Don't Eat The Marshmallow Yet: The Secret to Sweet Success in Work and Life Review

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(More customer reviews)I'd like to preface my review of this book by stating unequivocally that I am not, nor will I ever be a person who seeks intellectual or spiritual solace in the pages of a book. In fact, I've always scoffed cynically at the poor lost sheep who spend hundreds of dollars in the hopes that one of those "Tony Robbins types" will lead them to the promised land. It was with this skepticism that I began to read the pages of a book that will affect every aspect of my life for as long as I live.
My girlfriend recommended "Marshmallow" to me some time ago. Because she is a woman whom I love and admire, I felt compelled to read this book that she credits so much for her strength and success. Eventually, as most men in love do, I did as I was told; I read the book.
Then I read it again. And then again. Dr. De Posada somehow wrote my biography without ever having have met me. He knew exactly which poor decisions I was making in my life, and eerily, he knew the thought process behind those decisions. In a simple, concise, easy to read jewel, Dr. De Posada can teach anyone how to save money, rear children, or even lose weight just by applying one principle to all of their decisions, "don't eat the marshmallow...yet!" If you can delay the immediate gratification, the "quick fix," you will be a happier and more successful person in life. Why eat 10 Bic Macs a month when you can have one filet mignon for the same amount of money and a lot less fat? Why buy the Rolex today when, if properly invested, you could use the money to retire tomorrow and own 10 Rolexes if you wished.
As a young attorney I found my self spending my new-found riches on things that simply will not last. All I had left of the money I would spend were faint memories and hang-overs. I was so anxious to immediately enjoy the fruits of my labor, that I failed to realize those fruits had not yet rippened.
Since reading this book I have made giant strides in becoming a "marshmallow resister." The results can be measured by the resurgence of my once waning my bank account. This doesn't mean that I have become a frugal, anti-social leper. Quite the opposite, the quality of my life has improved. Rather than drinking at the local bar 3 days a week, I go once a week and find that I enjoy it even more. This is what the book makes you realize, that more often than not, less is more. And that if you apply patience and discipline to your life instead of pleasing yourself every chance you get, you will be paid off in the long-run.
Buy this book.
(...)

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Arthur is a chauffeur who is intellectually gifted. Jonathan is no less bright than Arthur, equally hard-working, and a billionaire. So why is Jonathan in the back seat of the limousine and Arthur in the front? What explains the difference between success and failure? And what does it mean to you and your children? Joachim de Posada, a world-renowned motivational speaker, found the answer in a landmark Stanford University study of children who were able to delay gratification-in the form of a marshmallow they'd been given to eat-with the promise that they'd be rewarded with an additional marshmallow if they resisted eating the first for fifteen minutes. Ten years later, the children who held out had grown up to be significantly more successful than those who had eaten their marshmallow immediately. Posada saw that the key difference between success and failure is not merely hard work or superior intelligence, but the ability to delay gratification. "Marshmallow resisters" achieve high levels of success while others eat all their marshmallows at once, so to speak-accumulating debt and dissatisfaction despite their occupations or incomes. But it doesn't have to be that way. Using a simple parable and real-life examples (including basketball great Larry Bird and major league baseball catcher Jorge Posada, Joachim's cousin), this life-changing book shows readers how the moves made today can pay off big tomorrow-if they just don't eat the marshmallow...yet!

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Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths That Are Destroying Your Prosperity Review

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(More customer reviews)I don't usually review books on Amazon, but this one irritated me enough to make the effort.
This book is a new age self-help motivational screed in the guise of financial planning advice. There are a few interesting points made, a lot of questionable ones, and some potentially harmful suggestions.
I found myself skipping whole paragraphs of the author repeating himself and his vague platitudes for the umpteenth time. I felt like I was holding my breath, waiting for him to get to the meat of the financial advice... all the way to the end.
Guess what I found at the end? Several sales pitches for his and his friends seminars, websites and books.
As another reviewer said, the 'meat' of this book would only fill a single chapter. The rest is fluff.
Don't follow the (possibly fradulent) positive-reviewing sheep, and don't waste your money on this book - if you really want to take a look, get it from the library (like I did).

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Our culture is riddled with destructive myths about money and prosperity that are severely limiting the power, creativity, and financial potential of individuals. In Killing Sacred Cows, Garrett B. Gunderson boldly exposes ingrained fallacies and misguided traditions in the world of personal finance. He presents a revolutionary perspective that can create unprecedented opportunity and wealth for thoughtful, mission-driven individuals.
Our financial lives are intimately connected to our societal contributions, and we must be financially free in order to achieve our fullest potential. Sadly, however, most people are held captive in their financial lives by misinformation, propaganda, and limited knowledge. Through well-reasoned arguments, unflinching logic, and revelatory insight, Gunderson defeats common clichés and faulty retirement planning advice to plainly demonstrate the following and much more:

401(k)s and the stock market are the most risky investments for most people and the gambling mindset they induce creates disastrous consequences.
Conventional retirement planning advice, products, strategies, and techniques expose you to significant danger of being unable to retire, or of running out of money prematurely if you do.
Building net worth is a recipe for creating a life of fear and poverty and how to escape that common trap.
Debt may not be what you think it is and why that matters to your prosperity.
'High risk equals high returns' is destructive dogma and how reducing risk can increase your returns.

Killing Sacred Cows is a must-read for brave individuals willing to question common assumptions and teachings, overcome the herd mentality, break through financial myths, and live a purposeful, passionate, and prosperous life.

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Damn, it Feels Good to Be a Banker: And Other Baller Things You Only Get to Say If You Work On Wall Street Review

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(More customer reviews)I pity poor old "Leveraged Sellout", which would be the most wounding thing one could do to him ("one" being a person not blessed enough to work in front office advisory M&A at a bulge bracket investment bank), but only for his timing. After the events of September 2008 it's going to be a while before anyone preens about working in a Bulge Bracket investment bank on Wall Street. At this point (still in September 2008) there are only two left, one (Morgan Stanley) looking likely to go the way of all flesh in coming days (horror of all horrors courtesy of *Wachovia*!), and the last man standing, Messrs. Goldman, Sachs & Co, facing a very uncertain road ahead as an independent investment bank no matter how excellent its risk management, deal execution and intellectual capital may be.
So I pity the anonymous "Leveraged Sellout" simply because, as a result of his timing, this excellent and brutally funny little book will either disappear into the same gaping void that claimed Bear Stears, Merrill Lynch, AIG and Lehman Brothers or, worse, be held up by moronic lefties as a poster child for everything that was wrong with Wall Street.
It is no such thing. It's actually a riot - imagine a young Hunter Thompson or Tom Wolfe writing with verve about modern day Wall Street but not as an outsider or an ingenue, but fully steeped in the technical and cultural world of a 24 year-old master of the universe.
I have no doubt that whoever wrote this was a genuine insider - the observations and devastatingly funny sending up of the minutiae (such as the distinction between IBD and FICC and importance of never using your mouse when manipulating a spreadsheet) would never be apparent to an outsider who hadn't done a significant stretch. I spent 7 years at a bulge bracket bank myself (as a lowly inhouse lawyer, resolutely in unglamorous back office), and but for the inevitable comic hyperbole, Damn It Feels Good To Be A Banker rings very true. I loved every moment.
So it's kind of a historical document, even though it is pure satire. It captures the zeitgeist, circa August 2008, and if you've had any interaction with the IB fraternity in their prime - that is, before the Sub-Prime got them, you'll find this hysterically funny.
Olly Buxton

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In one word: egregious.Damn It Feels Good To Be A Banker is a Wall Street epic, a war cry for the masses of young professionals behind desks at Investment Banks, Hedge Funds, and Private Equity shops around the world.With chapters like "No.We do not have any `hot stock tips' for you," "Mergers are a girl's best friend," and "Georgetown?I wouldn't let my maids' kids go there," the book captures the true essence of being in high finance.
DIFGTBAB thematically walks through Wall Street culture, pointing out its intricacies:the bushleagueness of a Men's Warehouse suit or squared-toe shoes, the power of 80s pop, and the importance of Microsoft Excel shortcut keys as related to ever being able to have any significant global impact.
The book features various, vivid illustrations of Bankers in their natural state (ballin'), and, in true Book 2.0 fashion, numerous, insightful comments from actual readers of the widely popular website LeveragedSellOut.com.
Thorough and well-executed, it's lens into the heart of an often misunderstood, unfairly stereotyped subset of our society. The view--breathtaking.
Reader Responses
"After reading this clueless propaganda, I strongly believe that you are a racist, misogynist jerk.FYI, Size 6 is not fat." --Banker Chick
"Strong to very strong." --John Carney, Editor-In-Chief, Dealbreaker.com
"I used to feel pretty good about making $200K/year." --Poor person

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Fiasco: The Inside Story of a Wall Street Trader Review

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(More customer reviews)There are several very interesting parts of this book, the most notable being the chapters (4, 7 - 10) in which Mr. Partnoy gives a high level description of some of the transactions that he was involved in. Some of his anecdotes, particularly those in which he discusses the atmosphere in an investment bank around bonus time (pg.40 - 42, 202 - 205), are pretty amusing and dead on accurate. The author's descriptions of some of his deals are clearly told from a junior banker's perspective, but they do a good job of putting forth what was being done, how it was being done, what everyone's perceived incentives for the transaction were, the work required to get the deal done, what kind of money, and importantly what kind of fees were involved. In this regard, the book offers more than both "Liar's Poker" by Lewis and "When Genius Failed" by Lowenstein.
Like all books written by former investment bankers the book contains liberally sprinkled anecdotes regarding job interviews from hell, the ridiculous daily escapades that can occur on a trading floor, strip clubs, the lack of personal lives, gambling trips and other stories which could easily have been pulled from the pages of Mr. Lewis's book or "Monkey Business" by Rolfe and Troob. All of these shenanigans culminate around the bank's (in this case Morgan Stanley), or more specifically, his group's annual sporting clay outing, FIASCO. The book also suffers from a somewhat poorly defined timeline and the lack of a defining event which drives the story. Due to these faults, it is at times little more than a book about the evils of investment bankers, the ignorance of their customers, all put forward to enforce Mr. Partnoy's somewhat guarded thesis; Derivatives are used by organizations that are legally prevented from investing in certain areas in order to skirt those laws.
This is a good book that could have been better, the occasions where it shine through make it worth reading, but also unfortunately let us know the author could have produced a somewhat better product.

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FIASCO is the shocking story of one man's education in the jungles of Wall Street. As a young derivatives salesman at Morgan Stanley, Frank Partnoy learned to buy and sell billions of dollars worth of securities that were so complex many traders themselves didn't understand them. In his behind-the-scenes look at the trading floor and the offices of one of the world's top investment firms, Partnoy recounts the macho attitudes and fiercely competitive ploys of his office mates. And he takes us to the annual drunken skeet-shooting competition, FIASCO, where he and his colleagues sharpen the killer instincts they are encouraged to use against their competitiors, their clients, and each other. FIASCO is the first book to take on the derivatves trading industry--the most highly charged and risky sector of the stock market. More importantly, it is a blistering indictment of the largely unregulated market in derivatives and serves as a warning to unwary investors about real fiascos, which have cost billions of dollars.

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How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything...in Business (and in Life) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was drawn to this book through various points of exposure to Seidamn's thinking. Having just completed, I admit to being disappointed more than anything else. The structure of the book and its ultimate point is lost as the book attempts to be both a contemplation on personal ethics, a case study in modern management, and a theoretical work in organizational development. It doesn't succeed at any of these.
I think the core notion of Seidman's work is sound, but the execution of translating it into a book really fell apart. The book comes across as a confusing amalgam of business case studies and self-help. the beginning of the book sets the stage for an overarching architecture of "how" that never really materializes. Seidman returns to the grand unification theory of how from time to time, but the overall impact is too diffuse. I'm surprised the editors weren't able to gauge how ultimately confusing and unsatisfying this book is.
As an author, Dov Seidman is a good lawyer.

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The Logical Trader Review

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(More customer reviews)The Logical Trader is not a "fluff" book on trading. Quite the contrary, it requires the reader to spend considerable time and effort to absorb and learn the methodology and principles provided by Mark Fisher, a master trader and teacher.
Over the last 15 years, Fisher, an independent trader, has taught his trading approach dubbed the "ACD" system to over 4,000 individuals including members of his clearing firm - which is the largest clearing firm for the NY Mercantile Exchange. Of the 1,000 traders who use Fisher's methodology, 10% make over $750,000 a year, according to Fisher. This is certainly a testament to the soundness of Fisher's methodology. Fisher emphasizes that is method can be used to trade commodities, currencies, or stocks either at a trading firm, on the exchange floor, or at home. Traders taught by Fisher have had a 40 - 50% success rate compared to around 10 - 15% for the average trader using different techniques/
Fisher peppers his books with examples, anecdotes and stories. However, the main thrust is focused on explaining his ACD system in excruciating detail with numerous chart examples, detailed explanations of the key terms and trading parameters.
The ACD system - plotting price points in relation to the opening range - requires no expensive software. The method provides reference points for trading - A and C points are for entry and B and D are stops. Using the system the trader can calculate when to go long or short. Coupled with additional indicator and measurements, layered on top of the ACD system, the trader will be able to develop a trading plan.
To use the ACD system -which is based on simple math - the trader must have certain abilities including collect and analyze information, make and implement decisions, be good with numbers, be disciplined to follow the system. Fisher describes pivot points, the daily pivot price (high+low+close)/3), daily pivot range, 3-day rolling pivot, etc. The last 30 days data are viewed to obtain the big picture of the vehicle being traded. He calls this his Macro ACD. He provides 25 chart examples to illustrate how to score each day.
After the first four chapters, Fisher has an exam with answers to make sure that the reader understands all the key concepts and calculations.
Fisher adds more meat to the ACD system by introducing the use of pivot moving average (using daily pivot price as opposes to the day's close) to determine the current trend (up, down or flat). He uses three pivot point moving averages (14 day, 30 day and 50 day) and focuses on looking at the slope of the moving average line to determine the existing trend or rate of change in the trend. Then Fisher covers exit strategies. He explains the rolling pivot range (RPR) which typically spans 3 to 6 trading days. This is the reference point for entry of the trade. The RPR let's you keep your winning position longer and gets you out of your losing positions in a more profitable manner. Fisher also calculates the price momentum of today's close compared to 8 days ago to determine the trend. He then discusses his use of the "reversal" trade set-up to exploit the market failures. Other subjects covered include the two-way swing, trend reversal trade and sushi roll (change in the direction of the market), and outside reversal week.
Fisher illustrates the effectiveness of using the ACD system using charts from the 1929 crash. It would have worked well in 1929 at the top and in 1932 at the market bottom in keeping the trader on the right side of the market.
Fisher devotes on 27-page chapter to real person trading stories focusing on risk management. Lastly, Fisher interviews seven traders that have successfully used his system with their personal perspectives.
The book contains a 10-page glossary of relevant terms, a table of 20 simple trading rules, and a 27-page compilation of sample data gathering for the ACD system.
In summary, this book requires a lot of time and study from the reader, but the potential rewards could be substantial

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An in-depth look at the trading system that anyone can useThe Logical Trader presents a highly effective, yet simple trading methodology that any trader anywhere can use to trade almost anything. The "ACD Method" developed and refined by Mark Fisher after many years of successful trading, provides price points at which to buy and sell as determined by the opening range of virtually any stock or commodity. This comprehensive guide details a widely used system that is profitably implemented by many computer and floor traders at major New York exchanges. The author's highly accessible teaching style provides readers of The Logical Trader with a full examination of the theory behind the ACD Method and the examples and real-world trading stories involving it.Mark B. Fisher (New York, NY), an independent trader, is founder of MBF Clearing Corp., the largest clearing firm on the NYMEX. Founded in 1988, MBF Clearing has grown from handling under one percent of the volume on the NYMEX to nearly twenty percent of the trades today. A 1982 summa cum laude graduate from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, Fisher also received his master's degree in finance and accounting from Wharton.New technology and the advent of around the clock trading have opened the floodgates to both foreign and domestic markets. Traders need the wisdom of industry veterans and the vision of innovators in today's volatile financial marketplace. The Wiley Trading series features books by traders who have survived the market's ever changing temperament and have prospered-some by reinventing systems, others by getting back to basics. Whether a novice trader, professional or somewhere in-between, these books will provide the advice and strategies needed to prosper today and well into the future.

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Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite Review

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(More customer reviews)Arden's second book, like his first, is a zen take on your life in business. He does not tell you what to think as much as he tells you want he thinks and then challenges you to react, to think, to imagine. Great story on steady eddie v. reckless erica and how playing it safe is the least safe thing to do. Forces you to wonder which you are. His advice is anything but typical. To creative types he says don't worry about the medium you want , focus on the money you'll make---"it's honest." The juxtaposing of ideas with art and photos is well done---I liked the ask for a slap in the face advice(ask others to tell you what you did wrong, not what you did right) with the photo of a woman wincing at the slap to come. Why not 5 stars? If I read him right, it'd be an insult.

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Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values Review

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(More customer reviews)Conscious Business is the first book I've read on an important subject I'd like to tackle as an author: How to move those in an organization from focusing on their selfish interests to concentrating on what creates the most good for the most people . . . with the least potential harm to any individual. I thought that Dr. Kofman did a good job in defining one path to creating mutual benefit in Conscious Business. If people in your organization seem to be emphasizing their own careers rather than the tasks that need doing, this book is a must-read for you!
Let me agree with Dr. Kofman about his warning for readers: It's much easier to understand his principles than apply them. But with practice, you can do great things.
Here are the goals he sets:
"In the impersonal It dimension, the goal is to accomplish the organization's mission, enhancing its ability to continue doing so in the future, and delivering outstanding long-term returns to shareholders. In the interpersonal We dimension, the goal is to establish cooperative, trusting, and mutually respectful relationships, a community of shared purpose and values in which people feel they belong. In the personal I dimension, the goal is to live in a state of flow, feeling a transcendent happiness that comes from living in full integrity, with one's principles and ideals."
As you can see from this quote, Dr. Kofman draws heavily from his interest in Buddhist tradition and other streams of spiritual beliefs that are outside of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The text is enlivened by quotes from many sides of the spiritual spectrum and psychologists. As a result, the material will speak directly and deeply in places to virtually any reader, regardless of background and beliefs.
The risk he points to is a real one: If we don't make our intentions explicit and specific, people will take the knee-jerk route of looking after themselves. That self-focus is the basis of much bureaucratic behavior, procrastination, avoidance, poor customer service, misconceptions, disbelief about what needs to be done, poor communications and over-reliance on tradition.
A key exhibit in the book can be found on page 17 where Dr. Kofman draws a contrast between relying on unconscious versus conscious attitudes in business. Here are the unconscious attitudes and their conscious counterparts:
Unconscious Attitudes.....................Conscious Attitudes
Unconditional blame.........................Unconditional responsibility
Essential selfishness........................Essential integrity
Ontological arrogance......................Ontological humility
Unconscious behaviors.....................Conscious behaviors
Manipulative communication..............Authentic communication
Narcissistic negotiation....................Constructive negotiation
Negligent coordination.....................Impeccable coordination
Unconscious reactions.....................Conscious reactions
Emotional incompetence...................Emotional mastery
The book goes on to devote a chapter to each of the seven conscious attitudes (excluding conscious behaviors and reactions from the list above). Since those attitude titles are not exactly self-explanatory, let me see if I can explain each a little more.
Unconditional responsibility is the Victor Frankl concept of determining your response to a situation, even if it is a situation you cannot change. You take charge of choosing your response.
Essential integrity is acting in accordance with your values, even if the results are less than perfect.
Ontological humility is being open to seeing what's going on from the perspectives of others and valuing those perspectives.
Authentic communication means sharing your emotions, opinions and knowledge openly with those who appear to be headed in the wrong direction . . . and encouraging them to do the same. From that baseline, you can then proceed to develop options that may better fit what's needed.
Constructive negotiation is focused on finding a great solution for everyone, rather than simply winning your point.
Impeccable coordination involves making informed commitments, staying on top of what's needed to meet those commitments and letting others know when things go wrong to devise solutions that may improve matters.
Emotional mastery means being able to function objectively, even if something outrages or frightens you.
As you can see from these terms and concepts, Conscious Business is a book of applied psychology by someone who is well versed in the field. The strength of that approach is that Dr. Kofman can reference psychological works that you may know well to give you a touchstone. The drawback is that the book can seem to be too academic if you aren't familiar with the terms and references.
Two things humanize the book from those weaknesses:
(1) Each chapter opens with an extended example of a business problem involving unconscious behavior and reactions. The key concepts are then explained and applied to turning the extended example into a way of employing conscious behavior and reactions.
(2) Dr. Kofman has had many interesting experiences that he deftly weaves into his story. I was especially impressed by his learning from having lived in a totalitarian regime in Argentina as a youth and his mountain climbing experience in South America.
All that said, the opening of this book was awfully abstract and academic. It wasn't until page 42 that I began to resonate with the material. So be patient. The book is quite accessible and interesting from that point on.

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More and more business leaders are catching on to an often-overlooked fact: consciousness is our basic faculty for survival and success. Without it, we forget what's important to us and lose sight of the steps we might take to reach those goals. ?Conscious business, ? explains Fred Kofman, means shining this awareness on every area of your work: in recognizing the needs of others and expressing your own?in seeing the hidden emotional obstacles that may be holding your team back?in making good decisions under pressure?and even in delving into such ?spiritual? questions as ?Who am I?? and ?What is my real purpose here?? In Conscious Business, this visionary teacher and consultant to Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and other leading companies presents the complete training manual in the breakthrough techniques he has shared with over 20,000 executives on four continents.

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Why Buildings Stand Up: The Strength of Architecture Review

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(More customer reviews)Salvadori clearly explains, with the invaluable aid of lots of little pictures, how and why buildings stand up. There are chapters on cathedrals, the Eiffel Tower, the Hagia Sophia, bridges, domes, and so forth. The chapter on wind is particularly fascinating--I found out a lot of things I'd had no idea of. Other chapters, like "Form-Resistant Structures," were pretty deadly dull. Overall, though, the book was well worth reading. It's not always entertaining, but it's always informative, and sometimes tremendously interesting.

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Here is a clear and enthusiastic introduction to building methods fromancient time to the present day, illustrated throughout with linedrawings. In addition, Mr. Salvadori discusses recent advances inscience and technology that have had important effects on the planningand construction of buildings.
B/W line drawings

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The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market Review

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(More customer reviews)This book's concepts for strategic marketing management are so widely accepted that the popular Balanced Scorecard concept of Kaplan and Norton in 2001 decided to adopt the ideas for the "customer perspective".
The authors manage to take Michael Porter's two generic competitive strategies - Differentiation and Cost Leader - and elaborate on these to an extent never presented so elegantly before. In the process, they discover a third generic strategy - Customer Intimacy.
Thus, Treacy and Wiersema distinguish between focusing on the following value dimensions:
- Operational excellence (cost leadership / focus on supply chain management)
- Product leadership (innovation / focus on product lifecycle management)
- Customer Intimacy (service leadership /focus on customer relationship management)

These are the FOUR RULES that govern market leaders' actions:
Rule 1: Provide the best offering in the marketplace by excelling in a specific dimension of value
Rule 2: Maintain threshold standards on the other dimensions of value
Rule 3: Dominate your market by improving value year after year
Rule 4: Build a well-tuned operating model dedicated to delivering unmatched value
Expanding on the fourth rule - operating models - may the best long-term contribution of this book. The authors explain in detail and via case stories how the operating models differ for each of the three value propositions. In practice, I've learned that by explaining the operating models, many people can easier find themselves depicted than in the overall generic dimensions of cost, service or product leadership.
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE or Cost Leadership - Best total cost - operating model:
Key success factor: Formula!
Golden rule: Variety kills efficiency
Culture: Disciplined teamwork; Process focused; Conformance, "one size fits all" mindset
Organization: Centralized functions; high skills at the core of the organization
Core processes: Product delivery and basic service cycle; built on standard, no frills fixed assets
Management Systems: Command and control; Compensation fixed to cost and quality; transaction profitability tracking
Information Technology: Integrated, low-cost transaction systems; Mobile and remote technologies
PRODUCT LEADERSHIP - Best product - operating model:
Key success factor: Talent!
Golden rule: Cannibalize your success with breakthroughs
Culture: Concept, future driven; Experimentation, "out of the box" mindset; Attack, go for it, win
Organization: Ad-hoc, organic, and cellular; High skills abound in loose-knit structures
Core processes: Invention, Commercialisation; Market exploitation; Disjoint work procedures
Management Systems: Decisive, risk oriented; Reward individuals' innovation capacity; Product lifecycle profitability
Information Technology: Person-to-person communications systems; Technologies enabling cooperation and knowledge management
CUSTOMER INTIMACY - Best total solution - operating model:
Key success factor: Solution!
Golden rule: Solve the client's broader problem
Culture: Client and filed driven; Variation: "Have it your way" mindset
Organization: Entrepreneurial client teams; High skills in the field
Core processes: Client acquisition and development; Solution development; Flexible and responsive work procedures
Management Systems: Revenue and share-of-wallet driven; Rewards based in part on client feedback; Lifetime value of client
Information Technology: Customer databases linking internal and external information; Knowledge bases built around expertise
If you're interested in Customer Intimacy, you may want to add Wiersema's additional book on only this strategy to your shopping basket. I highly recommend both paperback books ... great value for money ;-)
Peter Leerskov,
MSc in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business

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Why is it that Casio can sell a calculator more cheaply than Kellogg's can sell a box of corn flakes? Why can FedEx "absolutely, positively" deliver your package overnight but airlines have trouble keeping track of your bags? What does your company do better than anyone else? What unique value do you provide to your customers? How will you increase that value next year? As customers' demands for the highest quality products, best services, and lowest prices increase daily, the rules for market leadership are changing. Once powerful companies that haven't gotten the message are faltering, while others, new and old, are thriving. In disarmingly simple and provocative terms, Treacy and Wiersema show what it takes to become a leader in your market, and stay there, in an ever more sophisticated and demanding world.

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Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering the Challenges of Business and Life Review

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(More customer reviews)Rarely does a book come along that gets labled "companion", but Thick Face Black Heart is just that. Like Gracian's "The Art of Wordly Wisdon", this book is a companion for life. To be read and re-read.
I searched and read for a long time differing books on succeeding in life. I bought this book based on a comment from a reviewer inside which said, "If I had to carry only two books on a runway it would be Sun Tzu's Art of War and Thick Face Black Heart."
Being a huge long time fan of SunTzu, I figured I had to give this book a chance. It was one of the best decisions I have made.
The clarity into how life works whether you like it or not is worth the cost alone. Too many people (myself included) have a hard time believing that the world (and life) itself is a battlefield. This illumination will not depress you - in fact it will rejuvinate you.
My copy is dog-eared to no end. I read it through at least twice a year and keep it by my bed (whether at home or on the road).
This is not money wasted.
The best compliment I can give about this book? After having read Thick Face Black Heart the first time, I threw all other self-help books I owned (Tony Robbins included)in the trash. I haven't missed them since.

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Chin-Ning Chu is one of the world's foremost experts on Asian business psychology, a frequent guest on "Larry King Live" and other high-profile TV shows. Now he shows how to apply ancient Chinese military wisdom to the competitive world of business today. "Could become the Think and Grow Rich of the 1990s".--Success magazine.

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America's Bubble Economy: Profit When It Pops Review

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(More customer reviews)You can give this book a pass. There's really nothing to it, so save your money. While one might agree wholeheartedly with its premise and conclusions, the exposition here is not the best. For comparison, take a look at Stephen Leeb's Chapter 5 in his "Oil Factor" of 2004 and you will see a much cleaner more informative discussion of just about everything in the "Bubble" book. Leeb is far more succinct and authoritative and manages to avoid what is becoming the most overused word in the language -- "bubble." And he does it in 11 pages.
The investment advice in this book, once you get past all the padding, is to buy gold and euros. The advice on gold at least comes with a cursory analysis of the supply and demand situation, but the advice on the euro is given without support. There's no discussion whatsoever of the economic realities facing the European Union and how they might impact the dollar/euro exchange rates. I'm not saying there isn't a good reason to run to euros, just that it appears nowhere in this book.
One of the other reviewers was as annoyed as I was about the poor editing in this book. In addition to misspelling Warren Buffett's name numerous times, including in the index, there is a general carelessness that made reading each chapter a hunt for mistakes. I expect more from Wiley.
If this is your first exposure to discussion of the multiple problems facing our economy from housing prices, government debt, consumer debt, and foreign exchange risks, it may serve as a readable introduction. However, don't expect too much depth and be prepared for typos and misspellings. A two star rating is pretty generous.

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Truth, Lies and Advertising : The Art of Account Planning Review

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(More customer reviews)Goodby-Berlin may well be the best advertising agency in world at this time. Jon Steele's introduction of account planning there may well be the main reason. The proven formula: original consumer insights help create more powerful ads for greater results. Steele's work has consistently produced successes like the "Got Milk?" campaign.
Steele's approach is rare in the advertising world for several reasons: it shows humility and common sense, honors listening to the consumer with imagination, acknowledges the importance of creative quality, is mercifully free of self-promotion, and states the limits of account planning (sometimes there are simply no insights to be found).
While this is not a "how-to" book, I particularly enjoyed some of the tools and tactics: asking focus group participants to go weeks without milk and report back on what they had missed; asking drivers to fill in a thought balloon when they see the driver of a particular brand of car.
When I was done reading the book I felt as if I had just had a witty and interesting conversation with an intelligent and insightful person. I have been sharing the book with my advertising partners ever since.

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"Account planning exists for the sole purpose of creating advertising that truly connects with consumers. While many in the industry are still dissecting consumer behavior, extrapolating demographic trends, developing complex behavioral models, and measuring Pavlovian salivary responses, Steel advocates an approach to consumer research that is based on simplicity, common sense, and creativity--an approach that gains access to consumers' hearts and minds, develops ongoing relationships with them, and, most important, embraces them as partners in the process of developing and advertising.
A witty, erudite raconteur and teacher, Steel describes how successful account planners work in partnership with clients, consumer, and agency creatives. He criticizes research practices that, far from creating relationships, drive a wedge between agencies and the people they aim to persuade; he suggests new ways of approaching research to cut through the BS and get people to show their true selves; and he shows how the right research, when translated into a motivating and inspiring brief, can be the catalyst for great creative ideas. He draws upon his own experiences and those of colleagues in the United States and abroad to illustrate those points, and includes examples of some of the most successful campaigns in recent years, including Polaroid, Norwegian Cruise Line, Porsche, Isuzu, "got milk?" and others.
The message of this book is that well-thought-out account planning results in better, more effective marketing and advertising for both agencies and clients. And also makes an evening in front of the television easier to bear for the population at large."

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The Alchemy of Finance (Wiley Investment Classics) Review

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(More customer reviews)In this updated edition, Soros summarizes his worldly philosophy--the connection between thought and reality and how it applies to financial markets. The heart of the book remains Mr. Soros's account of what he did with Quantum Fund in the mid-1980s, both as an example of his approach and a remarkable lesson in how to make money in markets where most of the time nobody, including Mr. Soros, knows what's coming next.
His philosophical tenet, Reflexivity, denotes a feedback loop: Individuals act on their views of a situation, thereby changing the situation. For example, if traders believe a stock is going up, they buy it, thereby bidding it up. But their belief caused the result; there may be no fundamental reason for the rise.
Thus what we think determines what we do and has consequences, but typically it is not correct.
Inspired by Heisenberg's rule about quantum particles, Soros proclaims a human uncertainty principle which suggests our understanding is often incoherent and always incomplete. From his case study, one notices that uncertainty continually besets Mr. Soros in managing his hedge fund, which has the same name as the particles subject to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.
General models do not always translate into money making practice. But Soros provides an insight of great practical significance: traders need to be adaptive, because there is no way of knowing beforehand how a market situation will turn out.
The Quantum Fund experience demonstrates how that works. This exercise in global macro strategy, a master speculator's take on commodity, currency and equity markets, is a a litany of doubts and hazards.
He's been losing on currency trades for several years. Then in September 1985, he makes a killing by buying a lot of yen just before central banks switch to a new exchange rate system and the yen rises. There is a pattern: he sustains losses, reduces positions, gets out, then sees a great opportunity and pounces. In short, he constantly and quickly adapts to events.
Despite various setbacks, Quantum Fund's NAV per share rose 121% in 1985 and 43% in 1986. Such numbers make for legend and Mr. Soros became one.
How did he do it? He keeps an open mind and continually modifies his outlook with new information. As he remarks, "the markets provide a merciless reality check," and Mr. Soros never stays with an idea that fails the test. Most of the time he can't predict what's coming, but he promptly corrects course in response to feedback. That limits losses. On rare occasions he can see through the fog of uncertainty and hauls in the booty.
This is not an easy book to read, but as another hedge fund manager, Paul Tudor Jones, describes it in the foreword, it is a timeless guide.

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New chapter by Soros on the secrets to his success along with a new Preface and Introduction.New Foreword by renowned economist Paul Volcker"An extraordinary . . . inside look into the decision-making process of the most successful money manager of our time. Fantastic." -The Wall Street JournalGeorge Soros is unquestionably one of the most powerful and profitable investors in the world today. Dubbed by BusinessWeek as "the Man who Moves Markets," Soros made a fortune competing with the British pound and remains active today in the global financial community. Now, in this special edition of the classic investment book, The Alchemy of Finance, Soros presents a theoretical and practical account of current financial trends and a new paradigm by which to understand the financial market today. This edition's expanded and revised Introduction details Soros's innovative investment practices along with his views of the world and world order. He also describes a new paradigm for the "theory of reflexivity" which underlies his unique investment strategies. Filled with expert advice and valuable business lessons, The Alchemy of Finance reveals the timeless principles of an investing legend.This special edition will feature a new chapter by Soros on the secrets of his success and a new Foreword by the Honorable Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve.George Soros (New York, NY) is President of Soros Fund Management and Chief Investment Advisor to Quantum Fund N.V., a $12 billion international investment fund. Besides his numerous ventures in finance, Soros is also extremely active in the worlds of education, culture, and economic aid and development through his Open Society Fund and the Soros Foundation.

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Zapp The Lightning of Empowerment: How to Improve Productivity, Quality, and Employee Satisfaction Review

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(More customer reviews)Many people fail to focus on whether or not their message is received. More effective people focus on whether the message is received as they attempt to improve communications so their company can be more successful. ZAPP! also focuses on WHAT message is received. As the book shows, a perceived message can be dispiriting or empowering.
I liked the fact that the book spent as much time on explaining about bad communications as it did on good ones. That is a great way to help people improve.
The only thing I did not like about the book was that the end led into a sales pitch for consulting rather than tips for how to pursue this on your own. It seemed out of keeping in a book about empowerment. Skip the last 2 pages, and you will be left with a better taste in your mouth.
Buy, read, think about, apply, and share this book and the lessons above with your colleagues. That will help you get heart-warming results to go with the heart-warming feeling that reading this book provides. Enjoy!

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Most managers know that revitalization in their companies must occur from the ground up. But how to get that message to employees without applying the kind of pressure that makes them even less productive? The answer is empowerment. In this motivating book, you will find specific strategies designed to help you encourage responsibility, acknowledgment, and creativity so that employees feel they "own" their jobs. It's all here, in an accessible guide for the successful managers of tomorrow.

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Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle Review

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(More customer reviews)Before going into my review, let me start with a caution. This book is the grossest, most vulgar business book I have ever read . . . by a very wide margin. This book would have been banned in Boston 50 years ago. If that sort of thing offends you, this book is a minus ten stars. Many women will feel this book is anti-female. On the other hand, if you happen to like your humor male, bold and brassy, this book will be one of the funniest you will ever read.
As someone who often works with investment bankers, the descriptions about how business is sold and delivered should be tempered a bit. This book describes pretty much every investment banker as shoddy, shallow, and manipulative. That has not been my typical experience. There are terrifically smart, talented, ethical and humane investment bankers. For example, one of my favorites never used a pitch book during his first meeting with a client. Pitch book preparation is one of the banes of the young investment banker's existence. But like all professions, investment bankers vary a lot. There are certainly some less capable ones, and I have seen their work too. I would describe it much like the authors do.
In terms of the working conditions, they are mostly a reflection of weak management in the industry. Investment banks reward doing deals, not being good managers of the deals. A fellow I know became CEO of a major investment bank, and made much less money after that than when he was just a deal-maker. He found little interest on the part of his colleagues in improving management, so it was pretty frustrating. It just doesn't pay to work on making life better for the investment bankers in training, compared to producing more business.
The book's main point is that many young people enter investment banking without knowing what it is like, and are overly impressed with the financial prospects. If your values really favor having time for yourself, your family, and developing your other interests, this is probably the wrong career for you. There are plenty of other ways to make lots of money. The richest people I know are entrepreneurs, not investment bankers.
The book's other main point is that you should take a look at close yourself before you compromise too many of your values. The authors should have never joined an investment bank. Having done so, they should have left much sooner.
CEOs and CFOs should read this book also, to know what to check out carefully in the work that investment bankers do. Most companies now develop their own ideas, and just hire the investment bankers for implementation. In that role, fewer problems will occur of the sort described here. Perhaps the most dangerous role is having an investment banker help you select and pursue an acquisition. Many expensive mistakes follow under those circumstances. Caveat emptor!
You will probably find the monkey drawings in the book add to the humor. The text frequently refers to monkey-see, monkey-do type examples, and the whole story is seen more usefully as a bunch of monkeys playing in a gilded cage. That takes some of the sting out of the gratuitous grossness.
If you liked the put-downs of investment bankers in Liar's Poker, this book will be irresistible to you.
After you have had a good laugh, take a look at your current job and see how well it fits your values and life goals. Chances are that it doesn't. Be prepared to figure that out, and move onward and upward out of whatever gilded (or not-so-gilded) cage you are in today into the freedom of self-actualization.


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The Monk and the Riddle : The Education of a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Review

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(More customer reviews)I really enjoyed this book. I've been recommending it to friends and colleagues, but I've had a real struggle trying to summarize what it's about. Regardless, a big part of my enthusiasm is that Komisar has given a voice to so many of my core beliefs about my own career.
So, here's my attempt at summarizing the book. It's a story about a business plan being pitched by a budding entrepeneur that Komisar is reviewing for a VC friend. The (factitious...I presume) story includes Komisar's personal perspectives about how one's career interacts with one's life and passions, how his own career, life, and passions have evolved together, and how VC's look at business plans / ideas. The story is well written and not the typical Harvard Business School Press book, in that all of the wisdom and content are presented neatly within a story.
If you need more from your job than a wage, you will likely find some pearls of wisdom in this story. If you like what you read here, check out Komisar's article in the March/April '00 HBR. If you're interested in some insight into how VC's look at business ideas, there is certainly plenty of information within this story for you too.
Finally, about the five stars, the book is absolutely deserving of them. This story hit me right between the eyes in so many ways, was so elegantly presented, and so refreshing, that I highly recommend it.

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