Book Description
"Most of what you've heard, read or been told about the End Times is wrong," says popular radio host and bestselling apologist, Hank Hanegraaff. "We have come to accept a wide range of beliefs and teachings about the future, about the ultimate battle between good and evil, about the last days, and about how our world will end. And most of these beliefs and teachings are based on fundamental misinterpretations of what the scriptures really say about the end times."
The Apocalypse Code helps readers understand what the Bible
really says about End Times, and why what we believe matters so much in today's world.
Customer Reviews:
Overly Narrow Presentation with Many Omissions.......2007-10-14
I highly respect Hank Hanegraff, and my bookshelf is lined with his books. If Hank speaks, I listen. In this case, his principles for interpreting end-times passages are something every Christian should take to heart. However, I feel that his treatment of the subject matter was overly narrow to the point of undermining his point.
People may recognize me as the author of "Before God's Wrath: The Bible's Answer to the Timing of the Rapture," which is considered one of the "classic" defenses of the prewrath rapture. Since its publication almost a decade ago, however, readers have flooded me with questions. Some of those questions (unbeknownst to the askers) have forced me to deal with fundamental weaknesses in the entire premillennial scheme. This has made me willing to at least give non-premils like Hanegraff a fair hearing.
Okay, convince me. The result? This book reinforced my existing concerns, but it provided no satisfactory solutions.
If you take ONLY the passages Hanegraff discusses, then this is a powerful presentation for the fulfillment of Jesus' Matthew 24 prophecy in the first century. But there are internal contradictions and huge omissions that ruin the book for me.
Hanegraff criticizes futurists, for example, for placing a 2000-year gap between the disciples' question in Matthew 24:2 and Jesus' answer in verse three. This is a legitimate point. However, he then argues that the destruction of the temple was the fulfillment of Matthew 24:31, but ignores the "end of the world" context from there to the end of the chapter. Was Matthew 24:32 ff. fulfilled in the first century? If so, how does it fit the historical context? Is its fulfillment yet future? If so, how does Hank get there from v. 31? He never says.
Hank also relies heavily - if not exclusively - on Old Testament referents to interpret Jesus' words about his "coming on the clouds" in Matthew 24:30-31. Again, a good point. Yet, he ignores the fact that that Paul uses identical language to describe Jesus' Second Coming in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, which Hanegraff does NOT believe occurred in the first century. Moreover, Hanegraff never addresses the apparent contradiction that Jesus' language in this passage is concrete, not apocalyptic, and inserting an apocalyptic interpretation into a concrete passage violates Hanegraff's own rules of scriptural synergy.
Hanegraff also addresses the letters to the churches and the visions in Revelation, but he omits discussion of the seals, trumpets, and bowls. He seems to believe that they are part of the trifold judgment on Jerusalem, but he never discusses how the fulfillment of even one of them can be explained. And he does seem to believe that the description in Revelation 19 is describing the end of the world, but since he seems to believe everything else relates to the first century, on what basis does he get there? Again, he allows the same kind of 2000-year jump for which he criticizes futurists.
Hank bases his partial preterist argument on a pre-A.D. 70 date for the writing of Revelation. His argument is founded, in part, on the fact that if the destruction of the temple had occurred before its writing, why didn't John mention it? If this is the logic, then it raises the correspondingly legitimate question: If the A.D. 70 destruction of the temple was widely understood to be the fulfillment of many end-times prophecies, why were the first and second century church fathers still looking for a future tribulation and future Antichrist? This is not a long span of time.
These are questions Hanegraff simply never addresses. As a result, the book fell flat for me. For serious students of the end times, it does make some very good points. But if you are looking for the answer to the end-times puzzle, I'm afraid this book creates more questions than answers.
The Antidote for "Left Behind".......2007-10-14
This book will not cause a sensation like Hal Lindsey's "The Late Great Planet Earth" or Tim LaHaye's "Left Behind" series. However, it is a much more credible resource in understanding The Book of Revelation. Like a detective or a research scientist, Hanegraaff uses the Bible itself and actual historical facts to explain Revelation's cryptic but powerful message. Symbols and patterns which are found in the Old Testament are used in Revelation. In addition Revelation conforms to the time and place in which it was written, the first century Roman Empire. Revelation was easily understood by the audience to which it was addressed. Modern doomsday peddlers have muddled it up. Hanegraaff doesn't allow his own imaginitive flights of fancy to dictate his research. Therefore, you will not find any nuclear bombs, implanted microchips, tanks, or attack helicopters in this book.
Hanegraaff unmasks dispensationalism, the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine, and "Christian Zionism" for what they are, concoctions started by Charles Darby in the 19th century and perpetrated by a cadre of modern day false prophets. None of these doctrines are found in the New Testament and were never espoused by any of the apostles or early church fathers.
The idea of a secret rapture prior to the Great Tribulation is completely fabricated yet is being espoused by multi-million dollar television conglomerates and mega-evangelists as the new orthodoxy and those who dare to challenge it are branded as heretics or anti-semitic by self-aggrandizing windbags like John Hagee (see my review of his doomsday book).
I salute Hank Hanegraaff for having the knowledge, the intelligence, and the guts to stand up to these pulpit bullies.
To place the tribulations of Revelation in the 21st century is to make a liar and deceiver out of Jesus and the Apostle John. It also trivializes the horrendous tribulations and sufferings early Christians had to endure at the hands of the Romans. Hanegraaff demonstrates how Revelation was addressed to Christians about to face the greatest tribulations of all, the Neronian purgings in Rome and the destruction of Jerusalem.
Hanegraaff allows Revelation to date itself rather than a third century church father, Irenaeus, who also claimed Jesus was crucified at the age of fifty. Revelation refers to Jerusalem and the Temple as currently existing entities. Dating Revelation after 70 C.E. is like writing a post 9/11 history of New York city without ever mentioning the event. WHY WOULD JOHN WRITE TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES IN ASIA MINOR ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WASN'T GOING TO HAPPEN FOR ANOTHER 2,000 YEARS?!!!
Hanegraaff links Revelation's "harlot" to ancient Israel. This is no more anti-Semitic than the prophets Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Hosea who used the same terminology in rebuking Israel in their times. I would add that the Dead Sea community also rejected their current Jewish establishment as well as the Jewish Christian Ebionites. LaHaye's identification of the "harlot" with the Roman Catholic church, which came about over 200 years after Revelation, shows his ignorance and mean spirit.
Hanegraaff demonstrates how the "Son of Man coming in the clouds" refers to Jesus' enthronement in Heaven rather than his second coming. The seven kings (Caesars), five who have fallen, conforms to the time of Nero, who was considered a "beast" by Roman writers such as Seutonius. Hanegraaff also demonstrates how the number 666 is a cryptic reference to the name Caesar Nero (refer also to Kenneth Gentry's excellent book "The Beast of Revelation"). The end of the age which Jesus told his disciples would occur in their generation was not the end of the cosmos, but the end of the current age in which they were living.
Hanegraaff also debunks new-age fascination with the Gnostic Gospels, ie. The Gospel of Judas, which were third century fairy tales and parasitic with respect to the canonical Gospels. He also disputes the idea that anti-Semitism motivated the canonization of The New Testament which is espoused by modern scholars like Bart Ehrman. I stand by Ehrman's view of Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet (see my review) but I agree with Hanegraaff on the previous point. The books of The New Testament were written long before Christians had the power to undermine Judaism or anything else.
Finally, Hanegraaff exposes the nonsense of "Christian Zionism" which is a by-product of dispensationalism. The idea of rebuilding the Temple and reinstituting the sacrificial system completely negates the core belief of the earliest followers of Jesus which is clearly spelled out in the New Testament, especially the book of Hebrews which states that Jesus' crucifixion put an end to animal sacrifice once and for all. The New Testament makes it abundantly clear to anyone who can read it for themselves - THE LORD'S THRONE IS IN HEAVEN AND NOT ON ANY PIECE OF TANGIBLE REAL ESTATE!!!
Hanegraaff points out that bad theology leads to bad politics and that the forced removal of Palestinians is not only unethical but unbiblical as well. For example, Pat Robertson linking Ariel Sharon's stroke and Yitzhak Rabin's assassination to their negotiating with Palestinians and Michael Evans' claiming George W. Bush was under a curse for criticizing Israel are as looney as trying to breed cattle to produce a red heifer.
I would advise Jewish people not to be conned by "Christian Zionists" who believe that Israel will be restored to its original borders and the Temple will be rebuilt only to have it taken over by the "Anti-Christ". Then, after all the good Christians (dispensationalists) are raptured, the Jews will endure a tribulation that will make the Holocaust look like child's play. At the very end, unbelievers, including Jews who don't accept Jesus, will be thrown into the "lake of fire".
What a deal!!! Trust me, you're better off negotiating with the Palestinians!
Great book to get started with.......2007-10-13
I found this book did a lot to crystallize my thinking on this subject of End Times. I enjoyed it more the second time I read it and learn even more than the first. I spent 20 year attending a Pre-Trib/Pre-Mil church and hearing the Hal Lindsey-like descriptions of the soon coming tribulation. Somehow the popular view of End Times being preached seemed to stretch my imagination so I always maintained silence and impartiality.
Hank does a great job to showing that those prescribing to the views of Tim LaHay and crowd are erroneous in their interpretation of scripture...and I agree! What used to once be confusing is now becoming clearer. I am having to re-think my entire view of Eschatology (for the better I suspect). Hank does NOT tell you what to think and what view is "correct". What he does is challenge the reader to interpret the scriptures according to a model of biblical interpretation L-I-G-H-T-S. Those who have listened to Hank are not surprised at the acronym since he uses these tools to help memorize methods and concepts, as he does in this book. This is not the end all book on hermeneutics: other good resources are The Bible Doesn't Have to Be Hard to Read and How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth.
Hank's book has a lot of information in the appendix too..don't over look it.
Dispensationalists Beware!!.......2007-10-07
Kudos to Hank Hanegraaff for yet another powerful book exposing questionable doctrines which have risen to popularity within the Christian Church. In "Apocalypse Code", Hank goes through the history and forces behind the dispensationalist movement which has gained strength in the last 10 years with the "Left Behind" series. As always, Hank approaches the reading of Revalations and other Bible prophesy from the perspective of LIGHTS - the acronym explaining proper principles of bible interpretation. In the book, Hank spends the first quarter of the book just reminding the reader how to read scriptures "for all it's worth".
The book spends most of its pages refuting the dispensationalist author Tim LaHaye. This is really the whole thrust of the book. When Hank mentioned he was starting this project on his radio program, I had high hopes that Hank would not just refute dispensationalism, but go into great detail about the whole spectrum of end time prophesy interpretations. By only focusing on refuting dispensationalism, he leaves woefully short the other interpretations (biblically correct or not) and instead challenges the reader to figure it out for himself. While clearly a partial pretarist, he only briefly talks about full pretarism and pretrib/postrib interpretations and all the rest. GIVE ME MORE MEAT HERE!
I suppose such a wish from me would have resulted in a book 3-4 times longer than this one, but it would have been more enlightening and easier to have in one resource. However, "Apocalypse Code" would be a great resource for anyone who got caught in the "Left Behind" hype and found some or all of the interpretations hard to buy into and need to seek help learning that their bologne indicators were probably right.
good, but could have been much better.......2007-09-08
I had high hopes for this book. After studying the Partial Preterist view for a few years with a very skeptical mind, I became convinced. Given Hanegraaff's reputation, the length of the book, and the table of contents I thought sure this would be the definitive book to explain the position, but alas. Here are a few points
1. I think the average reader won't know anything about this view. Hank should have explained the underlying suppositions more. Still, the basics are there for anyone to investigate further.
2. It is important to learn this veiw methodically since it is so radically different from any futurist view, and remarkably different from the Amillenialist view. Hank doesn't present it methodically, rather it is presented somewhat piecemeal. Still, it does present the most important points so it is very valuable.
3. Even for someone like me who has read extensively, this book is not written particularly well. He is a bit vague and doesn't present the material very clearly. This is a style issue, not content. Still, for the person who wants to know and reads the references, it is a good beginning.
All in all, I was dissatisfied but I am glad it is out there. If this view is correct (and I think it is) it will revolutionize the thinking of believers, from what's coming in the future to our understanding of the nature of God Himself.
Book Description
In this groundbreaking book, the renowned theoretical physicist Lee Smolin argues that physics—the basis for all other science—has lost its way. The problem is string theory, an ambitious attempt to formulate "a theory of everything" that explains all the forces and particles of nature and how the universe came to be. With its exotic new particles and parallel universes, string theory has captured the public"s imagination and seduced many physicists. But as Smolin reveals, there"s a deep flaw in the theory: no part of it has been proven, and no one knows how to prove it. As a scientific theory, it has been a colossal failure. And because it has soaked up the lion's share of funding, attracted some of the best minds, and penalized young physicists for pursuing other avenues, it is dragging the rest of physics down with it. With clarity, passion, and authority, Smolin charts the rise and fall of string theory and takes a fascinating look at what will replace it. A group of young theorists has begun to develop exciting new ideas that are, unlike string theory, testable. Smolin tells us who and what to watch for in the coming years and how we can find the next Einstein. This is a wake-up call, and Lee Smolin—a former string theorist himself— is the perfect person to deliver it.
Customer Reviews:
Cuts through the hype.......2007-10-13
This is an excellently written book, very easy to read,and with only one typo that I noticed. It starts with an excellent overview of physics from a technical point of view, without getting too technical,but a good basic understanding of physics is really needed to grasp what he is writing about, and shows the authors grasp of the technical issues, and then gets into a philosophical view of the state of physics and science generally. As an interested observer of science I have certainly noticed the lack of really big discoveries in the last twenty years or so, and this book confirms my view. Also being more of a creative thinker,rather than a conformist, a 'seer' as the author describes it,I can totally relate to the problems faced by people seeking a career in science, and the need to conform to currently popular programs and research where economic imperitives take precedence over original thinking,or even fundamental work, and where universities operate to build an image to attract students based on hype over substance. Its what put me off a career in science, and a university education, as I'm not interested in doing what others want in return for money,career,etc. The authors comment about some of the best scientists of the past being wealthy enough to support themselves in doing as they pleased is a very important point in showing that creative people are wasted if forced to do the work others want done in order to survive. Which basically leaves only those who want to conform and have an easy life and easy career path, who want to be technical experts rather than big thinkers or explorers of new concepts. It excludes most risk takers and entrepreneurs from a career in science,as you would end up bitter and unsatisfied. This book really just confirmed alot of what I thought, what should be common sense. And it makes an important point that only a few people think creatively,so it would not cost alot to employ these people and take a risk on them, in the hope that long term they will produce big things, while delivering very little of measurable worth in the short term. The book also goes into the sociology of science and scientists. Something I realised along time ago to my suprise was that scientists suffer from all the normal human flaws of bias and blindness, tribalism,etc that average people do,and often end up in religious type devoutness to their beliefs or tribe. I would have thought science would not attract such people, but it does,as the authors experience shows in confirming what I beleived just from watching science shows on TV,etc. Science would be an excellent career if not for the fact it suffers from the same B.S. that afflicts most human organisations and puts people like myself right off getting involved at all. The author is smart enough to realise that science must attract talent and compete with others for it,and his criticisms are done out of love for science and physics,not hate. It is interesting to see how carefully he treads in crisicising others, which just goes to show how religion-like science had become, and how risky it is to be a heretic, which so goes against what science should stand for,like open debate, constant questioning of all beleifs,etc, when ego's start getting in the way you might as well do something else, as its no better than any other politics or belief system. If you care about science this book raises many important points ,although I suspect it will find an audience with those that sympathise with its views and have no effect on those that need to learn from it most,as they will have closed minds and take all criticism as an attack to be defended against.A very enjoyable read.
A superb overview of the state of theoretical physics........2007-10-12
What a superb book. Lee Smolin starts by sketching our progress towards a unified theory, and then critically examines the claims of string theory to be the best contender for that throne. Having demolished our fuzzy belief that string theory has been somehow "proven," he then weighs in on the other candidates for a unified theory, namely quantum gravity and its cousins. These turn out to be little better supported by experimental evidence. The technical concepts are clearly presented, sans equations, as developments in a story peopled with fascinating characters: the great theoretical physicists of the last 50 years. As a non-math person, I found this narrative a positive pleasure to read. In comparison to other authors of books on physics for the lay public, Smolin really knows how to tell a story, without skimping the science.
The real depth of "The Trouble With Physics" becomes apparent when Smolin pulls back to focus on physics itself. Facing the fact that the academy is a human enterprise like any other, he subjects it to the same bold criticism that he applies to scientific concepts. Here are eyeopening revelations about the culture of conferences, recommendations, networks, and above all, the economic pressures that subtly favor "craftspeople" at the expense of "seers." It's a sorry indictment of our universities, the triumph of self-interest over vision, and Smolin explicitly includes himself in the great mass of insincere careerists who choose a safe research program over a risky one, to the detriment of scientific progress. One gets the sense that this book is, for the author, an atonement for having shortchanged his own creativity as a younger man.
But we the readers are the beneficiaries of Smolin's decision to lay all bare. I have read literally dozens of books on physics and cosmology, and this is the first one that has presented the human side of the story as a CONTEXT, rather than in a series of postage-stamp portraits. Smolin shows that tribalism and rent-seeking do as much to shape science as any ideas. It is a lesson that will lend an extra savor, and a much-needed depth of perspective, to every science book I read in the future.
Scientific progress is never cut and dried.......2007-10-08
Lee Smolin presents a harsh critique of the last 30 years in theoretical physics, written by one of its practitioners. He makes the excellent point that science is a human activity like anything else. Progress is always hard to predict; scientists can and do get caught up in dead ends. Smolin thinks string theory is one such dead end, and makes a good case for it.
I think that, if anything, Smolin is a little too gentle on the field. The development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs left a tremendous impression that big money put into physics would bring big results. In recent years that hasn't happened. There are so many unanswered questions out there in science, so many important fields where solutions are desperately needed. When I consider the construction and operation of particle accelerators and other high-tech equipment, I can't help but think of the huge cost. The same amount of cash invested elsewhere might have brought much more in the way of useful results.
I am the mother of a 10-year-old boy attending public school. His instruction sometimes seems to me like a mishmash of well-meaning educational reforms that have been implemented with little or no testing to see if they worked or not. I am frankly disgusted by the quality of most research in the area of education--sample sizes too small, no proper controls, subjects followed for too short a time, etc. The cost of operating a single particle accelerator for six weeks probably exceeds all the funding for educational research around the world for the entire year. Yet which has the most potential for making major progress? Maybe it's time to back off on funding big physics projects for a while.
I would also like to point out that the building and use of instrumentation for high-energy physics is highly dependent on cheap fossil fuels. The future supply of such fuels is by no means guaranteed. The peak oil problem appears to be largely ignored by high-energy physicists today, but has the potential to significantly affect their ability to conduct experiments.
I really enjoyed Smolin's chapters on looking for seers rather than technicians in science. I especially liked his description of how unconventional scientists have built a career without a university job. Smolin points out that a typical professor spends a majority of his week on teaching, grant proposals, administrative tasks, and the like, leaving a surprisingly small amount of time available for actual research. Having a day job outside the field is not as big a hurdle as it might seem.
I tend to agree with Smolin that the big advances of the future are likely to come from completely unexpected directions. I can't wait to see what they are.
physics from many angles.......2007-10-05
This book provided several discussions pf physics and quantum theory. its good because the author speaks of the history the the originators of physics theory and the current champions of thought.
A mixed bag.......2007-10-04
At the moment, string theory appears to have many (possibly an infinite number) of "metastable vacua", each of which would allow for a universe with its own laws of physics. (For a brief, comic, yet essentially correct summary of the history of this idea, see Peter Shor's review here. For those who don't know, Shor is a celebrated quantum-information theorist.) According to the (far from established) inflationary model of cosmology, there is a vast collection of universes (the "multiverse") with diverse laws of physics. Which universe we find ourselves in is a matter of random selection, but of course we must be in a "biofriendly" universe, one whose laws of physics allow for the appearance of intelligent life.
The core argument of this book is presented on page 164-165 (US hardcover edition), where Smolin writes, "when it comes to the biofriendliness of our universe, we have at least three possibilities:
"1. Ours is one of a vast collection of universes with random laws.
"2. There was an intelligent designer.
"3. There is a so-far-unknown mechanism that will both explain the biofriendliness of our universe and make testable predictions by which it can be confirmed or falsified.
"Given that the first two possibilities are untestable in principle, it is most rational to hold out for the third possibility. Indeed, that is the only possibility we should consider as scientists, because accepting either of the first two would mean the end of our field."
I find this to be an astonishing argument. First of all, I don't know what "most rational" is supposed to mean. More importantly, to reject a scientific hypothesis for purely personal reasons (it "would mean the end of our field") is at best novel, and at worst absurd.
Very few string theorists are happy that #1 seems, at this point, to be the most likely outcome of string theory, and many hope that #3 will somehow eventually emerge. But to throw out the whole framework, simply because we don't like the result, cannot be said to be a scientific attitude.
One thing you won't learn in this book (unless you read it very carefully, and between the lines) is that the other approaches to quantum gravity advocated by Smolin have not come any closer to predicting specific experimental results than string theory has. Smolin talks about possible violations of special relativity, but these are not (as he admits on page 237) a definite prediction of loop quantum gravity. He has said (on Peter Woit's blog) that any quantum field theory in any number of dimensions is compatible with loop quantum gravity. If true, this would make loop quantum gravity even less capable than string theory of picking out our particular laws of physics.
Smolin also discusses issues of sociology in physics. On page 335-336, he asserts that the all the truly negative characterizations of job candidates that he has ever heard have had a component of racism and/or sexism. I am on the faculty of the physics department of a research university, and I can only say that my experience has been entirely different. I have simply never heard a racist or sexist denigration of one scientist by another, nor have I ever felt that anyone was being evaluated by criteria other than merit. I think that there are definitely issues of culture and how we can construct scientific communities that have broader appeal, and that there are physicists who are not as sensitive to these issues as they might be, but I cannot accept Smolin's claim that the relatively small percentage of women and blacks in physics is due to "blatant prejudice".
Finally, Smolin discusses the issues of "seers" vs "craftspeople" in science, and argues that we should be supporting more "seers". Among the existing seers, he lists some (such as Roger Penrose and Gerard 't Hooft) who made their reputations primarily as craftspeople ('t Hooft received the Nobel Prize for his work on the renormalization of gauge theories, and Penrose did celebrated work on the singularity theorems of general relativity). Their record as seers has been less successful; none of their recent ideas on modifications of quantum mechanics have panned out as yet. Smolin laments the fact that more attention is not paid to these forays into alternatives to quantum mechanics. But 't Hooft and Penrose do not agree on what modifications are needed. Other seers identified by Smolin propose violations of special relativity, rather than (or in addition to) violations of quantum mechanics. Perhaps this is all deep thought, but there is little to decide, at this point, which if any of these avenues should be pursued. Most physicists have therefore sensibly adopted a "wait and see" attitude.
Even if we accept Smolin's argument that we need new seers, how are we to find them? Smolin writes (page 353) that in order to discover "the visionaries who ignore the mainstream and follow their own ambitious programs", we should "find at least one accomplished person in the candidate's field who is deeply excited about what the candidate is trying to do". So, the candidate's program had better not be *too* far off the mainstream; there has to be at least one "accomplished person" who is "deeply excited" about it. But if one deeply excited professional is good, wouldn't more be better? Wouldn't that up the odds that the program was, indeed, worthwhile? Oh wait, that would be just what we have now ... a system where there is constant debate, emergent consensus on the most promising approaches, and distribution of research funds primarily (but by no means exclusively!) to those approaches that appear, in the consensus view, to be most promising. To paraphrase Winston Churchill on democracy, this system for distributing funds for science may be the worst ever devised, except for all the others.
So, should you buy the book? I feel that it gives a distorted picture, by emphasizing the weak points of string theory while ignoring the (many more, in my view) weak points of the alternatives. It seems to me that the essence of the book's argument against string theory is captured by the excerpts above, and by Shor's review. Then there is a lot of discussion of groupthink in scientific culture. For me, it doesn't add up to an appealing package, but your mileage may vary.
Book Description
Invaluable." --SUCCESS. "In simple, straightforward language, Fournies offers practical solutions to the problems of employee performance ... [This book] should be on the desk of anyone who manages others."--ENTREPENEUR. THE TOP 10 REASONS EMPLOYEES DON'T DO WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO DO:
10. They don't know why they should do it;
9. They don't know how to do it
8. They don't know what they are supposed to do
7. They think your way will not work
6. They think their way is better
5. They think something else is more important
5. They think they are doing it
4. They are punished for doing it
3. They are rewarded for not doing it
2. It's beyond their personal limits
1. No one could do it
This book tells you how to avoid or handle each situationÑand the 6 other reasons that comprise the total list of reasons employees don't do their jobs. Universally praised and a perennial best seller, this book made The New York Times business bestseller list in early 1998--10 years after it came out! Why? Competition to attract and keep good employees is fiercer than ever. Today's employers need the no-nonsense people-management skills this book teaches. Based on real experiences of 25,000 managers surveyed by a Columbia Graduate School of Business professor, this results-oriented guide--newly updated for todayÕs changing workplace--provides proven, straightforward methods that work on real jobs, in real businesses, in the real world. This updated edition also gives you new input from 5000 additional managers, plus more help with temp workers, service industries, flex time, computers, telecommuting, stress, and safety!
Customer Reviews:
Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed to Do and What To Do About It.......2006-08-30
Lot's of effective hands on things you can use immediately. Great use of your time & enjoyable to read as well.
A common workplace question definitively answered........2006-05-02
The truth is that in this book, as in others expressing simple truth, the value may be in the reminder. Others who have reviewed this book seem to think that its content may be somewhat simplistic, or maybe just basic stuff. My observation is that yes, for me, much of the information in the book is basic, the ideas are not new to me, nor are the recommended responses. The fact remains that in too many work places productivity is less than optimum and is not what it might be because of the specific reasons offered in this little book.
Whether you have ever been expected to manage employees or not, you will relate to the content of this small volume. Those who manage others will gather hints on how to better understand their reports and will receive suggestions that if used will allow them to become better managers. All employees will gain a perspective from which they will be better able to communicate the frustrations they may be experiencing in their work situation.
This short book should be read by all who work.
Good Basics and Several Great Tips.......2006-05-01
Talk about a super long title that clearly states what a book is about! When you pick up "Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To Do and What To Do About It" by Ferdinand F. Fournies, there's no doubt what you think you are getting. The question is of course if you DO get that and how valuable the information is.
There are apparently 16 different reasons why an employee might not do what they should. These are: They don't know why, they don't know how, they don't know what, they think your way won't work, they think their way is better, they think something else is more important, there are no positive consequences, they think they ARE doing it, they are rewarded for NOT doing it, they are punished for doing it, they anticipate negative consequences, there are no negative consequences for NOT doing it, there are obstacles they can't fix, they have personal limits, they have personal problems, and the task is simply impossible. That's quite a lot of reasons for one "problem"! Just having that list can really be helpful. A manager who thinks "My employee is simply an idiot! I told him what to do!" might take a step back and realize there really IS a problem that can be fixed, once it is identified.
I realize that a lot of these items are common sense - but it's amazing how many times in the workplace that I've seen bad managers completely ignore the real problem and just yell at an employee. That rarely helps!
Now, while the basic list is good, I do have some issues with this book. The first is that the book opens telling you "Now a manager could be assaulted or killed by the employee [for not handling problems effectively]." Good God Almighty. Talk about a nasty way to sell a book - "read me or you could DIE!!!"
The book does a good job of laying out each type of problem in detail, and then giving specific solutions. You might say "they're common sense" but obviously if so many managers out there are NOT handling these situations well, they need a little kick in the behind. Maybe they're just too stressed and aren't actually thinking about the problem. Maybe this book will help give them that extra insight they need into using a good solution.
One thing that bothers me is that the book makes it seem that every problem CAN be solved by following these few easy steps. There's a small FAQ in the back that says in essence "Oh yeah, sometimes this fails and you'll have to demote or fire the person." It would have been more helpful if in each section there were the regular tips, but also "drastic steps" and then "when to give up". I suppose they want to be positive - but if they give you only a few things to try, and they aren't working, it would be good to have a progression of what to do next. To keep trying those same things becomes an exercise in futility and frustration. In fact, it's sort of funny, he says at one point that, if these tips don't work, go buy my next book to learn what to do then :)
Still, it's a good basic primer for the new manager of how to handle a variety of situations. I definitely have worked in many situations where managers did NOT know these things and the environment suffered because of it. If you feel like you already know these things, borrow the book at the library and skim through - you might pick up a tip or two. If you're a new manager, then I would suggest buying this. It's the sort of book that you read in the bathroom, going just over a single chapter, and focussing on how to handle that one specific issue. You're probably going to run into all of these issues over time, if you stay on a managerial path.
Why Employees Don't Do What They're Supposed To Do and What To Do About It.......2005-09-03
This is a well written, easy to read, common sense guide for managers and supervisors of all levels of experience. You don't have to be an MBA to understand and use the information provided.
Good Stuff.......2005-08-30
This is a basic book for all new managers. It tell you about all the things they don't teach you in school and gives you concrete action plans to take away the negative impact of the problem. The key areas are ranked as to their occurrence in the management environment. It is a quick read and an even faster process of applying the essentials. Great Book! I am recommending it to my students.
Book Description
Starting from the premise that successful students are not necessarily any more brilliant than their less successful peers, but have simply mastered the art of efficient learning, Adam Robinson introduces high school and college students to an innovative approach that can help them achieve top grades while discovering the joy of true learning.
Line drawings.
Customer Reviews:
You are your own best teacher!.......2007-09-11
The main point of this amazing book is that you will teach yourself best, not an instructor in high school or college, a tutor, your mom, your boss, your spouse, your best friend, but the person who knows when you get tired, when you are hungry, when you are cranky--yourself! That can be a very important lesson. You are in control of what you learn. Granted you are going to need other people to show you and talk you through learning, but teaching yourself is empowering.
The other smart student principles and key lists are also very thought provoking and essentially highlight how school at all levels is a game. But it is a game worth playing.
I think a lot of the reviewers are forgetting that Mr. Robinson has mentioned that What Smart Students Know is to use what works best for them. He demonstrates a note-taking method that works for him, but if it doesn't work for you throw it out and teach yourself one that works. My advice would be that each situation (class, job etc.) might cause you to modify your note-taking. For example, for some of my classes I would take notes in a paper notebook and then type them before each test and have about 6 pages to review. For other classes there would be no need to type my notes because I would be typing a review sheet. For other classes such as my Italian language class I NEVER took notes.
One of the many great morals of this book is find out what works for you and use it. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing or about what the "experts" say. Be your own expert. There is a very popular note-taking method "Cambridge" by name which involves making two columns and filling in matching information from class notes and text books. This method never worked for me no matter how many times I tried it. So what--throw it out. Use what works.
I found what works for me and stopped worrying about what all the experts said because Adam Robinson's book game me the courage to play the Smart Student game. I was always angry that school seemed to focus on everything but learning, which is what I wanted to do most. But I learned how to play so that I could maximize my learning and my grades! I graduated magna cum laude, a member of 4 honor societies (including Phi Beta Kappa), and won the award for most outstanding undergraduate in the History Department at my University.
Free your mind; read What Smart Students Know. Keep in mind you decide what is hogwash and what is inspired. Then use it and be happy.
Look at other books.......2007-07-01
This book has only a few basic ideas. The author says the same things over and over again in different ways. He uses many tricks to fill up space and waste your time. Take my word for it, look into the other books.
Parents, help out your high schoolers with this book.......2007-05-23
In most schools, textbooks are a given. History is taught from a textbook, science is taught from a textbook, as are most other subjects. The problem with most textbooks is that they are usually dull, often poorly written, and difficult to read. Presenting only one point of view, they don't give the big picture.
Adam Robinson, who has been empowering students with his standardized test-taking strategies for 25 years, brings us the book What Smart Students Know. He is quick to say that a 100% textbook approach to learning a subject is not ideal; in fact, despite the fact that most of us would consider him a genius, he himself had no interest in school. But he was very good at playing the game, earning top scores, and in the end, gaining satisfaction from learning how to learn.
In this book, Robinson speaks right to students, explaining how to maximize learning. He tells how to how to get interested in the text you are assigned, how to take charge of your own learning, and how to learn more from a textbook in a shorter period of time. He tells us where to start if you really don't understand a topic, and how to decide what information is important. His premise is that anyone can learn to be a smart student.
This book is an insightful look into how top students approach learning. I was one of the top students in my graduating class in college, and unconsciously used many of the techniques that Robinson recommends. When I was a tutor to other college students, I would show them how to ask themselves questions before reading the test, how to outline the material, and how to memorize through mnemonics, but this book goes way beyond that.
In "What Smart Students Know," Robinson gives us twelve questions to ask ourselves when studying any subject. Questions include "What's the big picture here?" "How can I organize this information?" There is a chapter dedicated to each of the twelve questions.
Even if your student is already a hard-working, high-scoring student, he or she will benefit from Robinson's work. They will be able to study in less time and with less stress.
If your teen has a difficult time reading and understanding the assigned textbooks at school, step in and help him. Read one chapter at a time and show your student how to apply the techniques. Help your student replace ineffective habits with these super-charged learning habits, and I'll bet you pick up some learning techniques along the way, too.
Every student needs this book..........2007-02-19
...whether they get A's or not.
I've never been a "good student", but I've always liked school and been intelligent. I would get very frustrated seeing less intelligent people get straight A's while I was struggling to pass classes. Last semester I got this book, and already I'm doing better in school that ever before. I don't do everything the book suggests, but I keep the organization techniques in mind, and I make sure that I have multiple sources for every class (one of the tips that has helped alot). I have recommended this to all my friends who say they want to do better in school.
Now graduate school doesn't look so frightening.
-Breann Burton, Physics major
I learned from this book and I am Graduate School .......2007-01-27
If you want to excel in school- you want to read this book. This book is written with amazing techniques. If you read it from cover to cover than you will excel in school. Someone like myself that has a learning disability I was able to improve my learning techniques that helped me achieve a 3.5 GPA from a 2.1 GPA. I learned stuff in this book that I nevered learned in high school or my undergraduate school. I am preparing to homeschool my daughter and this book will be utilized throughout her coursework. Easy to read, which means easy to understand and easy to apply the techniques. I wish I had this book back in grade school than I think I would't have struggled as much in high school or college. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to excel in school and succeed in life.
Average customer rating:
- Detailed engineering description of TPS
- Excellant book to understand how the TPS evolved.
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A Study of the Toyota Production System from an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint (Produce What Is Needed, When It's Needed)
Shigeo Shingo
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Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production
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Zero Quality Control: Source Inspection and the Poka-Yoke System
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The Toyota Way Fieldbook
ASIN: 0915299178 |
Book Description
Here is Dr. Shingo's classic industrial engineering rationale for the priority of process-based over operational improvements for manufacturing. He explains the basic mechanisms of the Toyota production system in a practical and simple way so that you can apply them in your own plant. This book clarifies the fundamental principles of JIT including leveling, standard work procedures, multi-machine handling, and more.
Customer Reviews:
Detailed engineering description of TPS.......2003-10-12
There are a lot of books about the Toyota Production System, but this is one of the most useful for those actually attempting to implement elements of this system. Most of the books on TPS by western authers are just superficial glosses written by MBA's who don't seem to have a clue how to make anything. This book is detailed, specific, clearly written, and very well translated. Some of the material is repetative, nevertheless this is the book to get on TPS.
Excellant book to understand how the TPS evolved........1999-04-23
I enjoyed it since it gave me insight on how TPS evolved and allowed me to better understand not how TPS works but more why.
Book Description
The art of persuasion as taught by one of the world's most sought-after speakers and pitchmen
In this daring book, Joel Bauer teaches you how to persuade by making your messages entertaining. Learn the secrets behind "The Fright Challenge," "The Transformation Mechanism," and other persuasion tactics used by pitchmen, carneys, and conjurors to convince people to their way of thinking. Along with coauthor Mark Levy, Bauer has taken these ethical, entertainment-based techniques, and has made them practical for everyday use-capable of influencing one person or a thousand, in business and in life.
Joel Bauer (Los Angeles, CA) is an expert in performance-based live marketing who The Wall Street Journal online referred to as "undoubtedly the chairman of the board" of corporate tradeshow rain-making. Mark Levy (Chester, NJ) has written for the New York Times, has authored or coauthored three books, and is the founder of Levy Innovation, a consulting firm that makes individuals and companies memorable.
Download Description
The art of persuasion as taught by one of the world's most sought-after speakers and pitchmen
In this daring book, Joel Bauer teaches you how to persuade by making your messages entertaining. Learn the secrets behind "The Fright Challenge," "The Transformation Mechanism," and other persuasion tactics used by pitchmen, carneys, and conjurors to convince people to their way of thinking. Along with coauthor Mark Levy, Bauer has taken these ethical, entertainment-based techniques, and has made them practical for everyday use-capable of influencing one person or a thousand, in business and in life.
Joel Bauer (Los Angeles, CA) is an expert in performance-based live marketing who The Wall Street Journal online referred to as "undoubtedly the chairman of the board" of corporate tradeshow rain-making. Mark Levy (Chester, NJ) has written for the New York Times, has authored or coauthored three books, and is the founder of Levy Innovation, a consulting firm that makes individuals and companies memorable.
Customer Reviews:
Fun and Effective.......2007-09-26
The focus of this book is in using, what I like to call "tangible metaphors" to persuade. The author provides examples where he used magic tricks. However, you may use other skills you posses to bring your point across by "showing" instead of "telling". And sometimes, the only skill required is a little bit of creative imagination, rather than any special dexterity.
Years ago, a friend frequently took me to different parties with him. As soon as we'd get to a party, he'd get out of sight and embark upon seducing other women. I wondered why he took me with him if his intent was to go skirt-chasing, but I didn't want to say anything. Instead, I cut one skirt short and decided to wear it to the next party. It worked like a charm - my friend stayed glued to me the entire time to protect me from other men.
Words have magic in them, but since people intepret words in different ways, and you may not always know what words would have the greatest emotional impact upon another, guiding your listener through an actual experience may prove to be much more effective, and you may have way more fun in the process.
Excellent read.......2007-05-12
A wel presented well written book. Lots of Mmmmmm moments. Some really clever stuff in this book.
You NEED To Read This Book.......2007-04-17
I have had the opportunity of meeting Joel Bauer in person. Let me just say that he is a great person who genuinely cares about people.
He spoke at an event I attended and I am sure that the majority of the people in attendance followed him to the back of the room to buy his kit.
But did he stop there? Oh no, he came back that evening, on his own time, and talked to whoever was interested, until the room had to be closed and believe it or not everyone moved to the hallway of the hotel where Joel continued to speak until almost 2:00 AM. I had never seen anything like this before or since!
This book gives you tips, hints and techniques to become a more persuasive and influential communicator. If you are willing to put some of these "transformational mechanisms" to work, you will see results.
Joel Bauer is the real deal!!
David Mason, Performance Development Coach
Author of Marketing Your Small Business for Big Profits
A Must-Have Persuasion Blueprint for Speakers, Coaches, and Consultants... .......2007-03-07
If you are looking for scientific explanations of emotional and psychological triggers that have been driving all human kind to action since the cave man, skip this book and pick up a copy of Robert Cialdini's "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion."
But if you are looking for real-life tips you can start using immediately to grab and hold attention of your audiences or clients, you will find this book a treasure chest!
Joel Bauer and Mark Levy give practical tips and tools for commanding attention and persuading people who are numbed by millions of marketing messages, bored by their busy lives, and jaded by being over-promised and under-delivered to in the past.
After reading this book I started using several of the entertainment and fun-focused strategies and tactics to command attention of my audiences and drive home hard to explain, complex concepts. It works like a charm!
Adam Urbanski, "The Marketing Mentor"
If Magic Is Your Thing..........2007-02-21
This book was short on useable content and is geared more for the person wanting gimicks and tricks to attract people passing by on a busy trade show floor. I think that some of the tricks he shares do have value in driving your point home but pursuading people who don't want to be persuaded... so, so. I'm glad he made tons of money as a magician/entertainer and just made more on a less than stellar writing venture. I believe this could be used as a platform to begin being creative in you own enviroment.
Book Description
The world's leading expert on the global software industry and coauthor of the bestseller Microsoft Secrets reveals the inner workings of software giants like IBM, Microsoft, and Netscape and shows what it takes to create, develop, and manage a successful company -- in good times and bad -- in the most fiercely competitive business in the world.
In the $600 billion software industry it is the business, not the technology, that determines success or failure. This fact -- one that thousands of once glamorous start-ups have unhappily discovered for themselves -- is the well-documented conclusion of this enormously readable and revealing new book by Michael Cusumano, based on nearly twenty years of research and consulting with software producers around the world.
Cusumano builds on dozens of personal experiences and case studies to show how issues of strategy and organization are irrevocably linked with those of managing the technology and demonstrates that a thorough understanding of these issues is vital to success. At the heart of the book Cusumano poses seven questions that underpin a three-pronged management framework. He argues that companies must adopt one of three basic business models: become a products company at one end of the strategic spectrum, a services company at the other end, or a hybrid solutions company in between. The author describes the characteristics of the different models, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, and shows how each is more or less appropriate for different stages in the evolution of a business as well as in good versus bad economic times. Readers will also find invaluable Cusumano's treatment of software development issues ranging from architecture and teams to project management and testing, as well as two chapters devoted to what it takes to create a successful software start-up. Highlights include eight fundamental guidelines for evaluating potential software winners and Cusumano's probing analysis, based on firsthand knowledge, of ten start-ups that have met with varying degrees of success.
The Business of Software is timely essential reading for managers, programmers, entrepreneurs, and others who follow the global software industry.
Download Description
"The world's leading expert on the global software industry and coauthor of the bestseller Microsoft Secrets reveals the inner workings of software giants like IBM, Microsoft, and Netscape and shows what it takes to create, develop, and manage a successful company, in good times and bad, in the most fiercely competitive business in the world. In the $600 billion software industry it is the business, not the technology, that determines success or failure. This fact, one that thousands of once glamorous start-ups have unhappily discovered for themselves, is the well-documented conclusion of this enormously readable and revealing new book by Michael Cusumano, based on nearly twenty years of research and consulting with software producers around the world. Cusumano builds on dozens of personal experiences and case studies to show how issues of strategy and organization are irrevocably linked with those of managing the technology and demonstrates that a thorough understanding of these issues is vital to success. At the heart of the book Cusumano poses seven questions that underpin a three-pronged management framework. He argues that companies must adopt one of three basic business models: become a products company at one end of the strategic spectrum, a services company at the other end, or a hybrid solutions company in between. The author describes the characteristics of the different models, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, and shows how each is more or less appropriate for different stages in the evolution of a business as well as in good versus bad economic times. Readers will also find invaluable Cusumano's treatment of software development issues ranging from architecture and teams to project management and testing, as well as two chapters devoted to what it takes to create a successful software start-up.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome !.......2007-07-20
Cusumano shows us what we, IT professionals, should know about business of software. He also shows us, in a very simple manner, what we must really know about software and its value chain.
Excellent book.......2007-05-01
This book is like a text book. Excellent source of information. Too much emphasis on Microsoft but when this book was written, Microsoft was at the top of their field.
Great insight into the world of enterprise software business.......2007-01-08
Well written, detailed, and insightful, best describe this book. Very helpful for any ISV or software product development manager. Cusamano, having served many of the companies he chronicles in this book, provides a uniquely human "insiders look" into the heart of these monolithic software titans. His insight and clear understanding of trends and business models in the often obscured and esoteric space of enterprise software is incredibly helpful to any "little guy" eager to learn how the "big guys" do it.
Excellent Read.......2006-03-31
The Business of Software is an excellent read and growth tool for seasoned practitioners. Organized in three major sections it explores:
(1) Product vs. services vs. hybrid software organizations' strengths and weaknesses, and how they can change over time (think about your company...!).
(2) Software development strategies and outcomes. At first glance, this section seems less relevant - until you find yourself defending why your latest release is waaaaay late... There are some excellent ideas here that can apply to the creation and roll-out of "core" demos.
(3) Entrepreneurship - successes, failures, and ongoing question marks - the author explores what key factors contribute to the end result. The case studies at the end of this section can serve as virtual mirrors onto one's own organization.
This is good and useful reading, particularly for those who seek to move upwards in their organizations or are contemplating joining a new or emerging company.
Book's value is in provactive questions.......2006-03-13
The most useful sections for technology marketers are in Chapter 2 about strategy, where Cusumano asks provocative questions that will give you a new way of looking at your products, services and company direction.
Also useful is Chapter 4 on best practices, which will give you some benchmarks for comparing your operations and development activities to industry leaders.
Much of the book focuses on presenting detailed analysis of the rise and fall of companies during the technology boom and bust in recent years. The stories can be interesting, but it seems to me that information is getting dated given the challenges that face technology companies today.
Product Description
Anxious times call for steady leadership. When tensions emerge in a congregation, its leaders cannot be as anxious as the people they serve. To remain effective, congregational leaders must control their own uneasiness. This takes self-awareness and confidence to manage relationships and influence behaviors. Knowing how to deal with anxiety and how to work throug complex challenges can lead a congregation to new insights, growth, and vitality. Anxious times hold not only the potential for loss but also for creation, important lernings, and changes that will strengthen the congregation. With this new book, internationally respected consultant Peter Steinke goes deeper into the requirements of effective congregational leadership. Born from the wisdom of Steinke's distinguished career, this new volume will both enlighten and embolden leaders. Steinke inspires courage in leaders to maintain the course, unearth secrets, resist sabotage, withstand fury, and overcome timidity or doubts. His insights, illustrations, and provocations will carry leaders through rough times, porvide clarity during confusing times, and uplift them in joyous times.
Customer Reviews:
What every minister needs.......2007-07-25
s most people know, I love to read. Maybe for others, but also to record my thoughts at the time. This past book was insightful and helpful. Most books on leadership today deal with only a charisma paradigm, this is a beneficial idea, but does not transcend into true leadership. The premise of the book is maintaining self in a anxious organization. It also points out behavior of unhealthy people, and proper functioning of healthy individuals in a chaotic environment. Anyone dealing with congregational life in a leadership role would benefit from this book.
Just what I needed to make sense of it all...........2007-05-06
Sometimes we "know" intuitively which path to take but we just need a gentle reminder to have faith in ourselves. This is a very commonsense guide to help re-discover essential truths about leadership in congregational life. It helps to re-gain perspective during difficult times and gives a framework for recovering equilibrium and good will.
Book Description
The Go Point—the moment of truth when you have to say “yes” or “no” when it’s time to get off the fence.
Michael Useem—through dramatic storytelling—shows how to master the art and science of being decisive. He places you smack in the middle of people facing their go point, where actions—or lack of them—determined the fates of individuals, companies, and countries.
• Why on earth did Robert E. Lee send General George Pickett on an almost suicidal charge against the Union lines at Gettysburg?
• How does the leader of a firefighting crew make life-or-death decisions, directing his people—with little information about weather patterns to guide him—to go up or down the mountain? One direction means safety, the other danger.
• You’ve just assumed responsibility for a scandal-wracked corporation, a company teetering on the brink of disaster. What you decide over the course of the next several days will have consequences for thousands of employees and investors. How do you fulfill your responsibilities?
Michael Useem makes you feel as if “you are there,” right in the center of the action. He was there: tramping up and down the mountain where firefighters made their momentous decisions; walking the battlefield at Gettysburg to see for himself just what General Pickett faced before making his ill-fated charge; going into a trading pit where million-dollar buy-and-sell decisions are made that affect fortunes of both the firm and the person making the call.
You’ll discover why some decisions were flawless, perfectly on target, and others utterly disastrous. Most of all, you’ll learn how to make the right calls yourself, whether you’re changing your career, hiring an assistant, launching a product, or deciding on a potential acquisition or merger.
Smartly written and offering unusual insights into the minds of decision makers such as General Lee, The Go Point will provide the guidance for you to move with confidence when it’s your turn to get off the fence.
Also available as an eBook
Customer Reviews:
A Toolbox for Contingencies.......2007-04-20
"Go points" come in all shapes and sizes (as do "no go points") and some have serious implications, as in a crisis. Michael Useem's primary objective in this book is to help his readers to prepare for such situations so that they will know what to do and how to do it. In this context, I am reminded of Sun Tzu's assertion in The Art of War that every battle is won or lost before it is fought. Useem cites all manner of examples to illustrate his key points and I was especially interested in his discussion of decision principles and tools involved in three immensely complicated and perilous situations: the death of forest fighters in Colorado, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the crash of a plane in the Andes in the early 1970s. Several valuable lessons can be learned from each. During the Andean ordeal, for example, Roberto Canessa was guided by five principles "that continue to inform his decision making more than three decades later": stay focused, set the bar high, get back to basics, no second-guessing, and stay cold and calculating to maximize your chances of success.
It is noteworthy that these are among the same principles that guided Ernest Shackleton's efforts to save all of his men as well as himself after their ship, Endurance, was crushed by expansive ice during the course of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-1916). The 28 crew members managed to reach Elephant Island, hauling three small boats with them. All eventually survived after Shackleton and five others made their way to the southern coast of South Georgia in one of the small boats. Shackleton then organized efforts to rescue the men who remained behind.
The template is one of many reader-friendly devices that Useem skillfully employs throughout this book. As he explains, "To be truly useful, a decision template should be generic enough to apply to many situations, yet specific enough to provide real guidance with real-life choices." Useem provides seven templates that enable each reader to "dig out the principles, good and bad, that emerge from tangible experience" to "begin to build [her or his] own decision templates." The five are for making decisions (Pages 180-181), preventing unforced errors (228-230), seeing ahead (142-143), touch choices (90-92), transcending personal profit (205-206), and using the net (1151-116). Useem suggests that each of these templates be viewed "as an open-source initiative, a collectively generated product."
I also appreciate Useem's excellent suggestions with regard to further reading on decision making and responsibility. He is a strong advocate of lifelong learning as a never-ending process of preparation for the "go points ahead." Of course, the nature and timing of future go points have yet to be revealed so "a passing familiarity with all of the principles and tools gathered [in this book] should help make for stronger decision making across a range of venues in the future."
When preparing to write this book, Michael Useem accumulated a wealth of information from interviews and observations that indicated both recurrent themes and unique experiences across a range of organizations and even national boundaries. His purpose was "to extract what is most enduringly important for decision makers when they carry responsibilities for others, regardless the context. I have also drawn upon a broad range of research studies and historical accounts, some but not all cited in the pages of this text."
As you begin to read this book, pretend that you have just entered Useem's Hardware Store and its owner is taking you on a personal tour, explaining what each implement is and what it can do as well as when and how to use it most effectively. Once the tour is completed, select those tools that are most appropriate for your current and imminent circumstances. Over time, those circumstances will probably change. Fortunately, you will know what must be done to respond effectively. And if you need expert advice, you can always return to Useem's Hardware Store. Its proprietor is always eager to be of assistance.
A Leaders Manual to Making Better Decisions.......2007-02-03
I finally had the chance to sit down with Michael Useem's newest book, The Go Point. I am really interested in his work and enjoyed several of his earlier books including Upward Bound: Nine Original Accounts of How Business Leaders Reached Their Summits (with Paul Asel), Leading Up: How to Lead Your Boss So You Both Win and The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for All of Us.
Michael Useem is the Wiliam and Jacalyn Egan Professor of Management at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, as well as the director of its Center for Leadership and Change Management.
In October 2005, I had the good fortune to participate in Wharton's Executive Education Program The Leadership Journey which is lead by Professors Useem and Greg Shea. As its name implies, its is a weeklong intensive experience uniquely exploring leadership from academic and personal perspectives. This was clearly one of the most significant adult learning experiences that I have ever had and I was looking forward to reading The Go Point.
Well, I was not disappointed. I really enjoyed this book and, not surprisingly, part of the reason is that it followed much of the same format and covered similar material as The Leadership Journey.
The full title is The Go Point - When It's Time to Decide, Knowing What to Do and When to Do It and Useem effectively uses storytelling techniques to explore how decisions are made and to present his case. In the preface, he describes "go points" as "times to decide, moments for saying yes or no, instants for jumping in one direction or another when the fate of others depends on it." He lays out the book's objective of "building a decision-making template, the principles and tools for being decisive at times when it really counts: using small steps to make hard decisions, building a network of counselors for testing ideas, keeping options open until they must be closed." And in the Introduction he defines a go point as - "that decisive moment when the essential information has been gathered, the pros and cons weighed and the time has come to get off the fence.'
The author uses a number of interesting and impactful case studies including the July 1994 wildfire on Colorado's Storm King Mountain which had fatal consequences for 14 wildland firefighters, the Gettysburg Battle of the American Civil War that took more than 50,000 Confederate and Union soldiers lives over 3 days, and the 1972 plane crash in the Andes where 16 passengers survived in the incredibly harsh environment with virtually no resources for 72 days. There are lots of lessons to learn from analyzing the decision chains that lead to the final outcome in each story. Useem uses each to demonstrate the importance of having a decision template "generic enough to apply to many situations, yet specific enough to provide real guidance with real-life choices."
What has always interested my in Professor Useem's work is how experience informs leadership and decisionmaking. He states
"(decision) template principles should be rooted in tangible experiences, for that often serves as the most enduring and powerful trigger....My own experience with hands-on-learning as well as volumes of research confirm that principles such as these are best retained and recalled when discovered during moments of intense emotion and acute stress. Embedded in experience, they remain unforgettable."
Useem and some of his colleagues and students actually took a "staff ride" and visited Storm King Mountain to try to get a better understanding of what the wild firefighters encountered that fateful day and he writes:
"Personal engagements of this kind can cut through the fog of abstraction and connect theory with practice more powerfully than virtually any other learning event....Classrooms are an excellent vehicle for acquiring decision theory; tangible venues are the indelible vehicles for remembering how to apply it."
My personal experience reinforces this view. One day during The Leadership Journey we boarded a bus at Wharton and drove out to the Gettysburg National Military Park for a full day tour of the battlefield with a certified guide. To stand on Little Round Top or Cemetery Hill is an incredibly emotional, intellectual and spiritual experience. We often feel that our current world is so complex; however, to think about what it would have been like as a battlefield commander with scant information and limited time to act or react is mindboggling.
Chapter 5 - Making Decisions is devoted to the reader actually getting engaged in some decisionmaking exercises. We also performed these at Wharton with my favorite being Necklace Trading. While the author does a great job of explaining these exercises, nothing can compare to the actual process of participation. The book's website [...] actually provides for some reader interaction but I did not try it out.
While Professor Useem is one of the top professors at one of the top business schools in the world, he writes in a very easy to read fashion. Readers don't encounter any jargon or buzzwords. Instead, he uses stories to effectively and powerfully convey his points.
Anyone interested in how leaders make decisions, good and bad, must read this book. It will certainly give the you a lot to think about in how you approach important decisions and how you can improve the process by establishing your own decisionmaking template.
Stories plus Structure = Excellent Book.......2007-01-31
The GO Point by Michael Useem is a book you should read.
Thousands of business books are published every year. A few hundred offer important insights. Another few hundred are easy and fun to read. This is the first business book I've read in a long time that meets all my criteria for a great business book
*It is about an important business topic: decision making.
*It is based on solid research.
*It covers a broad range of applications.
*It uses stories and examples to make it easy to read and learn.
*It uses structured writing to group key points and makes them usable.
At the outset, Useem tells us that he'll do two things in the book.
First, he'll take us inside the heads of decision makers. Some of those are living people that Useem has interviewed. Others are historical figures like Robert E. Lee.
Useem takes us inside those head by means of stories, the way that humans have always shared experience with each other. This book is filled with great and useful stories because Useem has developed a vast fund of stories and because he is one of the best storytellers among current management writers.
In addition to the stories, Useem has created "templates" for handling different decision challenges. He groups the key learning points together, using a technique called structured writing to make the points easy to select and use.
Each template is devoted to a specific kind of decision challenge. The bulk of the book lays out the challenges, beginning with urgent decisions.
Urgent decisions are decisions that must be made right away. Useem covers those in the chapter called "In the Heat of the Moment."
The chapter called "Getting into the Decision Game" addresses a common problem: how do you know when it's time to act? You'll pick up tips on when to quit gathering information and plunge ahead with a decision and when to hold off making a decision until you understand the situation better.
"Using the Net" doesn't have anything to do with computers. Instead it's about using advisors to gather both information and perspective. There's some especially insightful material on using an "outer network" of advisors to avoid groupthink.
The chapter on "Seeing Ahead" addresses issues of prediction. Useem uses decisions made at the battle of Gettysburg to show how each decision affects the possible range and importance of future decisions.
The chapter called "Making Decisions" offers an opportunity for you to try your hand at applying the lessons presented in earlier chapters. Useem stresses the importance of making a decision and moving ahead when the time is right. This chapter is one of the things that make this book both valuable and useful.
The final chapters in the book cover special situations. There's a chapter on ethics called "Transcending Personal Profit" and an excellent chapter on the dumb things that smart decision makers often do. That one's called "Avoiding Unforced Errors."
Michael Useem has created a book that you should read if making decisions is part of what your do and you'd like to make better decisions. But he's also created a book that will give you insight into how people think about decisions and then act on that thought.
Decision-Making Excellence.......2006-11-29
Michael Useem is a fine storyteller. And he is an instructor who can clearly delineate the principles and processes of the subject he is teaching. He combines his abilities to create a high-impact learning experience in one book.
Experiential learning is the best learning, but you don't have enough time in your life to learn all you need to know from your own immediate experience. However you can learn most of what you need to know from the experience of others. This book contains excellent experience relevant to good decision-making. And it tells of experiences that are in and of themselves exciting and interesting. They are real-life examples of the principles and skills the author is teaching.
He seamlessly weaves into his stories his instruction of the principles and skills of making good decisions. Then, at the end of each chapter, he offers a chart of those principles and skills for your review, relating them back to the stories. So you get "this is why 1,2,3...this is how 1,2,3..and this is what success and or failure looks like in real life." All of this is wrapped up in a presentation that reads like a novel.
This book is a must-have for leaders and decision-makers of all kinds. it is enjoyable to read, and everyone will learn something new and useful from it.
Get to Go.......2006-11-21
The art of being decisive is one of the most daunting skills an individual can acquire.
Some decisions require split-second reactions; others are made with the "luxury" of consideration. Both types often carry awesome implications for careers, organizations or families.
Michael Useem, a management professor at the Wharton School, dissects this moment of truth, the moment when you have to say "yes" or "no" in his book The Go Point. Using vivid narratives he places the reader in the middle of people facing critical decisions. People, whose action or lack thereof, will have profound implications.
Readers find themselves enveloped:
* With Robert E. Lee as he orders his General George picket to make an almost suicidal charge against the Union lines in Gettysburg.
* On the face of a mountain with the leader of a firefighting crew making life-or-death decisions without critical information about weather patterns.
* In the office of a newly appointed head of a scandal-wracked corporation tottering on the brink of disaster.
Using decision templates rooted in tangible experiences accompanied by decision tools Useem analyzes these difficult moments. Out of his discussion emerges sound advice for spanning the "knowing-doing gap."
Well-written and deceptive in its simplicity, this is one of the finest and most practical books I have read on decision making.
Don't hesitate; go read it.
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