Book Description
On average, a physician will interrupt a patient describing her symptoms within eighteen seconds. In that short time, many doctors decide on the likely diagnosis and best treatment. Often, decisions made this way are correct, but at crucial moments they can also be wrong -- with catastrophic consequences. In this myth-shattering book, Jerome Groopman pinpoints the forces and thought processes behind the decisions doctors make. Groopman explores why doctors err and shows when and how they can -- with our help -- avoid snap judgments, embrace uncertainty, communicate effectively, and deploy other skills that can profoundly impact our health. This book is the first to describe in detail the warning signs of erroneous medical thinking and reveal how new technologies may actually hinder accurate diagnoses. How Doctors Think offers direct, intelligent questions patients can ask their doctors to help them get back on track.
Groopman draws on a wealth of research, extensive interviews with some of the country's best doctors, and his own experiences as a doctor and as a patient. He has learned many of the lessons in this book the hard way, from his own mistakes and from errors his doctors made in treating his own debilitating medical problems.
How Doctors Think reveals a profound new view of twenty-first-century medical practice, giving doctors and patients the vital information they need to make better judgments together.
Customer Reviews:
A great look into the real world of medical care........2007-10-07
As an incoming first year medical student, I wanted to read a doctor's take on the behind-the-scenes work of medicine. What I got was an eye-opening and honest look at doctors, not as white-coated diagnosing machines, but as human beings with faults who are just trying to do their best. It is an excellent book both for those in medicine or who are going into medicine, as well as for laypeople who just want to get a better idea of where their doctor is coming from the next time they have an appointment.
An Important Examination of the Problem Solving Process.......2007-10-02
I stumbled across this book in the library. My son has been sick for years, and I thought this might help. Dr. Groopman does an excellent job of helping the reader understand the process that doctors use to diagnose an illness, and thus how the more difficult cases are misdiagnosed. The case studies that he presents draw the reader in, so there are many short stories within the longer narrative. As an engineer I have seen the same mistakes made in solving complicated problems. I suspect a similar book could be written about solving difficult crimes, or problems in manufacturing. I directly applied the ideas in working with my son's doctors, and it was part of the solution to an accurate diagnosis and better treatment. I have mentioned the book to many friends and have now purchased two copies.
Solutions at last?.......2007-09-30
The experience is common and can be more than frustrating. Something is wrong, the doctors don't listen (you are in and you are out and there was no time to ask questions) and they don't know what's wrong so say there is nothing wrong. This is the pathway to suicide.
Groopman does not give you the solutions but helps you find some. If this is not always a page turner, it is none-the-less easy reading that takes the layman into the doctors mind and shows how the doctor works. Current research is used, with a set of readable notes replacing the usual bibliography.
The layman and the doctor will both find the book full of really helpful hints.
As a person in health administration, I believe professionals would also find this book useful.
How Doctors think........2007-09-30
Extremely intresting,informative and reveling.It makes you think twice before useing medical services.At least it forces you to prepere yourself.Ingi Th. Vigfusson.
An absolute MUST for new docs!!.......2007-09-30
A refreshing respite from highly technical and dry textbooks, this book is easy to read, flows very well and addresses the issue that a new doctor fears the most - how can I honor the "first, do no harm" vow that I took and still manage to effectively diagnose and treat my patients? Many of the pitfalls of erroneous thinking are presented here, not in a way that makes the fear of failure worse, but rather in a manner that reassures the new doctor that all doctors have been through this before and found a way to structure their "doctor thinking" so that fewer mistakes are made and more diagnoses are correct. BRAVO to a doctor with not only the courage to put it out there in plain language but also with the foresight to provide roadsigns to recognizing the error patterns and ways to counter them.
Product Description
James Arthur Ray presents a proven step-by-step method for creating true prosperity and harmony in life, based upon timeless laws and principles. With penetrating insights and straightforward concepts, James gives you the tools necessary to tap into your own spiritual power center. A simple book that is by no means simplistic, combining fun stories and powerful anecdotes, The Science of Success gives you the power and the wisdom to create the life of your dreams.
Customer Reviews:
Action is Key.......2007-10-10
I enjoyed this advice because unlike the mindless lazy wishing and narcissistic bent of 'The Secret' pap, this book illustrates how important action is in attaining dreams.
I also appreciate that James stresses how riches don't mean anyhting compared to souls and our true selves.
He himself has said the bulk of his words were heavily edited for The Secret video.
He makes great points and this is a highly valuable work.
The Science of Success.......2007-10-08
I have read and re-read this book over 10 times in the last 8 years! Excellent style for the text of the science of success. If you are tired of "feeling" your way to success James Ray breaks down the steps and mental disciplines needed to achieve your desires. I recommend this book to everyone wanting more out of their life.
More than worth the read.......2007-10-08
Looking for a great book, then you have found it here. This book is a must have if you are looking for ways to improve your life. Easy to read and understand, up to you to apply. Read it again and again. Sharing it is also a great idea.
Less than One Star would be better.......2007-10-06
Here we have yet another one of those dreary, drudging works which offers HOPE to the confused and the lacking. I found a relative of mine reading this item and asked to borrow it. After going through it, I came to the conclusion that this information is infantile to say the least. It is written to appeal to wide-eyed yearners who feel left out of the excitement and pleasures that life today seems to contain. Unfortunately for the yearners, there is absolutely NOTHING to be found between the covers of this book which will help them to reach their dreams in ANY way. Like eager kindergarten children, the hopeful readers will make serious attempts to follow various "Super Laws" ( Thou Shalt's and Thou Shalt Not's ) and the only glimmer of "success" they will ever experience from this exercise will be "success" in terms of how fantatically they adhere to these idiotic "Laws". "See mom! I'm following all the Laws!", "That's nice, Jimmy!"
The author claims to have researched "successful" individuals and is now providing the readers of his book with the "inside dope", the "standard formula" on how all these famous people managed to accomplish what they did in their lives. According to the author, its all so easy! All anyone needs to do is be aware of these various "Super Laws" responsible for the success of others, and then follow them! Success then becomes inevitable.
Well, this is simplistic in the extreme. No one can get inside another's thoughts or feelings, or even hope to grasp what the emotional/physical/psychological environment happened to be at any given time for another individual when that person managed to succeed at anything! The imbecility of copying the behavior of so-called "successful" people is exactly the same rubbish constantly pushed by the "You Can Have The Moon" types like Tony Robbins with their ridiculous concepts of "Just model what a successful person does and you'll succeed too" claptrap. This book is written with the same illogic.
I ask you to consider the following:
First;
If this author, Tony Robbins, and others of the same ilk were correct in terms of how they insist that people "succeed" in life ( model the successful and be successful too ), then where is the proof that it works in today's world? How many people have attended seminars, bought books and cassette tapes, and religiously adhered to the "modeling" principles and mysterious "laws" set before them? And out of this massive, teeming group of yearning believers, how many have actually SUCCEEDED? How many "overworld" types are there today who have every dream coming true, and who have openly stated that they must thank this or that book or seminar or cassette tape instructional set for getting them to the sublime state they now exist in?
Second:
Have you ever heard of the saying which goes; "What you see is what you get"? In other words, what has this author GOT? What do you see in him? Have you done any sort of research on HIM as a successful person before deciding to put your trust in what he claims will bring success to you if you purchase his book? Does he have the world in his hip pocket? Is he wealthy? And if he isn't, why not?! After all, he has uncovered and revealed the "Super Laws" of success in the Universe!!! If ANYONE should be succeeding at every turn and in the greatest ways possible, it should be THIS AUTHOR!!!!! But IS he doing so? If he has ANY significant wealth and material ease, did it come to him by following these "Super Laws" of the Universe, or did it come like wealth came to Tony Robbins? That is, did it come from SELLING HOPE and from nothing else? Where do you suppose someone like Robbins be without his Snake Oil maneuvers of offering hope to the hopeless?
Folks, this sort of sucker bait, snake oil routine has been going on in one form or another for literally centuries all across the Western world. People keep buying into it, and the only "success" it provides is to the SELLERS, not the buyers. Generation after generation, there is always a certain portion of the populace who never wake up and who are always willing to put their trust and belief in these empty promises of astounding achievement though the following of "LAWS" of some sort or another. Well, here's a "LAW" that will certainly bring magnificent success -
SELL HOPE THOUGH INFORMATION CLAIMING TO REVEAL MYSTERIOUS, ALL-POWERFUL "UNIVERSAL LAWS" !
Do this one thing and YOU too can succeed, make millions, and achieve your fondest material dreams!
Best Book I've Read in a Long Time.......2007-09-10
I like the concepts shared in the book so much, I bought several more copies to give to friends. I also bought and read the books of the people that he talked about in his book. It has been a chain reaction of books. I highly reccomend read it.
Book Description
What makes good people do bad things? How can moral people be seduced to act immorally? Where is the line separating good from evil, and who is in danger of crossing it?
Renowned social psychologist Philip Zimbardo has the answers, and in The Lucifer Effect he explains how–and the myriad reasons why–we are all susceptible to the lure of “the dark side.” Drawing on examples from history as well as his own trailblazing research, Zimbardo details how situational forces and group dynamics can work in concert to make monsters out of decent men and women.
Zimbardo is perhaps best known as the creator of the Stanford Prison Experiment. Here, for the first time and in detail, he tells the full story of this landmark study, in which a group of college-student volunteers was randomly divided into “guards” and “inmates” and then placed in a mock prison environment. Within a week the study was abandoned, as ordinary college students were transformed into either brutal, sadistic guards or emotionally broken prisoners.
By illuminating the psychological causes behind such disturbing metamorphoses, Zimbardo enables us to better understand a variety of harrowing phenomena, from corporate malfeasance to organized genocide to how once upstanding American soldiers came to abuse and torture Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib. He replaces the long-held notion of the “bad apple” with that of the “bad barrel”–the idea that the social setting and the system contaminate the individual, rather than the other way around.
This is a book that dares to hold a mirror up to mankind, showing us that we might not be who we think we are. While forcing us to reexamine what we are capable of doing when caught up in the crucible of behavioral dynamics, though, Zimbardo also offers hope. We are capable of resisting evil, he argues, and can even teach ourselves to act heroically. Like Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem and Steven Pinker’s The Blank Slate, The Lucifer Effect is a shocking, engrossing study that will change the way we view human behavior.
Customer Reviews:
it depends what you expect..........2007-09-26
There is no question that Zimbardo is a great scholar and that he had spent years, decades, studying this subject. Yet, good scholarship doesn't always translate to good writing. This is a thick (literary and otherwise) book. The overall argument presented by Zimbardo is clear, but it feels that it is bogged down by so many details. There are pages after pages of transcripts from the original study. And here is the point. It all depends what you expect. If you want very detailed account of the 1971 study, that's what you get. Clear, detailed, well-supported and well-explained. If you look mainly for straightfoward answers to the question how good people turn evil, this book could be a difficult read.
The Stanford Prison Experiment and Onward to Others.......2007-09-23
Well worth the read just to recapture the fascination of the students involved in the Staford Experiment. In 1971 I was new to college and later heard of the experiment in class lectures. The reactions of the student prisoners and guards, even down to the despondency and controlling behaviors that emerged, was intriguing. The Stanford Prison Experiment has now taken its place as a psychological and sociological cornerstone.
Disaster after disaster is addressed, all having the thread of decent people succumbing to psychological situations. Results are dire in each. Excellent discussion on tendencies of social scientists' to explain poor behaviors on personality traits, while underestimating the situational forces at play.
A fascinating plunge into the dark side of man.......2007-09-17
Zimbardos book is exceptional in both scientific and entertaining terms. He is surprisingly eloquent writer for a scholar and has a great sense of humour which makes the description of the Stanford Prison Experiment he conducted, a delightful plunge into the dark side of man.
Not Exactly Honest.......2007-09-12
I purchased this book with the intention on learning about how situation can influence a person's actions. Do that extent, this book does an excellent job. What I did not like is this overwhelming sense that this book was written as a way to use Abu Ghraib as a way to attack the Bush Administration, of which the author is obviously opposed. Don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to criticizing the president and I do believe he has accountability for his actions. My issue is that the author threw his bias into a book that appeared to offer an unbiased view of social behavior as it relates to situational forces.
As long as he brought it up, I disagree with the author's views on responsibilty in Iraq. The author attempted to make Mr. Bush's office ultimately responsible for this awful situation; but wasn't it really the cumulative voice of the American people. I am not saying majority, but I am saying the loudest. I, for one, have always felt that we should take the war to the enemy and keep it from my front door. I was more interested in result than I was with how they were gotten (ie. if you torture them, don't tell me). I really did not have a problem (okay, a slight concern) with the Patriot Act or with the wiretapping of our phones. I supported the idea of not treating terrorists as POW's, though I believe it did get out of hand. My point is the president is not ultimately to blame, though he does have some culpability. The ultimate responsibility lies in the hands of each and every citizen. But in what I feel was a biased view, the author stopped at Bush.
Again, this book would have been fine had I known what I was buying. Unfortunately, it used wonderful research to present a distorted and partial view of the Iraq situation. I would have thought that Mr. Zimbardo would have learned from his SPE experiment that not only can you not be researcher and warden and get good results; you also can't be researcher and political analyst either. What you end up with is invalidated ideas.
Mr. Zimbardo, you are thought highly of in the world of social psychology. Why would you attempt such a poorly veiled attack?
A Plea for Ordinary Heroes.......2007-08-30
Having always been fascinated by psychology, I was excited to read that Prof. Zimbardo had finally written a book about the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE). The first 200 pages go into great detail about the six days the experiment lasted (though it had been planned to last two weeks) before being cut short due to the drastic changes in both "prisoners" and "guards." The next 100 pages present his detailed examination of the different variables in the experiment, their implications then and now, the nature of good and evil, and what makes people change. The last 200 pages cover the Abu Ghraib abuses, their frightening similarity to the SPE on many levels, the call for bringing the military and governmental brass to some accountability for creating the "bad barrel" that led normal soldiers to become abusers. He ends with a description of heroism and how we can avoid being coerced by the situations and systems that surround us to act for a better world. A terrific book! Much needed.
Book Description
Have you ever wondered why some relationships are wonderful and others are just catastrophic and tragic? Why do we get along with some people and with others just seem to constantly engage in bitter fighting? In this fascinating and helpful book, internationally renowned psychic
Sylvia Browne examines why we form our relationships with certain individuals . . . for better or for worse. From the lifelong connection of a loving marriage to the short and bitter agony of a brief encounter leading to divorce and heartache, she reveals why we have joyful and happy relationships on the one hand and chaotic, hateful and painful ones on the other.
Sylvia takes us on a remarkable excursion that covers all the different types of relationships we’ll encounter in life. From our childhood experiences to our golden years, she helps us see why we form both good and bad unions, and she also explores how our themes and charts of life can interact with others in both positive and negative waysâcreating either lifelong love or friendship or a situation doomed for disaster. Sylvia enables us to come to a true understanding of why we have certain compulsions and attractions for some people while being totally repulsed by others. By utilizing Sylvia’s marvelous insights, we can all learn how to cultivate our relationships (and sift the wheat from the chaff) in order to live a happier and more fulfilling life.
Customer Reviews:
It was just okay........2007-10-04
Sylvia's books these days seem to be more full of, "fluff," than anything else. There is no more original content. This book seems to be more of her ramblings about the people she knows or meets in her life. There is of course a purpose and you need to read through all the, "fluff," to get to the point. I guess if she just flat out told you the point there would be 200 blank pages to fill.
I dont love this one as much as her other books.......2007-10-03
While I always get a good feeling of having learned something after reading her books, this one left me hanging. I was waiting for more.
Enlightening Book on Spiritual Relationships.......2007-09-05
As Sylvia Browne asserts many books have been written on having a better sex life, staying married or how to have a friendly divorce. This is one of the few books available on spiritual meaning of relationships in our lives.
Sylvia shows how to bring spiritual understanding to our relationships - that our relationships have a deeper meaning. The people in our life have been selected by our soul before our birth for our spiritual development. So each person in our life teaches us something and we in turn teach them something. Even people we meet casually such as the grocery store clerk, bank teller or the person delivering our mail all are part of spiritual connections in our lives.
Connection with family and close friends is often taken for granted but these relationships are particularly conducive for our growth. Browne even contends that the annoying co-worker or boss can teach us important lessons for our soul growth. The best part of the book is the exploration of the 47 life themes, which have a higher and lower expression.
The book has a warm tone because Sylvia shares her own relationship challenges. This book is worth reading just for the Life Themes and fans of Sylvia Browne will be most satisfied with this book, since it gives a lot of depth to her ideas previously stated elsewhere.
(***If you're interested in other books about relationships check out "Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential" by Caroline Myss or "Nexus: A Neo Novel" by Deborah Morrison and Arvind Singh***)
No one knows more about yourself than you do.......2007-08-19
Who are these people giving this book 4 and 5 stars and do they really know about Sylvia Browne? Even the few bad reviews are from fans who claim to "love" her and sound rather apologetic for giving her anything but the highest praise. What's going on? Someone please tell me, did I just enter the Twilight Zone...?
I have always been fascinated with Sylvia Browne because she is probably the most famous psychic of any first-world country. So, I decided to read this book with an open mind. But I wasn't at all happy with it. It seems shoddy, choppy and thrown together quickly. And Sylvia doesn't offer up anything (in the way of literary references) to back up her claims. I suppose some could say that this is based on "blind faith." But should faith also be deaf, dumb and stupid?
For years, I have watched Sylvia on the Montel Show and she always arrogantly seems so cocky when she doles out her "readings." For example, someone could tell her that such and such happened to them and Sylvia will quickly reply, "oh I know" as if she really does know. But if she knew, why didn't she volunteer this info up front, first? I have also noticed that she almost always exclusively only gives detailed info about past lives, the "after world," and other deceased "spirits." But Sylvia Browne is never overly explicit or detailed when she is talking about the here and now. Why is that? Also, one more thing I have noticed about Sylvia; she always seems incredibly cold, condescending, downright rude, pushy, bored, and incredibly belittling when she gives her "readings." Shouldn't a spiritual advisor be welcoming, loving, warm and inviting? Has Sylvia ever comforted any of the grieving parents on Montel or has she ever given any of them a gratis reading after the show when the cameras weren't rolling? No she has not. That is a fact. I can remember a lady once kept pressing her with specific questions on the show, and Sylvia became very aggravated and said something to the effect of, "this is what I 'see' and that's that." Talk about being a wolf in wolf's clothing. Maybe that's better because she would be easier to spot? You'd think so, but people still adore her and worship her and follow her advice to the letter.
When is the last time a corporation also referred to their organization as a church? Sylvia Browne does it. But her "corporation" and "church" are more like a cult because it's all about money and profit; not about adding some happiness and spirituality into someone's life (free of charge.) And if in fact she is a leader of a church, why should she charge her parishioners that want to seek her out for advice? At best, this is an oxymoron: Sylvia Browne Corp./Church. Does Sylvia Browne/the Sylvia Browne Corp. pay taxes? Or is she tax-exempt? This is a very valid question.
I decided to do a little research after reading "Spiritual Connections" by Sylvia because I wanted to see if she really was all she was cracked up to be; after all, maybe I am just being super-critical and Sylvia is honest and totally caring and loving? I began my search on Wikipedia.
From there, I found an incredibly informative site, StopSylviaBrowne. I spent more than 3 straight hours on that site reading everything I could about Sylvia. I have never seen a site so professionally laid out that included facts to back up everything the Webmaster stated. Everything that I initially felt about Sylvia was confirmed (and more.) I have since learned that Sylvia Browne is a convicted felon that preys on vulnerable people because these are the ones that are most likely to pay exorbitant moneys for "help", buy her books, go to her events and recommend her. I have also found out that her first husband has totally discredited her and her son (who also claims to be a psychic.) And, I have found out that Sylvia was caught in numerous half-truths, made-up stories and downright lies. The most notable being her higher-education; she has stated that she has a Masters Degree in English. There is zero proof that Sylvia has a Masters Degree in English from any accredited institution.
If you simply think that Sylvia is total entertainment and you watch her on TV or read her books once in a while then that's fine in and of it self. I suppose there's no harm in that. But if you're about to shell out the hundreds of dollars for one of her "telephone readings" or the thousands of dollars for one of her "in-person meetings" then I strongly recommend that you do some research on her first because I don't want you to be taken advantage of. One more thing that Sylvia's followers should keep in mind is that no one knows more about yourself than you do!
Utterly !.......2007-08-09
After reading "Spiritual Connections," I was totally and utterly amazed by Sylvia's profound spiritual insights and fascinating perspectives (especially through her invisible spirit guide Francine, who seems to have come into Sylvia's life in three or five contradictory ways, depending on which Browne tome you read). Her astounding proven accuracy as a psychic, totally verifiable, has convinced me that Sylvia's the real deal, a veritable Goddess on Earth with disturbingly long talons, and she's well worth the mad money she charges for her phone consults! Forget your so-called hifalutin' "science," forget those overeducated quacks with PhDs and researchers with their fancy protocols and let Sylvia be your guide. Humans just want proof, proof, proof. Surrender your power to her, open heart and wallet. No less an authority on psychic matters than Montel endorses her, as do her true believers, so she must be the real deal. By all means, buy this book NOW! Buy a spare, just in case! Get an extra for a friend!
Book Description
Winning by not competing: a fresh approach to strategy Since the dawn of the industrial age, companies have engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet these hallmarks of competitive strategy are not the way to create profitable growth in the future. In a book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne argue that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and thirty industries, the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors, but from creating “blue oceans”: untapped new market spaces ripe for growth. Such strategic moves—which the authors call “value innovation”—create powerful leaps in value that often render rivals obsolete for more than a decade. Blue Ocean Strategy presents a systematic approach to making the competition irrelevant and outlines principles and tools any company can use to create and capture blue oceans. A landmark work that upends traditional thinking about strategy, this book charts a bold new path to winning the future.
Customer Reviews:
Question the status quo.......2007-09-25
The book forced me to rethink the way I normally would look at business developments for my companies: either value based or feature based. The idea of a creating new space in a crowded market and making a leap in growth through the blue ocean strategy stirred up my thinking juices. Personally, I don't like how to books with "three simple steps" This book was great; a must read.
Good Book.......2007-09-24
1. This is NOT a marketing book
2. There is no such thing as a fail safe strategy
3. This is a tool and is only as good as the user
4. Applicable in different situations
5. Good companion to Competitive Strategy written in the 80's by Mike Porter which is THE industry book
6. The book is NOT a pioneer and is NOT proported to be. It is a study in those companies who seemed to have created new markets such as Cirque De Soleil. The authors did NOT set out to create a new "theory" and then retroactively "fit" companies but rather study an emerging pheonom. and try to locate patterns.
I think that pretty much covers all the gripes of the previous entries. I first came across this book in a competitive strategy class in a business organizational change degree. It is an excellent text and gives another viewpoint to the old study of competitive strategy. I have used the strategy canvas tool located in chapter two AS A TOOL to assist me in both departmental and industry situations to locate existing patterns of competition.
Worth the money.
But then, I am just a "mere" academic (albeit with many years of industry experience) so if you truly do not like the book I suggest returning it. :)
What is your greatest challenge?.......2007-09-13
The greatest struggle for most business people is to come up with a truly original and valuable idea. Close behind that is how to get employees to work together. This book makes me want to cry, because it actually, simply, lays out how to do both. Beautiful.
Academics rarely demonstrate how to do it!.......2007-09-11
I bought this book. Their identifications are valid enough. Great companies have always created uncontested market space while making their competitors irrelevant. This is not in dispute. However...
The authors Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne are just mere academics. And what is annoying is that they haven't battle tested their Blue Ocean model from hard knocks in the trenches business wars to find out what works and what doesn't for themselves! Again, this is what I find annoying with academics. They say a lot but never prove it themselves! Remember Merton & Scholes and LTCM?
For an example...in the book, the authors have an interesting strategic canvass graph approach that supposes to prove how Blue Ocean events come about. That's fine, but how do you prove it? Moreover, the 'values' are different for each company, so there is nothing consistent to glean from this.
What I'd like to have seen is a Dash Board type matrix template that allows any company or budding entrepreneur to carry out Blue Ocean due diligence on any industry or market niches...proofing these Blue Ocean catchments from a zero learning curve application! The book does have important points but lacks the cutting edge tools to unify Blue Ocean diligence and proofs for any company!
Thus, what this book lacks is a more honed processing of enquiry from the authors. And I suspect this to be the case because like many academics they haven't proven the unifying dynamics that goes into capturing Blue Ocean strategies for themselves with businesses they have built through their own mindset!
Again, this book is a case of 'do what I say, because I don't have to prove what I say'.
There are great industry shapers out there who can shift and move whole industries and markets in their favour...but the authors of this book are not one of them.
However, there are great positives the authors have identified. The book contains a very interesting 'Strategic Grid' technique. From this simple grid technique any one can mentally survey how to change one's industry or market from a macro-vantage point. But shifting and moving your new found Blue Ocean grid at a tactical level to rule your competition making them irrelevant is another matter entirely. The chapters that explain this grid are worth the book, but don't expect any thing else.
What you really want is a knowledge base that allows you to dig out Blue Ocean criteria from a template of enquiring tools STACKED PROCESS BY PROCESS UNTIL YOU PROOF YOUR OWN BLUE OCEAN POWER. This book fails on this!
I would suggest that any one buying this book should read 'Blue Print to a Billion by David Thomson to understand how real Blue Ocean executions are carried out correctly. In addition, Chet Holmes' Ultimate Sales Machine' gets you to understand how to carry out big frame strategies at the tactical level.
Both these books will plug the holes lacking with Kim & Mauborgne's work.
Blue Ocean Strategy.......2007-09-10
I like the non text book clear presentation. You do not have to have an MBA to enjoy and learn from this book.
Book Description
Three years on the New York Times bestseller list, CODEPENDENT NO MORE first identified attitueds, feelings, and behaviors now recognized as hallmarks of codependency. Checklists, activities, and self-tests provide concrete tasks to help readers examine the nuances of codependency in their lives.
Customer Reviews:
It took me 3 years to read this wonderful book.......2007-09-12
The words in this book pierced my denial armor. It hurt me so badly to see myself on almost every page, that I could only read a few pages a month. It is the ONLY self-help book (well, besides "The Language of Letting Go") that I own. If you let it, it can help you change your inner self...that's how powerful it is.
Great Book!.......2007-08-30
I bought this book and it basically describes me perfectly! I love this book and it has definitely helped me get over some of the issues I am/was facing.
Audio version.......2007-08-23
Excellent audio CDs. I did not realize how co-dependent I was until I listened to them and they have helped me rethink so many of my actions or reactions. They have helped to bring peace to my life and help eliminate worries and control issues. I listen to them each time I have alone time in my vehicle.
Detachment.......2007-07-31
I think every person co-dependent or not, alcoholic or not should read this book. It applies to our every day strugles in life. There no normal family.
Thanks, Jill
CO DEPENDENCE NO MORE.......2007-07-05
This book is just great . It helps you to see what is going on in your life , that you may not want to see . It is a real eye opener . It will change you forever .
Book Description
How do we find hot stocks without getting burned? How do we fatten our portfolios and stay financially healthy? Former hedge-fund manager and longtime Wall Street commentator Jim Cramer explains how to invest wisely in chaotic times, and he does so in plain English in a style that is as much fun as investing is -- or should be, when it's done right.
For starters, Cramer recommends devoting a portion of your assets to speculation. Everyone wants to find the big winners that can bring outsized gains, and Cramer explains how to allocate your portfolio so that you can afford to take this kind of risk wisely. He explains why "buy and hold" is a losing philosophy: For Cramer, it's "buy and homework." If you can't spend an hour a week researching each of your stocks, then you should hand off your portfolio to a mutual fund -- and Cramer identifies the very few mutual funds that he'd recommend.
Cramer reveals his Ten Commandments of Trading (Commandment #5: Tips are for waiters). He explains why he's not afraid to compare investing to gambling (and tells you which book on gambling you should read to become a better investor). He discloses his Twenty-Five Rules of Investing (Rule #4: Look for broken stocks, not broken companies).
Cramer shows how to compare stock prices in a way that you can understand, how to spot market tops and bottoms, how to know when to sell, how to rotate among cyclical stocks to catch the big moves, and much more. Jim Cramer's Real Money is filled with insider advice that really works, information that Cramer himself used to make millions during his fourteen-year career on Wall Street.
Written in Cramer's distinctive turbocharged style, this is every investor's guide to what you really must know to make big money in the stock market.
Download Description
"How do we find hot stocks without getting burned? How do we fatten our portfolios and stay financially healthy? Former hedge-fund manager and longtime Wall Street commentator Jim Cramer explains how to invest wisely in chaotic times, and he does so in plain English in a style that is as much fun as investing is -- or should be, when it's done right. For starters, Cramer recommends devoting a portion of your assets to speculation. Everyone wants to find the big winners that can bring outsized gains, and Cramer explains how to allocate your portfolio so that you can afford to take this kind of risk wisely. He explains why ""buy and hold"" is a losing philosophy: For Cramer, it's ""buy and homework."" If you can't spend an hour a week researching each of your stocks, then you should hand off your portfolio to a mutual fund -- and Cramer identifies the very few mutual funds that he'd recommend. Cramer reveals his Ten Commandments of Trading (Commandment #5: Tips are for waiters). He explains why he's not afraid to compare investing to gambling (and tells you which book on gambling you should read to become a better investor). He discloses his Twenty-Five Rules of Investing (Rule #4: Look for broken stocks, not broken companies). Cramer shows how to compare stock prices in a way that you can understand, how to spot market tops and bottoms, how to know when to sell, how to rotate among cyclical stocks to catch the big moves, and much more. Jim Cramer's Real Money is filled with insider advice that really works, information that Cramer himself used to make millions during his fourteen-year career on Wall Street. Written in Cramer's distinctive turbocharged style, this is every investor's guide to what you really must know to make big money in the stock market. "
Customer Reviews:
Great book for learning about trading stocks.......2007-10-02
Jim Cramer's book is full of usefull and sound advice about investing in stocks. All his rules make common sense and should be easy for anyone to apply in thier own investing. Discipline is the key, and he stresses that. He didn't become a multi-millionaire and get his own show on CNBC by being a dummy. No one can be right all the time, and Cramer is no exception, but he is right much more than he is wrong. And that is all you need to make alot of money on Wall Street. Dont listen to the Cramer haters out there, THEY KNOW NOTHING!!! and will never come close to duplicating Cramer's investing success.
Great Book for any Investor........2007-10-01
I am just starting to dabble in the stock market so I'm trying to learn as much as I can right now.
This book is very easy to understand and a very fast read. Being a really big fan of Cramer already this was a 'no-brainer', and although he is very educated he really translates his thoughts and advice in an easy to understand way.
I strongly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the stock market.
Mad Man? Not really, more a Market Genius.......2007-09-29
Not much value on my side reviewing this book for the hundreds time. What's the take away?
I've been investing in stocks for nearly 20 years, with at least so much success that I keep with it, more or less. The difference is now I get why stocks move or don't (at least much more than I did before). And this book (and his show) is key to that. Awesome guiding priciples, rules of thumb, and market insights.
It's a fun book to read, if you have a certain level of interest in the business world, which is kind if key, of course. Many good laughs! I love his style (which I'm sure many might find offensive or so). But heck, it works for me. I bought both his other books as well. It's so good. The return on this "investment" can't be calculated. Hope this helps! :-)
Fundamental investing in a layman's language.......2007-09-23
Booya Jim!! This is a great book about investing using a fundamental approach. What is great is that the basics of investing are explained in a layman's language. You have to read chapter 5 to get a basic 101 on business cycles and how to exploit the cycle in buying and selling stocks.
I can list all the chapters and what they tell you about or list all the rules Jim explains - but that is rote repetition. Read chapter 4 about basics of evaluation. Jim does a wonderful job about comparing apples to apples e.g., Walgreen to RiteAid and goes into depth why he thinks what should be bought. This lesson alone is worth the price of the book for an investor starting out. Another good lesson is to evaluate the current value of a stock.
Of course, you can attend some expensive classes and get uncompreshensible instructions in an university, but for the price of the book, the value of the lessons here cannot be beaten.
In addition to business cycles, Jim gives some great insights e.g., he states that it is stupid to consider investing and trading as a dichotomy. How true! His famous buy-and-homework approach is like hearing a great 101 lesson from a Professor who also knows the real world. I haven't made any money in buying and holding. My emotions eventually have gotten hold of me. Instead, you need to know when to buy and when to sell. There are separate chapters on predicting tops and bottoms of both the market and individual stocks - again, wonderful reads.
In addition there are 40 rules about investing. Some gems are "I don't care what you paid for the stock, would you buy it now?" question to paraphrase. He gives a lot of credit to the Goddess, now his wife!
All in all, a great book and a must-have book in your investing library. I read the book almost two times so that I could reinforce the lessons, especially about valuation and business cycles. My style of investing, which has been pretty successful, is both a combination of fundamental and technical factors, while Jim's is more fundamental. But the fundamental 101s in the book is useful and should be a must background for anyone wanting to put their hard-earned money on the fire in the stock market.
Super Read.......2007-08-26
Awesome Read! I've read a few investment books, but this one is the best! I've been out of the market for a bit, my old way to investing had not produced what I thought it could. Jim has turned me around and retaught what all the professors in college could not. Super fast read, and I could not thank Jim enought for sharing is expertise. I feel like a new and better invester....Homework, Homework, Homework...the Key to succuess.
Five Stars******
Amazon.com
This grandfather of all people-skills books was first published in 1937. It was an overnight hit, eventually selling 15 million copies. How to Win Friends and Influence People is just as useful today as it was when it was first published, because Dale Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will never be outdated. Financial success, Carnegie believed, is due 15 percent to professional knowledge and 85 percent to "the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people." He teaches these skills through underlying principles of dealing with people so that they feel important and appreciated. He also emphasizes fundamental techniques for handling people without making them feel manipulated. Carnegie says you can make someone want to do what you want them to by seeing the situation from the other person's point of view and "arousing in the other person an eager want." You learn how to make people like you, win people over to your way of thinking, and change people without causing offense or arousing resentment. For instance, "let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers," and "talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person." Carnegie illustrates his points with anecdotes of historical figures, leaders of the business world, and everyday folks. --Joan Price
Book Description
YOU CAN GO AFTER THE JOB YOU WANT...AND GET IT! YOU CAN TAKE THE JOB YOU HAVE...AND IMPROVE IT! YOU CAN TAKE ANY SITUATION YOU'RE IN...AND MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU!
For more than sixty years the rock-solid, time-tested advice in this book has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.
Now this previously revised and updated bestseller is available in trade paperback for the first time to help you achieve your maximum potential throughout the next century! Learn:
* THREE FUNDAMENTAL TECHNIQUES IN HANDLING PEOPLE
* THE SIX WAYS TO MAKE PEOPLE LIKE YOU
* THE TWELVE WAYS TO WIN PEOPLE TO YOUR WAY OF THINKING
* THE NINE WAYS TO CHANGE PEOPLE WITHOUT AROUSING RESENTMENT
Customer Reviews:
Life's a Stage..........2007-09-30
Wow..."A Reader" seems extraordinarily bitter...
Every day you go to work, you are on a "stage"...as in "It's show time, folks!" The working world is highly competitive, and a necessary tool to all but guarantee your success is deception. This book/author teaches the art of deception. Whether or not the reader chooses to use this information to his/her advantage is a matter of personal choice.
This book has a purpose, and successfully presents that purpose, hence the four-stars...
BORING.......2007-09-18
...I put the book down after 3 chapters, and haven't picked it back up since. Go with "7 Habits..." by Covey and/or "The Four Agreements" (Author skips my mind)
Impressive!.......2007-09-09
I finally can win many friends and influence people! Another bestseller that I recommend - How to be a Super Hot Woman: 339 Tips to Make Every Man Fall in Love with You and Every Woman Envy You
Interesting book.......2007-09-09
We dont realize that many people want the same things that we do.I purchased this book to become more social. I have learned more than I expected.
Great!.......2007-09-09
Timeless advice and a charismatic delivery make this book enjoyable and likely to be acted on and revisited throughout your life. It will open your eyes wider, and give affirmation to mankind. Some reviews are all rah-rah, but I find the book is at times gleefully manipulative and uses only the best examples of its principles in action -- there's no guarantee you will make that sale, or that person will become your friend -- but it is worthwhile information and certainly is inspiring. It's definitely worth the price, and if you order through Amazon, it was a five star shipment for me.
Book Description
In just the last few years, traditional collaboration—in a meeting room, a conference call, even a convention center—has been superseded by collaborations on an astronomical scale.
Today, encyclopedias, jetliners, operating systems, mutual funds, and many other items are being created by teams numbering in the thousands or even millions. While some leaders fear the heaving growth of these massive online communities, Wikinomics proves this fear is folly. Smart firms can harness collective capability and genius to spur innovation, growth, and success.
A brilliant guide to one of the most profound changes of our time, Wikinomics challenges our most deeply-rooted assumptions about business and will prove indispensable to anyone who wants to understand competitiveness in the twenty-first century.
Based on a $9 million research project led by bestselling author Don Tapscott, Wikinomics shows how masses of people can participate in the economy like never before. They are creating TV news stories, sequencing the human genome, remixing their favorite music, designing software, finding a cure for disease, editing school texts, inventing new cosmetics, or even building motorcycles. You'll read about:
• Rob McEwen, the Goldcorp, Inc. CEO who used open source tactics and an online competition to save his company and breathe new life into an old-fashioned industry.
• Flickr, Second Life, YouTube, and other thriving online communities that transcend social networking to pioneer a new form of collaborative production.
• Mature companies like Procter & Gamble that cultivate nimble, trust-based relationships with external collaborators to form vibrant business ecosystems.
An important look into the future, Wikinomics will be your road map for doing business in the twenty-first century.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book to Read.......2007-10-02
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
As I refresh my professional career for the second decade of the 21st Century, I decided ro read this book, and I was not wrong. This is a most read book for everyone that's looking to stay relevant in the digital economy and the disrupting collaboration paradign. I highly recommeded.
Good, but not critical enough and scores high on the buzzword-meter.......2007-09-12
The book gives a quick tour of the new collaborative ways in which people aggregate and process information. It points out that collaboration can also be applied to produce new 'stuff', outside of software and even applying to manufacturing. It makes for interesting reading for people who a) know something about open source and want to know about its business implications and b) managers who don't know about open source/collaboration but would like to.
It is, imho, less interesting for those who want in-depth answers to the real thorny _business_ problems around open-source. I.e. How to make money at it, if you want to. It hints at important questions such as rewarding the community at large, not losing the family jewels as you open up, etc. Unfortunately, it never quite gets down to specific recommendations beyond "you have to find the right mix of proprietary vs. open source IP".
Not to criticize it overmuch. Wikinomics often jars your thinking with insightful nuggets. For example, it cites Goldcorp as the example of a mining company which opened up its secret prospection data to outsiders. Wikinomics, probably rightly, uses that as a counter-intuitive example of enlisting external help for a type of company that never shares that kind of data. Hmmm, why not share? If the prospection data applies to land on which only your company can operate, isn't that a pretty safe gamble? I don't know, really, but the point is that the anecdote makes you think of things differently. Same with IBM's success at getting a new OS (Linux)almost for free, while gathering goodwill from the community and genuinely collaborating. How far Big Blue's embarrassing anti-trust proceedings seem now...
Less helpful is Wikinomics' recurring use of cherry-picked anecdotes by sector, rather than a broad analysis of various businesses. First of all, it rarely compares its chosen 'smart companies' to their competitors. Yes, BMW is opening up. Does that make their cars any better? How is their stock doing? vs. Toyota? How is their reliability? How innovative are their cars?
Red Hat is a huge success story in Linux, but its dominance also highlights the relative failure of other Linux vendors. No explanation is given for that - network effects? first mover?
I would have welcomed some case studies of failures for big corporations in opening up. What caused those failures? What can be learned from them?
Google is also cited as a big example of openness. That is only partially true and could have served to highlight the necessary(?) split between proprietary information and public openness. Google opens up its APIs and the search is certainly free. I am a big fan myself. However, they have not chosen to release much code back to the community (cf. MapReduce) , mostly by sidestepping the GPL because they don't distribute their software. Their choice, and probably motivated by good business logic. Apple also walks a fine line between leveraging open source and keeping its business very much a secret.
This is just the kind of case studies Wikinomics could sink its teeth into, but it spends way too much time gushing over all the boundless possibilities of collaboration.
Conclusion: a good eye-opener but take it with a grain of salt. Note that my perspective is that of a developer interested in open source _and_ business profits.
An interesting read........2007-09-04
I liked this book, and it opened my eyes to many other "community-driven" technologies/companies. While I thought a lot of the ideas were very "common sense", it was well written, and had some great anecdotes. I recommend this book for anyone interested in social networking, building communities, etc.
The community is the company.......2007-09-02
Wikinomics is about opening your company to the world where communities come together, individuals share ideas, intelligence, peer produce, innovate; the communities are driven primarily by self-motivation or respect from peers. The idea is awesome; the authors are right that this is a new era; some of the most successful companies in the world use wikinomics; the most successful Internet companies are based upon it. The companies cost is dramatically cut, they become trustworthy, and individuals create what they want.
But the book is almost irritating to read. They paint a world where wikinomics is practically perfect, where the communities created by the company are utopian, and the companies who refuse the wikinomic ideology as evil. According to the authors, the companies that don't jump on the bandwagon will ultimately fail because they can't compete with speed and innovation that wikinomic companies can produce (compare wikipedia with any encyclopedia).
The reality is the communities created are often not egalitarian. Digg is a good example -- the community is driven by a faction of a top 100 users who control the front page content, any article or comment outside the digg mindset is quickly buried, and websites have been created where you can pay to get dugg.
In addition, the book ignores wikinomic companies who have failed completely or to a large extent (amapedia, a million penguins, la times wiki editorial, the thousands of 2.0 clones) and they give the reader no idea how to start a successful web 2.0 company. The book is also too long and each chapter adds little to the last. The entire book is read in the first chapter.
While I feel companies opening up to the world is an awesome concept and many of the ideas in the book are right, I would have preferred a more balanced book which makes this book unsatisfying. In the end, I still question whether wikinomics is just a bubble going to burst.
Required reading for Strategic Thinkers.......2007-08-29
In this interesting and example filled book, Authors Tapscott & Williams explore how convergence of the New Web (technology) and the Net Generation (demographics) have reduced transaction costs within the knowledge economy (or the knowledge element of the industrial economy) to create or allow for mass collaboration. Citing four (4) principles underlying this mass collaboration - openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally - they identify seven (7) trends that are transforming existing business models and challenging leaders to create entirely new business models.
1. Peer Production - building intellectual property bit by bit thru open source
2. Ideagoras - buying and selling solutions to problems / research
3. Prosumers - new product design by consumers/users (think hackers)
4. New Alexandrians - sharing science / thinking on a massive scale
5. Platforms for participation - global stage for partnering to create value and build new businesses
6. Global plant floors - transport technology across borders/organizations for local fab labs
7. Wiki workplaces - really workspaces, where playgrounds replace more traditional business processes
While one may argue with the distinctions between these seven, somewhat overlapping trends, the authors provide ample examples to stimulate thinking and help the reader see how this new world might be integrated into current business models or force us to create new ones. This book is recommended as required reading for anyone responsible for strategic thinking - for themselves or for their business.
Customer Reviews:
Chock full of knowledge.......2007-08-15
I bought this and another highly reviewed book on flipping and this book was vastly superior. It contains a wealth of information about every phase of flipping a property, including detailed information on how to calculate quiet costs, good rules of thumb for rehab costs, and detailed lists of what is involved in a rehab and the correct order to undertake them in. They have obviously flipped a lot of houses and have condensed their experience into extremely helpful lists and formulas that anyone can benefit from.
I could have done without the fictional storyline that accompanies each chapter, but since you can skip it without losing anything, I'm not docking their score.
This Book Is An Excellent Investment.......2007-08-08
I've been interested in flipping houses since I first heard of the concept about 10 years ago. I just never knew where to start. This book walks you through the entire flipping process. It's written in an easy to follow, logical start to finish format. There are formulas for calculating all your costs and your profit before you even make an offer on a house. Outstanding book! I highly recommend it to anybody who wants to get started in house flipping.
Good reference, not very well written.......2007-07-12
First, I must say that this is so far the best book I have read on this subject. The authors seem to be very experienced and knowledgeable in the field of rehabbing homes. I am very pleased with what I got for $15 (or whatever I spent). I feel that with this book, I could successfully FLIP homes. My first primary home was a fixer upper, and I did pretty much all of the work myself. I turned a nice profit when I sold it, but I think that I could have done better had I known then what I know now.
There was not a lot of information that was new to me, but the book did bring together a variety of related topics. Likewise, the authors presented a few smart systems for completing the project.
The reason I gave this book only 4 stars is that I don't like the writing style of the authors. This book could have easily been 150 pages or less. The font was a little big, and there was WAY too much worthless text, random anecdotes, and stupid analogies. One page in particular was about Punxsutawney Phil...it wasn't until the third or fourth paragraph that the author crafted some way of connecting that to flipping houses.
Overall an excellent book worth every penny (the authors need to stick to flipping houses though). I wish I could get my friend who has recently jumped headlong into rehabbing houses to read this book...
Best book of it's kind.......2007-06-14
I am a small time real estate fix and flip investor. I have read many books on this subject and this is by far the best.
Excellent Resource.......2007-05-25
As a Realtor in the Denver Real Estate area, this is a great book! It spells out what it takes to make a flip successful.
Books:
- Human Heredity: Principles and Issues (with Human GeneticsNow/InfoTrac)
- International Economics: Theory and Policy (6th Edition)
- Jack London : Novels and Stories : Call of the Wild / White Fang / The Sea-Wolf / Klondike and Other Stories (Library of America)
- Jane Austen's Letters
- Jane Austen's Letters
- Killing Che: A Novel
- Lazarillo de Tormes and The Swindler: Two Spanish Picaresque Novels (Penguin Classics)
- Legacies: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction
- Machinery's Handbook Guide 27th Edition (Machinery's Handbook Guide to the Use of Tables and Formulas)
- Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago 1940-1960 (Historical Studies of Urban America)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Right Projects Done Right: From Business Strategy to Successful Project Implementation
- Inspirations
- Como Negociar Internacionalmente
- Fish Face
- Hidden Mickeys, 2nd Edition : A Field Guide to Walt Disney World's Best Kept Secrets
- Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age
- Frog and Toad Are Friends
- Serious Games: Games That Educate, Train, and Inform
- Century 21 Advanced Course-Working Papers Ch
- Direct Marketing Strategies and Tactics: Unleash the Power of Direct Marketing
General
| Personal Health
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
Einstein: His Life and Universe
How Doctors Think: Clinical Judgment and the Practice of Medicine
The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness
