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Posted July 5, 2001 11:50 a.m. by katie
Today, one of my employees came to me with a solution to all my problems a cordless headset. With a cordless headset, I wouldnt be tied to my desk, and Id never miss a call when in the warehouse or customer service department, working alongside my employees. Theres nothing I dislike more than hearing my phone ring, knowing Ill 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. Youve 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, its time for you to read dotcalm.
You all know that I love airplane readsbooks 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 toolvoice mail, cell, laptop, etc.,when youre 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 strategyto disconnectuntil I had a baby, a screaming or sleeping child will completely disconnect you! Aint 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.
Posted July 5, 2001 11:38 a.m. by katie
Casino Moscow: A Tale of Greed and Adventure on Capitalisms 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 Carters 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 Liars Poker. You wont 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!
Posted June 5, 2001 11:36 a.m. by katie
God, do we need this book! Scott Ventrella, adjunct professor at Fordham Universitys Graduate School of Business, has taken Norman Vincent Peales classic, The Power of Positive Thinking, updated it to the 21st Century, and applied it to the business world. What is impressive about Ventrellas style is that the book still carries the old-fashioned, almost religious, or formal, tone of the original book.
The book begins with a nice introduction from Dr. Peales wife and ends with a useful application tool Ventrella calls the Professional Challenge Worksheet, which you can use to apply the ideas presented in the book to an actual challenge, problem or opportunity you are currently facing in your business life. In between, there are ten traits: optimism, enthusiasm, belief, integrity, courage, confidence, determination, patience, calmness, and focus.
I found the information on building calmness especially helpful. Some of the tips the author offers are fairly obvious, but are also concise and well-explained for instant understanding and application. Ventrella suggests that you deal with problems directly and immediately, empty you mind of worry, deal with the physical symptoms of stress quickly, take advantage of your belief and focus traits, control how you talk to yourself and others, and work towards greater balance in your life. Not bad advise. You will find in this nice airplane read a valuable addition to the ever-growing arsenal of books we need to read to help keep us sane.
Posted June 5, 2001 11:34 a.m. by katie
In the world of publishing, there arent many master editors, but Jonathan Karp of Random House is one, in my opinion. When I met with him in New York in early May, he handed me a book, saying he believed it to be perfect for my audience. After reading Reclaiming the Fire, I agree wholeheartedly. I usually dont read books on a subject like this because they are often vehicles for either a quick, simplistic answer, or a psychological thesis coated heavily in jargon. However, Id wager that Reclaiming the Fire will become a remarkable read for many JCS readers.
First, Ill let the author speak for himself. About his objective, Berglas writes: The book is designed to help people prevent the achievement of lifelong ambitions or dream jobs and vocations from causing debilitating psychological disorders. To this end I will examine a range of problems attributable to success and describe how to prevent or cure them. Now, some of you may be saying to yourself: Yeah, I wish my successes were my problem, opposed to my failures. I should be so lucky! Berglas is careful to point out, however, that we need to be skeptical of preconceived notions of success, emphasizing that a precursor to being inoculated against disease-causing consequences of success is familiarity with the dangers inherent in an uncritical acceptance of the myths surrounding success. This book is written with that goal as well.
The best way to get a handle on this book is to consider why Michael Jordan first retired to become a professional baseball player. Basically, Jordan had achieved everything he could in basketball, and simply needed more stimulation or excitement in his life. Most of us probably wondered why he risked his success to possibly fail as a baseball player, when in actuality, he was simply raising the bar, having accomplished his initial goal of perhaps being the greatest basketball player in history. Berglas tells stories of Olympic athletes who have undergone bouts of severe depression after they compete in the event they have spent their lives training for, sparing no thought to the future. Sure, our individual goals improving our typing speed, walking a 15-minute mile, taking a business course at the local community collegemay seem small in comparison to an Olympic medal, but they are no less important, and it is dangerous to believe that they may be unimportant. The author tells another story about a polar bear in the Baltimore zoo that was starving himself to death. Those who analyzed his behavior deduced that the bear was bored and just giving up because all of his food was given to him without any effort on his part. The keepers started hiding his food, making him work for it, and, as a result, the bear is now thriving. Becoming apathetic about life is a true risk we each face, and yes, I would agree with Berglas that it is a disease to be prevented.
Posted June 5, 2001 11:32 a.m. by katie
David Maister and 800-CEO-READ have been friends since 1993 when David published his first book, Managing the Professional Service Firm. That book was extremely well-received, we sold a ton of them, and the book continues to sell. It was one of the first books specifically looking at the professional service firm, years before Tom Peters started telling people that the professional service firm is the best model for tomorrows organization in any industry. We maintained our friendship during and following the release of Maisters Trusted Advisor, and I am thrilled to have the chance to support his newest effort. I am particularly excited about Practice What You Preach because the lessons learned in this book are fundamental to my own companys philosophy.
In his new book, Maister surveyed more than 5500 people from 139 offices in 29 firms in 15 countries. These offices are owned by one holding company and there are 15 different autonomous businesses represented. Employees were asked to rate 74 quality issues regarding their workplace. Then, the author studied the financial performance of each office by measuring an examination of margin, profit-per-employee, two-year growth in revenues, and two-year growth in profits. This exhaustive study generated some exciting conclusions. Ultimately, Maisters study reveals that financially successful businesses do better on virtually every aspect of employee attitudes, and those that do best employee attitudes are measurably more profitable. In addition, by raising employee satisfaction 20 percent a companys financial performance increases by more than 42 percent. Think about that.
Some of the common attitudes held by the more successful companies include: Management practices what it preaches; Management is trusted by those they manage; Each employees personal potential is being fulfilled and realized; Compensation systems are equitably managed; Firms hire right the first time. Can you say your company values these same attitudes?
One of the many issues I have with business books are they are way too long and they make statements that are not supported with data. This book is beautifully written and blessedly shortjust over 200 pagesand Maister has all the documentation needed to support his claims. This book is loaded with takeaways.
