The Business Reader Review is a free, editorially-independent publication written by Theodore Kinni, and sponsored by The Business Reader. Ted is a member of The National Book Critics Circle and he has been reviewing business books on assignment for over a decade. He has reviewed books for a varied group of magazines and newspapers including Training, IndustryWeek, Quality Digest, Workforce Training News, and Amacom's Presidents. Ted is also an author and ghostwriter of business books and articles.
CRADLE TO CRADLE: Remaking The Way We Make Things
By William McDonough and Michael Braungart
(North Point Press, 193 pp, $25, ISBN 0865475873).
"We see a world of abundance, not limits," write these two leading voices for sustainable business practices. In the best book of the month, they outline a win/win philosophy of design and production that simultaneously serves the best interests of business and the environment. The book itself is an eloquent prototype of their concept of total waste elimination: it is made of synthetic resin "paper" and is waterproof, durable, and 100% recyclable.
ON TARGET: How To Conduct Effective Business Reviews
by Michele Bechtell
(Berrett-Koehler, 164 pp, $29.95, ISBN 1576751716).
Strategic plans fail during implementation, says consultant Bechtell, and the most effective way to monitor and correct those failures is frequent business reviews. In this book, she explains how to identify and assign objectives, schedule and analyze reviews, and utilize peer reviews to accelerate results.
THE ART OF ACHIEVEMENT: Mastering The 7 Cs Of Success In Business And Life
by Tom Morris
(Andrews McMeel, 180 pp, $22.95, ISBN 0740722018).
Morris plumbs 2,500 years of philosophy for practical lessons in personal achievement. He boils it all down to seven "performance arts" that enable us to succeed. The seven arts are conception, confidence, concentration, consistency, commitment, character, and capacious enjoyment.
LEADERSHIP ON THE LINE: Staying Alive Through The Dangers Of Leading
by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky
(Harvard Business School Press, 252 pp, $27.50, ISBN 1578514371).
True leaders attack the status quo and in return, they often become the targets of personal and professional counter-attacks. This book of tactics, authored by two faculty members at the Harvard School of Government, describes how to recognize and neutralize both the external resistance leaders typically face and the internal behaviors and responses with which leaders contribute to their own demises.
WHOEVER MAKES THE MOST MISTAKES WINS: The Paradox Of Innovation
by Richard Farson and Ralph Keyes
(Free Press, 129 pp, $22, ISBN 0743225929).
In this extended essay, the authors deconstruct how we think about success and failure and propose a counterintuitive approach that acknowledges that both coexist in any given situation. They explain why we should de-stigmatize and embrace failure as a prerequisite for success and a natural byproduct of the risk-taking and innovation it takes to succeed in business.
