Book Reviews
Leapfrogging: Harness the Power of Surprise for Business Breakthroughs Soren Kaplan Berrett-Koehler Publishers (2012) The power and value of serendipity on the other side of complexity As I began to read this book, I was reminded of an observation by Oliver Wendell Holmes: “I wouldn’t give…
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Heart, Smarts, Guts and Luck: What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur and Build a Great Business Anthony K. Tjan, Richard J. Harrington, and Tsun-yan Hsieh Harvard Busin ess Review Press (2012) How to develop a mindset that you can apply in any situation,…
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Business Analytics for Managers: Taking Business Intelligence Beyond Reporting Gert H.N. Laursen and Jesper Thorlund John Wiley & Sons (2010) How and why making decisions based on “huge, noisy, messy data” requires business analytics Although business analytics can probably be traced back at least to Frederick Winslow Taylor’s…
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Team Turnarounds: A Playbook for Transforming Underperforming Teams Joe Frontiera and Daniel Leidl Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Imprint (2012) How and why results-driven, high-impact teams can transform organizations at all levels and in all areas With rare exception, the best business books are…
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Care to Dare: Unleashing Astonishing Potential Through Secure Base Leadership George Kohlrieser, Susan Goldsworthy, and Duncan Coombe Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Imprint (2012) “Dream more than others think practical. Expect more than others think possible. Care more than others think wise.” —…
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The Hidden Wealth of Customers: Realizing the Untapped Value of Your Most Important Asset Bill Lee Harvard Business Review Press (2012) Estimates vary but, on average, it costs about six times more to add a new customer than it does…
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The Value of Business Analytics: Identifying the Path to Profitability Evan Stubbs John Wiley & Sons (2011) How and why the success of selling the value of analytics depends on four key activities Although business analytics can probably be traced back at least to Frederick Winslow…
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Management in 10 Words: Practical Advice from the Man Who Created One of the World’s Great Retailers Terry Leahy Crown Business (2012) Whatever the “talk,” it must be “walked” to have any credibility. The most substantial benefit from this book is…
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The Virtual Executive: How to Act Like a CEO Online and OffLineD.A. Benron McGraw-Hill (2012) In the “real” world, real people have real impact – or don’t – and the same is often true of those in the virtual world, also. Some of those…
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Selling Sunshine: 75 Tips, Tools, and Tactics for Becoming a Wildly Successful Entrepreneur Tony Hartl Greenleaf Book Group (2011) “Wildly successful”? Perhaps…. Whether or not reading this book will enable a significant number of aspiring entrepreneurs to become “wildly successful” is possible but, given the odds, highly unlikely. Tony…
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