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Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman

Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman








Firnando Chau Review


The contents are:
Introduction
Aristotle's Challenge
Part One: The Emotional Brain
1. What are Emotions For?
2. Anatomy of an Emotional Hijacking
Part Two: The Nature of Emotional Intelligence
3. When Smart is Dumb
4. Know Thyself
5. Passion's Slaves
6. The Master Aptitude
7. The Roots of Empathy
8. The Social Arts
Part Three: Emotional Intelligence Applied
9. Intimate Enemies
10. Managing with Heart
11. Mind and Medicine
Part Four: Windows of Opportunity
12. The Family Crucible
13. Trauma and Emotional Relearning
14. Temperament Is Not Destiny
Part Five: Emotional Literacy
15. The Cost of Emotional Illiteracy
16. Schooling the Emotions
Appendix A: What is Emotion?
Appendix B: Hallmarks of the Emotional Mind
Appendix C: The Neural Circuitry of Fear
Appendix D: W. T. Grant Consortium: Active Ingredients of Prevention Programs
Appendix E: The Self Silence Curriculum
Appendix F: Social and Emotional Learning: Results
Resources
Notes
Acknowledgements
Index
--



About the Book:-
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (September 12, 1996)
ISBN-10: 0747528306
ISBN-13: 978-0747528302

Amazon.com Review

The Western cultures esteem analytical skills measured by IQ tests: but there is clearly more to success and happiness, even in technological societies, than IQ alone. Goleman has written one of the best books on the nature and importance of other kinds of intelligence besides our perhaps overly beloved IQ. Recommended. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


From Publishers Weekly

New York Times science writer Goleman argues that our emotions play a much greater role in thought, decision making and individual success than is commonly acknowledged. He defines "emotional intelligence"?a trait not measured by IQ tests?as a set of skills, including control of one's impulses, self-motivation, empathy and social competence in interpersonal relationships. Although his highly accessible survey of research into cognitive and emotional development may not convince readers that this grab bag of faculties comprise a clearly recognizable, well-defined aptitude, his report is nevertheless an intriguing and practical guide to emotional mastery. In marriage, emotional intelligence means listening well and being able to calm down. In the workplace, it manifests when bosses give subordinates constructive feedback regarding their performance. Goleman also looks at pilot programs in schools from New York City to Oakland, Calif., where kids are taught conflict resolution, impulse control and social skills.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. 

From Library Journal

Scientific data emerging from studies using new brain imaging technologies have yielded fresh understanding of how emotions work and, argues the author, suggest ways to regulate the more negative emotions responsible for the horrendous acts of violence that are the stuff of daily headlines. The book calls for universal adoption of educational curricula that teach youngsters how to regulate their emotional responses and to resolve conflict peacefully. Along the way Goleman summarizes much of the best psychological work of the last few decades on such topics as the importance of learned optimism, the theory of multiple intelligences, the role of innate temperamental differences, and the importance of emotional intelligence in marriage, management, and medicine. Based on good empirical data (unlike many popular psychology books), this fine example is recommended for academic and larger public libraries. -- Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, Wash.


Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. 


From Booklist

If your class valedictorian did not become the soaring success everyone predicted, perhaps his IQ exceeded his EQ. Psychologist Daniel Goleman's latest book is a fascinating depiction of the role emotional intelligence plays in defining character and determining destiny. He has produced an eminently readable and persuasive work that shows us how to develop our emotional intelligence in ways that can improve our relationships, our parenting, our classrooms, and our workplaces. Goleman assures us that our temperaments may be determined by neurochemistry, but they can be altered. We could turn society on its ear if we learned to recognize our emotions and control our reactions; if we combined our thinking with our feeling; if we learned to follow our flow of feelings in our search for creativity. This well-researched work persuades us to teach our children an important lesson: humanity lies in our feelings, not our facts. This is an engrossing, captivating work that should be read by anyone who wants to improve self, family, or world. Patricia Hassler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'An impressive argument that excellence is more than IQ' Daily Mail 'A well-written and practical guide to the emotions, perfectly pitched in tone and scope' Financial Times 'Forget IQ. Brains may come in useful, as may social class and luck, but as a predictor of who will succeed in any area of life, EQ is the thing to worry about' Good Housekeeping

About the Book

The groundbreaking bestseller that redefines intelligence and success Does IQ define our destiny? Daniel Goleman argues that our view of human intelligence is far too narrow, and that our emotions play major role in thought, decision making and individual success. Self-awareness, impulse control, persistence, motivation, empathy and social deftness are all qualities that mark people who excel: whose relationships flourish, who are stars in the workplace. With new insights into the brain architecture underlying emotion and rationality, Goleman shows precisely how emotional intelligence can be nurtured and strengthened in all of us.


From the Publisher

Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until the discoveries of modern brain researchers, theorists could only guess why. Daniel Goleman's fascinating report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers us startling new insight into our "two minds" -- the rational and the emotional -- and how they together shape our destiny. Beginning deep in the brain, Emotional Intelligence shows us the exact mechanism of an "emotional hijack," when passion overcomes reason. Through vivid examples, Goleman then delineates the crucial skills of emotional intelligence, and shows how they determine our success in relationships and work, and even our physical well-being. What emerges is a crucial new way to talk about being smart. The final chapters reveal the possibilities -- and limits -- of "emotional literary," as it is taught by both parents and educators. The book concludes with a compelling vision of what true emotional intelligence means for us both as individuals and as a society. The message of this eye-opening book is one we must take to heart: the true "bell curve" for a democracy must measure emotional intelligence. Daniel Goleman offers a new vision of excellence and a vital new curriculum for life that can change the future for us and our children.

From the Inside Flap

Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until the discoveries of modern brain researchers, theorists could only guess why. Daniel Goleman's fascinating report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers us startling new insight into our "two minds" -- the rational and the emotional -- and how they together shape our destiny. Beginning deep in the brain, Emotional Intelligence shows us the exact mechanism of an "emotional hijack," when passion overcomes reason. Through vivid examples, Goleman then delineates the crucial skills of emotional intelligence, and shows how they determine our success in relationships and work, and even our physical well-being. What emerges is a crucial new way to talk about being smart. The final chapters reveal the possibilities -- and limits -- of "emotional literary," as it is taught by both parents and educators. The book concludes with a compelling vision of what true emotional intelligence means for us both as individuals and as a society. The message of this eye-opening book is one we must take to heart: the true "bell curve" for a democracy must measure emotional intelligence. Daniel Goleman offers a new vision of excellence and a vital new curriculum for life that can change the future for us and our children.

From the Back Cover

"Impressive in its scope and depth, staggering in its implications, Emotional Intelligence gives us an entirely new way of looking at the root causes of many of the ills of our families and our society." -- Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., author of Wherever You Go, There You Are.

About the Author

Daniel Goleman, PhD, covers the behavioural and brain sciences for the New York Times and his articles appear throughout the world in syndication. His latest book, Destructive Emotions: A Scientific Dialogue with the Dalai Lama, was published in January 2003. He has taught at Harvard (where he received his PhD) and was formerly senior editor at Psychology Today. His previous books include Vital Lies, Simple Truths; The Meditative Mind; and as co-author, The Creative Spirit. He was also a contributor to the business reference work, Business: The Ultimate Resource.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The New Yardstick

The rules for work are changing. We're being judged by a new yardstick: not just by how smart we are, or by our training and expertise, but also by how well we handle ourselves and each other. This yardstick is increasingly applied in choosing who will be hired and who will not, who will be let go and who retained, who passed over and who promoted.

The new rules predict who is most likely to become a star performer and who is most prone to derailing. And, no matter what field we work in currently, they measure the traits that are crucial to our marketability for future jobs.

These rules have little to do with what we were told was important in school; academic abilities are largely irrelevant to this standard. The new measure takes for granted having enough intellectual ability and technical know-how to do our jobs; it focuses instead on personal qualities, such as initiative and empathy, adaptability and persuasiveness.

This is no passing fad, nor just the management nostrum of the moment. The data that argue for taking it seriously are based on studies of tens of thousands of working people, in callings of every kind. The research distills with unprecedented precision which qualities mark a star performer. And it demonstrates which human abilities make up the greater part of the ingredients for excellence at work—most especially for leadership.

If you work in a large organization, even now you are probably being evaluated in terms of these capabilities, though you may not know it. If you are applying for a job, you are likely to be scrutinized through this lens, though, again, no one will tell you so explicitly. Whatever your job, understanding how to cultivate these capabilities can be essential for success in your career.

If you are part of a management team, you need to consider whether your organization fosters these competencies or discourages them. To the degree your organizational climate nourishes these competencies, your organization will be more effective and productive. You will maximize your group's intelligence, the synergistic interaction of every person's best talents.

If you work for a small organization or for yourself, your ability to perform at peak depends to a very great extent on your having these abilities—though almost certainly you were never taught them in school. Even so, your career will depend, to a greater or lesser extent, on how well you have mastered these capacities.

In a time with no guarantees of job security, when the very concept of a "job" is rapidly being replaced by "portable skills," these are prime qualities that make and keep us employable. Talked about loosely for decades under a variety of names, from "character" and "personality" to "soft skills" and "competence," there is at last a more precise understanding of these human talents, and a new name for them: emotional intelligence.

A Different Way of Being Smart

"I had the lowest cumulative grade point average ever in my engineering school," the codirector of a consulting firm tells me. "But when I joined the army and went to officer candidate school, I was number one in my class—it was all about how you handle yourself, get along with people, work in teams, leadership. And that's what I find to be true in the world of work."

In other words, what matters is a different way of being smart. In my book Emotional Intelligence, my focus was primarily on education, though a short chapter dealt with implications for work and organizational life.

What caught me by utter surprise—and delighted me—was the flood of interest from the business community. Responding to a tidal wave of letters and faxes, e-mails and phone calls, requests to speak and consult, I found myself on a global odyssey, talking to thousands of people, from CEOs to secretaries, about what it means to bring emotional intelligence to work.

* * *

This search has taken me back to research I participated in while a graduate student, and then faculty member, at Harvard University. That research was part of an early challenge to the IQ mystique—the false but widely embraced notion that what matters for success is intellect alone. This work helped spawn what has now become a mini-industry that analyzes the actual competencies that make people successful in jobs and organizations of every kind, and the findings are astonishing: IQ takes second position to emotional intelligence in determining outstanding job performance.

Analyses done by dozens of different experts in close to five hundred corporations, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide have arrived independently at remarkably similar conclusions, and their findings are particularly compelling because they avoid the biases or limits inherent in the work of a single individual or group. Their conclusions all point to the paramount place of emotional intelligence in excellence on the job--in virtually any job.

Some Misconceptions

As I've toured the world talking and consulting with people in business, I've encountered certain widespread misunderstandings about emotional intelligence. Let me clear up some of the most common at the outset. First, emotional intelligence does not mean merely "being nice." At strategic moments it may demand not "being nice," but rather, for example, bluntly confronting someone with an uncomfortable but consequential truth they've been avoiding.

Second, emotional intelligence does not mean giving free rein to feelings—"letting it all hang out." Rather, it means managing feelings so that they are expressed appropriately and effectively, enabling people to work together smoothly toward their common goals.

Also, women are not "smarter" than men when it comes to emotional intelligence, nor are men superior to women. Each of us has a personal profile of strengths and weaknesses in these capacities. Some of us may be highly empathic but lack some abilities to handle our own distress; others may be quite aware of the subtlest shift in our own moods, yet be inept socially.

It is true that men and women as groups tend to have a shared, gender-specific profile of strong and weak points. An analysis of emotional intelligence in thousands of men and women found that women, on average, are more aware of their emotions, show more empathy, and are more adept interpersonally. Men, on the other hand, are more self-confident and optimistic, adapt more easily, and handle stress better.

In general, however, there are far more similarities than differences. Some men are as empathic as the most interpersonally sensitive women, while some women are every bit as able to withstand stress as the most emotionally resilient men. Indeed, on average, looking at the overall ratings for men and women, the strengths and weaknesses average out, so that in terms of total emotional intelligence, there are no sex differences.

Finally, our level of emotional intelligence is not fixed genetically, nor does it develop only in early childhood. Unlike IQ, which changes little after our teen years, emotional intelligence seems to be largely learned, and it continues to develop as we go through life and learn from our experiences—our competence in it can keep growing. In fact, studies that have tracked people's level of emotional intelligence through the years show that people get better and better in these capabilities as they grow more adept at handling their own emotions and impulses, at motivating themselves, and at honing their empathy and social adroitness. There is an old-fashioned word for this growth in emotional intelligence: maturity.

Why This Matters Now

At a California biotech start-up, the CEO proudly enumerated the features that made his organization state-of-the-art: No one, including him, had a fixed office; instead, everyone carried a small laptop—their mobile office—and was wired to everyone else. Job titles were irrelevant; employees worked in cross-functional teams and the place bubbled with creative energy. People routinely put in seventy- and eighty-hour work weeks.

"So what's the downside?" I asked him.

"There is no downside," he assured me.

And that was the fallacy. Once I was free to talk with staff members, I heard the truth: The hectic pace had people feeling burned out and robbed of their private lives. And though everyone could talk via computer to everyone else, people felt that no one was truly listening to them.

People desperately felt the need for connection, for empathy, for open communication.

In the new, stripped-down, every-job-counts business climate, these human realities will matter more than ever. Massive change is a constant; technical innovations, global competition, and the pressures of institutional investors are ever-escalating forces for flux.

Another reality makes emotional intelligence ever more crucial: As organizations shrink through waves of downsizing, those people who remain are more accountable—and more visible. Where earlier a midlevel employee might easily hide a hot temper or shyness, now competencies such as managing one's emotions, handling encounters well, teamwork, and leadership, show—and count--more than ever.

The globalization of the workforce puts a particular premium on emotional intelligence in wealthier countries. Higher wages in these countries, if they are to be maintained, will depend on a new kind of productivity. And structural fixes or technological advances alone are not enough: As at the California biotech firm, streamlining or other innovations often create new problems that cry out for even greater emotional intelligence.



Daniel Goleman other books are:


1. Ecological Intelligence: The Hidden Impacts of What We Buy (2010)
2. Measuring the Immeasurable: The Scientific Case for Spirituality (2008)
3. Social intelligence (2007)
4. Destructive emotions: how can we overcome them? : a scientific dialogue with the Dalai Lama (2004)



5. Healing emotions: conversations with the Dalai Lama on mindfulness, emotions, and health (2003)
6. Working with emotional intelligence (2000)
7. Vital lies, simple truths: the psychology of self-deception (1998)
8. The Meditative Mind (1988)

9. Essential Psychotherapy (1987)
10. The varieties of the meditative experience (1977)

Co-Authors of other books:
1. Building Emotional Intelligence: Techniques to Cultivate Inner Strength in Children (2008) Co-Authored with Linda Lantieri
2. Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor (2008) Co-authored with 
Warren G. Bennis & James O'Toole
3. The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness (2008) Co-authored with Yongey Mingyur, & Eric Swanson
4. Primal leadership: learning to lead with emotional intelligence (2004) Co-Authored with Richard E. Boyatzis & Annie McKee
5. The new leaders: transforming the art of leadership into the science of results (2003) Co-authored with Richard E. Boyatzis, Annie McKee
6. The emotionally intelligent workplace: how to select for, measure, and improve emotional intelligence in individuals, groups, and organizations (2001) Co-authored with Cary Cherniss
7. Harvard business review on what makes a leader (2001) Co-Authored with Michael MacCoby, Thomas Davenport, John C. Beck, Clampa Dan

8. Mind Body Medicine: How to Use Your Mind for Better Health (1998) Co-authored with Joel Gurin
9. Worlds in harmony: dialogues on compassionate action (1992) Co-authored with Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho (Dalai Lama XIV)
10. MindScience: an East-West dialogue (1991) Co-Authored with Robert A. F. Thurman
11. The essential psychotherapies: theory and practice by the masters (1982) Co-authored with Kathleen Riordan Speeth
12. Introductory psychology (1982) Co-authored with Trygg Engen, Anthony Davids
13. Consciousness, the brain, states of awareness, and alternate realities (1979) Co-Authored with Richard J. Davidson

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey








Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Free Press; Revised edition (November 9, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0743269519
ISBN-13: 978-0743269513

Amazon.com Review


The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change was a groundbreaker when it was first published in 1990, and it continues to be a business bestseller with more than 10 million copies sold. Stephen Covey, an internationally respected leadership authority, realizes that true success encompasses a balance of personal and professional effectiveness, so this book is a manual for performing better in both arenas. His anecdotes are as frequently from family situations as from business challenges. Before you can adopt the seven habits, you'll need to accomplish what Covey calls a "paradigm shift"--a change in perception and interpretation of how the world works. Covey takes you through this change, which affects how you perceive and act regarding productivity, time management, positive thinking, developing your "proactive muscles" (acting with initiative rather than reacting), and much more. This isn't a quick-tips-start-tomorrow kind of book. The concepts are sometimes intricate, and you'll want to study this book, not skim it. When you finish, you'll probably have Post-it notes or hand-written annotations in every chapter, and you'll feel like you've taken a powerful seminar by Covey. --Joan Price


Review

The late Skip LeFauvePresident, Saturn Corporation/General MotorsStephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People played a major role in the development of Saturn's operating systems and philosophy. Our commitment to quality and to our customers has its roots in The 7 Habits.

Ken M. RadziwanowskiAT&T School of BusinessPicture someone going through the best experience they've ever had in terms of training -- that's what they say. People credit the 7 Habits with changing their lives, with getting back on track personally and professionally.

About the Book

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, service, and human dignity -- principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

From the Publisher

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People is a comprehensive program based on developing an awareness of how perceptions and assumptions hinder success---in business as well as presonal relationships. Here's an approach that will help broaden your way of thinking and lead to greater opportunities and effective problem solving.
1. Be Pro-Active: Take the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.
2. Begin With an End in Mind: Start with a clear destination to understand where you are now, where you're going and what you value most.
3. Put First Things First: Manage yourself. Organize and execute around priorities.
4. Think Win/Win: See life as a cooperative, not a comprehensive arena where success is not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others.
5. Seek First to Understand: Understand then be understood to build the skills of empathetic listening that inspires openness and trust.
6. Synergize: Apply the principles of cooperative creativity and value differences.
7. Renewal: Preserving and enhanving your greatest asset, yourself, by renewing the physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional dimensions of your nature.

Stephen R. Covey is the most respected motivator in the business world today. Learn to use his 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People--and see how they can change your life.

About the Author

Stephen R. Covey is a renowned authority on leadership, a family expert, teacher, organizational consultant, and vice chairman of FranklinCovey Co. The author of several acclaimed books, he has also received numerous honors and awards, including being named one of Time magazine's twenty-five most influential Americans. Covey lives with his wife, Sandra, and their family in the Rocky Mountains of Utah.


Thursday, April 14, 2011

Just Ask Leadership: Why Great Managers Always Ask the Right Questions by Gary B. Cohen




Key Points

Good leaders don’t just tell people what to do, they ask questions. Questions are often a better way of guiding people than giving orders; everyone will be better off if you manage to help others in your organization think things through to determine the best course of action, because they will be convinced of it in their own minds. Asking good questions is important to help understand your, and your organizations values and understand strategy and direction.

Summary

Links

This link is mentioned as a test for examining your values: www.co2partners.com/cardgame/index.php

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Love Leadership: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World by John Hope Bryant

Hardcover: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Jossey-Bass (August 17, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9780470428788
  • ISBN-13: 978-0470428788
  • ASIN: 0470428783
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches

Product Description

A dynamic young leader shows how leading with love and respect creates success in business and life
Written by the founder of Operation HOPE and advisor to the past two U.S. presidents, this groundbreaking book makes the case that the best way to get ahead is to figure out whatyou have to give to a world seemingly obsessed with the question: What do I get? Aimed at a new generation of leaders and extremely relevant for today's economic climate, Love Leadership outlines Bryant's five laws of love-based leadership-Loss Creates Leaders (there can be no strength without legitimate suffering), Fear Fails (only respect and love leads to success), Love Makes Money (love is at the core of true wealth), Vulnerability is Power (when you open up to people they open up to you), and Giving is Getting (the more you offer to others, the more they will give back to you).
  • One of today's most influential leaders, Bryant has appeared on Oprah and in articles in the LA TimesNY Times, and the Wall Street Journal
  • Bryant's bold approach to leadership is well-suited for today's tough economic environment and a world gripped by fear and uncertainty
  • Outlines the innovative five laws of love-based leadership
Love Leadership is that unique and powerful book that bridges the gap between solid business advice and pure inspiration.

From the Inside Flap

In 1992, at the age of 26, John Hope Bryant was running a successful financial services firm when the Los Angeles riots broke out. After the violence and chaos subsided, Bryant saw that his community needed a "hand up, not a handout," so he founded Operation HOPE, an organization dedicated to helping low-wealth communities attain financial literacy empowerment. Today, Bryant is a sought-after speaker recognized for his leadership and service around the world.
In Love Leadership, Bryant chronicles his story of transformation from a teenager growing up in South Los Angeles to the leader of one of the most impressive antipoverty organizations in the country, and shares the unlikely ingredient for his leadership success: love. He shows leaders how to break away from the long-standing leadership style—one based on fear. Instead, he suggests that the best way to lead in both your professional and personal life is to figure out what you have to give others in a world obsessed with the question "what do I get?"
Drawing on his remarkable success story and on interviews with love-based leaders such as Former President Bill Clinton, Bill George,and Andrew Young, Bryant outlines the five laws of love-based leadership:

  • Loss creates leaders: There can be no inner growth without the pain of legitimate suffering.
  • Fear fails: Leading through fear is antiquated and self-defeating, a crippling indulgence that we can no longer afford.
  • Love makes money: The expression of love in business—creating long-term relationships with customers and employees based on caring for others and doing good—makes everyone wealthy.
  • Vulnerability is power: When you open up, people open up to you. Real leaders know that vulnerability is not a weakness, but rather their greatest strength.
  • Giving is getting: Leaders give, followers take. Giving inspires loyalty, attracts good people, confers peace of mind, and lies at the core of true wealth.
Aimed at a new generation of leaders and extremely relevant in today's complex and fast-moving world, Love Leadership is a bold and contrarian guide to leadership and success.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Love Leadership
"I have watched John Hope Bryant dazzle audiences from Harvard to the World Economic Forum. Now he pours his compassion and charisma into the pages of this book, delivering a powerful message about rediscovering our humanity. Having worked his way up from the shadows of urban life to become a successful global leader, John has developed a personal philosophy that can help young leaders everywhere." —David Gergen, professor of public service and director, Center for Public Leadership, Harvard Kennedy School
"The words 'love' and 'leadership' perfectly exemplify John Hope Bryant and all that he stands for. When it comes to making a difference and succeeding in business and life, this book is a must-read for today's current and future leaders." —Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO, Gallup, Inc.
"Bryant tackles problems with an enthusiasm and optimism that are infectious. In this book, he gives us a recipe for personal success driven by a simple notion: treating others with respect and dignity creates true long-term success. This message and his strategies for living it couldn't be more timely as we address the failures of leadership that created today's financial crisis." —Don J. McGrath, chairman, Bancwest Corporation and Bank of the West
"A short conversation with John Hope Bryant in China changed my outlook on financial literacy, leadership, and love. The short time you spend reading this book will change yours. Changing the world starts with changing your life, and John—from the slums of Compton to the White House and more—will make this happen for you." —Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and president of Wikia, Inc.
"John Hope Bryant proves that power is the ability to give more than you receive, to lead more than you follow, and to love more than you hate." —Steve Bartlett, president and CEO, The Financial Services Roundtable

About the Author

John Hope Bryant is a philanthropic entrepreneur and leader in the business of empowerment. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Operation HOPE, America's first nonprofit social investment banking organization. He is vice chair of the U.S. President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy and chairman of the Under-Served Committee for the U.S. President's Council. An internationally respected public speaker, Bryant is a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum and has received many awards for his work to empower low-wealth communities. For more information about John Hope Bryant and Love Leadership, visit www.JohnHopeBryant.com.



Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Upside of the Downturn: Ten Management Strategies to Prevail in the Recession and Thrive in the Aftermath by Geoffrey Colvin


  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover (June 25, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9781591842965
  • ISBN-13: 978-1591842965
  • ASIN: 1591842964
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches






Product Description

Some businesses - and some people - will emerge from this downturn stronger and more dominant than when it started. Others will weaken and fade. It all depends on critical choices they make right now.

Geoff Colvin, one of America's most respected business journalists, says even the scariest recession has an upside. The best managers know conventional thinking won't help them win in these tough times. They're taking smart, practical steps that will not only keep them strong, but will also distance them from the pack for years to come.

The dozens of top-performing leaders Colvin interviewed reject the common view that slashing costs and firing employees are all that matter. They see the recession as a rich opportunity to reinvent their organizations and lay the groundwork for future growth.

Colvin's ten solidly grounded strategies will increase your company's competitiveness and build its long-term value. A sample:

* Reset priorities. Easy to say, harder to do. Pursuing the lofty goals set in good times can be disastrous now.
* Reevaluate people and steal some good ones. Mass layoffs are a tempting way to cut costs, but great companies often find smarter alternatives. And if your competitors are dumb enough to fire their best people, grab them.
* Keep investing in the core. Trim the fat from your budgets but not the muscle. The best companies actually increase some spending in a recession, funding the areas that make them unique and valuable.
* Don't rush to cut prices. Many companies assume they must - yet the long-term damage often outweighs the short-term boost.

Colvin shows how these strategies really work, using examples of major companies that have applied them with inspiring results.

About the Author

GEOFF COLVINFortune's senior editor at large, writes its popular column "Value Driven." He lectures widely and is the regular lead moderator for the Fortune Global Forum. He also offers daily business commentary on the CBS Radio Network. His first book, Talent Is Overrated, earned international acclaim and was a Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and New York Times business bestseller.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

The Carrot Principle by Adrian Gostick & Chester Elton



The Carrot Principle: How the Best Managers Use Recognition to Engage Their People, Retain Talent, and Accelerate Performance [Updated & Revised] by Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton (Apr 7, 2009)


  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1847398782
  • ISBN-13: 978-1847398789
  • Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces


Amazon.com Review

Book Description
Got carrotphobia? Do you think that recognizing your employees will distract you and your team from more serious business, create jealousy, or make you look soft? Think again.The Carrot Principle reveals the groundbreaking results of one of the most in-depth management studies ever undertaken, showing definitively that the central characteristic of the most successful managers is that they provide their employees with frequent and effective recognition. With independent research from The Jackson Organization and analysis by bestselling leadership experts Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton, this breakthrough study of 200,000 people over ten years found dramatically greater business results when managers offered constructive praise and meaningful rewards in ways that powerfully motivated employees to excel.Drawing on case studies from leading companies including Disney, DHL, KPMG, and Pepsi Bottling Group, bestselling authors Gostick and Elton show how the transformative power of purpose-based recognition produces astonishing increases in operating results--whether measured by return on equity, return on assets, or operating margin. And they show how great managers lead with carrots, not sticks, and in doing so achieve higher
* Productivity
* Engagement
* Retention
* Customer satisfaction
The Carrot Principle illustrates that the relationship between recognition and improved business results is highly predictable--it's proven to work. But it's not the employee recognition some of us have been using for years. It is recognition done right, recognition combined with four other core traits of effective leadership.

Gostick and Elton explain the remarkably simple but powerful methods great managers use to provide their employees with effective recognition, which all managers can easily learn and begin practicing for immediate results. Great recognition doesn't take time--it can be done in a matter of moments--and it doesn't take budget-busting amounts of money. This exceptional book presents the simple steps to becoming a Carrot Principle manager and to building a recognition culture in your organization; it offers a wealth of specific examples, culled from real-life cases, of the ways to do recognition right. Following these simple steps will make you a high-performance leader and take your team to a new level of achievement.


From Publishers Weekly

Gostick and Elton, consultants with the O.C. Tanner Recognition Company, have made a career out of promoting the idea of employee recognition as a corporate cure-all. (Their previous books include Managing with CarrotsThe 24-Carrot Manager and A Carrot a Day). Here, they cover familiar ground, showing how many managers fail to acknowledge the special achievements of their employees and risk alienating their best workers or losing them to competing firms. They advocate creating a "carrot culture" in which successes are continually celebrated and reinforced. Dozens of recognition techniques include the obvious ("When a top performer is going on a particularly long business trip, upgrade her ticket to business class") to the offbeat ("Hire a celebrity impersonator to leave a congratulatory voice-mail message on an employee's phone"). But the authors pad the pages with unsurprising survey results, the umpteenth recapitulation of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs and long anecdotes of questionable relevance (e.g., three pages about Charles Goodyear's rubber-vulcanizing technique in order to introduce the notion that a transforming force—like employee recognition!—can produce surprising results). Gostick and Elton's philosophy is appealing, but could have been explained in a long magazine article. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Adrian Gostick is the leader of O. C. Tanner Company's recognition training and publishing practice. His books The 24-Carrot Manager and A Carrot A Day are sold in more than fifty countries around the world. Learn more at adriangostick.com.

Chester Elton is coauthor of the bestselling Carrot books, a popular lecturer on motivation, and an influential voice in global workplace trends. He is O.C. Tanner's lead recognition consultant and researcher and works with numerous Fortune 100 clients. Subscribe to his weekly podcasts at chesterelton.com.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

The Rules of Work: A Definitive Code for Personal Success by Richard Templar

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Prentice-Hall; 2nd Revised edition edition (November 18, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0273730266
  • ISBN-13: 978-0273730262
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces



The Rules of Work: A Definitive Code for Personal Success by Richard Templar (Nov 18, 2009)

Review

"This is a definitive code for personal business success...Key points, concisely made, that can steer anyone through the minefield of office life." Management Today "Learn the lessons of Richard Templar's bestselling book "The Rules of Work", and then sit back as your career rockets through the stratosphere ..Templar knows the truth about work and all those tens of thousands of readers know it too." David Bolchover, The Daily Telegraph

Product Description

"This is a definitive code for personal business success...Key points, concisely made, that can steer anyone through the minefield of office life." Management Today "Learn the lessons of Richard Templar's bestselling book "The Rules of Work", and then sit back as your career rockets through the stratosphere ..Templar knows the truth about work and all those tens of thousands of readers know it too." David Bolchover, The Daily Telegraph Some people are simply great at their job. They glide effortlessly onwards and upwards through all the politics, the backstabbing, the system, and the nonsense that goes on. They always seem to say the right thing; do the right thing. They are mentioned in every conversation. Everybody likes them. They get promoted. They get pay rises. They get on with the boss. And somehow, they do all these things without being unpleasant, breaking much of a sweat or seeming to put in excess effort. And when they are offered another step up the corporate ladder or a fabulous new job, no-one is surprised after all, they have 'potential' written all over them. How do they do it? Do they know some secret we don't? Yes, they know The Rules of Work. These rules aren't about how to do your job, day-to-day (we assume you are pretty good at that already). The Rules of Work are about how you are seen to be doing it brilliantly and efficiently of course. They are about how you appear to others successful and confident of course. And they are about helping you to achieve the success you richly deserve. Reviews of the First Edition: " can steer anyone through the minefield of office life." Management Today "This is the book to help you achieve all your career ambitions." Short List, May 2008

From the Back Cover

A definitive code for personal success
Second edition

For some people, work is a breeze. They glide effortlessly onwards and upwards, always saying and doing the right thing, getting raises, getting promotions, getting results.

Is there something they know that we don’t? You bet there is. They know The Rules of Work.

These rules are the guiding principles that will improve both what you do and how you do it, giving you the unmistakeable air of confidence that will win you admiration, respect, and the next promotion. With The Rules under your belt you’ll have the edge in everything you do, without having to compromise your principles.

The first edition of The Rules of Work became a global phenomenon, topping bestseller charts around the world. This new, even better, edition includes
10 brand new rules to take you further, faster.
It’s your career. Just how far could you go?
The Rules of Work is an eye-opener for all those who would like to rise to the top but don’t seem to be able to find the map.” 
Sir Antony Jay, author of Yes, Minister; Founder of Video Arts

About the Author

Richard Templar is an astute observer of human behaviour and understands what makes the difference between those of us that effortlessly glide towards success and those of us that struggle against the tide. He has distilled these observations into his Rules titles. Over 1 million people around the world have enjoyed and now play by Richard Templar's Rules.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Rich Like Them by Ryan D'Agostine

Rich Like Them: My Door-to-Door Search for the Secrets of Wealth in America's Richest Neighborhoods by Ryan D'Agostino




  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (January 5, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0316021466
  • ASIN: B003GAN4AE


From Publishers Weekly

While academics frequently conduct research to try to unlock the secrets of garnering great wealth, Esquire editor D'Agostino took a more direct—and more entertaining—route: he picked the 20 wealthiest neighborhoods in America and went door to door, garnering interviews with 50 very wealthy, very different individuals—including doctors, art dealers, real estate moguls and one shrimp-peeling–machine manufacturer. Many of the author's subjects confessed that they have been less motivated by a drive for wealth than a desire for a certain lifestyle, an obsession with a certain field and a need for independence, and that focus, passion and street smarts have contributed more to their success than luck or any formal training. Several of his interviewees leveraged their success through reinvestment, often in real estate, raising the question of how well their net worths have survived in the current credit crunch. While D'Agostino freely admits that his sample is far from scientific, weighted heavily to friendly people who happened to be at home when he went calling, his debut is witty and inspiring. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Think door-to-door journalist who, out of curiosity and a desire to uncover so-called fail-safe secrets, knocks on approximately 200 doors in 20 of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the U.S. What’s even more amazing is that 50 responded cordially in face-to-face meetings with this Esquire magazine reporter. Armed with demographic information, D’Agostino trains, planes, and autos, often in Motel 6 and other inexpensive accommodations, from coast to coast to get the story. He backs up his primary interviews with solid psychological research, such as the study concluding that “persistence in pursuit of knowledge leads to success.” Although no one particularly famous is featured, all conversations help the author formulate five major (and many minor) observations:
(1) to connect the dots that lead to wealth, first you have to see the dots;
(2) luck doesn’t exist;
(3) you need an intensity that will scare people;
(4) the myth of risk—which is a bet you’ve tried to rig; and
(5) never let pride get in the way of profit; humility is the secret ingredient. Dialogue is sharp, bright, and engaging. --Barbara Jacobs


Review

"Rich Like Them not only proves wealth is within the grasp of us all, it also provides a blueprint for how you can make it a reality. It's a fun and potentially profitable read."-Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D., author ofNice Girls Don't Get Rich and Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office

"Pay close enough attention to the wisdom in Ryan D'Agostino's fun, fast-paced book and the door he knocks on next time around may be yours."-Jean Chatzky, Today Show financial editor and author of Make Money, Not Excuses

"First came A Random Walk Down Wall Street, in which an Ivy League economist explained how the stock market works. Then came The Millionaire Next Door, which drew on in-depth research to explain how regular people accumulate wealth. Now comes Rich Like Them, in which Ryan D'Agostino takes a random walk among the millionaires that inhabit America's wealthiest neighborhoods. These ultra-achievers are surprisingly generous with their stories, their advice, and the secrets of their success. A hard book to put down-filled with ideas that you can put to work."--William C. Taylor, founding editor of Fast Company and coauthor of Mavericks at Work

"There are many wonderful and surprising things about Ryan D'Agostino's book. The first is that he didn't get socked in the face for knocking on strangers' doors and asking them about their private finances. The second is just how much wisdom-about both money and life in general-these people gave him. This is an inspiring read."-A. J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically and The Know-It-All

Product Description

Ryan D'Agostino, former senior editor at Money, wanted to know how the wealthiest in America got that way. So he asked. Knocking on 500 doors in some of the most affluent zip codes in America, D'Agostino met with men and women who welcomed him in and shared their most difficult financial decisions, toughest setbacks, greatest strategies, most triumphant moments, and deepest insights. In RICH LIKE THEM, he weaves together what he learned and offers maxims for achieving wealth, such as "Never Let Pride Get in the Way of Profit," and "When you fail miserably, be thankful." Filled with inspiring stories and straight-up advice, RICH LIKE THEMis a lively and practical get-rich guide that any reader can follow.

About the Author

Ryan D'Agostino is Articles Editor at Esquire magazine and former Senior Editor at Money magazine. His writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, New York, the Wall Street Journal, Ski, the New York Times, and Budget Living, among others.

Firnando Chau Review

Saturday, December 25, 2010

The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges (Oct 1, 2009)

 The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges (Oct 1, 2009)







Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky



About the Book:-
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Penguin; First Thus edition (29 Jan 2009)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0141030623
ISBN-13: 978-0141030623


From getAbstract.com

  • How new electronic media are changing society
  • How they enable new forms of community
  • How to use them to spread your message
Author Clay Shirky tackles a daunting task: He sets out to explain how new electronic media are transforming society. In itself, that sounds common enough, but Shirky’s focus and specificity raise his book to a level of much greater value and utility than its peers. He examines the social nature of human beings, and analyzes how tools ranging from e-mail to text messages change the way people organize into groups. His style is easy, and he tells vivid, interesting and highly convincing stories to illustrate the changes he observes. The result is a book that anyone dealing with group organization and communication should read. getAbstractrecommends this innovative work to marketers, social critics, readers interested in human nature, and entrepreneurs who hope to tap into or develop new social structures.






Table of Contents:-
Chapter 1 It Takes a Village to Find a Phone
Chapter 2 Sharing Anchors Community
Chapter 3 Everyone is a Media Outlet
Chapter 4 Publish, Then Filter
Chapter 5 Personal Motivation Meets Collaborative Production
Chapter 6 Collective Action and Institutional Challenges
Chapter 7 Faster and Faster
Chapter 8 Solving Social Dilemmas
Chapter 9 Fitting Our Tools to a Small World
Chapter 10 Failure For Free
Chapter 11 Promise Tool Bargain
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index


Summary (from Wikipedia)


In the book, Shirky recounts how social tools such as blogging software like Wordpress and Twitter, file sharing platforms like Flickr, and online collaboration platforms like Wikipedia support group conversation and group action in a way that previously could only be achieved through institutions. In the same way the printing press increased individual expression, and the telephone increased communications between individuals, Shirky argues that with the advent of online social tools, groups can form without the previous restrictions of time and cost. Shirky observes that:


"[Every] institution lives in a kind of contradiction: it exists to take advantage of group effort, but some of its resources are drained away by directing that effort. Call this the institutional dilemma--because an institution expends resources to manage resources, there is a gap between what those institutions are capable of in theory and in practice, and the larger the institution, the greater those costs."


Online social tools, Shirky argues, allows groups to form around activities 'whose costs are higher than the potential value,' for institutions. Shirky further argues that the successful creation of online groups relies on successful fusion of a, 'plausible promise, an effective tool, and an acceptable bargain for the user.' However, Shirky warns that this system should not be interpreted as a recipe for the successful use of social tools as the interaction between the components is too complex.


Key concepts


Coasean Ceiling/Coasean Floor


In Chapter Two, "Sharing Anchors Community", the author uses theories from the 1937 paper The Nature of the Firm by Nobel Prize winning economist Ronald Coase to access the various challenges that transaction costs pose to institutions. From these theories, Shirky derives two terms that represent the constraints under which institutions operate: Coasean Ceiling and Coasean Floor.


Coasean Ceiling


The point above which the transaction costs of managing a standard institutional form prevent it from working well.


Coasean Floor


The point below which the transaction costs of a particular type of activity, no matter how valuable to someone, are too high for a standard institutional form to pursue.The author argues that social tools drastically reduce transaction costs, allowing loosely structured groups with limited managerial oversight to operate under the Coasean Floor. As an example, he cites Flickr, which allows groups to organically form around themes of images without the transaction costs of managerial oversight.


Promise, Tool, Bargain


In Chapter Eleven, "Promise, Tool, Bargain", Shirky states that each success story of using social tools to form groups contained within the book is an example of the complex fusion of 'a plausible promise, an effective tool, and an acceptable bargain with the users.'


Promise: Why someone would join a group


The first challenge to creating an effective promise is that the claim on the users' time for a particular activity must be greater than the activity the users are already doing. A second challenge is that social tools be satisfying to the individual user. Shirky suggests three strategies for handling these challenges.
1.  Make joining the group easy
2. Create personal value
3. Subdivide the community


Tool: Overcoming challenges to coordination of the group


A social tool is only as good as the job it is meant for, and it must be a tool that the user actually wants to use. Here the author switches focus away from the types of tools to the types of groups (large and small) that the tools are designed to support. Small groups tend to be more tightly knit and conversational than large groups.


Bargain: What to expect and what is expected of someone who joins the group


The author argues that the bargain is the most complex characteristic of the successful forming of groups using social tools, because it is both less explicit than promise and tool, and it requires more input by the user.

From Publishers Weekly


Blogs, wikis and other Web 2.0 accoutrements are revolutionizing the social order, a development that's cause for more excitement than alarm, argues interactive telecommunications professor Shirky. He contextualizes the digital networking age with philosophical, sociological, economic and statistical theories and points to its major successes and failures. Grassroots activism stands among the winners—Belarus's flash mobs, for example, blog their way to unprecedented antiauthoritarian demonstrations. Likewise, user/contributor-managed Wikipedia raises the bar for production efficiency by throwing traditional corporate hierarchy out the window. Print journalism falters as publishing methods are transformed through the Web. Shirky is at his best deconstructing Web failures like Wikitorial, the Los Angeles Times's attempt to facilitate group op-ed writing. Readers will appreciate the Gladwellesque lucidity of his assessments on what makes or breaks group efforts online: Every story in this book relies on the successful fusion of a plausible promise, an effective tool, and an acceptable bargain with the users. The sum of Shirky's incisive exploration, like the Web itself, is greater than its parts. (Mar.) 
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 


Other Reviews


'As crisply argued and as enlightening a book about the internet as has been written' Daily Telegraph 'As usable as the technology he writes about' Independent 'Clay Shirky's masterpiece ! brilliant insights that make me think ... that's how it all works' Cory Doctorow, co-editor of Boing Boing 'Anyone interested in the vitality and influence of groups of human beings ... needs to read this book' - Steven Johnson, author of Emergence 'Terrifically clever' Guardian 'Gordon Brown has been reading Clay Shirky's Here Comes Everybody, currently the book of the moment among webheads and new media obsessives.' - Matthew D'Ancona, Telegraph


"Clear thinking and good writing about big changes." - Stewart Brand 


"Clay Shirky may be the finest thinker we have on the Internet revolution, but Here Comes Everybody is more than just a technology book; it's an absorbing guide to the future of society itself. Anyone interested in the vitality and influence of groups of human beings -from knitting circles, to political movements, to multinational corporations-needs to read this book." - Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good for You and Emergence 


"How do trends emerge and opinions form? The answer used to be something vague about word of mouth, but now it's a highly measurable science, and nobody understands it better than Clay Shirky. In this delightfully readable book, practically every page has an insight that will change the way you think about the new era of social media. Highly recommended."- Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine and author of The Long Tail 


"In story after story, Clay masterfully makes the connections as to why business, society and our lives continue to be transformed by a world of net- enabled social tools. His pattern-matching skills are second to none."- Ray Ozzie, Microsoft Chief Software Architect 


"Clay has long been one of my favorite thinkers on all things Internet-- not only is he smart and articulate, but he's one of those people who is able to crystallize the half-formed ideas that I've been trying to piece together into glittering, brilliant insights that make me think, yes, of course, that's how it all works." -- Cory Doctorow, co-editor of Boing Boing and author of Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present.


About the Book


Welcome to the new future of involvement. Forming groups is easier than it’s ever been: unpaid volunteers can build an encyclopaedia together in their spare time, mistreated customers can join forces to get their revenge on airlines and high street banks, and one man with a laptop can raise an army to help recover a stolen phone. The results of this new world of easy collaboration can be both good (young people defying an oppressive government with a guerrilla ice-cream eating protest) and bad (girls sharing advice for staying dangerously skinny) but it’s here and, as Clay Shirky shows, it’s affecting … well, everybody. For the first time, we have the tools to make group action truly a reality. And they’re going to change our whole world.


A revelatory examination of how the wildfirelike spread of new forms of social interaction enabled by technology is changing the way humans form groups and exist within them, with profound long-term economic and social effects-for good and for ill.


A handful of kite hobbyists scattered around the world find each other online and collaborate on the most radical improvement in kite design in decades. A midwestern professor of Middle Eastern history starts a blog after 9/11 that becomes essential reading for journalists covering the Iraq war. Activists use the Internet and e-mail to bring offensive comments made by Trent Lott and Don Imus to a wide public and hound them from their positions. A few people find that a world-class online encyclopedia created entirely by volunteers and open for editing by anyone, a wiki, is not an impractical idea. Jihadi groups trade inspiration and instruction and showcase terrorist atrocities to the world, entirely online. A wide group of unrelated people swarms to a Web site about the theft of a cell phone and ultimately goads the New York City police to take action, leading to the culprit's arrest. 


With accelerating velocity, our age's new technologies of social networking are evolving, and evolving us, into new groups doing new things in new ways, and old and new groups alike doing the old things better and more easily. You don't have to have a MySpace page to know that the times they are a changin'. Hierarchical structures that exist to manage the work of groups are seeing their raisons d'tre swiftly eroded by the rising technological tide. Business models are being destroyed, transformed, born at dizzying speeds, and the larger social impact is profound. 


One of the culture's wisest observers of the transformational power of the new forms of tech-enabled social interaction is Clay Shirky, and Here Comes Everybody is his marvelous reckoning with the ramifications of all this on what we do and who we are. Like Lawrence Lessig on the effect of new technology on regimes of cultural creation, Shirky's assessment of the impact of new technology on the nature and use of groups is marvelously broad minded, lucid, and penetrating; it integrates the views of a number of other thinkers across a broad range of disciplines with his own pioneering work to provide a holistic framework for understanding the opportunities and the threats to the existing order that these new, spontaneous networks of social interaction represent. Wikinomics, yes, but also wikigovernment, wikiculture, wikievery imaginable interest group, including the far from savory. A revolution in social organization has commenced, and Clay Shirky is its brilliant chronicler.


About the Author (2010)


Clay Shirky teaches at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU, where he researches the interrelated effects of our social and technological networks. He has consulted with a variety of groups working on network design, including Nokia, the BBC, Newscorp, Microsoft, BP, Global Business Network, the Library of Congress, the U.S. Navy, the Libyan government, and Lego. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, Harvard Business Review, Business 2.0, and Wired1.