Book Reviews
Here is an excerpt from an article that appeared in The New York Times (September 2, 2011). It is Steven Pinker’s review of Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney’s Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, recently published by Penguin Press.…
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The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures Dan Roam Portfolio/Penguin (2009) I read the original (published in 2008) and then this second edition with increasing admiration. As I began to work my way through Dan…
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Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures Dan Roam Portfolio/Penguin (2009) In this sequel to his previous Napkin book, Dan Roam reaffirms many of the same core values and principles while developing them…
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Squirrel Inc.: A Fable of Leadership through Storytelling Stephen Denning Josey-Bass/A Wiley Imprint (2004) Nuts R Us Think about it. Who are among the greatest storytellers throughout history? My own list includes Homer, Plato, Chaucer, Aesop, Jesus, Dante, Boccaccio, the…
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Breaking Away: How Great Leaders Create Innovation That Drives Sustainable Growth – and Why Others Fail Jane Stevenson and Bilal Kaafarani McGraw-Hill (2011) How and why to create a “magic mix” of innovation leadership with innovation processes Year after year,…
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The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan: How to Take Charge, Build Your Team, and Get Immediate Results George B. Bradt, Jayme A. Check, and Jorge E. Pedraza John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2009) “Finis origine pendet” (The end depends on…
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The High-Velocity Edge: How Market Leaders Leverage Operational Excellence to Beat the Competition Steven J. Spear McGraw-Hill (2009) The power of causal mechanisms that can drive a continuously self-improving system Clayton Christensen’s high praise of Steven Spear and this book…
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Harvard Business Review on Building Better Teams Various Contributors Harvard Business Review Press (2011) How and why some teams “shoot out the lights”…and most don’t Those who aspire to help create and then lead create teams that deliver high-impact results…
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The Great Workplace: How to Build It, How to Keep It, and Why It Matters Michael Burchell and Jennifer Robin Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Imprint (2011) This is a book I have eagerly awaited. Year after year, Fortune posts its annual list…
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The Wisdom of Bees: What the Hive Can Teach Business About Leadership, Efficiency, and Growth Michael O’Malley Portfolio/Penguin (2010) “What they have done has worked for them”…and can work for us as well. I read this book when it was…
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