If It Ain’t Broke, Break It!

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If It Ain’t Broke, Break It!If it Ain’t Broke … Break It!: And Other Unconventional Wisdom for a Changing Business World
by Robert J. Kriegel

Before tickling our funny bones with his best-selling classic Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers, Bob Kriegel shared his unconventional wisdom with readers via this hard-to-put-down, uniquely humorous approach to the subject of change.

In this book, the author points out that today’s business people have to turn the old rules inside out, upside down, and backwards not only to succeed, but to survive! He shows us how to unlock the creative thinker within us, to work smarter, not harder, and to explore new and different paths. You will discover how to break the rules of business—and break away from the pack. 

You’ll enjoy hundreds of real-life examples of break-it thinking from the annals of Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Norwegian Cruise Lines, Apple Computer, The U.S. Olympic Team, PepsiCo., The L.A. Lakers, Procter & Gamble, Levi-Strauss, AT&T, L.L. Bean, The San Francisco 49ers, and many, many more.

You’ll laugh and learn with this must-have addition to any business library!

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 5.)

301 Ways to Have Fun at Work

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301 Ways to Have Fun at Work301 Ways to Have Fun at Work
by Dave Hemsath and Leslie Yerkes

It’s quite obvious that any employee would like to have more fun at work. However, it’s a little more of a challenge to convince management that creating a fun atmosphere in the workplace can increase productivity and morale while having a positive effect on the bottom line. In this fun-filled book, the authors will tell you how to do just that.

It’s one thing to have someone offer you their suggestions for improvement. In this book, however, the authors share examples from hundreds of companies that have found a wide variety of methods for focusing on fun within the work environment. They’ve developed Fun Icons which lead you through the book by identifying fun facts, fun resources, and fun quotes. They have included their twelve-step method to fun which they suggest you follow by implementing one step a month for a year.

They also offer a list of suggested readings—books they highly recommend for your reading pleasure and to aid you in your pursuit of fun at work.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 5.)

A Whack on the Side of the Head

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A Whack on the Side of the HeadA Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative
by Roger von Oech

Although first published in the early ’80s, this masterpiece has been enhanced and revised three times to provide cutting-edge approaches to becoming more creative in both your business and personal lives. It’s back—and better than ever—with more bright ideas and expanding exercises to bring its famous innovation boosters to a new generation.

Identifying the fundamentals of creative thinking, this book evolves around the ten mental locks that prevent you from being more creative. More importantly, you’ll learn how to unlock each as von Oech devotes an entire chapter to each of the ten while providing various exercises in support of his explanations.

Over the last two decades, the author has conducted a number of creativity workshops working with imaginative people in a variety of industries and disciplines. This book contains stories, anecdotes, insights, and ideas that evolved from those workshops.

This book should be read in combination with A Kick in the Seat of the Pants … and preferably read first. Just a suggestion. This is a book you’ll refer to often after your initial exposure.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 5.)

The 12 Simple Secrets of Microsoft Management

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The 12 Simple Secrets of Microsoft ManagementThe 12 Simple Secrets of Microsoft Management: How to Think and Act Like a Microsoft Manager and Take Your Company to the Top
by David Thielen

WAIT! Don’t skip this particular review because you lack interest in technology or maybe even despise Bill Gates. This book offers its readers a wealth of information, ideas, and strategies that can easily be adapted to any organization. It’s a quick read, very candid and to the point. 

You may admire him for his chutzpah or detest him for his audacity, but you can’t deny that Bill Gates has developed a company capable of dominating any market it resolves to enter. This is not an accident, contends David Thielen—a 20-year veteran of the technology industry who once toiled at Microsoft as a senior software developer on Windows 95 and other projects—and in fact stems directly from the chairman’s own unique attitudes on corporate administration.

The author reveals a dozen key elements he learned during three years at Microsoft. This book is an inside look at the way Gates and his lieutenants have successfully harnessed those particular practices that initially put the firm on the map and subsequently used them to build their business into one of the world’s largest. “Microsoft’s management style is its core strength,” writes the author. “There are other companies that produce better software, market better, and make fewer mistakes. However, no other large company manages its business as well.”

This book puts forth a convincing case for the competitive advantage that exists in Microsoft’s management style: a big company’s resources with a small company’s agility and focus. While other books talk about Microsoft’s success and what it has done, this books tells you how Microsoft became successful.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 5.)

Heads, You Win!

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Heads You WinHeads, You Win!: How the Best Companies Think-and How You Can Use Their Examples to Develop Critical Thinking Within Your Own Organization
by Quinn Spitzer and Roe Evans

Remember New Coke, The Walt Disney Company’s aborted theme park near the Manassas battlefield or AT&T’s acquisition of the NCR Corp? Were these merely the mistakes of individual decision makers, or do they represent larger, organizational deficiencies in critical thinking? How confident are you in the collective brainpower of your organization?

The most crucial task facing any business leader in today’s brutally competitive economy is to sharpen his or hers organization’s ability to effectively solve problems, make decisions, and cut through the information clutter. In this book, Kepner-Tregoe’s CEO Quinn Spitzer, and executive Ron Evans cite the experiences and share the advice of presidents and CEOs of some of the world’s most innovative companies—organizations like Johnson and Johnson, Chrysler Corp., British Airways, and Harley Davidson, Inc.—which are successful because they capitalize on the brainpower of every employee.

Filled with practical tips and techniques and lightened with amusing real-life anecdotes, this book is an indispensable tool for sorting through the complexities of running a business today and identifying the essential skills that determine a company’s success.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 5.)

Heart at Work

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Heart at WorkHeart at Work
by Jack Canfield and Jacqueline Miller

This is a priceless, best-selling collection of inspirational stories about bringing back self-esteem to the workplace and creating a happier environment that ultimately leads to greater productivity and profit. Compiled by Jack Canfield, co-author of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and Jacqueline Miller, this treasury of soulful wisdom shows leaders from every level how to use the power of self-esteem to empower, energize, and motivate their co-workers to bring out the best.

Overflowing with positive yet practical advice, proven strategies, and personal testimonies from every rung of the corporate ladder—from CEOs to busboys—Heart at Work is a much needed dose of inspiration for today’s increasingly impersonal workplace.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 5.)

1,001 Ways to Keep Customers Coming Back

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1,001 Ways to Keep Customers Coming Back1,001 Ways to Keep Customers Coming Back: WOW Ideas That Make Customers Happy and Will Increase Your Bottom Line
by Donna Greiner and Theodore Kinni

You can now have the customer-service secrets of the world’s most successful businesses right at your fingertips. The authors spent five years uncovering how Nordstrom, Southwest Airlines, Ritz-Carlton, American Express, and many other world-class companies keep their customers for life. You’ll find these customer-retention ideas to be timely, entertaining, and brilliantly inventive. You’ll discover the secrets to:

  • Creating products/services tailored to your customers’ needs
  • Using three kinds of guarantees to build customer trust
  • Turning first-time customers into frequent buyers 

This book identifies the companies and individuals who have found successful techniques, strategies, and programs that not only satisfy customers but keep them coming back and bringing others. It’s a quick, easy read that you’ll want to share with your entire staff.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 5.)

The Guru Guide

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The Guru GuideThe Guru Guide: The Best Ideas of the Top Management Thinkers
by Joseph Boyett and Jimmie Boyett

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had the time to read all of the business books that hit the best-seller list? Well, if you’re striving to make your mark in the business world, you simply don’t have that kind of time. However, it’s obvious that you do need the essential information they contain. You need to keep up with the latest business trends and understand emerging ideas and new terminology. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have concise, penetrating explanations of today’s most advanced thinking on business management and leadership.

In this easy-to-use primer, two internationally respected business consultants provide an executive summary of the most effective and successful management ideas put forth by the leading business thinkers and doers of our time: Peter Drucker, Stephen Covey, Warren Bennis, Michael Hammer, Margaret Wheatly, Peter Senge, and many more. They also give you:

  • Clear explanations of essential business terms, concepts, and theories
  • Profiles of more than 75 top management figures and their ideas
  • Cross-links to issues on which these gurus agree and disagree
  • Insightful commentaries and real-life case studies
  • Quick-reference charts, bulleted lists, chapter summaries, and other creative quick-learning tools.

The Guru Guide is a must for your personal and/or corporate library!

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 5.)

Everyone a Leader

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Everyone a LeaderEveryone a Leader: A Grassroots Model for the New Workplace
by Horst Bergmann, Kathleen Hurson, and Darlene Russ-Eft

For years now, AchieveMax® consultants, trainers, and speakers have promoted the idea that true leaders can and do emerge from every level of the organization. We have witnessed organizations that believe, promote, and benefit from this approach, and we have sadly observed companies that disbelieve, refuse to encourage, and pay the price as a result.

An employee doesn’t necessarily need a title, seniority or position to demonstrate leadership. Initiative, creativity, and ideas can and do come from every level of the organization. Imagine a company where every employee does what it takes to help his or her organization reach its goals! 

If chaos and confusion come to mind, think again! Spreading leadership and decision-making responsibilities liberates, inspires, and motivates everyone to achieve more and contribute the maximum—making a positive impact on both productivity and business results.

Based on a landmark study that involved 2,000 people across 450 organizations, Everyone a Leader explores the critical moments when employees at all levels step forward into leadership roles. The findings are summarized in five key strategies the authors call the CLIMB model of leadership effectiveness:

Create a compelling future
Let the customer drive the organization
Involve every mind
Manage work horizontally
Build personal credibility

The CLIMB model’s step-by-step tools for grassroots leaders build competencies such as presenting thoughts and ideas, listening proactively, giving recognition, managing priorities, turning conflict into collaboration, identifying and meeting unspoken customer needs, and many, many more.

To remain flexible and responsive in today’s dynamic, highly competitive marketplace, successful organizations recognize the critical need for greater flexibility, knowledge, and adaptability across the entire organization. To do so means everyone must learn to be a leader.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 5.)

Best Practices

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Best PracticesBest Practices: Building Your Business with Customer Focused Solutions
by Robert Hiebeler, Charles Ketteman, and Thomas B. Kelly

What makes the world’s top companies so adept at providing stellar customer service? How do they meet the needs of every customer and still turn healthy profits? And, most important, how can you adapt their practices to fit your business?

Thanks to more than six years of ongoing research and an investment of $30 million, Arthur Andersen has created its Global Best Practices Database to uncover breakthrough thinking at world-class companies. Now, in Best Practices, Arthur Andersen for the first time shares its understanding of how more than 40 best-practices companies focus on their customers, create growth, reduce cost, and increase profits. Managers of any business in any industry can adapt and apply what those companies do best.

Unlike most books based merely on an author’s own theories or limited anecdotal experience, Best Practices is backed up by 30,000 pages of active, documented data on hundreds of companies worldwide. This book concentrates primarily on customers and how to involve them in everything from the design of products and services to marketing, selling, and product delivery.

Perhaps the greatest value of the book lies in its linking of best practices to business processes, thereby encouraging managers to expand their thinking and engage in creative problem-solving with the help of insights from companies inside or outside their own industry. For example, the manager of a clothing store chain can study how Federal Express adapted the concept of just-in-time manufacturing to its rapid delivery of parts between supplier and customer. The owner of a small coffee shop chain might learn from American Express and Peapod how to target customers by offering particular products and predicting exactly when they will make their next purchases.

These and other examples will help business people diagnose the processes in place at their own companies and determine how best to improve them. Comprehensive and on the cutting edge, Best Practices will serve as an invaluable information resource.

(This book review was originally published in 2000 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 4.)