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08/24/07 | Report as spam
Finally, someone gets it right.
I have read a couple of Tom Peter's books (first one was bad, shame on me for biting on the second one). Peters is completely full of crap. He only manages to point out what's wrong with everyone else.
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08/25/07 | Report as spam
Whew!
Great, I only had 3 out of the ten.
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08/28/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
I can't agree with your recommendation of "The Elements of Style". Strunk & White's "The Elements of Style? is probably one of the prime examples of horrendous advise books for business...especially their advice on avoiding the "passive voice", which they somehow conflate with "being passive". If you review author E.B. White's own writing, (amusingly enough even in "Elements of Style"), you will notice that he constantly switches to the passive voice. You can read UC Linguistics professor Geoffrey K. Pullum commentary at the Language Log (http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/003366.html)
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08/29/07 | Report as spam
Using passive voice in business communication
I'll never forget a quote from one of my managers that smacked of corporate America: "Passive voice is politically correct."
That's some way to communicate.
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08/29/07 | Report as spam
Sigh.
All writers use the passive voice on occasion, but good ones only use it for a reason. Sometimes complex sentences with dependent clauses mandate the passive voice in order to put pronouns closer to the nouns they modify. But most of the time the passive voice crops up because the writer can't think of how to phrase the statement more concisely. And other times, it's simply used to obscure and obfuscase.
Corporate bureaucrats (and indeed bureaucrats everywhere) LOVE LOVE LOVE the passive voice because it allows them to make statements and assertions without attributing actors to those statements. The classic is "mistakes were made." Not "I made a mistake" or "we made a mistake" or "they made a mistake." No, the mistakes hang out there all by their little lonesome, perfect targets to take the blame while the idiots who made the mistakes hide behind a rhetorical device.
Beginning business writers would be well advised to adhere religiously to Strunk and White. Journalists and writers who know what they're about can transcend the rules and still communicate clearly. There's a Taoist saying: "What is appropriate for the master is not appropriate for the student." Just because White (a brilliant writer) used the passive voice doesn't mean that it belongs in your memo to the CEO.
In other words: "Would that someday we shall have been stopped from using the passive voice." (That sentence, for you grammarians out there, is the passive voice, future perfect tense, subjunctive mood.)
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08/30/07 | Report as spam
re. Sigh
I must disagree with your assessment of "Elements of Style". Indeed the so-called corporate bureaucrats are the very people who are using that book as the corporate style guide. I can give you a quarter century of corporate communications experience of in-house style guides who slavishly follow Strunk & White's manual, foolishly and with no understanding of clear and consistent communication. The problem with that book and others, is that they treat these "rules" as dogma and people follow them as received wisdom. Excellent writers understand that in the interest of clear communication, rules are meant to be broken.
I must disagree with your assessment of "Elements of Style". Indeed those corporate bureaucrats are the very people who are using that book as the corporate style guide. I can give you a quarter century of corporate communications experience of in-house style guides who slavishly follow Strunk & White's manual, foolishly and with no understanding of clear and consistent communication. The problem with that book and others, is that they treat these "rules" as dogma and people follow them as received wisdom. Excellent writers understand that in the interest of clear communication, rules are meant to be broken.
To take just one example, the "passive voice". Passive Voice provides a way to treat what is normally the direct object of a verb or a preposition as a subject. This can be effective or not depending on what is being communicated (notice passive voice). People love to think that there is a magic rule book that lists the 10 commandments of good writing. But there isn't. And this is particularly true of effective business writing. This is exactly why MS Word's Grammar Checker is worse than useless.
And finally...No, I also, don't agree with your assessment of White as a writer. He is mediocre at best.
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08/30/07 | Report as spam
Passive
Hmmm...
"This can be effective or not depending on what is being communicated."
I'm not entirely certain the previous sentence is an example of clear writing. Try, instead:
"Is the passive voice effective? In some situations, definitely."
I'm not being entirely facetious here; most sentences are stronger when recast into the active voice.
But this is all beside the point. Most business writers can barely write a coherent sentence; most business communications are marvels of circumlocution and jargon. The emails and memos that I see -- especially from the Gen Y crowd -- exhibit a level of grammatical understanding that would rival that of a drunk gerbil. Such folk need simple rules. Strunk and White supplies them.
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01/09/08 | Report as spam
Hear, Hear!
One has to remember that the intent of written communication is to... wait for it... communicate. The audience, therefore, is of primary importance when writing; not the author. The passive voice isn't appropriate for all occasions, but a CEO can justify the use the passive voice in an attempt to calm a disquieted investment community so that they don't storm the castle gates when things go wrong.
Personally, I agree that a good place to start is with Strunk & White; if for no other reason than to teach the next generation that they may not be understood if their business communications include text-message style comments (e.g.: "l8r 2nite"). (This kind of content, by the way, is already showing up on essays submitted on college exams.)
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08/28/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Why must they be so specific when principles alone will guide a manager 80% of the time. Surround yourself with Motivated, intelligent delegates then empower them and stand back! http://changethis.com/14.PositiveAttitude
Dan Auito
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08/28/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Great! I wish I had read it 12 months ago prior to buying and reading 8 out of the 10 books on the list.
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08/28/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Totally awesome! Wish I had known earlier.
Inez@thebracygroup.com
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08/28/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
I think you make valid points on some of the books, but I must say you completely miss it with Covey's book. We aren't separate beings, one for business and one for the rest of our life. The right character traits that work in business do work in life.
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08/30/07 | Report as spam
Character
There's certain some truth in your remark about character. However, I'll make the observation that, in the course of writing about business, I've interviewed at least 100 CEOs. I can count the ones who weren't obvious *ssh*l*s on the digits of one hand. I don't think that this is a coincidence.
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08/31/07 | Report as spam
Character
Right, and now we know why only a handful of them are truly successful.
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08/28/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
I own many of the books listed here and have re-read them many times with the intention of reading them again...thanks for your sugesstions, I guess I am tired of reading them anyway especially since they tend to motivate you only for a few hours.
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08/28/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Agreed a few of them are indeed overrated but some who can escape this avoid-me-please list could be "Who moved my cheese" and "the 7 habits...". Both deal with complex subjects in a very simple manner -while one takes a funny route (mice-in-maze) to show how to deal with change in our lives, the qualities /habits described in the other are still very much relevant.
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08/29/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Sensational article. Right on the money both with the books to avoid and the suggested alternative readings.
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08/29/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
I'd like to add:
Instead of 'any of Jack Welch's books' read: Execution by Larry Bossidy - he was the guy who got it done at GE - not the smoke blowing up you know where ex-CEO.
Instead of In serach of Excellence - which is easy to nail in hindsight - read: Good to Great by Jim Collins - 30 years of stock prices dont lie.
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08/29/07 | Report as spam
Some others to read instead
I'd like to add:
Instead of 'any of Jack Welch's books' read: Execution by Larry Bossidy - he was the guy who got it done at GE - not the smoke blowing up you know where ex-CEO.
Instead of In serach of Excellence - which is easy to nail in hindsight - read: Good to Great by Jim Collins - 30 years of stock prices dont lie.
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08/29/07 | Report as spam
Reading Advice: Beware of Pundits who Recommend Books to Read!
Of the books listed as overated should be added the articles written by pundits who recommend books to read. Although I don't suggest the books listed are benefical, the list of recommended alternatives should be critiqued as well. "Crazy Bosses", "How to Lie with Statistics" etc. I rather doubt will help one's career.
I think you could make the same statement about the recommended books: "over-hyped tomes".
My suggestion is read all these books for amusement and entertainment, just like this article, and you won't be disappointed!
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08/30/07 | Report as spam
Crazy Bosses and Statistics
You need to read Crazy Bosses so that you can spot one before you accept a job, or to make a quick getaway if you're unfortunate enough to get assigned to work for one.
You need to read How to Lie with Statistics because it gives you the ammunition you need to quickly and totally eviscerate the arguments of any competitor (internal or external) who uses fudged data.
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08/29/07 | Report as spam
Very Interesting
I'm skeptical of popular books anyway, especially business books. Business is so dynamic and if everyone is reading the same books then what is the point? There is no competitive advantage other than to keep up but it's risky either way. Business books are boring. I have a hard time finishing any of them and I love reading. Maybe that's my problem. I love reading and it seems like the authors don't. I suggest reading a wide variety and think critically. There are business lessons to be learned in even the most seemingly unlikely places. Don't you think so?
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08/30/07 | Report as spam
Boring Business Books
I recently suggested to an editor at McGraw Hill that they rent out chapter seven of all their business books to the CIA in order to send secret messages to agents out in the field, like so:
"Managers should envision to create long-term high-impact meta-services and quickly negotiate cost effective paradigms to meet customer's needs the secret plans to the nuclear reactor are hidden under the rock in front of the embassy in order to dramatically create virtual leadership skills in order to efficiently disseminate parallel services to exceed customer expectations."
She was not amused.
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09/13/07 | Report as spam
covert ops
hah! brilliant. no one would ever be the wiser.
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08/29/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
I am not sure there there are wrong (or right) business books. Anyone that takes the words in these books as "gospel" (pardon the term) is just setting themselves up for failure. There is a tremendous amount of great information available in each of those books listed in the original post. The idea however is to take those tools they they are offering and make them work in your environment.
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08/29/07 | Report as spam
Message has been deleted.
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08/29/07 | Report as spam
BNET screwed up ... because
I didn't post the IMLaughlin comment. Have no idea how my screen name got under that comment. This is a bit scarey, as no one wants BNET attributing things they didn't say. Happened after BNET diverted me to a signup screen.
My posted comment really was:
Panning Covey's Seven Habits as sanctimonious while praising Machiavelli's The Prince as the way to succeed tells me all I need to know about the shallow ******** that compiled the list.
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08/30/07 | Report as spam
This guy is my hero...
He writes some comment that apparently was deleted (probably because it contained an expletive) and then explains that it wasn't him that made the comment, and then writes a comment that contains a euphemistic expletive, just to let us know (I suppose) that he wouldn't write a real expletive. But what's funny is that the comment is in defense of Stephen Covey; it's difficult to imagine the old guy smiling with avuncular approval at expletives (real or imagined) hurled in his defense.
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08/30/07 | Report as spam
Machiavelli vs Covey
The idea that Covey should be read in place of Machiavelli is sophomoric. There's a reason that "The Prince" has been a must read for managers for the past 500 years. Does anybody serious think that Covey will be read in 500 years, even as an historical curiosity?
While certain high-minded folk (myself included) would prefer that business be conducted with the organizational rectitude of a church choir, the simple truth is that business is, in every sense of the word, Machiavellian.
For the past twenty years, I've watched dozens of companies with amoral power-centric business practices run roughshod over their more "enlightened" competition. If you think Covey more useful than Machiavelli, try working at PeopleSoft when the barbarians from Oracle stormed their corporate walls. Or try going mano-a-mano with Microsoft over a market they consider strategic.
Machiavelli is essential reading for professionals because it describes the real world. Take the quote from "The Prince" from the review, the one about being feared versus being loved. That's just the sort of thing that would give Covey the fantods, but it is simply an observation about the world as it is, not how we wish it might be.
For example: think about the best manager you ever worked for. I'll bet that he (or she) was inspirational (i.e. loved) but was also just a little bit scary (feared). In fact, it was that combination of being feared and loved that made you desperately want approval from that manager. And that's why you did all that extra work, right?
Now, think about the most recent corporate turf battle that you've witnessed in your firm, one where some scary manager tussled with some relatively "nice" manager. Who won? I'll bet it was Mr. Scary.
So here's what Machiavelli is telling us:
1. If you want to be a successful leader, if possible, be both feared and loved.
2. If you can't do that and must choose between the two, be feared.
3. If you can't figure out how to be feared, figure out how to be loved.
4. (Implied) If you can't make yourself either feared or loved, don't get into management.
That's incredibly good advice and, just by itself, far more valuable than all of Covey's warmed-over treacle and pseudo-religious psychobabble.
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12/10/07 | Report as spam
Machiavelli vs Covey - reply
Have you been a leader before. I'll bet that you have never lead anyone or anything of significance. Machiaveli leadership isn't even a leadership style so the premise of your response isn't even a valid beginning.
First, it is not possible to lead that way under normal conditions which are 80% of all companies and situations. To use that style you need a power that is not possible in a free market. It works to an extent in politics but politics is a controlled envirnment of the few. In american business, people have choices and fear can only go so far.
Again, you have no real experience in being a leader. You have no idea of what it takes to be a great leader and you have a very negative outlook on society. The Clinton style of power won't last. It comes and goes and will forever but in most businesses and community and outreach and other entities where leadership is needed outside of big government, schools, small municipalities, it takes what Covey offers and others like him.
You forget what the end game is. Your God is money and you operate as if that is all there is. True, money is the most powerful force man created but its how he uses it that is the most powerful force and some use it to become great leaders who leave a legacy and change people forever for the good and others who use it for evil and you know the rest.
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09/04/07 | Report as spam
Rich Dad, Poor Dad got 1 thing right
His advice should've been how to build a book/speaking engagement franchise as he and the Chicken Soup author (and L. Ron Hubbard) have done.
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09/04/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Your analysis is way too cynical. That's a shame. How in the world is 7 Habits "sanctimonious"? You think he's feigning sincerity in that book? He may be wordy, unnecessarily complex, even idealistic, but sanctimonious?
And sorry, work IS a touchy-feely place. A multitude of studies on Generation X, for example, will tell you they want to "connect" at work...they want strong friendships there as much as in their "real" lives. And that's before we even get into their notions on work/life balance.
You're showing no thought to proven organizational behavior principles.
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09/12/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Don't forget to avoid the following overrated books:
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Bible by King James I
The Qur??n by by Muhammad.
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09/12/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Oh, and Sun Zhu's the Art of War... what the F... so many people go on and on about this book more to try and sound good than because they've actually read and understood it.
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06/20/08 | Report as spam
Sun Zu's Art of War?
I feel, it is a heap of crap - corny nonsense. Chinese war strategies at work place will surely get hurled on a catapult or get you to get fired! LOL!!
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06/20/08 | Report as spam
Sun Zu's Art of War?
I feel, it is a heap of crap - corny nonsense. Chinese war strategies at work place will surely get you hurled on a catapult or get you to get fired! LOL!!
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09/12/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Brilliant! Thanks for the refreshing take on these--and especially for suggesting alternatives.
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09/12/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Interesting, though I don't agree with the assessment of Covey and Kiyosaki's books. Also, "Winning" might be a better book about Jack Welch's approach.
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09/13/07 | Report as spam
Wheat from chaff
I like the idea of sorting the wheat from the chaff, but instead of throwing out 10 books and replacing them with 10 new, maybe the need is to pull out the key messages for all 20 so that people can use what works for them.
Do we all manage the same? What works for my peer won't necessarily work for me? There's no one right way. The people, the environment, the company, the culture, the location all impact the approach.
I've read 12 of the 20 and forgotten 95% of it. I kept the 5% that worked for me and moved on.
Latest read: 4 Hour Work Week, by Tim Ferriss - an obvious marketing title meant to sell books, but, once you get into it, it's not bad. Again I can't use 100% of it, but certain parts spoke to me: slowing down, what will I do when I retire, decluttering your life, time management, leveraging others, starting a profitable side business, NOT putting off life, getting a different perspective on my career. Other parts were useless to me: vagabonding, moving overseas for 6 months, virtual assistants, escaping from the office. This is one of those books that I would have laughed at 20 years ago. Today I can appreciate it and pull from it what I need.
In the end, read as much as you can, keep what excites you and forget the rest.
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09/13/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
My $0.02:
1) I can't seem to find the article/reference but I distinctly remember Michael Hammer writing a follow-up about how his book was completely misunderstood and that you can't downsize yourself to greatness. I think the book has merit so long as you put it in its context: pre-globalization, pre-automation, Jumbo-sized greedy 80's.
2) Tom Peters is another fad-writer that gets everything right but is completely mis-understood, mis-quoted and mis-used by managers. (hmm... seeing trend develop) I better go dig out my "Dilbert Principle" hardback.
3) I agree with the "Art of War", just steer clear of "interpretations" and derivative works like "Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers; 50 Strategic Rules". Bluntly this is about war and not business. There are some timeless principles that can be applied to business.
4. "Winning" is a better choice for looking at Jack Welch. I'm going to check out the "Crazy Bosses" tome. It sounds rather cynical though.
5. "Jesus CEO" was just a bad idea. Jesus wasn't here to be the most successful carpenter in the world. The Book of Proverbs is timeless and is loaded. You can get lost in there over and over and over and...
6. Don't agree with the "Seven Habits..." analysis per se. Again, you have to take this book in its context: help people get a grasp on the accelerating pace of life in the 80's and 90's. I'm surprised David Allen's "Getting Things Done" wasn't mentioned as an alternative. The Book of Proverbs would work here, too. So many books are based off of "The Prince" that it should just be stated as required reading instead of an alternative.
7. I think "One Minute" has merit for people people with a short attention span. Strunk's "The Elements of Style" is on my mandatory reading list. If I get one more Gen-Y employee that can't rite or spel I'll start taking heads, Atilla style. "Coaching and Mentoring: How to Develop Top Talent and Achieve Stronger Performance (Harvard Business Essentials)" by HBS Press might have been a better alternative suggestion. "Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most" by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, and Roger Fisher while PAINFULLY dry, will get most managers more paydirt than "The One Minute Manager". BTW: Blanchard 's suggestion of touching a person when you are trying to get your point across will land you in jail these days.
8. To summarize the Cheese book: the only constant in life is change. Get over it and learn to anticipate and plan for changes. I would have offered up "Managing in a Time of Great Change" by Peter F. Drucker as an alternative since this about business books. "How to lie with Statistics" is relevant and another mandatory read.
9. ?Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work? is a self-help book. Not sure why is it is considered a business book. I don't know anything about ?The Complete ?Yes Minister?? but I consider the British (and most writers by nature) a Socialist economy and prefer the good 'ol Capitalist USA so maby "Introduction to International Political Economy (4th Edition)" by David N. Balaam and Michael Veseth would be more relevant. Honestly I don't understand where the author was going with picking a "Chicken Soup" book. How about "How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie or "To Build the Life You Want, Create the Work You Love: The Spiritual Dimension of Entrepreneuring" by Marsha Sinetar
10. The "Rich Dad" series, for better or worse, is spot on. Having said that, it only made me mad to read it and realize I had been sold a bag of lies about "work hard, get an education, become wealthy". If that were true all college educated people would be wealthy: they ain't. If fact the 2000 census pointed out that most college educated white-collar workers are in the lower middle-class and the middle middle-class has disappeared. Take the "Rich Dad's" advice to heart, get mad, go see an independent financial advisor not tied to a brokerage or insurance firm and make a plan to turn your stock portfolio in into a large diversified portfolio consisting of owning your own business, residual income from rental properties, stocks, etc.
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09/13/07 | Report as spam
Lots of books are fluff
The problem is that even insightful concepts can be described in 10 or 15 pages, but you can't sell a book that size.
Since I own a lot of these books (I love to buy books... it's a weakness), I created a collaborative business book summary and discussion site as a fun project:
http://www.squeezedbooks.com
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09/13/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Very nice. While I don't agree completely (I like the 'Rich Dad...' audio book), making Dilbert a better Choice than the 'Excellence' blubber amusing and indeed right. The most amazing thing about the 'Excellence' book is that Peters actually LIED in his book and some time ago even ADMITTED it (by accident) - see 'In search of stupidity' by M.R. Chapman, which by the way is also a neat alternative in this case!
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09/13/07 | Report as spam
popular books V's left of field
I have not read some of these books but I find that reading some popular books enable to know what other people are going on about, particular when a book introduces new lingo - note that it is not necessary a new concept. Reading other books will give you some difference concepts that popular books won't.
I think that main difference will be who applies some of the concept listed in these books. If you read a book and got nothing out of it - why read it?
I have read cheese and loved the story besides it was short and sweet. I remember watching the entire series of "Yes minister" and "Yes Prime minister" as a kid. Beware you will never listen to a politian the same again. Thisis an excellent display of talking in circles.
Enjoy reading
Leona Seib
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09/14/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Another book that i found worth reading was Mavericks at Work. Not too sure about the authers
Proudly Kenyan
www.sisimua.com
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09/18/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
All in this list are excellent choices, especially #1. A good indicator of the quality of an idea is its relationship to the amount of money consultants can make from it - its inverse relationship, that is. Hammer's book was a gold mine (platinum?) for consultants, who claimed huge value creation from process re-engineering. But, after a decade of this stuff, none of these companies showed any improvement in total profitability.
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09/19/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
i dont think Rich Dad Poor Dad is over-rated, i think it's easy to read and insightful for the average working person. a Must-Read actually.
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09/26/07 | Report as spam
Business Books
I agree with the other post re RICH DAD POOR DAD. This book is a must read for all ... the article does not mention it in a balanced way. Whether or not you want to take the same track as the RDPD author, it is certainly a book that makes you think about how you earn, spend, and think about money.
Another must read book if you want reading that will make you think (even if you don't agree with everything read) is Ayn Rand's ATLAS SHRUGGED. I resisted reading it, but when i finally did... WOW!
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12/06/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
I like taking the air out of the blowhards, but you missed one: Burt Malkiel has essentially abandoned his own "markets are ultimately rational" stance and accepted the corollary "except when they're crazy".
A much better book for managing your money is "Rule #1" by Phil Town. Town looks at the classic investment style of Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffet and boils it down to a manageable series of steps for people who have normal jobs and unimpressive amounts of money to invest. "Rule #1" even cites Malkiel's work and debunks a large amount of current portfolio theory.
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12/07/07 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
Wow, someone in the virtual realm actually refers to the Bible as a source of business wisdom. this is unexpected, and refreshing. proverbs is indeed a great book, filled with wisdom for everyday use.
nice post, thanks!
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03/17/08 | Report as spam
What to Read Instead
The title of the article points to the 1st problem--"Business Books." I like the alternative life book that was recommend reading, The Book of Proverbs (in the Bible). Read that and you can skip all the motivational lectures and books--it's all already been said--long ago.
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04/29/08 | Report as spam
Give them as gifts...
...to your competition. While they read, proselytize and try to implement this nonsense, you'll be off succeeding somewhere else. It's a version of what I call the "Beetle-Bag" strategy. Those heinous-smelling contraptions actually ATTRACT them to your yard. Best strategy? Give them as gifts to your surrounding neighbors.
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08/29/08 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
I have read five of the titles recommended for replacement and while I agree with the assessment of most, I do strongly disagree with your assessment of the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" book. Unless you have crossed two titles within the series, I didn't get from the book you listed a direction for investing .. instead it was a very good eye-opener about how one should view wealth creation and how to treat personal money (income, expenditure, and taxation).
I would recommend the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the rich teach their kids that the poor and middle class do not" book to everyone who has been "educated" to find a good job instead of being educated towards creating wealth from various strategic options available to the average reader. It inspires a change in how one identifies with the world.
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06/12/09 | Report as spam
Top 10 Business Books to Read
There's a great bunch of books there- Jesus CEO/ One Minute Manager/ Seven Habits are all great. I've got a few more to add with my Top 10 Business Books to Read: http://blog.freedoma.com/2009/06/12/the-best-10-business-books-to-read/
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06/12/09 | Report as spam
RE: 10 Overrated Business Books (and What to Read Instead)
I'd also agree with Richard's comments on Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The reality here however is that those who are trapped in greater levels of poverty would find it hard to get access to what's shared. However, raising some interesting points as to how different demographic groups bring up their children. A good read.