First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 1, 2011

Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here. * * * When you fail to meet your goals, you might blame yourself, thinking that you lack talent or willpower. In fact, [.].

Goal 114

Goal Tips Newsletter Review 114

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 16, 2011

Here is an article co-authored by Marla M. Capozzi, Renée Dye, and Amy Howe and featured online by The McKinsey Quarterly (April 20110), the business journal of McKinsey & Company. To read the complete article, check out other resources, and register for free email alerts, please click here. * * * Senior managers can apply practical insights [.].

McKinsey 113

McKinsey Creativity Team Article 113

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 27, 2011

Reading remains an unsurpassed vehicle for the transmission of interesting new ideas and perspectives. Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation As business leaders, we’re voracious seekers of business improvement ideas in the form of conferences, books, blogs, and training. We want our performance to be better, and we know [.].

Blog 108

Blog Conference Training Innovation 108

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 11, 2011

I have just read and will soon review Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success, co-authored by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. If their names seem familiar, it is perhaps because they co-authored Crucial Confrontations, Crucial Conversations, and more recently, Influencer. In their latest book, published by Business [.].

Career 108

Career Tips Development Influence 108

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 23, 2011

I intentionally keep politics out of my posts on this blog as much as possible. It is becoming difficult – politics permeates every facet of life these days. But this one was too important to ignore. It comes from Paul Krugman’s New York Times column earler this week, Patients Are Not Consumers. Here’s the key [.].

Health Care 106

Health Care Politics Blog 106

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 21, 2011

“The only job security is found in your own ability to keep learning!” Peter Drucker “Through learning, we re-create ourselves.” Peter Senge ———– We all know the challenge – to keep learning. But, in most cases, learning is not learning something new, but instead, remembering what we knew, but forgot — or remembering what we [.].

Senge 106

Senge Course Drucker Skills 106

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 19, 2011

I have a stack of books I have never read, probably will never get around to, but occasionally pick up and peruse. (Do you have such a stack?) Well, buried in that stack, I found a treasure. First, my bias: I belive that keeping things simple really, really helps. And this book is filled with [.].

Books 103

Books Energy Education Blog 103

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 30, 2011

Alan M. Webber is an award-winning, nationally-recognized editor, author, and columnist. In 1995, he launched Fast Company magazine, a fresh, dynamic entry in the business magazine category. Headquartered in Boston, MA, the magazine became the fastest growing, most successful business magazine in history. Fast Company won two national magazine awards—one for general excellence, one for [.].

Magazine 103

Magazine Company Succession Edvinsson 103

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 17, 2011

Here is an article written by Kimberly Weisul for BNET, The CBS Interactive Business Network. To check out an abundance of valuable resources and obtain a free subscription to one or more of the BNET newsletters, please click here. * * * It happens all too often: Put a bunch of really smart people in [.].

Team 102

Team Newsletter Resources Article 102

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 4, 2011

After having read and reviewed so many business books, I now share brief comments about what I consider to be the 25 most valuable business insights and the books in which they are either introduced or (one man’s opinion) best explained. Here are 16-20. 16. PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT: First, determine which tasks are most important. Then, [.].

Review 102

Review Books Cialdini Power 102

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 17, 2011

Assume every shot will be missed and produce a subsequent opportunity to get a rebound. John Wooden, Wooden on Leadership ——— When things go wrong, there are many appropriate responses, but this one is never appropriate: “I can’t believe this went wrong.” We should know by now that things will go wrong. Without a [.].

Leadership 100

Leadership Blog 100

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 3, 2011

Adam Bryant conducts interviews of senior-level executives that appear in his “Corner Office” column each week in the SundayBusiness section of The New York Times. Here are a few insights provided during an interview of Chris Cunningham, co-founder and C.E.O. of Appssavvy, a social media-focused marketing firm. He says that job candidates must show they [.].

Media 100

Media Marketing Execution Blog 100

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 20, 2011

I’ve been thinking about losing. There are so many books about winning that winning seems to be the preferred default position. But, I think, the way it is practiced in far too many instances, it is the “I win, you lose” approach to winning. And this is a very bad thing. Business is still dominated [.].

Books 98

Books Positioning Covey Blanchard 98

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 14, 2011

Here is an article written by Kelly Goldsmith and Marshall Goldsmith for BNET, The CBS Interactive Business Network. To check out an abundance of valuable resources and obtain a free subscription to one or more of the BNET newsletters, please click here. * * * I once had the privilege of spending 50 days with Peter [.].

Succession 97

Succession Newsletter Resources Article 97

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 12, 2011

Here is another excellent article featured online by the Drucker Exchange (DX) within the Drucker Institute at Claremont Business University. To check out all the Institute’s resources and sign up for a free online newsletter, please click here. * * * Peter Drucker liked to call himself a “social ecologist,” so perhaps he’d have been intrigued [.].

Drucker 95

Drucker Video Newsletter Resources 95

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 3, 2011

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Daniel Isenberg for the Harvard Business Review’s “The Conversations&# series. To read the complete article, check out other articles and resources, and/or sign up for a free subscription to Harvard Business Review’s Daily Alerts, please click here. * * * Policy makers from the government of [.].

Entrepreneur 95

Entrepreneur Policies Review Article 95

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 23, 2011

The New How: Creating Business Solutions through Collaborative Strategy Nilofer Merchant O’Reilly Media (2011) Why do so many strategies fail? Usually the fault lies with the strategy itself and/or how it was formulated, and/or how it was executed. In this book Nilofer Merchant offers what she characterizes as “a different approach that gets everyone to [.].

Books 93

Books Review Media Strategy 93

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 22, 2011

I am not well read. I wish I were. In an earlier chapter of my life, I read church books, theology books, books about church life and church growth and God. I liked those – then. Now I read business books, and quite a bit of general non-fiction. But I have never tackled much fiction. [.].

Rogers 93

Rogers Books Blog 93

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 21, 2011

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Joshua Gans for the Harvard Business Review blog. To read the complete article, check out the wealth of free resources, and sign up for a subscription to HBR email alerts, please click here. * * * We are told that some large fraction (possibly 80 percent) of [.].

Marketing 93

Marketing Review Blog Article 93

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 19, 2011

I thought a survey of CEO’s published in the Monday, April 18, 2011 edition of the Wall Street Journal underscores that many just never learn. The survey was conducted by the highly credible Conference Board, Inc., a non-profit research organization. The article is by Joe Light, entitled “Most CEO’s Prize Growth, But Other Priorities Vary&# (p. [.].

Survey 93

Survey Conference CEO Article 93

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 18, 2011

The incoherence, I think, is a sign of something deeper: Research in Motion doesn’t know what kind of company it wants to be. Farhad Manjoo, What on Earth Happened to BlackBerry?: Research in Motion’s new tablet is a misguided mess. ——- I know practically nothing about technology. I use a Mac, an iPhone, and I’m [.].

Definition 93

Definition Company Technology Drucker 93

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 4, 2011

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Alan Lewis for the Harvard Business Review’s “The Conversations&# series. To read the complete article, check out other articles and resources, and/or sign up for a free subscription to Harvard Business Review’s Daily Alerts, please click here. * * * No two organizations’ hiring processes are alike. [.].

Skills 93

Skills Company Review Article 93

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 3, 2011

After having earned an undergraduate degree at Stanford, Kawasaki embarked on a career in business (counting diamonds for a fine-jewelry manufacturer called Nova Stylings) while at work on an MBA degree at UCLA. (He had already earned an undergraduate degree at Stanford.) Kawasaki later went to work for an educational software company called EduWare Services. [.].

Software 93

Software Education Career Company 93

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 2, 2011

Honored and not diminished. That’s how we all want to feel. James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Pozner, Encouraging the Heart: A Leaders Guide to Rewarding and Encouraging Others —– I have probably presented my synopsis of Encouraging the Heart by Kouzes and Posner more than any other book synopsis. (I presented this again at a [.].

Sports 93

Sports Books Team Building Team 93

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 29, 2011

I’ve been thinking about business, preparing for the expected, and then facing the unexpected… Many products have faced delays in delivery of products due to the earthquakes/tsunami in Japan. And now, the tornadoes that have sliced through and devastated portions of cities, specially in Alabama… What will that do to the economy? (Of course, the [.].

Course 89

Course Productivity Products Price 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 26, 2011

I caught the Fareed Zakaria interview with David Books this past Sunday. Zakaria is a terrific writer, and an equally effective interviewer. David Books is… well, he’s David Brooks. The “conservative/right of center” columnist for the New York Times, author of Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There (which I [.].

Class 89

Class Books Creativity Blog 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 23, 2011

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Sohrab Vossoughi for the Harvard Business Review blog. To read the complete article, check out the wealth of free resources, and sign up for a subscription to HBR email alerts, please click here. * * * As much as the business world seems to admire design [.].

Review 89

Review Blog Article Resources 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 23, 2011

Here is another outstanding article from “True Tales of Fortune” series featured by strategy+business magazine, published by Booz & Company. James O’Toole is the author of the article. To read the complete article, check out a wealth of other resources, sign up for email updates, and obtain subscription information, please click here. * * * [.].

Books 89

Books Magazine Article Strategy 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 22, 2011

Here is another outstanding interview of Didier Lombard from a series featured by strategy+business magazine, published by Booz & Comany. The interview was conducted by Art Kleiner and Pierre Péladeau. Although this is a somewhat lengthy interview, with an extensive introduction, I think it is a “must read&# for anyone either employed by a telecommunications [.].

Kleiner 89

Kleiner Telecommunications Magazine Strategy 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 15, 2011

The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton Harvard Business Press (2000) The Perilous “Journey&# to Breakthrough Performance Note: This is another “business classic” I read when it was first published and then recently re-read it. If anything, the value of what it [.].

Balanced Scorecard 89

Balanced Scorecard Norton Kaplan Strategy 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 14, 2011

George Washington and the Art of Business: The Leadership Principles of America’s First Commander-in-Chief Mark McNeilly Oxford University Press (2008) The “father of his country&# in so many important ways In recent years, a great deal of attention has been devoted to one or more of the founding fathers, especially Washington, Jefferson, and Adams.

Review 89

Review Books Leadership CEO 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 13, 2011

Levers of Organization Design: How Managers Use Accountability Systems for Greater Performance and Commitment Robert Simons Harvard Business Press (2005) Eloquent and Essential Practicality Unlike subtitles of so many other recently published business books, the one for Levers of Organization Design correctly identifies its author’s primary objective: to explain “how managers use accountability systems&# to [.].

Organization 89

Organization Simon Books Review 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 11, 2011

Here is an excerpt from an article written by H. James Wilson for the Harvard Business Review blog. To read the complete article, check out the wealth of free resources, and sign up for a subscription to HBR email alerts, please click here. * * * We all know innovation has its own language conventions, [.].

Innovation 89

Innovation Review Blog Article 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 9, 2011

Here is an excerpt of an article that caught my eye, written by Leonard Cassuto and recently published in The Chronicle of Higher Education (March 20, 2011). With uncommon clarity, Cassuto addresses many of the issues that continue to generate divided opinions (sometimes sharply divided opinions) about the mission of graduate school education and the [.].

Education 89

Education Article Drucker Policies 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 8, 2011

I have just read and will soon review The New Edge in Knowledge: How Knowledge Management Is Changing the Way We Do Business, co-authored by Carla O’Dell and Cindy Hubert. In Chapter 3, they identify and discuss “Five Basic Tenets of Knowledge Management.” Here they are: “1. The KM strategy is based on balancing people, [.].

Knowledge Management 89

Knowledge Management Management Review Strategy 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 8, 2011

Here is an excerpt from a profile of Laura Yunger (President, Cheevers & Co.) written by Jessica Titlebaum (Chicago) for The Glass Hammer, an online community designed for women executives in financial services, law and business. “Visit us daily to discover issues that matter, share experiences, and plan networking, your career and your life.” To [.].

Hammer 89

Hammer Career Planning Execution 89

First Friday Book Synopsis

APRIL 8, 2011

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Steve Tobak for BNET, The CBS Interactive Business Network. To check out the article and an abundance of other resources as swell as obtain a free subscription to one or more of the BNET newsletters, please click here. * * * There are as many management [.].

Management 89

Management Newsletter Article Resources 89