Book Description
Praise for the First Edition of Virtual Teams
"If you want to see where organizational communications are going in the future, heed what these pioneers have written today." -Howard Rheingold, author, The Virtual Community, and founder, Electric Mind
"Lipnack and Stamps have written an important book for the twenty-first-century corporation." -Regis McKenna, The McKenna Group, author, Relationship Marketing
"This book provides a long overdue perspective on how to apply the discipline of real teams in the fast-moving, increasingly dispersed information age of the future." -Jon R. Katzenbach, author, The Wisdom of Teams
"For those who want to lead the movement, catch up with it, or simply know where it is going, this book is packed with useful information and interesting stories." -Dee W. Hock, founder and chairman emeritus, VISA
"Virtual Teams provides valuable insights into global teamwork and management through network technologies now available to all companies, large or small." -Jim Lynch, director, corporate quality, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Customer Reviews:
Useful, but some fluff.......2003-09-28
I purchased this book because I was intrigued. In much of the work I do I am a member of "virtual" teams. That is, I often am some distance apart from the people I am working with.
I found the book to be a slow read, with nuggets of information separated by deserts of fluff. The first half of the book is filled with vague ramblings about how the information age has changed the way that teams work and with case studies that illustrate how the forming of virtual teams has helped various companies solve difficult problems.
In the second half, the book begins to pick up. In a chapter entitled "Teaming with People" the authors discuss team dynamics, including essential roles with a team, how teams form and which aspects of team dynamics are especially subject to the stresses of distance communication.
The authors suggest that the beginning and closing phases of most projects are the most stressful on team members and that extra effort be exerted at the beginning phase of the project to bring the core project team members together, even if they are geographically separated. This, say the authors, will help build interpersonal relationships that can hold the team together in times of stress.
There are several optimum team sizes. 3 to 5 is the size of a core team, 5 to 25 the size of a "team family" and 25 to 200 the size of a "team camp". In the authors' opinion, any team larger than 5 people will naturally divide into sub-teams.
The authors also point out the value of rewarding teams. Making teams compete, or making them completely independent of one another has little value for the company. Cooperative goals can encourage and motivate all of the teams, while competition can demoralize them.
Finally, the authors talk about starting up teams and provide a checklist of some elements such as a customer and a management sponsor which are essential to any team's success.
Overall, I found the book to have some good information on forming and maintaining teams, and what to do when those teams are not located in the same physical location. There is some fluff, I feel, and the book could easily be half its current length without sacrificing much.
Aphoristic.......2001-10-01
I spent many hours with Lipnack & Stamps' Virtual Teams. Lipnack and Stamps are team consultants, and this book is one of their business cards. It's strong on axioms, moderate on bibliographic references, filled with trenchant observations derived from their consulting experiences, and written in a hurried style that reads like a draft or a condensed version of a larger book, despite its 300 pages. The authors provide dozens of taxonomies, some of which are useful and thought provoking, but most not deriving from research data. I obtained one item referenced in the bibliography, a middling-quality correlational study, but noticed the authors were quite creative in their interpretation of its results. Once you get past the aphoristic writing style ("Connected, linked, matrixed. We are the future now. . . Before we know it, 10-year-olds will be running the world. Perhaps they already are. . . The new virtual organizations are at once very old and very new, very small and very large . . . ") you'll find yourself reading many interesting nuggets of information combined with useful advice on how to build and manage a virtual team. I appreciated the fact that Lipnack and Stamps avoided treating the virtual team as a panacea or as a solution to team problems. Their cool approach to the formidable problems faced by distributed groups adroitly avoids the hype in which other authors engage. I also appreciated their extended discussions in the areas where virtual teams suffer the most, including trust and communication across time zones. Leadership got slight treatment, but perhaps for good reason-the DNA of effective leadership in general has yet to be cracked, and is a largely unexplored phenomenon in virtual teams.
Highly Recommended!.......2001-07-11
Globalization can create as many problems as opportunities. One big problem is figuring out how to unite people worldwide to work on projects for your company. In an age that lacked a worldwide communications net, the answer would probably be quite depressing. However, as authors Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps make clear, the modern Internet makes it quite possible for workers all over the world to collaborate. The physical location of your firm’s various experts is no longer a barrier to effective team building, be they in Dublin, Bangalore, Las Vegas or Bangkok. In fact, the authors claim that companies that fail to create effective teams across cyberspace will be left in history’s dustbin. This might be overstating the case, but we [...] recommend this book for its candor about exactly how challenging it is to create virtual teams. Still interested? If so, this book serves as an excellent primer of both theory and practice.
"Teamwork" Re-defined for New Realities.......2001-04-06
The authors are convinced that, eventually, "virtual teams will become the natural way to work, nothing special. Virtual teams and networks -- effective, value-based, swiftly reconfiguring, cost-sensitive, and decentralized -- will profoundly reshape our shared world. As members of many virtual groups, we will contribute to these ephemeral webs of relationships that together weave our future." That day is already here for many people and I agree that virtual working relationships will soon be the rule rather than the exception. The authors correctly note that technology extends capabilities "but organizing to do things together is only human. The most profound change of the new millennium is in the way we're organized." Moreover, as more people connect online, "we increase our capacity for both independence and interdependence. Competition and cooperation both thrive in our new culture." However, there are perils to avoid because whatever goes wrong with in-the-same place teams can also go wrong with virtual teams -- only worse and, worse yet, faster and at a much greater cost.
The authors organize their excellent material within 14 chapters whose individual titles indicate each chapter's perspective on virtual teams: Why, Networks, Teams, Trust, Place, Time, Purpose, people, Links, Launch, Navigate, Theory, Think, and Future. I agree that a virtual team "is a group of people who work interdependently with a shared purpose across space, time, and organization boundaries." Nonetheless, I still have some quibbles about the authors' sequence of subject matter (not with the content itself) and am still convinced that cooperation between and among members of virtual teams is even more difficult than it is between and among those within physical boundaries. Moreover, my own rather extensive experience with all manner of corporate clients suggests that the most formidable barriers are between two ears. If you have some serious human barriers in your own organization, I urge you to check out O'Dell and Grayson's immensely thoughtful and practical book, If Only We Knew What We Know.
But please keep in mind that even if O'Dell, Grayson, Lipnack, and Stamps were retained to create virtual teams for your organization, unless and until everyone else involved buys into the enterprise, the results would be abysmal. Hence the importance of several points which Lipnack and Stamps make in the final chapter, notably the absolutely essential need for trust. "A presumption of trust enables a successful strategy of collaboration [enables everyone involved] to be better innovators, competitors, and survivors....If purpose is the glue, trust is the grease." I agree.
Of course, no single volume such as this can provide all the right answers but Lipnack and Stamps raise most (if not all) of the most important questions. Their answers seem sensible and practical. Of course, decision-makers must decide what the nature, extent, and duration of a virtual relationship should be in their organization at any given time. The authors do provide an excellent source of information and insight which can help virtually (pun intended) any organization increase cooperation and collaboration across boundaries through the effective use of various technologies. Especially, in this age of accelerating globalization, most organizations need all the help they can get.
Practical Ideas for Boundary-Crossing Teams.......2000-10-15
The very nature of teams has changed in most organizations. This change is not rooted in the use of technology but rather in organizational changes that require teams that cross all kinds of boundaries: organizational, temporal, geographic, functional, cultural. Virtual Teams focuses on the fundamental issues that challenge members, leaders, and stakeholders in these boundary-crossing teams rather than simply on the technology that connects them. A major strength of the book is the wealth of stories about how key ideas have been applied in both public and private sector organizations. This book offers practical ideas you can apply to any team - whether it is co-located or spread across the world. - Lisa Kimball, Executive Producer, Group Jazz
Book Description
Working Across Boundaries is a practical guide for nonprofit and government professionals who want to learn the techniques and strategies of successful collaboration. Written by Russell M. Linden, one of the most widely recognized experts in organizational change, this no nonsense book shows how to make collaboration work in the real world. It offers practitioners a framework for developing collaborative relationships and shows them how to adopt strategies that have proven to be successful with a wide range of organizations. Filled with in-depth case studies—including a particularly challenging case in which police officers and social workers overcome the inherent differences in their cultures to help abused children—the book clearly shows how organizations have dealt with the hard issues of collaboration. Working Across Boundaries includes
- Information on how to select potential partners
- Guidelines for determining what kinds of projects lend themselves to collaboration and which do not
- Suggestions on how to avoid common pitfalls of collaboration
- Strategies proven to work consistently
- The phases most collaborative projects go through
- The nature of collaborative leadership
Customer Reviews:
Collabrative Processes.......2007-09-01
Every year brings forth a new crop of books relating to business management or operations. Many are overpriced, a large number are worthless (`How to Manage Like Jack the Ripper'), and a minority are actually very good. This book published in 2002 is one of that minority.
Russell Linden has chosen to specialize in the study of collaboration and collaborative processes. Over the course of over twenty years of analysis and application he has developed some very sound ideas on what makes collaborative efforts work and what causes them to fail. One dose not have to read very far into this book to see that effective collaboration in an age of globalization is absolutely essential for business successes. It also becomes clear that collaboration is the cornerstone of knowledge based enterprises, which includes most government agencies.
Linden has developed a collaborative model composed of four elements: 1) the basic requirements for collaboration to work (shared goals etc.): 2) the necessity for building effective relationships; 3) the establishments of mutually recognized `high stakes' (i.e. recognition that collaboration will produce significant benefits); and 3) building a constituency for collaboration (people committed to making collaboration real). In the course of discussing his model, Linden, provides important insights on the important role of champions and the concept of institutional culture. He also illustrates his discussion with well chosen case studies to drive home the functionality of his model. Linden also provides good information on he often lost art of
internal collaboration as well.
This book is particularly relevant to the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) where barriers of secrecy, a culture of insularity, and a belief that information is power has long prevented real inter-agency collaboration and worse has encouraged building barriers against collaboration even within single agencies. See "Spying Blind" by Amy Zegart (2007, Amazon.com).
Working Across Boundaries: Both entertaining and instructive.......2004-06-10
What do James Madison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Peter Drucker, the Book of Exodus, Robert Frost, Vince Lombardi, T.S. Eliot, Dr. Spock and Albert Einstein all have in common? They are all quoted in Russ Linden's new book, "Working Across Boundaries: Making Collaboration Work in Government and Non-Profit Organizations." Linden ties them all together in an entertaining and instructive manual for managing in today's work environment.
Linden's book is for practitioners, a group that includes me, since I have been practicing at this profession for almost 30 years. He holds true to the purpose he has set for the book, which is to help practitioners address the hurdles to collaboration and adopt strategies that lead to succesful collaboration, in order to achieve better outcomes for their customers and communities.
What I like best about the book is the use of stories to instruct and inform. Stories are the core tool in relationship building....I know that my bosses, often rely heavily on the stories told them by their constituents to make critical policy decisions....Linden's stories about the collaborative work of the Baltimore Child Advocacy Center; the National Marine Fisheries Service; the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, and others provide practical examples of how his models work in the real world.
He not only suggests numerous techniques for establishing practical, collaborative efforts. He also adds a series of four "resource" chapters at the end of the book with illustrations of how these techniques have been applied, the most-asked questions about collaboration together with their answers, an assessment tool, and a summary of the situations in numerous organizations that have served as the basis for his conclusions and models.
I especially liked Chapter 6 on "Forming Open, Trusting Relationships Among the Principals." It gave me some helpful hints on working with my council.
Linden's book is a must-read for anyone trying to overcome the obstacles he says were created by James Madison and his buddies , who "consciously designed an inefficient government to keep men free." This "built-in" inefficiency and fragmentation cries out for the cure of collaboration.
Solid Book on an Important Subject.......2004-05-14
Anyone who has worked in government has probably experienced the twin frustrations of people protecting their turf on the one hand while covering their rear with the other. But being effective these days means working in teams, often across the old hierarchical reporting structures of agencies, divisions and units.
Linden's book uses a variety of case studies to explore how collaboration can work, and what the pitfalls can be. He defines collaboration initially as what "occurs when people from different organizations (or units within one organization) produce something together through joint effort, resources, and decision making, and share ownership of the final product or service." His examples range from land management to criminal justice to education to intelligence--all areas where multiple agencies or organizations had to collaborate in a high stakes environment.
High stakes is one of the four keys for Linden. There must be something important enough to motivate the collaboration. The other keys are strong relationships among the collaborators, the existence of a constituency for collaboration, and what he calls "the basics" -- openness, skillful facilitating, etc.
What makes it all work is collaborative leadership--individuals who can pull others along with them into a productive team effort. One chapter discusses the qualities of effective collaborative leaders, who must subordinate their own egos to ensure that all participants have a real stake.
If "Working Across Boundaries" has a fault, it is that he has many good ideas and observations that don't fit neatly into the four-element structure, but that he doesn't want to leave out. Every chapter includes some of these "extras" and many of them are grouped in a separate chapter, "More Keys to Successful Collaboration" (including such things as measuring results, using each party's strengths, etc.). Since it is almost all good advice and worthwhile reading, this is really only a minor structural complaint.
Also useful are the resource materials at the end of the book, including a sample agenda, a collaboration "contract" and some assessment materials. These are good templates for anyone starting a new collaborative effort.
In describing the qualities of successful collaboration, Linden is also aware of the structural and personal challenges that collaborations often face. Budgets, for example, are usually built in line items to specific organizations; in fact, organizations are largely defined by their budgets. So sharing resources across organizations requires trust and mutual commitment. Accountability, too, both at the level of the individual employee and at the organizational level, is especially challenging when the outcome is the result of a cross-agency collaboration. On the other hand, when collaboration produces better results, as it often does, participants can all share in the glory.
Working Across Boundaries- An Effective Tool.......2004-04-26
Todays managers must use numerous skills and resources in order to be effective and successful. And although there are numerous tools and techniques available to assist managers in their daily jobs, sometimes the best solution is simply working together. Or in other words, collaborating. This is what Russ Linden's new book, "Working Across Boundaries: Making Collaboration Work in
Government and Non-Profit Organizations" ultimately encourages and demonstrates. Russ Linden has provided numerous case studies throughout the book to assist the reader with relating to particular issues confronting organizations. He also provides a wealth of resources including sample agendas, contracts, assessment tools and programs used by a variety of agencies and individuals.
The author has taken on the challenge of documenting the benefits, techniques, and tools needed to successfully implement collaboration in the workplace and with outside organizations. I highly recommend "Working Across Boundaries" to all government managers. Congratulations to Russ for a great book on a difficult subject.
A Glimpse into the future of Collaboration.......2004-04-24
"Working Across Boundaries" is a glimpse into the future of how "virtual government" is evolving in the dawn of the 21st century. This book isn't full of academic concepts. Russ Linden paints a picture using real examples of the dynamics to which public sector leaders will need to respond in order to be successful. Practitioners will be able to pick up this book and start applying its principles immediately.
Book Description
Traditional forms of collaboration are not sufficient for competing effectively in the more complex and dynamic environment of today’s business world. Face-to-face meetings between people of similar backgrounds have given way to increasingly complex working relationships. Organizations must be able to gain rapid access to knowledgeable people to meet constantly changing conditions and demands. More fluid, flexible, and easily reconfigurable collaborative relationships are necessary to produce the innovations that can make or break organizations¾even entire industries¾ and provide the opportunities that attract the talented and motivated employees who will make the difference between success and failure.
Business Without Boundaries helps managers address these challenges. The authors explore a number of wide-ranging, real-world cases to identify hands-on principles for successful collaboration. They offer managers and executives practical steps and tools for creating, facilitating, and supporting complex collaborations throughout their organizations. And they explain how to “team” across boundaries in the new global economy. The recommendations are specific enough to apply to particular forms of complex collaboration (for example supply chains, global product development teams, interorganizational alliances) but general enough to apply to new forms that have yet to emerge.
Download Description
Traditional forms of collaboration are not sufficient for competing effectively in the more complex and dynamic environment of today’s business world. Face-to-face meetings between people of similar backgrounds have given way to increasingly complex working relationships. Organizations must be able to gain rapid access to knowledgeable people to meet constantly changing conditions and demands. More fluid, flexible, and easily reconfigurable collaborative relationships are necessary to produce the innovations that can make or break organizations¾even entire industries¾ and provide the opportunities that attract the talented and motivated employees who will make the difference between success and failure.
Business Without Boundaries helps managers address these challenges. The authors explore a number of wide-ranging, real-world cases to identify hands-on principles for successful collaboration. They offer managers and executives practical steps and tools for creating, facilitating, and supporting complex collaborations throughout their organizations. And they explain how to “team” across boundaries in the new global economy. The recommendations are specific enough to apply to particular forms of complex collaboration (for example supply chains, global product development teams, interorganizational alliances) but general enough to apply to new forms that have yet to emerge.
Customer Reviews:
Whether you think you can or think you can't...........2005-09-08
Let's begin with the assumption that many (if not most but certainly not all) limits are self-imposed. Then let us assume that it is in any organization's best interests to eliminate all limits to effective communication, cooperation, and collaboration. If you accept these two assumptions, then you will share my high regard for this volume in which Mankin and Cohen offer a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective four-phase "action framework" to achieve "collaboration [as well as communication and cooperation] across time, distance, organization, and culture." To their credit, they concentrate almost entirely on explaining HOW to apply basic principles, citing benchmark examples which include the John Deere Construction & Forestry Technology Program, Radica Games Group, and Solectron Corporation.
Obviously, all organizations have boundaries and many of them are essential to achieving success. For example, non-negotiable values to which everyone involved is held accountable. Without appropriate behavior, there would be chaos. Also, there are limits on available resources which means that priorities must be set and then served. No organization can afford to be everything to everyone associated with it. Boundaries are inevitable. That said, Mankin and Cohen assert -- and I wholly agree -- that there is an interdependence of structure and relationships which can enable any organization (regardless of size or nature) to collaborate effectively, and do so "across time, distance, organization, and culture." The core concept of this book is a metaprinciple which is explained in Chapter One. With exquisite care, Mankin and Cohen use an especially apt metaphor -- jazz -- to illustrate how the metaprinciple provides the "theme" and the action framework (please see pages 5-8 and Chapters Seven and Eight) provides the "score." Extending the metaphor, Mankin and Cohen urge their reader to use the theme to improvise on the framework and create collaboration within her or his own organization and such efforts will "transcend all boundaries to produce deeply fulfilling performances."
Not all of those who read this book will be willing and able to make and then sustain the commitment required. It may be helpful to recall Henry Ford's assertion that, whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.
If you share my high regard for this book , please check out Arthur Rubinfeld and Collins Hemingway's Built for Growth: Expanding Your Business Around the Corner or Across the Globe, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne's Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant, Constantinos C. Markides' Fast Second: How Smart Companies Bypass Radical Innovation to Enter and Dominate New Markets, and Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change co-authored by Clayton M. Christensen, Erik A. Roth, and Scott D. Anthony.
HOW TO MAKE COMPLEX COLLABORATION WORK........2005-07-04
Business is conducted across all types of boundaries through collaborative strategies and arrangements. These collaborative enterprises can be extremely complex. This book explores what these collaborations look like, the challenges they face, and how to make them work. Based on analysis of three case studies, the authors present an action framework to guide executives in building such collaborations. The challenge is to manage complexity so that it enhances and energizes the collaboration instead of destroying it. Success hinges upon the people and the nature and quality of their interrelationships and interactions, the key to which is structure: well-defined roles, expectations, responsibilities, decision-making processes, and the like. Structure offers a zone of stability within which complex collaborations can develop and successfully function. Three-quarters of the book presents and analyzes the cases, offing many insights. The action framework is formally presented in the last two chapters.
An excellent, action-packed advice guide.......2005-03-05
There are plenty of general management advise titles on the market today, but a few stand out from the crowd as specific guides for working establishments - and Don Mankin and Susan G. Cohen's Business Without Boundaries: An Action Framework For Collaborating Across Time, Distance, Organization, And Culture is one of them. With more and more business being conducted virtually, mechanisms for collaborative success in virtual e-business and corporate environments becomes all the more important: that's where Business Without Boundaries comes in, helping managers with real-world examples and principles for successful virtual collaboration. An excellent, action-packed advice guide.
Book Description
METCO, America's longest-running voluntary school desegregation program, has for 34 years bused black children from Boston's city neighborhoods to predominantly white suburban schools. In contrast to the infamous violence and rage of forced school busing within the city in the 1970s, METCO has quietly and calmly promoted school integration. How has this program affected the lives of its graduates? Would they choose to participate if they had it to do over again? Would they place their own children on the bus to suburbia?
Sixty-five METCO graduates vividly recall their own stories in this revealing book. Susan E. Eaton interviewed program participants who are now adults, asking them to assess the benefits and hardships of crossing racial and class lines on their way to school. Their answers poignantly show that this type of racial integration is not easy—they struggled to negotiate both black and white worlds, often feeling fully accepted in neither. Even so, nearly all the participants believe the long-term gains outweighed the costs and would choose a similar program for their own children—though not without conditions and apprehensions.
Even as courts and policymakers today are forcing the abandonment of desegregation, educators warn that students are better prepared in schools that reflect our national diversity. This book offers an accessible and moving account of a rare program that, despite serious challenges, provides a practical remedy for the persistent inequalities in American education.
Customer Reviews:
What's Missing?.......2006-06-18
Why weren't there interviews of suburban kids who shared classrooms with the METCO kids? I doubt it would surprise anyone to learn that the METCO kids were disruptive, stole things, and terrorized and bullied other students. Great for race relations, eh?
There was one guy who was so bad, I looked him up a few years later to see if he was in jail yet. Turns out he became a drug dealer and got shot and killed. Of course the Boston Globe blamed it on "easy access to guns." Haha.
A GOOD READ -- OPENS YOUR EYES.......2004-04-23
I picked up this book at a friend's house and looked in it and was immediately hooked. I don't usually read sociology studies by choice but my friend, who is a sociologist, insisted that this was an insightful book and also a great read. Its a very emotional book in parts that shows you the struggles that African American children went through in order to get a good education. It very powerfully debunks the idea that African AMerican kids and parents do not value education -- read this book and you will see that no community can be depicted that way. Being a teacher in a pretty much all-white school, that recently has had a growing enrollment of African American kids -- who've sometimes seemed hestitant to join in -- I now understand that I DID NOT UNDERSTAND. Since reading this book, I have become a better educator, with more compassion and understanding -- and also an understanding of how much better my school is now that it is growing more racially diverse. SInce reading this book, I've also picked up similar books on this subject. None of them are as good -- but I await this writer's next. If you are a teacher in a school that has a minority of black children -- read this book!
this is my life!.......2004-03-09
Wow. A great book, all about me. Seriously, I got chosen for a program like this when I was in middle school. It wasn't this program, but another. It changed my life. I like the end of the book, too because it provides good suggestions and smart points about why we need more options like this for our kids. My life went in a positive direction and I watched many children with great parents who worked hard and who were so smart, not succeed like I did. All teachers of minority kids in white schools or wealthy schools should read this book.
An amazing and accurate portrayal.......2003-05-22
I was a student who took part in a program exactly like this one, in another city. I got assigned this book in my sociology class and it was so amazing for me to read it because it is exactly what I went through 5 years ago. Also, many of my friends who are black and who went to suburban schools for different reasons said they could relate to this experience. I could not believe it when I read that this author was white, because all along I was reading it and because it was so accurate and real I naturally assumed she must be a black woman. This made the truth and honesty of the book even more amazing. The book would be really good for all teachers, guidance counselor and school principals and white parents to read because it really speaks to the black child's experience in a white school. And when I was a kid in school I could not have put into words some of the struggles but also all the benefits and good things that grew out of my complicated experience. But this puts it into words what so many young people are feeling but also what they think about their experience when they are looking back as grown ups.
A great read, moving and informative.......2003-03-29
This is an excellent book. It shows readers a better alternative to so-called forced busing which got its worse name in the city of Boston. But this book is about a voluntary program that let black kids go to suburbia. The writer really lets the former students talk for themselves and because of that it is a really moving book that feels honest and real. When the writer does comment on things, it is always very graceful and plainly spoken. This book does not try to be overly academic, and so is a welcome treat to read. I wish there were more 'human' books out there about subjects like this, which are usually written in very dull, dry styles.
Book Description
Explore the feelings of men toward other men without the pigeonholing found in terms like "gay" and "straight"!
Male to Male: Sexual Feeling Across the Boundaries of Identity starts with the evidence that most studies on male sexuality have ignored--the same-sex feelings of men whose identities are heterosexual. Of the more than fifty men in this book, almost half were aware of some degree of same-sex feeling. But beyond percentages, the primary focus of Male to Male is the exploration--through their own words--of how these men experienced same-sex feelings, what these feelings meant to them, the fears surrounding them, and the consequences of the collision between their heterosexual identities and their same-sex feelings.
In addition to comparative data on women's same-sex feelings, as well as on what men say in regard to their feelings about women, Male to Male includes material from two in-depth case studies. The first is on Clark, an African-American man who moved into sex with men in prison. His story shows that the need to see gay men as feminine is really a cultural defense against the powerful pull toward the male-to-male bond, and points to the movement to fulfill that bond when this defense is dropped. The second is on Zack, a gay police officer. His story explores the different dimensions and meanings of the male-to-male bond as these unfolded in his own life, while telling about the heterosexually identified men who "came out" to him about their own same-sex feelings.
Male to Male will help you explore:
same-sex feelings in heterosexual men and women
same-sex feelings in the military
prison culture and the "heterosexual role"
the fear of domination
the aesthetics of fear and power
the dynamics of rape
compassionate relationships between heterosexual-identified men . . . and much more!
Male to Male provides evidence showing that the identity that really counts--constituting the deepest source from which men's sexual feelings for each other spring--is not specifically a gay or heterosexual identity. That source is, rather, a male identity, and--beyond that--a human identity.
Customer Reviews:
General Appeal, Not Just Technical.......2006-01-07
"Male to Male discusses the wide--but unacknowledged--prevalence of same-sex feelings among men who do not identify themselves as gay, revealing the fulfillment of the bond in an emotional and physical way, not a sexual one. The chapters examine how these same-sex feelings affect heterosexual men and how some individuals deal with the conflict between culture and sexuality, breaking down categories and stereotypes. This book will be appealing to the average male reader, as well as professionals, students, and academics in the fields of human sexuality, psychology, anthropology, sociology and cultural theory."--© zebraz
Really Cool!.......2003-10-14
'"Male to Male" starts with the evidence that most studies on male sexuality have ignored - the same-sex feelings of men whose identities are heterosexual. The "I-never-told-anyone-this-before" confessions Dr. Tejirian elicits from straight-identified men who recount homoerotic dreams and daydreams make this book a surefire spellbinding read. But more sensational still is the interview technique he employs to mine these deepest of sexual secrets from his youthful male (twenty-something grad student, cop) research subjects: He simply asks them, man to man.' - Helpful summary from stevenzeeland.com
Book Description
Across Boundaries is an autobiography that captures both a unique heart and a nation's history. Because Mamphela Ramphele began her life as a shy child born into the cage of apartheid - and gradually became an activist who helped set South Africa free -her personal story enlarges each reader's sense of possibilities. Because she was part of the Black Consciousness Movement that linked the personal to the political, she teaches us that race, sex, and class are linked, and that enemies can only be defeated if we refuse to imitate them. . . . No matter where or how each of us lives, Across Boundaries gives us a rare leader who teaches us to teach ourselves.-Gloria Steinem
"Stunningly moving and inspiring."- Marian Wright Edelman, president, Children's Defense Fund
"Survival," writes Mamphela Ramphele, "is a stronger force than the fear of offending others." Born black and female in apartheid-ruled South Africa, Ramphele went on to become one of the most distinguished women on the African continent - a prominent activist, medical doctor, anthropologist, teacher, university leader, as well as a mother to two sons. Across Boundaries chronicles Ramphele's inspiring journey, and reveals the staggering personal losses that coexisted with her astonishing political and professional achievements. In addition to recounting the fascinating and often gripping events of her life, she describes the personal side of her experiences - her early struggles to maintain dignity and hope in a world that devalued both black people and women; her battles against despair, especially after the murder of her colleague and lover Steven Biko and the death of her third child in infancy; her mistakes and regrets as well as her triumphs.
Customer Reviews:
interesting.......2003-09-11
This book is about Mamphelafs political life. Personal aspects of her life are rarely told unless they pertain to her activism or illustrate inequality. Individuals are rarely mentioned; those that are, are rarely mentioned more than once.
Donft read this book if you want an old-fashioned story with interesting characters who interact to create entertaining plots.
Read this book to learn about the battle of a black woman against patriarchal apartheid. Read about her gsuperwomanh strengths and the sacrifices she made for the movement.
A Mother's Struggle.......2000-04-20
Across Boundaries is an excellent book focussing on a mother's struggle to want a job and to be a mother at the same time. Even thogh this book was written by a woman from Africa it still pertains to many American mothers who struggle over the same problem. This book did not only focus on the mother aspect, but also on the fact that a woman wanted to help the condition of other woman also.
Mamphela's Struggle as a Woman.......2000-04-19
I found Mamphela Ramphele's autobiography very interesting and amazing. The struggles she went through during her life absolutely amazed me! She is one of the strongest women I have ever heard of. I enjoyed reading about her fight for rights, her relationship with Steve Biko, and how she balanced all of her activities. I found it very interesting that she did not put motherhood as a priority in her life as many other women do. I enjoyed reading "Across Boundaries" and I thought Mamphela did a good job of telling the true story of her life.
Over Coming Social Restrictions in Africa.......2000-04-05
Across Boundaries was an excellent book about a women's struggle to be amother and have a career. As said in the book "Recognising thatyou are a member of the global village is essential to lifting you above the narrow nationalistic interests and concerns of your own country (222)." Mamphela's life was a pursuit for women to rise above the boundaries and the story was very detailed, and well written! END
Across Boundaries.......2000-03-08
Across Boundaries by Mamphela Ramphele is a fascinating autobiography about the extraordinary journey of a South African woman leader. From historical events to her personal experiences, Ramphele describes these events and struggles with dignity. Throughout her endeavors as a young child and continued to her adulthood, she is committed and determined to succeed and to make a difference. An honest testimony that shows her fears and courage. This is an excellent book and it will keep you reading for this one woman's strength is amazing. Through moderate to difficult times and tribulations Mamphela Ramphele keeps a remarkable and uplifting attitude that helps bring new light to unfortunate situations.
Book Description
Stop! If you have been looking for the one resource for managing a business of any size, this is it. Based on the extensive business experience of five experts, this authoritative guide provides an in-depth look at what every leader must know about managing across departments, functions, divisions, or companies.
Drawing on decades of combined experience, John Colley and colleagues detail the wide range of skills, tools, and conceptual understanding as well as the qualities of leadership that a successful general manager must acquire. In an era of specialization and specialists, the authors return due focus to the generalist. No other book so passionately and thoroughly examines the roles and responsibilities of the general manager and the full scope of this distinct, pressure-filled occupation. The authors explore the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the job and discuss how the skilled manager moves an organization from abstract goals to definitive action. For every profit center or plant manager, function head, division president, or CEO, this book is indispensable reading.
Book Description
A comprehensive sourcebook of methods for improving organizational competitiveness. Shows how to ensure that the organization's internal systems--strategic planning, information systems, manufacturing, R&D, marketing, human resources, and industrial relations--support competitiveness. Reveals ways to extend the organization's reach through cooperative relationships with outside organizations and institutions.
Books:
- W. E. Gladstone III: Autobiographical Memoranda, 1845-1866 (Prime Ministers' Papers)
- Waiting for God (Perennial Classics)
- Walk in My Soul
- What We Lost: Based on a True Story
- When Children Love to Learn: A Practical Application of Charlotte Mason's Philosophy for Today
- Where the Red Fern Grows
- Windows Vista Inside Out
- Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman: Mission and Power in American Foreign Policy
- Words of Wisdom: Daily Affirmations of Faith
- 100 Butterflies and Moths: Portraits from the Tropical Forests of Costa Rica
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Austen's Unbecoming Conjunctions: Subversive Laughter, Embodied History
- The Classic Art of Viennese Pastry: From Strudel to Sachertorte--More Than 100
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- Liberty!: The American Revolution
- Lucy & Desi: The Real-Life Scrapbook of America's Favorite TV Couple
- Statistics: A First Course
- Practical Flow Cytometry
- International Tax Planning for the United States Multinational Corporation
- Mark My Words : Letters Of A Businessman To His Son
- World Development Report 1978-2004 With Selected World Development Indicators 2003: Indexed Omnibus
Strategy & Competition
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Mastering Virtual Teams: Strategies, Tools, and Techniques That Succeed (JOSSEY-BASS BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT SERIES)
The Distance Manager: A Hands On Guide to Managing Off-Site Employees and Virtual Teams
Virtual Teams That Work: Creating Conditions for Virtual Team Effectiveness
Quick Guide to Interaction Styles and Working Remotely: Strategies for Leading and Working in Virtual Teams
Working Virtually: Managing People for Successful Virtual Teams and Organizations
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