$27.95
Customize It
Hardcover
270 pages
ISBN 9781591842774 Published Dec. 2009
Portfolio
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Posted April 15, 2010 9:52 a.m. by jon
In - 800 CEO Read Blog
With developments in technology, and the effects they are having on our lives; how we think, research, question, and seek, there's a lot to be said about how we're changing how we work and interact. Two recent books address that through the definition of 'Pull,' David Siegel's Pull: The Power of the Semantic Web to Transform Your Business and John Hagel III, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison's The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion.
Siegel's book talks about how the web is changing, and how it will infiltrate more and more into our lives though our interaction with it (working in the cloud) and physical material (ex. buildings ordering their own supplies). It's important to understand these changes in order to adapt our businesses to them. Because, as Siegel states, "It isn't going to be easy, and you don't have any choice." As unpleasant as that sounds, our jobs will change drastically, and the effort of change will reveal many rewards with how we interact with customers, provide better services, and survive in the world going forward.
The lack of choice that Siegel mentions is reflected in Hagel, Brown, and Davison's focus on how the concept of pull requires personal commitment, ambition, and voluntary action. The author's state:
"Pull is a very different approach, one that works at three primary levels, each of which builds on the others. At the most basic level, pull helps us to find and access people and resources when we need them. At a second level, pull is the ability to attract people and resources to you that are relevand and valuable, even if you wer not even aware before that they existed. Think here of serendipity rather than search. Finally, in a world of mounting pressure and unforeseen opportunities, we need to cultivate a third level of pull-the ability to pull from within ourselves the insight and performance required to more effectively achieve our potential."
The lesson here is that push programs tell you what to do, and pull programs give you the opportunity to coordinate your own knowledge and experience. Both books provide great insight into the quickly changing world of information. On the surface, they are books about technology and business, but on a deeper level, reveal much more about the future of communication, culture, and people.
The Portfolio Catalog & Business Beat
Posted Nov. 6, 2009 3:43 a.m. by dylan
In Publishing Industry - 800 CEO Read Blog
Being the publisher of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, we're obviously fond of the folks at Portfolio. Beyond the personal connection, though, we feel they have consistently put out some of most intriguing books in the business genre over the past decade, and continue to do so. The list below contains the titles coming out of that publishing house in hardcover before year end. (In the interest of full disclosure, I nabbed this list from the Portfolio Javelin blog.)
- Working for You Isn’t Working for Me: The Ultimate Guide to Managing Your Boss by Katherine Crowley & Kathi Elster
On Sale 9/24
- Maestro: A Surprising Story About Leading by Listening by Roger Nierenberg
On Sale 10/15
- I Love You More Than My Dog: Five Decisions that Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad by Jeanne Bliss
On Sale 10/15
- The Curse of the Mogul: What’s Wrong with the World’s Leading Media Companies by Jonathan Knee, Bruce Greenwald, & Ava Seave
On Sale 10/15
- The Unforced Error: Why Some Managers Get Promoted While Others Get Eliminated by Jeffrey A. Krames
On Sale 10/15
- Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action by Simon Sinek
On Sale 10/29
- The Dollar Meltdown: Surviving the Impending Currency Crisis with Gold, Oil, and Other Unconventional Investments by Charles Goyette
On Sale 10/29
- You Are What You Choose: The Habits of Mind that Really Determine How We Make Decisions by Scott de Marchi & James T. Hamilton
On Sale 11/12
- The Buyout of America: How Private Equity Will Cause the Next Great Credit Crisis by Josh Kosman
On Sale 11/12
- No Size Fits All: From Mass Marketing to Mass Handselling by Tom Hayes & Michael S. Malone
On Sale 11/12
- Inside Obama’s Brain by Sasha Abramsky
On Sale 12/10
- Unfolding the Napkin: The Hands-On Method for Solving Complex Problems with Simple Pictures by Dan Roam
On Sale 12/30
- The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures (Expanded) by Dan Roam
On Sale 12/31
- Live It, Love It, Earn It: A Woman’s Guide to Financial Freedom by Marianna Olszewski
On Sale 12/31
- Money Talks, Bullsh*t Walks: Inside the Contrarian Mind of Billionare Mogul Sam Zell by Ben Johnson
On Sale 12/31
- The Little Blue Book of Marketing: Build a Killer Plan in Less than a Day by Steve Lance and Paul Kurnit
On Sale 12/31
- Can They Do That?: Retaking Our Fundamental Rights in the Workplace by Lewis Maltby
On Sale 12/31
- Pull: The Power of the Semantic Web to Transform Your Business by David Siegel
On Sale 12/31
- The Active Asset Allocator: How ETFs Can Supercharge Your Portfolio by Jennifer Woods
On Sale 12/31
And, if you haven't checked out The Business Beat over at Penguin's From the Publisher's Office website, you really should (Jack is a regular contributor to the feature). This month you'll hear Simon Sinek talk about his new book, Start with Why (listed above), and Jack discuss Max DePree's calssic, Leadership Is an Art. The latest episode is embedded below. If you like our blog, you'll love The Business Beat.
