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Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly Helpful
Review: I didnt know anything about feng shui until I read about it in the New York Times this week--and Lagatree's book was mentioned. No matter if you believe this stuff or not, this book is clearly and simply written. I'm sure there is more to feng shui than this--I'll check out her other book next. But I think she is onto something: some workplaces ARE more energized than others. There are offices that seem more conducive to getting things done. Feng shui makes sense to me--and by employing some of her suggestions I'm going to try it in my office and see if I can get better chi!
Rating:
Summary: Think I'll Give it a Try
Review: I'm a skeptic but the way the author talks about feng shui makes me want to try it. She makes sense and gives explanations about how feng shui works that aren't so far out. I will try a couple of her suggestions because they are simple and I figure I don't have anything to lose.
Rating:
Summary: Think I'll Give it a Try
Review: I'm a skeptic but the way the author talks about feng shui makes me want to try it. She makes sense and gives explanations about how feng shui works that aren't so far out. I will try a couple of her suggestions because they are simple and I figure I don't have anything to lose.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Helpful
Review: Kirsten Lagatree's latest book, Feng Shui at Work, is a literary example of the ancient Chinese art of placement, with its beautiful illustrations and breezy, concise writing packed with meaning. I'll have to admit I approached the whole concept of feng shui--in which furniture, articfacts, plants, fountatains, lighting, etc.--are carefully selected and positioned to optimize abundance and success--with my jaded western eye askance. After reading, Feng Shui at Work, however, I'm a potential convert. This refreshing and uncluttered work gave me a great deal of insight into the many offices I've occupied over the course of a 30 year career, including a number that worked well for me and several that didn't. Could this have been feng shui at work? In the past, I've confined my efforts at office design to bringing in a couple of pleasing objects and focusing on them to the exclusion of whatever torture the corporate meanies might have in store for me in my particular Kafkaesque cell, then letting the papers fly where they may. Lagatrees's book made me aware that I can play a much more instrumental role in shaping my work environment--and potentially my work relationships THROUGH my work environment--by paying attention to where I put my desk and file cabinet in relation to doors and windows, planning the content of the art I place on my walls, and my use of color, light, wood, plants, water, small animal sculptures and other materials. I don't know that I buy the entire feng shui program as of yet--it's hard for me to believe, for instance, that poison arrows (bad feng shui, or sha-ga) fly down the long corridor outside my office ( although I will cop to observing a lot of loony behavior out there in the Hell Hall). However, I am definitely looking forward to spending an actual Saturday at the office resdesigning my dingy little windowless stuffy space to enhance the feng shui, which helps the flow of chi, or life energy. So. I'll put four deep purple irises in a crystal vase in the southwest corner, turn my desk diagonally to face the Northeast corner, to the left of the door, where I'll place a little onyx turtle. No one will know what I'm up to this time... unless, of course, they've read Feng Shui at Work.
Rating: 
Summary: Feng Shui at Work
Review: Kirsten M. Langtree tells you how to arrange your work space for maximum peak performance and maximum profit. If you work in an office this is a must read, even if you are not a believer in Feng Shui. The author describes several typical work environments and how to make them more comfortable. If you are not familiar with Feng Shui (it's acupuncture or acupressure for physical spaces), Kirsten gives the reader a brief overview of the history and basic principals of this ancient Buddhist practice to start. She then goes into more details and mentions the two systems she uses. Apparently, there are several Feng Shui schools divided into the compass schools and Black sect schools. Kirsten uses a bit of both and I found this confusing. In fact, I find the compass issue a bit confusing and used the information from the Black sect perspective (stand at the doorway, look in placing the Ba-Gua's North side on the wall of the door). If you have not had any previous exposure to Feng Shui, you may not understand when she is switching back and forth between the two schools the book needs a clearer explanation on this.Aside from these points, there is a lot of good information about office seating and arrangements that anyone could benefit from. I repositioned my desk after reading her section titled Desk for Success and found an immediate difference in my productivity. Her case studies were helpful and inspiring. Just reading this book gave me another perspective on space. I have visited a lot of clients in corporate offices and have found so many things about the cubicle environment disturbing. But Kirsten goes through a step-by-step process of offering tips to make these environments more humanizing. Some of her solutions to work space are intuitive yet reading this book you will be able to focus on details that you may miss. Lastly, she gives her Feng Shui corrections for some famous persons' (read the book to find out) offices and why she makes the changes. The expereinced intuitive can learn something from this book as well as the novice. I you are wondering if this stuff works, it does!
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