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Summary: Mastering common sense
Review: Is Business Think the next groundbreaking book by a Deming or Drucker? No. It is, however, the first of its kind in getting people to work together, regardless of egos or politics, and gets people focused on the business, where it should be in the first place. I suppose that is, in its own way, at least breaking with tradition. When you read this book, you will find yourself saying, "That's EXACTLY how it is!" and then the authors give you ways to deal with all the strange stuff we usually do in business that causes us to fail. This is great corporate "basic training."
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Summary: Decision making at its best
Review: It was obvious that in reading this book that the authors have built their premise for the book based on their failure and success that they have experienced. There is a formula for making decisions that is applicable to business and personal decisions.
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Summary: An exercise in cynical plagarism
Review: Some time ago I read the excellent "Let's Get Real Or Let's Not Play" by Mahan Khalsa. Seeing him listed as one of the authors of "BusinessThink" I bought it. Only then did I discover that Khalsa appears to have had very little to do with "BusinessThink" (in a long list of acknowledgements he doesn't even feature) and, more seriously, that "BusinessThink" is essentially just a rewrite of "Let's get Real" - indeed whole swathes of "BusinessThink" consists of word for word plagarism of "Let's Get Real". Had there been some acknowledgement of this fact by the authors or Franklin Covey this practice might, just, have been okay. But there is no hint in the introduction, or elsewhere, that "BusinessThink" is just a slightly reworked "Let's Get Real". Shame on the authors, on FranklinCovey, and on the publishers for this exercise in cynicism.
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Summary: And action without thought?
Review: Spells disaster, especially in business. Of course, Gates thought long and hard about how he was going to monopolize the entire industry, don't be silly. Course that's a conversation for another day. Here's why I thought Business Think was an awesome tool: The idea was that we're all a part of the sum, each a valuable piece of the result is huge. Its something most companies don't get and won't employ in turn alienating employees from a sense owernship and the desire to produce quality work. To apply this in business could change the face of it. The idea that we're working together towards common goals, towards defining those goals and streamlining the process is very powerful. The ego (which runs most biz) is qualified here but not engaged, this is also huge! Business Think turns towards the community or village approach of inclusive, creative success as opposed to the "You vs. I," or "Us vs. Them" mentality, both which splinter the individual, the organization and its opportunities for success. Business Think gives hard and fast rules and techniques about how to change your approach "now" as well as avoid other's drama that has nothing to do with forward movement of current goals (biz is inundated with this [stuff].) Again, potent medicine! As a manager, I found it most valuable and will encourage all my fellow teammates to read it. Healthy stuff which the business world is in dire need of-- (hi Enron) Doh!
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Summary: Just Another Business Book
Review: The authors of businessThink base this book on their eight rules for business success. These rules all are focused on asking the right questions prior to all decision points, ensuring data-based decision making processes. The rules themselves are relatively obvious, though, and very few real-world examples are included. Not the best business book; not the worst. Also, one aspect of the book that is somewhat annoying is that the authors use the phrase "businessThink" at least 500 times in the book.
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Summary: Long on Marketing Short on Substance
Review: The book says that the heart and soul of business is thinking and this is nothing but hogwash! Action makes business not philosophers, deep thinkers or wise old men. There are lots of thinking problems in the book and page after page is concerned with thinking matters. Tell me, did Bill Gates think about Windows or did he go out and sell something? Action not thinking about it is going to make your business. Planning is good and I hope the authors plan to do a much better book next time.
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Summary: The secret is out
Review: The businessThink philosophy is about geting back to basics in an easy, methodical way. This book provides a foundation of principals that can be applied to many different scenarios (sales, finance, operations). These principals revolve around spending time on the right solution to meet a need..."no guessing"! In addition, checking your ego at the door is so important when trying to sell something...how many times have you said to yourself, "that guy was an idiot"? Would you buy from them? Probably not. businessThink provides the secrets to a successful sales team and high performing organization...I'm sorry that secret is out! Dave, Steve and Mahan, you just increased my competition! Bravo!
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Summary: thinking is the key
Review: The days of jumping into the deep end of the pool and seeing if you sink or swim are long over. The key to success in today's business world is preparation and you do that by thinking. In this excellent book, the authors, through an easy to understand eight rule model, show readers how to rid themselves of the the "that's the way we've always done it" mentality and to develop a "seventh sense" for knowing what or will not work. As the authors' say, "predetermined, premeditated, premature solutions have no inherent value. Zero!
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Summary: if you need this, your company doesn't need you
Review: The five star reviews seem remarkably, well, of one voice. The vapid generalizations seem fit for people who can afford the luxury of Covey type seminars. One book on activity based accounting, and a book on activity based management, in an open books environment, will do more good than a thousand of these trivial, banal works. One manager looked at anyone who proposed sending the employees to such workshops, and said, "If you need them, we don't need you." He was right. People will go to great lengths to avoid thinking responsibly about how the organization really does business; books like this make people feel good - more like a "motivation" seminar than real, responsible, personal change. Once again - open book management, activity based accounting, activity based management, and feel good about achieving, or go the Hell home. And take your damn Covey organization books with you.
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Summary: Another Dumb Business Book Destined For The Bargin Bin
Review: The premise here is that there is only one way to think about business. Hahahah Give me a break!!! Here we have a book that is all about marketing and salesmanship. A catchy title, neat colors on the cover and the blurbs on the back all say buy me. But what is not as cleaver is what is on the inside. It is the same old stuff that one thousand business books have said before. How boring!!! How dumb!! Think about that one will ya.
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