Showing posts with label business book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label business book. Show all posts

Monday, June 15, 2020

Book Review - The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford

I really enjoy business books, and I enjoy well written drama. Who knew the two could be combined into one story? I suppose anyone who's read The Goal: A Business Graphic Novel by Eliyahu Goldratt.

The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford is a guide to better IT and implementing DevOps disguised as a workplace drama. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good


Concept. The idea of exploring better IT practices thru a workplace drama is brilliant. Not only is it interesting, but the value and need for the practices is immediately obvious.

Story. The story is solid. A failing company only has a short amount of time to turn things around or it will cease to be a going concern when and expert is brought in to mentor the one man who is in the best position to save the company. There is plenty of drama, set backs, and successes.

Characters. The characters are so well conceived and developed. They fell like actual people, and they probably are in some companies based on the book reviews.

Information. This book presents really good information, not just about IT practices, but general principles one can apply to any aspect of business or even life. And it doesn't just give you the answer but helps lead you to it.

The Bad

...

What I Would Like to Have Seen


...

Overall


The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford is a guide to better IT and implementing DevOps disguised as a workplace drama.The idea of exploring better IT practices thru a workplace drama is brilliant. Not only is it interesting, but the value and need for the practices is immediately obvious. This book presents really good information, not just about IT practices, but general principles one can apply to any aspect of business or even life. And it doesn't just give you the answer but helps lead you to it. The characters are so well conceived and developed. They fell like actual people, and they probably are in some companies based on the book reviews. I highly recommend this book and give it 5 out of 5 eReaders.


  

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086G6FKRV/

Monday, July 15, 2019

Book Review - Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by Richard Rumelt

I'm a big fan of what I call "business books" -- nonfiction books that discuss various topics that can help a business or manager or entrepreneur. After reading a couple dozen so books, they start to repeat themselves and offer very little new. But then I discovered this gem.

Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by Richard Rumelt is a nonfiction business book on strategy. It is available as en eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read.

The Good


Defining Strategy. This book does an excellent job defining what strategy is and isn't, and spends a good deal of time going over several popular corporate "strategies" and government "strategies" that aren't actually strategies and explains why they aren't.

Case Studies. This book offers many great real world case studies of companies with and without strategy as well as good and bad strategies and the results.

Financial Crisis. This book explains why the latest financial crisis happened, why previous financial crisis happened for the same reasons, and why future financial crisis are going to continue to happen.

No Political Agenda. The author kept his politics to himself. I was especially surprised when he offered nuclear power as the only solution to energy independence even though that is very unpopular politically these days.

The Bad


Narration. I listened to this as an audiobook, and the narration was very poor. It wasn't so poor it made the book unlistenable, but it didn't do the text any favors.

What I Would Like to Have Seen


I would like to have seen more examples of good strategy.

Overall


Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by Richard Rumelt is an excellent book that explores what strategy is and isn't, provides numerous real world examples of corporate and government strategies that aren't actually strategies but goals and mission statements, provides many examples of good and bad strategies and explains why they are good or bad, and explains why the latest financial crisis happened, why previous financial crisis happened for the same reasons, and why future financial crisis are going to continue to happen. And the author manages to keep his politics to himself. I give this book 4.5 out of 5 eReaders.


     

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Book Review - Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini

I really enjoy learning new things and discovering how things work. I also love to learn new ideas, tricks, techniques, and the such that will benefit my life. I also love to learn the tricks people use to manipulate each other so I can better guard myself from such underhanded schemes. This book has all of the above, and more.

Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini is a nonfiction analysis of how to prep an audience for a message so it will have more impact. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read..

The Good


Information. The author does an excellent job presenting, explaining, and clarifying different techniques that increase the influence a message will have. This is very practical both to persuade others and to defend yourself from being manipulated.

Clear Explanations and Examples. The author is a scholar, but this is written for the consumer with everything put in very clear terms and not academic speak.

No Obvious Bias. Too many of these types of books are written by liberals trying to force their political leanings down the readers' throat. This author showed no obvious political agenda. It was refreshing to read a book that wasn't part political manifesto.

The Bad


Unsupported Conclusions. Most of the claims the author makes have some scientific backing, but there are a few, especially towards the end, where he just throws out opinions and explanations with nothing more than it sounds good to him to back it up. I wish he had been consistent in his scholarship.

What I Would Like to Have Seen


A little more rigor in the science and testing to make sure the cause was likely what the author assumed it was.

Overall


Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini discusses how to prep an audience for a message so it will have more impact. The author cites many examples of when these techniques have been successfully used and many studies to back them up. The explanations are all very clear and easy to understand. This is an excellent book to help one become more aware of techniques others use to influence and manipulate others and guard against it. I give this book 4.5 out of 5 eReaders.

    
   

Saturday, June 2, 2018

Book Review - Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen by Steve Sims

I enjoy reading what I call "business books", because they are usually filled with several case studies I've never heard of an interesting takes and approaches to looking at the world.

Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen by Steve Sims is a nonfiction book filled with stories and advice from master concierge Steve Sims. It is available as an eBook, Audiobook, and those paper things your grandparents used to read..

The Good


Stories. The first half of this book is filled with great stories of how the author got to where he is and how he's made amazing things happen. Some are almost unbelievable.

Advice. Steve Sims has some excellent advice on how to make things happen and how to improve ones communication that applies to all people in many different situations. He presents it in a very straightforward, simple way to understand and apply.

The Bad


Repetition. The author repeats himself word for word many, many times, and it just wasn't necessary. If you want to re-emphasize the points or make sure the reader catches the important ideas, repeat them with some variation.

What I Would Like to Have Seen


I wish the author had included more stories of what he's done and how. The beginning are filled with them, but then he stops and just gives advice with few illustrations. I also wish he'd go into more details with his stories and not just say he made it happen but show us how.

Overall


Bluefishing: The Art of Making Things Happen by Steve Sims is an interesting and informative look at how to get things done, improve your relationships, make your dreams come true, and improve your communication dashed with interesting and almost unbelievable true stories of how the author did those very things. I give this book a solid 4.5 out of 5 eReaders.