Rating: 
Summary: I didn't even care to finish it... and it's audio.
Review: I didn't care for the cases the authors made. Maybe it's because I jumped into it right after "Good to Great" from Collins. I mean who can stand next to Jim Collins right? This book seemed amateurish and made poor cases in comparison. Although not exactly the same topic, I was overall not impressed with the fact or hard examples and specifics that were sprinkled here and there.It's like listening to a Sermon without any biblical context. Ha ha... I think that describes it well.
Rating: 
Summary: Practical and Applicable
Review: The research appears to be methodologically sound and comprehensive due to the fact that over 80,000 interviews conducted by Gallup over a twenty-five year period were investigated and synthesized. This lends credence because in this field academics and researchers conduct sound studies, collect data, obtain objective results and then: tell folks to apply them in the work setting (real world). Often, the results of this research cannot be applied in practice. Hypothetical thinking with "all other things equal" as a paradigm often is not tested, and can't be. This book focused on research from applied situations in the field, and therefore can be relevant to what people are experience in the actual work setting. One point in the book to paraphrase, is that the most important resource a company has is its' HR capital. Another point made to paraphrase is that people (individuals) have set personality traits and fitting them properly with their roles is more sensical and productive than attempting to alter or "change" a person. This is applicable to focusing on the fitting of strengths instead of trying to improve weaknesses. More organizational and social psychology would be helpful for business, management studies, and MBA programs. MBA programs turn out the worst business minds we have.
Rating:
Summary: Finding the right fit
Review: This book is going to prove invaluable in my business. I recommend to any manager who is having trouble motivating and keeping key employees in this marketplace we now face. Happy employees are productive, this book gave me ideas on placing employees that I really had never thought of. I also recommend Rat Race Relaxer: Your Potential & The Maze of Life
Rating:
Summary: We used this book and it worked
Review: We used this book at Sensis, a fast growing CNY company that is taking on the challenges of fast growth and a changing culture. The principles set forth in this book help us see what really happens, unblinded by the filters and folk wisdom that might make us all feel like nice managers, but limit the kind of results that build a world class company. Hurray for this book - it's practical, actionable, and enlightening.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Example of What You Can Learn from Best Practice
Review: Management is one of those areas where theory and practice often clash. The problem is that there are usually 99 theories (often provided by academics with limited experience) for every good study of outstanding practices. This book exhibits one of my favorite principles: Build around the people to get the right results. The results described in this book fit what I have observed works well in over 30 years as a management consultant. That is the reason why I often encourage new managers to get experience by coaching children's sports teams. In that environment, you soon learn that building around the talent is a critical step in making progress. On the other hand, there are other best practices that this book does not explore. For example, even the best talent will perform better if presented with timely and relevant information, knowledge, and focus. Add lots of low-cost capital and an exciting purpose, and you will do even better. Some people who read this book will conclude that people cannot be changed or improved: That is simply not true, nor is it what this book means to argue. Rather the outstanding manager or leader must learn to combine many types of best practices to get the right result. For example, if you combine the lessons of this book with the lessons of TOP GRADING (the best practices for recruiting the right people) and SIMPLICITY (making it easier to anyone to perform well), you will get better results than if you used just one of the book's lessons. Combine several best practices that are often not combined and you can exceed anyone's performance, anywhere. That's the real lesson I hope you draw from this excellent book and other outstanding ones like it that build on careful measurement of how to get the best results. Management needs to become more like medicine where clinical tests run by practicing doctors provide most of the insight for improvement, rather a philosophical debating society run by hypothetical thinkers.
Rating:
Summary: Keep it handy..you are going to get back to it!
Review: If you are one of those who may get annoyed by too much stats (just like me)in a business guidence, DON'T worry..This book is not that type. Based on the notion that human resources are the most invalubale assets in any company, the book offers tips on how to make the most out of this treasure. Filled with insightful examples from various sectors, "first break all the rules" is a rational, to the point advice to managers. It has done a good job dispelling some of the common myths in business. "No mountain is too high to climb","You can be all you wanna be" and "experience is paramount when hiring" are to name few..Brillinat! A true eye-opener for me, I sure have learnt alot from it..Therefore, I am keeping it handy for a chance to re-read.
Rating: 
Summary: What are the rules?
Review: Twelve questions posed by the authors are worth answering, and will provide insight into the management style and culture within your company. Our company has an Optimal Thinking culture, so in addition, I recommend "Optimal Thinking: How to be Your Best Self" and "Good to Great" for managers and leaders who want to be their best, bring out the best from their team, maximize their resources and optimize results.
Rating:
Summary: Manage Outside the Box
Review: FIRST BREAK ALL THE RULES "is the product of two mammoth research studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization over the last twenty-five years." Rather than just reporting isolated success stories the authors and their staff dug through their data looking for patterns and distinctions. "Conventional wisdom is comfortingly, deductively easy. The revolutionary wisdom of great managers is much more exacting. It demands discipline, focus, trust, and perhaps most important, a willingness to individualize. In this book, great managers present no sweeping new theories...All they can offer you are insights into the nature of talent...The real challenge lies in how you incorporate these insights into YOUR style, ONE EMPLOYEE AT A TIME, EVERY DAY." (emphasis mine). There's a lot of "meat" in this book that should be studied by every manager and aspiring manager. To summarize key points: seek and keep talented people, give them the tools and other assistance to make them stars. After exhaustive research, a core set of 12 questions answered by employees seemed to be the best indicators of outstanding management. Some of the questions seem a bit off-beat: "4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?" "10. Do I have a best friend at work?" Predictably items such as pay, benefits and senior management were not factors that had a bearing on superior management. People in outstanding organizations gave high scores on many of the 12 questions. Key discussions are on the distinctions between skills, knowledge, and talent. Skills and knowledge can be taught, talent is something innate. Someone can be given the information on how to type (knowledge) and then given exercises to practice (skill development), but not everyone will be able to type over 100 wpm due to differences in talent. There is a wide variety of talent in art, music, problem solving, etc.; additional training and practice will only go so far with those who lack talent in an area. A frequent management mistake is to try to get people to improve in areas where they lack talent such as the approach in many popular employee review processes.
Breaking the Rules means building on strengths and capitalizing on them. The question comes up, what do you do about your star salesperson who doesn't submit their expense reports properly? Reprimand? Hardly. First confirm that they understand what's required and have the proper tools. Then if it's still not working, create an easy way for them to do it or have a clerical person do it for them. Attitude is another interesting component in that it can't be taught and only rarely can it be improved significantly. Companies should seek to hire honest people with good work ethics plus the appropriate talent- the skills and knowledge can be taught. Another interesting insight from the studies was that in numerous job functions the best and the worst performers shared some, but not all, traits. Both the best and the worst salespeople have call reluctance; the mediocre performers did not. Both the best and the worst nurses had a personal connection with their patients; mediocre nurses stayed aloof. What was important is what the top performers did about this strong emotional link; they used it to empower and motivate them. The poor performers used it to shrink from effective action. Those with no emotional attachment lacked the motivation to excel. From their research the authors present 4 management keys:
Select for talent (not experience or intelligence)
Define the right outcomes (not the steps)
Focus on strengths (don't try to work on weaknesses)
Find the right fit (don't keep promoting people out of positions they're strongest in) A typical question asked of great managers was:
"You have two managers. One has the best talent for management you have ever seen. The other is mediocre. There are two openings available: the first is a high-performing territory, the second is a territory that is struggling. Neither territory has yet reached its potential. Where would you recommend the excellent manager be placed? Why?"
The great managers generally answered this the same way, read the book to find out the answer - it's worth it!
Rating:
Summary: Awsome
Review: I loved this book. It was extremely helpful with my new management position.
Rating:
Summary: Great Eye Opener
Review: This was a great eye-opener and vantage point into the minds of innovative thinkers. The perspective and voice of this work was nice and fresh, and highly beneficial. Also recommended is Clint Arthur's "9 Free Secrets of New Sensual Power" for an innovative approach to personal empowerment and enrichment.
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