Book Description
Adam Kahane spent years working in the world's hotspots, and came away with a new understanding of how to resolve conflict in a way that seems reasonable - and doable - to all parties. The result is Solving Tough Problems. Written in a relaxed, persuasive style, this is not a "how-to" book with glib answers, but rather, a very personal story of the author's progress from a young "expert" convinced of the need to provide cold, "correct" answers to an effective facilitator of positive change - by learning how to create environments that enable new ideas and creative solutions to emerge. The book explores the connection between individual learning and institutional change, and how leaders can move beyond politeness and formal statements, beyond routine debate and defensiveness, toward deeper and more productive dialogue. Both tough and inspiring, the book explores models, technologies, and examples that foster and facilitate "dialogues of the heart."
Customer Reviews:
Listening and generative dialogue.......2006-08-14
Adam Kahane (2004) said that a friend of his told him that the old "1960s slogan `If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem' actually misses the most important about effecting change. The slogan should be, he said, `If you're not part of the problem, you can't be part of the solution.' If we cannot see how what we are doing or not doing is contributing to things being the way that they are, then logically we have no basis at all, zero leverage, for changing the ways things are--except from the outside, by persuasion or force" (pp. 83-84).
Any problem is part of a system, in other words, and if we are experiencing the problem, then we must, by definition, be a part of the problem. This book explores this concept and provides many tools and examples to help resolve conflict through deep listening and generative dialogue.
Enables deeper connections across communities.......2006-07-11
Mr. Kahane's book is the tip of the iceberg - a great start for someone looking for reflective practice that provides the skills and methods for addressing difficult challenges - individually and organizationally. The perspectives in Solving Tough Problems are from the heart, and present a valuable contribution to the growing awareness of how social technologies can provide containers for creating new realities...definitely recommended!
Jerry's review on Solving Tough Problems.......2006-03-17
At last! An easy to read book true to Bohm's vision of dialogue that will begin moving the subject from an esoteric phenomenon to a practice attainable by many. This book should not be considered as a primer on dialogue that could replace works such as "On Dialogue" or "dialogue, the art and practice of thinking together", rather it presents the author's experience in practical application of many of the concepts and principles discussed in those earlier works.
Not sure what I was expecting .......2005-12-31
I was expecting much more from this book,at times it seemed to be the author's bio instead of giving/sharing the best practices of how to go through an approach in solving difficult issues.
Building bridges.......2005-08-12
In a world beset by problems, this book offers real hope. Adam Kahane shares the techniques he has used in many of the world's trouble spots to bridge differences, establish a genuine conversation among adversaries, and create a positive future. This is not an academic book. It's based on real experience. Wherever we are called to end conflict, heal differences, and build collaboration we can learn from its lessons.
Book Description
With its roots in history and eyes on the future, this book traces the development of our economic society from the Middle Ages to the present, offering a balanced perspective of why our economy is the way it is and where it may be headed. It explores the catalytic role past economic trends and dynamics—particularly capitalism—have played in creating the present challenges we face, and offers suggestions on how we may deal with them most effectively in the future. Chapter topics include the economic problem, the premarket economy, the emergence of market society, the industrial revolution, the great depression, the rise of the public sector, modern capitalism emerges in Europe, the golden age of capitalism, the rise and fall of socialism, the globalization of economic life, and why some nations remain poor. For individuals interested in the economic history of the U.S.
Customer Reviews:
Good, but not as good as "Worldly Philosophers".......2007-04-26
I'd enjoyed Heilbroner's "Worldly Philosophers" so much that I purchased this title thinking it would be its equal, but sadly that was not the case. That's not to say that "Making of Economic Society" is a bad book or not worth the read, it's just that this book should be read before "Worldly Philosophers" or simply omitted as much of what was put forward in "Worldly Philosophers" is repeated here. Reading the two in the order I did is akin to drinking a glass of merlot and then a glass of chardonnay; its hard to taste the chardonnay is the prior merlot lingers on your palate. Not to mention Heilbroner's conscious or unconscious cribbing from "Worldly Philosophers" leaves you feeling like you've somehow read this all before. The end result is little that is new between the two rendering it down to a matter of personal preference between the two and my own vote is for the much larger, more detailed "Worldly Philosophers" and my own advice is to skip directly to that over this title. Despite the addition and refinement over previous editions there isn't enough here to recommend it over "Worldly Philosophers."
Too expensive, but good.......2005-10-16
This is an excellent book. The price is simply outrageous, though. Over $50 for a thin paperback? My consolation is that I should be able to get a decent price for it when I sell it after my economics class is over.
How did market society come to be?.......2004-04-04
This book examines the transformation of traditional society into market society: the necessary pre-conditions and steps. The author reminds us that, despite the material advances of modern society, some key economic ideas still apply. All societies must be organized for the material survival of its members. The inter-dependencies among societal members in simpler societies have not been eliminated in market societies, despite the hyping of the independent, self-maximizer by modern theorists; in fact, the complexities of modern societies may well create more dependence, not less. And market societies do have some inherent problems.
The author points out that any society must have a coherent system for producing useful goods and services and then distributing them in a manner sufficient for society's perpetuation. Man has relied upon combinations of tradition, command, and markets to solve those production and distribution problems. Tradition uses time-honored methods of work, "allocated by heredity," which are reinforced by "law, custom, and belief." Change and competitiveness are not tolerated. Command is authoritarian control of economies and is mostly associated with economies operating in rapid catch-up mode, such as the Soviet Union. However, even democracies use elements of command during periods of crisis. In market societies, the aggregation of supply and demand guide economic functioning with no distinct center of control or allegiance to past practices.
Manorial estates and the guilds dominated life in the Middle Ages along with the Church, but the author points to small beginnings of a more commercial world. Itinerant merchants established a small niche for commercial activity in some urban areas. The more successful of them came to be key financiers of monarchs keen on expanding their authority. The gold and silver realized from 16th century New World expeditions stimulated commercial activity. Calvinism, in contrast to the Catholic Church, sanctified hard work and the accumulation of wealth as an indicator of spiritual worthiness. Gradually, feudal society became more reliant upon money as a basis of social exchange. No longer were manorial lords obligated for the overall well being of serfs. The displacement of peasants by the enclosure movements was justified by the opportunities for the landed aristocracy to use their estates as sources of cash revenue.
The author identifies several changes that are necessary for a market economy to emerge. Virtually every task, good, or service has a monetary reward. The anticipation of financial reward guides such decisions as where to labor or what to produce. A society of contracts supercedes a society of status and traditional social bonds. With those changes, a certain amount of social uncertainty is introduced. Yet a market society is not without its own forms of control. The competitions of seller versus seller and buyer versus seller are constraining forces on economic behavior.
Generally it takes a market economy to substantially change the material well being of an entire society. In the first place, traditional societies are not unhappy with the status quo. What is needed are investments in capital goods, or "tools, equipment, machines, and buildings," to increase human productivity leading to higher living standards. And it is the hope for profits or higher wages that spurs investment of money and labor in those goods. But investment implies savings, which, in turn, generally requires a sacrifice in consumption and lower wages. The author suggests that the growing pains of industrialization, mostly on the backs of the working class with the "forced emigration of the peasantry by enclosure and heavy-handed exploitation," could not have been avoided. He undercuts that argument slightly by acknowledging that the forces of democracy in the 19th century ameliorated conditions for the working class.
Scientific and technological advances are often large factors in the development of capital goods and increased productivity. English industrial production literally exploded based on the inventions of such men as Wilkinson, Watt, and Arkwright. The factory system came to dominate English life. New technologies have often literally transformed market societies. The automobile, for example, drastically changed residential patterns, facilitated social independence, and was a massive generator of employment. Can anyone doubt the impacts of electricity, airplanes, television, and computers?
However, the author points out that market societies do not necessarily operate according to the basic theory. "Consumer power" is a first principle of classical economists; according to that notion, consumers force products to be sold "at the lowest price compatible with continued production." But market societies invariably tend to be dominated by a few large firms, where economic efficiencies can be attained. These large enterprises often agree among themselves to set pricing above truly competitive levels. In addition, because much of what is produced in modern economies is non essential, consistency of demand must be created through advertising. While large firms may be needed, consumer sovereignty is mostly a fiction.
Stable market economies must maintain the balances between production and purchasing and savings and investment. Workers' purchasing power must be consistent with production volumes. In addition, savings ought to be converted into investment, or capital formation. The Great Depression was brought about by workers being underpaid and capital investments not being made. The Great Depression and WWII established that government must intervene in a market economy through fiscal and monetary policies to bolster economic stability.
The author emphasizes that basic instabilities remain in market societies. In a market economy, it remains the anticipation of profit on the part of businesses and entrepreneurs that motivates most investment and growth. Technological displacement and unemployment continue to undermine purchasing power. And the author wrote in an era before the evisceration of large "countervailing" unions, the forces of globalization, and a resurgence of rightist, anti-government ideologies. Those developments could have only added to the author's concerns of instabilities.
The book is hurt by not being able to contend with the tremendous changes of the last forty years, though the cautions remain relevant today. It is, however, an excellent guide for understanding the economic and societal changes from the Middle Ages to the era of science and capitalism. Try Charles Lindblom's "The Market System."
Concise but Biased.......2002-04-27
This is a concise text book for use in high school or first-year college classes on the history of economics that traces the development of the market economy. The basic framework of the book is valuable: how the market transcended earlier forms of economic organization based on command and/or tradition.
There are good summaries of key terms and good discussion questions at the end of each chapter to stimulate classroom discussion; organizationally the book is very good and production values are quite high - very few typesetting errors, good paper, nice ink.
Robert Heilbroner is not, however, the best equipped author to be writing on this subject, as his cynical, Hobbesian view of human nature comes to the surface in numerous remarks whose cumulative effect is a high degree of skepticism about free enterprise and unregulated markets - a skepticism that is not backed by evidence and argument, but more by fears of "bigness" and "unscrupulousness" of business and businesspeople.
(Review based on the Tenth edition of this book)
Good, concise introduction for undergrads.......2001-06-09
This is an excellent introduction to Economic History for undergraduate students. It is concise and well-written, full of poignant examples, tracing economic organization from the Middle Ages through the present. The chapter summaries and discussion questions at the end of each chapter are very useful for both the student and the professor. The brevity of the book leaves open the possibility of including related academic articles or even other textbooks in the syllabus.
The main disappointment is that the nineteenth century--which was full of economic, social, and political change--is basically ignored. The content jumps from the Industrial Revolution to the beginning of the twentieth century. The traditional Euro-American egocentrism is also present.
Book Description
“No one in this world, so far as I know, has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.” —H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken was wrong.
In this endlessly fascinating book, New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki explores a deceptively simple idea that has profound implications: large groups of people are smarter than an elite few, no matter how brilliant—better at solving problems, fostering innovation, coming to wise decisions, even predicting the future.
This seemingly counterintuitive notion has endless and major ramifications for how businesses operate, how knowledge is advanced, how economies are (or should be) organized and how we live our daily lives. With seemingly boundless erudition and in delightfully clear prose, Surowiecki ranges across fields as diverse as popular culture, psychology, ant biology, economic behaviorism, artificial intelligence, military history and political theory to show just how this principle operates in the real world.
Despite the sophistication of his arguments, Surowiecki presents them in a wonderfully entertaining manner. The examples he uses are all down-to-earth, surprising, and fun to ponder. Why is the line in which you’re standing always the longest? Why is it that you can buy a screw anywhere in the world and it will fit a bolt bought ten-thousand miles away? Why is network television so awful? If you had to meet someone in Paris on a specific day but had no way of contacting them, when and where would you meet? Why are there traffic jams? What’s the best way to win money on a game show? Why, when you walk into a convenience store at 2:00 A.M. to buy a quart of orange juice, is it there waiting for you? What do Hollywood mafia movies have to teach us about why corporations exist?
The Wisdom of Crowds is a brilliant but accessible biography of an idea, one with important lessons for how we live our lives, select our leaders, conduct our business, and think about our world.
Download Description
The Wisdom of Crowds
I
If, years hence, people remember anything about the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, they will probably remember the contestants' panicked phone calls to friends and relatives. Or they may have a faint memory of that short-lived moment when Regis Philbin became a fashion icon for his willingness to wear a dark blue tie with a dark blue shirt. What people probably won't remember is that every week Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? pitted group intelligence against individual intelligence, and that every week, group intelligence won.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was a simple show in terms of structure: a contestant was asked multiple-choice questions, which got successively more difficult, and if she answered fifteen questions in a row correctly, she walked away with $1 million. The show's gimmick was that if a contestant got stumped by a question, she could pursue three avenues of assistance. First, she could have two of the four multiple-choice answers removed (so she'd have at least a fifty-fifty shot at the right response). Second, she could place a call to a friend or relative, a person whom, before the show, she had singled out as one of the smartest people she knew, and ask him or her for the answer. And third, she could poll the studio audience, which would immediately cast its votes by computer. Everything we think we know about intelligence suggests that the smart individual would offer the most help. And, in fact, the "experts" did okay, offering the right answer--under pressure--almost 65 percent of the time. But they paled in comparison to the audiences. Those random crowds of people with nothing better to do on a weekday afternoon than sit in a TV studio picked the right answer 91 percent of the time.
Now, the results of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? would never stand up to scientific scrutiny. We don't know how smart the experts were, so we don't know how impressive outperforming them was. And since the experts and the audiences didn't always answer the same questions, it's possible, though not likely, that the audiences were asked easier questions. Even so, it's hard to resist the thought that the success of the Millionaire audience was a modern example of the same phenomenon that Francis Galton caught a glimpse of a century ago.
As it happens, the possibilities of group intelligence, at least when it came to judging questions of fact, were demonstrated by a host of experiments conducted by American sociologists and psychologists between 1920 and the mid-1950s, the heyday of research into group dynamics. Although in general, as we'll see, the bigger the crowd the better, the groups in most of these early
experiments--which for some reason remained relatively unknown outside of academia--were relatively small. Yet they nonetheless performed very well. The Columbia sociologist Hazel Knight kicked things off with a series of studies in the early 1920s, the first of which had the virtue of simplicity. In that study Knight asked the students in her class to estimate the room's temperature, and then took a simple average of the estimates. The group guessed 72.4 degrees, while the actual temperature was 72 degrees. This was not, to be sure, the most auspicious beginning, since classroom temperatures are so stable that it's hard to imagine a class's estimate being too far off base. But in the years that followed, far more convincing evidence emerged, as students and soldiers across America were subjected to a barrage of puzzles, intelligence tests, and word games. The sociologist Kate H. Gordon asked two hundred students to rank items by weight, and found that the group's "estimate" was 94 percent accurate, which was better than all but five of the individual guesses. In another experiment students were asked to look at ten piles of buckshot--each a slightly different size than the
Customer Reviews:
Smart, Interesting and Easy to Read.......2007-09-21
This book was a surprise hit for me. I didn't expect to like it, but ended up loving it so much I just had to have a copy on my shelf. Surowieki is very convincing, in part because he takes such care to bring up alternative arguments and respond to each. He also keeps his focus fairly narrow, so the arguments aren't all over the place. I was especially fascinated by his discussion of experts. We rely on them so heavily these days, but now I know to question their expertise. This book has changed the way that I make decisions and the way I evaluate good decision-making in my elected representatives. I recommend this book to anyone interested in making good decisions. It is a smoothly-written book and you won't have any trouble following the arguments or staying 'into' it.
Don't expect a textbook.......2007-09-19
I really like the Wisdom of Crowds because Surowiecki succeeds in explaining complicated and sophisticated ideas in ways that educated people can not only grasp but also incorporate into their own thinking. This is quite an achievement, one that critics of the book have overlooked. This topic has not been open until now to such a wide audience.
Surowiecki never shies from even difficult and abstract statistical concepts. He draws liberally upon academic journals and scholarly books, writing in a style that is at once journalistic and educated.
Yet, Surowiecki never talks down to his reader. Instead he invites the reader to accompany him through an arcane (and dimly lit) maze of statistical practice as it has been developed and utilized for decades by social scientists and economists. The reader is rewarded again and again because Surowiecki points to a partially hidden jewel, holds it up for examination, hands it to the reader and then leaves it in plain sight (often for reference later in the book).
Thus, this book is a remarkable example, a model, for readers (and writers) who wish to bridge the gaps between educated professionals.
My criticism is along different lines. In this extremely visual era, the editors could have widened the audience for the Wisdom of Crowds much further if suitable images could have been commissioned to throw additional light on Surowiecki's prose. But, paper and ink are so much more expensive than artists these days, one can understand the limitations and constraints Doubleday (Random House) were under. On the other hand, why not put up a web site?
Crowds Oh Wisdom.......2007-09-19
Good book and I thought the pace moved along extremely well. There are some significant things in the book that are a bit dated, but overall this is a very interesting book. I also recommend "Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing" by Lois Kelly published 2007 to couple with this book. Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Food for thought.......2007-08-21
I found this book full of sweeping claims, generalizations and is confusing in its presentation. However it made me think. Overall the writer is saying that people independently working on a problem can in a fair vote be more accurate then the smartest individual. He then quotes examples for such behaviour and examples of when the crowds got it wrong when they acted not independently but in mass. I suspect that much of his arguments are sound.
How much I am not sure for example if I asked the average person independently if they believe there was much truth in astrology, I am sure that over 50% would say yes.
However since the book is making much comments, I hope to see some better studies coming forward.
Having said all this it has changed my views on decision making and how to do it.
Surowiecki is a gifted teacher.......2007-08-08
At first I was afraid that "The wisdom of crowds" was going to be a 250 page restatement of the law of large numbers for dummies. In the beginning it looks that way, because Surowiecki takes a lot of time to explain that the more people trying to guess the solution to a problem, each adding their own bit of information, the more accurate the average guess. Not very revolutionary at all (although possibly counterintuitive at first). But as the book moved on I got more and drawn in and impressed by the presentation, which is rigorous and supremely readable at the same time.
The book describes how crowds can solve problems of cognition, coordination and cooperation. It gives the conditions under which crowds are good and not good at doing so. The author illustrates with a myriad of interesting problems and case studies, some rather obvious choices (why do investment bubbles emerge?, why do political stock markets predict so well?), others more arcane (why did the gangsters in reservoir dogs fail?, why is it often easy to cut a line?). What binds these studies together is the way groups handle information and the good and bad institution designed to make them do so.
Throughout all the diversity, it is the great scholarship of Surowiecki that makes everything naturally fall into place. Being familiar with a lot of the material in academic form, I know how conceptually daring some of it is, but Surowiecki effortlessly reduces it to bite-size portions, without compromising much or exaggerating anywhere. Great reading!
Book Description
Filling a void in the market, Conflict Diagnosis, Brief Edition uses the innovation of the Conflict Diagnosis concept to provide an in-depth appreciation of ADR processes. The survey takes both a true sociological perspective on the interdisciplinary topic of alternative disputes and prefaces these descriptions with an in-depth exploration of the theoretical and empirical basis for understanding their uses, misuses, indications and counterindications to provide readers with a thorough and complete approach to understanding, evaluating and developing strategies and tactics to address interpersonal conflict. The survey addresses basic definitions, dispute resolution processes, preconceptions about conflict and how they short change us, conflict diagnosis, the nine steps of conflict diagnosis, alternative dispute resolution processes, using conflict diagnosis to manage legal disputes and select ADR processes. For human resources personnel, dispute resolution system designers, trainers and ombuds, as well as ADR neutrals and neutrals-in-training.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent tips for effective conflict resolution
- Awesome Management Tool
- Insightful!
- Highly Recommend this book!
- A Great Tool
|
Coward's Guide to Conflict: Empowering Solutions for Those Who Would Rather Run Than Fight
Tim Ursiny
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ASIN: 1402200552 |
Book Description
You're not the only one out there who hates conflict. From the corporate bully to the passive-aggressive employee to the demanding spouse, there are people in our lives who cause us frustration and anger every day. If you're like the rest of us, you'll avoid them at all costs.
Success coach Dr. Tim Ursiny shows us that, yes, conflict can be a good thing, and facing up to it can lead to fantastic results! The Coward's Guide to Conflict gives strength, techniques, motivations and challenges to the people who need it most. With an open, step-by-step approach, it shows you how to prepare, maintain your integrity and work toward resolution.
Interactive exercises and examples from both the workplace and home will coach and motivate you to effectively deal with all types of conflict situations, with results that empower and really work!
--Make conflict less frightening...quickly!
--Avoid the top 10 mistakes made when dealing with upset people
--Build your knowledge, skills and confidence
--Discover the 5 communication styles we all use to face conflict
Customer Reviews:
Excellent tips for effective conflict resolution.......2007-03-28
This book has changed the way I deal with conflict. It has helped me to improve my relationships and management skills by expressing what I want clearly and resolve issues quickly and effectively.
I would suggest this book to you if you feel that others are taking advantage of you being too soft or passive.
Awesome Management Tool.......2006-11-03
Everyone, especially those in management, should read this book. We all deal with conflict and learning these few simple "no-brainer" tips will make it less stressful. It's not enough to know what you are talking about...you need to know who you are talking to.
Insightful!.......2004-11-22
This is a fine, short guide to managing conflict. Author Tim Ursiny particularly addresses those of you who are "conflict cowards," people who do not like conflict...and who does, outside of a few well-compensated litigaters? Ursiny himself is a confessed hater of conflict. He has hated it ever since he was a child and now, even though he's an executive coach and a fairly beefy guy, he still hates it. He is also a psychologist, and his style and approach have much in common with the work of other pop psychology writers, although this guide is more useful than most. Ursiny keeps the reading light by providing ample anecdotes and he invites readers to participate through several self-examination questionnaires. He provides some clearly written, easily accessible explanations of how conflicts occur and how to manage them. In fact, he defines conflict, its consequences and even its benefits so broadly that almost anyone fits the book's target audience. You got a problem with that? We doesn't and warmly recommend this entertaining, refreshing book, which - we agree - has something for almost everyone who'd rather duck than fight.
Highly Recommend this book!.......2004-07-03
This book is phenomenal and the best I have read on the subject. Very few people have the experience Tim does, as both a psychologist and successful businessman, so he has great credibility. His system/process makes dealing with conflict a breeze. And I love his humor. I feel connected with him and trust his advice. I highly recommend this book!
Michael Charest
Speaker, Coach
BUSINESS GROWTH SOLUTIONS
and
COACH & GROW R.I.C.H.
(...)
"Grow your business, grow your life!"
(...)
A Great Tool.......2004-06-24
The Coward's Guide to Conflict is a great tool for every day life in the workplace and at home. Utilizing everyday people and situations Dr. Ursiny explains why we behave in the manner that we do and then gives tools to help change those behaviors to lead to more positive results and a better understanding of ourselves and others. It takes the fear out of conflict. It should be in every household and office.
Book Description
Bestselling author and expert on leadership John C. Maxwell shares the only rule that matters-in business and in life. How does a person judge what is ethical?Sometimes it's clear. In the past year or two, ethical lapses in corporate America have been well documented. But is it always easy to see where the line is in life? What's the standard?And can it work in all situations? John C. Max- well thinks it can. In THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS BUSINESS ETHICS, Maxwell shows how people can live with integrity by using the Golden Rule as their standard-regardless of religion, culture, or circumstances. Along the way, he delves into the desires of the human heart, reveals the five most common pitfalls that throw people off the ethical track, and teaches how to develop the Midas touch when it comes to personal integrity.
Customer Reviews:
Save your money and go practice the Golden Rule.......2006-05-11
This more I think about this book, the more thought provoking it becomes. First, I find it amazing that anyone could take a belief that's widely known (practically a cliche), add nothing of substance to it, and actually write a book about it. Second, I find it even more amazing that it took 134 pages to make the Golden Rule applicable to business. Third, and perhaps the most amazing of all, is the fact that I actually spent my own hard earned money on this book. What amazing insights did I think would be uncovered?
I'll save you $9.72 (+s/h) and the 45 minutes it'll take you to read this. Here goes... Unless you were raised by wolves, it's pretty likely you've heard of the Golden Rule. Ok, now think about how this rule can be applied to all of your business dealings. That's it - you got it!
Whew! Now that you have an extra $9.72 in your pocket and 45 minutes of free time, go practice that Golden Rule by treating your kids/grandkids/neighbors to some ice cream.
Return to the Golden Rule.......2004-09-15
In a recent newspaper, in one day ... Enron chief pleads not guilty, Adelphia execs found guilty, no retrial in stock scandal ... and this was just the front page of the business section. On that same page, I noted the use of the phrase, "ethically amoral." Have we finally reached a point where we can construct such phrases? Corruption, moral relativism, the meaning of "is," have you had enough?
If you are looking for some insights into the problem and perhaps an alternative approach, here's your book, There's No Such Thing as "Business" Ethics. Maxwell writes, "...There's only ethics." Maxwell is right, and through interesting stories and common sense he argues for the adoption of the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you would like to be treated.
I read this book in hopes to validate my own research for my book, Swapping Lies! I felt that perhaps my call for a return of honor to the workplace was a bit too much, too naive. I was surprised to read that I am not the only one who feels this way. Maxwell is calling for the Golden Rule! Many will consider the Golden Rule a bit naïve in today's world, yet it is principle that successfully guides us in our business endeavors. A principled and focused leader is not naïve. In fact they are a constant source of strength and confidence to all. Spend just an hour to read this book. It may change you and your company.
Golden Rule as the General Guideline for Ethics.......2004-04-15
Book Overview:
This is a motivating, short, and easy to read book that tries to persuade the reader to adopt and apply the Golden Rule to their life as the ethical standard. Although the title of this book could mislead and create the wrong impression that it is intended to be read by businesspersons, this book can be used by anyone, since the general purpose is to apply the Golden Rule not only to the business environment but also to the personal life of the readers.
The book will generate great results and deep impact in the life of those persons, whom regardless of their social status or occupation, find themselves lost or disoriented regarding to their ethics standards. Throughout examples and real life stories in several aspects, the author illustrates his points and creates consciousness among the readers. At the end of each of the seven chapters, readers will find four to six straightforward questions that will help them look inside themselves and reflect what they have just read.
The author starts the book by citing ethical issues that have been creating concern in our society. Afterward, he focuses in the benefits and the importance of the Golden Rule. Subsequently, readers will find valuable tips of how to start thinking and applying this concept, which give introduction to other concept known as character. In chapter 5, the book encloses five factors that are considered to be the deceivers for people to follow an appropriate ethic path. Later, in the following chapter, the Dr. John C. Maxwell persuades readers to follow eight of his suggestions of how people can develop strong character in order to pursue golden opportunities. Finally, the author invites the readers to pursue the Golden Rule instead of the "Real Gold" by adopting five practices.
The Golden Rule works, This Book Falls Short.......2004-03-02
The application of the Golden Rule to our everyday lives is something that we can all agree is good. John Maxwell does a good job or defining the golden rule, its worldwide acceptance, and how we can apply it to our everyday. It was more like a walk down memory lane; to a time when a teacher or mentor first explained the concept to us. However I do have a few concerns with Mr. Maxwell's book. First there might need to be a better job at researching Fletcher thoughts on Relativism...in his book he labels Fletcher as the father of mordern day Realativism...quoting (or rather misquoting) Fletcher's statement that love can justify anything. I am in not postition to defend Fletcher, for I am not that familiar with his work, however he does not just use the term love. Rather he uses the term Agape Love, coming from the ancient Greek...the highest and purest form of love...one that God would have for us, a term any minister or pastor of the Christian Faith would know very well. Second after page 86 the book get repediative and seems to get off track. This links to my last issue with the book and why it gets a bit off track, as it turns into an advertisement for Mr. Maxwell's corporation, the last several pages are nothing but adverstisements asking you to visit their web site for free character quiz and then taking you down a road of Buy...buy...buy our products. Not what I expected and was somewhat disappointed. In short taking some know concepts, putting a somewhat of a new spin on them and then publishing to add another book to the list of those authored. Part of the disappointment is that I know this book could be better.
A Good Reminder.......2003-12-05
Being in sales I have noticed something over the years. Some of the great sales training programs and literature always seem to stress integrity. For example, "Always follow up when you say you will." However, they also advocate all sorts of little white lies in dealing with customers and prospects in order to get your foot in the door. This is exactly the kind of "ethics" that John Maxwell is taking on in this book.
It is refreshing to have Maxwell remind us that integrity goes much deeper than what is legal. His thesis is that a form of the Golden Rule, (Do unto to others, as you would have them do unto you,) is the only way to make tough, ethical decisions in any area of your life.
One of the problems I had was that the book really is geared towards leaders of companies, and doesn't address what you are to do if you are caught in a situation where you really don't have any power over the decisions of the company, but you are forced to execute those decisions, even if they are unethical. He praises whistle-blowers, but he doesn't seem to openly advocate the practice.
To his credit, Maxwell does state that using the Golden Rule will not always bring you success, but he states it as a kind of afterthought. His example of a high school football coach benching his players for underage drinking and then losing the big game because of their absence is hard to apply to a real life busniness situation. Having a tough sales deal on the line that can make or break the company and mean that you or people you work with or work under will lose their jobs, or their bonuses can be a little more stressful and make white lies, (especially when they are advocated by the higher-ups,) seem more inconsequential. And please understand that I am not saying that it makes them more right.
Like most of Maxwell's books it lays out some great food for thought and it really will help you to think about your actions and how you conduct yourself. However, also like Maxwell's other books, it doesn't give you a clear roadmap of how to succeed in this area.
Book Description
This book examines the general principles of argument and then applies those principles to different spheres of life-politics, science, law, etc.--to explore how conventions of argument change when applied to real world arenas. A new chapter on evidence and argument in religion adds additional sphere to this edition and expands cultural diversity coverage. Projects at the end of each chapter allow readers to become actively involved in the material by applying the principles learned to real life. The book also employs real life examples throughout to help make the concepts clearer and help readers see the relevance of argumentative skills to their lives. For anyone interested in improving their argumentation skills.
Customer Reviews:
BORED TO TEARS.......2007-04-13
I hate this book. It's confusing, key terms are listed at the beginning of the chapter but not thoroughly defined. My professor disagrees with half of the stuff in the book, it's terrible. (NOTE: I have absolutely no interest in this subject)
This Book Could Change Your Life.......2002-05-01
Not only have I read this book, but I did so in conjunction from taking an argumentation class from the author, Dr. Richard Rieke. Dr. Rieke is an extremely experienced and talented communicator and this book would be a valuable addition to any scholar and layperson alike.
Rieke's background includes mediation and negotiation for some of the most prominent global companies and more than 20 years experience as an educator. Currently he is a Communication professor at the University of Utah and the director of the university's Honor's Program.
What I've learned from this book is how to go about the dialectical process (research, criticial thinking, refuting) an issue to constructing a rhetorical argument (persuasive case) in favor of one side or another. I feel that this book has given me a very strong grasp on how to construct various types of arguments, and how to modify them based on who is supposed to be persuaded by the argument.
One of the things I liked most about this book was it's very detailed and logically organized for the processes of argumentation. A list of terms is presented at the beginning of the chapter, each chapter is subcategorized for maximum orgnization, and each chapter is concluded with a summary and suggested exercises.
Each chapter is detailed with universally used information about how argumentation relates to various spheres (or contexts) like science, religion, business, politics, etc. In addition, the authors provide numerous, clear examples to help you understand their points.
I have used this book in not only preparing a brief and case thesis for the related class, but have used as a guide in creating numerous other essays for other Communications classes.
I will not be selling this textbook back to the university bookstore; instead it has earned a permenant spot in my library because I know I will be referencing it often for other classes, and in business well after I graduate. I feel especially privileged to have been able to take the course from the author, because Rieke is very articulate and an excellent educator.
Text book use.......2001-02-05
This book is -- hands down -- the best single textbook for use in a first year critical thinking and argumentation course. Professor Eric Nelson.
This is one of the most practical books I have ever used........1999-09-16
Argumentation and Decision-Making has been stolen off my book shelf more often than any other book I've ever owned. I keep replacing it, because it has a unique combination of practical and sophisticated examples, as well as clear explanations of the LOGIC behind assessments. Gifted high school students need the standards represented in this book. Evidently, colleagues need the guidance for writing Master's theses and Doctoral dissertations as well! I strongly recommend this book to any teacher of students from ninth grade through university; you'll actually use it.
Amazon.com
How many times has your PC crashed today? While Gordon Moore's now famous law projecting the doubling of computer power every 18 months has more than borne itself out, it's too bad that a similar trajectory projecting the reliability and usefulness of all that power didn't come to pass, as well. Advances in information technology are most often measured in the cool numbers of megahertz, throughput, and bandwidth--but, for many us, the experience of these advances may be better measured in hours of frustration.
The gap between the hype of the Information Age and its reality is often wide and deep, and it's into this gap that John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid plunge. Not that these guys are Luddites--far from it. Brown, the chief scientist at Xerox and the director of its Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and Duguid, a historian and social theorist who also works with PARC, measure how information technology interacts and meshes with the social fabric. They write, "Technology design often takes aim at the surface of life. There it undoubtedly scores lots of worthwhile hits. But such successes can make designers blind to the difficulty of more serious challenges--primarily the resourcefulness that helps embed certain ways of doing things deep in our lives."
The authors cast their gaze on the many trends and ideas proffered by infoenthusiasts over the years, such as software agents, "still a long way from the predicted insertion into the woof and warp of ordinary life"; the electronic cottage that Alvin Toffler wrote about 20 years ago and has yet to be fully realized; and the rise of knowledge management and the challenges it faces trying to manage how people actually work and learn in the workplace. Their aim is not to pass judgment but to help remedy the tunnel vision that prevents technologists from seeing larger the social context that their ideas must ultimately inhabit. The Social Life of Information is a thoughtful and challenging read that belongs on the bookshelf of anyone trying to invent or make sense of the new world of information. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
To see the future we can build with information technology, we must look beyond mere information to the social context that creates and gives meaning to it.
For years pundits have predicted that information technology will obliterate the need for almost everything--from travel to supermarkets to business organizations to social life itself. Individual users, however, tend to be more skeptical. Beaten down by info-glut and exasperated by computer systems fraught with software crashes, viruses, and unintelligible error messages, they find it hard to get a fix on the true potential of the digital revolution.
John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid help us to see through frenzied visions of the future to the real forces for change in society. They argue that the gap between digerati hype and end-user gloom is largely due to the "tunnel vision" that information-driven technologies breed. We've become so focused on where we think we ought to be--a place where technology empowers individuals and obliterates social organizations--that we often fail to see where we're really going and what's helping us get there. We need, they argue, to look beyond our obsession with information and individuals to include the critical social networks of which these are always a part.
Drawing from rich learning experiences at Xerox PARC, from examples such as IBM, Chiat/Day Advertising, and California's "Virtual University," and from historical, social, and cultural research, the authors sharply challenge the futurists' sweeping predictions. They explain how many of the tools, jobs, and organizations seemingly targeted for future extinction in fact provide useful social resources that people will fight to keep. Rather than aiming technological bullets at these "relics," we should instead look for ways that the new world of bits can learn from and complement them.
Arguing elegantly for the important role that human sociability plays, even--perhaps especially--in the world of bits,
The Social Life of Information gives us an optimistic look beyond the simplicities of information and individuals. It shows how a better understanding of the contribution that communities, organizations, and institutions make to learning, working and innovating can lead to the richest possible use of technology in our work and everyday lives.
Download Description
Drawing from recent research and practical examples across a range of organizations, The Social Life of Information dispels many of the futurists' sweeping predictions that information technology will obliterate the need for everything from travel to supermarkets to business organizations to social life itself. The authors examine the potential and limitations of technology with regard to intelligent software agents, the automated home office, business reorganization for innovation, knowledge management and work practices, the paperless society, and the digital university. Arguing eloquently for the important role human sociability plays in the world of bits, Brown and Duguid give us an optimistic look beyond the simplicities of information and individuals. They show how a better understanding of the contribution that communities, organizations, and institutions make to learning, knowledge, and judgment can lead to the richest possible use of technology in our work and everyday lives.
Customer Reviews:
Some good and some old, some nostalgia.......2007-08-11
This work, published in 2000, describes the perils of ignoring social aspects of information flow. The book is dated in certain respects. It spends a lot of time debunking concepts like denationalization and disintermediation that sound today like naïve meanderings from a misspent youth. But there are also good discussions of how social interactions critically influence how work actually gets done. Such interactions are typically ignored in process engineering, which explains among other things why SOX compliance is so painful. Worth reading for that by itself.
Information is not Epiphany.......2007-03-11
I think personally, for me, I realized this was a pretty important book when I became rather bored with it in the middle. "I know all this," I was thinking to myself. While reading it, my mind kept wandering to the social media book I'm trying to write. I kept coming up with new things to write in the book.
Soon, The Social Life of Information was coated with scribbles related to my book.
And then I had to laugh at myself when I realized this was a large part of JSB's & PD's point. I had all the information to come to these little epiphanies, but it was only through the social interaction of reading their book did many of these concepts gel.
These thoughts gelled not because these guys were specifically telling me them, but because reading their book was part of a pattern of practice of my own in social media. Their ideas, my ideas, their experiences, my experiences and information combined to create context. Our social interaction created context.
The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same.......2007-01-29
In "The Social Life of Information", the authors explore the informational revolution and its drumbeat of futuristic implications. As many thought at the beginning of the internet age, the 'Net would wipe out the big box concept and stores would disappear (i.e. Walmart or Sears), as too would books and etceteras. However, we have come to learn in the last 10 years or so that this did not take place for several reasons, of which, one very important reason is that information has its own social life with respect to content & context. For example, as the authors propose, if a company or organization of managers are primarily information processors, then the new technology and processes would have made organizations flatter with less management. However, as most of us would suspect or have experienced, most organizations only got more management top heavy which is similar to the futuristic assumption that paper too would slowly be obsolete as we continue to consume more paper every year.
As we tend to be social animals, Judgment and discretion are not features of software, but are learned not by the acquisition of facts and rules, but through social relations and participation in human activities. The authors help remind us of this fact as we move forward with new processes and designs.
Good counter-arguement to available books.......2006-12-28
I read this book recently and I thought it was decent but not really great. I liked it because it was a counterpoint to what you always hear about modern technology and globalization. I read some of the Thomas Friedman's books and I thought they were well written and had a great point, but I always was skeptical about his message. It was just too rosy for me: Globalization flattens the world and changes existing power structures. I don't think it's neccessary to describe Friedman's other points and for the most part I think they are valid; I just think that there's more to it than that. This book, on the other hand, is all about taking that with a grain of salt. It really highlights the fact that the new technologies and the information systems really enhance the existing power structure rather than immediately break down existing norms.
The reason I gave this book 2 stars, though, is because I felt that it wasn't the easiest read. I often wondered what the authors were talking about and I had to re-read several passages because I just couldn't follow their logic or they just didn't elaborate enough on the important points. Maybe it was too dry and just not captivating.
An interesting and useful antidote to technotopia.......2005-12-23
Most books on internet and computing are optmistic in a 'infine linear projection' fashion - the common bane of all futurological speculations. Others are characterized by Luddite approaches to technology and media.
Every 'IN' medium is greeted with tremendous enthusiasm or pathological fear. Yet the history of technology and media shows that time and again the course taken by these is very different from the one predicted.
'The Social Life of Information' is one of the rare balanced outlooks on internet and computing technology. Written by eminent information scientists associated with Xerox PARC and University of California, it is based on well grounded empiricism and clear, level-headed reasoning.
The authors warn against a tunnel vision of narrow focus and blind optimism (or pessimism) and state that all problems are not information problems and therefore information by itself can not be the solution. They distinguish the promise of technology and the actual context of use and show how these are related or different.
The eight chapters of the book 'demythify' one or the other popular assumptions about power of information technology to change our lives and put things in context.
In one of the chapters they launch a scathing critique or technology-driven process engineering mania, showing how process engineering often ignores people, and even -- more seriously --actual practices that help solve problems.
In another they make useful distinction between knowledge and information and explain why knowledge management is not simply a question of using tools in isolation but of one of communities empowered through tools.
In yet another they explain the paradox why paper consumption has increased with increase in sales of computers and why we have not moved to a paperless office as prophesized.
They also show why universities are not just places where you take courses and degrees such that they can be replaced by online universities but places where you partake in the liesure needed for learning and the community interactions needed for developing good social skils as well as shared 'dialogical' learning.
They also explain why startups and home-offices fail and why IT has lead to agglomeration and not small enterprise. They state that there is a great deal of 'tacit' or hidden learning in a workplace that is not possible in a home office.
Other chapters discuss other issues like nature of problem solving, nature of 'knowledge ecologies' etc.
While this book won't 'open your mind' if you are basically level-headed, it will certainly correct any one-sided opinions that get formed by listening more often to one-side of the debate repeated ad nauseam in media.
Book Description
For the Sake of the Children examines the social organization of responsibility by asking who takes responsibility for critically ill newborns. Drawing on medical records and interviews with parents and medical staff, the authors take us into two neonatal intensive care units, showing us the traumas of extreme medical measures and the sufferings of infants. The accounts are by turns heroic and disturbing as we see people trying to take charge of these infants' care, thinking about long-term plans, redefining their roles as adults and parents, and coping with sometimes awful contingencies.
Rather than treating responsibility as an ethical issue, the authors focus on how responsibility is socially produced and sustained. The authors ask: How do staff members encourage parents to take responsibility, but keep them from interfering in medical matters, and how do parents encourage staff vigilance when they are novices attempting to supervise the experts?
The authors conclude that it is not sufficient simply to be responsible individuals. Instead, we must learn how to be responsible in an organizational world, and organizations must learn how to support responsible individuals.
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