Book Reviews

Origins of the Specious: A book review by Bob Morris

April 11, 2023

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…

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Breaking Through : A book review by Bob Morris

April 6, 2023

Breaking 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,…

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Ideaflow: A book review by Bob Morris

April 5, 2023

Ideaflow: 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…

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On Belonging: A book review by Bob Morris

April 3, 2023

On 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.”…

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How to Lead Your Family Business: A book review by Bob Morris

March 28, 2023

How 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…

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Mixed Signals: A book review by Bob Morris

March 26, 2023

Mixed 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…

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Revolutionary Roads: A book review by Bob Morris

March 18, 2023

Revolutionary 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…

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The Future Normal: A book Review by Bob Morris

March 17, 2023

The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade Ronit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason Ideapress Publishing (March 2023) “What got you here won’t get you there.” Marshall Goldsmith I agree with Marshall Goldsmith. In fact,…

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The Dawn of Innovation: A book review by Bob Morris

March 16, 2023

The 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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The Everyday Feminist: A book review by Bob Morris

March 15, 2023

The Everyday Feminist: The Key to Sustainable Social Impact — Driving Movements We Need Now More than Ever Latanya Mapp Frett Wiley (March 2023) What the unique and under-utilized power of collective feminism can accomplish every day In this book,…

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