Tuesday, August 12, 2008
"Parkour," as promised from our meeting today
Even though it is eight "long" minutes long, if you watch most of it you'll see how the subject "moves" in, around and through obstacles. In the "Harvard" book, "Parkour" was given as the metaphor for "moving" through difficult conversations, negotiating the "difficult terrain" such conversations bring us. The jist? Learning to assess the "road" immediately ahead and having (learning) the capability and nimbleness to see each obstacle ahead as "opportunity" for forward progress.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Dream Manager
The Business Book Club Core group met this past month to discuss Dream Manager by Matthew Kelly. The following is a compilation of thoughts that were consistent across the group.
The group all came away with a new piece of knowledge from reading the book of the value of dreaming for your business - particularly among your employees. More than one person cited the idea that "structure dreaming" can bring results to both the employee and the business.
The first of these garnered much ink from the written responses of the group. Included in these was the realization that a company can help employees reach their own dreams even if it is outside of company. In doing so, the company fosters greater loyalty from its workforce and doesn't have to suffer the hurt of turnover.
There is real benefit from structured dreaming for the business as well. The one item recommended by the author that was cited in almost all the responses was to begin the Dream Book!
As with all the books, the group was asked what the ROI would be from reading this book. The responses ranged from "I'm going to be dreaming," to starting a dream book, to a really good piece of advice from the book "you can't expect an employee to do for your company what they won't do for themselves."
The book was almost universally recommended by the group partially because it is a relatively short book and easy read, but all found something of value in these pages.
The group all came away with a new piece of knowledge from reading the book of the value of dreaming for your business - particularly among your employees. More than one person cited the idea that "structure dreaming" can bring results to both the employee and the business.
The first of these garnered much ink from the written responses of the group. Included in these was the realization that a company can help employees reach their own dreams even if it is outside of company. In doing so, the company fosters greater loyalty from its workforce and doesn't have to suffer the hurt of turnover.
There is real benefit from structured dreaming for the business as well. The one item recommended by the author that was cited in almost all the responses was to begin the Dream Book!
As with all the books, the group was asked what the ROI would be from reading this book. The responses ranged from "I'm going to be dreaming," to starting a dream book, to a really good piece of advice from the book "you can't expect an employee to do for your company what they won't do for themselves."
The book was almost universally recommended by the group partially because it is a relatively short book and easy read, but all found something of value in these pages.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Financial Intelligence
The Business Book Club met and discussed Financial Intelligence by Karen Berman, Joe Knight, John Case. The book was essentially a helpful guide to managers to help them make heads and tails of all the numbers that represent the art of accounting.
Most of the group reported a high ROI in going through the text with a lot of comments based around the idea of being more skeptical of financial statements and focusing in on certain key concepts to help make money judgements. Among the highlights members related were:
Cash is king!
Understanding the impact and possible value of "goodwill."
How knowing more about the financials can actually help with employee relations.
The group was in consensus that this was a good read for a topic that can often be dry. They were suitably impressed that interest was high in another title in the Financial Intelligence series due out this Fall.
Most of the group reported a high ROI in going through the text with a lot of comments based around the idea of being more skeptical of financial statements and focusing in on certain key concepts to help make money judgements. Among the highlights members related were:
Cash is king!
Understanding the impact and possible value of "goodwill."
How knowing more about the financials can actually help with employee relations.
The group was in consensus that this was a good read for a topic that can often be dry. They were suitably impressed that interest was high in another title in the Financial Intelligence series due out this Fall.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Re-Imagine
The Core Group of the Business Book Club met recently and discussed Tom Peter's Re-Imagine a graphically stunning book put out by DK where the well-known business consultants rants through twenty-five chapters on what he hates, what he likes and what he believes will happen. The following is taken from comments from the group as they approached the work.
The first thing that turned up in the comments of the group was despite the visual stylings of the book it was not the easiest thing to read. A few mentioned having to take a second shot at getting through it because they felt there was value there. There seemed to be broad agreement that this was barrier for reading the book. As for the content, the group found many things that seemed to spark their interest including:
The group seemed all in all positive about the book and most comments indicated that owning a copy of Re-Imagine was a good thing.
The first thing that turned up in the comments of the group was despite the visual stylings of the book it was not the easiest thing to read. A few mentioned having to take a second shot at getting through it because they felt there was value there. There seemed to be broad agreement that this was barrier for reading the book. As for the content, the group found many things that seemed to spark their interest including:
- This book was good for rethinking innovation
- Really does a good job of portraying today's business world
- Volunteer for the crappy jobs
- How women may be well-suited to the new business world
- Rewarding entrepreneurship within your organization above all else
- Peters seemed to be undecided on what the most important thing to focus on was
- Some of the concepts seemed more useful to big business than small business
- The presentation style was difficult
The group seemed all in all positive about the book and most comments indicated that owning a copy of Re-Imagine was a good thing.
Monday, March 17, 2008
21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
The Business Book Club met to discuss one of the all time bestselling leadership books - John Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.
The group noted the book was a relatively "easy" read and enjoyed the conversational style. While there were many great takeaways, one item that was on every book club member list was a renewed attention to empowering others as a key to success. Among the comments in answering the question What knowledge have you gained from the book that you will put into practice:
"Learning to invest in my people and understand their unique abilities."
"Empowering others. Lead by example."
"Reminder: Focus on the top 20% of [my] people."
"Surround yourself with positive thinkers."
All are great reflections on Maxwell's 21 laws. The two other thoughts that were particularly interesting was a note that this is a great book for new leaders, and that one of our group thought some of the laws could be combined. Whether or not you agree, it is clear that Maxwell and his 21 Laws certainly made an impression on the Core Group.
The group noted the book was a relatively "easy" read and enjoyed the conversational style. While there were many great takeaways, one item that was on every book club member list was a renewed attention to empowering others as a key to success. Among the comments in answering the question What knowledge have you gained from the book that you will put into practice:
"Learning to invest in my people and understand their unique abilities."
"Empowering others. Lead by example."
"Reminder: Focus on the top 20% of [my] people."
"Surround yourself with positive thinkers."
All are great reflections on Maxwell's 21 laws. The two other thoughts that were particularly interesting was a note that this is a great book for new leaders, and that one of our group thought some of the laws could be combined. Whether or not you agree, it is clear that Maxwell and his 21 Laws certainly made an impression on the Core Group.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Speed of Trust
The Core Group met and discussed Stephen M.R. Covey's Speed of Trust on February 11th, 2008.
While there were a few comments suggesting that Covey may have rambled a bit through the book, the group had an overall positive response to his ideas. Among the takeaways from the group were:
Integrity and results are both important. You must have both to be a long term success.
That trust is a concept business owners can spend more consideration on both in terms of customers and employees. It is often important to remember how important trust is particularly after an experience that may strain someone's ability to trust in the business world.
The idea of behaving your way to where you want to go was a very intriguing idea to the discussion. This came out of the one of the middle parts of the book that listed 13 behaviors that impacted Relationship Trust.
One of the members compared the book both to the ideas of earlier books Blink by Malcolm Gladwell and Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer.
The group also loved the quotes used throughout the book. One that was used by at least two of the members is from Ronald Reagan, "trust, but verify." This may best sum up thoughts of the group about the book and the impact it may have in their businesses.
While there were a few comments suggesting that Covey may have rambled a bit through the book, the group had an overall positive response to his ideas. Among the takeaways from the group were:
Integrity and results are both important. You must have both to be a long term success.
That trust is a concept business owners can spend more consideration on both in terms of customers and employees. It is often important to remember how important trust is particularly after an experience that may strain someone's ability to trust in the business world.
The idea of behaving your way to where you want to go was a very intriguing idea to the discussion. This came out of the one of the middle parts of the book that listed 13 behaviors that impacted Relationship Trust.
One of the members compared the book both to the ideas of earlier books Blink by Malcolm Gladwell and Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer.
The group also loved the quotes used throughout the book. One that was used by at least two of the members is from Ronald Reagan, "trust, but verify." This may best sum up thoughts of the group about the book and the impact it may have in their businesses.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Subaru
You're right Rick, makes me want to consider consider a Subaru for the next vehicle. Powerful commercial for the Cultural Creatives.
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