Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read
Review: This is a breakthrough book. Jennings and Haughton outline specific tactics used by today's most successful enterprises. They've done a masterful job of dissecting the ingredients that have made companies like AOL, Charles Schwab, and Clear Channel Communications the success stories of this decade. They offer a practical, step by step guide that any business, large or small, can easily implement. This book, along with Seth Godin's Permission Marketing, are the two key business book Bibles for any leader who wants to win in the 21st century.
Rating:
Summary: Great and practical book on entrepreneurship
Review: This is a great book on entrepreneurship: from small companies to large. The authors distill the experience of fast growing, entrepreneurial companies into a series of rules.There's lots of ideas to put to use. The business stories that illustrate their points are very interesting. An example of some of their points are: shuffle people around, tell stories, rank everyone annually, have a cause and a crusade, CEO's must make alot of sales calls and must be 1/2 time evangelical, you invite new hires to be part of the crusade, break your goals into activities and then publicly track results against those activities. There's lots of details behind those points and many more points. But that should give you an idea of the book. I highly recommend it. It generated lots of ideas which I wrote in the margins of my book. John Dunbar
Rating: 
Summary: Yawn
Review: This is one of the worst business books I have read in a long time. I can't believe how many times I read the same thing over and over chapter after chapter. This book won't tell you anything you don't already know if you have been in business for a month or more, and the common sense stuff is old. Waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: Speed Plus Torque = Victory!
Review: This is the first of two books by Jennings which I have recently read. (The other is Less Is More.) It was written in collaboration with Laurence Haughton. The subtitle reveals their core assertion: "How to Use Speed as a Competitive Tool in Business." Correctly, they stress the importance of using speed to achieve and then sustain a decisive competitive advantage. They also realize that there are times for an organization to be a sprinter but other times to proceed as if in a marathon. In the Prologue, Jennings and Haughton explain that they "began with a blank canvas. No points to prove, no axes to grind, and no one to impress. We truly wanted to figure this 'speed thing' out and boil it down into easy-to-replicate tactics." They developed criteria for selecting the fastest companies and then focused on them: Charles Schwab, Clear Channel Communications, AOL, H&M, Hotmail, Telepizza, and Lend Lease. The book presents a number of real-life lessons from these high-speed companies and their full-throttle executives. The authors also provide "time-proven instructions on becoming faster than anyone else." The material is organized within four Parts: Fast Thinking, Fast Decisions, Get to Market Faster, and finally, Sustaining Speed. In their Epilogue, the authors observe that, early on in their research, they discovered that "truly fast companies that have demonstrated the ability to maintain momentum aren't naturally any faster than their slower-moving rivals. But they are smarter." What's the difference? The truly fast companies avoid, "blow up," or get past various "speed bumps," refusing to be delayed or prevented from getting to where they want to be. As I read this book, I began to think of an organization as a vehicle. As such, what are its requirements? First, a specific and appropriate destination. Next, a capable driver. Then, a sufficiently powerful engine and enough fuel to keep it running. Also, a transmission with different gears (including reverse), shock absorbers, and brakes. Gauges keep the driver fully informed of available fuel, oil pressure, speed, time, etc. Jennings and Haughton discuss "speed bumps" and could have just easily included a discussion of terrain and weather. A number of organizations -- S&Ls 15-20 years ago and dot coms more recently -- have failed because they could not cope with "rough roads" and "foul weather." In several instances, imprudent speed was a factor in their demise. I want to stress this point because Jennings and Haughton do not glorify speed per se. In certain situations, however, speed is the determinant insofar as success and failure are concerned. Rapid response to customers' needs, for example, or to a new business opportunity. To extend the vehicle metaphor, executives also need a multi-gear "transmission" as well as an accelerator and brakes...and the skill to use each as well as the wisdom to know when. Jennings and Haughton have a Snap! Crackle! and Pop! writing style which is eminently appropriate to the subject. They also have a delightful sense of humor which substantially increases the entertainment value of their work even as they focus on an especially serious subject: business competition in an age and at a time when it has never before been so intense and when prudent speed frequently determines the difference between organizational life or death. This is a brilliant achievement. Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Jennings' Less Is More as well as Curt Coffman and Gabriel Gonzalez-Molina's Follow This Path.
Rating:
Summary: THE NEXT BEST THING.
Review: This is the next best thing to taking class with these two dynamic teachers. I have been fortunate enough to catch up with Jason and Larry several times in various parts of the world, taken class, and had one on one's. Their teaching is clear and precise. This book almost makes you squirm, like a direct one on one with these guys gives you no place to hide, as they make you account for your business decisions, take them apart, and then rebuild them with the help of their "GUIDING PRINCIPALS". A book for those who wish to live outside the square.
Rating:
Summary: A must for all. Required reading with my company leaders!
Review: When you sit down to read this book, grab a pen and paper, the ideas will start to flow. I have a small company with 35 employees, all the team leaders have been required to read and study the ideas in this book. In the past 2 months, the ideas generated have made an impact (for the better). It's obvious the authors' have rolled up their sleeves and dug dip into these and several other companies. These ideas can be applied to a one-person shop or a 300 employee company. But like anything else, implement your thoughts and ideas, they're useless unless you do something with them. Highly recommend it. Plan to read and reread.
Rating:
Summary: simple stuff that's commonly ignored
Review: Why ever hire overpriced consultants? Have your management team read this book and implement their suggestions. Each point is well thought out, easy to read, and applicable for most businesses. What really blew me away was that this book contains easy business common sense stuff that companies (especially larger ones) ignore because of politics and butt-covering. It's easy to get lost in the minutae of the daily grind so these gems, packaged in a book, are valuable focusing tools. If managers would stop and read this, a lot of companies would move at a rapid clip. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: simple stuff that's commonly ignored
Review: Why ever hire overpriced consultants? Have your management team read this book and implement their suggestions. Each point is well thought out, easy to read, and applicable for most businesses. What really blew me away was that this book contains easy business common sense stuff that companies (especially larger ones) ignore because of politics and butt-covering. It's easy to get lost in the minutae of the daily grind so these gems, packaged in a book, are valuable focusing tools. If managers would stop and read this, a lot of companies would move at a rapid clip. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Yawn
Review: Without a doubt, this is one of the most practical business management books I have read. I have even recommended it to some friends who are business school professors. This book is all about what works. It teaches you to plan ahead to achieve maximum speed and maximum results. It is a must for all executives, managers and business owners.
Rating:
Summary: Practical!!!!
Review: Without a doubt, this is one of the most practical business management books I have read. I have even recommended it to some friends who are business school professors. This book is all about what works. It teaches you to plan ahead to achieve maximum speed and maximum results. It is a must for all executives, managers and business owners.
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