Amazon.com
In a time when educators and politicians in the United States are fumbling for a fix--from vouchers to smaller class sizes--for ailing public schools, it's refreshing to read the more sophisticated take on what can be done to improve American education found in The Teaching Gap, a straightforward analysis of approaches towards teaching around the world. James W. Stigler, a UCLA psychology professor, and James Hiebert, an education professor at the University of Delaware, argue that America's culture of teaching needs to be changed before we see any real change in student achievement--and they're not simply talking about higher pay and more respect.
The bulk of The Teaching Gap examines the cultural differences among teaching methods, with detailed accounts of video observations of eighth-grade math teachers that were part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS (which Stigler directed). American teachers in the videos tend to emphasize terms and procedures, thinking of math as a set of tedious skills. They try to interest students with praise and real-life problems. In contrast, Japanese teachers are more likely to emphasize ideas, expecting the concepts alone to stir students' natural curiosity. They weave together lessons that have a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Teachers in the other countries are more likely to share lessons on what works in the classroom and receive more sophisticated training, the authors found. Only seven out of 41 nations scored lower than the U.S. in TIMSS, placing American eighth-graders with those from Cyprus, Portugal, South Africa, Kuwait, Iran, and Colombia. Without falling into teacher-bashing mode, Stigler and Hiebert insist that reform efforts need to originate with teachers, not university researchers. They call for overhauling the teaching profession with stricter requirements, better peer review, and more demanding academic standards, as well as improved interaction between teachers. Their detailed examination of the study's video observations gets to the heart of the matter and should be worthwhile reading for educators, policymakers, and anyone interested in the condition of today's education system. --Jodi Mailander Farrell
Book Description
Comparing math teaching practices in Japan and Germany with those in the United States, two leading researchers offer a surprising new view of teaching and a bold action plan for improving education inside the American classroom.
For years our schools and children have lagged behind international standards in reading, arithmetic, and most other areas of academic achievement. It is no secret that American schools are in dire need of improvement, and that education has become our nation's number-one priority. But even though almost every state in the country is working to develop higher standards for what students should be learning, along with the means for assessing their progress, the quick-fix solutions implemented so far haven't had a noticeable impact.
The problem, as James Stigler and James Hiebert explain, is that most efforts to improve education fail because they simply don't have any impact on the quality of teaching inside classrooms. Teaching, they argue, is cultural. American teachers aren't incompetent, but the methods they use are severely limited, and American teaching has no system in place for getting better. It is teaching, not teachers, that must be changed.
In The Teaching Gap, the authors draw on the conclusions of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) -- an innovative new study of teaching in several cultures -- to refocus educational reform efforts. Using videotaped lessons from dozens of randomly selected eighth-grade classrooms in the United States, Japan, and Germany, the authors reveal the rich, yet unfulfilled promise of American teaching and document exactly how other countries have consistently stayed ahead of us in the rate their children learn. Our schools can be restructured as places where teachers can engage in career-long learning and classrooms can become laboratories for developing new, teaching-centered ideas. If provided the time they need during the school day for collaborative lesson study and plan building, teachers will change the way our students learn.
James Stigler and James Hiebert have given us nothing less than a "best practices" for teachers -- one that offers proof that how teachers teach is far more important than increased spending, state-of-the-art facilities, mandatory homework, or special education -- and a plan for change that educators, teachers, and parents can implement together.
Customer Reviews:
This is how it should be done. .......2007-06-08
Why is American Schools being out performed by schools in other countries? It couldn't be the teaching methods taught in today's Teacher Prep colleges, could it? It is not a thick book. Read it and think. then read related materials.
Can it be done? It is being done, just not hear. This is a research book worth reading in an easy reading format.
Do The Easy Things First!.......2006-09-12
American middle-school and high-school pupils continually lag their peers in other developed countries - especially in mathematics - despite years of decreasing class size, building ornate new structures, "new" math, etc. However, these efforts are bound to fail if what goes on inside the classrooms is poorly structured.
The "bad news" is that we are often blind to the most familiar aspects of our everyday environment; the "good news" is that looking across cultures is one of the best ways to sharpen our view of ourselves. In "The Teaching Gap" the German and Japanese 8th-grade classes studied were comparable to the American classes - yet, substantive differences were noted.
Content in the U.S. was less advanced and presented in a more piecemeal and prescriptive way - there were twice the number of definitions presented in the U.S., and more concepts were simply given/stated vs. developed/derived. There was also more topic switching in the U.S., more interruptions (0% in Japan, 13% in Germany, and 31% in the U.S.), less coherence of U.S. lessons, less student involvement in doing the work (9% in the U.S., 19% in Germany, 40% in Japan).
Another difference is that Japanese teachers do not use overhead projectors - instead, they work their way around the room on chalkboards, leaving a record of the entire lesson for the pupils. Still another is that Japanese teachers focus on joint efforts at continuous improvement - a concept probably taken from Toyota's much vaunted "Toyota Production System."
"The Teaching Gap" concludes that most popular U.S. reform efforts have avoided a direct focus on teaching. The evidence presented within the book indicates that it is time we did.
It may not be correct, but..........2005-12-29
After reading the book and the previous posters, even if the Japanese mathematics classes were not representative of the education system as a whole, the implications of this study and the ideas that the authors came up with are what we should be focusing on.
The question "why?" is asked far too little in all mathematics classes. If only we would take some time to teach the methods and reasons of mathematics, rather than just the process, I am sure that all students will benefit and be able to truly understand the concepts that are currently being taught with a "learn it for the test" attitude.
The book brings up these vital points, so that teachers may question their styles, regardless of the authenticity of some of their claims.
Interesting for a Education Student.......2004-02-17
I am in a program to become a High School math teacher. Our professor recommended this book. I found it to be pretty interesting. The authors do a detailed analysis of a video study from the TIMSS study. Their analysis compares how math is taught in the US, Germany and Japan. Their conclusion is that the US approach focuses on teaching terms and procedures where as the other countries emphasize understanding concepts. They go onto to propose a system of "lesson planning" to improve teaching in the US. Lesson planning calls for teachers to work in teams and develop a single lesson plan (maybe one per semester). The process of developing the lesson plan and refining it imparts to the teachers involved a kind of "best practices" that they can then use in their everyday planning. I am not sure if this is practical, but it sure sounds reasonable to me.
Inaccurate.......2002-06-30
I read the part of this book regarding Japan. I've taught in a Japanese public junior high school and found lots of inaccuracies in the text. The conclusions they came to are outdated and in places in accurate.
For example, the authors state that there is no widespread reforms in Japanese education, that teachers constantly strive for improvement. This year the Ministry of Education has instituted widespread reform and there has been a lot in the Japanese media about the preparations for this. Japanese people are very dissatisfied with the schools and some wish they'd adopt a few Western style practices.
However, there is little or no accountability in Japanese instruction. Teachers can blythely ignore any required changes and a few have told me that they've been teaching their way for years and don't want to change. None of this is in the book.
While there are a lot of teachers' meetings in Japan, improving one's performance is optional. Often the teachers who do strive for excellence are ostrasized.The book didn't mention this.
Japanese schools are in crisis. There's rampant absenteeism and classroom violence and breakdown. It's not a system we should emulate. Buy another book.
Book Description
More provocative business thinking from the bestselling author of Purple Cow and All Marketers Are Liars
As one of today's most influential business thinkers, Seth Godin helps his army of fans stay focused, stay connected, and stay dissatisfied with the status quo, the ordinary, the boring. His books, blog posts, magazine articles, and speeches have inspired countless entrepreneurs, marketing people, innovators, and managers around the world.
Now, for the first time, Godin has collected the most provocative short pieces from his pioneering blog—ranked #70 by Feedster (out of millions published) in worldwide readership. This book also includes his most popular columns from Fast Company magazine, and several of the short e-books he has written in the last few years.
A sample:
• Bon Jovi And The Pirates
• Christmas Card Spam
• Clinging To Your Job Title?
• How Much Would You Pay to Be on Oprah's Show?
• The Persistence of Really Bad Ideas
• The Seduction of “Good Enough”
• What Happens When It's All on Tape?
• Would You Buy Life Insurance at a Rock Concert?
Small is the New Big is a huge bowl of inspiration that you can gobble in one sitting or dip into at any time. As Godin writes in his introduction: “I guarantee that you'll find some ideas that don't work for you. But I'm certain that you're smart enough to see the stuff you've always wanted to do, buried deep inside one of these riffs. And I'm betting that once inspired, you'll actually make something happen.”
Customer Reviews:
Another winner- big time!.......2007-09-10
I think that Seth's books are getting better. But this is not a book book, its a collection of articles, newsletters and blog posts. But it is real, quality, and very useful. Such useful ideas as, " The best marketers, of course, use the needle and the vise at them same time:. They don't assault, they don't demand, instead they earn attention. And they apply their marketing pressure so consistently and in such a measured and relentless way that sooner or later, they profit from it. " A great book if you want it in small lumps or more, It would be a good plane ride book, but bring a highlighter! I love this one
"I. Humans tend to work on a problem until they get a good enough solution, not a solution that's right.
2. The marketplace often rewards solutions that are cheaper and good enough, instead of investing in the solution that promises to lead to the right answer."
A Shot in the Arm.......2007-08-24
Whether you're an internet entrepreneur, a New Economy worker, or a creative-type, you'll find something of value in Godin's riffs. Written with a dose of humor, and short enough to be devoured in a trip to the bathroom, these think pieces are just what the doctor ordered to stir things up and give you a new perspective on the business of business.
I have reviewed business books for years and can smell BS a mile away. Godin is one of the few "experts" who really get it. Highly recommended. Buy a copy because you'll want to read it again and again.
For the marketing- minded and money- making only ... .......2007-08-20
Seth Godin is a supersalesman of the NetAge, a wonderblogwhiz successful to the manymillions. He puts in print for us here eight years of his previous postings packaging it anew for paperback bucks. He hypes and rehypes a number of key formulas for making the reader a riskier retailer of his own personal product. He gives us a variant of E.M.Schumacher's 'Small is Beautiful" and tells us 'Small is the New Big" He explores endless examples with small stories which show us how to better be the respectful, rightthinking managers of our own mental means.
He teaches us how to live and think faster and better, and make it all work for us.
However between his message and my execution of it falls the abyss. NO KLUTZES WANTED HERE this book seems to say, and all I can do is go round and round and round with my own worried words never able to sell them not one single little bit. (Dig-a-bit?)
In any case if you are of another mind, more practical, realistic, technically competent, marketing mindful- this work can provide plenty of fodder for the moo.
Get a Great Creativity Boost.......2007-08-07
Reading this book was like hooking up to a battery charger for business creativity. The book doesn't read like a typical "how to." There are just short bursts of genious that jump off the page and make you think about how and why you do what you do. I keep the book at my desk at the office and I often refer back to it when I'm trying to solve a marketing or operational challenge.
Seth is a red rubber ball.......2007-07-19
As I read this book, I thought "Seth Godin is like a red rubber ball." You know, you throw a ball against a concrete wall and it just bounces off. It looks pretty and makes a nifty noise. But the wall doesn't move.
And that's Seth Godin. A lot of action, but no real impact. This book is a big idea without a next step. A complaint without a solution. Seth is the guy who stands up to start a standing ovation, but does it so awkwardly that no-one joins him. This book is a celebration of everything Seth abhors about marketing and business and management, written with the luxurious smugness of someone who cannot suggest a practical alternative.
I can understand why Seth's rant seems to be "everyone is afraid of change". That's what my rant would be if I had a lot of ideas, but couldn't actually convince anyone to follow my suggestions. I'd think "it's them! They're all stuck in the status quo!"
To illustrate the point, Seth recalls a time a salesperson tried to pin an executive down to make a yes or no decision. The exec was non-committal, and then showed the pushy salesperson the door when she asked the exec to sign a document giving her permission to take the offer to a competitor. Seth uses this as evidence that some people are afraid to make a decision. I say, if a salesperson tried to force me to make a decision on the spot, they'd get shown the door too. But this just proves the point. An inability to influence is somehow the other guy's fault.
Actually, I think it's Seth who is stuck. His book "Small is the New Big" reads like it was written by a 14 year old boy - where everything is black and white (you change or you die) and he's discovering things other marketers have known for a long time (it's not about needs, it's about wants).
Yawn.
On the positive side, Seth has some creative ideas and a lively writing style. He's obviously an observer and a collector of little marketing nuggets. But after reading about 50 pages it all became very monotone and self-aggrandizing.
Judging from the reviews on Amazon, it looks like Seth has touched some people's lives for the better. So there must be something there. But for me, this is like listening to a first-year MBA student fumbling through a bad business plan. Bounce, bounce, boing, boing.
Book Description
Even world-class companies, with powerful and proven business models, eventually discover limits to growth. That’s what makes emerging high-growth industries so attractive. With no proven formula for making a profit, these industries represent huge opportunities for the companies that are fast enough and smart enough to capture them first.
But building tomorrow’s businesses while simultaneously sustaining excellence in today’s demands a delicate balance. It is a mandatory quest, but one that is fraught with contradiction and paradox. Until now, there has been little practical guidance.
Based on an in-depth, multiyear research study of innovative initiatives at ten large corporations, Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble identify three central challenges: forgetting yesterday’s successful processes and practices; borrowing selected resources from the core business; and learning how the new business can succeed. The authors make recommendations regarding staffing, leadership roles, reporting relationships, process design, planning, performance assessment, incentives, cultural norms, and much more.
Breakthrough growth opportunities can make or break companies and careers. Forget, Borrow, Learn is every leader’s guide to execution in unexplored territory.
Customer Reviews:
Working from the Inside.......2007-08-20
We always hear about the innovators who go out to their garage and come out millionaires. But those slogging it out to innovate in old companies don't get any kudos. In fact, it is a pretty thankless process.
This book provides some key wisdom and models that will help internal innovators to design systems to get the most out of a large corporation without killing the new idea.
Just what I needed to help my job.......2007-07-15
I work deeply involved in innovation and its unusual needs for creating successful business, sometimes very far from the regular processes and methodologies. However, it was sometimes difficult to justify to my bosses why I took some decisions that seemed to go in opposite direction of the expected result and it is exactly what this book brought to me. Recommended.
Inside look at managing an innovative offshoot.......2007-04-19
As opposed to offering a simple guide to innovation, Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble do something less common, and they do it well: They analyze the institutional structures which allow, nurture and support innovation. They explain how to open new innovation-focused divisions in your organization, how to think about learning and how to evaluate such new projects (and, perhaps more importantly, how not to evaluate them). They share case studies of established companies' successful and failed attempts to sprout innovative offshoots. The results are very level-headed. The authors are quite clear about the obstacles to institutional innovation, planning and learning in uncharted waters. We expect that this book could help you sail through.
A "must-understand" for leaders concerned with long-term prosperity.......2006-07-14
Many thanks to Vijay Govindarajan (VG) and Chris Trimble for this grand exposition of ideas first shared in the Spring 2005 California Management Review and the May 2005 Harvard Business Review. VG and Trimble's "Forget, Borrow, Learn" framework is the most powerful recipe for corporate reinvention that I have encountered.
As other Amazon reviewers have skillfully described the contents of this excellent book, I would like to add just two things.
First, as a graduate of the Tuck School of Business, I had the good fortune of encountering VG in the classroom. VG is a dynamic presence who commands attention. If you get a chance to experience VG in person, take it. To get a (very) small taste of what I am talking about, check out VG's video link at Tuck's website.
Second, to learn further from VG, I highly recommend VG's blog. Several of VG's posts are pure gold. For example, in VG's March 10, 2006 post, he puts forth his "three box thinking model," with box 1 being "Manage the present," box 2 being "Selectively abandon the past," and box 3 being "Create the future." The leaders of most companies spend most of their time in box 1, believing that they are working on strategy. As VG contends, though, strategy is really about boxes 2 and (especially) 3, that is, figuring out how to allocate scarce resources today to assure market leadership in 2010, 2020, and beyond. Yes, indeed.
In sum, I not only recommend this book wholeheartedly, but also urge those concerned with the long-term health of their firms to continue reckoning with the thoughts and writings of both VG and Chris Trimble.
Some Excellent New Ideas for Pursuing Organic Growth.......2006-06-27
This is an excellent book that provides some excellent new ideas for pursuing organic growth. These ideas are built around three challenges: forgetting, borrowing and learning. The ideas are developed as 10 rules which are supported by numerous examples. To read this book, I would focus on the introduction and chapter one and then go to the conclusions in chapter 10. Chapter one provides the context for the rules and chapter 10 summarizes them. From there, you can focus on the rules that are most interesting to you and your organization. The chapter that I found to be most interesting was chapter 9, Theory Focused Planning an approach to understanding the business, how it will work and to discover the business model that the organization needs to focus on to be successful. I found this to be the best chapter in the book, because the traditional concepts of annual budgeting really don't work well in the world of innovation. And, this appears to me to be fundamentally better approach.
Book Description
The Mom Inventors Handbook. gives practical step-by- step advice for putting inspiration into action. The book takes inventors from idea development to marketing and sales covering everything from market research to prototype development, manufacturing and licensing and debunks some common myths. It simplifies the invention process; even providing stories from real mom inventors sharing their 'aha' moments and lessons learned.
Customer Reviews:
Step by step guide to creating and taking a product to market.......2007-07-27
Tamara works her way though all the steps for bringing a product to market. As the title would suggest her target audience is female but as a male I also found that it was very informative. She presents examples from her own work as well as that of others helping to show how varied and simple products really can be.
Get This Book.......2007-07-23
If you are an inventor or have thoughts about inventing a new product, do yourself a favor and BUY THIS BOOK. I created a product and recently launched my Web site to sell my invention, OnTray, on. This book was my road map throughout the whole process.
Laura Hamrick
Tremendous aid for understanding how to turn your new product idea into a successful business.......2006-06-10
I launched a new product line several years ago - learning a lot along the way. I am getting ready to launch a new line of products and decided to read this book. It was a tremendous resource! So many of the answers that I had to dig for and learn the hard (and expensive) way - are contained here in one easy to read book. I highly endorse it. It is also very motivational (as you read the stories of other people) that decided to take action and turn their idea into a successful business. Well worth the price. Very well written.
Informative and inspiring.......2006-03-12
Mom inventors wanting more info on what's involved in bringing a product to market will want to read this book. The book offers practical advice on researching your market, creating your product prototype, protecting your idea, manufacturing your product, and bringing your product to market.
What I like best about the book is that it features case studies and practical advice from real-life mom inventors.
There are also lots of helpful website links and other helpful resources at the back of the book -- very helpful for mom inventors who wish to do some additional research.
This is a terrific and inspiring book that will be very helpful to mom inventors at any stage of bringing an invention to market -- conception right through delivery.
Amazing, Informational & A Must Have.......2005-11-18
This book does it all for anyone wanting to create/invent a product that they hope to bring to market. Tamara shares in a very easy-to-read format her experiences, her expertise and saves the rest of us lots of time, energy and money. Her mistakes made along the way combined with her successes that continue to grow provide the reader with a wealth of knowledge about researching, developing, patenting, protecting, marketing (and more!) an idea/invention.
Pair this with the CD sets created by her dynamic and resourceful company mominventors.com, and you will walk away with knowledge you could not even get in business school! I wish I had read this three years ago when I first started my product line development. Thanks Tamara for sharing so freely and so generously to save the rest of us time and money!!!
Beth Butler
Creator of the BOCA BETH Program
Book Description
Creativity, new ideas, innovation -- in any age they are keys to success, but in today's whirlwind economy they are essential for survival itself. Yet, as Robert Sutton explains, the standard rules of business behavior and management are precisely the opposite of what it takes to build an innovative company. We are told to hire people who will fit in; to train them extensively; and to work to instill a corporate culture in every employee. In fact, in order to foster creativity, we should hire misfits, goad them to fight, and pay them to defy convention and undermine the prevailing culture. Weird Ideas That Work codifies these and other proven counterintuitive ideas to help you turn your workplace from staid and safe to wild and woolly -- and creative.
Stanford professor Robert Sutton is an authority on innovation and a popular speaker. In Weird Ideas That Work he draws on extensive research in behavioral psychology to explain how innovation can be fostered in hiring, managing, and motivating people; building teams; making decisions; and interacting with outsiders. Business practices like "hire people who make you uncomfortable," "reward success and failure, but punish inaction," and "decide to do something that will probably fail, and then convince yourself and everyone else that success is certain" strike many managers as strange or even downright wrong. Yet Weird Ideas That Work shows how some of the best teams and companies use these and other counterintuitive practices to crank out new ideas, and it demonstrates that every company can reap sales and profits from such creativity.
Weird Ideas That Work is filled with examples of each of Sutton's 11 1/2 practices, drawn from hi- and low-tech industries, manufacturing and services, information and products. More than just a set of bizarre suggestions, it represents a breakthrough in management thinking: Sutton shows that the practices we need to sustain performance are in constant tension with those that foster new ideas. The trick is to choose the right balance between conventional and "weird" -- and now, thanks to Robert Sutton's work, we have the tools we need to do so.
Download Description
Creativity, new ideas, innovation -- in any age they are keys to success, but in today's whirlwind economy they are essential for survival itself. Yet, as Robert Sutton explains, the standard rules of business behavior and management are precisely the opposite of what it takes to build an innovative company. We are told to hire people who will fit in; to train them extensively; and to work to instill a corporate culture in every employee. In fact, in order to foster creativity, we should hire misfits, goad them to fight, and pay them to defy convention and undermine the prevailing culture. Weird Ideas That Work codifies these and other proven counterintuitive ideas to help you turn your workplace from staid and safe to wild and woolly -- and creative. Stanford professor Robert Sutton is an authority on innovation and a popular speaker. In Weird Ideas That Work he draws on extensive research in behavioral psychology to explain how innovation can be fostered in hiring, managing, and motivating people; building teams; making decisions; and interacting with outsiders. Business practices like "hire people who make you uncomfortable," "reward success and failure, but punish inaction," and "decide to do something that will probably fail, and then convince yourself and everyone else that success is certain" strike many managers as strange or even downright wrong. Yet Weird Ideas That Work shows how some of the best teams and companies use these and other counterintuitive practices to crank out new ideas, and it demonstrates that every company can reap sales and profits from such creativity. Weird Ideas That Work is filled with examples of each of Sutton's 11 1/2 practices, drawn from hi- and low-tech industries, manufacturing and services, information and products.
Customer Reviews:
Weird and Wonderful.......2007-07-20
"Weird Ideas That Work" works! This is one of the most compelling books I've read in a long time. Sutton manages not only to come up with ideas that seem weird at first glance, but to actually prove them useful and logical at the same time.
The author instructs readers on how to build a creative company by using his 11½ weird ideas, which range from hiring people who make you uncomfortable to deciding to do something that will probably fail. The list looks hilarious until you read the sense that he makes. Of course, Sutton points out that there are different kinds of companies - some aim for innovation and some for efficiency. (He makes it clear that the weird ideas are not for those who require precision -- like airline pilots, for example!)
This book explains how to shatter old habits by giving advice on enhancing variation, seeing old things in new ways ("vu-ja-de"), and breaking away from stifling routines. Sutton also points out that one should not go hog wild - there is a balance between productivity and creativity which everyone must find for themselves.
"Weird Ideas" offers great wisdom mixed with humor and pure entertainment. If you're a rebel, a brat, or just plain anyone who wants to try completely new management techniques, then you'll love this book. So whip the tablecloth right out from under that crippled, jaded system you've got going and try at least a few of these wild weird ideas.
Agitate, Isolate & Be Ridiculous... Oh, and AGITATE.......2006-12-01
I was a big fan of Sutton's Knowing-Doing gap that offered a real solution to a real problem. This book had an unreal feel to it for me though.
He offers 12 practices for fostering innovation. The first four of these have to do with Human Resources. Hire slow learners. Hire people that make you feel uncomfortable. Hire people you probably don't need. Now forgive me if I am wrong, but as imperfect as Human Resources is anyway, don't we already do some of that? Also recommended is to interview job applicants to get new ideas. What about the people?
The next two have to do with office manners. Encourage people to ignore and defy superiors. Isn't ignore a little strong? Find some happy people and get them to fight. No comment.
The next is to reward success and failure, but punish inaction. OK, we already fire non-producers, but is it really so that success and failure deserve the same billing?
The next two are on the edge of silliness. Decide to do something that will probably fail and be 100% certain of its success. Think of some ridiculous or impractical things to do.
The next is avoid, distract and bore customers and critics.
Then, don't try to learn anything from people who say they have solved the problems you face.
Finally, forget the past success of the company.
This book says some pretty wild things that will get you thinking. Although these counterintuitive ideas are offered as 'proven', you won't find the proof in this book. By the normal lottery of hiring, you will certainly get a mix of the above. There are many better books on the philosophy and practical application of innovation available.
Sorry to disappoint some with this review, but don't let this stop you from reading Sutton's Knowing-Doing Gap which I found excellent and have also reviewed it here on Amazon.
3 Stars
Routine right and wrong.......2006-10-24
All activities need both effective routine and regular innovation. Consider the difference. There are times when it makes sense to do the same thing right, over and over again, without slipping. But there are also times, and types of activities, where doing something in a very new and different way is essential. The real-life examples in this book support these 11½ methods for finding new ways of doing things, and producing new kinds of products and services. Worthwhile reading for anyone who wants to inject a little spice into the routine of software development and delivery.
Productive New Concepts.......2005-11-23
This is a wonderful but dangerous book. The 11 and 1/2 weird ideas it contains are terrific, exciting and slippery. Use them right and you could transform your company into a hotbed of innovation. Use them wrong and you could also transform your company into a disorganized mess. Author Robert I. Sutton clearly explains that some situations do not require innovation - that they are, in fact, terrible settings for new things. Companies focus on the routine for an extremely logical reason: it makes money now. Identifying situations that can make money with routine work versus circumstances that require change is a tough distinction, particularly since innovation requires many failures, disrupts your culture and forces you to take a rough look into the future. We thus recommend this book to a select group: those who know their fields and organizations extremely well. If you can see clearly through both the current jargon that promotes innovation and your organization's often unspoken prejudices, you will find this book exciting and extremely productive.
Not so weird ideas for innovation labeled weirdly.......2005-11-16
This book is a useful and fun read. It offers some solid ideas for innovation but the ideas are labeled in order to draw attention. For instance, the first idea is, "Hire "slow learners"", however the intention behind this is just hire stubborn people who are unaffected by others opinions and norms. These people will go against the standards and breed creativity. Another idea is "Find some happy people and make them fight" with the basic idea behind this technique being get optimistic people, who are naturally more creative. Put them in a room together and let them bounce ideas together until a new and improved idea is created.
Another thing to be prepared for with this book is that the ideas all go against commonly accepted business practices. That is because the ideas are admittedly not for present success but calculated and proven risks for future innovation. So anyone interested in changing their business and preparing to get an edge on competitors in the future will benefit from this book.
Book Description
Because they're doing the day-to-day work, front-line employees see many problems and opportunities their managers don't. But most organizations fail to realize this potentially extraordinary source of revenue-enhancing ideas. The authors of "Ideas Are Free use real-world examples from their work with hundreds of organizations to show how to exploit the virtually free, perpetually renewable resource of employee ideas. The book explains how sustainable competitive advantages in areas ranging from productivity and responsiveness to cost reduction and quality assurance are only possible with the attention to detail that comes from getting and implementing large numbers of ideas from employees. Subjects include how to make ideas part of everyone's job, how to set up and run an effective process for handling ideas, how to help people come up with more and better ideas, and how a strong flow of ideas can have a profound impact on an organization's culture.
Customer Reviews:
Great book on idea programs.......2007-08-28
Interested in learning more about idea programs, I've read this book. It's short and to the point. It addresses the importance of small ideas for the improvement of the company and the engagement of its employees. Also very important is the chapter related to rewards and the counter-intuitive effects
Employees with ideas = wealth.......2006-04-13
Alan G. Robinson and Dean M. Schroeder's IDEAS ARE FREE is for employers who would tap into the riches of employee ideas and insights. Employees are quite opt to recognize both problems and opportunitiestheir managers pass by - but most organizations don't encourage sharing such insights, much less reward them. IDEAS ARE FREE: HOW THE IDEA REVOLUTION IS LIBERATING PEOPLE AND TRANSFORMING ORGANIZATIONS shows how to tap this hidden wealth.
Highly recommended reading for all business consultants, corporate executives and departmental managers.......2006-04-04
Ideas Are Free: How The Idea Of Revolution Is Liberating People And Transforming Organizations by Alan G. Robinson (Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts) and Dean M. Schroeder (Associate Dean and Director of Graduate Programs in Management at the College of Business Administrations at Valparaiso University) is an innovative guide to saving money, effort, time and also provides an informative introduction to entirely new ways of doing business with front-line employees, making the most out of opportunities and maximizing the benefits of sound, effective management. Robinson and Schroeder aptly examine the intricacies of the business life and include an analysis of a more prosperous, ease-filled advancement for opportunities granted to all, and situational manipulation for a more competently finalized project. Ideas Are Free is very highly recommended reading for all business consultants, corporate executives and departmental managers.
Interesting ideas .......2006-03-12
The authors show how important it is to gather ideas and encourage people to think creatively. I wish they would have described more how they could gather these ideas more effectively.
Ideas are Free.......2005-08-22
If you are starting a suggestion process or revamping an established one, this is the book to read and apply. Robinson and Schroeder have boiled down a thousand pages of material and years of research on the subject into 218 readable pages.
Amazon.com
Change. It's fast, furious, relentless--and we're all in the midst of it. Indeed, it's the topic of choice for most business books on the market today. The problem, however, is that so many of these books merely warn managers how to plan for and anticipate change, rather than giving useful guidance on how to react to it successfully.
That's where the authors of The Minding Organization have made a difference. Rubinstein and Firstenberg believe that the real issue for businesses dealing with change lies in developing a truly adaptable organization. Being able to adapt, they argue, is the key not only to coping with a continuously changing environment but to addressing the problems that arise within that environment with innovative, successful solutions. An adaptable organization is a living, breathing organism, a "minding organization" that coordinates its goals and efforts as a single being. Each part of the organization knows what the other parts are doing, and is committed to creating a cohesive unit that maintains a unified focus for the future, shares information, articulates and learns from the individual errors of its members, continually seeks to strengthen its powers of perception, and is able to express itself creatively in a variety of ways. By developing this unity, an organization can bring the future closer to the present; it will be able to respond to events in real time, thereby transforming change from a threat to continued existence to a catalyst for improved performance. This type of organization won't shy away from the chaos of change but will embrace its opportunities, ready and well equipped to respond quickly and effectively.
The Minding Organization is a meaty book, packed with inspiring examples, solid analyses, and practical suggestions. Rubinstein, a professor at the UCLA School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Firstenberg, an adjunct professor in UCLA's Psychology Department, make a good team (they also wrote Patterns of Problem Solving). They apply theoretical knowledge and practical experience to the realities of the business world in a timely and useful manner. Forget being the CEO; this book will teach you how to be an OEC, an operator on the edge of chaos, capable of inspiring and leading a flexible, evolving, and thriving organization. --S. Ketchum
Book Description
A few years ago, Cementos Mexicanos (Cemex), the world's third-largest cement company, was struggling. More than two-thirds of their deliveries were late, customer complaints were numerous, and new orders were dwindling sharply. Then Cemex executives realized they needed to get a glimpse of the future. They saw themselves responding to customer needs as each need emerged. They visualized successful deliveries with orders placed only an hour in advance. Their entire organization became involved in the process of adapting to unplanned occurrences. By embracing the uncertainty and chaos of their business and a company-wide commitment to excellence, Cemex was completely transformed in a matter of months.
This is a remarkable example of minding: identifying a purpose, developing a team, and acting to accomplish that purpose. Achieving this kind of high-level connection is what The Minding Organization is all about. This book will show you how to transform your organization into one that behaves like a living organism-alive with ideas and instantly able to adapt for survival in an increasingly complex, unpredictable global business world.
A minding organization coordinates its efforts as a single being; the right hand literally knows what the left hand is doing. The minding process will help you save precious work time, avoid costly mistakes, build incentives for speed, and find creative solutions when unpredictable problems arise.
Creating a minding organization will teach you how to:
* Operate on the edge of chaos, embracing uncertainty as a strategy
* Bring insights up front that would normally be learned much later
* Distribute decision-making in such a way that everyone has the responsibility to be right and the authority to be wrong
* Create an environment in which the human spirit can soar
The Minding Organization will show you how less planning and more adapting makes for a competitive advantage, as you learn to cope with new, ever-changing conditions and innovate faster than your competitors.
Praise for The Minding Organization
Professor Rubinstein is one of the foremost experts on creativity within organizations. The Minding Organization is a well-written guide . . . [that] is must reading for anyone responsible for minding the organization.-Norman R. Augustine, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Lockheed Martin
The authors make intuitive good sense and give strategic thinkers the tools they need to turn perceived liabilities-chaos, disorder, unpredictable change-into assets. I've made it must reading for everyone in my organization. The only people I haven't recommended it to are my competitors.-Timothy W. Hannemann, Executive Vice President and General Manager, TRW
This book gives an accessible view of the organization as a living, connected organism. Drs. Rubinstein and Firstenberg have shared an insightful and elegant concept of what successful twenty-first-century organizations MUST be like if they want to survive and grow. We are putting the ideas in this book to use now!-Michael E. Allgeier, Division Vice President, Sensors and Electronics Segment, Raytheon
Rubinstein is as ebullient in print as he is in person. The Minding Organization transcends time and theory, enabling the practice of innovation as an everyday occurrence.-Stephan Argent, Creative Director, iCandy Inc.
In this book you'll find out how to open up a world of opportunity by 'bringing the future to the present'-visualizing the ideal end state and working backwards. You'll see how many obstacles can be eliminated, making the unachievable achievable.-Tom Williams, Vice President, Long Range Strike Business Area, Northrop Grumman Corporation
Customer Reviews:
The Care and Feeding of Intellect.......2000-05-03
According to the authors, "To keep up with the complexity and uncertainty of an unconventional and largely unpredictable global business world, organizations must embrace a new metaphor that will transform an organization into a minding organization. The minding organization behaves like a living organism, in which adapting is central to vitality and control." Agreeing with Drucker that organizations must manage the implications and consequences of a future that has already occurred, the authors suggest a number of strategies which will "bring the future to the present and turn creative ideas into business solutions." Their book is organized as follows:
Chapter One: The Minding Organization
Chapter Two: Transforming the Organization into an Organism
Chapter Three: Adapting and Planning
Chapter Four: Structure, Creativity, and Error: The Foundations of the Minding Organization
Chapter Five: Chaos to Order to Chaos: Embracing Uncertainty
Chapter Six: Expanding the Imagination: Frames as Filters
Chapter Seven: Kniht [Think] Backward: Visit the Future in the Present
Chapter Eight: The New Leadership: Operating on the Edge of Chaos
Chapter Nine: The Minding Organization in Action
The authors provide a rigorous analysis of each component of a process by which to "bring the future to the present and turn creative ideas into business solutions." At the conclusion of Chapter Six, they suggest that the minding organization "creates chaos deliberately up front by starting with divergent concurrent perceptions and encourages errors to surface early when the costs of detection and correction are minimal." Immediately in the next chapter, they explain that the "frames" we create "filter the world for us, allowing us to manage the tremendous amount of information available." They then examine various "filters" which could prevent us from formulating the aforementioned "divergent concurrent perceptions." The sequence of the authors' ideas thus flows logically from one chapter to the next.
In the final chapter, the authors identify thirteen "precepts" of the minding organization. By now they have explained the interrelationships between (indeed the interdependence of) these precepts; they have also provided a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective plan by which to apply those precepts to the needs of any organization, regardless of its size or nature.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to read two books written by Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline and The Dance of Change. Rubinstein, Firstenberg, and Senge no doubt agree with Derek Bok's observation, when criticized by parents of Harvard students after a tuition increase: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." In the minding organization, education is alive and well...and given its relative cost, a bargain.
First "Learning" Organisation, Now "Minding" Organisation.......1999-11-30
This book taps into the trend of seeing organisations in organic terms and focusing on action-based creativity. It is about creating a "minding organization," one that behaves like a human being-instantly able to adapt to new and ever-changing conditions; where the right hand literally knows what the left hand is doing.
In a minding organization, all of the parties involved in a project-whether it's developing a new product, streamlining a process, or changing a strategy-get together from the start to explore the issues. They bring insights up front that would normally be learned only later on, a kind of high-level connection that is the hallmark of the minding organization and the surest way to gain competitive advantage. The goal of a minding organization is to adapt so readily that it innovates before its competitors do.
This book shows managers how to transform their organisation into one that behaves like a living organism-alive with ideas and instantly able to adapt for survival in an increasingly complex, unpredictable global business world.
Moshe F. Rubinstein is a professor at the UCLA School of Engineering and a frequent speaker at universities and organizations all over the world. Iris R. Firstenberg is an adjunct professor in the UCLA Department of Psychology and has also taught at the UCLA School of Engineering and the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA.
Reviewed by Azlan Adnan, Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group.
Book Description
Innovation is an evergreen topic because it is such an essential ingredient for successful growth—and this book provides a new and fascinating perspective on how new innovations can best be found and developed
Managers from all kinds of companies will find this book of interest. This book is so well written and is filled with such engaging examples that we expect it to break out beyond a business audience to general readers.
It is similar to The Tipping Point in terms of tone, readability, and rich, interesting stories, which show how innovative ideas were born in intersections that combined arenas as diverse as card games and sky rises, Palm Pilots and carrots, airplanes and cookies, ants and truck drivers.
Offers practical strategies anyone can use to develop novel new ideas big and small, in all areas of life and work.
Note: The book’s title refers to an explosion of creativity that occurred in Florence during the Renaissance, when the Medici banking family funded creators from many different disciplines to come together to debate, discuss, and discover new ideas. The book is about how any of us can create our own “Medici effects” using the concept of “the intersection”
Customer Reviews:
Better than it would appear.......2007-10-01
This book is about developing ideas. It starts out very slowly and it seems like just another rehash of the tales told a hundred times before. It goes through the normal diversity is better arguement, which is a plus and a minus (he never gives us the minus). But as the book develops he provides a family of keen insights. He reviews much of the literature in an interesting way. Even old news is presented nicely. For example, at this point most people know that brainstorming does not really get you anywhere. Indeed, individuals will come up with more ideas than a team all working together, one after the other. He goes through this and then suggests alternatives. By the time I was done with the book I was impressed and I would recommend it to others.
Nice Book.......2007-08-01
You actually feel inspired when reading it. Just get done and you'l feel real effect.
Good for getting in an innovative and integrative mindset.......2007-06-04
This book was really easy to get through and I came away thinking more about how to keep my mind open to ideas from lots of different disciplines. It provides good examples of cross-discipline collaboration and why you should care. The book provides a few little tricks to get you thinking in a different way, but I found the subject matter itself to be more inspiring than directly applicable.
Interesting, thought provoking and you really can learn "creativity" from it .......2007-03-13
Copied from pg 2, "The idea behind this book is simple: When you step into an intersection of fields, disciplines, or cultures, you can combine existing concepts into a large number of extraordinary new ideas." Somehow you may vaguely have a similar concept as the author's in mind. What he did much more than the rest is that he had studied and consolidated on it, given it a an exotic name "The Medici Effect", and furnished it with plenty of vivid, interesting and memorable examples for others, presumably less bright people like me, to read and follow. In short, quite outstanding in the sea of books on creativity and innovation. Really helpful! Highly recommended!
Ultimately society decides whether an idea is both new and valuable...It is impossible to determine if a person's products are innovative if they have never been seen, used, or evaulated. pg 15
In essence, these people (Marcus Samuelsson, Charles Darwin) succeeded at breaking down their associative barriers because they did one or more of the following things: exposed themselves to a range of cultures; learned differently; reversed their assumptions;, took on multiple perspectives. pg 45
The most successful innovators produce and realize an incredible number of ideas....Pablo Picasso produced 20,000 pieces of art; Einstein wrote more than 240 papers; Bach wrote a cantata every week; Thomas Edison filed a record 1,039 patents. This holds true today. Prince is said to have over 1,000 songs stored in his secret vault, and Richard Branson has started 250 companies. pg 91
Research has shown, in fact, that the vast majority of successful new business ventures abandoned their original business strategies when they began implementing their initial plans and learned what would and would not work in the market. The dominant difference between successful and failed ones, generally, is not their original strategy. Guessing the right strategy at the outset is not nearly as important to success as conserving enough resources (or having relationships with trusted backers or investors) so that new business initiatives get a second or third stab at getting it right. Those that run out of resources or credibility before they can iterate towards a new strategy are the ones that will fail. - Clayton Christensen pg 130
Risk homoeostatis: people will compensate for taking higher risks in one area of life by taking lower risks in another. - Gerald Wilde pg 167
The most effective way to combat fear is to acknowledge it...For starters, you have to come to terms with what is at stake and admit that you might lose it. Often this means that you must be comfortable enough to know that if everything is lost, you can still move on. pg 180
interesting book but need to be better.......2007-03-04
1. the author have something to say, and he say it in a easy way that friendly to understand. it's good. But the author seems too hush to run into the conclusion, it seems if he spend more time in detail study, this book will be much better;
2. For the same topic, I suggest "A Technique for Producing Ideas" which is short but powerful; and it from a master's hand, if you compare that book with "Medici Effect", you will find how good it is, ;-);
Book Description
Designed for the one-term introduction to business statistics course with a college algebra prerequisite, this text places emphasis on data and the common techniques and methods used to analyze them in business. It introduces concepts using practical examples and illustrates them with computer output from MINITAB, Systat, Execustat, Microsoft® Excel and other software packages. Review problems requiring students to use previously learned concepts also appear throughout to promote understanding of the relationships among statistical methods.
Customer Reviews:
Great books.......2007-04-11
Nothing really special, you have to buy it if your course require it.
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