5 comments about Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases.

1. My purchase arrived very quickly, and was indicated to be a "Used" textbook, yet it appeared as "Brand New". I will definitely continue to purchase future textbooks through Amazon. I saved a lot more money this way than buying books from my college.



2. examples in book often have little to do with the subject matter; book couldn't be more boring if it tried.



3. This item was received in the exact condition advertised. The total shipping time took longer than expected, but is not the seller's fault as it was sent out the day after purchase. Overall, it turned out to be fine.



4. I needed a book before the next class and the bookstore was completely out. Someone suggested that I try Amazon.com and I received the book in a couple of days in new condition and at way below half the cost that I would have paid.



5. Text book was as described. I received it on time for the class. It worked very well for me.

5 comments about Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite.

1. As a pro trader who read a lot of books on creativity, self improvement and contrarian thinking/trading, I found the author's ideas familiar, but not his interesting presentation through extensive and interesting use of graphs, pictures and page designs. I dare not recommend it to any serious self help book reader or creative professional. Nevertheless, it's a good choice for a 30 minute leisure reading. On the other hand, I read this right after the author's another book "It's not how good you are. It's...". The two books are very similar and so I had written two nearly identical reviews for each. Pardon me!
   
   p.s. Below please find some of my favorite passages for your reference.
   
   Salomon Brothers met with prospective clients not once a month or once a day, but three times a day. That is unreasonable. But it works. Most people are reasonable, that's why they only do reasonably well.pg 42
   
   A young man worked as a runner in an advertising firm. One day he said to his manager, "I'm leaving. I'm going to be a drummer." The manager said, "I didnt know you played the drums." He replied, "I dont, but I'm going to." A few years later that young man played in a band with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce...He became what he wanted to become before he knew he could do it. He had a goal. pg 62
   
   Rememberwhat Jean Luc Godard said: It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to. pg 92
   
   An interviewer with a wooden leg said to Frank Zappa, "With your long hair, from where I am sitting you could be a woman." He replied, "From where I am sitting you could be a table." pg 126



2. "It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be" was just mind blowing! But this one was quite a dissapointment.



3. This book consists of simple lines and pictures so you can have freedom to interpret the author's ideas. You don't need to be a very clever person to understand this book. In fact, I find this book as a reminder for myself not to afraid to have my own thoughts! I read this book randomly. I open any page i want and start reading from there and stop anytime i want. This way of reading help me digest the idea better.



4. Great book, easy to read, great information about taking risk in your life, highly reccomended...



5. I bought this book because it was required reading for a class. It's pretty common sense stuff. It's alright, but if you can borrow it from a friend, go that route.

5 comments about The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness: Miniature Edition.

1. Good summary of the book. Return to the road after years of read the first Covey book.



2. I am only rating this book 1 because there is no zero rating.
   
   I have read and enjoyed the 7 habits and First Things First; however this book one ways or another is repeat of same concepts and materials in the 7 Habits book.
   
   Way too long, badly written and too many irrelevant details. In brief I think it's a new many making attempt by S. Covey.



3. The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness: Miniature Edition
   
   Covey generally writes well, and his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (which is a much better and more useful read) remains one of the better personal development books on the market today.
   
   In short, this 8th Habit book...any strong synonym for "bad" will do. Only read it if you can buy it for less than $3, and will not spend more than 20 minutes on it.
   
   With the 8th Habit he capitalized on the success of his previous books to generate more cash. He does try to make this book as useful to a reader as possible, albeit with little success. The book is more tedious than his previous ones. Covey reiterates the same points (I almost feel like he copy and pastes paragraphs) and fills space with many inspirational stories and quotes which, and one can disagree, should be really limited to specific examples and supporting points in order to be effective.
   
   In this text, yet again, he goes over different types of intelligence. If you never did particularly well academically, you can think that you are "intelligent in other ways." He spends a good chunk of the book persuading you that great leaders develop their physical, emotional and spiritual intelligence into higher sense of right and wrong (among other things). Creative genius perhaps? Just one look at the creative accounting by senior executives at Lehman and AIG suggests they really found a creative outlet for their physical and emotional intelligence :) Sorry, Covey explained away all modern-day corrupt leadership with Hitler and "mad ego" example.
   
   The voice and the speed of trust was a good section, and probably a useful one for most people. Is it worth reading the entire book though..? I think there are far better texts(including his own 7 Habits), that are less theoretical/philosophical, and are packed with real-life concrete ideas that can be put into action today. Brian Tracy tends to be good with that and his books/programs on Maximum Achievement and How to Master Your Time are worth a look as a substitute to the 8th Habit.



4. This book was gifted to me at Christmas by an employer years ago when it was "The Seven Habits". Covey is a classic. This book will change your life. I promise you. Is you follow it - the positive changes will begin immediately. You will begin to get way more done douring the course of your day and still have more time for family...etc...
   
   There is a reason this book has been selling so well for so long. Don't be the only person at work that has not read it.



5. The book is a good companion to the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The 7 Habits looks into becoming an effective person, while the 8th Habit explores becoming an effective leader. What the 7 Habits is to personal organization and excellence, the 8th Habit is to leadership and organizational excellence. It is the same principles applied to your company or organization.
   
   Like the 7 Habit, the 8th Habit builds from the inside out. Covey looks at how you must first master your own leadership or "find your voice" and build outward to your organization ("help others find their voice"). The book itself is build around the concept of "the whole person" and I think he makes a convincing case for why this is a good way to approach people and lead your organization. His focus on conscience and the need to serve a higher cause is inspiring and, I think, well stated.
   
   My only complaint about this book is that you will recognize many of the examples from the 7 Habits and this can feel a bit repetitive at times. The book includes a companion DVD, but I did not watch it due to the fact that this was a friend's book.

5 comments about The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk.

1. My broker never told me what an "efficient frontier" was. Maybe he didn't know. Or maybe he thought I was too dull to know what it was. In any case, the author of this book does a good job of explaining how to set up a portfolio of different asset classes in index funds, and makes it understandable to a liberal-arts major like me. I especially like the analogy of the uncle's coin-toss retirement plan in the first chapter. Very engaging. I learned a lot of statistics theory from that simple yet profound example. Don't be intimidated by this book's title. It's a wonderful book for anyone interested in minimizing risk while maximizing return.



2. This book is great from the perspective that it gives you a detailed look at historical returns using different investing methods and different asset classes. It takes you on a walk using statistics that leads you to the conclusion that getting into the market, staying in the market with a low cost (Trading fees and other cost associated with maintaining a portfolio) and properly allocated portfolio is the only time tested way to maximize your returns over the long term. While " A Random Walk Down Wall Street" is a great book and I recommend it as well, this book is better written with detailed reviews and supporting data.
   
   I would say that some Excel and statistical knowledge is very helpful, but not required to understand, appreciate and utilize this book.
   
   I bought this book two years ago and read it several times (As the writer suggest). As a result I re-allocated my portfolios and the results are great in two respects. I have smooth out volatility by using beta / Standard Deviation and improved my returns on average with proper allocation methods. Even in this crazy market of 2007 / 2008 I'm up 13%, 25% and 33% is various portfolios that I have. The methods and thought perspectives really work for the long-term investors. Highly recommended for the serious long term investor.



3. From the title "How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk". The book fell short, by quite a large margin.
   
   The book is a quick read and that was a bad thing. I was looking for an in depth explanation on how to build a good asset allocation. The math for pick two asset classes is explained and how those asset classes, when picked correctly, can actually decrease risk and increase performance to better either one held individually. This all makes sense and was nothing too to me, but a topic that must be covered in a book on this topic.
   
   The problem is, there is not a systematic way to calculate the optimal risk reward profile for an entire basket of asset classes explained in the book. When the book get into explaining multiple asset classes, the explanation on how to arrive at which asset classes and what percentages of each gets wishy washy. They do provide templates asset classes you can use, but so does everyone free on the internet.
   
   I finished this book sorely disappointed that I did not learn anything new to help build an intelligently allocated portfolio.



4. He tries to simplify the math. Result: Unclear explanations.
   He mentions Markowitz allocation and says that the portfolio projected using historical parameters did poorly. Then what do you do? His equal part allocation?
   
   He apparently strongly support indexing based on poor mutual fund performance. Later he says the title of the book is in honor of Benjamin Graham. Graham taught how to choose stocks based on fundamentals.
   So what? Indexing or stock picking?
   
   Frankly, I found the book a bit confuse because of he did not clearly answer the above questions.



5. William Bernstein has written an excellent book on Asset Allocation. I was first introduced to the book at a local chapter of AAII. It was highly recommended by all the members who had read it.I found the book to be an easy read and held my interest all the way through.I can't say that about many books on financial subjects.His research along with the data presented as tables and graphs was easy to follow and understand.It was well worth the time and money spent.

5 comments about A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative.

1. I found this book to be very entertaining and it certainly gave me some fresh and creative ways to look at situations/problems. I'm not sure yet how I will be able to put any of them to use, but that may be because I'm a bit overwhelmed after just reading the book. The exercises within the chapters did not always offer me the insight on how to use the topics they were supposed to be practicing. I am hopeful that the next time I run into a brick wall, some of the suggestions occur to me and that I can put them into practice.
   
   I can see how this would make a very effective seminar or training, with groups working on the exercises, bouncing ideas off one another and spurring one another on to more creative thinking.



2. Roger von Oech deeply understands that the creative juices flow best when people are relaxed and having fun. He does this by creating a common sense book that has easy to read, and powerful exercise to help tap into the creative nature that we all have.
   
   The book is a key element in critical thinking. It focuses on developing the left brain, right brain crossover. I found the book refreshing, fascinating and insightful..
   
   The title says it all. The format is user friendly, the exercises are engaging and the cartoons are hilarious. The book firmly pushes anyone who reads the book out of his or her box to become a better critical thinker!
   
   The topics are fascinating. They include: Opening mental locks, Learning how to think, Making the strange familiar, Challenging the rules, Play is frivolous, The fools and the rules and many more.
   
   This is a great book for anyone who is ready to open doors to their mind and become more creative. It lubricates the door hinges that may have become a little rusty over time!
   
   The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking



3. This book belongs in every manager or leader's library. It hosts great practical ideas to thinking in a more dynamic, creative and innovative way. A five star resource.



4. I teach creative thinking in Hungary. This is the book I suggest to my students. It is a pity, that hasn't been translated to Hungarian.



5. This is a useful book for those who don't view themselves as creative individuals. It's not that there's anything revolutionary in here, more that the book points out how much effort and editing are key factors in creativity. "Whack" will not necessarily change your world, but it will offer some ideas and exercises that help broaden your perspective. If nothing else, the greatness of this book is in its ability to re-state what you already ought to know.

5 comments about Lean For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance)).

1. This is a useful introduction to the concepts, philosophy, and general approach of Lean. It does not scare people off with formulas, and has very few of them. This is ultimately a negative factor because more technical detail in the right place would have been a helpful bridge toward actually trying to do something with Lean. I think one of the things that comes through if you read the book a couple of times is that lean manufacturing would be very tough to fully adopt at most American companies because it is often at odds with traditional accounting measures and corporate organizational structures--- and one of the original lean priniciples is respect and long-term development for workers, another alien concept.



2. I enjoyed this book very much. It is a helpful overview of the fundamentals of Lean. It takes a couple of questionable liberties with some topics, but overall I highly recommend this book to be on any Lean practioners bookshelf. I also recommend Lean Six Sigma That Works: A Powerful Action Plan for Dramatically Improving Quality, Increasing Speed, And Reducing Waste Another good book to put along side of it.



3. Lean for Dummies is the best book for your Lean team to use as a reference if gives great information to go back to during kaizen events and value stream mapping events!.



4. Great first primer on Lean - just what you would expect from the Dummies series. Got it used and it was a super value for the money. Great reference book and well as something to use to teach techniques to others.



5. Excellent book for the money. Written in an easy to read style, the authors have covered just about every aspect of Lean from getting started to deployment. The good thing is that they have also touched on Lean in Customer Management, Services, Transactions, Healthcare and Government.
   
   More value is added via the inclusion of Ten Best Practices, Ten Pitfalls to Avoid, and Ten Places to go for Help.
   
   You will find the book a very handy reference any time you need to get clear on concepts, and also when you are looking for tips on "how to".
   
   Enjoy the read, implement, and be profitable!

5 comments about The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm.

1. Through anecdotes, Kelley demonstrates how stumbling blocks to innovation can be overcome. He shows an appreciation for experimentation, momentum, and embraces failure as a true path to knowing. Failed prototypes are wonderful learning tools. Kelley's perspective keeps spirits high. He leaves much of the innovative process open ended - nearly encouraging innovation on innovating.
   
   Interestingly, Kelley notes how medicine is becoming personalized and that the future can not be perfectly predicted. Still, he says we must aim at it. This was an important nugget of wisdom for me, a research coordinator at a think-tank-like public health research group, the Healthcare Innovation and Technology lab at Columbia University. On a daily basis we deal with innovation to improve healthcare and need to effectively innovate. Given that we tread a very specific territory - health and technology - and that Kelley's book could be so useful to us, it is obvious that he really has something to offer to everyone.



2. Excellent book with good insights. If you are in the business of innovation, this is one book that you shouldn't miss. I also recommend EIGHTSTORM: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers.



3. The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America's Leading Design Firm
   by Tom Kelley
   
   The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO's Strategies for Defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization
   by Thomas Kelley
   
   
   Much had already been written - the good & the bad - about these two books after they were published. I do not wish to travel on the beaten path.
   
   I just want to share some of my own thoughts from a different perspective.
   
   I have recently reread these two books following my return from holidaying in Italy. I had in fact read both of them for the first time when they were respectively published several years ago.
   
   This time, I have in fact reread them syntopically with Frans Johansson's 'The Medici Effect', which in many ways, has influenced my own thoughts about the abovementioned two books.
   
   Following my recent holiday trip to Italy, particularly my revisit to the Vatican Museums in Rome & the Uffizi Museum in Florence, I became fascinated by the great work of the Medici family.
   
   The title of 'The Medici Effect' actually refers to an explosion of creativity and imagination that occurred in Florence during the Renaissance era, stretching from the late 14th century where it started right up to the early 17th Century, where it had spread to the rest of Europe, when the powerful & influential Medici banking family funded artists, artisans, painters, sculptors, and even thinkers and scientists from many different cultures and disciplines to come together to debate, discuss, and discover new ideas.
   
   [Out of 1,000 European artists, painters & sculptors during that period, about 350 of them had lived &/or worked in Florence, Italy.]
   
   Through their generous patronage, we are able to speak of and admire the wonderful masterpieces & elegant work of Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli, Donatello, Raphael, Ghiberti and countless others.
   
   Tom Kelley's two books as mentioned above essentially drives home the point about 'The Medici Effect.'
   
   I see IDEO's successful problem solving approach with clients as a true application of the deliberate 'blending' of brainstorming methodologies, work practices, human resource cultures & physical infrastructures. As Tom Kelley had steadfastly asserted: 'Methodology alone is not enough."
   
   The adoption of the ten different high-touch personnas as defined by the author in his later book truely reflects the 'Medici Effect.'
   
   In my personal view, this innovative 'blending' is the strategic heartbeat of IDEO's success in the marketplace.
   
   The other stuff, like observing carefully the anthropology of endusers, high-energy brainstorming with time pressures, quick prototyping, & taking risks are actually peripheral to the deliberate 'blending' process. These stuff had been covered in great detail in the first book.
   
   In fact, as part of IDEO's problem solving repertoire, the cross-pollinating of inputs from their internal teams, clients' teams, knowledgeable people not directly involved with projects, & from people who make up target markets, further accentuates the Medici Effect.
   
   Come to think of it, & in terms of personnas from the creativity standpoint, I reckon what Tom Kelley had talked about so passionately in his latter book, builds, in some subtle ways, on the earlier thoughtware of Roger von oech (as illustrated in his two books on his four creative personnas: Explorer, Artist, Judge, Warrior) & Edward de bono (as illustrated in his 'Six Thinking Hats' book, which I believed had been somewhat influenced by Ned Herrmann's 'The Creative Brain'.)



4. Although published in 2001, thus making some of the innovations referenced seem really old, this is a great read for anyone interested in innovation and how to create an innovative culture in any organization.
   Kelley is GM of IDEO, one of the world's leading design and innovation consultancies. In a highly readable book he shows us how IDEO has played key roles in developments related to mobile computing to minimally invasive surgery and cardiovascular monitoring.
   
   Innovation lessons covered include Innovation begins with an Eye which mirrors what Yogi Berra reputedly said, "You can observe a lot by watching," Secrets for Better Brainstorming, (no secrets but good commonsense tips), A Cool Company needs Hot Groups where he debunks the myth of the lone genius and quotes Francis Jehl, the long time assistant to Thomas Edison as saying, "Edison is in reality a collective noun and means the work of many men."
   
   I'm not sure you will find anything dramatically new in this book, but what it does provide is a framework to create better innovation by reinforcing the need to better understand your customer base before designing to solve a problem. The bottom line is that IDEO has been very successful over a long period of time. It developed the first production mouse for the Apple Macintosh and the Palm V. A visit to their website provides a veritable cornucopia of major clients the design company has worked with. The more I study innovation, the more convinced I am that it is primarily a cultural thing. If you really want to drive innovation in your world, read this book and numerous others to reinforce key messages and key behaviors.



5. Although it is becoming a bit dated, the basic tenants that are discussed are relevant today as much as they were 10 years ago. Of interest to me is the strong attention to the team dynamics that under pin high performance development teams. Very much still worth the reading time.

5 comments about Financial Peace Jr.: Teaching Kids About Money! : "Cool Tools" for Training Tomorrow's Millionaires!.

1. Most of these things you can create yourself. I was looking for suggestions of chores for each age group and there are no guidelines in this packet.



2. I loved this! We are big Dave Ramsey fans and purchased this as a way to include our 5 year old in our "total money makeover". She loves earning her own money and it makes her feel very grown up when she uses her own money that she has saved to buy a toy she wants. Having her own comission chart and chores that she earns money for doing make her feel important and included in the family finances. I would definitely buy this again.



3. Great way to teach your children financial responsiblity. But the first thing my sons did was to save enough money to buy a wallet and get rid of the envelopes. They love the commission chart and enjoy payday.



4. Dave Ramsey applies financial life principles to kids. It's fun for kids and teaches lifelong responsibility. Use it!



5. My husband and I were never taught how to manage our money. We want to start our son out early. We both got allowances as children, but were never taught what to do with them, and so they were usually "blown" in the 1st few days of each week. We don't want our son to follow in our financial footsteps. The only problem is that now I need something to hit me over the head and be consistent with the chart and the commission. YIKES. Where do they sell that?!

5 comments about Nuts! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success.

1. This book is a must read for anyone in the business world. Herb's theories and ideas should be mirrored by anyone in or out of the airline industry.



2. Yeah, this is a business book, but it is a lot more of value and is a lot more fun than most of them. Get it, read it, think about it, and enjoy it. The title has multiple meanings. It refers to Southwest's policy of giving its short haul passengers a bag of peanuts instead of meals (they give out tens of millions of bags each year). Those bags of nuts also stand for Southwest's healthy obsession with keeping their costs down so they can keep their fares low. And "Nuts!" also refers to the founders of the company starting a low cost airline in Texas in the age of regulated airlines (do you remember that time) and their radical approach to carrying passengers. Basically, outside of safety and maintenance, whatever the big airlines did, Southwest did it just about the opposite way.
   
   Where the big airlines used the hub and spoke to fly more full flights, Southwest chose point-to-point and a 10-15 minutes turn around time to keep the planes in the air. Where the big airlines encouraged uniforms and professionalism, Southwest went with hotpants and outrageous behavior (now they use khaki shorts, but the personality of the flight attendants is more like a stand up routine). Instead of meals, peanuts. Instead of assigned seats, you pick it on board. Instead of the multi-part printed ticket, you get a paper receipt with the words "THIS IS A TICKET" printed on it. There is a LOT more just like this.
   
   Learning from Herb Kelleher's approach to business and his actually being able to make money in the airline business is fascinating stuff. A great read because Kevin & Jackie Freiberg not only write well, they know how to organize the material to make it especially valuable to us. Just terrific. Strongly recommended to everyone because it is such an interesting story.
   
   Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI



3. Kevin and Jackie Freiberg began studying Southwest Airlines when Kevin was a doctoral student. This lively, funny and, at times, moving book is full of information about the origins of Southwest Airlines, what makes it unique and how it fights hard to keep its family-based culture, despite having more than 33,000 employees. Wonderful stories told by employees, letters from customers and comments from other business leaders demonstrate the principles that the authors discuss. The book is divided into four sections, with the last looking at leadership in general and as practiced at Southwest. This book was originally published in 1996, but every word of it is perfectly applicable today. Southwest Airlines is still making a profit and growing where other airlines are losing money by the planeload. We recommend this entertaining account of how to operate a service-oriented company in a cutthroat industry.



4. Not suprisingly, this is a little different than the traditional "how to" books you might otherwise read. However, the ideas in here are creative and many were new for me. Lots of operational and communication related tips, which I found helpful. And, the book is easy to read. Since many airlines cannot find a way to make money AND achieve such high levels of customer service, Southwest (and this book) serve as a good guide to prosperity.



5. You will probably change you attitude and will want to work for SOUTHWEST after reading this book.
   Excelent.
   Luiz

4 comments about The Leadership Challenge Workbook.

1. We're using Kouzes & Posner's "The Leadership Challenge" book (among others) in our MBA Leadership and Management Processes class. This workbook, although not required, should be. There are lots of checklists, worksheets, questionaires, etc. that lead you through applying the concepts presented in the book.



2. 
   Although there has been a more recent edition of The Leadership Challenge published (in 2007) since this Workbook appeared (in 2003), the core concepts remain the same, guiding and informing the series of exercises provided in it. Specifically what James Kouzes and Barry Posner characterize as "The Five Practices" of exemplary leadership, requires two commitments. For example, Challenge the Process by searching for opportunities (i.e. seek innovative ways to change, grow, and improve) and experimenting with calculated risks (i.e. constantly generate "small wins" and learn from every mistake). As Kouzes and Posner have by now clearly indicated in their collaborations, they are relentless empiricists and diehard pragmatists. Their observations and suggestions are driven by more then 30 years of rigorous research that includes hundreds of interviews of leaders and several million responses to various surveys. After briefly identifying the "what" of effective leadership, they devote most of their attention to its "how."
   
   How did Don Bennett, the first amputee to climb Mt. Rainier (elevation 14,410 feet), get to the top on one leg and two crutches? "One hop at a time." Kouzes and Posner suggest that the same process be followed by those who aspire to be exemplary leaders.
   
   They note that work tends to be organized in terms of projects because projects "create the context for our goals, determine with whom we work, and set our schedules." That said, on pages 6 and 7, they offer several guidelines for completing this workbook. Depending on the reader's given project or situation,
   
   1. "If you're just starting, we recommend that you begin with Chapter 4...and work your way through Chapter 8."
   
   2. "If your project has been underway for some time, we recommend that your first step be to read through this Workbook quickly, without completing all the activities. Then go back and start with those worksheets that address immediate concerns."
   
   Digression: Why are so few workbooks and field guides based on business bestsellers designed to include space within the narrative on which to complete exercises, record notes, etc.? Credit someone (the authors, their publisher, or both) with enabling the reader to do so in this workbook. As a result, each person who accepts "the leadership challenge" will want to have her or his own copy. Also, many more copies will be sold.
   
   I appreciate the fact that, from the beginning, Kouzes and Posner establish a direct, personal rapport with their reader. The tone is informal, in fact cordially conversational. In effect, they seem to be saying "After all these years of research, here's what we've learned about exemplary leadership. We want you to focus on specific issues and we will explore them with you. We realize that not everything in this workbook is directly relevant to your current or imminent circumstances. That's OK. Let's proceed through the material together and then you decide which activities will be most helpful to you."
   
   Kouzes and Posner devote a separate chapter to each of the five practices of exemplary leadership. In my opinion, the term "exemplary" has at least three separate but related associations: first, with the most effective leaders whom Kouzes and Posner have interviewed over the years; also, with the example that the most effective leaders set for their colleagues; and finally, with initiatives to develop effective leadership in others, at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise. It may be helpful to think of this workbook's potential value in terms of what it can help to accomplish within these three dimensions organizational transformation.
   
   As I worked through the material, I was again reminded of Peter Drucker's observation: "There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all." Also, of something Thomas Edison once asserted: "Vision without execution is hallucination" to which I presume to suggest a corollary: "Execution without vision is expediency." This workbook will help those who absorb and digest the material, complete the various exercises, and then apply what they have learned to reach the "summit" of exemplary leadership and then lead others to do so.
   
   James Kouzes and Barry Posner duly acknowledge the difficulty of completing that journey, deferring to Don Bennett to suggest the best approach to take: "One hop at a time."



3. I had hoped to be able to use this workbook in a teleclass, but it's really not designed for that. It's strictly designed for one person to start on a project and follow the prescribed program in the workbook. While that might be valuable for someone just starting out, it seems unrealistic for most leaders who are multitasking all the time.



4. Product arrived in great time and In great condition. Now I just need to make time to review material and put it to work for me.