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	<title>Eric D. Brown<title>&#187; Book Reviews</title>
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	<link>http://ericbrown.com</link>
	<description>Technology, Strategy, People and Projects</description>
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		<title>A Plethora of Book Reviews</title>
		<link>http://ericbrown.com/a-plethora-of-book-reviews.htm</link>
		<comments>http://ericbrown.com/a-plethora-of-book-reviews.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Eric D. Brown</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Liz Wiseman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Management]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ericbrown.com/?p=4030</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I get the occasional request to review a book or two from publishers, PR folks and authors. Normally, I get less than one request a month for reviewing books but over the last month I&#8217;ve received quite a few more&#8230;.five to be exact. Its usually pretty easy for me to read through one additional book [...]<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/a-plethora-of-book-reviews.htm">A Plethora of Book Reviews</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/great-book-reviews-website.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Great Book Reviews Website'>Great Book Reviews Website</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/ambiguities-of-experience-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Ambiguities of Experience &#8211; Book Review'>Ambiguities of Experience &#8211; Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-the-three-laws-of-performance.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance'>Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/open-leadership-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Open Leadership &#8211; Book review'>Open Leadership &#8211; Book review</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I get the occasional request to review a book or two from publishers, PR folks and authors.</p>
<p>Normally, I get less than one request a month for reviewing books but over the last month I&#8217;ve received quite a few more&#8230;.five to be exact.</p>
<p>Its usually pretty easy for me to read through one additional book per month on top of all the other reading I do but lots of things got in the way over the last few months, so and I wasn&#8217;t able to get to all the books as fast as I would have liked.</p>
<p>That said, I finally go through all five books and, rather then write up five different posts reviewing each book, I decided to put them all together here. So&#8230;here goes&#8230;</p>
<p>Oh&#8230;and cover of the last book is awesome&#8230;enjoy <img src='http://ericbrown.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<h3><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061964395?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=ericdbrown-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0061964395" target="_blank">Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter</a> {affiliate link}</h3>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061964395?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=ericdbrown-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0061964395" target="_blank"><img style=' float: left; padding: 4px; margin: 0 7px 2px 0;'  class="alignleft size-full wp-image-4031" title="Multipliers - the book" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/9780061999482.jpeg" alt="Multipliers - the book" width="140" height="213" /></a>This is a pretty good book  by Liz Wiseman with Greg McKeown that describes the difference between two leadership styles that the authors call Multipliers and Diminshers.</p>
<p>A Multipler is a leader who is able to extract so much value from their direct reports, colleagues and coworkers while a Diminisher is a leader who tends to suck the energy, excitement and passion out of their direct reports and coworkers. Multipliers enhance the abilities of others while diminishers degrade the abilities of others.</p>
<p>While I thought the book was quite good, I found parts of it difficult to pay attention. I kept having to put it down and pick it up a day or two later.  This was due mostly to my inability to focus in sections of the book because I felt like some of the material was repetitive.</p>
<p>That said, this is a well written book. There are quite a few real world examples provided and some excellent discussion of leadership styles&#8230;well worth the read if you are into leadership books.</p>
<h3><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595550852?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1595550852" target="_blank">Lead Like Ike: Ten Business Strategies from the CEO of D-Day</a> {affiliate link}</h3>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595550852?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1595550852" target="_blank"><img style=' float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;'  class="alignright size-full wp-image-4032" title="Lead Like Ike" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/lead-like-ike.jpeg" alt="Lead Like Ike" width="140" height="211" /></a>Written by Geoff Loftus. I liked this book&#8230;.but not necessarily because it offered great, actionable, ideas for leadership. I loved this book because it takes a look at the historical context around Eisenhower&#8217;s leadership styles and decisions he made.</p>
<p>I love history and history books and this one doesn&#8217;t disappoint.  That said, there&#8217;s not really a lot of actionable information in this book that you can&#8217;t find in every other leadership book out there.</p>
<p>Like I said..great book&#8230;if you like history.  If you&#8217;re a student of military history, military leadership or leadership in general, you&#8217;ll probably like this book.  If you&#8217;re looking for leadership and strategy advice I&#8217;d say find another book. <strong> </strong></p>
<h3><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592994369?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1592994369" target="_blank">Leading at Light Speed: Build Trust, Spark Innovation, and Create a High-Performing Organization</a> {affiliate link}</h3>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592994369?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1592994369" target="_blank"><img style=' float: left; padding: 4px; margin: 0 7px 2px 0;'  class="alignleft size-full wp-image-4033" title="Leading at Light Speed" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Leading-at-Light-Speed-Build-Trust-Spark-Innovation-and-Create-a-High-Performing-Organization.jpeg" alt="Leading at Light Speed" width="150" height="226" /></a> Written by Eric F. Douglas.  According to the PR release, this book is a leadership book for anyone wanting to build organizations that perform at high levels.</p>
<p>Now&#8230;I think everyone wants to build organizations that perform at high levels. So..this book is for everyone right?</p>
<p>The book goes into the fundamentals of leadership and then describes ten &#8216;quantum leaps&#8217; to take to become a better leader. Sounds awesome right?  Quantum leaps makes you think of physics&#8230;or that television show with Scott Bakula.</p>
<p>Douglas&#8217; ten quantum leaps are nothing new really.  Things like &#8216;align the core values&#8217;, &#8216;lead through others&#8217;, &#8216;manage decisions well&#8217; and &#8216;stimulate the creative flow&#8217; along with others.</p>
<p>Like I said&#8230;the ideas aren&#8217;t anything new but they are delivered in a way that&#8217;s at least interested to read.  This book is well written and, although it uses some corny terms and doesn&#8217;t really market itself well, its not a bad book.   I can&#8217;t really recommend it though&#8230;while I liked the book, I didn&#8217;t find much in it that made me think or gave me new insights.</p>
<h3><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984477705?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0984477705" target="_blank">Be Bodacious: Put Life in Your Leadership</a> {affiliate link}</h3>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984477705?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0984477705" target="_blank"><img style=' float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;'  class="alignright size-full wp-image-4034" title="Be Bodacious" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/be-bodacious-put-life-in-your-leadership-book-review-200x300.jpeg" alt="Be Bodacious" width="162" height="243" /></a>Written by Steven D. Wood. When I first received an email about reviewing this book, I took a look at the title and was intrigued. I said yes and I&#8217;m glad I did.</p>
<p>I expected this book to be similar to those written by <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fentity%2FPatrick-Lencioni%2FB001ILFMB2%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref_%3Dntt_athr_dp_pel_1&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957">Patrick Lencioni</a><img style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=edbholdings-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> and others&#8230;it was a bit different. The author uses stories to highlight various topics&#8230;and he does a pretty good job at it.</p>
<p>I loved this book&#8230;very very straightforward, honest and it definitely makes you take a second to think about your leadership style and your life.</p>
<p>While not a perfect book, I did enjoy it immensely and I think you would too.</p>
<p>Now&#8230;on to the last one.</p>
<h3><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592993958?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1592993958" target="_blank">Welcome to the Company (or what it&#8217;s really like working here)</a> {affiliate link}</h3>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592993958?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1592993958" target="_blank"><img style=' float: left; padding: 4px; margin: 0 7px 2px 0;'  class="alignleft size-full wp-image-4035" title="Welcome to the Company (or what it's really like working here)" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Welcome-to-the-Company-or-what-its-really-like-working-here.jpeg" alt="Welcome to the Company (or what it's really like working here)" width="240" height="240" /></a>Dear lord&#8230;I love the cover of this book. I love that suit.</p>
<p>Written by Eileen McVety, this book probably has the best cover ever.</p>
<p>This book was actually sent along with Leading at Light Speed as a &#8216;bonus&#8217; and boy was it a bonus.</p>
<p>I have to say this is one of the best books I&#8217;ve read in a long time. It&#8217;s not a prize winner, but for shear enjoyment and, at times, I found myself laughing out loud at what Eileen writes.</p>
<p>The book is based on a fictional company and is written to mimic a new employee on-boarding &amp; procedures book.   Funny stuff&#8230;and for the most part its extremely true.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ll leave you with this quote from the flap of the book:</p>
<blockquote><p>We&#8217;re confident you&#8217;ll find your employment experience at The Gordon Wiggins Group to be a richly satisfying one. Not overly confident, mind you. Like we wouldn&#8217;t lay money on it&#8230;but hey, it&#8217;s a job, right? So quit your griping.</p></blockquote>
<p>Great stuff.  Highly Recommended.</p>
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<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/a-plethora-of-book-reviews.htm">A Plethora of Book Reviews</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/great-book-reviews-website.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Great Book Reviews Website'>Great Book Reviews Website</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/ambiguities-of-experience-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Ambiguities of Experience &#8211; Book Review'>Ambiguities of Experience &#8211; Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-the-three-laws-of-performance.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance'>Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/open-leadership-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Open Leadership &#8211; Book review'>Open Leadership &#8211; Book review</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Open Leadership &#8211; Book review</title>
		<link>http://ericbrown.com/open-leadership-book-review.htm</link>
		<comments>http://ericbrown.com/open-leadership-book-review.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:16:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Eric D. Brown</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Charlene Li]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Customer Service]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Groundswell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social T]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ericbrown.com/?p=3264</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I grabbed a copy of Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead (affiliate link) by Charlene Li for my business trip last week.  Gotta have something to read on the plane you know. I enjoyed this book.  Not only is the subject matter interesting, but the way in which Li presents [...]<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/open-leadership-book-review.htm">Open Leadership &#8211; Book review</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-toy-box-leadership.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Toy Box Leadership'>Book Review: Toy Box Leadership</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-change-by-design-by-tim-brown.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Change by Design by Tim Brown'>Book Review: Change by Design by Tim Brown</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-succession-are-you-ready.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Succession, Are You Ready?'>Book Review: Succession, Are You Ready?</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-groundswell.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Groundswell'>Groundswell</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470597267?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0470597267"><img style=' float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;'  class="alignright size-full wp-image-3265" title="Open Leadership by Charlene Li" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/51xFprbD4GL._SL160_.jpg" alt="Open Leadership by Charlene Li" width="109" height="160" /></a>I grabbed a copy of <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Open Leadership" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470597267?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0470597267" target="_blank">Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead</a> (affiliate link) by Charlene Li for my business trip last week.  Gotta have something to read on the plane you know.</p>
<p><strong>I enjoyed this book</strong>.  Not only is the subject matter interesting, but the way in which Li presents the material is fresh, interesting and engaging.</p>
<p>The main premise of the book is that in order for organizations to use social tools and technology, they need to be able to operate in a more open manner.</p>
<p>I do have to say that when I first saw the title &#8220;Open Leadership&#8221;, I was perplexed. I thought that Li had somehow decided to move away from her area of experience and expertise in the social space and move into the realm of &#8216;leadership&#8217; books.  The subtitle helped assuage that fear though and after opening the book and starting to read, I realized that the title made perfect sense.</p>
<p>In this book, Li <span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px;">declares open leadership to be a vital factor in whether an organization succeeds using social media.     She argues that by becoming more open, organizations will be able to build real / honest relationships with their employees, clients and vendors. </span></p>
<p>This is a good thing.  Building long-lasting and valuable relationships with people (whether they are clients or employees) is the entire reason for moving into the social space.  Having a culture of openness within an organization helps tremendously with building those relationships.</p>
<p>Li argues that the old &#8216;command and control&#8217; structure that most organizations have used (and still use) will not work in this more open environment.  While this argument is made fairly successfully, there are many places in the book where Li tries to assuage those who still prefer the top-down command approach with her &#8216;controlled&#8217; open-ness approach. When I first ran across the idea of a controlled &#8216;open&#8217; environment as Li discusses, I was a little disturbed, but after thinking about it and reading more, I realized that Li wasn&#8217;t really advocating for continuing the command and control approach; she&#8217;s arguing for processes that help shape the open environment.  As long-time readers of this blog know, I&#8217;m all for processes as long as they don&#8217;t hinder the ability of the business to be &#8216;human&#8217;.</p>
<p><strong>I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in social media, social technologies, customer service and marketing</strong>.  There are a lot of really great stories &amp; case studies that highlight how organizations are using social media to get closer to their customers and the problems those customers are having.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">If you liked <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Groundswell on Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1422125009?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1422125009" target="_blank">Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologie</a>s (affiliate link), a great book in its own right, you&#8217;ll like this book too.</span></p>
<div class="zemanta-pixie"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=f1414e19-7a9a-4955-8e2a-de0930433546" alt="" /></div>
<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/open-leadership-book-review.htm">Open Leadership &#8211; Book review</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-toy-box-leadership.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Toy Box Leadership'>Book Review: Toy Box Leadership</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-change-by-design-by-tim-brown.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Change by Design by Tim Brown'>Book Review: Change by Design by Tim Brown</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-succession-are-you-ready.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Succession, Are You Ready?'>Book Review: Succession, Are You Ready?</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-groundswell.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Groundswell'>Groundswell</a></li>
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		<title>CIO&#8217;s need to fascinate to survive</title>
		<link>http://ericbrown.com/cios-need-to-fascinate-to-survive.htm</link>
		<comments>http://ericbrown.com/cios-need-to-fascinate-to-survive.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 May 2010 14:30:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Eric D. Brown</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small Business CIO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The New CIO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business and Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chief information officer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CIO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Information Technology]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ericbrown.com/?p=3125</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hey CIO &#8211; if you want to survive, you need to figure out a way to fascinate your organization. I&#8217;m currently reading &#8220;Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation&#8221; (affiliate link) by Sally Hogshead. I picked the book up on my kindle on a whim while waiting to board the flight from Dallas to Chicago. [...]<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/cios-need-to-fascinate-to-survive.htm">CIO&#8217;s need to fascinate to survive</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/cios-whats-your-teams-story.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: CIO&#8217;s &#8211; what&#8217;s your team&#8217;s story?'>CIO&#8217;s &#8211; what&#8217;s your team&#8217;s story?</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/i-finally-read-good-to-great.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: I finally read &quot;Good To Great&quot;'>I finally read &quot;Good To Great&quot;</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/cios-consider-this.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: CIO&#8217;s: Consider This&#8230;'>CIO&#8217;s: Consider This&#8230;</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/agility-and-the-new-cio.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Agility and The New CIO'>Agility and The New CIO</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/links-for-jan-31-2010.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Links for Jan 31 2010'>Links for Jan 31 2010</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061714704?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0061714704"><img style=' float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;'  class="alignright size-full wp-image-3126" title="CIO's need to fascinate to survive" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/41WnoRjQ1aL._SL160_.jpg" alt="CIO's need to fascinate to survive" width="104" height="160" /></a>Hey CIO &#8211; if you want to survive, you need to figure out a way to fascinate your organization.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m currently reading &#8220;<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Fascinate on Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061714704?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0061714704" target="_blank">Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation</a>&#8221; (affiliate link) by Sally Hogshead.</p>
<p>I picked the book up on my kindle on a whim while waiting to board the flight from <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="Dallas" rel="homepage" href="http://www.dallascityhall.com">Dallas</a> to <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="Chicago" rel="homepage" href="http://www.cityofchicago.org/">Chicago</a>.</p>
<p>While this book is focused on approaches to marketing, the concepts in the book could easily be applied to other aspects of the business&#8230;.and I can easily think of ways that CIO&#8217;s and IT leaders can apply the concepts of the book in their organizations.</p>
<p>Question for all the non IT folks:</p>
<blockquote><p>When&#8217;s the last time you were fascinated by your IT group?  When was the last time you were enthralled with what your organization&#8217;s IT team were doing?</p></blockquote>
<p>I&#8217;d wager you&#8217;re answering &#8217;never&#8217;.</p>
<p>Why is that?</p>
<p>The answer has to do with the focus of  most information technology groups being an operational one.</p>
<p>But&#8230;.what if, in addition to an operational focus, the IT group begins to use some marketing approaches to improve service and understanding within the organization?</p>
<p>What if we were able to use the 7 triggers outlined in Sally&#8217;s book to fascinate the organization?</p>
<h3>Add a Marketing focus  -  7 Triggers applied to IT</h3>
<p>The 7 Triggers and brief explanation of each are:</p>
<ul>
<blockquote>
<li><strong>Lust</strong> &#8211; creates a craving for sensory pleasure</li>
<li><strong>Mystique</strong> &#8211; lures with unanswered questions</li>
<li><strong>Alarm</strong> &#8211; threatens with a negative consequence</li>
<li><strong>Prestige</strong> &#8211; earns respect through symbols of achievement</li>
<li><strong>Vice</strong> &#8211; tempts with &#8220;forbidden fruit&#8221; causing rebelling against norms</li>
<li><strong>Trust</strong> &#8211; comforts us with certainty and reliability</li>
</blockquote>
</ul>
<p>Now&#8230;don&#8217;t get all puritan on me when you see &#8216;lust&#8217; and &#8216;vice&#8217; and the like.   Think about the triggers above&#8230;.are you using any of these in your IT organization when communicating?</p>
<p>You probably are without really know it.  Think about the last time you had a person within your company ask for a new computer and told them no. That person then notices the Director of IT (and many other people within IT) with brand new top-of-the-line computers.  What does that tell that user?</p>
<p>That user doesn&#8217;t realize the IT folks have these new computers to test them out before ordering 1000 more to outfit the company&#8230;that user only knows that they have a 3 year old computer and can&#8217;t get another one and &#8220;everyone&#8221; in IT has new computers.</p>
<p>You&#8217;ve just used Lust, Mystique, Vice and Prestige negatively.  And you&#8217;ve damaged the trust that the user might have had for your IT group.</p>
<p>What if you used these 7 triggers to develop a better message for that user? What if you showed them the new models you&#8217;re testing and how cool the new features and operating system is and that they&#8217;ll have one of these new machines within a few months?  What if you let that user (or at least a subset of users in the company) help test these models with the IT group?  You&#8217;ve now just used Lust, Mystique, Vice, Prestige and Trust to help that user better understand why they can&#8217;t have a new machine, when they can expect one and how that wait will pay off for them.</p>
<p>In scenario one (using negative triggers), you&#8217;ve got a user who has very negative feelings toward IT. Using scenario two (using positive triggers), you&#8217;ve got a friend for life in that user.</p>
<p>According to the author of <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Fascinate on Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061714704?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0061714704" target="_blank">Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation</a>, these triggers are meant to assist in creating a fascinating message and Sally provides a glimpse into he hallmarks of a fascinating message are:</p>
<ul>
<blockquote>
<li>Provokes strong and immediate emotional reactions</li>
<li>Creates advocates</li>
<li>Becomes &#8220;Cultural Shorthand&#8221; for a specific set of Actions of Values</li>
<li>Incites Conversation</li>
<li>Forces Competitors to Realign It</li>
<li>Triggers Social Revolutions</li>
</blockquote>
</ul>
<p>Think about those hallmarks&#8230;.do you find any of them in any messages from your IT group to the rest of the organization?</p>
<p>I think most IT groups already provoke strong and immediate emotional reactions&#8230;but for the wrong reasons!</p>
<p>Has your IT group created advocates throughout the organization?  Have you been able to incite positive conversation about IT and IT&#8217;s service?  If not, it may be time to rethink your approach and begin using things like these 7 triggers to help change the perception of your IT group.</p>
<h3>Fascinate or Die?</h3>
<p>Of course, you won&#8217;t die if you don&#8217;t fascinate your organization, but you may be out of a job.</p>
<p>Think about your approach to communicating with the people within your organization?  Are there ways you can use the 7 triggers to create a fascinating message?</p>
<p>Or&#8230;will you continue to enforce IT processes and procedures using IT language and continue to evoke the negative reactions?</p>
<p>Perhaps these 7 triggers aren&#8217;t perfect for you and your IT team&#8230;but some method of changing how you communicate with your organization should be reviewed.</p>
<p>I&#8217;d highly recommend picking up <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Fascinate on Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061714704?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0061714704" target="_blank">Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation</a> and take the message within the book to heart&#8230;you might be surprised to find that you can communicate better with your organization.</p>
<h6 class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</h6>
<ul class="zemanta-article-ul">
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://blog.800ceoread.com/2010/03/01/were-fascinated-with-sally-hogshead/">We&#8217;re Fascinated with Sally Hogshead</a> (800ceoread.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.thestar.com/business/article/774115--how-to-add-fascination-to-advertising-message">How to add fascination to advertising message</a> (thestar.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/2010/04/20/do-you-fascinate/">Do You Fascinate?</a> (ducttapemarketing.com)</li>
</ul>
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<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/cios-need-to-fascinate-to-survive.htm">CIO&#8217;s need to fascinate to survive</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/cios-whats-your-teams-story.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: CIO&#8217;s &#8211; what&#8217;s your team&#8217;s story?'>CIO&#8217;s &#8211; what&#8217;s your team&#8217;s story?</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/i-finally-read-good-to-great.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: I finally read &quot;Good To Great&quot;'>I finally read &quot;Good To Great&quot;</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/cios-consider-this.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: CIO&#8217;s: Consider This&#8230;'>CIO&#8217;s: Consider This&#8230;</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/agility-and-the-new-cio.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Agility and The New CIO'>Agility and The New CIO</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/links-for-jan-31-2010.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Links for Jan 31 2010'>Links for Jan 31 2010</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Ambiguities of Experience &#8211; Book Review</title>
		<link>http://ericbrown.com/ambiguities-of-experience-book-review.htm</link>
		<comments>http://ericbrown.com/ambiguities-of-experience-book-review.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 May 2010 15:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Eric D. Brown</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[agree]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alternative education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ambiguity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Book review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[experience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Intelligence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[james g. march]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Learning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mechanisms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Organization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paths]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[teacher]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wrongs]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ericbrown.com/?p=3119</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While on vacation last month, I saw a review in US Airways&#8216; magazine for The Ambiguities of Experience by James G. March (affiliate link). The review was a short one but peaked my interest as it points out March&#8217;s main question presented in the book.  The question is a simple one&#8230;but has a very difficult [...]<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/ambiguities-of-experience-book-review.htm">Ambiguities of Experience &#8211; Book Review</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-the-element.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: The Element'>Book Review: The Element</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-toy-box-leadership.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Toy Box Leadership'>Book Review: Toy Box Leadership</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-the-three-laws-of-performance.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance'>Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-noble-enterprise.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Noble Enterprise'>Book Review: Noble Enterprise</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801448778?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0801448778"><img style=' float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;'  class="alignright size-full wp-image-3120" title="The Ambiguities of Experience (Messenger Lectures) " src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/51dYAPTd+3L._SL160_.jpg" alt="The Ambiguities of Experience (Messenger Lectures) " width="106" height="160" /></a>While on vacation last month, I saw a review in <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="US Airways" rel="homepage" href="http://www.usairways.com">US Airways</a>&#8216; magazine for <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0801448778?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0801448778" target="_blank">The Ambiguities of Experience by James G. March</a> (affiliate link).</p>
<p>The review was a short one but peaked my interest as it points out <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_G._March" target="_blank">March&#8217;s</a> main question presented in the book.  The question is a simple one&#8230;but has a very difficult answer.</p>
<p>This simple question is:</p>
<blockquote><p>What is, or should be, the role of experience in creating intelligence, particularly in organizations?</p></blockquote>
<p>Simple question right?</p>
<p>Now&#8230;I&#8217;ve always been of the mindset that experience is a good thing.  I&#8217;ve argued before that I&#8217;d normally hire someone with experience over education.  This book makes me rethink that approach in some ways. I&#8217;ll still <a title="Experience vs ability" href="http://ericbrown.com/experience-vs-ability.htm">hire for ability over experience</a> any day though.</p>
<p>The book is a short one &#8211; only 120 pages of content in a 5&#8243; by 8&#8243; book.  While short, there&#8217;s quite a bit of &#8216;stuff&#8217; in it.</p>
<p>As mentioned above, the main focus of this book is to question whether experience really is the best teacher.    In this book, March argues that experience can be a good teacher if that experience is used as a means to build context for stories and models of history.</p>
<p>The problems with &#8216;experience as teacher&#8217; is that these experiences can be easily warped, misconstrued and interpreted in many ways.</p>
<p>March does agree that <strong>experience can be a good teacher, but isn&#8217;t always the best teache</strong>r.  Using experiences alone as a learning mechanism can lead a person / organization down the wrong path.</p>
<p>One of the things that I really enjoyed about this book was that there were no answers put forth by the author.  March realizes that the issue of experience as teacher is a difficult one and there is no &#8216;right&#8217; answer on how to approach using experiences as learning method.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: normal;">One caveat  before you run over to Amazon or your local bookseller, know that this book is a bit difficult to read.  It is written much like an academic paper and, as such, as a lot of academic language in it.    Not a bad thing&#8230;but it isn&#8217;t necessarily a book that you&#8217;ll breeze though.  You&#8217;ll have to work at reading this book.</span></p>
<p>That said, I like this book and have added it to my bookshelf to bring down and read again in the future.</p>
<div class="zemanta-pixie"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=5ba869b1-a430-490c-9902-e1f9b1396d34" alt="" /></div>
<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/ambiguities-of-experience-book-review.htm">Ambiguities of Experience &#8211; Book Review</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-the-element.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: The Element'>Book Review: The Element</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-toy-box-leadership.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Toy Box Leadership'>Book Review: Toy Box Leadership</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-the-three-laws-of-performance.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance'>Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-noble-enterprise.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Noble Enterprise'>Book Review: Noble Enterprise</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Delivering Happiness &#8211; Book Review</title>
		<link>http://ericbrown.com/delivering-happiness-book-review.htm</link>
		<comments>http://ericbrown.com/delivering-happiness-book-review.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 May 2010 14:00:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Eric D. Brown</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Tony Hsieh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zappos]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ericbrown.com/?p=3105</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I picked up Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh through the Amazon Vine program (love that program&#8230;free stuff to review!). I&#8217;m a big fan of Zappos and the things that the company has been able to do. I love the idea of a culture driven company and Zappos has [...]<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/delivering-happiness-book-review.htm">Delivering Happiness &#8211; Book Review</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-noble-enterprise.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Noble Enterprise'>Book Review: Noble Enterprise</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/open-leadership-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Open Leadership &#8211; Book review'>Open Leadership &#8211; Book review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-succession-are-you-ready.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Succession, Are You Ready?'>Book Review: Succession, Are You Ready?</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/lead-well-prosper.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Lead Well &amp; Prosper &#8211; book review'>Lead Well &amp; Prosper &#8211; book review</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446563048?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0446563048"><img style=' float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;'  class="alignright size-full wp-image-3107" title="A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/A-Path-to-Profits-Passion-and-Purpose1.jpeg" alt="A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose" width="164" height="240" /></a>I picked up <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Delivering Happiness at Amazon" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446563048?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0446563048" target="_blank">Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose</a> by <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="Tony Hsieh" rel="crunchbase" href="http://www.crunchbase.com/person/tony-hsieh">Tony Hsieh</a> through the <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Amazon Vine" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/vine/help" target="_blank">Amazon Vine</a> program (love that program&#8230;free stuff to review!).</p>
<p>I&#8217;m a big fan of <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="Zappos" rel="homepage" href="http://www.zappos.com">Zappos</a> and the things that the company has been able to do. I love the idea of a culture driven company and Zappos has been the poster child for this idea for quite some time.</p>
<p>When I saw this book, I knew I had to read it.</p>
<h3>Quick Review</h3>
<p>The first section of the book covers a great deal of time (birth to Tony&#8217;s start as Zappos&#8217; CEO).</p>
<p>Tony provides provides a pretty interesting, and at times funny, walk-through of his childhood, high school and college.  While describing his life, its easy to see the entrepreneurial spirit alive and kicking throughout Tony&#8217;s life.</p>
<p>One of the really interesting parts of this section is the description of the building of Tony&#8217;s first company <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="LinkExchange" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LinkExchange">LinkExchange</a> (LE) and the subsequent selling of that company to <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="Microsoft" rel="homepage" href="http://www.microsoft.com">Microsoft</a>.  The building and sale of LinkExchange isn&#8217;t chronicled in detail but an interesting summary is provided the gives the reader a good feel for what happened.</p>
<p>In addition, Tony describes the years after the LE sale and his search for something to do.  In this part of the book, Tony details the lessons he learned playing poker&#8230;and tries to equate them to strategies for business&#8230;and he does a pretty decent job of it too.</p>
<p>About half-way through the book (starting with Section II) Tony gets into the details of how Zappos became the company it is today.  The trials &amp; tribulations of an internet company trying to survive the bursting of the dot.com bubble, the economic troubles of the early 2000&#8242;s and other issues (9/11, etc).</p>
<p>This part of the book is pretty interesting as Tony gives the reader some insight into how Zappos was kept afloat during the initial few years.  Basically, if it weren&#8217;t for Tony putting his own money into the company (and almost going broke doing so) Zappos might not have survived.</p>
<p>While describing how Zappos was built into a thriving business, Tony also provides some insight into his approach to building the Zappos culture that we&#8217;ve all become aware of.  There are some great tidbits of knowledge in this section of the book.</p>
<p>While I found the first two sections of the book (described above) interesting, the final section of the  book is where the real lessons can be learned about building a culture that fits an organization.</p>
<p>In the final section of the book, Tony describes the concept of Delivering Happiness.  This section is very interesting and worth reading a few times (which I&#8217;m doing).</p>
<h3><strong>This book is a winner.</strong></h3>
<p>I like this book for a few reasons.  First, its just an interesting read.  Being able to hear about Tony&#8217;s life from Tony is interesting to me.  Second&#8230;.it provides some excellent insight into what its really like running a startup and the ups/downs that comes with the territory.</p>
<p>Will you like it?  I think so&#8230;but here&#8217;s some advice for those of you who are on the fence about the book:</p>
<ul>
<li>If you have any interest in building a business, read this book.</li>
<li>If you have any interest in a building a culture that &#8216;fits&#8217; your organization, read this book.</li>
<li>If you like reading about success stories in business, read this book.</li>
<li>If you are a grammar nerd and hate it when people don&#8217;t write in perfect grammatical english, you may not like this book.  But heck&#8230;if you&#8217;re reading my blog, you probably aren&#8217;t a grammar nerd <img src='http://ericbrown.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </li>
</ul>
<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Delivering Happiness at Amazon" href="ttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446563048?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0446563048" target="_blank">Buy this book when it comes out</a>&#8230;great read and some excellent insights.</p>
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<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/01/delivering-happiness-a-movement/">Delivering Happiness: A Movement</a> (techcrunch.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://threeminds.organic.com/2010/05/zappos_extends_its_culture_int.html">Zappos Extends Its Culture Into Product Videos, Sees Results</a> (threeminds.organic.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://vator.tv/news/show/2010-04-20-lessons-on-building-zappos-to-an-exit">Lessons on building Zappos to an exit</a> (vator.tv)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2010/04/weekend-reading-delivering-happiness.php">Weekend Reading: Delivering Happiness, by Tony Hsieh (Preview)</a> (readwriteweb.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://mashable.com/2010/04/12/zappos-interview/">Zappos CEO on How To Deliver Happiness with Social Media [INTERVIEW]</a> (mashable.com)</li>
</ul>
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<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/delivering-happiness-book-review.htm">Delivering Happiness &#8211; Book Review</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-noble-enterprise.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Noble Enterprise'>Book Review: Noble Enterprise</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/open-leadership-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Open Leadership &#8211; Book review'>Open Leadership &#8211; Book review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-succession-are-you-ready.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Succession, Are You Ready?'>Book Review: Succession, Are You Ready?</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/lead-well-prosper.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Lead Well &amp; Prosper &#8211; book review'>Lead Well &amp; Prosper &#8211; book review</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>SWAT &#8211; Seize the Accomplishment Review</title>
		<link>http://ericbrown.com/swat-seize-the-accomplishment-review.htm</link>
		<comments>http://ericbrown.com/swat-seize-the-accomplishment-review.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:00:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Eric D. Brown</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thinking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business fable]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Fifth Discipline]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peter Senge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[systems thinking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Timothy Johnson]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ericbrown.com/?p=3050</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I just put down SWAT &#8211; Seize the Accomplishment (Amazon affiliate link) by Timothy L. Johnson&#8230;.and now want to pick it back up and read it again.  It&#8217;s that good. I received the book as a review copy from the author&#8230;but don&#8217;t let that get in the way of believing me when i say that [...]<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/swat-seize-the-accomplishment-review.htm">SWAT &#8211; Seize the Accomplishment Review</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-change-by-design-by-tim-brown.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Change by Design by Tim Brown'>Book Review: Change by Design by Tim Brown</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-noble-enterprise.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Noble Enterprise'>Book Review: Noble Enterprise</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-the-three-laws-of-performance.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance'>Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-the-fifth-discipline.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Fifth Discipline'>The Fifth Discipline</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934417025?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1934417025"><img style=' float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;'  class="alignright size-full wp-image-3051" title="SWAT Seize the Accomplishment Review" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/4163uPlXKRL._SL160_.jpg" alt="SWAT Seize the Accomplishment Review" width="100" height="160" /></a>I just put down <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="SWAT - Seize the Accomplishment @ Amazon - Affiliate Link" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934417025?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1934417025" target="_blank">SWAT &#8211; Seize the Accomplishment</a> (Amazon affiliate link) by <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://carpefactum.typepad.com/" target="_blank">Timothy L. Johnson</a>&#8230;.and now want to pick it back up and read it again. <strong> It&#8217;s that good.</strong></p>
<p>I received the book as a review copy from the author&#8230;but don&#8217;t let that get in the way of believing me when i say that this <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="Business fable" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_fable">business fable</a> is an excellent one.</p>
<p>SWAT is an acronym for &#8220;Systems Working All Together&#8221;&#8230;but it also helps set the stage for the story in the book.</p>
<p>The storyline of this book is a good one and keeps the concepts moving forward quickly. In the story, a team lead has a difficult task to work through and turns to his best friend and cousin&#8230;who happens to be a SWAT commander.</p>
<p>The main character, Toby, spends time with his SWAT commander cousin and learns the <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="Systems thinking" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking">systems thinking</a> concepts that make SWAT teams successful.</p>
<p>The concepts are described perfectly and in a manner that makes it easy to comprehend and easy to understand how you might apply them to the problems your currently facing.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve read quite a few systems thinking books but nothing as entertaining as this.   While this isn&#8217;t nearly as comprehensive as <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="The Fifth Discipline: The Art &amp; Practice of The Learning Organization" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385517254?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0385517254" target="_blank">Peter Senge&#8217;s The Fifth Discipline: The Art &amp; Practice of The Learning Organization</a>, <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="Timothy Johnson" rel="homepage" href="http://carpefactum.typepad.com">Timothy Johnson</a>&#8216;s put together a great little book that can help to introduce the systems thinking concepts quickly and easily.</p>
<p>Grab this book from your favorite bookseller today..<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="SWAT - Seize the Accomplishment @ Amazon - Affiliate Link" href="&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934417025?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1934417025" target="_blank">Amazon has it for $14.95</a>.</p>
<h6 class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</h6>
<ul class="zemanta-article-ul">
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.regnordman.com/2010/02/16/swat-systems-working-all-together-timothy-l-johnson/">SWAT. Systems working all together. Timothy L. Johnson.</a> (regnordman.com)</li>
</ul>
<div class="zemanta-pixie"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=1f3a9150-47a0-4dc9-9c5c-00940e87c417" alt="" /></div>
<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/swat-seize-the-accomplishment-review.htm">SWAT &#8211; Seize the Accomplishment Review</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-change-by-design-by-tim-brown.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Change by Design by Tim Brown'>Book Review: Change by Design by Tim Brown</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-noble-enterprise.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Noble Enterprise'>Book Review: Noble Enterprise</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-the-three-laws-of-performance.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance'>Book Review: The Three Laws of Performance</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-the-fifth-discipline.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Fifth Discipline'>The Fifth Discipline</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
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		<title>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</title>
		<link>http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm</link>
		<comments>http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:00:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Eric D. Brown</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Book review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Strategy]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ericbrown.com/?p=3037</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A few weeks ago I received Leadership Test: Will You Pass? (amazon affiliate link) by Timothy R. Clark, Ph.D. to review The book is a small one (~99 pages in total) but packed with some interesting content.   Clark uses a business fable to describe leadership and what makes up a good leader. I&#8217;m a HUGE [...]<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm">The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-toy-box-leadership.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Toy Box Leadership'>Book Review: Toy Box Leadership</a></li>
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<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-noble-enterprise.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Noble Enterprise'>Book Review: Noble Enterprise</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/057804210X?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=057804210X"><img style=' float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;'  class="alignright size-full wp-image-3040" title="Leadership Test Book Review" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/leadership-test.jpg" alt="Leadership Test Book Review" width="154" height="240" /></a>A few weeks ago I received <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Leadership Test: Will You Pass - Book Review" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/057804210X?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=057804210X" target="_blank">Leadership Test: Will You Pass?</a> (amazon affiliate link) by Timothy R. Clark, Ph.D. to review</p>
<p>The book is a small one (~99 pages in total) but packed with some interesting content.   Clark uses a business fable to describe leadership and what makes up a good leader.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m a HUGE fan of stories and storytelling as a means to convey knowledge and I love these types of books.   Obviously other folks enjoy these types of books as well (think Patrick Lencioni and his wonderful books).</p>
<p>The story in this book is an excellent one. It&#8217;s well written and the plot-line is pretty good and keeps you turning the pages. While the story is good, the lessons contained with the book are even better.  After reading the book, I didn&#8217;t feel as though I&#8217;d read a business book about leadership&#8230;I felt like I read an interesting story about someone learning to lead.</p>
<p>I&#8217;d recommend this book to everyone with any interest in leadership&#8230;.and I&#8217;m not just saying that because I was sent this as a review from the author.  It&#8217;s a great little book.</p>
<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm">The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-toy-box-leadership.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Toy Box Leadership'>Book Review: Toy Box Leadership</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/open-leadership-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Open Leadership &#8211; Book review'>Open Leadership &#8211; Book review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-succession-are-you-ready.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Succession, Are You Ready?'>Book Review: Succession, Are You Ready?</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/lead-well-prosper.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Lead Well &amp; Prosper &#8211; book review'>Lead Well &amp; Prosper &#8211; book review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-noble-enterprise.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Noble Enterprise'>Book Review: Noble Enterprise</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>What&#8217;s your passion? Find out and Crush It</title>
		<link>http://ericbrown.com/whats-your-passion-find-out-and-crush-it.htm</link>
		<comments>http://ericbrown.com/whats-your-passion-find-out-and-crush-it.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:30:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Eric D. Brown</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Book review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social media]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[I asked &#8220;What&#8217;s your focus?&#8221; last week and now I wanted to ask another question: What&#8217;s your passion? I picked up Gary Vayernerchuk&#8217;s book Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion over the weekend and, while the book isn&#8217;t a great piece of literature, it does provide a good [...]<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/whats-your-passion-find-out-and-crush-it.htm">What&#8217;s your passion? Find out and Crush It</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/musings-on-passion-life-organizations.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Musings on Passion, Life &amp; Organizations'>Musings on Passion, Life &amp; Organizations</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/whats-your-focus.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: What&#8217;s your focus?'>What&#8217;s your focus?</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-groundswell.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Groundswell'>Groundswell</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-crowdsourcing.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Crowdsourcing'>Crowdsourcing</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061914177?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0061914177"><img style=' float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;'  class="alignright size-full wp-image-2982" title="Gary Vaynerchuk's Crush it" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/41bXYE4jhPL._SL160_.jpg" alt="Gary Vaynerchuk's Crush it" width="106" height="160" /></a>I asked &#8220;What&#8217;s your focus?&#8221; last week and now I wanted to ask another question: What&#8217;s your passion?</p>
<p>I picked up Gary Vayernerchuk&#8217;s book <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061914177?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0061914177">Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion</a><img class=" fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu fhntrfpjfbdrgavkvjbu" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=edbholdings-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0061914177" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> over the weekend and, while the book isn&#8217;t a great piece of literature, it does provide a good kick in the pants.</p>
<p>This book is a good one for anyone trying to figure out how to make something more of their lives.   Reading this book won&#8217;t make you rich overnight.  It won&#8217;t turn you into a social media &#8216;god&#8217;.  It won&#8217;t do a lot of things.</p>
<p>What does it do? This book doesn&#8217;t provide a recipe for success but it does provide a roadmap for those people who know they want to go somewhere but aren&#8217;t quite sure how to get there.</p>
<p>If you want to do something different with your life but don&#8217;t really know how to get started, take a look at this book.  You&#8217;ll get a swift kick in the pants.  Read this book and think about the question I asked &#8220;What&#8217;s your passion?&#8221;   Find the answer to that question and then use the tools and methods described in this book and you might just be able to change your life.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;d like to see some other reviews of this book, take a look at the following reviews:</p>
<ul class="zemanta-article-ul">
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.beingpeterkim.com/2009/10/a-conversation-with-gary-vaynerchuk.html">A conversation with Gary Vaynerchuk</a> (beingpeterkim.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://wineconversation.com/marketing/crush-it-a-book-review/">Crush It! A book review</a> (wineconversation.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.kevineikenberry.com/blogs/2009/10/crush-it-why-now-is-time-to-cash-in-on.asp">Crush It! Why Now is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion by Gary Vaynerchuk</a> (kevineikenberry.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://blog.800ceoread.com/2009/10/12/crush-it/">Crush It!</a> (800ceoread.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.chrisbrogan.com/crush-it-a-video-book-review/">Crush It &#8211; A Video Book Review</a> (chrisbrogan.com)</li>
<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/authors/crush_it_by_gary_vaynerchuk_a_review_143225.asp?c=rss">CRUSH IT! by Gary Vaynerchuk &#8212; A Review</a> (mediabistro.com)</li>
</ul>
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<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/whats-your-passion-find-out-and-crush-it.htm">What&#8217;s your passion? Find out and Crush It</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
<p>Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/musings-on-passion-life-organizations.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Musings on Passion, Life &amp; Organizations'>Musings on Passion, Life &amp; Organizations</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-leadership-test-a-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review'>The Leadership Test &#8211; A Book Review</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/whats-your-focus.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: What&#8217;s your focus?'>What&#8217;s your focus?</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-groundswell.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Groundswell'>Groundswell</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-crowdsourcing.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Crowdsourcing'>Crowdsourcing</a></li>
</ol></p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
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		<title>Book Review: Andrew McAfee&#8217;s Enterprise 2.0</title>
		<link>http://ericbrown.com/book-review-andrew-mcafees-enterprise-2-0.htm</link>
		<comments>http://ericbrown.com/book-review-andrew-mcafees-enterprise-2-0.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Eric D. Brown</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Information Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Knowledge Management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[enterprise 2.0]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Just finished reading Enterprise 2.0: New Collaborative Tools for Your Organization&#8217;s Toughest Challenges My review in two words: Excellent book! Whether you are an expert in the Enterprise 2.0 world or just a beginner, this book has something for you. Whether you believe in Enterprise 2.0 or not, this book has some excellent concepts that [...]<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/book-review-andrew-mcafees-enterprise-2-0.htm">Book Review: Andrew McAfee&#8217;s Enterprise 2.0</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
Related posts:<ol><li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/book-review-trust-agents.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Book Review: Trust Agents'>Book Review: Trust Agents</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/the-new-cio-social-media-the-enterprise.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: The New CIO: Social Media and the Enterprise'>The New CIO: Social Media and the Enterprise</a></li>
<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/web-20-in-the-enterprise.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Web 2.0 in the Enterprise'>Web 2.0 in the Enterprise</a></li>
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<li><a href='http://ericbrown.com/open-leadership-book-review.htm' rel='bookmark' title='Permanent Link: Open Leadership &#8211; Book review'>Open Leadership &#8211; Book review</a></li>
</ol>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1422125874?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1422125874" target="_blank"><img style=' float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;'  class="alignright size-full wp-image-2960" title="Andrew McAfee's Enterprise 2.0" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/51j8gUn2YoL._SL160_.jpg" alt="Andrew McAfee's Enterprise 2.0" width="113" height="160" /></a>Just finished reading <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1422125874?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1422125874">Enterprise 2.0: New Collaborative Tools for Your Organization&#8217;s Toughest Challenges</a></p>
<p>My review in two words: Excellent book!</p>
<p>Whether you are an expert in the Enterprise 2.0 world or just a beginner, this book has something for you. Whether you believe in Enterprise 2.0 or not, this book has some excellent concepts that can be used to help bring social tools into the enterprise.</p>
<p>The book is split into two parts with the Part 1 covering the tools of Enterprise 2.0 and Part 2 discussing how to successfully utilize social tools within the enterprise.</p>
<p>Part 1 provides a very good overview of the tools and techniques of Enterprise 2.0 as well as some real-world case studies of companies that have implemented <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="Web 2.0" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0">Web 2.0</a> platforms.  These companies are extremely diverse running the gamut from government agencies to start-ups and the information provided by McAfee shows real-world usage of Web 2.0 within enterprises.</p>
<p>Part 2 is where the really good stuff happens.  This is where McAfee shines.  This is the stuff that every CEO, COO, CIO and CMO should read and digest.   This is the place where you get to see some strategies for using social tools within the enterprise.    When you read this book make, sure you pay attention to the Six Organizational Strategies starting on page 179.  Good stuff.</p>
<p>Will this book give you the recipe for successful use of Enterprise 2.0?  No.  Will this book make your Enterprise 2.0 project(s) successful?  Maybe. Maybe not. What this book will do is give you some ideas on how to introduce Enterprise 2.0 into your organization and give you some tips on make it successful.</p>
<p>So&#8230;let&#8217;s take a step away from the book for a minute and look at the topic itself.  Enterprise 2.0.  Great name but one that has been much maligned.  The topic has caused a lot of debate since being introduced.  For some examples, go read <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="Dennis Howlett" rel="homepage" href="http://www.accmanpro.com/">Dennis Howlett</a>&#8216;s article titled &#8220;<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://blogs.zdnet.com/Howlett/?p=1463" target="_blank">Enterprise 2.0 &#8211; the non-debate</a>&#8221; and then read Mark Fidelman&#8217;s response on <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="CloudAve" rel="homepage" href="http://www.cloudave.com/">CloudAve</a> titled &#8220;<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.cloudave.com/link/enterprise-2-0-caffeine-debunk-the-non-debate" target="_blank">Enterprise 2.0 Caffeine: Let&#8217;s debunk the non-debate</a>&#8221; to get some flavor of the various debate&#8217;s happening out there on the topic. I&#8217;d love to hear your thoughts on the topic of Enterprise 2.0 in the comments.</p>
<p>With all of this debate, or non-debates as some would say,  let&#8217;s look at McAfee&#8217;s definition of Enterprise 2.0:</p>
<blockquote><p>Enterprise 2.0 is the use of emergent <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="zem_slink" title="Social software" rel="wikipedia" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_software">social software</a> platforms by organizations in pursuit of their goals.</p></blockquote>
<p>McAfee continues with his definition when he writes:</p>
<blockquote><p>Enterprise 2.0, then, is about how organizations use the newly available ESSP&#8217;s [emergent social software platforms] to do their work better</p></blockquote>
<p>With those definitions in mind, let&#8217;s revisit one of the main arguments against Enterprise 2.0 &#8211;&gt; The value of Social Media / Enterprise 2.0 cannot be determined.  In fact, there are many (Howlett included) that say social media tools are worthless to the organization.</p>
<p>My response to this argument is a simple one:</p>
<p><strong>How valuable is the knowledge of an employee?  How valuable is the knowledge of 10, 100 or 1000 employees? </strong><strong>Can you place value on that knowledge?  Maybe.  Maybe not. </strong><strong>That doesn&#8217;t mean that trying to harness that knowledge is worthless.  So why would using tools to harness that knowledge be worthless?</strong></p>
<p>I can understand some of the arguments of folks out there against Enterprise 2.0.  There are a lot of buzzwords floating about and a lot of hype around the subject, but if you take the lessons from this book to heart, you&#8217;ll do more than buy into the hype&#8230;you&#8217;ll give your organization an opportunity to succeed by really harnessing the expertise, experiences and value of your organizational knowledge.</p>
<h6 class="zemanta-related-title">Related articles by Zemanta</h6>
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<li class="zemanta-article-ul-li"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://siliconangle.net/ver2/2009/11/19/mckinsey%25e2%2580%2599s-michael-chui-%25e2%2580%259callow-your-employees-to-expose-their-thoughts-%25e2%2580%259d/">McKinsey&#8217;s Michael Chui: &#8220;Allow your employees to expose their thoughts.&#8221;</a> (siliconangle.net)</li>
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<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/book-review-andrew-mcafees-enterprise-2-0.htm">Book Review: Andrew McAfee&#8217;s Enterprise 2.0</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
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		<title>Book Review: Change by Design by Tim Brown</title>
		<link>http://ericbrown.com/book-review-change-by-design-by-tim-brown.htm</link>
		<comments>http://ericbrown.com/book-review-change-by-design-by-tim-brown.htm#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Eric D. Brown</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thinking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design thinking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IDEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science in Society]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tim Brown]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ericbrown.com/?p=2921</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I was lucky enough to get a pre-release copy of Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation by IDEO CEO Tim Brown through the Amazon Vine program&#8230;.and I&#8217;m glad I did. If you take a look at some of the Pre-release copy reviews of this book on Amazon you&#8217;ll see a [...]<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/book-review-change-by-design-by-tim-brown.htm">Book Review: Change by Design by Tim Brown</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061766089?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0061766089"><img style=' float: right; padding: 4px; margin: 0 0 2px 7px;'  class="alignright size-full wp-image-2922" title="Change by Design by Tim Brown" src="http://ericbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/41Myx33XCkL._SL500_AA240_1.jpg" alt="Change by Design by Tim Brown" width="192" height="192" /></a>I was lucky enough to get a pre-release copy of <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061766089?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0061766089">Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation</a><img class=" gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz gokqtxekamrnfholmfxz stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=edbholdings-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=0061766089" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> by IDEO CEO Tim Brown through the Amazon Vine program&#8230;.and I&#8217;m glad I did.</p>
<p>If you take a look at some of the <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&amp;location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2F0061766089%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Ddp%255Ftop%255Fcm%255Fcr%255Facr%255Ftxt%26showViewpoints%3D1&amp;tag=edbholdings-20&amp;linkCode=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957">Pre-release copy reviews</a><img class=" stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu stglbfhwamqfmlhnbjeu" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" src="https://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=edbholdings-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" /> of this book on Amazon you&#8217;ll see a few folks bashing the book because it doesn&#8217;t tell the reader much Design or Design Thinking and spends much of its time promoting IDEO.</p>
<p><em><strong>I disagree wholeheartedly with those comments.</strong></em></p>
<p>While this book does promote IDEO&#8217;s rich history and successes, the book does a great deal to introduce the concept of Design Thinking to the reader. If you&#8217;re a long-time practitioner of design thinking, this book may not be for you&#8230;if you aren&#8217;t, this book is perfect.</p>
<p><strong>What is Design Thinking?</strong></p>
<p>Comparing Design to Design Thinking, Brown provides the following definition:</p>
<blockquote><p>The evolution from Design to Design Thinking is the story of eveolution from the creation of products to the analysis of the relationship between people and products, and from there to the relationship between people and people.</p></blockquote>
<p>Great stuff.  I love Design Thinking&#8230;I think I&#8217;ve been a design thinker my whole life.</p>
<p>Another passage that helps to describe/define Design Thinking is:</p>
<blockquote><p>The mission of design thinking is to translate observations into insights and insights into products and services that will improve lives.</p></blockquote>
<p>Design thinking is the interplay of people and product/process.   When you use a design thinking approach you take the entire environment into consideration when designing a process or product.  Rather than take a look at a few possibilities for a design of a bike (in the case of the Shimano bike story in the book) and build a bike, the design thinker looks at the broader picture and environment to few new choices and possibilities.</p>
<p>If you have an interest in Design Thinking or just want to know more about the topic, get this book now.  If you&#8217;re an academic who wants to see case studies of design thinking in action that show success and failure, perhaps this isn&#8217;t the book for you.</p>
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<p><a href="http://ericbrown.com/book-review-change-by-design-by-tim-brown.htm">Book Review: Change by Design by Tim Brown</a> is a post from: <a href="http://ericbrown.com">Eric D. Brown.</a><br />
<strong>About Eric</strong>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ericbrown.com"></a>Eric D. Brown is a Dallas based  <a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Technology Consultant</a>, and Entrepreneur focused on helping businesses and non-profits merge business, marketing and technology. He writes extensively about <a href="http://ericbrown.com">technology, strategy, people and projects at ericbrown.com</a>.  Eric is also an amateur Photographer and shares his photography work at <a href="http://photographyminute.com">Photography Minute</a> and on his <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericbrown">flickr photostream</a>.<br />
<a href="http://ericbrown.com/about-eric">Read more about Eric...</a></p>
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