800-CEO-READ Blog

Jack Covert Selects - The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork

The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork: Embrace Them and Empower Your Team by John C. Maxwell, Thomas Nelson Publisher, 250 Pages, $24.99 Hardcover, July 2001, ISBN 0785274340

Certain publishers generally publish a certain kind of book. Thomas Nelson, Inc. publishes, produces, and distributes books emphasizing Christian, inspirational and family value themes, and believes it is the largest commercial publisher of the Bible in English language translations. So you can imagine my surprise when, about 2 years ago, we started to frequently sell a title of theirs by John Maxwell, called The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. One of our clients began ordering 50 copies one month, then 100 copies, then back to 50. Slowly, other clients picked up on this book and we ultimately sold enough copies to put the book on our bestseller list.

Last month at the bookseller’s convention, I was excited to learn that John Maxwell has continued his look at the world of business. This time, he looks at teamwork. The 17 Indisputable Laws of Teamwork turns out to be a very good primer and provides stories of successful implementations of the process. The book is filled with quotes from LBJ to Mother Theresa about teamwork. But, if you are looking for a book to use to implement the process of teamwork, this isn’t for you (try Peter Scholte’s brilliant implementation book called The Team Handbook, 2nd Ed). Instead, this book is an easy-to-read look at what teamwork is all about and it will keep you focused and enthusiastic about your own teamwork success.

Jack Covert Selects - dotcalm

dotcalm: the search for sanity in a wired world by Debra Dinnocenzo & Richard Swegan, Berrett Koehler Publishing, 110 Pages, $14.95 Paperback, June 2001, ISBN 157675152X

Today, one of my employees came to me with a solution to all my problems – a cordless headset. With a cordless headset, I wouldn’t be tied to my desk, and I’d never miss a call when in the warehouse or customer service department, working alongside my employees. There’s nothing I dislike more than hearing my phone ring, knowing I’ll never get back to my office, pick up and put on my headset, before the call goes into voicemail. So many ways to stay connected. Voicemail. Email. Pager. Cell phone. Laptop. What a world! We can be anywhere, doing anything, and yet never be out of reach of our clients, co-workers, partners, bosses, secretaries, assistants…. But what is the drawback to this kind of connectedness? Unfortunately, staying connected also means we are rarely ‘disconnected’, and it also means that words, such as “calm”, “sanity”, and “balance”, pepper our vocabulary quite infrequently. You’ve seen that wine commercial where a group of 30-somethings meet for a relaxing dinner on the lake, and when a phone call comes in for one of the men, he decadently throws the cell phone into the water? Ever felt like doing that? Even while you are compelled to buy more and more technology to stay more and more connected? Well, then, it’s time for you to read dotcalm.

You all know that I love “airplane reads”—books that can be read on a flight from Chicago to NYC or LA, gets to the point quickly, and still provides the reader with essential information. Dotcalm encapsulates my vision of the perfect “airplane read”. As you read, you will have moments of enlightenment, moments when the authors describe circumstances you have lived and experienced exactly as they describe it. Here, I must acknowledge that I am one of the people they interviewed in the research for this book. I also must acknowledge that I am not one of the enlightened ones, that I rarely disconnect, but we all have to start somewhere, and I will use this book to move toward a saner life.

In their research, the authors have discovered three major trends that dictate our lives in this crazed, connected world: Access Overload, Information Overload, and Work Overload. Now, limiting access, information, and work would take an awful lot of willpower, but it would also allow me to go on vacation with my wife without a cell phone riding shotgun. The authors provide excellent assistance to help overcome overload, including a website that makes available all of the worksheets in the book. Great idea, because you can share the book with co-workers and reuse the worksheets–-wait a minute, I am supposed to sell books…. The book has a multitude of takeaways, pages and pages of practical advice. Examples? Use only one technological tool—voice mail, cell, laptop, etc.,—when you’re on personal time; voice mail always comes first, as the higher priority items wait in your voice mail; use the “Delete” button early and often (my personal favorite).

Throughout the book, the authors intersperse quotes gathered from their research interviews. The quotes add a realism to the book, as in: “I had no strategy—to disconnect—until I had a baby, a screaming or sleeping child will completely disconnect you!” Ain’t that the truth. I think the story that really captures the point of this book is the one by James J. Cramer, CEO of thestreet.com. He tells of the day he got his priorities straight during a very intense day of his life. It is a great story and this is a great book that could, if you let it, change your life, too.

Jack Covert Selects - Casino Moscow

Casino Moscow: A Tale of Greed and Adventure on Capitalism’s Wildest Frontier by Matthew Brzezinski, The Free Press, 300 Pages, $25.00, Hardcover, July 2001, ISBN: 0684869764

When the galley of Casino Moscow came across my desk, I had hopes that this book would be fun. I put the book in a place of honor, the spot that I look to whenever I am on the phone and put on hold. I was right. This is the BEACH read of the summer. Last year, I told you about a book called The Informant, later featured on Dateline, which was about the ADM price fixing scandal. This book is an equally compelling read about what it was like to live in Moscow in the last years of the twentieth century.

The author, whose uncle is Zbigniew Brzezinski (for you young ‘uns, he was Jimmy Carter’s national security advisor), tells of beginning his career as a Wall Street Journal stinger in the Ukraine. While in the Ukraine, he was sent by his bosses to report on the opening of the Ukrainian stock exchange. Capitalism was slow to take hold and the total volume the first day was one transaction for $7,340. There, he was almost being killed because a thug thought he had money because he was a foreigner. Ultimately, the article he wrote about the attack got him noticed by his bosses and he was then offered a job in Moscow. The author tells amazing and irreverant stories of wealth (or the lack thereof) and how a small group of bankers controls much of the Russian economy.

He tells an especially humorous story about constantly being stopped by the police for traffic offenses where fines are paid on the spot. There are four cops in Moscow for every cop in NYC and make only $150 a month. His favorite reason for one fine was a fifty thousand ruble fine for “an improperly stored tool kits.” Of course, there is great seriousness behind these funny stories, the corruption and violence and disregard for all citizens but the rich. On the whole, this is a fun read following in the footsteps of Liar’s Poker. You won’t believe what you are reading, but the author writes so well that you are forced to believe it. Get out that lawn chair, pour an iced tea, and dig in!