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Rating: 
Summary: It's about time for some common sense business thinking
Review: As a person working with many senior and mid level managers, I appreciate the common sense(not common practice) thinking this book offers. It's amazing to me how quickly people jump to "solution" without slowing down to consider some fundamental questions that a good business person would ask. I only wish that more of the people I deal with would work from this approach - get away from their ego's and personal agendas and start working a process to arrive at conclusions that are based on sound logic and effective dialogue. These are tools I'll definitely apply. Well done Marcum and Smith.
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Summary: Like the Special Edition of a DVD, without the special
Review: I bought this book becuase I read Lets Get Real or Lets Not Play by Mahan Khalsa and was very intruiged by it. Lets Get Real is a TERRIFIC book. Little did I know that BusinessThink is basicly the coles notes version of Lets Get Real with two other names plunked above his. There is little additional value added here. If you want to get the same material but more of it and better presented, buy Lets Get Real.
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Summary: Read this book
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is written in a casual and easy to read tone. I found it quite easy to devour in one sitting. I've spent over 12 years as a "Big 5" consultant. I think if more consultants take the advice of the authors, we'd see more innovative solutions become reality. I like this book because it's actionable; it's not just about "thinking" (e.g., see rule four: Get Evidence OR rule five Calculate the Impact). There is practical advice. There are great anecdotes. I like business books that give me ideas on what to do day-to-day. businessThink does that. If you're a consultant, read this book and let's see some innovation out there!
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Summary: get your hands dirty
Review: I usually don't write reviews. Truth be told, I never have, and hadn't planned on writing one for this book. I came on line to buy a couple more books for people on my team, and read the review from the reader from Vancouver and had to respond. This person has to be seriously out to lunch. As a young, very successful business person, I couldn't believe he actually commented on their age. First, how does he know how old they are? And secondly, since when did age have anything to do with success or knowledge or the ability to create value? Let's ask Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs (do I need to continue?) I'm an avid reader of business books, and noticed that authors Buckingham and Coffman (First Break All the Rules...also a great book) are also "young." Tom Peters was 39 when we wrote the classic "In Search of Excellence." Please don't buy the old school bias of this guy's review. Yes, these guys are young (at least younger than 50). Yes, they talk about their own personal failures. That's what makes the book refreshing and real. It's just the opposite of "fluff." I read Business Think when it first came out, and loved that practical nature of it. I'm also an avid reader of Fast Company, and loved the simlar style and tone. Don't mistake comtemporary style for not being substantive. IT IS!
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Summary: greatThink
Review: I've worked for a large company, a start up, and a mid-size company. I've been surprised how similar the problems are; not in the specific challenges, i.e., raising venture capital vs. acquiring companies, but in how common the problems are among the people who work in a company. I gave this book five stars for one reason: it makes a bold attempt to wake people up a bit and challenge their own, common, comfortable approach to their jobs.
Rating: 
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.
Rating: 
Summary: A framework for decisions
Review: There aren't many new ideas within this publication - hence 4 stars. I couldn't help but think of De Bono's six thinking hats as a framework for thinking that has many parallels with the BusinessThink publication.
However, that doesn't detract from what is a message that needs repeating and a message that needs to be absorbed by all of us to make the process of decision making (and thinking in general) more productive.
You're going to get value from this book where dysfunction is at its greatest. If you're already part of a productive team you're probably going to read this book and see recognition of what you're already doing rather than learn anything new.
Personally, this books remains a favourite. Whenever we make a few successful decisions (or believe we do) this is the first sort of book we disparage and neglect. But it's just when we start to believe our infallibility and skip steps within this framework that we start to make blunders. The authors introduce some interesting statistics: successful decisions are fewer on the ground that what our beliefs might suggest.
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Summary: An exercise in cynical plagarism
Review: This is one of the rare business books that isn't chuck full of useless theory or excessive amounts of research with no application. This book provides real skills and a real business tool for objective thinking. I now understand how to build a logical buisness case for or against a presented solution, rather than the typical impulsive projects that are typically based off of bias, ego, opinion, or gut feel. The emphasis on ego is invaluable. Ego costs companies millions of dollars every day, primarily because everyone's in denial that it exist. Thank you businessThink for finally bring a book to the table that is insync with business realities.
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