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Archive for the ‘Book Reviews’ Category

<Seven

The Number for Happiness, Love, and Success

By: Jacqueline Leo

Published: December 12, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 272
ISBN: 9780446542692
Publisher: Twelve

“Seven is a natural brain filter, managing information and visual stimuli in order to let the brain and memory function properly”, writes media guru, editor, and director of visual operations for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation Jacqueline Leo, in her entertaining and lighthearted look at the very special number Seven: The Number for Happiness, Love, and Success. The author presents the many ways that the number seven has held a special role in history, and its impact on our daily lives today.

Jacqueline Leo understands the cultural importance of the number seven. It has held a position of importance in all cultures, and in all historical periods. Whether the field is science, psychology, or religion, the number seven has been significant in all of them. The number seven is fascinating for its ubiquitous sorting function for many people. The author reminds us that most people will select seven when asked to choose a number between one and ten, or use only seven recipes out of an entire cookbook. Whether the area of interest is learning, love, or happiness, Jacqueline Leo has intriguing information on the importance of the number seven in our personal lives as well.

Jacqueline Leo (photo left) combines fun facts surrounding the mystical, and usually considered to be lucky number seven. She describes how regular telephone numbers consist of seven digits because that amount is the limit of most people’s short term memory. Even at the earliest stages of life, and throughout a child’s development and into adulthood, the mind learns in stages of sevens. The number seven, according to the author’s research, can be used effectively to develop a career path, start and operate a successful business, or to achieve success in all areas of life. The book is packed with examples, both whimsical and science based, of the importance of the number seven in all stages of our lives.

For me, the power of the book is how Jacqueline Leo presents the multi-faceted role of the number seven in so many fields. Combining information with lighthearted fun facts about the number and its quirks, the book is a delight to read. It can be opened at any page, and the reader will be rewarded with ideas to ponder and a smile to enjoy. The author includes many personal stories, written by guest authors of renown, on their experiences with the number seven. The book is both practical and a pleasure to read and enjoy.

I highly recommend the fun and fascinatingSeven: The Number for Happiness, Love, and Success by Jacqueline Leo, to anyone seeking an enjoyable read about an eternally intriguing number. The book holds riches for readers in search of number based mysticism, hard science, or just some fun facts for sharing with friends and family.

Read the rewarding and smile inducing book Seven: The Number for Happiness, Love, and Success by Jacqueline Leo, and discover the power and constant place of the number seven in your life and that of other people and cultures. Regardless of the time or place, societies have given importance and significance to the number seven. This book will give you a solid primer on that ubiquitous and very lucky integer.

Getting to Resolution, Second Edition

Turning Conflict Into Collaboration

By: Stewart Levine

Published: November 2009
Format: Paperback, 288 pages
ISBN: 9781576757710
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

“Resolution is much better than settling! Resolution provides relief and completeness”, writes the Founder of Resolution Works Stewart Levine, in his definitive second edition to his classic visinary book Getting to Resolution, Second Edition: Turning Conflict Into Collaboration. The author presents a powerful alternative system, for achieving a collaborative win-win solution for resolving conflict, that replaces the costly and unproductive adversarial model.

Stewart Levine understands the true costs of an adversarial paradigm for conflict resolution. He describes how not seeking resolution, and resorting to compromise or giving in to the other party, leads to resentment. The unsatisfactory solution doesn’t result in closure or healing for either party, but induce suffering instead. In place of the win-lose concept, the author offers a powerful collaborative system, where all parties work together to ensure that everyone is satisfied and benefits from the solution. The costs of failure to resolve an issue can be monetary, loss of time, lost productivity, and damaged personal relationships. As Stewart Levine points out, these very real costs represent a loss and suffering for the parties involved, for the business, and for society as a whole.

Stewart Levine (photo left) recognizes that modern society, from the polarized world of partisan politics to the litigation that overwhelms the legal system, are based on letting others handle conflicts. The author also understands that this impersonal approach to solving issues fails as the professionals don’t have to live with the outcomes of their settlements. They also do little to rebuild personal relationships. In their place, Stewart Levine proposes taking personal responsibility for searching for cooperative and mutually beneficial resolutions. He calls this creative and collaborative paradigm as thinking in a “resolutionary” way. When the parties take this forward thinking approach, common ground is discovered, and very often an unexpected and satisfactory resolution is achieved. By removing the adversarial mindset, and replacing it with a spirit of trust and resolution, then the relationship can be rebuilt and strengthened.

For me, the power of the book is how Stewart Levine combines the theory of why resolution is important, with a powerful and practical system that can be used in any situation. The hands on approach to resolution, presented in the book, includes ten principles of resolutionary thinking, resulting in a sea change in a person’s way of thinking and approaching conflict. Once those ten concepts are internalized, the person no longer sees the issues in a adversarial, win-lose way. In their place is a collaborative and creative system, based on personal responsibility and change in cultural outlook. As a companion to the ten theoretical principles, the author outlines seven workable steps as the crafting of a resolutionary agreement. By understanding the steps, and their application, the approach can be applied to any conflict situation, regardless of its complexity.

I highly recommend the visionary guide Getting to Resolution, Second Edition: Turning Conflict Into Collaboration by Stewart Levine, to anyone in business, government, the professions, or in personal mediation, who is seeking a more productive and conversational method of resolving conflict. Anyone who desires a move beyond the traditional and often damaging adversarial technique of problem solving will be rewarded many times over by this important book. The new way of thinking about conflict resolution is well suited to the times, and is on the leading edge of modern paradigm shifts in finding satisfactory outcomes.

Read the indispensable conflict resolution book Getting to Resolution, Second Edition: Turning Conflict Into Collaboration by Stewart Levine, and change your entire way of thinking about conflict. In place of the outdated, and costly current system, discover how a resolutionary approach will lead to happier results, more functional business cultures, and stronger personal relationships.

Feddie Girl

The Hilarious Adventures of an American Teen in a Nigerian Federal School

By: Nona David

Published: July 2009
Format: US Trade Paperback, 400 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9824526-0-8
Publisher: Bernard Books Publishing

Thirteen year old Carlotta Ikedi didn’t like attending her American schools, and was in constant trouble, and was often expelled for her behavior. Seeking a solution to Carlotta’s problems, her parents enroll her in a private girls school in Nigeria. Carlotta faces a culture shock unlike any that she has ever known, and faces the challenge of succeeding on her own in a strange environment. In the wonderful coming of age novel Feddie Girl: The Hilarious Adventures of an American Teen in a Nigerian Federal School, author Nona David weaves a fine story of character, friendship, and triumph over adversity.

Nona David develops several important themes in the book including the interaction of the girls attending the West African school. As an American, Carlotta is termed a Feddie Girl by the other students, and as such occupies a special niche in the school. The students do not always treat one another well, and as a result, friction does take place. Carlotta must learn how to navigate the unfamiliar customs and rigid rules and punishments practiced in the school. Her recognition that she must take care of herself, and not depend on others helps her to cope with the different culture. At the same time, she develops important friendships and shares mutual support with several other girls.

Carlotta begins her Nigerian school career with her bad attitude firmly in place. Over time, the spoiled American girl becomes independent and reaches out to others. Her character grows along with her acceptance of the school and its students, mores, and rules. The story follows the evolution of Carlotta from her beginnings as a troubled youth to responsible young woman. Her initial concern is only for herself, but as she gets to know and understand Nigeria and its people, she changes her opinion from intense dislike to one of understanding and love.

I highly recommend the memorable and intriguing book Feddie Girl: The Hilarious Adventures of an American Teen in a Nigerian Federal School by Nona David, as a coming of age tale that takes on fairy tale proportions. In the exile of Carlotta to her father’s home country of Nigeria, leaving her parents and their troubled marriage behind, Carlotta is transformed as a person. She starts her journey of self discovery with bitterness and disappointment and becomes one with her new surroundings and the people of Nigeria. The scenes in the book are memorable, and the characters stay with the reader long after the book ends.

Read the fascinating and enjoyable adventure novel Feddie Girl: The Hilarious Adventures of an American Teen in a Nigerian Federal School by Nona David, and transport yourself in both place and time to a private girls school in West Africa. Become entwined in the main plot and in the many interwoven subplots that give this novel its richness. Spend some time with Feddie Girl Carlotta, and share her sorrows and enjoy her triumphs as she becomes part of the school social fabric.

The Ethical Executive

Becoming Aware of the Root Causes of Unethical Behavior: 45 Psychological Traps that Every One of Us Falls Prey To

By: Robert Hoyk, Paul Hersey

Published: October 2008
Format: Hardcover, 152 pp
ISBN-10: 0804759650
ISBN-13: 9780804759656
Publisher: Stanford University Press

“The vast majority of people care about ethics, but are vulnerable to the traps described in this book. Good intentions are not enough to combat these forty-five traps”, write ethics and leadership experts Robert Hoyk and Paul Hersey, in their practical and eye opening book The Ethical Executive: Becoming Aware of the Root Causes of Unethical Behavior: 45 Psychological Traps that Every One of Us Falls Prey To. The authors describe how ordinary people are capable of important errors in judgment that lead to serious breeches of ethical behavior.

Robert Hoyk (photo left) and Paul Hersey recognize that even people with a strong moral and ethical sense can fall victim to some very unethical activities in the course of doing their jobs. With the wrong situational dilemma placed before an ethical employee, there are very often powerful reasons for failing to do the right thing. The authors describe in detail how these ethical traps are created and how otherwise upright people can start down a very very wrong path. Unlike many books on business ethics, this fine book doesn’t focus on ethical failure as being based on profit maximization, market pressure, or failure to comply with various laws and statutes. Instead, the authors believe the are the result of social and psychological influences.

Paul Hersey (photo left) and Robert Hoyk describe these forty-five ethical traps as falling into three major groups:

Primary Traps: The ethical failures are externally driven and involve the employee in taking action that would normally be outside of that person’s ethical range. The employee often feels like there is little option but to follow the unethical path in these situations

Defensive Traps: These failures of ethics are usually attempts to reverse a previous ethical transgression. The action may have been the result of guilt or shame resulting from a personal issue or weakness.

Personality Traps: The ethical breeches result from deep seated personality issues that lead the employee to commit unethical actions. These ethical failures are all the result of internal issues.

For me, the power of the book is how Robert Hoyk and Paul Hersey take a practical approach to understanding the various causes of the forty-five ethical traps. The authors also provide experimental results to verify how and why each ethical problem takes place. The three major categories of ethical dilemmas, help the reader to identify the cause and course of each ethical issue, before it happens. Through the identification of the potential problem a company and its employees are able to avoid being ensnared by one or more of the ethical traps. The authors also point out the critical insight that executives who commit unethical actions are not evil people, but are average everyday people who succumbed to the temptation of the ethical traps.

I highly recommend the timeless and thought provoking book The Ethical Executive: Becoming Aware of the Root Causes of Unethical Behavior: 45 Psychological Traps that Every One of Us Falls Prey To by Robert Hoyk and Paul Hersey, to anyone seeking to understand why ethical failures occur, how to predict when and how they may arise, and how to prevent ethical dilemmas from happening in an organization. This understanding of the forces that create ethical issues will build mutual trust between employees and all of the stakeholders of the organization.

Read the essential book The Ethical Executive: Becoming Aware of the Root Causes of Unethical Behavior: 45 Psychological Traps that Every One of Us Falls Prey To by Robert Hoyk and Paul Hersey, and discover the underlying social and psychological reasons why executives fall into ethical traps. Armed with that knowledge, you can foresee dangerous ethical situations in advance, and prevent them ever taking place. This book will help your company build a solid ethical foundation.