are found wanting for a variety of reasons. He's clear in why he considers them inadequate, noting that most are good, but cannot provide effective action in the needed time span or geographic scope required. The US may be the planet's worse polluter, but the problem is global, not confined by two oceans, a river and the "world's longest undefended border". His endorsement goes to The World Energy Modernization Plan put together in 1998 by a consortium of executives and experts in various fields. "The World" aspect in the group's title represents the need to gain firm support from many nations to implement the plan. The Montreal Protocol of 1987 diminishing atmospheric flourocarbons is an example the Plan could follow. It drastically reduced a serious threat to the upper atmosphere without impinging on the chemical's manufacturers to continue profitable operation. Where changing to new, safer chemicals worked there, changing to carbon-free energy can have the same effect now. To find out how it works, read Gelbspan's case and proposed solution. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Important Topic, but Boring and Lacking Credibility!.......2006-01-10
"It is an excruciating experience to watch the planet fall apart piece by piece in the face of persistent and pathological denial." So begins "Boiling Point," a book filled with early symptoms of earth's warming - melting icecaps and glaciers, species moving northward, increasing temperatures, storms, and the severity of those storms. Gelbspan then goes on to place the blame for the U.S. not taking positive corrective action on oil and coal company lobbying, a weak press, and morally corrupt politicians. (President Bush is not the only politician to disappoint Gelbspan - President Putin also rejected the Kyoto treaty, though Gelbspan missed the most obvious reason - warming would benefit Russian agriculture.)
Clearly global warming is a very important topic, as is declining sources of carbon-based fuels. The "good news" is that both issues can be addressed through the same actions, and there are many very good books out there on the coming energy shortage. The "bad news" is that "Boiling Point" is boring and way too long, and that Gelbspan lacks the credibility that a respected scientist would have on this topic.
Re: Boiling Point.......2006-01-08
It's always good to come across some whole truth on this topic, considering how much misinformation and half-truth we see on the web and even in the media. Many people are quick to accept, without further research, things like petitions on climate change, claims that the Arctic (or the globe) is actually cooling, or that we shouldn't be concerned because climate change has happened in the past (which ignores the nature of the current trend - something unseen since a highly volcanic prehistory). Books like this, along with sites like GlobalWarmingTruth.org and RealClimate.org, provide the "rest of the story" and help people understand they're being bamboozled.
Although the book is a little strong on rhetoric in places, I like it's discussion of potential solutions, and the way it encourages people to consider the source of contrarian claims. If it's not firmly rooted in peer-reviewed science, get out the salt.
Book Description
In the tradition of The Second Shift, a groundbreaking work that identifies and explains the phenomenon poised to redefine our culture When Sue Shellenbarger wrote about her midlife crises in her award-winning Wall Street Journal Work amp; Family column, the volume and emotional intensity of the responses from her readers was stunning. As she heard story after story of middle-aged women radically changing course in search of greater fulfillment, a trend began to emerge: an entire generation of women was experiencing the tumultuous transition of midlife in ways not seen before. To capture this paradigm shift, Shellenbarger combines original research data and interviews with more than fifty women who've navigated their own midlife crisis. Long stereotyped as the province of men, today the midlife crisis is reported with greater frequency by women than men. Emboldened by the financial independence to act upon midlife desires, exhausted by decades of playing supermom and repressing the feminine sides of themselves to succeed at work, women are shedding the age roles of the past in favor of new pursuits in adventure, sports, sex, romance, education, and spirituality. And in the process they are rewriting all the rules. Beyond defining a new phenomenon, The Breaking Point shows how various options women use to cope with the turmoil of midlife-from playing it safe to dynamiting their lives-have a profound impact on their families, careers, and our culture at large. Provocative, insightful, and resonant, The Breaking Point is sure to be one of the most controversial and talked-about publications of 2005.
Customer Reviews:
What a waste of money.......2007-07-07
This book was recommended to me and I foolishly bought it without checking the reviews on amazon. That'll teach me! I should have borrowed the book from the library and saved the money for a really useful book. I am a white middle class 53 year old woman with a rollercoaster of a past. I did not feel a connection with any of the (probably) white upper middle to upper class women who had untapped talents and had been personally selected by the author or had referred to her for inclusion in this "study" (and I use the term loosely). I am coping with middle age just fine without breaking a collarbone or having sex with multiple partners. What do I have common with the CEOs or most of the other women in this book? Nada. Well, the lesson I learned from this book was not the one the author intended: check the amazon reviews before I buy a book!
All the stories together...........2006-04-25
...add up to more than any one book can offer.
I've been reading this book, along with several others that, together, help give us the "big picture" of what it means to be a woman in midlife. Our mothers didn't have these stories to share--or didn't believe that they had permission to speak the stories aloud. These books break the silence that so often accompanies stories of aging in our "growing younger" culture.
Also recommended: KISS TOMORROW HELLO: NOTES FROM THE MIDLIFE UNDERGROUND BY 25 WOMEN OVER 40.
a carbon copy?.......2006-03-23
This book reminds me of another book on the same subject by Martha Beck called Breaking Point: Why Women Fall Apart and How They Can Re-crete their Lives. I was very surprised at this similarity. Beck's book puts the situation into a well articulated social, political, historical and economic context. While Shellenbarger's seems to be more of just the stories. I'd recommend both for people to compare and enhance their understanding of the topic.
Interesting to read about the variety of women's lives.......2005-11-13
This book covers the midlife stories of a large variety of women. It has a number of interesting stories. None of the women really reminded me of myself, but then I'm a biochemist, an ecological economist and a patent attorney, which makes me pretty different from the typical woman. I'm 43 and certainly hope there will be some changes ahead for me in the next ten or so years. This is a great book for getting yourself excited about trying something new.
The author goes into considerable detail about her own midlife crisis. I thought it was rather odd that she describes climbing mountains in an ATV as communing with nature. As a hiker, I have an entirely different opinion of ATVs. I hope that other women do not follow her example on this point.
This book is very optimistic about what the future holds for women. I hope she's right, but I would recommend pairing this book with Howard Kunstler's "The Long Emergency" for a contrary view.
Extremely worthwhile reading!.......2005-09-07
This is a must read book for any woman approaching mid-life or well into it! Very insightful reading and most women will be able to relate to the information provided. The examples given of other women's experiences through this time of many changes are most helpful. I would very highly recommend this book.
Average customer rating:
- I keep extra copies to give away
- Time to heal
- Comfort for the Grieving.
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Grieving: Our Path Back to Peace (Crisis Points , Vol 1)
James White
Manufacturer: Bethany House
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Binding: Paperback
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Overcoming Sin and Temptation
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A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss
ASIN: 0764220004
Release Date: 1997-10-01 |
Book Description
A warm, tenderhearted exploration of grief and loss from a distinctly Christian perspective. An affordable book that makes a sensitive gift when words seem inadequate.
Customer Reviews:
I keep extra copies to give away.......2007-05-30
Another young widow gave me this book when my husband died. She said, "I know that people will send lots of books to you as they did for me. I don't know about you, but I certainly had no desire to read them. But I did read this one and it was a great blessing! It's not thick and it is easy to read."
Upon her recommendation, I read "Grieving: Our Path Back to Peace." It became my good counselor and reference point during the first year of widowhood. I referred to it many times and now I buy multiple copies to have on hand to give away.
Mr. White has experience as a hospital chaplain. He explains that the grieving process is best understood as a spiral: it includes the classic stages of grief, but we tend to revolve in and out of them, sometimes over and over again, rather than get through one stage and pass on to another. Also, the way we process and handle the grief can put us on the upward path to peace, or the downward path to despair.
This was comforting to me. Because of the circumstances of my husband's death I was in the "Numbness/Shock" phase for a long time, and I had little of the anxiety or anger responses that often accompany grief. This book helped me understand my emotions, know that they were normal, and know that God was right there with me. Two very simple charts helped me identify where I was at and where I was headed. It helped me put my feelings into words; to identify my feelings during this confusing and exhausting time was no small feat.
This book is full of practical advice and help. Not a word is wasted. It's a quick read, yet it touches all the important stuff, even anger towards God. It includes the tough questions--DID God allow this? and WHY did God allow this?--and handles them with honesty and compassion.
Whether the grief is over a spouse, a friend, a grandchild, son or daughter, this book is an excellent resource. It is written for both men and women, young and old. It's written with a high view of God, wise counsel, and practical advice and application. I've tried to be brief, there's far more than I can relate in a few paragraphs, but I'm sure you'll want more than one copy.
Time to heal.......2002-01-13
This is a fantastic book! In only 87 pages, he touches on almost all aspects of grief. I am particulary impressed with his candid honesty.
Grief is messy and doesn't come in neat packages. He allows the reader his or her mess and offers simple, small steps towards recovery. I especially appreciate his candor when he says, 'God is big enough to handle your anger and your probing.' Because the truth of the matter is that, in death, we become angry over the loss and void we feel.
With that said, I want to leave you with a quote from his book! 'The more vital a part of our life that person was, the more deeply we will feel the loss, and the longer it will take to transition from what was to what is.'
I understand this so completely! When my grandmother died, I missed her but she wasnt a part of my every waking moment. When my daughter died, it was as though I had died. It was as though a part of me withered away and it has been nearly four years. I am still working through the loss. Yes, it has gotten easier, but it is still a part of me.
Alyice
http://goodmourninglord.com
Comfort for the Grieving........2001-05-11
Excellent resource for someone grieving the loss of a loved one. Mr White leads ever avenue back to the comfort of Christ. A great resource and a soothing ministry tool.
Book Description
Growing up, Chad had a hopeless crush on beautiful, unattainable Eve. But now that they're together again at Fable Harbor University Hospital, things between them are really heating up--until a terrifying crisis threatens their happiness...
#3 in the exciting series.
Customer Reviews:
Exciting.......2004-06-17
Chad, one of the five teenagers chosen to work as a SCRUB at Fable Harbor University Hospital, is looking for something. Eve. Eve encouraged Chad to pursue a career in sports medicine when he was in high school, and that's exactly what he's decided to do. However, he is also in love with Eve, and knows that she is now working as a physical therapist right here at Fable Harbor. However, Chad knows that now that they are both working at the hospital (not together, of course, but in the same place), that maybe he'll get the chance that he's always dreamed of. To declare his love to Eve, and start a relationship with her. However, when a group of people (both hospital workers and patients) are held hostage by a crazy man holding a syringe of HIV-tainted blood, no one knows what exactly could possibly happen next.
I have completely loved the first two books in the UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL series titled UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL and CONDITION CRITICAL, but I must admit that this third installment, CRISIS POINT, takes the cake as my absolute favorite. The excitement and suspense of the novel is absolutely exhilirating, and makes it hard for you to put the book down, even for a lunch break, and the suspense of Chad and Eve's relationship makes the reader root for Chad in his quest to somehow, someway tell Eve how he really feels about her. This is an absolute must-have novel for any fans of the previous UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL books. You won't be disappointed.
Erika Sorocco
University Hospital.......2001-12-27
These books are awesome. Just make sure you start with the first book and read them in line. It would be best is you ordered all three at one time so as soon as you finish one, you can start the next one! There are a lot of characters, and if you wait a while between reading each one, you may have to refer back to te previous books to find out who certain people are.
Incredible!.......2000-06-24
I thought that this was an incredible book! It left you wondering.... whatever will happen between Tristan and Zoey? And, what about Summer? I guess you'll have to read it and see what I'm talking about.
AWESOME!.......2000-05-28
I have been following Cherie Bennett's work since the Sunset series and I have to tell you that this is one of the best! It leaves you hanging and dying for the next book to come out! I guess you'll have to read it to understand what I'm talking about.
This Series Rocks!.......2000-03-31
Jeff and Cherrie Bennett have done a great job with writing this series. If any one that reads this has the desire to become a doctor I highly recommend this book. And to those of you who just want a good book with a love triangle and the way of a teenage you've found a great series. I hope every one enjoys this series as much as I have.
Book Description
Pro-life activists regularly hear the attacks from abortion advocates: "You just want to punish women. You don't do anything to help children once they're born."
More Than Kindness lays out what Christians and other pro-lifers
are doing to help women who choose life rather than abortion. The Olaskys show where new programs based on a Christian worldview are needed. Here are practical, Biblical solutions to the complex issues of single-parenting and adoption--and a positive, pro-life alternative to conventional wisdom.
"
More Than Kindness explodes the myth that the pro-life movement is not compassionate. I wish abortion rights supporters would have the courage to read it." --Dr. Robert P. Dugan, Jr., National Association of Evangelicals
"The Olaskys effectively challenge pro-lifers to practice the sanctity of human life ethic by offering in-dept help to women facing crisis pregnancies." --Thomas A. Glessner, Executive Director, Christian Action Council
"The Olaskys have broken through the muddle surrounding crisis childbearing. Their recommendations offer hope for these women, their children, and society as a whole." --Frederica Mathewes-Green, Feminists for Life
"Finally, a book that goes beyond political slogans and provides a carefully researched, readable, and timely Christian alternative to common wisdom." --Terry Schlossberg, Presbyterians Pro-Life
"This brilliant new book won't end America's tortured debate over abortion, but it should." --George E. Grant, Executive Director, Coral Ridge Ministries
Customer Reviews:
Practical compassion in action.......2000-03-30
The Olasky's heart towards motivating people to find compasisonate ways to support women experiencing pregnancy-related challenges is refreshing. This book takes the politics out of the abortion issue, replacing it with a picture of real women, needing real help. Not a book of judgement or condemnation, but rather a book of direction and wisdom for each of us...an equipping book that will go far to refocus this issue, providing real solutions and practical support for the difficulties many pregnant women face.
Books:
- Physik (Septimus Heap, Book 3)
- Picture Perfect
- Pink Jinx
- Promises Linger
- Pseudoscience and the Paranormal
- Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence
- Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence
- Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
- Saving for Retirement without Living Like a Pauper or Winning the Lottery
- Secrets of the Alchemist Dar (A Treasure's Trove)
Books Index
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