Book Description
Managing employees in today’s rapidly evolving workplace can sometimes feel like negotiating a minefield. Such recent new trends as flextime, telecommting, 360-degree feedback, the flattening of hierarchies, and the increased use of temps and contract workers present tough new challenges for supervisors in every field. This timely, completely revised and updated edition of Ferdinand Fournies’s classic management coaching "bible" shows you proven ways to get workers to perform at the highest level while eliminating the self-destructive kinds of behaviors that have become increasingly prevalent in recent years.
In this book, you’ll be taught specific face-to-face interventions you can use to enhance performance in every kind of workplace situation--from sales to creative brainstorming. There are also interventions uniquely suited to resolving problems ranging from low productivity to absenteeism to conflicts between individuals. You’ll learn precisely what to say and do so that each person you supervise will want to give you his or her best work--even when that person was previously thought to be a "problem employee." Packed with brand-new case studies from Fournies’s latest research into the dynamics of the modern workplace, this classic guide takes all the guesswork out of becoming the kind of inspired, "hands-on" manager that every company today is looking for!
Customer Reviews:
A valuable reference on an important skill.......2007-09-02
This is an excellent book on coaching. You will read other views here to the contrary, but that is largely due to the many interpretations of the word "coaching." My primary focus is coaching managers and salespeople in a highly demanding, very technical field. There are many useful and effective tools presented in Fournies' work. Not everything will be applicable in every situation, but this book will give you many ideas for respectful, empathic coaching. If you are a "life coach" or a "mentor" you may prefer other techniques, but you'll still find some good advice here. Looking for achievement and opportunities to provide reinforcement can hardly be considered bad advice. Many managers simply don't know how to make the transition from technical expert or great performer to someone responsible for the performance of others. Fournies gives some valuable tips on doing so.
My recommendation is to read several books on coaching, beginning with John Whitmore's 3rd edition of Coaching for Performance. If you coach salespeople, also read Managing Major Sales by Rackham and Ruff. And if you are coaching others, read Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman; coaching others requires, first and foremost, self-awareness, self-regulation, and empathy. Goleman's book will raise awareness of the importance of these qualities in business and in life.
Great Handbook for New Managers.......2007-04-03
I have been a sales manager for 10 years. In that time I have read close to 100 books on management and leadership. this is one of my favorites. It is an easy read, it makes solid points and it provides clear direction on what a manager needs to do to help get the most out of their people. I highly recommend this book.
Best business book EVER.......2006-11-10
This is a must have for anyone in a supervisory or managerial role. Simple concepts, easy read...with actual dialogues to help you practice the coaching techniques discussed. And best of all, IT WORKS.
One of the most useful management books yet.......2006-11-06
I wish I had found this book when I started managing people 20 years ago, it would have saved me a lot of painful trial and error. It is a remarkably practical guide that addresses the main problem that many managers face: how to confront performance issues in a way that will yeild a positive outcome, while not crushing or otherwise demotivating the employee. It includes examples of realistic conversations (including the extended silences that often happen, and the brush-off responses, the stalemates). It is also a book that can be constructively shared with your entire team - including those with performance issues - as it helps defuse all emotion and keeps the conversations on the actual and observable behaviors that are getting in the way of the business.
Most Disappointing.......2006-08-24
Having worked in the mental health community for sometime, I was already familiar with this technique and have been using it already. I felt the book was really droll and somewhat condescending in tone. I wouldn't purchase it again. His companion book "Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed to Do and What to Do about It" is a more practical read and enjoyable too--I would recommend that one.
Book Description
The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, here are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious businesspeople in organizations around the globe.
Harvard Business Review on Decision Making will help people at all levels understand the fundamental theories and practices of effective decision making so that they can make better decisions in their personal and professional lives.
Customer Reviews:
First, decide which decisions are most important rather than merely urgent........2007-05-14
Much of the contextual material in this volume is out-of-date, given the fact that the eight articles originally appeared in the Harvard Business Review years ago (1965-2001). However, I think the core concepts remain sound and provide a valuable frame-of-reference for understanding the advances in decision making that have occurred during the last five years. For example, Peter Drucker suggests a sequence of six steps: classify the problem, define it, identify possible answers, determine which is "right" rather than acceptable, build into the decision the action(s) necessary to implement it, and then test the decision's validity and effectiveness. Yes, these are obvious steps. However, but the number of well-publicized bad decisions that have been made in recent years (e.g. Adelphia Communications, Arthur Andersen, Enron, Kmart, and Tyco) suggests the implications and consequences when decision-makers ignore one or more of these steps.
No brief commentary such as this can do full justice to the rigor and substance of the eight articles. It remains for each reader to examine the list to identify which subjects are of greatest interest to her or him. My own opinion is that all of the articles are first-rate. One of this volume's greatest benefits is derived from the fact that a variety of perspectives are provided by a number of different authorities on the same general subject. In this instance, "advances [to date] in strategy"
Readers will especially appreciate the provision of an executive summary that precedes each article. They facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of key points which - presumably - careful readers either underline or highlight. Also of interest is the "About the Contributors" section that includes suggestions of other sources to consult. Here are questions that suggest key issues to which the authors of these articles respond:
How to make and then measure an "effective" decision? (Peter Drucker)
Comment: Effective executives do not make a great many decisions. They concentrate on what is most important.
What is a rational method for making trade-offs? (John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, and Howard Raiffa)
Comment: Making wise trade-offs is one of the most important and difficult challenges in decision making. Needless to say, the more alternatives you are considering and the more objectives you're pursuing, the more trade-offs you'll need to make.
Why is humility essential to effective decision-making? (Amitai Etzioni)
Comment: Only fools make rigid decisions and decisions with no sense of overarching purpose, whereas the most able executives practice more humble decision making that offers the benefits of flexibility, caution, and the capacity to proceed with partial knowledge.
What are the most common interpersonal barriers to decision making and how to overcome them? (Chris Argyris)
Comment: One of the most common observations in company studies is that executives lack awareness of their own behavioral patterns as well as the negative impact of their behavior on others.
How to analyze the nature and extent of the given problem? (Perrin Stryker)
Comment: Even veteran managers are likely to be very unsystematic when dealing with problems and decisions, and their hit-or-miss methods often produce bad decisions based on erroneous conclusions.
What are the hidden traps in decision making? (John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, and Howard Raiffa)
Comment: Bad decisions can often be traced back to the way the decisions were made - the alternatives that were not clearly defined, the right information was not collected, and the costs and benefits were not accurately weighed.
When to "trust your gut"? (Alden M. Hayshi)
Comment: Our emotions and feelings might not only be important in our intuitive ability to make good decisions but may actually be essential because they can help us to filter various options quickly.
Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out the recently published Harvard Business Review on Making Smarter Decisions as well as other titles in the Harvard Business Review Paperback Series such as those on Becoming a High-Performance Manager, Change, Corporate Strategy, Decision Making, Effective Communication, the Innovative Enterprise, Leadership, Leadership at the Top, and Measuring Corporate Performance.
Best Decision I've ever made.......2005-07-23
Don't let the title mislead you, this book won't make decisions for you. I will however, give you the ability to make use of your most powerful business tool: a convincing guess. Many times I would stumble blindly through the veil of uncertainty, only to arrive on the otherside; lost, confused, naked, and too sore to sit down. But, now, after digesting these powerful articles, I can make my way through uncertain times; clothed in conviction and sitting on a soft pillow of apathy.
Effective Decisions.......2004-10-08
Being an effective manager requires being a good-decision maker too, having ability of using factual and quantitative information to analyze what is the most efficient decision to reach a well-defined objective. Making good decision by applied management science approach is the benefits that managers expect to learn combining with past experience to decide on what should be done. However, in the real-reality (as opposed to virtual reality, as a model), many decisions can be made under the highest-level conceptual understanding. In addition, a better understanding of decision making can be broken down into six sequential steps according to Drucker (pp. 2-19)
1. Classifying the problem in order to tell if it should be solved based on either principles or pragmatic concept. The problem can be categorized in three groups. The first group is the generic problems; for example, in a manufacturing organization, it may happen the situation like total amount of products decreasing. At this stage, the product control or engineering group will look at what is going on in a production line. To illustrate, the coupling in the pipe carrying steam or hot liquids, rather than the problem of production processing. This kind of problems frequently happens. The second group is a unique problem for the individual institution. The third group is a truly unique problem which happens out of exception. The truly unique events are rare and have to be treated individually. Unlike truly unique events, the other two groups require a generic solution. They require a rule, a policy, or a principle. Once the right principle has been developed, all manifestations of the same generic situation can be handled pragmatically by adjusting the rules to each specific case.
2. Defining the problem. After classifying the problem is generic or unique, it is quite easy to define what the problem is about that we are dealing with. However, it is the most important part of the whole decision process because sometimes the definition of the problem seems plausible but incomplete. In order to avoid this kind of carelessness, Peter F. Drucker suggested all of the decision makers check this process, defining the problem, again and again against all the observable facts and discard a definition the moment it fails to encompass any of them.
3. Specifying the answer to the problem to see if the decision is on the boundary conditions or not. A decision that does not satisfy the boundary condition is worse than the wrong definition of the problem. Therefore, before picking up the optimal solution, a decision maker has to deeply think about a question, "what are the objectives the decision has to reach?" Clearly thinking about the boundary conditions will help decision makers identify all of the possible decisions which can satisfy the needs.
4. Deciding what is right, rather than what is acceptable, in order to meet the boundary conditions. It means before paying attention on making decision acceptable by the compromise, adaptations, and concessions, we have to let the solution fully satisfy the specifications. However, if a decision maker does not know what will meet the boundary conditions, the manager cannot distinguish the difference between the right and wrong compromise. As the right and wrong compromise, Peter F. Drucker had an interesting description. The right compromise is like an old saying, "Half a loaf is better than no bread." In the contrast, the wrong compromise is like, "half a baby is worse than no baby at all." From this interesting description, it is easy to realize that deciding the right decision is more important than choosing the acceptable one.
5. Building into the decision the action to carry it out. Converting the decision into action is the most time-consuming steps in the decision-making process. It is true that we will not know the decision is the most efficient or not if we put the decision into practice. There are several questions that have to be answered before committing the decision, "Who has to know this decision?", "What action has to be taken?", "Who is to take it?", "What does the action have to be so that the people who have to do it can do it?" From those questions, it is obviously that an appropriate person who carries out the decision must have enough capabilities of adjusting his/her behavior, habits or attitudes once a decision becomes effective.
6. Testing the validity and effectiveness of the decision against the actual course of events. The feedback of decision action is the important information for a decision maker in order to realize the result of the decision model also for the future model building. However, information should be built on the direct exposure to reality, rather on decision makers themselves. Above all, six steps of decision process are the stepping stones for decision making. Although a good decision may be made under the decision-making process, sometimes the decision will still fail because of the mind of decision makers. The way the human brain works can destroy the choice we make. In the article, "The Hidden Traps in Decision Making, (pp. 143-67)" John Hammond, Ralph Keeney, and Howard Raiffa list nine psychological traps that may affect a way that a decision maker makes business decision.
1. The anchoring trap makes people give inappropriate weigh to the first information we receive. In business, for example, although it seems the decision that a manager predict how much product need to be produced by taking the former sales reports as a reference is reasonable, the old sales numbers become anchors because it may let a manager put too much attention on past event but not give enough weigh to other factors. Under this situation, it can lead to a poor forecast.
2. The status-quo trap means people may have biases on the situation we feel comfortable with so that we will not choose other alternatives even they are better. In order to make decisions rationally and objectively, a decision maker always have to keep in mind that the decision will be acted under the status quo and never consider status quo as the only alternative.
3. The sunk-cost trap is another serious biases. People always believe that successfully past decision even though it does not work anymore at the present. In order to put the suck cost away, a decision maker can listen other people's viewpoints and those people must to be those who did not experience the earlier decisions.
4. The confirming-evidence trap makes people find out the information to support an existing predilection, rather than to conflict it. On the other hand, people will try to discount the opposing information. In order to avoid the confirming-evidence trap, a decision maker can set up a clincher, let other people argue it, and listen people's advice.
5. The framing trap happens at the beginning of the decision process. When it occurs, the decision goes wrong because a decision maker has already misstated the problem.
6. The Estimating and Forecasting Traps have three minor traps,
a. The overconfidence trap makes people overestimate the accuracy of the forecasts.
b. The prudence trap causes people to be overcautious when people make decision under uncertain or risky situation.
c. The recall ability trap leads people to give incorrect weigh to recent, dramatic events.
The book rightly emphasizes the facts that a good decision not only relies on clearly defining the alternatives, collecting the correct information, and so on during the decision-making process, but also relate to the benefits and costs which are weighed accurately. Furthermore, the background, the experience of a decision maker will be one of the factors which affect the decision making. Except the factors of individuals, the economic circumstances will influence the decision and its action too.
Theory and Practice - advice from the leading minds........2003-08-12
There are several books from the Harvard Business Review that follow this simple format - essays on critical topics by the leading minds in the field compiled into a short book of around 200 pages. One of these critical topics is Decision Making. That topic is the focus of this book.
There are hundreds of books on management, strategy, leadership, etc. but not many are purely dedicated to treating the subject of Decision Making from a theoretical and abstract perspective. This book contains 8 short essays presenting different theories by people by Peter Drucker.
The first chapter starts off with an impressive treatment of The Effective Decision. It is impressive because of the wisdom packed into these few pages and the aptness of the title. The author (Peter Drucker) dispels the myths about the most effective decision makers being the ones that can think fast and manipulate a large number of variables in their heads. Instead he explains that the best decision makers are the ones who focus on impact instead of technique. He then systematically explains a simple process to follow to achieve the same results as the highly successful executives.
The book then moves on to topics dealing with how to make trade-offs, humble decision making (which is nothing but accepting that your first impressions may be wrong and be open to changing the direction of your thoughts as more information becomes available), interpersonal barriers, hidden traps, when to trust your gut, and analyzing problems. The essay on interpersonal barriers was very familiar to me as I had experienced the situations described several times in my own career.
The book is simple - it has no pictures, just some tables once in a while and some blank paper at the end of the book to takes notes. The size is small like a novel but very potent! When I first saw this book at a bookstore, I didn't think much of it. But I picked it up because of the Harvard Business Review name on the front cover. I couldn't put it down once I started reading the first chapter and immediately purchased a few books in this series.
These books and especially this one can be described in only one word - potent. They are like text books or Ph.D papers except they are very practical. These are some of my favorite management/business books but they are difficult to digest. Since they are abstract in nature, one has to read them very slowly and read them with total concentration. The authors don't spend time painting a picture in detail and trying to get you excited. They get straight to the point and finish it in less than 20 pages. If you read these books like you would read other books, you are likely to miss the point.
This book in particular is very unique as there aren't that many books dedicated to just Decision Making. Enjoy learning from the masters! Good luck!
Book Description
The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, here are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious businesspeople in organizations around the globe.
Harvard Business Review on Finding & Keeping the Best People is a collection of cutting-edge articles that will help organizations understand how best to hire and retain their top employees in today's fiercely competitive job market. The articles provide the reader with perspectives not only on how to hire and retain people, but also why employees leave and how to utilize their skills even after they're gone.
Book Description
This one-stop board leadership resource, written by one of the world's leading governance consultants and author of the bestselling Boards That Make a Difference, offers you a broad range of material including the best articles from the Board Leadership newsletter, articles from various publications, and previously unpublished short works. Each chapter has been carefully selected and arranged to provide you with a distillation of John Carver's revolutionary Policy Governance model.
Customer Reviews:
The Policy Governance (R) model in board leadership.......2002-11-10
John Carver On Board Leadership is a collection of articles that demonstrate the Policy Governance (R) model in board leadership, as written by its creator, John Carver, a man who has over twenty years of experience working with a variety of corporation boards. Addressing how to use the model of governance to improve communication and overall effectiveness, the role of committees, means for resolving disagreements, and much, much more, John Carver On Board Leadership is a solidly written, reader accessible, and effectively useful title recommended for anyone charged with the often difficult and complicated task of coordinating or leading a governing board.
Easy to Navigate This Rich Resource.......2001-11-30
WOW! This compendium of more than 100 of John Carver's articles would be useful enough if it only collected these important articles on Policy Governance into one volume. This publication goes several steps further - by starting with a Frequently Asked Questions Guide, the reader is directed to his or her most urgent concerns. These FAQs appear throughout the book along with pull-out quotes that focus the reader's attention on key issues in the section. Both these features make the book easy to navigate and consequently, a richer resource.
It's great to have these articles combined into one resource since many have been previously published in hard to access journals. This will be a great resource for those new to Policy Governance as well as to experienced practitioners.
A wealth of practical information.......2001-11-20
This book is a gold-mine of practical information about the application of Policy Governance®. Boards will find a wealth of wisdom from former issues of Board Leadership, as well as a number of articles published in industry-specific journals that were not previously easy to find, now all in one convenient, easy-to-use package. Articles are short, easy-to-read, and of practical "hands-on" value. The FAQ section permits the reader to zoom in on particular areas of interest. As a consultant in Policy Governance® , I find the book to be a very user-friendly reference. For boards using the model, it is an invaluable resource. This is a book that can be read cover to cover, or can be "dipped into" to address specific issues facing a board at any given point in time. A must for your board's reference and on-going development.
The rest of John Carver.......2001-11-13
If you have read John Carver's books and watched his videotaped lectures, you have just begun to scratch the surface. In addition to "Boards That Make A Difference," "Reinventing Your Board," and "A New Vision of Board Leadership," Carver has produced an amazing array of short pieces designed for those who want to use Policy Governance. This book, "On Board Leadership," is a convenient compendium of these articles. It's well organized with a reliable index, an understandable table of contents and a list of "frequently asked questions" with references to the articles.
What this means is that my frequent trips to the file cabinet to riffle though my file of Carver's occasional writings are a thing of the past. From now on, I'll grab "On Board Leadership" and turn right to the article I need. If, for example, I am struggling with the concept of "cost," the index sends me to page 96 where I read that a board can only do so much. So the board must satisfy itself that by giving up end X in order to accomplish end Y, it is doing what its "owners" would want. The only tool I now lack is a "Carver Concordance."
Wide ranging discussions well organized. Just what every Policy Governance advocate can use. The book belongs in every association executive's library.
Gary Davis
Executive Director
Illinois Community College Trustees Association
401 E. Capitol Avenue, Suite 200
Springfield, IL 62701
The ultimate resource.......2001-11-13
While there are more and more books available on making boards effective, no other author seems to bring together anything more than miscellaneous ideas. John Carver, on the other hand, lays out a full system for board clarity and accountability.
I read his "Boards That Make a Difference", and was thrilled to see someone finally offer a way to make sense of boards. As a consultant, I've become an avid advocate of his Policy Governance model, which when used, virtually assures elevated governance.
With this new book, Carver continues to impress. Rather than a conceptual text, this collection of over 100 articles addresses nearly every conceivable structural issue boards face, as well as the myths surrounding Policy Governance.
To have all of this relevant information in one place is an incredible gift, another great addition to Carver's contributions to the nonprofit world, and any others interested in making boardroom activity meaningful and productive.
Average customer rating:
|
The Executive Guide to Implementing Quality Systems
Peter Mears , and
Frank Voehl
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Business & Investing
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Quality Control
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
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Total Quality Management
| Management & Leadership
| Business & Investing
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Entrepreneurship
| Small Business & Entrepreneurship
| Business & Investing
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Manufacturing
| Industrial, Manufacturing & Operational Systems
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| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
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ASIN: 1884015530 |
Book Description
Presenting an unusual and unique system for Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), this new book is geared for executives who want or need to support quality improvement in their organizations. It is the contributions made by CEO's and upper management that moves the quality process forward, and because of this structure, The Executive Guide to Implementing Quality focuses on the concepts, thinking, and systems necessary for management to operationalize the CQI philosophy.Because quality is not a management problem but rather a problem that involves and requires all people working together at all levels to participate and cooperate, management must engage the organization in the processes that will improve the quality of their goods or services. It is, however, management's job to lead, organize, structure, motivate, and involve the organization in those strategies and systems that will ensure quality improvement. This book explains how to do that.Readers are given a series of exercises and explanations that will help them master the skills and understanding required to identify the management systems they need to support their quality improvement. After reading about a concept, they are asked to contribute to exercises designed to inspire creative and innovative thinking and the exploration of multi-functional options. And because it is the job of management to initiate the quality movement, this book shows how to change defensive thoughts like "that won't work for me" into "what is there that will work here." In addition to showing management how to take the lead in installing CQI in their organization, it also shows how to install the concepts through leadership teams, how to bring out the best in people, how to get top performance from employees and become a world-class organization, and how to reinforce the behaviors necessary to achieve the visions and goals of the organization. This workbook is an easy-and-quick-to-use guide that shows how to identify the support systems that generate desirable outcomes and reinforces them through positive actions.
Book Description
How can companies recruit, retain, train, motivate, and reward great employees--especially in a tight labor market? How can they win new customers and boost sales? The secret is to lighten up and get a little weird! Creativity and productivity can go hand in hand, as this chock-full-of-ideas book amply shows.
Like a Christmas stocking crammed with treasures, Get Weird! overflows with irresistible techniques for innovating and problem-solving. It explains how to start thinking "outside the box," then presents 101 adaptable ideas, each in a reader-friendly two pages or fewer. For instance, readers will learn about:
* Whaddya Know? (learning through puzzles, quizzes, and games)
* Hire-Times (post-interview fun--a night-on-the-town with host employees)
* Wall of Fame (display of individual successes)
* Rock Me, Baby (give techies and GenXers the rock-concert tickets they crave)
* Galloping Gourmets (take-home gourmet dinners for employees and their family).
Slightly off-the-wall at first glance, the book is firmly rooted in solid performance theory. Managers can use it to find quick, effective, fun solutions to work challenges.
Customer Reviews:
An enjoyable book........2007-09-02
This was my 2nd business type book I've purchased.This book is all about how to being a good boss and looking after your staff and making your business a great place to work.Definitely a 101 type book.Plenty of advice here to help all business improve and keep good staff from leaving.
An ideal book that all business owners should have.
How weird is weird?.......2007-04-04
Get Weird is a book full of not-so-weird but some practical ideas on how to make your company better-recognized, your employees happier, and your bottom line stronger. The author of Get Weird is someone who believes creativity in management comes from the HR department, so he is the kind of person who keeps "techies", as he calls them, at arms length and tosses some Hot Pockets in periodically. But, as author Putzier points out, people go to three-day seminars thinking that if they get one or two good ideas from it, it will be worth it. By those standards, everyone will find Get Weird worth it.
My favorite: Family Day, when everyone brings in their children/parents/significant others, so they can see what the company and their loved one does all day. Everyone gets to leave with swag.
Stupider idea, could only come from HR: Casual get togethers that involved forced mingling featuring probing personal questions of fellow employees.
We do it better: Having the CEO take the entire company to a matinee, complete with complimentary snacks for all.
The Real Deal.......2002-04-15
As an insatiable consumer of business books, I can confidently say that "Get Weird!" is the most engaging, entertaining, yet useful business book I've ever read. It's chock full of great ideas guaranteed to make your workplace the one people on the outside want to get into. Putzier's humorous writing style and knack for knowing a great idea when he sees one make this one of the most enjoyable and beneficial business books you'll ever buy. I've recommended it to hundreds of people and will continue to for the rest of my career.
Good conversational thought-provoker.......2001-10-29
When John Putzier was a child, his mother told him he was weird. For most kids, being told they were weird might be traumatizing. Not John. He prided himself on being weird-different. Over the years of his career in human resource consulting, professional speaking, and college teaching, he has prided himself on being weird-just a little bit different, off-beat. The power of being off-beat is encapsulated in a quotation I learned in my growing-up years, "It's the usual thing, done in the unusual way, that captures the attention of the world."
John certainly has captured the attention of the world with his work. And how he shows us how to make this happen in our lives as executives, managers, and human resource professionals.
Weirdness is doing things differently. The results can be very positive, both in your confidence and in the results you can achieve. Putzier spends the first part of the book explaining this and setting up the reader to receive and consider 100 thought-provoking ideas. This section is titled Tapping Your Natural Weirdness, aka [also known as] Creative Thinking and Problem-Solving. The double title theme continues through the other parts of the book, enabling the reader to comfortably transition between Putzier's weird titles and terminology that will be more familiar.
One hundred ideas are presented in the balance of the book, categorized in seven sections. Titles of those sections are Weird Ideas to Win Today's Talent, aka Recruitment; Weird Ideas for the Care and Feeding of Today's Talent, aka Retention; Weird Ideas for Changing Your Company, aka Fun & Games with a Purpose and a Profit; Weird Ideas for Perks, Pay, and Pats on the Back, aka Recognition and Incentives; Weird Ideas for Educating Today's Talent, aka Training and Development; and Weird Ideas for Enhancing Your Company Image, aka Sales, Service, Public Relations & Personal Satisfaction. Idea 101 is in Part 8, where the author suggests that you have other ideas in your head that you can add to his list. Remember, Putzier is endeavoring to stimulate your thinking, not just give you pat answers or magic pills.
There are several additional features that add value to this book. The Table of content includes a phrase under each idea listing to quickly explain what the idea entails. An alphabetical list of ideas appears at the end of the book as an unusual, but helpful, index.
The book is easy to read and serves as a fine read-through in addition to a good reference book for follow-up.
Great insights--full of meat and fun to read.......2001-06-02
You will very quickly realize that this person is a veteran who is not talking theory. There is very serious substance and great ideas that can make a difference in the workplace.
I must add that it was delightful to read in terms of being a fun book I did not want to put down.
Worthwhile investment of time!
Book Description
The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Announce America's Top-Ranking Schools for Entrepreneurship.
DePaul
University made the top three on the graduate side.
The Ryan Creativity Center at DePaul received recognition for its Idea Clinic as one of the top ten business programs in universities that are "entrepreneurial hot spots" programs.
Lisa Gundry has been awarded the Innovation in Business Education Award in 1997, by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) Mid-Continent East Association. She has also received the DePaul University Excellence in Teaching Award.
Jill Kickul received the 2000 Management Department Teaching Innovation and Assessment Award.
In this engaging and practical book, authors Lisa K. Gundry and Jill R. Kickul uniquely approach entrepreneurship across the life cycle of business growth—offering entrepreneurial strategies for the emerging venture, for the growing venture, and for sustaining growth in the established venture. Written from the point of view of the founder or the entrepreneurial team, the book offers powerful and practical tools to increase a venture’s potential for success and growth.
Key Features:
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Presents the changing pattern of strategic needs faced by the new venture: The theories, practices, and tools in this book help enhance a venture’s creativity in the early days of business start-up and maintain the innovative edge throughout the life of the business. The authors emphasize the key strategic roles of creativity, opportunity identification, opportunity evaluation, and innovation in the emergence and growth of entrepreneurial firms.
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Offers real-world examples and contemporary cases: Each chapter contains up-to-date cases, Strategy in Action vignettes, Speaking of Strategy interviews with real-life entrepreneurs, and a Failures and Foibles segment to help readers learn from others’ experiences and missteps.
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Promotes innovative thinking: The Innovator’s Toolkit and Strategic Reflection Points give students the opportunity to reflect on the material presented. In addition, Research in Practice sections provide a summary of recent research on the chapter topic.
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Includes instructor resources on CD available upon request: This supportive CD contains PowerPoint slides, lecture outlines, sample syllabi, a guide to using the Special Elements in each chapter, and a listing of additional resources.
IRCDs are available for qualified instructors only. To request an IRCD for this book please contact Customer Care at 1.800.818.7243 (6 am – 5 pm Pacific Time) or by emailing info@sagepub.com with course name and enrollment and your university mailing address to expedite the process.
Intended Audience: This is an ideal core textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses such as Entrepreneurship and New Venture Management, Entrepreneurship Strategy, Strategic Management, Entrepreneurial Growth, Management of Innovation, Entrepreneurial Marketing, and Global Entrepreneurship in the fields of Management, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, and Organizational Behavior.
Book Description
Behind every successful manager is a successful employee. The key to moving up? MANAGING UP For readers seeking a surefire career-booster or simply looking to improve their relationship with their boss, this is a welcome guide written specifically to provide them with the skills needed to build a productive, mutually beneficial relationship with their boss.
With the inspiring collection of ideas, strategies, and tactics found in MANAGING UP, readers will learn to: * Enhance their relationship with their supervisor in a constructive and effective manner * Accurately read their boss's likes and dislikes * Provide the kind of support that helps their boss succeed * Make sure they're in tune with their boss's goals * Build mentoring and networking relationships throughout the organization * Handle criticism, deal with problem bosses, and more.
Customer Reviews:
Good advice for two types of audiences, see review.......2006-06-23
This book has very good advice that will be most useful to two types of audience. For new graduates, seeking a first professional job it's a quick and useful read. It is also good for the rank and file employee who is too hurried to do in-depth reading, but wants to make some quick and dirty improvements in the way they interact with their boss.
This title is based on sound principles, but it doesn't go into a lot of depth. There are literally 59 different short chapters, each with an often useful worksheet about that area. In a sense, you can use this book to get a 59 point perspective on what you are doing well and where you can make improvements.
For those who are seasoned professionals, a lot of this information will be things they already know. However, quickly and consciously surveying these various performance areas periodically can raise awareness of them.
While I think this book is most useful to the audiences I mentioned, I still think it has merit for everyone. You should just know what you are getting before you buy. Much of this information is repeated in other books, but if you are looking for a quick summary of basics this may be just what you need.
Basic advice with few details.......2004-10-09
The basic premise of Managing Up is a good one: yes there are problem bosses, and the best way to deal with them is to be pro-active and not assume that it's up to them to recognize their deficiencies and change on their own. As much as we want our bosses to change spontaneously, we must recognize that we can always do better in our own work. By being a better employee, we can improve our relationships with our bosses. This is absolutely correct.
Unfortunately, Managing Up chooses breadth instead of depth. With 59 tips that range from "do good work" to "deal effectively with stereotypes and prejudices", it provides few concrete details in each of its short chapters. In one chapter, the authors suggest becoming familiar with such thinkers as Blanchard, Drucker, Weisbord, and Hertzberg (surprisingly, they omit Covey), but do not include a single one of their books in the bibliography and suggested reading list. In another they describe four different types of bosses and suggest that you may need to adapt to your boss's style, but leave it to the reader to determine how to do so. Perhaps this would have been less frustrating if they had included a list of suggested further reading at the end of each chapter.
Managing Up does not sugar-coat its advice. It suggests mediation rather than law suits in cases of discrimination, warning that being right isn't always enough (unless you are fighting for others who come after you). Although there is the occasional innovative tip such as writing a brief weekly report of your accomplishments, much of the advice in this book is common sense. While it's not a bad idea to read some common sense advice every once in a while, especially if you are on bad terms with your boss, many people who take the initiative to read Managing Up will already be doing much of what the book suggests. For the rest, reading Managing Up may be a good use of their time.
handy, realistic, easy read.......2004-05-16
Wasn't preachy and from the writing it's obvious the writer is an old hand at organisational dynamics. It was also written without getting too embroiled in the emotional rambling. I identified with many of the scenarios described, and the advice proved useful. Clear, concise and highly readable.
Insightful!.......2001-07-21
If your notions of how to get along with your boss stopped at the admiring-the-family-photos-on-the-credenza stage, here's how to move it along. Michael Dobson and Deborah Singer Dobson advance kissing-up to a new, practical level, as they straightforwardly explain their boss-wrangling concepts. You can read the brief chapters in bite-size chunks and each one ends with a worksheet. While these concepts about understanding your boss and playing to the boss's priorities are not particularly innovative, they are useful and accessible. The Dobsons wrote their book as much for the folks in the cubicles as for the fellow in the office with his feet on the desk. Reading this book won't change your boss's personality - but it might blunt his pitchfork. We [...] recommend it to staffers who want to get ahead by getting along with the boss, the gatekeeper to the top. And if that takes a little manipulation, well, hey, it's business.
Pretty good basic reading for rookies.......2001-07-11
I didn't finish reading the book because I had lost my interest in it. Notwithstanding, the contents are all good and correct. However, having worked for more than 4 years now, I've already known all the ingredients need to climb up the ladder. The problem to me is how to do it effectively and efficiently without leaving a kiss up perception, which is hardly covered in this book. However, if you're a "rookie", a first year employee, a fresh graduate, then this might be the book to read so that you can gain an impressive "hello" effect to your managers and colleagues. In fact, you could actually just browse the table of contents to get the meat of the book.
Book Description
Launch this year's most important new venture--your entrepreneurial career!
Few things are more exciting and challenging than starting your own business. But before you can go public, you'll need practical skills and real-world experience. That's why Jack Kaplan and new coauthor Anthony Warren take a highly applied approach to entrepreneurship.
In Patterns of Entrepreneurship, Second Edition, the authors involve you in real cases, allowing you to think through various aspects of launching a new business, just as if you were running the company. They present key issues from a practitioner's point of view, and equip you with the skills, tools, and framework you need to succeed.
Now revised, their Second Edition includes four new chapters: Chapter 5, Financing the Closely Held Company; Chapter 6, Equity Financing for High Growth; Chapter 8, Business Models; and Chapter 12, Communicating the Opportunity and Making a Presentation.
Key features
* A Focus on Real Entrepreneurs. Examples and case studies demonstrate the problems and solutions that real entrepreneurs have encountered in their own businesses.
* A Clear Road Map for Success. The book's road-map framework identifies practical tasks that you will accomplish as you work through the four stages of entrepreneurship: starting the venture, financing, implementation, and launching entrepreneurial businesses.
* Opportunities for Practice. Examples and exercises provide you with opportunities to apply skills before actually launching a business.
* Insights from Experienced Entrepreneurs. The authors share the experience and wisdom they gained from launching their own successful ventures.
* Extensive Supplemental Material. Additional cases, audio interviews, demonstrations of financial concepts, sample business plans, and legal documents are all available on the book's website.
Customer Reviews:
A Must-have Guide.......2007-04-20
This is a must-have guide if you are serious about starting your own company. The book will decrease the amount of time you need to research, and increase the amount of time you have to start making money. The book is easy to understand as it's written from the entrepreneur's perspective. Even after reading the book I find myself going back to it to use as a resource. This book is worth every penny.
e MBA'06 (NY, NY).......2006-03-27
This is one of the few books from my MBA program that has truly become a reference guide for me as I am contemplating starting a venture. I would highly recommend the book because it offers the optimal balance of case studies, core business information and extensive additional resources that are all critical to understanding what is necessary for starting a new company. Lastly, I think it is clear that the authors are highly involved in the entrepreneurial world and this comes through in all of the tips and case studies.
Patterns of Entrepreneurship.......2003-01-30
This is a comprehensive book that is a must for learning the ropes of entrepreneurship. As a graduate of the MBA program at Columbia, I had a special entrepreneurial interest and focus. I am excited to see that Jack Kaplan has added another outstanding book to complement his other books on the subject. Jack is a true entrepreneur who knows what it really takes to succeed.
Beyond the theory, this book offers practical advice........2001-10-15
What sets Jack's book apart from other entrepreneurship manuals is the depth of practical advice firmly grounded in experience. It is rare to get such access to a serial entrepreneur's accumulated wisdom. Jack's advice has been equally valuable in the classroom -- he knows what he is talking about. I would recommend this book highly to anyone with an idea that wants to become a business.
The Entrepreneur's Bible.......2001-07-28
This book is invaluable. To the new entrepreneur, it is an easy to follow guide for starting a new business -- to the experienced entrepreneur, it is a handy reference for a wide range of topics. This is truly the entrepreneur’s "bible."
Book Description
At age nine, Cameron Johnson started an Internet company.
Pete Amico quit his job on his first day because he didn’t feel like taking orders from his boss.
Greg Herro built a successful business selling diamonds made from the carbon extracted from ashes.
If any of these people remind you of yourself, you just might have the kind of personality to take the small business world by storm.
In If at First You Don't Succeed..., Brent Bowers, the small-business editor for the New York Times reveals the eight patterns that highly successful entrepreneurs share – and what we can learn from them.
Brent Bowers, in covering small business for decades at the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, has chronicled the rise and fall of hundreds of start-ups. In If at First You Don’t Suceed…, he analyzes the common characteristics shared by dozens of successful small-business owners and their companies. Drawing on extensive interviews and research, as well as on the experiences and expertise of business consultants, venture capitalists, academics, and the entrepreneurs themselves, he describes the key traits that successful entrepreneurs have in common.
Among them:
• The ability to spot and seize opportunities
• An overwhelming urge to be in charge coupled with a gift for leadership
• The flexibility to come up with creative, out-of the-box solutions to problems or obstacles
• Incredible energy and tenacity in the pursuit of their goals
• Unwavering faith in their business
• The ability to take smart risks
• The ability to bounce back from setbacks and see failure as just one step on the path to ultimate success
For anyone thinking about starting a business, or attempting a start-up a second or third time, this book offers invaluable lessons and insights.
Customer Reviews:
Good read.......2006-05-02
A friend told me this was the antidote to boring business books and he has a point.
The book has some pluses: Good warnings about vulture capitalists and the value of the "double P's" passion and pragmatism. I liked his analysis of what makes succesful entrepreneurs tick and examples of how tenacious people turned ideas into fortunes. My favorite was the guy who makes diamonds out of cremated remains as keepsakes for the bereaved. Where did the author find these people?
America should stop whining about the decline of big business jobs and get off its collective butt like these entrepreneurs who showed spunk and made millions.
Books:
- Competency-Based Interviews: Master the Tough New Interview Style And Give Them the Answers That Will Win You the Job
- Developing the Leader Within You
- Donor-Centered Fundraising
- egonomics: What Makes Ego Our Greatest Asset (or Most Expensive Liability)
- Emerging Companies Guide: A Resource for Professionals and Entrepreneurs
- Enough is Enough!: Stop Enduring and Start Living Your Extraordinary Life
- Entrepreneur Magazine's Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide: Over 1500 Great Marketing Tricks That Will Drive Your Business Through the Roof
- Entrepreneur's Notebook: Practical Advice for Starting a New Business Venture
- Entrepreneur's Notebook: Practical Advice for Starting a New Business Venture
- Entrepreneur's Notebook: Practical Advice for Starting a New Business Venture
Books Index
Books Home
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Crucial Confrontations
