Book Reviews
Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language Patricia T. O’Connor and Stewart Kellerman Random House (2009) “What’s another word for ‘thesaurus’?” Steven Wright Patricia O’Connor and Stewart Kellerman have co-authored a book in which they examine…
Read MoreBreaking Through: Communicating to Open Minds, Move Hearts, and Change the World Sally Susman Harvard Business Review Press (March 2023) “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” Oscar Wilde As I began to read this book, I was reminded of another,…
Read MoreIdeaflow: The Only Business Metric That Matters Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn Portfolio/Penguin ( “If you’ve always done it that way, it’s probably wrong.” Charles Kettering There are several metrics that matter but the one to which this book’s subtitle…
Read MoreOn Belonging: Finding Connection in an Age of Isolation Kim Samuel Abrams Press (September 2022) You are large, you contain multitudes…just like everyone else. The title of this brief commentary channels a reassurance from Walt Whitman in “Song of Myself.”…
Read MoreHow to Lead Your Family Business: Excelling Through Unexpected Crises, Choices, and Challenges Julie Charlestein Matt Holt/An Imprint of Bella Books (February 2023) Timely and timeless advice that is practical, principled, and results-driven For about 20 years, I worked closely…
Read MoreMixed Signals: How Incentives Really Work Uri Gneezy Yale University Press (2023) A brilliant analysis of “the interaction of important agendas” Many years ago, I realized that I could not motivate other people but I could help some people to…
Read MoreRevolutionary Roads: Searching for the War That Made America Independent…and All the Places It Could Have Gone Terribly Wrong Bob Thompson Twelve (February 2023) Here is a “ridiculously ambitious, one-person staff ride of the Revolutionary War” Bob Thompson may characterize…
Read MoreThe Dawn of Innovation: The First American Industrial Revolution Charles R. Morris PublicAffairs (2012) How the story of U.S. business development “can be charted as an evolution from local to regional and finally national networks” Note: The material in this…
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