CitySquare’s Larry James Presents at December 7 FFBS
I am so happy that Larry James, CEO and President of CitySquare, will be our guest presenter at the December 7 First Friday Book Synopsis.
Larry has most graci
ously agreed to substitute for me while I attend the annual communication of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas, in my capacity as a member of the Education and Service Committee.
Many of you will remember his stunning presentation of Rudolph Guiliani’s book entitled Leadership several years ago.
This time, he will present Jon Gordon’s best-seller, The Energy Bus. This book was written in 2007, but continues to appear on business best-seller lists. It has had a 12-week run on the Wall Street Journal list. You will enjoy the practical advice that Gordon shares in this book, and perhaps even more, the presentation and spin you will hear from Larry James.
We have an exciting bonus program for you following the synopsis. Randy Mayeux will present a synopsis of a best-seller about poverty, and CitySquare officials, including Larry James, will participate in a discussion with you afterwards. All of the proceeds from this program will go directly to CitySquare. I am so impressed with what they do, and I am thrilled to have them as one of our charities that we support annually.
The organiza
tion’s website touts the fact that it goes after the root cause of hunger, not a quick-fix. It says: “We don’t fight poverty for the poor—we fight poverty with the poor. Our 24-year commitment to addressing the root causes of poverty, both on an individual and systemic level, combined with our unyielding commitment to stewardship (over 92 cents of each dollar goes directly to services for those in need) makes CitySquare a proven leader in our community and beyond.” You can read more about this amazing organization at: http://citysq.org/
I appreciate your attendance and contribution to the bonus program. It will be well worth your time. If you cannot stay, can you contribute? We will take your tax-deductible donations at the registration desk that day.
You can register for this event at: www.firstfridaybooksynopsis.com
Coming for the August 3 First Friday Book Synopsis – Platform, & Goldratt’s The Goal
Here are two important business success issues:
#1 — how do I successfully get people to listen to my message?
and
#2 — how do I find, and get rid of, whatever is slowing us down in our company?
Solve these 2 issues, and your path to business success becomes a little clearer.
At the August 3 First Friday Book Synopsis, Karl Krayer will present his synopsis of the book Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World by Michael Hyatt. (Thomas Nelson. 2012). This book is designed to help you develop specific steps to clarify your message, refine your message, and get your message heard.
I am going to present the business classic The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox. (North River Pr. — 3rd Revised edition: July 2004). We normally only present “new” books at the First Friday Book Synopsis, but we have occasionally presented books that fit in the category of “business book classics.” A few years ago, I presented my synopsis of Servant Leadership by Robert Greenleaf. Greenleaf coined the phrase “servant leadership,” a concept that has stood the test of time. I believe his work should be discovered and rediscovered by every generation of business leadership.
The Goal is apparently that kind of book.
I was prompted to make this selection by an article in Slate.com by Seth Stevenson. His article started with this:
When I began to gather information for this Slate series on operations management, I asked a few business-school professors to recommend books I might read on the topic. I expected I’d be pointed toward textbooks and manuals—perhaps written by the professors themselves, or by celebrity CEOs. Instead, I was urged to read a novel by a dead Israeli physicist.
And I blogged about the book in this post: “The Fat Kid Is The Bottleneck!” – (Eli Goldratt’s The Goal, And A Thought About Expertise).
This will be a valuable session as you try to find out just what it is that is slowing you down now, and then how to develop the kind of powers of observation to always be on the lookout for what will slow you down once this current “bottleneck” is unclogged.
If you are in the DFW area, please join us for the August 3 First Friday Book Synopsis. (You will be able to register soon from our home page). Great networking; a terrific, full-service omelet bar/full buffet breakfast; and good challenging content. It is a great way to spend an early Friday morning. (By the way, we have presented two books a month, every month, since April, 1998 — over 14 years!).
Come join us.
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Coming for the May 4 First Friday Book Synopsis – Imagine: How Creativity Works & Take the Stairs
Recently, a sharp entrepreneur told me that she consistently hears that the First Friday Book Synopsis is one of the top 5 networking events in the Dallas area. I believe this is true, and you can sense it whenever you walk into the room at one of our monthly sessions. The quality of the people, the content of the book synopsis presentations, the great food, the respect for the clock… What more could you ask for?
We begin at 7:00 am, and you can always walk out between 8:05-8:07. And you leave with two handouts, genuinely comprehensive takeaways with key quotes and the most useful transferable principles from the two books chosen for the morning.
And we’ve been providing these sessions every month for over 14 years.
For May 4, we have selected two books that you will find very useful. I am presenting my synopsis of Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer. It is a terrific book! I read a lot of business books that have very good information, but some books are also written by exceptional writers. This is one of those books. (So is my June selection, The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg). Jonah Lehrer, the author of Imagine, tells a story with such thorough detail. And he tells stories in such a way that we see the insights just leap out in moments of “discovery.” He is a really good writer. (Click here to read the review of Imagine by our blogging colleague, Bob Morris).
Karl Krayer will present his synopsis of Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success. It is a book dealing with self-discipline. So, if you have mastered self-discipline, you can skip this presentation. (I suspect that you still have some work to do in that category – I sure do).
We meet at the wonderful Park City Club in Dallas, near the corner of Northwest Highway and the Dallas North Tollway, at 7:00 am – the first Friday of every month. Come join us for the May 4 First Friday Book Synopsis. You will be glad you did.
Click here to register.
The Technology We Will Read About Soon – The Online Buzz Last Week
We have provided synopses for many books on technology over the now completed 14 years of the First Friday Book Synopsis. Clearly, there are many avid readers who embrace technology and can’t wait to see what’s new.
Here’s the next one that we will likely see covered in a book soon. It is called Project Glass, and it is a pair of Internet-connected glasses under development by Google.
In essence, you wil be able to be online and view sites through a small glass window that rests in the upper right or left corner of your lens.
The Wall Street Journal provided these statistics in an article on April 7-8, 2012, p. C4. Out of 2,482 social media posts on Facebook and Twitter between April 4-6:
- 77% were excited
- 9% were skeptical
- 12% thought it was too much
- 2% cracked jokes
Click here to read the full article and see some of the quotes taken from the respondents.
And, remember – don’t ever say, “what will they think of next?” As soon as you do, you will be behind the curve.
What do you think? Let’s talk about it really soon.
Coming for the May First Friday Book Synopsis – Imagine by Jonah Lehrer & Take the Stairs by Rory Valden
On April 6, we began our 15th year of the First Friday Book Synopsis. We have presented two synopses, two books a month, every month, for now over 14 years. A woman recently told me that in her circles, our event is described as one of the premiere networking events in Dallas, because of its combination of great participants, engaged in terrific conversations while making valuable connections with each other, as they receive the content of the book presentations. Content + conversation + good food, in a beautiful setting, all in a fast-paced breakfast meeting. And, this great experience respects your own busy time demands – we start at 7:00 am, and you can leave right at 8:05, and get right back at the challenges of the day.
For May 4, we have chosen two good books. I look forward to presenting my synopsis of Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer. Mr. Lehrer has been interviewed and profiled in many places since the publication of his book. It is, as they say, generating “buzz.” I am just getting starting on my reading of the book. Bob Morris, our blogging colleague, really liked this book, and ended his review of it with these words: ”Bravo! I also thank him for all that I have learned.” Read Bob’s review of this book by clicking here.
Karl Krayer will present his synopsis of Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success by Rory Valden, a book with an always-needed reminder to develop and practice self-discipline.
You will be able to register soon from this web site for our May 4 event. If you are in the DFW area, come join us, bring a bring, join in the conversation, and keep learning with us at the First Friday Book Synopsis.
You can click on the flier below for a full and printable view.
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The Five Things that Matter Now (Gary Hamel, What Matters Now)
Tomorrow, we begin our 15th year of the First Friday Book Synopsis!
Tomorrow at the April First Friday Book Synopsis, I will present my synopsis of What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation by Gary Hamel, This is the second book I have presented by Hamel, and the fourth Hamel book that has been featured at our event.
Here’s our Gary Hamel “history”: In September, 1998, Karl Krayer presented his synopsis of Alliance Advantage: The Art of Creating Value Through Partnering by Yves Doz and Gary Hamel, and in December, 2000, Karl presented his synopsis of Leading the Revolution by Gary Hamel. In January, 2008, I presented my synopsis of The Future of Management by Gary Hamel and Bill Breen. And now, tomorrow, I will present my synopsis of What Matters Now.
The Wall Street Journal ranks Hamel #1 as “the most influential business thinker.” I think his insights are valuable. This book provides Hamel’s answer to this question: “What Matters Now?” It is an important question, and the title of the book itself is a reminder that what matters in one year or in one era is different from what matters “now.” The “what matters now” changes with each new “now.”
Here are the five things that he says matter now, (from the book, with a portion of his elaboration):
Values:
As trust has waned, the regulatory burden on business has grown. Reversing these trends will require nothing less than a moral renaissance in business.Innovation:
successful products and strategies are quickly copied. Without relentless innovation, success is fleeting. …there’s not one company in a hundred that has made innovation everyone’s job, every day. In most organizations, innovation still happens “despite the system” rather than because of it. …innovation is the only sustainable strategy for creating long-term value.Adaptability:
Problem is, deep change is almost always crisis-driven; it’s tardy, traumatic and expensive. In most organizations, there are too many things that perpetuate the past and too few that encourage proactive change. The “party of the past” is usually more powerful than the “party of the future.” In a world where industry leaders can become laggards overnight, the only way to sustain success is to reinvent it.Passion:
the average workplace is a buzz killer. Petty rules, pedestrian goals, and pyramidal structures drain the emotional vitality out of work. Maybe that didn’t matter in the knowledge economy, but it matters enormously in the creative economy. The problem is not a lack of competence, but a lack of ardor.Ideology:
Whatever the rhetoric to the contrary, control is the principal preoccupation of most managers and management
What creates value today is the unexpectedly brilliant product, the wonderfully weird media campaign, and the entirely novel customer experience.
Each new Gary Hamel book provides insight, learning, and a clear call for action. And in our synopses, we do our best to give you enough of the book to help you learn important information, identify and address challenges in your own business arena, and provide some steps you can take, now, toward necessary action.
If you live in the DFW area, come join us tomorrow for the April First Friday Book Synopsis. (7:00 am). Click here to reserve your spot. We have wonderful networking, great food, and the content of two key books, with comprehensive handouts, delivered in a fast paced delivery. You can eat, learn, engage in valuable conversations, and leave by 8:05.
(My colleague, Karl Krayer, will be presenting his synopsis of the book Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman. An important book!)
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You can purchase my synopsis The Future of Management, and synopses of many other books we have presented, with audio + comprehensive handouts, at our companion site, 15minutebusinessbooks.com.
Read Bob Morris’ excellent review of What Matters Now by clicking here. Yes, you will read again about the “five things that matter.” These provide the heart of the book.
April 2012 First Friday Book Synopsis Sponsored by Relay for Life
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Do You Allow e-Mail to Control Your Day?
In the writing skills course that we teach at Creative Communication Network, entitled Write Your Way to Success, we discuss how to handle e-Mails.
Most of our participants claim they write e-Mails as more than 85% of the type of writing they do on the job.
Obviously, writing e-Mails is often responding to other e-Mails.
And, the question is, do you control e-Mail, or does e-Mail control you?
Do you remember the Southwest Airlines commercials a few years ago, where a woman dropped a cake because she heard a “bing” on her computer, announcing an e-Mail? Or the one where the guy jumped over a cube wall to get to his e-Mail? They were exaggerated events, but not too far from reality.
You likely remember the synopsis of the book that I presented at our First Friday Book Synopsis entitled The Tyranny of e-Mail by John Freeman (Scribner, 2009). In that book, he presented a strong set of hints for writing and reading e-Mails, including scheduling a time to read e-Mails so that you concentrate on what you read and what you write, and so that you control e-Mail, instead of it controlling you. If you missed the original presentation, you can find it on 15MinuteBusinessBooks.com.
I thought this piece published on February 21, 2012 in the Harvard Business Review blog by Amy Gallo, entitled “Stop Email Overload,” was also provacative in the same sense. Click here to read the entire article.
Think about some of these principles. How much more productive would you be if you dictated when and how you went through your e-Mail? What if you decided how e-Mail fit into your day instead of jumping to check it everytime your computer beeped to tell you something new has arrived?
Let’s talk about it really soon!
Social Media Doesn’t Make the Cash Register Ring
As with many of you, we have a presence on Facebook for the First Friday Book Synopsis. Many of you are members of the group that we established. It is fun to interact with you through that group every day.
It is important to remember that Social Media has limits as to what it can produce. It is what it is – it is “social,” and its intent is to share information, reactions, opinions, and presence. Many have tried to use Social Media for other purposes, and in fact, seminars are plentiful that purport to show you how to build business by maximizing and tweaking your presence with the various tools.
Click here for access to a full article published on February 21 in the Dallas Morning News about business results from Facebook. They are not impressive, and the trends below may surprise you, as they run counter to common-sense publicity about social media. Here is an excerpt from the article:
“Last April, Gamestop Corp. opened a store on Facebookto generate sales among the 3.5 million-plus customers who’d declared themselves “fans” of the video game retailer. Six months later, the store was quietly shuttered. Grapevine-based Gamestop has company. Over the past year, Gap Inc. , Plano-based J.C. Penney Co. and Nordstrom Inc. have all opened and closed storefronts on Facebook Inc.’s social networking site. Facebook, which this month filed for an initial public offering, has sought to be a top shopping destination for its 845 million members. The stores’ quick failure shows that the Menlo Park, Calif.-based social network doesn’t drive commerce and casts doubt on its value for retailers, said Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. “There was a lot of anticipation that Facebook would turn into a new destination, a store, a place where people would shop,” Mulpuru said. “But it was like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar.”
These results do not surprise me. If you count on Social Media to build sales, that is neither its intent, nor a probable outcome.
Don’t get me wrong. I like Social Media. I access Facebook and Twitter several times a day. In fact, my MBA class on research methods at the University of Dallas is studying it during this term.
But, I am aware of what it is supposed to do, and what it can do. It is what it is. It raises awareness, but it doesn’t make the cash register ring. Don’t be disappointed when it doesn’t do something it is not.
What do you think? Let’s talk about this really soon.
Steve Jobs; The 3rd Alternative; Dozens More – Keep Learning with our 15 Minute Business Book Synopses
These synopses are now available at our companion site, 15minutebusinessbooks.com.
Click on the Book Cover Image to order our synopsis, with handout and audio, of the book. (This will take you to our home page — scroll to the bottom of the page to see the image).
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Problem: So many books, so little time.
I have dozens and dozens of “samples” loaded into my iPad Kindle app. I love the “samples” feature. It gives me a feel for the content of so many books. And my friend and blogging colleague Bob Morris shares quite a few books with me. It is wonderful.
But, now, the stack on my shelf, the stack on my little reading table, the “stack” in my iPad is sort of like The Blob (The Blob: An alien lifeform consumes everything in its path as it grows and grows), always advancing, growing larger by the minute. I’m about to be consumed by this blob of books….Aaghhhh…
My constantly growing stack of unread books feels like the Blob...
You can’t help me, but I can offer a little help to you. Since April, 1998, Karl Krayer and I have presented synopses of best-selling, useful, important business books at the First Friday Book Synopsis in Dallas. We record these presentations, and many of our synopses are available for your purchase at our companion site, 15minutebusinessbooks.com. Each synopsis comes with a handout, and the audio of our 15 minute presentation. (OK – many of them go about 17 minutes, with an occasional 18-20 minute presentation).
Many coaches are now playing these recordings for their clients. They have discovered that they are extremely useful in tackling a specific issue, and jumpstarting important conversations.
Listening to one of our synopses, while following along with the handout is, or course, not as good as reading the book. But, it is really, genuinely helpful.
Right now, you can purchase our synopses of recent presentations, including: Steve Jobs, The 3rd Alternative, Great by Choice. The home page of our site always lists, at the bottom of the page, the most recent additions. And the catalogue will give you our entire collection.
NOTE/WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NEVER ORDERED FROM US, please read the FAQs. Some of the recordings are a little old, and though they are understandable, they are not as “easy” to understand as the newer recordings from the last 2-3 years of presentations.
I promise you, these presentations will help you in your quest to keep learning; they will give you enough of the key content of the books that you can begin thinking about the “what do I do now with what I have just learned?” question; and they will help you know which books will be most valuable for you to read in their entirety.
Click here to read the FAQs.
Click here to browse through the catalogue (yes, you can search for a title).
And click here for the home page (the newest additions are always listed at the bottom).
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