The Right Decision Every Time: How to Reach Perfect Clarity on Tough Decisions(paperback) Review

The Right Decision Every Time: How to Reach Perfect Clarity on Tough Decisions(paperback)
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One of those I really wished I could have browsed at a local store. Judging from the quotes she pulled from books listed in the bibliography, you'd be better served buying some of those. There is little that is original here, and the whole "achieve clarity" mantra comes across as an attempt to create the next BIG THING in management fads. Soon we'll all be going off on expensive training sessions to work on our clarity.
Frankly, and I know some readers won't appreciate this, I gave up detailed reading after a few pages, skimmed the rest of the chapter, skipped and skimmed around a bit more, and had had enough.
I'm clear about one thing: I wasted my money.

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It's About Time: The Competitive Advantage of Quick Response Manufacturing Review

It's About Time: The Competitive Advantage of Quick Response Manufacturing
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It's About Time is a follow-on book to Rajan Suri's original book on Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM). I pre-ordered the book because I have used QRM and can say without a doubt that it works in both office and manufacturing situations. I used QRM principles in the office with an 83% time reduction and have used it in manufacturing with a 64% time reduction. These techniques were used in a highly variable mixed-model environment where previous consultants failed (after spending mega-bucks) using "straight lean" techniques. Don't get me wrong, lean has its place, but QRM solves many of the issues that lean does not (especially in mixed model "job shop" type environments).
Rajan's new book provides many additional practical insights and explanations based on the 10+ years of QRM success. The CD containing the appendicies is a nice touch to explain some of the concepts in greater detail. This is a great book which answers many of the day-to-day dilemmas facing industry,office, and service businesses today. The book reads fast and is hard to put down.
I am a lean consultant who holds seven lean/six sigma certifications & I am also a lean manufacturing instructor for the University of Minnesota.
If there was a grade higher than an "A", I would give it to this book!
I can be reached at 952-941-0912 for further discussion on this book.
Jim McCarthy- Master Black Belt & Lean Master
Eden Prairie, Minnesota


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In the decade since the publication of Rajan Suri's landmark book, Quick Response Manufacturing, the innovative principles of QRM have been proven with impressive results at many companies, big and small, in a variety of industries. While the key principles of QRM remain unchanged, after a decade of teaching QRM workshops to senior executives, Suri has developed a clear, concise, and accessible method of presenting QRM strategy using four core concepts:1. The Power of Time - the huge impact time has on your entire enterprise 2. Organization Structure - how to structure your organization to reduce lead times3. System Dynamics - understanding how interactions between jobs and resources impact time to make better decisions on capacity, lot sizes, and similar issues4. Enterprise-Wide Application - QRM is not just a shop floor strategy, it extends across your whole enterprise including material planning and control, supply management, office operations, and new product introductionPresenting new case studies on QRM implementation, It's About Time: The Competitive Advantage of Quick Response Manufacturing illustrates how QRM can not only reduce lead times but also improve quality, reduce operating costs, and enable companies to gain substantial market share. This practical reference explains how factories in advanced nations can use QRM strategy to compete with manufacturers in low-wage countries. In addition, it provides helpful pointers for QRM implementation, including accounting strategies, novel cost-justification approaches, and a stepwise process for implementation.Also included is a bonus CD with five appendices that provide a number of practical details to assist in the success of your QRM implementation. When you are ready to start implementing QRM, you will find that these appendices contain time-saving tips to help you work through implementation issues-including simple calculation methods and tools to support the design of your QRM strategy.The author, Rajan Suri, recently became one of only 10 people to be inducted intoIndustry Week's 2010 Manufacturing Hall of Fame.

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Winning with People: Discover the People Principles that Work for You Every Time Review

Winning with People: Discover the People Principles that Work for You Every Time
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Winning With People takes the reader on a 360-degree tour of our interactions with other people. The book is built around five questions designed to stimulate self-reflection. This helps us see ourselves as others see us and to see them as valuable even when we do not agree or understand them. I suspect almost anyone can find something, perhaps many things, in this book to help them grow in interpersonal skills. Maxwell insists that we be authentic and even sacrificial in our relationships to get along with others. He is absolutely right to instruct us that meeting someone half-way simply is not good enough. If we value the other person (and why shouldn't we?) half-way is just a half hearted approach and the other person will eventually perceive our lack of care towards them.
Maxwell helped me see most of our relational problems are in ourselves. I must take ownership of my shortcomings and strive to correct them. Along with my own housecleaning I must learn to build healthy relationships with others accepting that they too have housecleaning needs they may or may not ever address. Failure in either area on my part (housecleaning or skills building) can quickly destroy relationships I am currently blessed with. The first priority is learning how not to destroy relationships (get the beam out of my own eye), then learn to build good ones.
Maxwell's straightforward style reaches out to everyone using interpersonal examples from sports, pastoring, business, gangsters, marriage, Abraham Lincoln and other great leaders. Also, if you like to collect great quotes as I do, you will find dozens of good ones here (several from honest Abe).
I enjoyed reading the book but I have a few bones to pick that might bother some readers more or less so than they did me. At times I find Maxwell's approach superficial, too much cheerleading and not enough deep reflection. For example, some of the techniques for building up self esteem in others when you know practically nothing about them (p 92-95) strike me as insincere manipulation - calling it sincere doesn't make it so. I also detect some deep underpinnings of consumerism (more is always better) in how Maxwell gauges success. He often refers to who has the largest church attendance or how much the sales grew or other materialistic metrics to indicate success. For example a church with 15,000 members is referred to as being in the top 1% of churches in the country (p212) but no other success criteria are mentioned. In the top 1% by whose standards? Not mine, I don't think the Bible encourages that definition of success. I trust Maxwell is using this as just one convenient guidepost for success, but frankly his writing makes me wonder. I think it is a rather poor way to introduce the success of a church or pastor. These kind of quantitative - grow-baby-grow type examples are common throughout the book. Personally, I think hyper materialism/capitalism is fueling many of our relationship problems. I'm not comfortable having it sprinkled throughout a book on improving relationships.
Finally, there are a few areas where trying to actually adopt what is recommended would drain you in every area of life. P224 recommends: "care more than other think is wise, risk more than others think is safe, dream more than others think is practical, expect more than others think is possible, work more than others think is necessary". Maxwell's point is to live up to our highest ideals, but if I take this advice literally I am likely to damage relationships, not improve them because I'll be utterly exhausted in every area of my life - especially spiritually. If I am not to take it literally then it is just cheerleading to inspire me while I read the book. Perhaps I missed the point, but I don't find this helpful past the initial moment of inspiration.
As you can see I have mixed feelings about the book, but I do recommend it for those who want to be led into some useful self-reflection/emotional inventory for improving relationships.


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The Go Point: When It's Time to Decide--Knowing What to Do and When to Do It Review

The Go Point: When It's Time to Decide--Knowing What to Do and When to Do It
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Facing a major decision in your life? Pick up a copy of "The Go Point"! Michael Useem explores the process of how leaders make decisions, that is, to go or not go. The way he does it is masterful. "The Go Point" operates on three levels: one, it's a terrific narrative; two, it is an exploration of the decision-making process from a leadership perspective; and three, it's a self-paced course in decision-making. The leaders Useem profiles are taken from the front and the back pages of history, business and current events. All the leadership stories works to illuminate the factors that go into decisions. An added plus is that each chapter ends with a summary of points that identify key aspects to decision-making that readers are encouraged to discover from the narrative and then compare to the printed results. "The Go Point" is a book that every decision-maker at every level will want to read, study, and put into practice. It is a treasure.

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What do you do when it's time to get off the fence? One of the world's most noted leadership experts, Michael Useem uses dramatic story­telling to show how to master the art and science of being decisive. He places you smack in the middle of people who faced their go point, when actions–or lack of them–determined the fates of individuals, companies, and countries. • Why on earth did Robert E. Lee send General George Pickett on an almost suicidal charge against the Union lines at Gettysburg?• How does the leader of a firefighting crew make life-or-death decisions when one direction means safety, the other danger?• You've just assumed responsibility for a scandal-wracked corporation, a company teetering on the brink of disaster. What you decide over the course of the next several days will have consequences for thousands of employees and investors. How do you fulfill your responsibilities?You'll discover why some decisions were flawless, perfectly on target, and others utterly disastrous. Most of all, you'll learn how to make the right calls yourself, whether you're changing your career, launching a product, or deciding on a potential acquisition or merger.

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Stochastic Optimization in Continuous Time Review

Stochastic Optimization in Continuous Time
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When you would like to learn the basic issues of stochastic optimization in continuous time, and you are rather unfamiliar with probability theory, then this book is a bad choice. The treatment is far less rigorous then promised by the praise at the back cover of the book. The proofs are often not that rigorous to deserve the name of proof. As in so many books the author invokes the so-called principle of optimality, suggesting that it is an eternal truth. As a heuristic principle this is fine, it is only a theorem, when properly phrased, under certain conditions, see for instance the works of Bertsekas. Furtheron the notation is now and then misleading.
It is quite well possible, that in the hands of a good teacher this is a valuable book, but someone, who would like to learn the trade on her own, by using this book, is strongly advised not to do so, and instead start with a mathematically sound introduction to stochastic processes. Someone, who would like to have a good intro in the context of finance is strongly advised to consult the two latest books by Shreve. These books are in my view exemplary for a thorough introduction to stochastic processes in an applied context.

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Most of the current books on stochastic control theory are written for students in mathematics or finance. This introduction is designed, however, for those interested in the relevance and applications of the theory's mathematical principles to economics. Therefore, mathematical methods are discussed intuitively and illustrated with economic examples. More importantly, mathematical concepts are introduced in language and terminology familiar to graduate students in economics.

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Going Part-Time: The Insider's Guide for Professional Women Who Want a Career and a Life Review

Going Part-Time: The Insider's Guide for Professional Women Who Want a Career and a Life
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This is a great reference book for anyone considering part-time and even for those that are already doing it. I have worked both part-time and in a job-share and this topic is a passion of mine. I find the information in the book helpful, accurate, objective and well-balanced. It's presented in a positive fashion - not like an unrealisic fantasy - more like "if you want it bad enough you can get it, but you need to be persistent, open-minded and creative - and here are some strategies that really work." The book spans different industries and professions, which brings even more ideas to the table. The interviews and real life experiences are both inspiring and comforting.

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Designed for women readers who are frustrated with having to choose between the demands of their homes and careers, a guide to negotiating for part-time work presents real-life examples of women who have made things work for them. Original."

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Food for Thought: How the Creator of Fuddrucker's, Romano's Macroni Grill, and eatZi's Built a $10 Billion Empire One Concept at a Time Review

Food for Thought: How the Creator of Fuddrucker's, Romano's Macroni Grill, and eatZi's Built a $10 Billion Empire One Concept at a Time
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I love reading about the creativity behind the business. I admire someone who has the courage to follow through on his inspiration. Phil Romano did it over and over again. I do believe that he puts service before profit -- the proof is in the restaurants themselves. This book makes me curious about the ones I haven't tried yet, and I'm waiting for what's next.
I even culled some business tips -- some rules to live by. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for some inspiration, a good story, and some sound business moves.

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