Q #201: Which business books provide the most and the best takeaways?

In response to the question posed, here are the eleven books selected by a panel sponsored by 800-CEO-READ:

The First 90 Days
Michael Watkins

Up the Organization
Robert Townsend

Beyond the Core
Chris Zook

The Little Red Book of Selling
Jeffrey Gitomer

What the CEO Wants You to Know
Ram Charan

The Team Handbook
Peter Scholtes, Brian L. Joiner, and Barbara J. Streibel

A Business and Its Beliefs
Thomas J. Watson Jr.

Lucky or Smart?
Bo Peabody

The Lexus and the Olive Tree
Thomas Friedman

Thinkertoys
Michael Michalko

More Than You Know
Michael J. Mauboussein

All are worthy selections but, in my opinion, any list that omits Guy Kawasaki’s Reality Check is incomplete. In terms of quality and quantity of takeaways, none of the aforementioned eleven even comes close.

Check out Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten’s The 100 Best Business Books of All Time.

Comments, questions, requests, or suggestions? Please share them. They will be most welcome and I thank you for them. Best regards, Bob

Q #200: Is there anything about business that has not as yet been said or written?

This question reminds me of this passage in the Book of Ecclesiastes (1:9-14 NIV):

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. {10} Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look! This is something new’? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. {11} There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow. {12} I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. {13} I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! {14} I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

Yes and no. In terms of a category such as leadership or process improvement, probably not. However, the works of William Shakespeare offer an interesting example of a body of material that has been so thoroughly discussed that there is almost nothing that has not already been noted. However, each generation “discovers” at least a few of Shakespeare’s major plays. I think the same is true of several business books such as Alfred Sloan’s My Years with General Motors, Peter Drucker’s The Effective Executive, Jim Collins’ Good to Great, Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Warren Bennis’ On Becoming a Leader, Peter Senge’s The Fifth Discipline, and Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence.

As with Shakespeare’s plays, the text in these books (most of which are also considered “classics”) will not change but how the material is interpreted and then applied by each generation will be quite different. Although there will be little (if anything) new to be said or written about categories, there will always be something new to be said or written by those works that are most closely identified with the categories. Drucker and management as well as Hamlet and tragedy are essentially synonymous.

Comments, questions, requests, or suggestions? Please share them. They will be most welcome and I thank you for them. Best regards, Bob

In Pursuit of Elegance – What about the Enthymeme?

My book for July, 2009 at the First Friday Book Synopsis is In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing by Matthew May.

The book covers many areas and numberous examples of the power of the missing element. To quote the author, “The full power of elegance is achieved when the maximum impact is exacted with the minimum input” (p. 6).

I find it surprising that the author does not include a chapter on Elegance in Argument. Some of the most powerful arguments are those that fail to include all of its components, leaving it to the recipient to fill in the blanks.

This type of argument is called an enthymeme. Popularized by Aristotle in ancient Greece, the enthymeme is a syllogism with an implied premise. You are well aware of the famous syllogism: “All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal.”

When the premise is implied rather than provided, the argument becomes an enthymeme. Here are two you likely remember from recent advertising:

“This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” (The Partnership for a Drug-Free America)

“Want him to be more of a man? Try being more of a woman!” (advertising slogan for Coty perfume)

Therefore, in an enthymeme, the speaker builds an argument with one element removed, leading listeners to fill in the missing piece. Listen to how Paul Waldman in the Washington Post, September, 2003 illustrated this well: “On May 1, speaking from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, President Bush said, ‘The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11th, 2001, and still goes on. . . . With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States. And war is what they got.’ This is classic enthymematic argumentation: We were attacked on Sept. 11, so we went to war against Iraq. The missing piece of the argument–’Saddam was involved in 9/11′–didn’t have to be said aloud for those listening to assimilate its message.”

In his book, May explains why what is not there often trumps what is. It is unfortunate that he does not extend his case to introduce the enthymeme to his readers.

Remember that one of the most powerful effects of persuasion is when the recipient believes that your idea is his or hers, or when he or she reaches a conclusion that you want, without your own input. The enthymeme is a powerful and elegant tool to do exactly that.

What do you think? Let’s talk about it!

Q #199: What are “up” words and phrases?

Lynda Goldman is the published author of 30 books, and a consultant on communications and business etiquette for
corporations. She is a professional writer, spending her days writing articles, training materials, website content, brochures, and much more. In her latest ezine Communication Capsule, she offers examples of “up” words and phrases:

State what is, rather than what isn’t.

Instead of inexpensive, say economical.

Instead of this procedure is painless, say, this procedure is comfortable.

Instead of this software program isn’t hard to learn, say, this software program is easy to learn.

And instead of I would not hesitate to recommend this company, say I highly recommend this company.

Here’s why what Goldman calls “up” words and phrases are so important.

The subconscious mind does not process negatives. Check this out. “Don’t think of an elephant!” Of course you just did. Here’s another example. Tell a small child not to go out into the street. Of course, the child does. That’s how the subconscious operates. Sometimes you cannot avoid using a negative. To make that point, I just did. Also, re-read this paragraph and you’ll note how I phrased a key point: “The subconscious mind does not process negatives.”

That said, “up” words and phrases have much greater impact. And be sure to avoid using negatives when cautioning small children. My own experience suggests that it really doesn’t matter what you say to teenagers because they pay no attention to what adults say. There, I’ve done it again.

You can sign up for Goldman’s ezine and check out all the resources she has accumulated by visiting her Web site:

http://www.lyndagoldmanink.com/

Comments, questions, requests, or suggestions? Please share them. They will be most welcome and I thank you for them. Best regards, Bob

Q #198: In sales, are there differences between lead generation and prospecting?

William (“Skip”) Miller thinks so. In his recently published book, More ProActive Sales Management, he suggests that it is important to know the difference between lead generation and prospecting. “Lead generation is the act of targeting resources. It means figuring out where to hunt, what gun to hunt with, what to hunt, and when to hunt. Prospecting is the act of hunting. It means going through many fields and bushes to flush out the game, finding the game, taking aim, and pulling the trigger.”

Prospecting= Hunting

Miller goes on to assert that a good lead-generation machine is no excuse for a lack of prospecting. “The last time I checked, game doesn’t just fall from the sky or knock on the door of the hunting lodge and say, ‘Here I am, shoot me.’ The Internet has do e a good job getting some game to knock on the door, but the really big game is still out there.”

He explains in the book how to develop a prospecting and lead-generation culture. He also explains how to measure performance (e.g. the number of sales calls or qualified leads per week), how to reward performance, how to assign measurable objectives to members of the sales force, how to generate enthusiasm, and how to enlist support from people in other departments.

“Sales managers have tough-enough jobs without taking on the added responsibility of empathizing with a salesperson over a the lack of leads, how hard the market is today, and how they do not have the right product to break into the C suite. By far the biggest sales-management mistake is a lack of an effective, organized, and well-executed prospecting effort.

“For the organization to succeed, a sales manager may have to do things that are unpopular but necessary. Getting the sales team to prospect – as a team and as individuals – and to do it well truly ends up making or breaking a sales organization.”

Comments, questions, requests, or suggestions? Please share them. They will be most welcome and I thank you for them. Best regards, Bob

Q # 197: How to identify employees’ hidden talents? ‘

The question posed focuses on a major challenge – and a major opportunity – that all organizations face today. Talents may well be hidden to those who possess them as well as to their supervisors. Moreover, all talents are in various stages of measurable development and can always be developed further. Steven DeMaio teaches English and math to adults at the Community Learning Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Somerville Center for Adult Learning Experiences in Somerville, Massachusetts. He was an associate editor at HarvardBusiness.org. Here is an abbreviated version of a recent blog he posted at Harvard Business Publishing.

Especially now when many (most?) companies are struggling with immensely complicated personnel issues, DeMaio urges decision-makers to seek within their company’s employees “for hidden strengths, especially at times when hiring and promotions are on hold. In short, plumb the depths of each person you currently manage to fish out the talents that lurk beneath. Here’s what I’ve seen work:

1. Turn a compliment into an interview. When an employee does an excellent job, don’t merely praise her. Pinpoint the strengths of her accomplishment and ask her how she did it — in other words, to share her process. The interview will bring to consciousness — both yours and hers — insights that can be transferred to new tasks. Depending on the specifics, you might even ask her to give a presentation about her techniques or to train others in her methods.

2. Analyze how people think, not just what they do. Performance assessments rightly focus on the achievement of goals and other measurable markers of success. However, what’s often behind such accomplishments is a way of thinking, particular to an individual, that made success possible. Describe those habits of mind in the employee’s next evaluation.

3. Ask for the reasons behind preferences. Good managers know what their individual employees like to do (what tasks they enjoy, which projects motivate them). Great managers find out why someone has those preferences — i.e., which project characteristics are the root sources of fulfillment. That kind of knowledge helps a manager strategically match an employee with a project, taking into account both the essence of the work and the essence of the person rather than just the category or domain where there appears to be a synergy.

4. Inquire about people’s dreams. “David, if you could be in an entirely different career, what would it be?” If David says he always wanted to be a translator, ask him if he’d like to give working with international clients a whirl. By getting a little taste of his dream in his current position, David is more likely to feel fulfilled than if he keeps treading water — and less likely to get restless and head out to sea.

Treating each employee as an ocean of talent allows you to find troves of precious gems. What hidden treasures have you discovered in your employees? And what jewels of your own have you brought to the surface because a manager cared enough to look for them?”

For further reading, I suggest:

Growing Great Employees: Turning Ordinary People into Extraordinary Performers
Erika Anderson

The Breakthrough Imperative: How the Best Managers Get Outstanding Results
Mark Gottfredson and Herman Saenz

Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure and Drive Organizational Success
Dean R. Spitzer

Enterprise Architecture as Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution
Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson.

To read the entire article, please visit:

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/demaio/2009/06/how-to-identify-your-employees.html?cm_mmc=npv-_-TOPICEMAIL-_-JUN_2009-_-LEADERSHIP2

Comments, questions, requests, or suggestions? Please share them. They will be most welcome and I thank you for them. Best regards, Bob

Malcolm Gladwell the Performer

A friend from Tyler sent me the link to this article from the Financial Times web site, The Author as Performer.  It is about the night that Malcolm Gladwell, with no PowerPoint, no Q & A, simply told one story from his latest book Outliers.  Here’s the description from the FT site:

Late last year, for one night only, fans of the musical The Lion King were turned away from the Lyceum theatre in London’s West End. If they had been able to peer inside at the stage they would have witnessed not Simba, dancers in multicoloured costumes and “The Circle of Life” but a solitary, slender 45-year-old Canadian with bouffant hair standing behind a lectern. There were no props, apart from the video screen relaying his image around the huge auditorium, but this didn’t bother the youngish crowd who had bought 4,000 tickets at around £20 a piece to listen to one of two consecutive performances.

The speaker was the influential journalist, author and ideas entrepreneur Malcolm Gladwell, in town to promote his latest book, Outliers: The Story of Success. But this wasn’t a book reading or a Q&A session of the kind authors traditionally submit to. Neither was it a slide show, as you might expect to find at a lecture. Instead, the author recounted a single vignette from the book – the tale of why a plane ended up crashing, from the perspective of the pilots and those in the control tower – and burnished it into a narrative with all the chill and pace of a traditional ghost story. Even the lighting was kept deliberately low to create the right atmosphere. The performance lasted precisely an hour and five minutes, and no questions were invited after Gladwell had finished speaking. Rather than a talk about a book, it looked more like a carefully choreographed stage show.

Why?  Why does this work?  I’ve heard Gladwell in such a performance, here in Dallas at the Park City Club, and I can tell you he is a very good story-teller, both in print and in person.  But, still, why?  Why does this go over so well?

You can come up with your own theory.  Gladwell himself stated that he does not use a speaking coach, but that he does attend and contribute regularly at The Moth, a collective of New York writers who meet in downtown clubs to tell stories to one another.  (You can read his comments about one such night, with a “defense” of his presentation, from his blog, here.  And you can listen to a story from NPR’s This American Life about his story told at The Moth here).

But here’s my theory — we are so starved for information, for depth and substance, that we are simply enthralled whenever we encounter genuine content.  In an era of sound bites, shouting pundits, and constant/perpetual remote control surfing, to give an hour and five minutes to one well-done thoughtful presentation feels like a blood transfusion of depth and substance.

Anyway, that’s my explanation.

Communications is Key!

Sara says:  Cheryl and I teach graduate students and we’ve discovered that many don’t write well.  It’s a rampant problem and when we mention it, some students get a real “deer in the headlights” look.  They don’t have a clue where to start.  Now, this isn’t going to be a rant about today’s youth not being able to write.  It’s about a leader’s responsibility to good communications.  The quizzical look from our students, whether it means “I don’t know what you are talking about” or “I don’t know what to do about it” is not a sufficient response.  A leader’s job – right up there with delivering results to the shareholder’s – is communicating.   Leaders must always be on the lookout for 1) the most effective ways to communicate and 2) the number of ways they can deliver the message.

Lou Gerstner who wrote about the turnaround of IBM, wrote in his book, Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?,   “Personal leadership is about communication, openness, and willingness to speak often and honestly, and with respect for the intelligence of the reader or listener.”    I heard Gerstner tell an audience of IBM executives that, “you cannot over communicate.  You are responsible to communicate your vision in every memo, every conference call, every interview.”  If change in a company fails, look first to the leader and their ability (and tenacity) in articulating the change.

Cheryl offers: Our friend and ally blogger, Bob Morse, posted this question only a few days earlier in June: Q #184: Has the ability to write well become obsolete? Bob’s answer was “No, and I am convinced it never will.” I agree with Bob and Sara.  The responsibility to teach, practice, and role model good communications reside with leadership; be it the school system or in corporations. “Have you ever thought about the fact that the great philosopher Socrates had a student named Plato, and that Plato had a student named Aristotle?” This comes from the book, “If Aristotle Ran General Motors” by Tom Morris.  Morris goes on to say, “Given the right context of intimate and sustained association, greatness gives rise to greatness.” If that doesn’t inspire a teacher or leader to invest the time to teach their students/employees the value of clear, concise, and grammatically correct communication, I’m not sure it can be done!

Q #196: “Are we there yet?”

In this series, Bob Morris poses a key question and then responds to it with material from one or more of the business books he has reviewed for Amazon and Borders.

I wish I had a $10 bill (or even a dollar) for every time one of my four children and ten grandchildren asked that question during an automobile trip. It is a reasonable question. It is human nature to have feelings of impatience, boredom, anticipation, frustration, etc.

We also ask this question (albeit silently) when embarked upon a project that has not as yet been completed, or during the composition of a book review or a Q&A such as this. As I think about this question, I am reminded of a sign I once saw in a neighborhood tavern in my hometown, Chicago. It said FREE BEER TOMORROW. When I first saw it, I instinctively decided to return the next day. Then I quickly realized that it made no sense. Then I appreciated the wit of the person who devised it and had a good laugh…and another glass of draught beer for which I later paid, of course. Most people are always “here” (wherever that may be) and will never get “there.” Others always seem to be anywhere but “here,” either dwelling in the past or in a future less unpleasant.

Imagine that we are in an automobile traveling at 60 mph when a child asks the question, “Are we there yet?” The vehicle proceeds 80 feet a second so “here” and “there” constantly and rapidly change. If Albert Einstein were with us, he would perhaps suggest that time is relative. So what?

In his various books (notably The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment), Eckhart Tolle urges us to appreciate where we are now, at each moment, and to take full advantage of the blessings that we have rather than defer until later. Henry David Thoreau frequently makes that same point in Walden and various essays.

True, we were once “there” at any point in the past but it was a “here” then to which we cannot return except as a memory. Similarly, we can never be “there” at any point in the future until it is another “here” in the chronology of our experience.

Individuals as well as organizations need to understand “the power of now” and to realize how important it is to take full advantage of opportunities, many (most?) of which will never occur again.

Comments, questions, requests, or suggestions? Please share them. They will be most welcome and I thank you for them. Best regards, Bob

Q #195: To those about to begin a career in business, any advice?

In this series, Bob Morris usually poses a key question and then responds to it with material from one or more of the business books he has reviewed for Amazon and Borders. What follows is an exception.

Over the years, and as recently as an hour before I began to compose this Q&A, I have been asked this question and I take it seriously. However, frankly, I have doubts about the value of advice relative to the value of personal experience. Perhaps the question should be rephrased: What do I know now that I wish I knew when I began my career in business? My response to that is what I shared in an e-mail reply earlier and the advice offered whenever requested:

1. Nothing is as good or as bad as it may seem. Keep going and do your best.

2. Select the same way to learn a living that you would select if you did not have to earn a living. Easier said than done, I realize, but crucial to having what Aristotle considered to be “the good life.”

3. When angry about something, say or do nothing about it for at least 24 hours. This is especially true of telephone calls and e-mails.

4. Volunteer for the most unpleasant tasks. This is especially important if you are the boss.

5. Never miss an opportunity to say “Thank you.” Appreciation and gratitude can be contagious. So can incivility.

6. Have an insatiable curiosity about something (anything) unrelated to business and learn something new about it each day. When interest wanes, select something else.

7. Volunteer to read to one class at the local elementary school (grade 1, 2, or 3) for an hour each week, whenever your schedule and the class’s permit. Ask the teacher to select the children’s favorite cookie and bring enough for everyone.

8. Stay in frequent contact with at least ten (10) high school and college classmates. My personal preference is for e-mail updates but in previous years, I mailed single-page letters and often enclosed an appropriate cartoon from The New Yorker.

9. Keep a journal in which you record at least a few sentences about each day’s experiences. Don’t worry about grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. Just do it. Your notes are more reliable than your memory.

10. Except in a perilous situation, don’t offer advice. Wait until it is requested. Even then, don’t expect it to be followed. That is not your decision to make.

Comments, questions, requests, or suggestions? Please share them. They will be most welcome and I thank you for them. Best regards, Bob