Tuesday, March 2, 2010

“Business book reviews - Dallas Morning News” plus 1 more

“Business book reviews - Dallas Morning News” plus 1 more

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Business book reviews - Dallas Morning News

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 05:35 AM PST

Innovation X

Adam Richardson (Jossey-Bass, $27.95)

In business, there are simple problems, complex problems and X problems. Simple and complex problems start with an identified problem, but the X problem does not. Think of an X problem as an equation with more than one variable.

X represents questions you've never asked before. It's also a crossroads in your search for business treasure. You have choices: Go back the way you came or boldly go where you've never gone before.

Adam Richardson believes X means rethinking what your business does and how it does it. Rethinking leads to reinvention by integrating your toolbox of capabilities with companies that create complementary products or services.

Questions you should answer: How do other companies change their products and messages when responding to new products or services introduced by others? Who are their partners? Are there other firms that offer complementary products? If so, are they aligned with competitors? If they are, how does that affect you? If not, could their offerings create opportunity?

The bottom line: Divergent thinking changes X problems into opportunities.

The Power of Collective Wisdom and the Trap of Collected Folly

Allen Briskin, Sheryl Erickson, John Ott and Tom Callanan (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, $17.95)

When you connect your dots, good things happen. When many find their dots interconnected, great things can happen.

Collective wisdom doesn't imply convergent thinking. An intra-connected group gains traction by respecting its members' diverse perspectives.

Imagine a window with many panes of glass representing each individual's view of the street. The view through one pane is limited. By standing back a few feet, you see the entire street but not the individual panes. Intra- connected groups function with a picture window view, so decisions are based on what's best for all.

Jim Pawlak reviews business books for The Dallas Morning News.

bizbooks@hotmail.com

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Students benefit from Indian Lake teacher’s book reviews - Bellefontaine Examiner

Posted: 01 Mar 2010 07:36 AM PST

For more than a decade, the Indian Lake High School library has been the beneficiary of a well-known teacher's relatively little-known act of kindness.

District librarian Betsy Shoffstall has received anywhere from 1 to 15 books per bi-monthly meeting since she joined the Southwestern Ohio Young Adult Materials Review Group 20 years ago.

In exchange for a written review, the books provided by the publishers for free to the approximately 40 members are theirs to keep or donate to a library.

"Besides getting new books for my library, I get ideas on recommended books to purchase for my students," she said, adding that she enjoys finding out what other librarians are doing in their districts. "It is important that I keep up with young adult literature. I spend a lot of time reading reviews. I only recommend books that I have read myself."

Read complete story in Monday's Examiner. CLICK HERE to subscribe today!
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