Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business
By Patrick Lencioni, 2004
Reviewed 24 Aug, 2004
Meetings can be a waste of time for a number of reasons: no agenda, poor discipline, no follow-up, and no focus. This book presents five different meeting formats to follow and gives us a good understanding of when each is appropriate. A good read in Lencioni’s typical “fable” format.
The Value Factor: How Global Leaders Use Information for Growth and Competitive Advantage
By Hurd, Mark & Lars Nybers, 2004, Bloomberg Press
Reviewed 23 Jul, 2004
n the words of the authors “the number one risk factor in any organization is lack of accurate information. This applies to assessing communications strategy customer costs and customer profitability. This book also contains an excellent list of value metrics for different parts of the organization.
Breakthrough: How Great Companies Set Outrageous Objectives and Achieve Them
By Bill Davidson, 2004, John Wiley & Sons
Reviewed 23 Jul, 2004
Bill Davidson presents an excellent vision of how senior teams can work together and develop breakthrough strategies and objectives for firms.
The Winner’s Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life,
By Richard H. Thaler, 1992, The Free Press
Reviewed 23 Jul, 2004
This book is a must read for any firm that is getting involved in reverse auctions or aggressive bidding situations with customers. It outlines how many firms win the order but lose in the long run.
Revenue Management: Hard-Cord Tactics for Market Domination
By Robert G Cross, 1997, Broadway Books
Reviewed 23 Jul, 2004
Bob Cross is the father of yield management. This books describes his early work with the airlines and how the tactic has evolved with use.
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
By Malcolm Gladwell, 2000, Oxford University Press
Reviewed 23 Jul, 2004
This book outlines the basics for making programs “sticky” in organizations, a great way to avoid the “program of the month” syndrome.
The Market Driven Organization: Understanding, Attracting and Keeping Valuable Customers
By George S. Day, 1999, The Free Press
Reviewed 23 Jul, 2004
George Day outlines the differences in “top down” vs. bottom-up strategic process and which is needed for various market conditions.
Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World
By Margaret J. Wheatley, 1999, Brett Koehler Publishers
Reviewed 23 Jul, 2004
This excellent book reviews the basics of organic organizations and why they are needed in today’s fast-moving competitive markets. This is the second read for firms evolving to a bottoms-up strategic process.
The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World
By Peter Schwartz, 1991, Doubleday
Reviewed 23 Jul, 2004
One of the best firms in long-term “contingency planning” is Shell Oil. This book provides an inside view on what Shell did to achieve such ground-breaking capabilities.