Business Intelligence Roadmap: The Complete Project Lifecycle for Decision-Support Applications

Customer Reviews:

Great reference.......2007-09-05

I've never found these type of books all that useful (certainly not something you read cover to cover), but this one does have great organization and an emphasis on the project management aspect (not just some techie jibber jabber which is out of date in a year).

I use it mostly to help me clarify with sr. management why our BI department is doing what it's doing, expected benefits and risks. It helps explain why it is important to do all the ground work. Even if we aren't given time and resources to do it, it helps me keep my eye on the ball, not lose sight of objectives, and work in good best practices whenever possible.

I would definitely recommend this book to someone who is entrenched in BI projects on a regular basis.

Excellent book - for beginners..........2007-07-18

The author has well organized the contents, and provided a clear explanation of each of the topics (each topic is a step/phase in the overall BI implementation methodology).... Has a project plan template also...
Good book for beginners in Data warehousing / BI.

Great for a PM.......2007-05-11

Am currently in the process of executing a DW/BI project, my background is JAVA application Project management. This book has been great in getting me upto speed on the basic architecture and lingo of BI/DW.

Book lays out step by step the different parts to a DW. The front office, the back office, meta data repository. Highlights how DW/BI phases are different from other application dev phases. It doesn't go into how to do data modelling - for this get the lifecycle toolkit. But it gives a great overview of planning a BI/DW initiative. Much better than the pure Project Management books.
To get a complete picture I'd use this book along with the Toolkit book.

Good organized document.......2007-01-11

I like this book, its easy to read it...

Good document

Good Practical advice.......2007-01-09

The book offers good practical advice that can be used in the development of a Business Intelligence (BI) project / initiative. The over all road map provides a check list of issues to consider and offers a place to start in planning your own initiative. It is a good reference for individuals starting a BI project for the first time.

Average customer rating:

A powerful story
Powerful
Empathy
A wonderful reminder to all of us to Say SOMETHING!
if not now, when?

Say Something
Peggy Moss
Manufacturer: Tilbury House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Picture Books | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Bullies | Issues | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

School | Issues | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Issues | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

My Secret Bully
Just Kidding
Nobody Knew What to Do: A Story About Bullying (Concept Books (Albert Whitman))
King Of The Playground
Simon's Hook; A Story About Teases and Put-downs

ASIN: 0884482618

Book Description

At this school, there are some children who push and tease and bully. Sometimes they hurt other kids by just ignoring them. The girl in this story sees it happening, but she would never do these mean things herself. Then one day something happens that shows her that being a silent bystander isn't enough. Will she take some steps on her own to help another kid?

Bright, fluid, realistic watercolors illustrate the story, set in a school with lots of diversity. Resources at the end of the book will help parents and children talk about teasing and bullying and find ways to stop it at school. One child at a time can help change a school.

Customer Reviews:

A powerful story.......2007-09-29

As a retired classroom teacher, I have read many books to classes over the years. This book stands out as one of the best, both for it's message, it's illustrations, and writing style. I now use the book in the anti-viollence program that I teach in schools.

The story sends a powerful message to children (and adults) about taking action to change injustices that we see. There are times when we notice things that are unfair or mean, but we believe that we are doing enough to feel sorry for those who are the brunt of such unkindnesses. The story clearly demonstrates the importance of moving beyond feeling sympathy to feeling empathy. We must speak up for others and do something that makes a difference.

The ending provides the students with provocative food for thought to initiate a reflective discussion. This book is suitable for 2nd through 6th graders, and even beyond!

Powerful.......2007-03-11

Say Something portrays an enormous message with a minimum number of words. As I read it to my class of 3rd graders, their response was immediate and powerful. They identified with the characters on many levels, and for the first few pages, thought that being a silent, "innocent" bystander WAS the right thing to do. As the story went on, their faces and comments demonstrated that they had reached the realization that they had the power to help. Months later, they still talk about the concepts introduced to them in the story. When we discuss problems at Class Meeting, it's not unusual to hear, "We have to look out for each other. Nobody wants to be a bystander!"

Empathy.......2007-03-09

Say Something is an essential book for children in elementary school. The book is short and simple but is made powerful by the way it reflects the experiences of the readers/listeners.

The children I read to are ages 5, 3, and 1. I asked them to look at the illustrations and identify the people the book is referencing. They can easily tell which child is sad, alone, or angry. We could easily identify the emotions being illustrated and therefore we were able to better empathize with the characters in the book. Empathizing with the characters helps teach a lesson in doing the same with others in our day to day life.

This book not only teaches empathy, but also demonstrates a beautiful solution that works with many problems.

A wonderful reminder to all of us to Say SOMETHING!.......2006-03-04

Peggy Moss has written a powerful book which still brings tears to my eyes when I read it aloud. This book reminds us that we have the power to say something about what is going on around us. Thank you Peggy!

if not now, when?.......2005-07-01

Rebeccasreads highly recommends SAY SOMETHING as an important picture book with something to say!

It's one thing to notice how your schoolmates get along, which ones are always alone, & who is always teased. It's quite another thing to be on the receiving end. So what do you do? Do you do anything?

SAY SOMETHING urges you, in scene after scene, to become aware, to test your courage, to step forward & do unto others as you would have them do unto you, especially when teasers & taunters are looking for a bit of put-down fun.

Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007 Fundamentals

Average customer rating:

Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007 Fundamentals
Elise Moss
Manufacturer: Schroff Development Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Reference | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Design & Architecture | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Mastering Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007
Accessing Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2007
Residential Design Using AutoCAD 2007
Autodesk Architectural Desktop: An Advanced Implementation Guide
Mastering Autodesk VIZ 2007

ASIN: 1585032999

Product Description

This Fundamentals text introduces the beginning student to Autodesk's Architectural Desktop software. The text covers the Layer Manager, Design Center, Structural Members, Doors, Windows, and Walls. Step by Step lessons take the student from creation of a site plan, floor plan, space planning, elevations, all the way through to creating a video of the finished building - a standard three bedroom, two bathroom residence. Students are provided with in-depth coverage of toolbars, dialog boxes and commands. Educators will appreciate the quizzes and practice exam included in the text.

Table of Contents

Customer Reviews:

Elephant Woman.......2005-02-07

This is an ok book. It is more for learning about elephants then Cynthia but you would enjoy it. I would recemined it to student in 4-7 grade.

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin (Caldecott Honor Book)

Average customer rating:

simple introduction to music
great introduction to musical instruments
A great delight
Nice Book
Great book!

Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin (Caldecott Honor Book)
Lloyd Moss
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baby-3 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Staff Favorites | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Meet the Orchestra
The Philharmonic Gets Dressed (Reading Rainbow Book)
Carnival of the Animals: Classical Music for Kids
Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music!
Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf: With a Fully-Orchestrated and Narrated CD

ASIN: 0671882392

Amazon.com

"The STRINGS all soar, the REEDS implore, / The BRASSES roar with notes galore. / It's music that we all adore. / It's what we go to concerts for." In this exuberant tribute to classical music and the passionate, eccentric musicians who play it, author Lloyd Moss begins with the mournful moan and silken tone of one trombone. A trumpet sings and stings along, forming a duo, then a fine French horn joins in, "TWO, now THREE-O, what a TRIO!" The mellow cello ups it to a quartet, then ZIN! ZIN! ZIN! a violin soars high and moves in to make a quintet. The flute that "sends our soul a-shiver" makes a sextet, and "with steely keys that softly click," a sleek, black, woody clarinet slips the group into a septet. We move on! A chamber group of ten! And the orchestra is ready to begin. Moss should be congratulated for creating a playful, musical stream of rhyming couplets that seamlessly, slyly teaches the names of myriad musical groups. Marjorie Priceman, the whimsical, masterful illustrator of Elsa Okon Rael's When Zaydeh Danced on Eldridge Street and Jack Prelutsky's For Laughing Out Loud, won a Caldecott Honor Award for this swirling, twirling, colorful musical world worthy of thunderous applause and a standing ovation. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson

Book Description

When this book begins, the trombone is playing all by itself. But soon a trumpet makes a duet, a french horn a trio, and so on until the entire orchestra is assembled on stage. Written in elegant and rhythmic verse and illustrated with playful and flowing artwork, this unique counting book is the perfect introduction to musical groups. Readers of all ages are sure to shout "Encore!" when they reach the final page of this joyous celebration of classical music.

Customer Reviews:

simple introduction to music.......2007-09-07

Counts and identifies ten musical instruments in a fun way with great drawings and catchy narration. Suitable for a two year old.

great introduction to musical instruments.......2007-04-01

fun rhyming, simple counting and an interesting introduction to instruments. hidden cat and mouse chase is an added bonus. my children and my nieces and nephews (ages 3 - 8) love it.

A great delight.......2007-03-19

I must admit, I didn't like this book to begin with.

As other reviewers mentioned, this book is not written to a child's level. I usually like to buy my daughter books that have bigger words sprinkled in the verses, but it seems like this book is crammed with the bigger words. Yes, the descriptions of the sound were accurate - but would a preschooler really understand the descriptions without hearing the instruments? I didn't think that she would be able to understand why the clarinet played "breezy notes so darkly slick," or the oboe was "gleeful, bleating, sobbing, pleading through it's throbbing double-reeding" without being exposed to sound of the instruments. In other words, I didn't think my daughter would be able to understand what the words meant from the context of the book alone.

So why five stars then?

We started reading this book a month ago, and since then my daughter has been asking for it every day - sometimes five times a day.

As other reviewers mentioned, this book is great for reinforcing counting. It is quite refreshing to be able to count musicians as they're added to the orchestra, instead of just counting sheep or dinosaurs. The illustrations are quite beautiful, and in addition my daughter now knows the names of all of the instruments in the book.

I also dusted off our Mozart Magic Cube (used to be called Embryonics Music cube)- a "music block toy" that has sound samples of four of the instruments in this book - the flute, harp, french horn, and violin. Whenever we read this book, my daughter finds the appropriate instrument for the appropriate verse. At the end, my daughter and I "clap loudly and shout 'Encore,'" and we play the entire orchestra on Mozart Magic cube again.

And that, as the book says, "is a great delight." I have fun reading this book to her, even when I read it over and over again.

Nice Book.......2007-02-08

This is a nice introduction to a few different things in symphonic music...the instruments, and they types of groups (quartets, etc). The drawings are nice and appeal to children. I highly recommend it.

Great book!.......2007-01-08

Beautiful illustrations, neat subject matter. Not your typical child's book, and very refreshing.

The Definitive Guide to Django: Web Development Done Right (Pro)

Average customer rating:

The Definitive Guide to Django: Web Development Done Right (Pro)
Adrian Holovaty , and Jacob Kaplan-Moss
Manufacturer: Apress
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Rapid Web Applications with TurboGears: Using Python to Create Ajax-Powered Sites (Prentice Hall Open Source Software Development Series)
Twisted Network Programming Essentials
Foundations of Python Network Programming (Foundations)
wxPython in Action
Professional Python Frameworks: Web 2.0 Programming with Django and Turbogears

ASIN: 1590597257

Book Description

Django, the Python-based equivalent to the Ruby on Rails web development framework, is presently one of the hottest topics in web development today. In The Definitive Guide to Django: Web Development Done Right, Adrian Holovaty, one of Django's creators, and Django lead developer Jacob Kaplan-Moss show you how they use this framework to create award-winning web sites. Over the course of three parts, they guide you through the creation of a web application reminiscent of chicagocrime.org.

The first part of the book introduces Django fundamentals like installation and configuration. You'll learn about creating the components that power a Django-driven web site. The second part delves into the more sophisticated features of Django, like outputting non-HTML content (such as RSS feeds and PDFs), plus caching and user management. The third part serves as a detailed reference to Django's many configuration options and commands. The book even includes seven appendixes for looking up configurations options and commands. In all, this book provides the ultimate tutorial and reference to the popular Django framework.

Beginning SharePoint 2007: Building Team Solutions with MOSS 2007 (Programmer to Programmer)

Average customer rating:

Good starting point for soon to be SharePoint Professionals (and a good refresher for the rest of us)
Must Have for SharePoint Designers
The Best SharePoint User Guide on the Market

Beginning SharePoint 2007: Building Team Solutions with MOSS 2007 (Programmer to Programmer)
Amanda Murphy , and Shane Perran
Manufacturer: Wrox
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Intranets & Extranets | Networking | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Operating Systems | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Professional SharePoint 2007 Development (Programmer to Programmer)
Beginning SharePoint 2007 Administration: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Administrator's Companion
SharePoint 2007 User's Guide: Learning Microsoft's Collaboration and Productivity Platform
Workflow in the 2007 Microsoft Office System

ASIN: 0470124490

Book Description

Serving as the premiere handbook of any active or aspiring SharePoint user, this book provides you with detailed descriptions and illustrations of the functionality of SharePoint as well as real-world scenarios. You’ll get coverage of the latest changes and improvements to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, including new terminology and concepts, content types, new workflow solutions, and content management. Plus, you’ll learn how to create simple business applications using forms and use the Business Data Catalog and Excel Services.

Customer Reviews:

Good starting point for soon to be SharePoint Professionals (and a good refresher for the rest of us).......2007-09-10

As the title states I find this a great place to start learning or use as a reference. You can never have enough good references!

I found this book to be inline with the other "Beginning" Wrox books. It outlines key concepts within the SharePoint platform and provides examples of how to use those concepts to build team solutions.

From outlining site columns and content types to working with ECS and the BDC this book is sure to provide you with essential SharePoint knowledge to get you going!

Must Have for SharePoint Designers.......2007-08-14

This is the best book on the market for learning how the newest versions of SharePoint can help company's improve business processes and information management.

From getting a solid understanding of content types and site columns (new features within SharePoint) to making use of Forms Services, the reader gains knowledge of how to use these important concepts to create business solutions that are easy to maintain and extend.

Because SharePoint is so open and powerful, easily explaining how to incorporate SharePoint to help a company run its business more efficiently is challenging. To take full advantage of SharePoint, companies will need employees that are not developers (programmers) to embrace the technology. These users will need to know how to utilize SharePoint to meet business objectives, and how to customize the platform (without the need for code). This book is geared for this next generation of SharePoint users (called Designers) - and it delivers a winner.

Great book!

The Best SharePoint User Guide on the Market.......2007-08-06

I know this book was a bit late to get on the scene, June 5th. Let me tell you, this book was well worth the wait! I've had the chance to read other beginning SharePoint books and user guides, specifically SharePoint 2007 User's Guide: Learning Microsoft's Collaboration and Productivity Platform and Microsoft SharePoint 2007 For Dummies, and none of them lay it out for the end users as well as this book does.

The book is filled with easy to follow examples with step-by-step instructions that make it easy to implement your own team solutions.

My favorite chapters are 6, 10, 11, and 12; Content Types, Forms Services, Excel Services, and the BDC, respectively. None of these chapters are longer than 50 pages, but they are filled to the brim with so much useful information that you will read them from beginning to end.

This book is the definitive SharePoint user's guide.

Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2005 Fundamentals

Average customer rating:

Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2005 Fundamentals
Elise Moss
Manufacturer: Schroff Development Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Reference | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Average customer rating:

I wish the alphabet had more letters!
A googolplex of fun
Book Excites Kids
This is interesting stuff!
like it was written especially for my son

G Is for Googol: A Math Alphabet Book
Schwartz David
Manufacturer: Tricycle Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Social Skills | Issues | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Mathematics | Science | Subjects | Books

Q Is for Quark: A Science Alphabet Book
Fractals, Googols, and Other Mathematical Tales
On Beyond a Million: An Amazing Math Journey
How Much Is a Million? 20th Anniversary Edition (Reading Rainbow Book)
If You Hopped Like A Frog (If You.)

ASIN: 1883672589

Book Description

A Math Alphabet Book

B is for Binary, F is for Fibonacci, P is for Probability...even a small sample begins to give you the idea that this is a math book unlike any other. Ranging freely from exponents to light-years to numbers found in nature, this smorgasbord of math concepts and trivia makes a perfect classroom companion or gift book for the budding young mathematician at home. Even the most reluctant math student will be drawn in by the author's trademark wit, Marissa Moss's quirky illustrations and funny captions, and the answers revealed in W is for "When are we ever gonna use this stuff, anyway?"

Customer Reviews:

I wish the alphabet had more letters! .......2006-05-21

David Schwartz is brilliant! In G is for Googol, he brings together a wealth of mathematical information for strong independent readers. A is for abacus, F is for Fibonacci, and K is for Konigsburg! If you don't know how to pronounce rhombicosidodecahedron, don't dispair! Schwartz will show you how, and his entertaining and informative book will keep inquisitive kids enthralled for hours!

A googolplex of fun.......2005-09-03

At her Montessori preschool, my daughter loved only math "work," mastering the binomial and trinomial cubes early on. At 5, as we began homeschooling, her reading level exploded and she fell in love with words. Unlike "hands-on" math, she had no interest in arithmetic or pages of problems. She's a highly gifted, visual-spatial learner who also reads rapidly and at a high level. Now, at 8, I present her with "literary math," books with mathematical concepts and lots of words and pictures. This book is one of the best examples of that genre. When I handed it to my daughter, she eagerly began flipping through the pages, then scanned the table of contents. "V is for Venn diagram!" she said happily. "I LOVE Venn diagrams!" She read everything about them and studied the amusing pictures in detail. Then she began to describe aspects of her life to us in Venn diagrams. So it has gone with the rest of this book, which I highly recommend.

Book Excites Kids.......2005-08-28

This book enthralled my fifth graders. They are fascinated with large numbers and love the name googol. This book helps get kids excited about math.

This is interesting stuff!.......2004-12-21

First off, be aware that google is the internet search site, NOT a mathematical term. A googol is, though, and it is a 1 followed by 100 zeros, which happens to be a number larger than the number of grains of sand on the earth. This book is interesting stuff!

I took a chance on ordering it because I had never heard of it before but it intrigued me. For each letter of the alphabet, a mathematical term (or two) is defined. It's fun, mathematical terms are clearly explained and some of the letters give you go-along activities.

I've been reading this aloud to my kids (ages 8 & 10) and they enjoy it. I even learned some new things, and I have a degree in mechanical engineering (which requires a lot of upper level math.) Your kids don't have to be gifted in math to enjoy this one. Some of the topics are A is for Abacus, B is for Binary (great explanation!), C is for cubit, D is for Diamond, E is for equilateral and exponent, F is for Fibonacci and G is for Googol. If you don't know what those mean, you'd better get the book!

Even if my 8 yo doesn't remember what an exponent is, she may remember them when she comes to them again and it won't be so intimidating. The more explanations the better, right? This book doesn't teach you anything you HAVE to know, just lots of interesting things that make math fun. Maybe that makes it more interesting - because you don't have to know it.

I caught my 10 yo teaching my 8 yo how to make a mobius strip and what it was. I had to say, "HEY! Have you been reading ahead without me?!" He sheepishly admitted it, but it was so interesting he just had to!

I would say this is probably good for 3rd or 4th grade and up. A younger age could understand some of the topics, but some of the math topics require a bit higher order thinking.

like it was written especially for my son.......2004-11-21

I am the mother of a gifted 7 year old boy. We don't generally buy books because he reads them so fast. We'd be overgrown by books and probably deeply in debt if we bought all the books he wanted to read. We use the library and that is where we found this incredible book which is unbelievably good for my son. He was fascinated by the book and was learning all kinds of very neat mathematical things. He loves talking about the dodecicosehedron (or something like that). We did end up buying this book for him because the library wouldn't let us borrow it any more and because he fell in love with it. I've never written a review before but I have to tell you this book was amazing for my child. It was like it was written just for him.

Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End

Average customer rating:

A life explained
Great concept! Wish it had been a better read.
The Dynamics of Success
"patience" --needed to read this book from begin to end
A professorial look at the key components of confidence

Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End
Rosabeth Moss Kanter
Manufacturer: Crown Business
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Motivation & Self-Improvement | Business Life | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Motivational | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Success | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Change Masters
Confronting Reality: Doing What Matters to Get Things Right
What's Holding You Back?: 30 Days to Having the Courage and Confidence to Do What You Want, Meet Whom You Want, and Go Where You Want
Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything

ASIN: 1400052904
Release Date: 2004-08-31

Amazon.com

Rosabeth Moss Kanter will convince you that the goal of winning is not losing two times in a row. In her view, success and failure are not events, they are self-fulfilling tendencies. "Confidence is the sweet spot between arrogance and despair--consisting of positive expectations for favorable outcomes." says Kanter, a Harvard Business School Professor and author of The Change Masters.

She applies the literature of cognitive psychology (dissonance, explanatory models, learned optimism) to explore the winning and losing streaks of a diverse lineup including the BBC, Gillette, Verizon, Continental Airlines, the Chicago Cubs, and Target. The result is a brilliant anatomy lesson of the big decisions and the small gestures that build and restore confidence.

Three cornerstones are clearly detailed: "Accountability," the actions that involve facing facts without humiliation; "Collaboration," the rituals of respect that create teamwork, and "Initiative/Innovation," the "kaleidoscope thinking" that unlocks energy and creativity. A standout chapter describes how Nelson Mandela created a culture of confidence in South Africa. Some readers may wish for more strategies about positive habits of mind in individuals. Others will search for a quick fix. Instead, Moss Kanter's in-depth examples and ideas about resilient organizations will become required reading. They add up to a persuasive and informed optimism. --Barbara Mackoff

Book Description

From the boardroom to the locker room to the living room—how winners become winners . . . and stay that way.

Is success simply a matter of money and talent? Or is there another reason why some people and organizations always land on their feet, while others, equally talented, stumble again and again?

There’s a fundamental principle at work—the vital but previously unexamined factor called confidence—that permits unexpected people to achieve high levels of performance through routines that activate talent. Confidence explains:

• Why the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team continues its winning ways even though recent teams lack the talent of their predecessors
• Why some companies are always positively perceived by employees, customers, Wall Street analysts, and the media while others are under a perpetual cloud
• How a company like Gillette or a team like the Chicago Cubs ends a losing streak and breaks out of a circle of doom
• The lessons a politician such as Nelson Mandela, who resisted the temptation to take revenge after being released from prison and assuming power, offers for leaders in both advanced democracies and trouble spots like the Middle East

From the simplest ball games to the most complicated business and political situations, the common element in winning is a basic truth about people: They rise to the occasion when leaders help them gain the confidence to do it.

Confidence is the new theory and practice of success, explaining why success and failure are not mere episodes but self-perpetuating trajectories. Rosabeth Moss Kanter shows why organizations of all types may be brimming with talent but not be winners, and provides people in leadership positions with a practical program for either maintaining a winning streak or turning around a downward spiral.
Confidence is based on an extraordinary investigation of success and failure in companies such as Continental Airlines, Seagate, and Verizon and sports teams such as the University of North Carolina women’s soccer team, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles, as well as schools, health care, and politics.

Packed with brilliant, practical ideas such as “powerlessness corrupts” and the “timidity of mediocrity,” Confidence provides fresh thinking for perpetuating winning streaks and ending losing streaks in all facets of life—from the factors that can make or break corporations and governments to the keys for successful relationships in the workplace or at home.

Customer Reviews:

A life explained.......2007-09-19

This book is about me, you, my company, you company and our countries. Rosabeth details with exact science why we experience highs and unfortunately the lows. What you will learn is how to stop the lows from continuing, pulling them round and start back on an upward path. I loved this book because of the frank and direct way the author tells her stories and research. Anyone that has ever experienced emotions on both sides of the scale ought to read this for an explanation why they happened and how you can stop them ever happening again. A great book!

Gary May
Author: SELLING: Powerful New Strategies for Sales Success

Great concept! Wish it had been a better read........2007-04-24

I'm torn in this review... LOVED the high points and the premise - intriguing and powerful... the concepts are tought provoking and the illustrations on point. In between the strong points are redundant, nauseating passages that preach the obvious, as if trying to create a sense of framework, but doing it unnecessarily. Reads like long winded Tom Peters. A shorter book without those passages would have been much better. It's worth reading for the good parts. Darn, wish she'd had a tougher editor and better writing because the concept has the potential for 5 stars.

The Dynamics of Success .......2007-03-23

With the recent surge in books about presidential politics, national intelligence failures, international terrorism, the testimonies of present and past military heroes, and Iraq, it is refreshing to read a book that is enormously informative and has no political agenda. "CONFIDENCE: HOW WINNING STREAKS AND LOSING STREAKS BEGIN & END" analyzes the underlying mechanics, often self-imposed, which cause a company or sports franchise to spiral down into the Inferno of the "Circle of Doom."

"CONFIDENCE: HOW WINNING STREAKS AND LOSING STREAKS BEGIN & END" by Rosabeth Moss Kanter is a fascinating look at how companies, sports franchises, banks and governments rise and fall or struggle against repetitive patterns of losing.

Whether you are a baseball fan or not, most people were captivated by the dramatic unfolding story of the Chicago Cubs during last year's 2003 pennant race. You may remember it. The Chicago Cubs were up 3 games to the Florida Marlins 2 games in the National Championship. Late in the game, a fly ball out to left field drifts into foul territory, a long-time Cubs fan wearing a hat and headphones reaches out over the railing to catch a major league baseball. At the same moment, the left-fielder Moises Alou drifts over, straddles the wall, and leaps up to make the catch. The fan inadvertently knocks the ball out of Moises Alou's glove. Instead of two outs in the 8th and a probable trip to the World Series, the breaking of a "demon curse" and the end losing streak that spans decades, Luis Castillo walks to first base. That moment begins the Florida Marlin offensive. The Chicago Cubs lose, and turn the fan Steve Banter into a pariah. Author Rosabeth Moss Kanter states that there was something else far deeper in the losing mentality of the Chicago Cubs. You don't throw off decades of losing in one season. It is a long struggle that takes time and the correct approach.

This brief incident encapsulated universal understandings and feelings which people have for their own plights, i.e. breaking out of bad luck cycles, being labeled a continual underdog, losing no matter what you try to do and how hard you work, or struggling to regain any semblance of financial control and mirrored reward over your life. It is universal, compassionate and instinctive. At a human and emotional level, this is what "CONFIDENCE: HOW WINNING STREAKS AND LOSING STREAKS BEGIN & END" by Rosabeth Moss Kanter is about. Though the book presents the emotional and financial, even desperate, needs that people and their teams have for winning, whether corporate or sports, whether public or private, whether new or old, it spells out how losing deteriorates the human spirit and will, and more importantly what you can do to change your loss and regain your dignity and your confidence. CONFIDENCE is about far more than just anecdotal stories about success and failure.

Rosabeth M. Kanter is an Ernest L. Arbuckle professor of business administration at Harvard University. Author of 16 books, she specializes in strategy, innovation, and leadership for change. She has been hired by major international corporations and governments for her organizational expertise. She is a senior adviser to IBM's award-winning Reinventing Education initiative. Between the years 1989 to 1992, she also served as Editor of the Harvard Business Review. Professor Rosabeth Kanter has received 21 honorary doctoral degrees and was ranked in the 100 most important women in America and the 50 most powerful women in the world.

In her book "CONFIDENCE: HOW WINNING STREAKS AND LOSING STREAKS BEGIN & END", Professor Kanter examines in detail the collective strategies and behaviors of a myriad of corporations and sports franchises. The author traveled around the world to interview the leaders of great companies, and observe the companies at their basic levels in action. With the discipline of a gifted surgeon who discovers, analyzes, and excises a cancerous tumor from a body, she presents in strategies of great leaders, who turn around powerful failing corporations. She outlines and highlights the universal operatives which lead companies and teams into a spiraling out-of-control spins into the realm which she calls the "Circle of Doom." She explains why certain intervention techniques worked to not only save a losing company, but also to make it thrive as a winner. At the root of each company and team, confidence is made or broken.

If you are a college student studying business administration, a charismatic CEO forged by years of discipline and hard work, an aspiring sole-proprietor of a small graphics or telecommunications company, the athletic director or coach of a college football, basketball or soccer team, or merely a weekend couch-potato watching every play of his Philadelphia Eagles hoping that, since their turnaround, this is the year that they win the Super Bowl, then this book is for you.

In a chapter called "The First Stone: Facing Facts and Reinforcing Responsibility," Professor Kanter traces the history of the Gillette Corporation, a global company whose name is a household word in over 200 countries, bitut Gillette took a financial plunge in the early 1980's, "a near-death experience." It recovers at the end of the decade to significant profits and regained pride, only a few years later to slip again into another downward spiral. However, Kanter explains how with a team mindset, Gillette opened communications and dialogue, national and international managers admitted and took responsibility for their problems, and simultaneously developed an innovative shaving system called Venus, as well as the marketing and advertising other products and companies. Gillette turned around.

In this revealing and informative book, Kanter tells story after story detailing the dynamics of diverse groups, lessons in the struggles of life. Nelson Mandela, of Jeffrey Lurie, who bought a losing Philadelphia Eagle franchise, signed Donovan McNabb against even the mayor of Philadelphia's protests. Kanter discusses the building of the NovaCare Complex, the investment in the players by showing confidence in them. Kanter subtitles one part of the Philadelphia Eagles story as: "Culture Change: A Long Road to Success."

Great companies have great vision. Great leaders have great vision. "CONFIDENCE: HOW WINNING STREAKS AND LOSING STREAKS BEGIN & END" gives you an inside look at the dreams and visions, the courage and work, the strategies, the failures and disappointments, and the most importantly and on a basic level how we lose, how we win, and how to reverse a losing streak. It does not matter if you are interested in business, in government systems, in sports teams, in the arts, in public or private education, or your major concern over the day-to-day downward struggles you experience in your family, "CONFIDENCE: HOW WINNING STREAKS AND LOSING STREAKS BEGIN & END" is worth your time and your money.

John M. Weiskopf
author, "THE ASCENDANCY"
[...]

"patience" --needed to read this book from begin to end.......2006-12-28

I had great expectations of this book as it started out OK. But soon (within a couple chapters) I realized that the author had run out of new things to say. While there are some non-fiction authors that can captivate and entertain an audience with a single concept (ie... Gladwell w/"Tipping Point/Blink"), this author's writing style seems unusually laborious and repetitive -- languishing in incomprehensible detail. Sad to say, but I think I would have been better off just reading a synopsis of this book.

A professorial look at the key components of confidence.......2006-11-06

Why do winning streaks and losing streaks continue in sports, business, politics, education and even in individual personal lives? The answer, according to Harvard University business administration professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter, is "not in our stars, but in ourselves." Winners have, and losers lack, a distinct, learnable, positive attitude toward the future, which Kanter boldly sums up in a word: confidence. Drawing on more than 300 interviews with top coaches, business people and other leaders, and using data from two surveys of more than 1,200 companies, Kanter illustrates the keys to confidence with case studies of various organizations, especially some win-from-behind sports teams. While many pearls are hidden at the bottom of her text, be prepared to dive through a murky sea of verbiage to find them. Nevertheless, we recommend it confidently to those who want a (mostly) painless refresher on managerial basics, especially morale building.

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