Peter Krass has edited the Wisdom Series series which includes this volume. Each anthologizes brief essays by different "icons of business." A brief bio of each author precedes her or his essay. In the Introduction, Krass asserts that "Among these various characters, in fact, the general consensus is that leaders are made, not born. The mythology of some mystical ability that surrounds these leaders is just that -- myth. As to the question: What makes a leader? The answer is here" in the 51 essays which he organizes within the following framework:

Part I: The Necessary Qualities

Part II: Dealing with Adversity

Part III: Visions of Progress

Part IV: Evolving Perspectives on Labor

Part V: Company Culture

Part VI: Habits and Idosyncracies

Part VII: Motivators and Mentors

Part VIII: Leading Revolution

[NOTE: Gary Hamel has written a truly brilliant book entitled Leading the Revolution. Compare and contrast his ideas with those expressed by Bossidy, Galvin, Vernon, Watson, Jr., Eisner, Wachner, Marriott, Jr., and Henry Ford in Part VIII.]

Of the 51 essays, the ones I found most valuable include all of those in Part VIII; also, others earlier in the volume such as "The Real Essence of Business" (Roberto C. Goizueta), "Roving Leadership" (Max DePree), "A View from Olympus" (Bill Gates), "American and Japanese Styles" (Akio Morita), "In the Public Eye" (Susan L. Kurtzig), and "Are You a Job-Holder or a Results-Getter?" (T. Coleman du Pont. A wide range of individuals discuss an even wider range of business issues. My suggestion is to select a topic or two of greatest interest and dive in. Because business circumstances can so often change so rapidly and (sometimes) unexpectedly, what you learn from what you read today may well help you to prepare more effectively for an uncertain future in which a new peril or opportunity emerges. Moreover, my guess is that there will be several other essays in this book to help you then, also.

I have also reviewed most of the other volumes in this series and recommend each of them highly.

This should be on every leader's or "wanna-be" leader's desk. Written by some of our past century's most effective leaders and edited to provide "side-bars" for the most important points in each of their articles, this book provides a much-needed tool. I have used it to draw on for speeches, research papers, and debate points. I first checked it out from the library to see if the content was worth buying - and I immediately ordered it! This definitely provides food for thought and inspiration. It includes not only the actual articles written by the leaders, but also a one-page profile/background on each.

Dramatic Events is an excellent resource for play directors and teachers of drama. Actors and playwrights will also find its insights useful. From easy-to-understand basics of how to read and speak Shakespearean verse to the more obscure requirements of working with masks and choral speaking, it is full of well-researched examples of how to solve the problems of classical texts. It is especially useful to American actors and directors, who typically do not receive as much training in the technical aspects of Shakespeare and Greek plays as acting students in Britain. It could be an excellent adjunct text for those teaching or studying advanced Linklaetter voice work.

This books takes you through the author's experience step by step of running several forms of acting/drama workshops. It takes you from warm-up exercises through different performance goals. I found the book very helpful in developing my own improv/acting workshops.

In this book (the twelfth edition) every economic subject is very well explained without difficult mathemayical concepts. People who like the mathematical approach can find something in the appendix. There are a lot of examples about real facts happened to real companies (Microsoft,...) or organization (OPEC...). The logic approach and the examples are very usefull for a beginner that first of all has to understand the main concepts rather than struggling in a difficult language or math.

The authors have explained all principles with remarkable ease taking numerous to the point examples.

This is the best practical guide in existence for using Complexity to transform an organization. The authors give valuable tools and techniques for concrete processes which promote Complexity transformation, along with examples of real business situations where the tools have worked. Especially valuable for those who have a background in organization development. Highly recommended.

This is an interesting book about an approach to managing and changing organizations, which is quite different from traditional change approaches: complexity theory. You might think: "Ah, here we go again.... Is this just the next new management hype, destined to be forgotten soon?" I don't think so. I think complexity theory is to be taken a bit more serious than that. What is it? It is a rapidly developing theoretical framework that describes and explains fundamental processes of complex adaptive systems, like organizations. What is a complex adaptive system? The authors of this book, Edwin Olson and Glenda Eoyang, explain that in a complex adaptive system, a multitude of different players (called agents) held together by some cohesive force (called a container) and constantly interacting with each other in all kinds of ways (these interactions are called transforming exchanges).

The self-organizing nature of human interactions in a complex organization leads to surprising effects. Small actions, events and interactions can lead to dramatic outcomes affecting the whole system. Human interactions in complex systems lead to so-called emergent properties, which are features of the system that the separate parts do not have. (For example, brain cells don't have consciousness, but the human brain does). All of this explains why it is often impossible to understand let alone predict or control events and developments. This is a rather big departure from the traditional view, which tends to see organizations as understandable, predictable and ... controllable!

Then how exactly is the complexity theory approach to change management different from the traditional approach? Ed Olson and Glenda Eoyang summarize the main features of the CAS approach to change as follows: 1) Achieve change through connections between agents (instead of trying to control the change top-down), 2) Adapt to uncertainty (instead of trying to use predictable stages of development), 3) Allow goals, plans, and structures to emerge (instead of depending on clear and detailed plans or goals), 4) Amplify and value difference (instead of always directly focusing on consensus), 5) Create self-similarity (instead of difference between levels), 6) Regard success as a matter of fit with the environment (instead of focusing on one dimensional success measures).

It's hard to accurately summarize in a few words what's in this book. So, if you're organizational development consultant, perhaps you'd better read it yourself. What you will find is that the book is a nice mix of theory, case descriptions and practical tools which (some of which are very nice and handy). I think this is the first book that makes complexity theory so practical.

The best reason to get this book is not for the drawings or houses, but for the introduction. This intro is one of the late Colin Rowe's best writings, and clarifies the *difference* between the works presented inside and the works' inspiration from 1930's Modernism, and all the cultural/historical baggage that goes with it. Rowe's writing concerns itself less with form and visual/formal parrallels, which goes somewhat against the stereotypes of Rowe's clique of "Fingerlake Formalists" and presents Rowe as a more astute socio-political analyst than you might otherwise assume.

Buy it for the essay. Take the rest with a grain of salt.

This is one of the best books of its kind, showing why these men went on to be of the best in their field. It is worth buying simply for Meier's Smith house and Gwathmey's Residence and Studeo (1966) alone. These along with Eisenman's theories for both house 1 + 2, though rather OTT in real terms, is insightfull none the less, as well as an indepth review from the ever critical eye of K. Frampton, make this one of my most prized possetions.

Excellent book on Management.

A compilation of the papers on the contemporary trends and what they indicate for the future as seen by Drucker in the mid-eighties. This revised edition with only slight changes stands good for the economic realities of even today. That's precisely the speciality of this book.

The chapter on economy deals with the economy as seen differently by Keynes and Schumpeter, two contemporary economists of which the latter is not very well known. The concept of Dynamic disequilibrium is elaborated in an easily understandible manner. Also the concept of profit as to be the future cost and the ethical questions attached with profit making are clearly answered.

Cartel theory with relevance to the oil cartel and the developments leading up to the fall of the same is also dealt with.

Chapters on the relevance of unions and their changing role in today's industry, inevitability of automation, need for the rationalisaing the salaries and wages of the blue collar workers, chapters on IBM Tom watson, dependence of Japanese economy on US economy and the exim policies of the successive governments in US and their effect on the competitiveness of US exports all make an interesting read.

The macro perspective one gets after reading the book will enable you appreciate the relevance of the projections and caveats sounded by Drucker long before today's events(and those of the recent past) showed any signs of occurence at all.

Bookstall 99 stands in awe of this collection of expessions of management genius. For a great tool in understanding Drucker as the master of management in America, this is your book. Great reading no matter who you are or what you do.

Having bought the book before a dog , reading this gives the novice dog handler an insight into the pit-falls of dog training before you make them.I,ve had my copy for 15 years and still refer to it .

fantastic what else can i say i will have to buy my own cop

Until such time as someone tries to fill the shoes of Jean Sammet and write a new overview of programming languages (a major job, that!), the HOPL conferences are the main source of insight into the development of programming languages that, Sapir-Whorf style, have shaped the way we view programming and the problems we try to solve with a computer. Even if someone does take up that task, the HOPL conferences are invaluable, since they provide information straight from the people involved.

This volume of the proceedings of HOPL II is thus invaluable for the student of programming. HOPL I covered the main early languages (Algol 60, FORTRAN, COBOL, LISP, APT, BASIC...); HOPL II covers important languages of more recent vintage (Algol 68, Pascal, C, C++. more recent dialects of LISP). C.H. Lindsey's fine paper on the turbulent development of Algol 68, the best language you probably never used and a major influence on later languages, is worth the price of admission by itself.

I have read many many computer jounrals about the history of computing. Very few resources have put the kind of time and effort that Thomas Bergin has done in his book. Along with assistant editor, RIck Gibson, both men do a fine job collecting the best of the best resources and giving it right to the public upfront. I wish Bergin can do another book or something Internet related because this is truly apart of computing that we do not really have much material on.

Joe Sowerby has culled from years of experience in at least two professions and numerous other expert's in the sales field to provide a valuable resource for the novice and the experienced professional. I am in the real estate finance field and agree with everything Joe presents in "It's Your Deal." His breezy style is easy and fast to read and I found it an excellent refresher course in what it takes to be a sucessful salesperson in any line of sales.

Very successful sales people know it can be simple things which trigger riches. This book can be all you need. I especially enjoyed discussions regarding consistent persistence, follow-up and wholeheartedly agree with need to just "ask for the order". This book offers little foo-foo and lots of practical advice.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! What a wonderful look at Nutley NJ both yesterday and today. I was a long-time resident of Nutley until I retired to the Jersey shore several years ago. Through its text and pictures, this book brought back many fond memories of this wonderful community. Whether you've ever been a resident or just passed through, you will be captivated by this look at Nutley - Then and Now.

What a wonderful look at Nutley, NJ both yesterday and today. I was a resident of Nutley for most of my life before retiring to the Jersey shore, but this book brought back so many fond memories and gave me insights to the history of that wonderful community. I enjoyed the book thoroughly. For anyone who's ever lived there or just passed through, you'll find this book contains a wealth of information and is bound to bring back memories of a very special town.