This book makes clear how so many school principals and assistant principals and department heads fail to make use of the talent, intelligence and, most important, good will of their staffs. While Levinson uses a business model, it is most appropriate to schools because traditional school leadership is the most top-down and the top is the federal govenment, followed by the state, followed by the superintendency ... etc. This book guided my career and allowed me to share leadership with my teachers and and to have them invest themselves in their students and in me. It made all the difference!

Harry Levinson is the Chairman of The Levinson Institute and Clinical Professor of Psychology Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. This Harvard Business Review Classic was originally published in 1970, this OnPoint version was published in January 2003.

In this article the author discusses the concept of management by objectives (MBO), which was originally introduced by Peter F. Drucker. "As currently practiced, it is really just industrial engineering with a new name, applied to higher managerial levels, and with the same resistances intact." It is not so much that Levinson is against the concept, he believes that current practices within organizations. First, he discusses the "ideal" process and its problems, primarily in the feedback proces. He then continues to explain that most psychological needs of the individual needs to be included in the MBO-feedback process, which is a mutual task for both individuals and organizations (via their managers). But Levinson also various suggestions for improvement: (1) A motivational assessment for MBO programs; (2) appraisal program should include group action; and (3) MBO programs should include appraisals of the manager by subordinates. This sound very simple, but Levinson also provides us with various questions for subordinates' self-examination and superior's introspection.

Although this article was published in 1970, it discusses a fashionable subject - appraisal programs. And although the author starts off with the negative comments about these programs, he does believe they can be helpful if implemented properly. Strong point about this article is that he comes up with various suggestions, plus questions we should ask ourselves (both as subordinate and manager). Highly recommended to executives, managers, HR-specialists and business students. The author uses simple business US-English.

As consultants in the field of organization design and change, we have long valued this author's "Organizational Diagnosis," a classic work now out-of-print. The current volume brings this original volume back, but fully updated and highly streamlined. The book takes a diagnostic approach influenced by a psychoanalytical background and psychosocial framework. It is a robust manual for assessing an organization in depth, and outlines a mode for gathering information. Rather than plunge into some recipe for organizational change, this book shows how to understand an organization from many perspectives. Based on this knowledge, a strategy for change can be developed. In addition to examples of proposals, letters to employees, interview questions, and feedback reports, the book presents an excellent assessment outline for use on-site. The work is built on extensive research and is ideal for external and internal consultants and graduate-level students. This book is a gem!-a one-of-kind work that is extraordinary in its comprehensiveness and depth.

I met Harry in 1974, when I was 14, in between sets at the South Shore Music Circus. He had two trumpet cases, one for his horns and another for something clear he was drinking. As a young trumpet player, he was my idol, and musically still is. The accompanying CD to this bio has some terrific releases on it, but would have been even better had they included "Countin," "One on the House," "Blues for Harry's Sake," and "Bangtail," the key charts from his great comeback band.

As much as I always wanted to read an account of his life, however, I'm almost sorry I did. Now I know what the clear liquid was, and how badly it tormented the greatest trumpet player ever. The book is interesting, but we still need an account of Harry's super-human technique. What bore did he use on his King, and how did that bore, which I've heard was the largest they ever constructed, mesh with the tiny Parduba mouthpiece. What mouthpiece did he learn on when he was building his chops on circus music, the hardest music in the world?

And how on earth did he ever manage to perform at such a high level for 45 years with his lifestyle, is unanswered here. Playing at his level after a fifth of bourbon just doesn't seem credible, although if he could drink Phil Harris under the table maybe it was. There is likewise no evidence presented to justify the physical abuse charge levelled against Everette, save for the rapped on the knuckles vignette Harry told to Merv Griffin. There are other munched nuances as well: Harry is placed at Reagan's second inaugural, even though he would have been dead for a year and a half then. It would have been interesting to hear more from FS, Jr., as well. Artie Shaw had it right in this jacket blurb: this is a horribly depressing story. Harry, when I finished it, I cried for you.

Having known Harry James from 1963 on, as well as being a professional player myself, I enjoyed the book tremendously. There are a couple of glaring inaccuracies however. One was the statement that Harry's solo on "Shine" was left out of the "Benny Goodman Story" just isn't so. I have the movie, and it's in it. Another was the reference to the get-well card signed by all of the top trumpet players in Hollywood to Harry. The author stated that Conrad Gozzo signed it. That would have been a neat trick, because Goz pre-deceased Harry by almost 20 years. All in all, however, it was a good read. I recommend it to all who are interested in this titan of trumpet swing. Tony Horowitz

Harry James was a titan of the trumpet and Big Bands. We have sorely needed a biography, and I think that this first biography is absolutely superb. Harry James has always been my #1 favorite. "Trumpet Blues" confirms for me James' extraordinary musical contributions but also fleshes out his story with a rich, full treatment of the realities - both good and bad - of his professional and personal lives. Included are excellent materials on his grand musical history, his first wife, the appealing singer Louise Tobin, and his second wife, the marvelous Betty Grable. I came away from the book with a much different and far more realistic vision of Harry James than I had going in - that he indeed was a musical giant (he is still my #1 favorite) but that he also was a human being with his share of personal flaws and imperfections to go with his fine qualities. I am glad that "Trumpet Blues" is here and that I read it.

This is one of the best texts I've seen in terms of understanding SPC's and DOE's for microlithography. This text is very very helpful for setting up SPC's for lithographic processes. It also helps greatly in setting up DOE frameworks for lithographic process development.I would definitely recommend this for anyone in the lithographic field.