First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 22, 2011

I have just finished reading each and every word of the book Tested: How Twelve Wrongly Imprisoned Men Held Onto Hope by Peyton Budd in collaboration with Dorothy Budd — Photographs by Deborah Luster. (Published by Brown Books Publishing Group in Dallas). I say it this way to make a point – though I thoroughly [.].

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First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 23, 2011

Anyone who writes any book, paper, or even everday correspondence is well aware of the features of auto-correct in word processing programs. These do not alert you to a misspelling – instead, they fix it for you. I found a recent article in the San Jose Mercury News by Sue McAllister entitled “Auto-correct can be [.].

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First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 22, 2011

Here is an excerpt from another article written by Matthew Le Merle and featured online by Booz & Company. As he explains in the article, Black Swans—unanticipated, catastrophic events—are impossible to predict on an individual basis, but they regularly occur. Too often, the boards and leaders of large companies are unaware of the risks involved [.].

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Analysis Stress Article Company 85

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 20, 2011

Eugene A. Fitzgerald was born in Springfield, MA, USA. He received a BS degree in Materials Science and Engineering in 1985 from MIT and his PhD in the same discipline from Cornell University in 1989. Building upon his early experience at AT&T Bell Labs, he has created and led a series of fundamental innovations, from early technology to final implementation in the market. [.].

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Engineering Technology Innovation Marketing 85

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 26, 2011

The first steps of a creative act are like groping in the dark: random and chaotic, feverish and fearful, a lot of busy-ness with no apparent or definable end in sight. There is nothing yet to research. For me, these moments are not pretty. I look like a desperate woman, tortured by the simple message [.].

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Creativity Blog Innovation 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 26, 2011

Here is an excerpt from David K. Hurst’s review of The Economics of Enough, written by Diane Coyle and published by Princeton University Press, 2011. ?To read the complete review and c heck out other resources provided by strategy+business magazine online, please click here. * * * Economist Diane Coyle, a visiting professor at the [.].

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Magazine Review Resources Strategy 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 25, 2011

I have long been a basher of electronic book readers, such as the Kindle and Nook. I believe in traditional books, and in outlets that sell and distribute books in print. Books are symbolic, and when anyone stores them on a reader, this facet disappears. I have developed this argument in a previous blog post, and [.].

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First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 25, 2011

In addition to serving as President of my performance intervention business in Dallas, Creative Communication Network, I also teach part-time in the College of Business MBA program at the University of Dallas, and for two community colleges in the Dallas County Community College District. I thought the format of one of the books that we have [.].

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Wilde Creativity Books Public Relations 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 25, 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. In today’s business world, there is no shortage of lies. People tell them all the time—sometimes to seek a payoff or avoid responsibility. But these untruths [.].

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Newsletter Tips Review Management 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 24, 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. There is a difference between leaders who aggressively push for results and bullies who use fear and intimidation to get what they want. Organizations can’t afford the latter: [.].

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First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 24, 2011

The Power of Professionalism: The Seven Mind-Sets That Drive Performance and Build Trust Bill Wiersma Ravel Media (2011) An exceptional resource for anyone who openly declares and then fulfills a total commitment to excellence (however defined) I selected the title for this review of Bill Wiersma’s book after some research on the etymology of the [.].

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Review Power Books Open-book 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 23, 2011

In this especially lively as well as informative video, the authors of The Granularity of Growth explain why the best strategies begin with a precise understanding of market and product opportunities. Companies need to look beyond averages when making decisions about when and where to compete. McKinsey’s Sven Smit and S. Patrick Viguerie, along with [.].

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Video Marketing Strategy Productivity 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 23, 2011

Here is an article written by Mike Prokopeak for Talent Management magazine. To check out all the resources and sign up for a free subscription to the TM and Chief Learning Officer magazines published by MedfiaTec, please click here. * * * Just because employees are highly engaged doesn’t mean they’re going to stick around. And [.].

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Magazine Talent Management Resources Article 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 23, 2011

The results of countless research studies leave no doubt that 80-85% of the impact during face-to-face contact is determined by body language and tone-of-voice. Only 10-15% of the impact is determined by what is actually said. Non-verbal cues can derail otherwise effective leaders. In this video program, Carol Kinsey Goman, the author of The Silent [.].

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First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 23, 2011

Cathy Davidson loves, loves, loves everything digital. “She likes anything that departs from the customary way of doing things, especially the customary way of educating children.&# Her new book is Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn. She leads an interdisciplinary program at Duke. [.].

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Education Books Blog 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 23, 2011

The August 13 edition of the New York Times included an informative article by Neal Gabler entitled “The Elusive Big Idea.&# Gabler is the author of a book about Walt Disney and a senior fellow at the Annenberg Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California. His thesis in the article is that we [.].

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Article Information Books Blog 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 22, 2011

Here is an excerpt from a profile of journalist Lisa Belkin written by Melissa J. Anderson (New York City) 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 read the [.].

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Hammer Career Planning Execution 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 21, 2011

Here is an article written by Steve Tobak 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. * * * There’s all sorts of rhetoric about what good bosses should and shouldn’t do [.].

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Management Newsletter Resources Article 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 21, 2011

Here is another lively and informative article from the folks at the Drucker Exchange (Dx). It is a platform for bettering society through effective management and responsible leadership. It is sponsored and supported by the Drucker Institute, a think tank and action tank based at Claremont Graduate University that was established to advance the ideas [.].

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Drucker Article Information Management 80

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 26, 2011

Here is an excerpt from another in a series of conversations sponsored by Booz & Company. In this instance, with Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi, co-authors of The Essential Advantage: How to Win with a Capabilities-Driven Strategy, published by Harvard Business Review Press (2011). In this interview, they point out that in this unpredictable economy, [.].

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Review Strategy Company How To 75

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 26, 2011

The Network Is Your Customer: 5 Strategies Tto Thrive in a Digital Age David L. Rogers Yale University Press (2010) Here’s the challenge: our future networks can “make us not only more connected but, let us hope, more human.” I am grateful to Thomas Kuhn and then to Joel Barker for filling one of my [.]. Bob's blog entries a call to defend and strengthen digital access access Apple “Five Customer Network Behaviors” “Five Customer Network Strategies” “Five Step Customer Network Planning Process”

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Meyer Rogers Review Books 75

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 25, 2011

On his last day as CEO, Steve Jobs announced that “Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it.&# That may be, but with the passing of the torch to former COO Tim Cook, it’s safe to say that an era is over. In the following gallery, BNET’s Wired In blogger Erik Sherman looks [.].

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First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 25, 2011

In a stunning reversal against the digital book market, the Wall Street Journal reports that a successful author has turned to phyiscal paperbacks through a contract with a traditional publisher. The article, authored by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, is entitled “E-Book Author Tries New Format: Real Paperbacks&# (August 23, 2011, p. B4). The author, John Locke, was the [.].

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Books Report Article Marketing 75

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 25, 2011

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Charalambos A. Vlachoutsicos that appears in the September (2011) issue of Harvard Business Review. To read the cmplete article, please click here. * * * Successful managers depend on the capabilities of their subordinates: George’s marketing skills, Maria’s ability to run the numbers, Michael’s local knowledge, [.].

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Management How To Review Article 75

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 24, 2011

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Henna Inam (a CEO Coach) 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 read the complete article, check out [.].

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Hammer Management CEO Article 75

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 23, 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. The word “team&# is so commonly used in today’s organizations, most managers are oblivious to its true meaning. Here are three characteristics a group must have to be [.].

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Team Newsletter Tips Review 75

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 20, 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 Terri Ludwig, president and chief executive of Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit housing finance organization. She once worked on Wall [.].

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Finance Execution Organization How To 75

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 20, 2011

Here is an article written by Marcia Xenitelis for Talent Management magazine. To check out all the resources and sign up for a free subscription to the TM and Chief Learning Officer magazines published by MedfiaTec, please click here. * * * The frequency at which the word “engagement&# appears in any discussion about employee [.].

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Magazine Strategy Talent Management Resources 75

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 25, 2011

The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management: How to Manage the Media in the Digital Age Jane Jordan-Meier CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group (2011) “Truth, well-told” and carefully managed Decades ago, one of the co-founders of the firm we now know as Hill & Knowlton, John Hill, explained that public relations should be “truth, [.].

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Crisis Management Crisis Taylorism Taylor 70

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 23, 2011

Harvard Business Review on Collaborating Effectively Various Contributors Harvard Business Review Press (2011) How and why to establish and then nourish mutually high-impact partnerships within and beyond your organization This is one of the volumes in a series of anthologies of articles that first appeared in HBR. In this instance, its nine articles focus on [.].

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Review Books Article Organization 70

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 22, 2011

Sara Mosle’s vigorous review of Steven Brill‘s book, Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools, appears in The New York Times‘ Book Review section (August 21, 2011). From my perspective, she offers an uncommonly balanced examination of Brill’s core assertions, most of which are based on his belief that the worst of the [.].

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Report Class Review Books 70

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 21, 2011

Here is an excerpt from an article co-authored by Jon Katzenbach, Laird Post, Jonathan Gruber, and Aurelie Viriot, featured by The Katzenbach Center at Booz & Company. They explain how and why achieving strategic goals and accelerating performance results often require that employees at multiple levels of the organization change certain critical behaviors.

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Motivation Article Company Goal 70

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 23, 2011

As We Speak: How to Make Your Point and Have It Stick Peter Meyers and Shann Nix Atrria Books (2011) Here in a single volume, just about all you need to know about high-impact communication In Chapter 3, Peter Meyers and Shann Nix acknowledge their appreciation of Chip and Dan Heath and especially of what [.].

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Meyer Report Books How To 85

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 22, 2011

Return on Learning: Training for High Performance at Accenture Donald Vanthournout, Tad Waddington, and other members of Accenture’s Capability Development Team Agate B2 (2006) How Accenture achieved an ROI of 353% on its commitment to enterprise learning, February 12, 2008 To the best of my knowledge, this book offers the single best source for information [.].

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First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 23, 2011

McKinsey & Company and The Atlantic magazine are co-sponsors of an especially important series of responses to this question: “What’s the single best idea to jumpstart job creation?&# Here is Michelle H. Rhee‘s response. She is Founder and CEO of StudentsFirst and former Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools * * * Americans are currently engaging [.].

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First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 23, 2011

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Nilofer Merchant for the Harvard Business Review blog series, “The Conversation.&# 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. * * * Trust, fights, and child care. When I’m [.].

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Strategy Review Blog Article 75

First Friday Book Synopsis

AUGUST 22, 2011

“The minute that the Republican Party becomes the party – the anti-science party, we have a huge problem. We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012,” Jon Huntsman, the former Utah governor said in an interview that aired Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” Huntsman: GOP can’t [.].

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