Posts Tagged ‘Book’

“Open Leadership”
by: Charlene Li
ISBN: 978-0-470-59726-2

Every once in a while you come across a new book that just knocks the ball out of the park.  And, so it is with Charlene Li’s Open Leadership.  As an active proponent of social media I’ve read a number of books on the topic.  Yet Open Leadership is the first that has a presented a practical, pragmatic, and far-reaching discussion about how to integrate it into the fabric of existing companies.  Not only how, but why, and why now!

Someone looking to do a ‘power-reading’ of the book might tend to dismiss it as a social media ‘how-to’ manual after the first couple chapters.  There’s much more to it though.

Social media is the book’s consistent thread and is pervasive throughout. Yet it’s not about social media itself.  Social media is the contemporary reference to a broad sea change involving how we communicate.  This communication has made it as easy for the CEO to interact directly with customers as it is for the individual employee, and that employee with the CEO his or herself.  When it seems everyone can communicate with everyone else, how can you effectively lead anything? This is the crux of Open Leadership.

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Two things triggered the following post today. First, was a stop at the local mall. Second, was happening across an online article on ereaders.

This afternoon my wife and I happened by the local Apple store. It was my wife’s first iPad interaction. She’s seen, and briefly used, my Sony eReader PRS-505. She ‘gets’ the eReader. Over lunch, I was surprised when she asked me where the iPad ‘fit,’ and who it was best suited for.

Darn good question…as the sole device for someone…it’s a narrow market. I think she said it right. In her mind the iPad’s a luxury device. Most of us need a computer first, iPad later. It’s been said elsewhere, of course. But I found it very interesting coming from someone who focus is elsewhere; not worrying about ‘iPad dominance’ or ebooks and ereaders..

Eventually, Read the rest of this entry »

“The Real Secret to Finding a Job: Make Me Money or Save Me Money!”
by: Rick Gillis
ISBN: 142519138X

A friend put me in touch with Rick Gillis a few weeks ago and he sent me a copy of his book in electronic form (Thank You).  The primary focus is Rick’s making the case for an updated resume format in light of contemporary, online job search tools.

Gillis outlines the concept of what he has trademarked, the ‘Pre-Resume.’ This is a one-page resume emphasizing minimal contact information, selected achievements, and only (if applicable) the most recent 20 years of work history.

The basis and justification for his Pre-Resume are laid out as he discusses online and resume filtering systems, the need for keywords, and chapter’s specific to the needs of IT professionals, entry-level, Professional Mom’s, and the like.

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“How We Decide”
by: Jonah Lehrer
ISBN: 978-0-618-62011-1

Thinking about how we think.  That’s the gist of Jonah Lehrer’s book, “How We Decide.”

I’ve read books in the past about how the brain works. What the amygdala does, what the prefrontal cortex does, and so on. They’ve all been rather clinical, dry in nature.  Certainly not engaging. In surprising contrast, Lehrer has not only crafted a book on the topic of the brain and it’s constituent parts, he also puts it all in context of our daily lives.

Going all the way back to Plato’s day

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By now, almost all of us have encountered an electronic book, or ebook. In simplest form, an ebook can simply be a multi-page document available as a plain text file. More often, you’ll find them as Adobe PDF files you can view on your computer which, when displayed, look exactly like they would if printed out. Even I am experimenting with them as part of this blog.

Recently I came across a question, asking, what the difference may be between an ebook you can download, versus one accessible online? At the same time, what might it mean to the publishing business? An interesting question as I look at my favorite recliner for doing reading.

There are two subtleties here and they are tied to the ‘type’ of ebook in question. The first are what I think of as ‘informational’ ebooks. Examples might include white papers, case studies, academic efforts, and other ‘informational’ type ebooks. Many Harvard Business Review publications might fall in this category for instance. Some are free, some are not.

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As is the tradition this time of year, we exchange gifts.  Some years it is harder than others to find a gift to give, especially for you, friends, colleagues, and visitors to my blog.  This year, has turned out to be easier than most.

Earlier this month, Seth Godin released a free ebook, “What Matters Now.”  It is a real gem of contemporary wisdom, a collection of one-page essays by over seventy of today’s recognized big thinkers.  To give you an idea, just a sampling of the contributors includes: Tom Peters, Fred Wilson, Tim O’Reilly, Elizabeth Gilbert, David Meerman Scott, Chris Anderson, and Guy Kawasaki. (Links for your convenience, I have no monetary interests.)

I’ve really enjoyed reading this compilation of fresh thought.  It’s down to earth, refreshing, and thought provoking.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Merry Christmas!

ps: Thank you to Seth Godin and all of What Matters Now’s contributors.

“Never Eat Alone”
by: Keith Ferrazzi
ISBN: 0-385-51205-8

A note to my father:

Hey Dad,

I can’t recall if I bought this, you gave it to me, or what. But having finished reading it, thought I’d share some thoughts with you.

For one, the title caused me to pass it by in favor of other books for quite a while. After all, just what I needed, another ‘networking’ book, but focused on making sure you took someone to lunch every day. Short story, not sure I need to read 300 pages on the topic. Having done so now, I’m pleased to have read it–should’ve done it sooner.

Keith has written one of my favorite books on the mechanics, personal experiences of connecting with others. He openly shares his knowledge and, as important, his most embarrassing mistakes too. Some I can really relate to, others I’m glad to have sidestepped, yet others serve as good warnings into the future.

Ferrazzi’s woven perhaps the most complete tapestry of its type in a down to earth fashion that everyone can benefit from. It helped I had already come to be in line with some of his thinking–being successful is less about title, income, and position. Successful, being happy, is more about the value of relationships with the people you know, how you can help them, how you can be both mentor and mentee.

Posting a review on Amazon, I find myself wishing they provided more of a ranking system, rather than the simple Recommend Yes/No option presented. On a scale of 1-5, I’d give this a 5.

Cheers

“Free”
by Chris Anderson
ISBN: 978-1-4013-2290-8

A couple weeks ago at my local bookstore, I happened across Chris Anderson’s (Editor of Wired) new book, “Free.” Anderson’s book is focused on the notion that due to abundance, digital content of all types tends to gravitate toward becoming ‘free,’ or, as inexpensive as to not be worth measuring. Case in point, when was the last time you worried about how many MB or GB of data you downloaded last month? He contrasts today’s digital economics (bits and bytes) with those of the atom-based world (physical stuff).

Rather than do a ‘review’ I want to look at my own experiences and how they compare to being ‘free.’ Read the rest of this entry »

“presentationzen”
by Garr Reynolds
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-52565-9
ISBN-10: 0-321-52565-5

Can you relate to this? You’re attending a meeting, having spent a half-day getting there, its mid-to-late afternoon, and the presentation starts. The first slide features a blue background, too-small black font, and a slide counter in the corner promising you 143 slides. You groan. 5 slides into the presentation, you’re enjoying a slide with two columns of bullets, corporate logo(s), and you’re magically at slide 14/143.

Unfortunately, I’ve encountered this scenario more times than once. One time, my own boss was the offender. Doing my best to be kind, I pointed out his colors and font selection were terrible, I was simply met with, ‘…what’s wrong? I think it looks great!’ Read the rest of this entry »

Closework, Consulting

“Closework”
by Adam Lury, Simon Gibson
ISBN-13: 9781904879008

This is a business novel commissioned by Celerant Consulting. The essence of the book has merit, success comes by virtue of better -doing-; less so from smarter ‘thinking.’  While I did find the book worth having read, I’d rate it a 6 out of 10, overall.

If you’re interested in consulting, particularly for Celerant, then this book serves three basic roles: *Introduction for potential candidates; *Corporate values intro for new hires; and, *primer for customers looking to engage Celerant.

You won’t find this in a bookstore; you’ll need to specifically know about it and place an order.