I didn't realize

that The Culture Code:  the secrets of highly successful groups was a business book, a how-to, leadership kind of book.  I enjoy those books and don't read them as much as I should, probably, but I don't know if I would have read this one had I know what it was.  I thought it was more of a study of culture and group behavior, with a pop-sociology pop-cultural anthropology bent, rather than a business POV.  And it definitely is more than a business/leadership book, so it did satisfy what I was looking for from that end, and more than satisfy, I really, really enjoyed this book.  It made me once again take tine to reflect upon how lucky I have been to work where I have worked.  I have been the "leaders" in two jobs and I have been THE LUCKIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD because the people I "lead" have been UNREAL, INCREDIBLE people.  It was so hard to leave my first leadership role job, and I even got the names of the ladies with whom I worked tattooed on my arm!   I have never regretted that.  They are always in my heart and now always on my body!
I put "lead" in quotes because while I take full responsibility, and know that the buck stops with me, I feel like I learn something from them every day. 
I have just been so so so so lucky.  And so when I read this book about succesful groups it was really cool because it was like Daniel Coyle could have done a chapter on the Youth Services Department of the Bethel Park Library and the Youth Services Department of the Shaler North Hills Library because they have created groups where we all feel the three key things that Coyle believes a successful team will feel:  we are connected, we are safe, we share a future.
I really want to read The Talent Code:  greatness is not born, it's grown, next.   Great stories about work life at Pixar and Zappos.  I don't know much about the NBA but learning about Gregg Popvich was truly inspiring to me. 

Not the guy from Rush

J. Paul Getty is not, as far as I know, related to Geddy Lee from Rush.  Still, Painfully Rich:  the Outrageous Fortune and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty was good!  I have to admit that I thought Geddy was spelled Getty, so that could be why I was confused.  The book is now called All the Money in the World, which is the name of the movie that just came out.  I saw it on Christmas Day with my mom.  I had listened to most of the book prior to seeing the movie so it was a different experience for me.  I enjoyed the movie a lot, but I did fall asleep.  I was tired!  I think reading the book before the movie is a good idea though, because you get a bigger picture.  Also, the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III is just a chapter in the book.  But it does have a lot of detail. It was sad to read about this family.  It was hard to envy them, even though they are super rich.  But it was hard to feel sorry for them, too.  But it was not like I was passing judgement, really.  It was just more or less, well, some people do have horrible lives here on earth.  They do.  But I think that money can make the horrible a little less horrible sometimes.  But it doesn't make it not horrible.  It can be horrible either way. 

Too Old for Beanie Babies

I know they were a big craze, but the Beanie Baby fad was after my time as a stuffed animal collector.  But I do remember how popular they were.  The Great Beanie Baby Bubble:  Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute, has a great title.  Ty Warner sounds like an interesting and complicated man.  And after reading the book, even though he did a lot of damage to people.  It's the whole thing "money can't buy happiness"  but who can deny it makes life easier, right?

To Both of My Fans

If you have been struggling through these posts for any time now, you will notice that when I love a book, I LOVE it.  And it is the.best.book.that.was.ever.read!
I felt that way about Multipliers:  How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter right from the start and so I tried to control myself.
Take a breath.
Try to read with a critical mind.
But that just isn't me.
This book really helped me to realize a lot of the mistakes that I make in managing.
For which I am very, very sorry.
And so I am trying very hard to be a "multiplier" and not a diminisher."
For one thing, I am very, very, very blessed.  I work with intelligent, creative, hard-working people. People who are far more intelligent, creative and hard-working than I am.  And so I have a great, great responsibility to be worthy of that role.
I have started to put some of the principles in Multipliers into action and so far, so good!
Did I mention that the folks with whom I work are also very forgiving?
And for that, I am super thankful!

Freaky Thoughts

This was a truly enjoyable book.  Think Like a Freak:  the authors of Freakonomics offer to retrain your brain is filled with a lot of great little stories, as usual.  Of course, there was my whole hesitancy over the Lemonjello thing, but I look on the Freakonomics Blog and while I didn't find the place where my question was addressed directly, if it was, I did see the Dubner and Levitt are still looking for Lemonjello and his brother.  So that made me very happy.  This morning I sent an email off to the address listed for the authors on their blog, so maybe I will get an answer.  I hope so.
Regardless, this is a must-read.  It really is.

Pucker Up!

One of my most favorite shows is Modern Family.  Although I couldn't stand the show Married, with Children and especially the character that Ed O'Neill played on it, Ed O'Neill is one of my favorite characters on MF.  Last night I was watching the episode which saw him and his granddaughter, Lilly, selling lemonade and advertising it as "Pucker Up" and so that's how this whole stream of consciousness thing got started.  Anyway...
The Lemonade War is a book a that I have been wanting to read for some time.  It's a series and I hope to read the rest, because this was a sweet little story and good for guys and girls.
It's a brother and sister story.  Evan and Jessie have gotten along pretty well.  Evan is older, just by a year.  He isn't as book-smart as his sister, because Jessie seems to be a gifted kid and she is actually skipping a grade.  As we meet them in this first book, they have just found out that Jessie and Evan will be in the same class next year.  That makes Evan super sad.  And super cranky.  Jessie can't really understand why Evan is being so distant and mean.  The two begin to compete to see who can sell the most lemonade before school starts.  There's math in here and good info about starting a business.  It isn't preachy though and it all comes across very naturally as part of the story that I think kids in grades 2-4 would really like.  Good stuff!

I Love Jim Collins

When I first read Good to Great, man I just fell in love with Jim Collins.  The book really helped me a lot in a lot of ways.  I found Great By Choice and loved it, too.
This book, just like GTG has tons of great stories and very practical information  regarding how to lead a team.  Everyone should read this book and they will like it because it is written so well and in a very interesting way, not like nonfiction at all!
First I think it is a good idea to read GTG.  Then this book, which talks about what makes some companies succeed in our changing and chaotic world.
Some people make fun of Jim Collins and say his books are too simple or that they look back too much or whatever.  I think that this is just ridiculous.  I mean, if you just TRY some of the stuff in Collins' books, you will see that they work.  Plus, Collins isn't pretended to be come magic man.  People who just want "the answer" are probably looking for a quick save or an easy way out.  They aren't going to make it.  Collins' books are painstakingly researched and very readable.
In this book he has 10X companies- companies that showed more than 10 times a greater return in the stock market for thirty years and analyses what they did differently from comparison companies.  If you want to complain about his research or his books, write your own.  And send me a copy.

Hard Habit to Break

The Power of Habit has a lot of great stories in it. It reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell's books in that regard. But it's also a self-help book. I don't read many self-help books, as you can see, since I have this whole blog thing. I'm just not much of a self-help reader. Plus I like to read books that I can recommend to others and I don't think feel drawn to recommended self-help books to folks unless they ask.  And when they have asked, which has been rare, I usually recommend The Power of Positive Thinking. An oldie but goodie. And also Positive Imaging. When I was young these books had a huge impact on my life. I remember reading them when I was in sixth grade. I was having a tough times because I was so overweight and was called on it by my classmates. My grandma had these books lying around (Imaging had just come out) and I just picked them up. It really helped a lot. I have reread them over the years and found them just as helpful.
The Power of Habit gives lots of helpful ways to break bad habits like over-eating, smoking, etc. I can't say I was moved to try them but maybe I will. The stories in the book, however are fascinating.
When I rated it on goodreads, I was between 3 and 4 stars but I went with the 4 because I think we always need to give folks the benefit of the doubt. Plus, the author is very cute.  Yeah, I am shallow. 
This is a book that we were required to read for work and again, it reaffirmed my newly discovered belief that just because it is required, it doesn't mean it will be horrible. 
Some of the stories are about how businesses manipulate us, which we all know is true.  Like how Target uses their customer cards to track what you buy.  I mean we all know it, so it wasn't a shock, but it was still pretty amazing to see how much businesses know about all of us.  All those folks who use the Giant Eagle gas cards...man, Giant Eagle can probably write a book about everyone who has a card!  I won't link to Giant Eagle.  Not a fan. 
Anyway, good book, lots of good stories!

Waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Useless

Okay. That was harsh. Why We Buy isn't useless. In fact, I tried one of the suggestions this week and it really worked! Sadly though I was totally stupid and read the 1999 edition of Why. Why libraries still have this edition is really something of a mystery. So much of it is so outdated. But like I said, it still was helpful in some way. There is an updated edition and I wish I would have read that one instead, so truly a lot of the blame rests on me.
When I read the main title, Why We Buy, I thought the book was going to deal with the psychology behind why we buy...again, my fault, even the subtitle says its the Science of Shopping, and that's what it is. Underhill makes his living helping companies design their stores and now online stores in such a way that more people will buy more stuff. It really is a kind of how-to manual for people setting up their retail space.
I found it helpful in that it really made me rethink the way we do signage at work and so I made some changes this week that really did get a positive response.
So again, my title for his post is way too harsh. I guess if I get at least one productive thing out a book, I can't complain, right?

It's Not About Incontinence

A Sense of Urgency sounds like it is PR for Toviaz but it isn't. I think that a Toviaz tome would actually be more interesting.
The premise of Sense is a good one. In fact, when I read the first thirty pages I thought WOW! This is so great! This guy is awesome like Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and How the Mighty Fall!
Then I read the second thirty pages and found that they were exactly the same as the first thirty page. Then I moved on to the third thirty pages and found that they, too, were pretty much the same as the first thirty pages. And so on, and so on, so that I am still struggling to finish this book.
Like I said, the premise is great. Organizational leaders need to create a real sense of urgency among their members in the face of the rapid change all around us. Change or die, right? Everyone in the organization needs to realize this. They need to want to move, and win, now! I totally agree. I want to foster a real sense of urgency in my work and personal life. But Kotter doesn't really say HOW and when he does say how, he does so with really vague examples like, "a man in the IT department of a company..." and "a young woman said". I have no idea why he doesn't talk about actual facts or show data. There isn't even an appendix in the book!
The book of Jim Collins, on the other hand, are full of data- full of proof. Collins does research first, then comes up with theory. This guy has this theory and then offers a bunch of vague anecdotes as proof. But none of his anecdotes are very exciting. It is weird because Kotter's website lists a TON of companies that have sought his help. It seems like he just wanted to get the book out quickly, without the worry of a silly appendix or proof, or hey, even an index!
I still want to move, win, now! And my greatest sense of urgency is to finish this book.
UPDATE
I am STILL not done with this book.
I can't believe it.
It is going on and on forever.
Another thing that I sense that is really wrong with Kotter is that he has an obsession with youth. More than that, I think he is very ageist. When he compares to managers, one a younger man and one an older man, he does more than hint that the older man is not as embracing of the "sense of urgency" ideals simply because of his age. As an older person, this really offends me.
I think about one of the best books I have read about management, The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence and I think about how different Nordstrom's views are from Kotter's. I'm not saying that Nordstrom doesn't have a sense of urgency, what I mean is, in the little messages in Kotter's book, the off-handed remarks that give insight into Kotter's belief system, there are many difference between Kotter's way and the Nordstrom Way- especially when it comes to valuing individuals.
Anyway...another day has come and I am still not done with this book.
The end is near, but there are still 20 pages to go and I am suffering with each one.
I am pretty sure that the only footnote I have seen references another one of Kotter's books. This is just lazy. What a mess this book is. What a mess I am.
I am writing an unbiased review here-- I have already started to implement some of his ideas. I am simply saying that this book could have been a pamphlet.
UPDATE
It is finished.
What a miserable mess. What a weak, terrible ending as well.
And yes, there was one more footnote to be had-- yet another Kotter book was referenced.
Also, another terribly funny/sad thing that Kotter does is talk about this mysterious tool called the Internet. He tells us that there is a lot of information to be found on it. Why don't we starting looking at it today. I will have to find out more about this Internet thing. Thanks, Kotter. And when you publish a new book, I will definitely not be welcoming you back.