Book Review: Jason Jennings’ Less Is More

The subtitle of Jason Jennings’ Less is More is:  How Great Companies Use Productivity as a COMPETITIVE TOOL in business.  That sounds like this book will be about efficiency techniques and competitor case studies.  I almost didn’t read the book because I wasn’t in the mood for a straightforward business text.  But the book is actually much more comprehensive than the title and certainly the subtitle suggest.  It’s also a breezier read than expected:  any book that espouses the value of public hangings in a chapter about weeding out bad management is not going to be a staid business tome.

There is a big focus on the culture of these productive companies and how committed they are at all levels to sound business practices.  It was refreshing to see examples of big, established companies that calculated the value proposition of their ideas using simple but powerful financial metrics, implemented systems that worked, weeded out bureaucracy, and built a culture of respect and integrity at all levels.  We have all seen too many big companies allow bad practices to seep in at all levels.  WTGBRFDT, an acronym used by one of Jennings ‘ case studies, is not the norm even though it should be.  (WTGBRFDT = What’s the good business reason for doing this? and it’s a central theme of the book.)

Less is More has convinced me to look at my own business practices with a more watchful eye.  It will also help as I consult to my bigger clients.  Recently I pitched to a client that used a team of 10 to recruit 200 hires.  In my past corporate life, I had managed a team of 3 that recruited 500 hires.  This company was concerned whether I could help them because I previously had overseen just a team of 3.  Perhaps I can send them this book with the chapter on Financial Metrics highlighted.  Rather than worrying about numbers managed, they could focus on numbers hired, recruiting more with less staff.  Focusing on the right metric is a critical tool for any business and especially true in this economy.

Filed under: book review , book review, Jason Jennings, Less Is More, productivity, recruiting

Book Review: Blue Ocean Strategy

Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne is not the breeziest read but it has some very interesting points for business owners.  Even if you don’t have your own business, Blue Ocean Strategy’s creative recommendations are useful to stretch and challenge your current thinking.

Rather than fighting your competitors (i.e., the red ocean strategy because it’s a bloody battle) can you make your competition irrelevant (i.e., the blue ocean strategy where you swim alone)?

What parts of the business can you reduce or eliminate?  Can you sell to different customers? What can you create that is new?

These are just some of the many challenging questions that Kim and Mauborgne raise.  They also provide many interesting examples from Cirque du Soleil to [yellow tail] wines to the NYPD turnaround under Bill Bratton’s leadership.

There is a lot of juicy material in this book.  My one quibble is that it’s not the most accessible read.  There is a lot of information, lots of theory, lots of graphs.  I read a lot of business books, and I had a hard time keeping track of everything — sometimes I felt there was too much and I would have liked to cover few topics but more in-depth.  Still, if Blue Ocean Strategy can cause you to question just one part of your business (or your life) then it is a worthwhile read.

Filed under: book review, resource recommendation , Blue Ocean Strategy, business transformation, market competition, Renee Mauborgne, W. Chan Kim

Book Review: John Wood’s Leaving Microsoft To Change The World

Very candidly written, John Wood’s Leaving Microsoft To Change The World is a fast-moving, inspirational book about a major career change.  Wood left Microsoft as Director of Business Development in China and established the non-profit Room To Read.  Accolades aside (and Wood deservingly has received many), he left behind a secure and prestigious job, a high salary, and a serious relationship to accomodate his radical transformation.  There are numerous coaching lessons in Wood’s story:

Dreams require hard work.  Wood logs hundreds of thousands of miles and works round the clock. 

There will be tradeoffs.  The anecdote about Wood checking out the open house in San Francisco and realizing he will be a renter his whole life is refreshingly honest and funny.  His reaction upon seeing the listing description:  There. Is. No. Way.

Being true to yourself is the ultimate payoff.  At first, Wood has to practice talking about himself.  He is very candid about having a hard time answering the What Do You Do question the first few times around.  But he also talks with genuine excitement and passion about everything he does, and he acknowledges (and you can feel it as you read it) that he has realized his true self. 

There are many aspiring career changers out there.  While most will not make as radical a transformation, there is insight and inspiration to be gained by going along with Wood on his journey.

Filed under: book review, career coaching , Career Change, John Wood, Leaving Microsoft To Change The World, Microsoft, non-profit, Room to Read, self-actualization

Book Review: Gotcha Capitalism – How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day, and What You Can Do About It

Bob Sullivan’s Gotcha Capitalism – How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day, and What You Can Do About It is an easy-to-follow, comprehensive and handy guide to identifying extra fees and overcharges that consumers can sometimes successfully dispute.  At his estimate of almost $950 in such charges per year, reading the book is a small investment to pay to be a savvy consumer. 

I found most helpful the template letters and summary list of which industries are most amenable to customer complaints.

Sullivan is very honest about the time investment you often need to make to seek redress, and he speaks of the larger issue about principle and creating a fairer society.  But at an annual savings of about $950 to fight these fees (solving the larger issues are of course worth many times this but hard to quantify to the individual) I became inspired to earn so much money that I wouldn’t care about these fees.  There are many Millionaire How-To studies that show that wealthy people track their money diligently and question extraneous charges, so perhaps I am wrong to try and “earn” my way out of caring.  But at least when I am focused on earning rather than fighting, I get the upside of moving towards a positive goal that has benefits beyond the cushion against unfair charges.  This seems to me the more optimistic approach.

Filed under: book review, life coaching , Bob Sullivan, consumer advocacy, Gotcha Capitalism, money-saving tips

Book Review: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

I am a big Malcolm Gladwell fan, and Outliers, while an enjoyable read, was my least favorite of his books so far.   Outliers has the same riveting storytelling style, and I loved the Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes and The Trouble with Geniuses story of Christopher Langan.  But I was left with the somber feeling that success is a cosmic conflicting mix of random and pre-ordained, and either way, there isn’t much that could be done about it.

It was the opposite feeling I had reading a similar, success-themed book, Geoff Colvin’s Talent Is Overrated.  Talent didn’t have as breezy a style  but at least it had an uplifting point (success is hard work, actually REALLY hard work, 10,000 hours’ worth).   Colvin also actually had practical advice we could use — the importance of Deliberate Practice, for example.

Outliers has the fun stories and does remind us that hard work and talent play roles in success.  But it left me empty and unmotivated, probably not the effect I am going to want to pass onto my coaching clients. 

Read it for the interesting anecdotes and certainly if you’re a Gladwell fan, but seek your success tips elsewhere.

Filed under: book review, career coaching , Geoff Colvin, Malcolm Gladwell, motivation, Outliers, Success, Talent Is Overrated

Book Review: How The Wise Decide

Written by former McKinsey consultants, Bryn Zeckhauser and Aaron Sandoski, How The Wise Decide studies 21 business leaders and difficult decisions they had made to identify 6 strategies/ approaches/ tactics that underlie these critical leadership decisions:

1. Go to the source
2. Fill a room with barbarians
3. Conquer the fear of risk
4. Make vision your daily guide
5. Listen with purpose
6. Be transparent

The stories are terrific — it is always helpful to hear what others have accomplished and learned.  No need to reinvent the wheel, in classic consulting-speak (the authors would be proud).  That said, while I was riveted in the beginning, I was less interested towards the end.  The stories were still compelling but in an effort to tie them all together perhaps the 6 overarching lessons seemed thin.

That said, the lessons are important and easily overlooked in the daily grind.  “Go To The Source”, the first lesson which espouses going back to the raw data where you can (a healthcare CEO watches surgeries, for example) was my favorite and a great coaching lesson.  How many of you are going to read this or other review of the book, feel like you got enough, and never read it for yourself?  Maybe I needed to read Go To The Source because of my habits, but you need something else from the book that I won’t cover.  The coaching takeaway?  Look at the data, question your assumptions, realize that what you hear is already filtered by the lens from where the info came.  What are you assuming in the decisions that you have made and still need to make?  Go to the source first before deciding.

Filed under: book review, career coaching, life coaching , Aaron Sandoski, Bryn Zeckhauser, decision making, Go To The Source, How The Wise Decide, leadership, McKinsey, McKinsey consultants

Book Review: Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute

This is a very easy-to-read book because it’s told as a story of a fictitious company and the training it puts a new manager through.  Don’t be fooled by the simplicity however; this is a powerful book with an important message — essentially that we are often too immersed in the problem to see how much we contribute (or in fact are the problem).

It’s interesting that the title is so targeted to the business book genre with Leadership prominently in the lead.  Lots of the examples in the book are about family and other relationships, and I found this book to be exceptionally powerful in its advice for family and relationship.

This is a must-read for the proactive career manager and jobseeker because relationship-building is critical in your career, and this book provides a breezy framework for some eye-opening lessons.

Filed under: book review, career coaching, life coaching , career management, Family, Leadership and Self-Deception, relationships, The Arbinger Institute

Book Review: Don Greene’s Fight Your Fear and Win

Ok, where was this book when I was getting creamed on my piano auditions for undergraduate conservatory?  I definitely could have used this advice then.  Jobseekers looking to ace a single interview or manage their energy and emotions better across the duration of their search will also benefit.  Don Greene’s Fight Your Fear and Win has relevant and fascinating examples from sports, arts, business, and the public sector.  Covering seven key skills to perform at your best, it is a must read for long-term strategies and quick tips you can apply immediately to improve your peak performance:

1. Determination
2. Energy
3. Perspective
4. Courage
5. Focus
6. Poise
7. Resilience

Filed under: book review, career coaching, life coaching , Don Greene, Fight Your Fear and Win, peak performance, performance under pressure

Book Review: A Carrot A Day

A Carrot A Day is 365 tips on employee recognition  by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton.  Having left Corporate America and its management duties behind, why am I reading it?  It was referred to me by a business newsletter I trust (FYI, this is a great way to find good books).  I like business books in general.  Finally, I am intrigued by the idea of using carrots rather than sticks to motivate, and I wanted to see if I might find tips that I and my coaching clients could use to recognize and motivate ourselves.

The book is just okay.  I buy into the premise, and it’s a very fast read.  Many of the tips are repetitive, though I like that they range from no cost to extravagant and spontaneous to more involved to plan.  Certainly, it’s a good primer for managers looking for ideas.  I did get some ideas for how individuals might implement these techniques for themselves:

Gostick and Elton talk about being generous, explicit and specific with praise.  We can all do this for ourselves.  Keep a journal and write down at least one thing that you did well that day.  As with employees, this recognition will reinforce good behavior and will redirect your energy to what is working;

Tips on capturing events with photos to display throughout the year can be used as a shortcut for visualization.  When you see something inspirational, take a picture and hang it front and center in your office;

The use of small, low cost rewards certainly translates to individuals trying to self-motivate towards their goals.  For example, Gostick and Elton suggest keeping a rewards box and having a raffle each week.  It reminds me to stock up on small treats like journals or spa treats that I can break out when I need a pick-me-up.

So the book itself wasn’t an earth-shattering read, but the concept of carrots and recognition is important and valuable.  We can be our own worst enemy and often beat ourselves up for not doing enough or failing at something.  Just giving me the framework of a carrot a day and reminding me of the power of positive reinforcement made the book well worth reading.

Filed under: book review, life coaching , A Carrot A Day, Adrian Gostick, Chester Elton, employee recognition, goal achievement, motivation, positive reinforcement

Book Review: Billie Jean King’s Pressure Is A Privilege

I was a kid when the Billie Jean King/ Bobby Riggs Battle of the Sexes tennis match happened, so to read King’s firsthand account of this groundbreaking event now that I can appreciate it was a treat.  Pressure Is A Privilege by King and Christine Brennan is a fun read (certainly a must for tennis fans) that encapsulates key moments in King’s illustrious career and life and segments each into key lessons.  Some of my favorite chapters/ lessons:

See It Happen To Make It Happen on visualization;

Champions Adjust is on how even the best-laid plans (King’s strategy for the Riggs match) might get tossed aside when gut instinct, conditions, or chance dictate a new strategy may be better;

Never Underestimate Your Opponent on preparation;

Leave A Legacy on mentorship.

I am not a tennis player.  I am not even an athlete.  But we can all learn from greatness in fields outside our expertise.  In fact, reading about completely different fields lets us absorb the essence of the lesson and not get mired in the details.  This book gives more motivational than tactical advice, but I was duly inspired by King’s achievement in sport and life.

Filed under: book review, life coaching , Battle of the Sexes, Billie Jean King, Bobby Riggs, book review, Christine Brennan, preparation, Pressure Is A Privilege, tennis match, visualization