Oftentimes, we turn to books and other resources that are readily available to help in our decision making process.

There are many entrepreneurship and business/project start-up books out there in the marketplace. Unfortunately, it is not easy to find a good one that can really help you. Very few authors of such books make the effort and spend the time to help you reflect on your idea(s) and test it/them before putting into action.

I am very glad to have found, among other few good books, David Bang's 'Smart Steps to Smart Choices,' to be a well-written guide. Also, very user-friendly!

Most entrepreneurship and business/project startup books concentrate too much time on the 'implementation-execution' end, and not at the 'thinking-planning' end i.e. the evaluation & testing phase, which comprises the critical decision making process, and which to me is far more important.

This book contains a well-structured series of 'personal workshops' (to me, these are an excellent form of planning checklists, with thought-provoking questions & hands-on activities) which have been designed specifically to help you develop practial insights about your business/project idea & also help you face and work out your answers to critical issues that may make or break your business/project success. Systematically, with this book, you can determine:

- whether entreprenership is right for you in the first place;
- whether your idea makes business sense;
- whether your idea makes market sense;
- whether your idea makes money sense;

This is one book that you have to work through it to appreciate its latent power and usable value. With this book, you will also find learning about entreprenership fun, interesting and meaningful.

As a matter of fact, I use a small pilot project of mine to test run it. Upon completion, I found that I have a better sense of my project direction, in terms of business, market and financial implications. Not many books can achieve such feats for the reader.

What I also like about this book is that it is graphically driven. It is packed with many margin icons to help you stay on track while you read and work through your answers. I love books written in this manner. They really make your life easier as a reader.

Although the author has written many other books on business and market planning, I find only this one book from him that has impressed me very much, in terms of learning points and application value in the field of opportunity recognition and evaluation.

Lastly, this book can also serve as an excellent reading companion to Jeffry Timmons' and Karl Vesper's books on entrepreneurship & new venture strategies!

In a world gone mad for something, anything, to repair the ills of our fledgling education system, David Perkins is a welcome voice of reason. He provides readers with a clear description of the problems in our current system and offers common-sense educational solutions.

This is not a reactionary, radical reformist volume which advocates the dismantling of education as we know it in favor of untested theories. Rather, Perkins defines a logical system of educational beliefs which are based upon sound research and work toward clearly defined educational goals.

Perkins writes with a clarity and simplicity that is all too rare among educators. He uses no educational jargon without first defining it in an understandable way. Further, he provides a checklist for educational change which will assist concerned parents, educators, and administrators in systematically implementing his recomendations.

In its organization, content, and writing, "Smart Schools" exemplifies all that our education system should foster in our children to prepare them for an active and significant role in the shaping of our world's future. If you are concerned with the quality of our children's education, you must have this book in your library.

There are many books on the market today on investing and financial planning. Some I would highly recommend, others are not worth the time it takes to read the book - save the money you would spend on those "guaranteed get rich quick books" and invest the money where it will guarantee a return. "Smart Couples Finish Rich" is filled with a wealth of information on money management, retirement accounts, living trusts, types of insurance and investing in general. After reading it, you will be better equiped to manage your money and save for the future. That not only makes "smart cents," it makes smart sense. Hopefully, with some financial peace of mind and stability, couples will not only finish rich, they will finish rich... together!

One of the key concepts of the book is for both you & your spouse to read the book, get you to start discussing your values, finances, and future, as a couple so you're on the same page. Not being on the same page as a couple is probably one of the biggest reason for couples splitting up. My husband is not into self-help books, but this was one book that he did read. It has many helpful exercises, as a couple, to get you to realize some of the why's of your finances & to get you to plan better for your future. For example, it makes you start planning goals. Funny, many businesses have goals, but how many couples have established goals for their futures? And I'm sure most people would agree that their relationship with their spouse is more important than their work.

Before I read this, I read Suze Orman's Financial Guidebook, which was also a great book. But I feel I got greater value out of Smart Couples Finish Rich.

After reading this, I've actually started tracking all of my finances & have a much better understanding of how I'm doing financially & what I need to do to meet my newly established goals.

This book is a must for any couple to help plan for their futures.

Robert Arndt, editor, Aramco World

First, the title suggests that the book will provide lots of perspective on the Internet Age. Wrong! In fact, there is very little discussion of the Internet. And most of that discussion is in the introduction where Mr. McCormack points out that he doesn't even use a computer. He makes several self-revealing comments. "But let's say I'm a reluctant convert to the Internet gospel." "My only problem is that I don't understand what it will grow into." "I have the luxury of being in the sports business which, as far as I can tell, is one 'industry' that's immune to the Internet." In a few other cases he provides anecdotes from his business career about people overusing e-mail rather than talking to each other by telephone or face-to-face. As a result, he misses important questions. How can his agency develop more business by using the Internet in new ways? So, I think the title is very misleading. Anyone who wants to get practical advice for working with the Internet should avoid this book.

The second problem I saw was that I saw no important new material in the book. The principles are all covered in his earlier books. You get 90 principles described here in 2-4 pages. The examples are all from the author's business, so you get little sense of other businesses or perspectives that might be best practices. They also reflect a perspective that many may not share.

Here are some of the subjects:

Giving Yourself a Reality Check

Speed, the Defining Factor

Giving the Workplace a Reality Check

Office Politics

Acquiring a Power Base

Promotions, Demotions, and other Career Hiccups

Rules for Deal Makers

When You Are in Charge

Etiquette for the New Millennium

As you can see, this perspective focuses on the larger organization (the kind that fewer people work for these days) and someone who wants to climb up the organization (something that is less important than self-fulfillment and contribution to many).

The book is at its best when it argues for treating people well, being considerate as though one were dealing with one's neighbor in a small town. That advice is timeless. The book is also excellent in helping to unveil the sources of misconception that cause each of us to overestimate our performance and to misperceive what we need to be doing. I heartily approve of these messages.

If you have read Mark McCormack before, I recommend you skip this book. It will add almost nothing but occasional nuances to what you have learned from him already.

If you have not read him before, I suggest you read one of his earlier books instead. What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School is a classic.

In either case, I suggest you skip this one.

If you insist on reading this book, focus on parts one, three, six, seven and nine. They are the most helpful and appropriate for today.

Ask yourself after you read this book then "Who are the people who can provide relevant perspectives that are relevant for today?" Getting the right advice often means asking the right person.