Book Description
Over the last three decades the average life expectancy of a corporation in North America has dipped well below 20 years. In fact, by 1983 a full third of the 1970 Fortune 500 companies had been acquired, merged, or broken apart. In this landmark book, one of the business world's foremost pioneers, Russell L. Ackoff, delivers this indispensable guide for those hoping to beat these odds--and to better navigate the corporate challenges of the next millennium. While most business and management schools continue to teach the functions of a corporation separately--production, marketing, finance, personnel--the reality is that for a corporation to endure each division must work with the others to create an effective system. Re-Creating the Corporation is Ackoff's masterful blueprint for understanding and creating these model corporate systems. In four comprehensive sections--Background, Process, Designs, and Change--Ackoff lays out in clear concise prose the five organizational goals of successful corporate systems: plan effectively, learn and adapt rapidly, democratize, introduce internal market economies, and employ a flexible structure that will minimize the need for future restructuring. And through a deft mix of practical and theoretical examples drawn from a wide range of applications in a wide range of firms, this book ultimately guides executives to the system best suited to meet their organizational goals. Re-Creating the Corporation, which is the culmination of a lifetime of innovative and insightful business thought from one of the business world's premier thinkers, is essential reading for those attempting to navigate the rapidly changing economic environment of the next millennium.
Customer Reviews:
Truly Ackoff's Best.......2002-05-29
Recreating the Corporation is Ackoff's best work on utilizing the use of systems thinking to understand how to make not only pieces of companies better, but how optimizing the entire company can lead to dramatic improvements. Those who know Ackoff's work will appreciate his freshening of material contained elsewhere and the addition of new concepts to make the framework wholistic.
Organizational Design to Apply The Fifth Discipline.......2000-09-25
Since Peter Senge eloquently introduced business readers to the importance of systems thinking in The Fifth Discipline, companies have been grappling with how to apply that aspect of the learning organization. In Re-Creating the Corporation, Russell Ackoff has written the most complete description of how such an organization can be created.
A system is any grouping of parts that is influenced by its parts and requires their coordination to create the best result. A car is an example. You can take the best transmission from one type of car, the best engine from another, and the best brakes from a third, and they will not work together. This is a typical quality of systems: If you optimize any part of the system, you reduce the effectiveness of the whole. But most organizations are set up to seek optimization of the part rather than the system, creating disasters like the car example I just used.
Although he makes only limited reference to it, Professor Ackoff is clearly influenced by complexity science. He has created fractals (small versions of the whole that scale up and down) in his organization, and is trying to expose the widest number of people to the widest possible perspectives on the systems issues of an organization.
The book is designed as a series of essays to explain what systems are and how they operate; processes for planning, design, implementation and learning; organizational designs that apply the concepts of democracy, economy and flexibility; and an overview of the weaknesses of management fads and panaceas, and the benefits of working on organizational and transformational leadership instead. His goal is to create an organization that is as stable as possible in order to create an organization that is as flexible as possible. Let me explain. He wants to avoid reorganizations of roles and jobs, but he wants the organization as a system to evolve rapidly and easily in serving stakeholders.
I found the concepts to be quite consistent with the realities of a wired world, by putting a structure and a thought process together that will provide a context for gaining benefits from enhanced communication. Basically, the structure relies on creating a three dimensional organization -- one that relies on input (functional) units like purchasing, finance, and legal that are primarily used internally, output (product or service creating) units such as the manufacturing activities, and market or user defined (customer or geography) units. Most organizations emphasize one of these three dimensions or the other. By keeping them in place in a balanced way, the idea is to avoid needing to make adjustments to create or abolish any of these types of units.
A second major innovation to aid this organizational structure is the idea of using interacting boards to supervise each unit. This creates more participation, more democracy, and more interconnection across the organization.
To this, Ackoff combines a common process for systems solution creation and implementation that all would learn in the organization.
With organization, thinking, and doing processes in place, he then proposes that organizations go for transformational change rather than incremental change.
I found the book to be full of fresh thinking and interesting examples of how this can be applied based on Mr. Ackoff's consulting experiences with his well-known, long-term clients like DuPont and Anheuser-Busch.
For those who want to learn more about systems thinking at the micro level, I suggest reading the sections on that in The Fifth Discipline Field Guide. That will help you understand the concepts much better than the material in this book.
While I agree with the concept of keeping the organization as stable as possible, I found the proposals here to be a pretty ponderous way to accomplish that end. I suspect that simpler versions of this concept could work almost as well in coordinating systems thinking, and might work much more rapidly. For a newer, smaller organization, the structure would be overly complicated.
My own idea is that companies should move beyond organizational design and problem-solving structures as their focus to concentrate instead on creating an overriding mission, vision, strategy, tactics, and means of implementation (with employees and stakeholders who are energized by this diretion) that are all-encompassing in perspective and in providing direction, and perpetual in appropriateness. Then, by focusing on the key points of potential progress, the organization should constantly make large improvements in its business model that are more adaptable to the changing business environment. I think this concept of the organization that I have just described is easier to understand and apply once it is formulated in an organization than the ideas described here from Re-Creating the Corporation.
Even though I disagree with the proposed solutions in this very interesting book, I gave the book five stars for raising most of the right questions. We learn more from good questions than from the first sets of proposed solutions, and I hope that others will take these questions seriously and pursue them as well.
After you have read this book, ask yourself where in your organization you are pursuing optimization of an area or a part of the organization's activities. When will that optimization be harmful? How can you prevent that harm? What means of coordination could create a better combined result for your organization?
"There are no simple solutions to complex problems"........2000-08-21
"This book is a product of applying systems thinking to the management and organization of enterprises". Russel L. Ackoff writes, "therefore, an understanding of the nature of systems and systems thinking is essential for understanding what this book is about. Although most people can identify many different systems, few know precisely what a system is. Without such knowledge, one cannot understand them, and without such an understanding, one cannot be aware of their implications for their management and organization and for treatment of the most important problems that currently face them" (p.5).
Thus, he firstly argues that a system is a whole consisting of two or more parts that satisfies the following five conditions:
(1). The whole has one or more defining properties or functions.
(2). Each part in the set can affect the behavior or properties of the whole.
(3). There is a subset of parts that is sufficient in one or more environments for carrying out the defining function of the whole; each of these parts is necessary but insufficient for carrying out this defining function.
(4). The way that each essential part of a system affects its behavior or properties depends on (the behavior or properties of) at least one other essential part of the system.
(5). The effect of any subset of essential parts on the system as a whole depends on the behavior of at least one other such subset.
Hence, Ackoff summarizes his argument that a system is a whole that cannot be divided into independent parts without loss of its essential properties or functions, and additionally argues that when the performances of the parts of a system, considered separately, are improved, the performance of the whole may not be (and usually is not) improved.
Within this general framework, he:
* defines four different types of systems, and shows their effects on organizations and the way they are managed (more detailed discussion see Chapter 2):
(1). 'Deterministic', systems and models in which neither the parts nor the whole are purposeful.
(2). 'Animated', systems and models in which the whole is purposeful but the parts are not.
(3). 'Social', systems and models in which both the parts and the whole are purposeful.
(4). 'Ecological', systems and models in which some parts are purposeful but as a whole have no purposes of their own.
* by considering three primary forms of traditional management and planning (reactive, inactive, and preactive) and their deficiencies, discusses systems-oriented/interactive form of management and planning.
* discusses five aspects of interactive planning in separate chapters as follows:
- preparing the state of the organization or a situational analysis (more detailed discussion see Chapter 4).
- determining ideals, objectives, and goals or ends planning of the organization (more detailed discussion see Chapter 5).
- identifying the gaps between what the organization is and is now doing and where it wants to be and to be doing (more detailed discussion see Chapter 6).
- considering resources such as money, plant and equipment (capital goods), people, consumables (materials, supplies, energy, and services), data, information, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, and asking and answering following questions:
i. How much will be required, where, and when?
ii. How much will be available at the required time and place?
iii. How should each shortage or excess be treated? (more detailed discussion see Chapter 7).
- implementing and controlling with learning and adaptation (more detailed discussion see Chapter 8).
* describes and explaines circular type of organization as a democratic hierarchy.
* discusses internal market economies as substitution of the centrally planned and controlled economies within the organizations.
* discusses the multidimensional design and organization that eliminates the need to restructure when internal or external changes require adaptation, and argues that "the circular organization, the internal market economy, and multidimensional design can all be combined in one organization. The power of each is significantly enhanced by its interactions with the others".
* examines currently popular panaceas such as downsizing, TQM, continuous improvement, benchmarking, and process reengineering and the reasons they fail, and argues that "there are no simple solutions to complex problems. Furthermore, since problems are interdependent, their solutions should be. Interdependent problems constitute messes, systems of problems. Therefore, their solutions must also form a system. A system of solutions is a plan, and plans are complicated, not simple. It is not possible in a few minutes to find behavior that will resolve, solve, or dissolve a set of problems that took years to cultivate".
Strongly recommended.
Highly Readable and Very Articulate.......1999-12-05
I enjoyed this book very much, particulary the introduction with its synopsis of systems theories and management applications. Recommended for managers in organization redesign roles in business and government
Highly Readable and Very Articulate.......1999-12-05
I enjoyed this book very much, particulary the introduction with its synopsis of systems theories and management applications. Recommended for managers in organization redesign roles in business and government
Book Description
Hailed by Architectural Digest as one of the top 100 designers and architects today, Bill Stubbs has designed penthouses, vacation retreats, and country mansions around the globe from Acapulco to Moscow. In this lively, irreverent memoir, Stubbs recounts the extraordinary, exasperating, and often hilarious adventures in his stellar career.
Illustrated with more than 150 color photographs of the spaces Stubbs has transformed, the book details the activities and thought processes that went into some of his most spectacular projects. These include the metamorphosis of an abandoned country dacha into a baronial mansion in the Ukraine, the renovation of a 100-year-old schoolhouse into stylish apartments for senior citizens in Newport, Rhode Island, and the project that inspired the book's title, a Houston penthouse designed around the color red, which caused his impulsive client to fire him over the phone. (Of course, when the client saw the finished apartment, he loved it-to the point that Stubbs had trouble convincing him to abandon the color in subsequent renovations.) This entertaining volume is a rarity, a design book that people will actually read. AUTHOR BIO: William W. Stubbs, founder and head of his own Houston-based firm, designs interior spaces, both commercial and residential, all over the world. He has been named to "The AD 100," Architectural Digest's list of the world's top designers and architects. He lives in Houston, Texas.
Customer Reviews:
Refreshing candor.......2006-11-10
This is such an entertaining read as well as a look at a wide variety of decorating styles. I first became interested in this decorator (the only one I know by name) in Architectural Digest. These wonderful projects kept coming up in different months and so I started reading the articles that went with the pictures in the projects and discovered Bill Stubbs! He has a fresh eye for every client. He really looks and really listens. How unusual in today's self absorbed world.
Book Description
* Features hundreds of detailed illustrations from actual period millwork catalogs.
* Demonstrates how to properly specify millwork.
* Include a glossary of key terms.
Customer Reviews:
The ideal book for the intended audience.......2007-07-21
This books was exactly what I was looking for. I do work on Victorian houses and this book puts everything in perspective. I can now tell what woodwork belongs in what house and not guess anymore. I can explain to customers what they have or had in their house and give a brief history behind their mill work. After reading this book you will be able to act as an authority on restoration work. When giving bids or discussing potential jobs with a client I can speak confidently and sell my services much more effectively. If you work on old houses the knowledge you will gain in this book will set you apart from the average modern day carpenter. The price is small compared to the education you will get from this book. If you love Victorian woodwork as I do, this book is a must have. It would take 20 other carefully selected books and numerous hours of research to arrive at the same depth of understanding of historic mill work as this book gives you in one long afternoon of reading. This author saved me a lot of time and confusion by producing such a book; my personal thanks!
Highly informative reference.......2005-10-17
Reading other reviews, I'm not sure why we have the overall impression that highly specialized references such as this should be bargain basement priced - the costs of writing and producing a book such as this are not inconsiderable, so I feel compelled to defend the author and publisher in that respect.
That being said, I'm perhaps the ideal customer for this book in that my home - former military quarters - was built in 1910 and re-fitted by the military at least twice during its life. Trying to figure out what is original and what is retrofitted is very challenging and this book provides an excellent guide for my purposes.
If you want pure gratification from a text with lots of color pictures you should know this is not a coffee table book, likewise, it is not a catalog. Nevertheless, I think the serious restoration-minded reader will be very satisfied, as I am.
A Little Disappointing.......2005-06-28
Like several other reviewers, I found the book to be overpriced. The book provided neither extensive and in depth narrative history NOR extensive patterns. ...and I don't believe there was one color photograph to be found. Don't buy it until you've had it in your hands.
From the author.......2005-03-07
As you try and make a decision about this book I wanted to give an explanation as the author. I noticed the reviews above and wanted to clarify the purpose of the book. I don't want you to spend $70 dollars on a book that doesn't help.
First, if you are looking for an old millwork catalog, this may not be your book. I wrote this book for architects trying to specify the correct doors, windows and moldings for historic buildings. I wrote this book for homeowners trying to figure out the millwork in their home and the subtle differences that take place during each architectural period. I wrote this book for contractors trying to restore an historic building with the proper details.
1870-1940 is a unique 70 year period in which there are numerous architectural changes that effect the moldings and millwork details of a building.
This book was written to help clarify how historic millwork was produced, who the major players were, how architectual and stylistic differences revealed themselves in the moldings and millwork of the home. I have broken out chapters by topic like windows or doors and then traced the changes in these products from 1870 to 1940. Hopefully, by reading this book you will be able to easily distinguish; a Victorian 5 panel door from an Arts and Crafts 2 panel, understand when colonades were popular and how they change, identify a Queen Anne sash, and recognize Victorian millwork from others.
I hope this helps you get a clear picture of what you are buying.
Thanks
Brent Hull
PS. I had to rate the book in order to submit this review.
Over Priced & Better References.......2004-02-09
This book is quite overpriced relative to similar books. Better titles are available from Dover (Universal Millwork Catalog), Lee Valley (Home Interiors of the 1920s), Linden Publishing (Modern Practical Joinery), Fredionia (Modern Carpentry) that cover the information and provide more information at about 1/3 to 1/4 the price for each book. It looks like that many examples are out of these books commonly available. Furthermore, this book has relatively few examples for each catagory. Before you spend the money on this book, check it out from your library or have them get it through interlibrary loan along with the other books mentioned.
Book Description
“Step-by-step, the photos and line drawings show how to copy pants, sleeves, pleats, shirring, pockets, and other details. It covers copying asymmetrical garments and knit clothing that is stretched out of shape....Doyle suggests ways to vary the pattern, then shows garments she’s collected from used clothing stores to study for unusual details...I’m glad to welcome this book to my library.”—The Creative Machine.
Customer Reviews:
Full of pictures.......2007-06-06
This book is an easy to follow, step-by-step guide to making patterns. The instructions are accompanied by detailed, helpful photographs and the book is broken down into manageable sections. The best book I have found for this task.
Great resource to have as a sewer!.......2003-01-09
When you find an article of clothing which fits just right, who wouldn't love to be able to replace it when worn or even duplicate it? This gives you the tools to reproduce those items, generally without requiring that you deconstruct the item first, so that your original remains intact and wearable. I have previously had to take apart an item to make a pattern from it, or "guesstimate" and trace around it, adding on for seam allowances and such. The latter method proved faulty and left me with mismatched seams and other problems. I borrowed this book from the library first to get a feel for it, and decided it would be such a valuable resource in my sewing library that purchased a copy of my own. I look forward to utilizing these methods with future projects. Recommend!
Knock offs.......2002-01-31
This book gives you step by step illustrations of how to reconstruct your favorite fitting garment into paper patterns. It also details all the tools you will need to make a knock off pattern (including what to place the garment on). The reason I gave this book 3 stars, because I was expecting a little more, but for the price $5.95...it was worth it.
Make your own Patterns.......2001-08-04
Wow! This is a terrific book. The instructions are clear and concise. The photos are great and show you step-by-step what to do. If you have clothes that you absolutely love and want to reproduce, this book is a great aide. You get to recreate clothes that you know are going to fit you well. There is some work involved but the results are worth it (most of us spend time altering patterns anyways, which is also time consuming). Once you have recreated a pattern from a garment that you love, you already know that the end result is going to be an outfit that you love to wear and that fits you well. Buy this book! It's well worth the money!
Patterns From Finished Cloths: Re-Creating the Cloths You Lo.......2001-05-14
I'm a rooky at the sewing game. Bought a bunch of books before taking lessons, and this one by Tracy Doyle is one the the best I've seen, so far... Buy it!
Book Description
A heckler is in the audience; the overhead projector breaks; the allotted speech time runs out--these are just some of the panic-producing crises, interruptions, or distractions easily dealt with in this first-aid guide for business speakers. Here, first-timers and experienced pros alike will find everything they need to organize, write, and deliver effective, entertaining speeches--from installations to toasts and roasts. The guide pinpoints every possible speaking contingency--from failed electricity to a bored audience--and for each one tells how to prevent it, what to do about it, and what to say about it. Its treasury of witty, off-the-cuff lines and audience participation devices helps speakers access the perfect words to cover any situation and captivate any audience.
Customer Reviews:
Dying on the platform.......2007-10-10
Fun and reassuring, occasionally practical. Overall, a good read, not an investment for career.
Great on so many levels.......2003-04-27
I have many books on presenting and though they come and go on my desk this book stays there all the time. Why?
I'm sick of books that promise you that with just a few easy tips you'll be a great presenter overnight. In many cases I wonder if those authors have ever given a presentation. "What to say when . . ." is clearly written by someone who's been in the trenches and who appreciates the fact that presentation skills need lots of work - and why you need to have ways out of the tricky situations. In many ways it's like being with a small group of top presenters swapping war stories round a dinner table; the attitude is just as important as the information.
Second, this book actually gives you hope that when something bad happens in your presentation you might well be able to recover the situation. When you hear of how experienced speakers saved the day you will stop reacting to setbacks with total panic and instead think "How would the Walters deal with this?"
From the presenter's point of view, the most important message in this book is almost lost in the introduction. In a sidebar by Nate Booth, he makes the point that we'd rather not know - that sooner or later, something unexpected IS going to happen to you. I see so many presenters adopting a formal and distant approach in the hope that everything will go well, and then collapsing when things don't go according to plan. If you accept that nothing is perfect, you'll be taking the first step to relaxing in front of your audience - and giving a much better presentation.
The book is also readable for amusement. There are many examples of how to use humor to defuse tricky situations, and of course many examples of accidents that in retrospect are hilarious. My favorite is the story of the guy who skipped down the aisle to receive an award for running a department with the longest accident-free record. The inevitable happened, of course - but in a way that's much funnier than you could imagine. What was that? Oh, you'll have to buy the book to find out.
What you see is what you get (and need).......2002-08-11
Nice book with some good advice on staying out of trouble on the playform and lots of down-to-earth tips on what to do and say when the going gets rough. Nine out of ten situations described are possible real life scenarios and the suggestions almost always make good sense. Which is really important for a book like this. Best read just before you're going out to a "hard talk" with a live audiance and need to make sure that you win the day. Its even funny. Recommended.
Everything you should and shouldn't say!.......2001-07-13
This great book is wonderfully organized, and very comprehensive to boot! The humourous stories help drive the points home, and the "lines" to say are generally easy to remember.
I think by reading through the entire book, you get a good feel for what is appropriate and inappropriate, and can then "wing it" if you haven't gotten a memorized response at hand.
As a public speaking professional, I will keep this in my collection, and review regularly, just in case!
The Best Book on Damage Control.......1999-09-16
This book covers every possible faux pas or disaster on the platform and helps you to recover with grace and confidence. Filled with excellent examples of what to say and do. If you liked this book you'll love Knockout Presentations.
Book Description
This book is a powerful reminder that there's more than one solution to every creative problem. Author Mark Wasserman has created a unique experiment in design that is much like the process of remixing music. Top designers were given the source files to one of 37 original designs and asked to reinterpret the original art into new creations. Ultimately, the project was not about making a design better, but about different visual approaches. Besides being a visual treat, these remixes can also serve as a creative jolt for those inevitable times when designers need a little extra inspiration.
Each section starts with an original design and detailed Q&A-style captions that explain the concept and process behind the design. The following redesigns--ranging from wild freeform creations to more subtle changes--are paired with insightful interviews that give readers a rare glimpse into the creative thought process.
In all, the book features 160 designers, from 20 countries around the world. Designers involved include such notables as Stefan Sagmeister, Dave Eggers, eBoy, KINSEYvisual, Joshua Davis (PrayStation), Modern Dog, The Heads of State, WeWorkForThem, Jemma Gura, UPSO, Aesthetic Apparatus, Brent Rollins (Ego Trip), Plinko, Deanne Cheuk (neomu), 2Advanced, Nonconceptual, Jon Santos, HONEST, kozyndan, Milky Elephant, Patent Pending (SubPop), Mr. Jago, and many many more.
With page after page full of never-before-seen artwork, this book is equally at home in a designer's bookshelf, and a non-designer's coffee table.
Customer Reviews:
Exercise for the Creative Imagination.......2007-06-08
This collection of original ads and the subsequent exercise done by at least 4 different design firms is a very interesting approach to an art book. I enjoyed the accompanying "interview" with each designer so you could align the feeling you got from the rework with their explanation of the approach.
So far so good..........2007-05-07
I work as a designer myself in an advertising agency and have only had this book for a short time, but really enjoy looking and reading through it. It has givien me inspiration and motivation in my own work. Also it has been a good way of seeing how other designers and artist percieve the same idea or concept. This book is great for anyone who wants to see or learn how other designers work, it's a good motivational tool.
Inspirational!.......2007-02-09
Right when I opened this book I already knew that I would be hooked. The idea that certain design work would be redesigned by other designers helps me to see that there is never one way to solving a problem. If you want a new perspective on a project you are on, perhaps this book will help!
Una guia para entender que siempre hay recursos.......2006-09-02
Quizás lo que aprendí en este libro es que cuando estamos trancados en un diseño, es mejor empezar desde cero, como si nunca hubieramos trabajado alguna idea sobre el mismo desde el comienzo.
Totally reinvents the 'redesign' genre of design books.......2004-09-30
If design books have one general fault, it is failing to keep up with the curve, the leading edge of graphic design. Things change so quickly. The subgenre of redesign books has been among the worst offenders in this area. That's because many have been content to take 15 year old designs and reconfigure them for today, in the process inadvertently passing off more or less standard results as special work. This book is a total break with this lazy tradition of contrasting your father's design and your own generation's. It does that by picking relatively recent designs for "what if" rethinking. The results play out as mind-blowing re-envisionings of already edgy design. To me that's what sets this book apart: the pieces being redesigned aren't ancient, they aren't the least bit stodgy. In most cases, the originals up for redesign could probably themselves have appeared in fairly recent design annuals, and may have, in many instances.
Rethink Redesign Reconstruct is a fresh, exciting book that stands out in a genre of the design book field that has settled into a comfortable rut. I would call it a definite must have among current design books.
Book Description
This is the second edition of the Michael Orloff’s successful practical introduction to TRIZ (Theory of Innovative Problem Solving) - a strategy and method for breaking out of rigid thought patterns to achieve truly creative engineering solutions. Gerry Altshuller, originator of TRIZ in the former Soviet Union, devoted his career to convincing engineers that TRIZ turns inventing into a controllable and systematic process. In this book, Michael Orloff , Altshuller’s former student, continues its algorithmic development and shows how to put TRIZ into action. Enabling readers to search for and find solutions efficiently, this book is of extreme practical importance to development engineers and planners in all areas of modern technology. Orloff not only explains the power and simplicity inherent in classical TRIZ, he further develops the methods with computer-aided innovations and Navigator refinements. The author's design firm is a rich source of the application of TRIZ in many technical fields.
Book Description
Previously Announced. Recycle. Restore. Repurpose.
This unique book inspires art, creation, and environmentalism with 50 projects that transform yesterday's trash into today's stylish and useful objects. Using found, discarded, and cast-off items as a foundation-from old computer cases, soda cans, and record album covers to foam packing-readers can fashion stylish clocks, end tables, frames, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
Fun & Helpful.......2007-09-01
This book was fun and helpful. If anything, it might get some people to think of what to do with found objects. On the other hand, many of the projects in this book would be rather difficult to do without purchasing anything. This would be a better book for someone who just keeps collecting junk and needs something to do with it. If you do not collect junk then you are probably out of luck with this book.
Good for ideas.......2007-08-21
I would like this book better if it used more easy to obtain items to recyle. I just don't have final records and old electrical junction boxes lying around my house.
Amazon.com
What distinguishes Rohn Engh's book on how to sell photographs--now in its fourth edition--from the many volumes on the subject? Could it be his honest, no-nonsense approach to the topic, as opposed to the get-rich-quick slant of many competitors? His practical, step-by-step advice? His pragmatic sales techniques and principles, which teach niche marketing and explain the vast difference between good pictures of popular subjects (sunsets, wildflowers) and the type of photographs in demand by the editors who actually buy them? All of the above and more, including solid advice about selling photos in the electronic age.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent reference book.......2004-07-02
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming a professional stock photographer. Rohn Engh's words are encouraging, and fill the reader with confidence.
Some of the information is a little outdated, because the internet has changed some of the industry's standard practices. However, the majority of this book is full of practial information that can still be applied today and for years to come. I've read the book 3 times and I still refer to it frequently.
Helpful, but already dated........2002-05-21
The first chapters of the book are somewhat helpful to those just starting out in photography -- specifically, a great deal of time is spent on differentiating between mere snapshots and marketable editorial material. However, this material isn't particularly helpful if you can already shoot and get marketable results. There are also helpful chapters on marketing your identity, and on the business side of things, including legal issues surrounding editorial shooting, which are the chapters I found to be most helpful.
I do have one major gripe about the book, however, that wiped away two of five stars for me:
With a sizable percentage 35mm pros either shooting digital already or in the process of making the move, this book shows its age by discounting digital as generally inadequate or unsellable. This may have been true in the mid-'90s when a serious professional-quality digital system was still $20,000 or more, but it is no longer true today and thus this book seems like another victim of the digital age, in which 5 years old is very old indeed.
Perhaps it is time for a new edition that discusses the digital workflow and digital sales a little more, instead of merely discouraging the use of digital -- especially now that many publishers and editors are looking for digital specifically.
Really, if you are a serious amatuer who has finally decided to sell your shots to wider markets, I think the Photographer's Market is a much more essential title to have on the shelf.
Good for the beginning freelance photographer.......2002-03-15
This book has already paid for itself in submissions of "cliched'" photos that I would have made had I not read the book. This book contains sample form letters for cover letters and queries, and describes the best markets to go to. It also contains a program for finding what subjects one is best suited to photographing.
Business and Pleasure.......2001-05-22
...I think the lesson that is easily overlooked by critics of Mr. Engh's book is that those that follow it's practice GET TO TAKE PICTURES FOR A LIVING!
If you love to take pictures, for God's sake, buy this book and do what you love!! Quit working in Target for the rest of your life in the hopes that someday when you retire you'll get to spend more time on photography. No, you won't be able to quit that Target job tomorrow. Mr. Engy doesn't promise that pipe dream. What he DOES do is point out things which I've found to be dead-on correct through experience....
1. Slow but steady wins the race. 2. The dilligent hand maketh wealth. 3. You don't get anything you don't work for. 4. Just because you like it, doens't mean anybody else will.
Another note to the purist that would say that the practitioner of this book's premises is a "Sell Out". If it's art that you want to make -- so much so that you would work a different job as the main monitery support for said art -- why can't you make your 'Art' photography when you finish your work for the day as a 'Stock' photographer?
The question is: Do you want to look back at the end of your life and say "I created a picture that rivaled Adams" or do you want to look back over a life in which you can say "I really had a great time with my family and friends. See, here's my wife in 'Ladies Home Journal'. Here's my brother at my gallary opening in New York in 'The New Yorker' (pictures by me). Here's that thing we did down in Cozumel and I didn't have to pay a dime. What a great time!"
If you'd like the latter. Quit messing around:
1. Buy the book. 2. Read the book. 3. Read it again. 4. Keep it on a shelf as a reference while you DO what it says. 5. Buy all the books in the bibliography that you can afford and are applicable.
Some Good Advice, but a Flawed Premise.......2000-11-08
Before I bought this book, I had perused dozens of reviews, most of which were favorable. I was left with the impression that - like the Photographer's Market - you can't go wrong with this book. For some photographers, I'm sure it *is* quite helpful; Engh's advice is pragmatic and straight forward. And if pragmatic photos are your goal, this book gets 5 stars and not 3. But many photographers are not shooting for pragmatism's sake; they're shooting because there's something emotional or personal which they wish to convey on a visual level. Pictures, rather than poetry or song lyrics if you'd like to look at it that way. Engh seems to disregard this idea all together, once he starts explaining his magic forumla for success....
Once you get to the crux of this formula - that you should be shooting some type of environmental portraiture (people in the context of a specific place) - it implies that if you are interested in photographing something else, you're basically wasting your time. This is frankly a little disturbing. His theory suggests that it is the market's need for a particular kind of photo that should motivate you, and not your own intuition. That is frankly dead wrong in the eyes of many successful photographers. It only works well if you see your photos as a retail product first, and a personal expression (dare I say "art?") second...and some do see it that way, which is fine.
Perhaps that is where Engh goes wrong: this book could be more aptly titled "How the Casual Photographer can Sell and Resell Their Snapshots." It is plainly not that useful for the person interested in fine art photography, "fine art" meaning anything which is not born of commercial origins. It's as though Engh thinks the act of photographing is what's most important to photographers - that if you're out there snapping away that's all that matters, so long as the pictures sell. For many photographers this is not what the medium is about. It's not a "make big money in a hurry" kind of business. It requires someone who is unwavering, methodical and patient...not someone with a few rolls of 35mm film, a camera and Engh's magic formula.
The best instructor I ever had made one crucial point to his students: to be a successful photographer, your images have to speak to people on a deeper level than the average snapshot. If you wish to make photos of this quality, the *only* way to do so is to shoot that subject matter which is not only familiar to you, but very close to your heart. If you shoot what is only moderately interesting to you, so too will your photos be moderately interesting...and perhaps not interesting at all. This is to mention nothing of the technical mastery you must posess, as well. Formulas do not a lasting photograph make....
The bottom line is, if landscapes or buildings or some other thing which is often photographed...if that is what moves you, *that* is what you should be exploring with the camera and lens. To do otherwise is to do yourself a disservice (unless you just want to sell a few snapshots, which is fine). Granted, it may take a few years before you can really break into the market with some truly unique and marketable imagery but that's to be expected. Great photographs don't come easy; it takes perserverance and dedication. So, if you can't make money off your work right away (as Engh suggests you should), then you find other means of income as you continue to work on your personal style and technical mastery of the medium. Ansel Adams wasn't taking his masterpieces after 6 months work. Galen Rowell (probably the most talented landscape photographer to come along since Adams) failed to sell his work many times before he finally succeeded.
Photography is like any other endeavor in life: if you really want to make your mark, you have to pay your dues. There's no way around it.
So the question really is (dear reader and fellow photographer): are you in it to make quick money, or are you in it to make your mark? If you want the quick money, Engh is your man and this book is your book (without question). If, on the other hand you want to achieve a more lofty goal with your work, this book won't help you much other than perhaps to give the proverbial wake-up call. The call which reminds you that no, it won't be easy...but which ignores the possibility that the struggle might bring much greater success than the forumulas in this book.
Book Description
Process Management to Quality Improvement is the first book to address both business process design and quality management in a single framework. Unlike most books in these fields, it provides practical guidance, where the emphasis is on how to implement the principles effectively and efficiently. This book provides a complete approach to both areas and also links the two. For practitioners of Business Process Re-engineering, it provides step-by-step guidance on how to check for quality in their radically redesigned processes. Quality management professionals can learn how to express their approaches within a process framework. The book provides guidance and summary process charts for three popular management models, the ISO 9000 International Quality Standard, the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the European Quality Award. This book provides the answer for managers and consultants who need to bridge the gap between finding a systematic approach to quality and the wider needs of the organization. Those needing to write procedures and instructions and to document business processes will find the book invaluable. It also provides a foundation for those studying process modelling, quality management and business re-engineering.
Customer Reviews:
Essential Reading.......2000-03-19
The author of this book brings analytic ability, wisdom and insight of an exceptional order. It has established itself among the business systems elite as a major contribution. It is highly recommended to all those in process management, quality improvement and business systems as a book that will illuminate and enhance the reader.
Books:
- Rembrandt: The Master and His Workshop: Drawings and Etchings (National Gallery London Publications)
- Rock Climbing Joshua Tree, 2nd (Regional Rock Climbing Series)
- Saul Steinberg: Illuminations
- Sounds Like Teen Spirit: Stolen Melodies, Ripped-Off Riffs, and the Secret History of Rock and Roll
- Southwest Indian Designs CD-ROM and Book (Dover Pictorial Archives)
- Splendors of Islam: Architecture, Decoration and Design
- Swedish Interiors
- Tattoos of the Floating World: Ukiyo-E Motifs in Japanese Tattoo
- Taylor's Guide to Shade Gardening: More Than 350 Trees, Shrubs, and Flowers That Thrive Under Difficult Conditions, Illustrated with Color Photographs and Detailed Drawings (Taylor's Gardening Guides)
- Teaching Mathematics to All Children: Designing and Adapting Instruction to Meet the Needs of Diverse Learners (2nd Edition)
Books Index
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Strategy & Competition
| Management & Leadership
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Systems Thinking, Second Edition: Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Platform for Designing Business Architecture
Foundations of Financial Management 11/e + Self-Study CD + Standard & Poor's Educational Version of Market Insight + OLC with PowerWeb
