This book is the first to explain how information flow and the management of corporate knowledge changes the nature of business. Unlike business process reengineering and other management fads which treats individuals as cogs in the business machine, this book advances the notion that the intelligence and expertise of the people in an organization define success--and that such intelligence and expertise can be amplified by information technology.

I'm a technologist, and this book is the first to adequately explain the relationship between information technology and business organization--David M. Kalman

This book is well grounded and strategically linked to the very existance of organizations in the future. The authors discribe a dynamic process based on values to move any bureaucracy toward cutomer focused success. Read any chapter and reap the benefits, read the whole and fly

A How to Business book is normally outside my lane. However, I glanced at the cover and thought this is what my husband keeps claiming is needed even for the Feds in an international economy. Plus I must admit I grew up with brilliant self-destructive Wile eating the Road Runner's dust. I decided to read this book and found it humorously entertaining with references to the Warner cartoon universe and with specific pointers on how to compete in the age of overwhelming instant information where objects communicate and not just in C language. Though quite interesting, well written, and cleverly packaged, this how to not suicide in business by really trying. It offers nothing new even with its "seven new rules of the road". Sports teams from the fifties and sixties or even the recent Yankees and Bulls understood and implemented that teamwork and learning are the keys to winning.

Harriet Klausner

Wile E. Coyote hovers in a hot air balloon over the road, waiting to drop an anvil on the unsuspecting Road Runner. Wile E. puts a grenade in the seat of a toy airplane and ... you know what happens. He becomes the victim of his own diabolical plans. The Road Runner wins every time. Chip R. Bell and Oren Harari’s book turns a cartoon classic into a wonderful metaphor for today’s fast-paced work environment. Organizations are changing their cunning competitive ways. Instead of behaving like Wile E. Coyote, they are becoming like the quick, agile, joyful Road Runner. In an amusing style, the authors illustrate their points with cartoons of the famous duo and plenty of plot scenarios and interesting tidbits of trivia. The “Birdseed” sections scatter tips to help you and your company make the transition to the wide-open desert of opportunity ahead. Those who grew up with Road Runner will relate to this book immediately. We ...recommend this book to Road Runner’s business fans or to anyone who wants to have fun while learning how to steer a company through the speedy new marketplace.

In Beep! Beep!, Bell and Harari provide the reader with an entertaining look at business practice and culture today. In highlighting the behavior and actions of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, the authors provide a compare and contrast view of all facets of business and a unique perspective on how to be more competitive. The message is simple and clear, capturing the spirit of what it takes to compete in the fast-paced, global marketplace. (The book's preface is: "Road Runners don't have prefaces...they just begin!") Although the boxes which describe actual scenes from the Road Runner cartoons get a bit redundant as the book moves along, the "Birdseed" and "Tail Feathers" sections that summarize most of the chapters were appropriate and welcome. All-in-all, Beep! Beep! is a worthwhile read. It can easily be consumed in an average plane ride (as I did).

I must admit that Colin Powell was not an autobiography that I would pick up and read. In my fast-paced life even I have formed a mental picture of what Powell is or isn't. I swept through the pages with vigor, as I formed a new image of Colin Powell. I never looked at Powell as a leader. I had stereotyped Powell as just another success story of a son of immigrant parents born in Harlem, New York and a decorated Vietnam veteran that has become on of the United States highest ranking government officials.
The author Oren Harari, a business management professor, did a great job highlighting 18 leadership principals of Colin Powell, before and after September 11, 2001. This book is definitely a clear and well written keeper. I really respect Powell's independence, leadership, and his ability to challenge traditional methods of leadership, and unknowingly created his own style.
What set the pace is how the author explained what the book isn't. I feel that it set the stage for an unbiased and scientific look at Powell's leadership qualities. This book is a good tool for entrepreneurs, business professionals, military personnel, and young people.
Harari is truly a gifted writer, I look forward to adding his books to my library.

I've never been so inspired by an Amazon purchase that I felt compelled to write a review, but "Secrets" is my watershed moment.

As part of my never ending quest to become the best Director of Sales / Manager / Leader possible, I have read countless books paralleling military structure and business structure. For the most part, I digest the material and attempt to adapt it to my personal situation, relationships with my employees, and relationships with my customers. Most often, any direct quote or application is seemingly too obvious an adaption from some military procedure or code. "Secrets", however, was different.

Perhaps because it was written miuns direct contact with Colin Powell (can this *really* be true) that we get the perspective of Harari and his researchers on the relevancy, and not a direct military viewpoint. Perhaps. I can't imagine Harari enlisted the help of an Army platoon to write this book, but probably a young, talented MBA student with little real perspective on military life.

Either way, I earmarked and bookmarked numerous ideas that I'll apply to my work environment and I highly recommend this book to managers who want to be true leaders.

Few leaders in the last century have been greater role models than General (Secretary of State) Colin Powell. He consistently communicates vision, inspiration, courage and character...critical components for leadership greatness. And, there is no better person to capture this extraordinary person than Dr. Oren Harari. His previous cutting edge books telegraph that he too is a person with similar traits. The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell is fast paced, well written and exquisitely illustrated with stories that make our vision of Powell one that is clear, compelling and worthy of emulation. Congratulations to Harari for a massive work that is thought provoking and powerful. I can see why it stays on the NY Times, Business Week and Wall Street Journal best-seller lists. My recommendation is one Willard Scott gave of another great book, "If you only read two books this year, read this one twice."

In the vein of Tom Peters, Leapfrogging the Competition provides practical examples of the how initiative and effort can make a vast difference in the perceptions of customers or clients. The number of practical examples drawn from daily life serve as "food for thought" for anyone dealing with either internal or external customers. The serious manager would be advised to include this book in their personal library and refer to it often.