Reading Recommendations

Following is a collection of books, articles and essays to stimulate thought and discussion within your organization. Click on the category of interest to review the titles within the corresponding section.

General Business

Leadership and Management

Marketing and Sales

Project Management

Service and Relationship Management

General Business Back to Top

Re-imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age
More than just a how-to book for the 21st Century, Re-imagine! is a call to arms -- a passionate wake-up call for the business world, educators, and society as a whole. Focusing on how the business climate has changed, this inspirational book outlines how the new world of business works, explores radical ways of overcoming outdated, traditional company values, and embraces an aggressive strategy that empowers talent and brand-driven organizations where everyone has a voice. (Peters, Tom. Re-imagine!. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited., 2003.)

Leadership and Management Back to Top

The Work of Leadership
The authors suggest that the prevailing notion that leadership consists of having a vision and aligning people with it is bankrupt; this approach ignores the fact that many work situations are adaptive rather than technical. The authors say leaders should be able to spot operational and strategic patterns from high within the organization and set or create a context for change rather than get caught up in the field of action. They need to pinpoint just how a company's value systems or methods of collaboration must change as well as to regulate the inevitable distress that adaptive work generates. (Heifetz, Ronald A. and Laurie, Donald L.. "The Work of Leadership." Harvard Business Review Dec. 2001: 5-15.)

Marketing and SalesBack to Top

Bang!: Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World
Presenting an arsenal of "big bang" ideas, the authors discuss how to create a memorable publicity hook and how to design attention-grabbing packaging that taps into consumers' innermost desires. They interweave entertaining accounts of their successes and failures, as well as those of other companies to suggest specific ways to establish an atmosphere conducive to innovative breakthroughs--why having "enough" time to work on a project can be a disadvantage, and why having a small staff in a cramped space is often the best way to come up with big ideas. (Kaplan Thaler, Linda, Robin Kaval, and Delia Marshall. Bang!: Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World. New York, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 2003.)

Project Management Back to Top

Earned Value Project Management
In its most simple form, earned value equates to fundamental project management. Writing in an easy-to-read, friendly, and humorous style characteristic of the best teachers, Fleming and Koppelman have identified the minimum requirements that they feel are necessary to use earned value - a solid metric that reflects the health of a project. (Fleming, Quentin W. and Koppelman, Joel M.. Earned Value Project Management. 2nd ed. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, 2000.)

Service and Relationship Management Back to Top

Becoming a Category of One: How Extraordinary Companies Transcend Commodity and Defy Comparison
Renowned consultant Joe Calloway knows from experience what separates ordinary companies from companies that dominate the competition. In Becoming a Category of One, he shares the proven business lessons he learned by watching great companies get ahead of the pack and stay there. Ordinary companies compete in their categories, or even lead them. Extraordinary companies create their own categories by doing what no one else doesÜin effect, becoming a Category of One. Here's how they do it: they get to know the customer better than anyone else in the business and connect with that customer better than anyone else can. They transcend commodity by offering more than just a product. They defy comparison by doing what their competitors can't or won't do. (Calloway, Joe. Becoming a Category of One. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003.)