Knowing Your Value: Women, Money and Getting What You're Worth Review

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Knowing Your Value: Women, Money and Getting What You're Worth ReviewI have to admit, I did not have much of an expectation regarding this book. I picked it up at the bookstore to leaf through out of curiosity since I regularly watch the morning show she's on , and at times not really understanding the role she plays. What a surprise this book turned out to be!I could not put it down and ended up buying it and now buying many copies for my friends, mentorees and daughter in laws. I have spent the past 35 years , some would say very successfully, working myself up the corporate ladder, ending up as president of business units and companies. I experienced what she and her contributors have described in this book and I wish I had a book like this to read to 1) understand why I was behaving and feeling like I did, 2) why I let bosses and companies take advantage of me 3)understand better how to get for myself what I deserved....and overall to know I was not alone in this situation.
I think this book is a great resource for every woman, and especially relevant for young women starting out on the corporate ladder, especially when there is so much "fluff" is written on career advice. I admire Mika B's honesty, and her access to prominent women is really helpful in that, their stories may provide the motivation for some women to act on the advice given in this book.Knowing Your Value: Women, Money and Getting What You're Worth Overview

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Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success Review

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Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success Review"Change Anything" comes with a risky and audacious promise: if you apply the principles of this book to your life you will produce sustainable change in your behavior that will noticeably improve your life! To make such a huge claim about a topic of such immense practical importance is, indeed, audacious.
So does "Change Anything" live up to its claim? Yes, and No.
YES
The fact that I think this book lives up to anything even approaching its bold claim is a high recommendation for this book. Here's what the book delivers that makes me believe that if you actually understand and faithfully use the principles of this book that you can, indeed, change many of your behaviors for the better.
First, the authors free us from a powerful mind trap: the simplistic belief that if only we had more willpower we'd succeed in changing our lives. The reality the authors argue for (persuasively) is that while willpower is still important, changing behavior turns out to be as much about "skill" as it is about "will." And the truth is that certain skills for changing our behaviors can be taught. The authors also point out that that often (for example when you go to Las Vegas into a casino) you can't see what's controlling. However, "If you can see it, you can change it." "Change Anything," then, is a book about seeing the hidden influences in our lives and using them to change our behaviors from ones with negative to ones with positive consequences.
The book opens with a series of fascinating experiments on children that provide evidence for all that the authors will present. Throughout, what the authors teach is supported by research experiments that are not only enlightening but also entertaining.
So why do we fail at personal change? We don't have enough influences working for us and working all together.
It turns out that there are 6 sources of Influence in our lives. These same 6 sources of influence can be used to either promote a healthy or unhealthy behavior.
1. personal motivation - tap into your existing desires and wants
2. personal ability - learn new skills to promote change
3. social motivation - turn accomplices into friends that help you make positive changes
4. social ability - use confederates to enable good choices
5. structural motivation - directly link short-term rewards and punishments to your new habits
6. structural ability - change your environment to one more likely to promote the change you want
For each of these 6 sources of influence, the authors provide specific strategies for change that will use this influence to help you change your behavior to something positive instead of the default negative behavior. Their identification of the 6 sources of influence, combined with their chapter-long discussion of strategies to change each of these influences, is an impressive accomplishment.
I don't want to give away too much of their work, but when I looked at the chapter on the first factor, which I thought might be one of the weakest areas, I was surprised to find the authors advocating that it is, in fact, possible to learn to love what you hate. If someone can change this, then change is very, very possible.
The remainder of the book, after describing each influence and its attendant strategies in detail, applies these 6 sources of influence and change to key areas of our lives that are what most of us care most about: career success, weight loss, financial fitness, addiction, relationships, and how to change the world.
This is an impressive book that has brought together in one place a simple, powerful, and reasonable means of changing our lives.
NO
After such a glowing report, why do I say that the authors don't completely live up to their promise? Because I believe that the human heart is more corrupt, self-deceptive, and weak than they assume. I believe that there are certain things about our lives that, in spite of persistently and intentionally using their strategies, will remain unchanged. In spite of using a variety of influences as suggested, often the heart wants what the heart wants, even if it's not good for the body, the soul, or others. Having said this, this is still an incredible book! I've read several books on change, many on finding your talents and using them, many other self-help books, and even more on leadership. "Change Anything" is a book that excels most of these other books I've read, and I believe that just about everyone should have it on their bookshelf. But don't merely "read" this book: put it into effect. I'm confident you'll be surprised at how different life can be.
By the way, this book also comes with a free code to access their website with a lot of additional information. If you liked this book, then you might also enjoy and benefit from Cialdini's "Influence." "Influence" won't teach you how to change things, but it will provide much more fascinating evidence about the things that influence us, often without us knowing it.
If you want to know not only how to change your behavior but how to influence others for good, read the authors' other book: "Influencer." It's probably even better!
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Lonely at the Top: The High Cost of Men's Success Review

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Lonely at the Top: The High Cost of Men's Success ReviewDrawing on decades of research, Thomas Joiner weaves a neglected story about how the manly pursuit of status, power, wealth, and autonomy leads to great rewards in work and play but at the expense of loving, caring friendships.
Using rigorous scientific techniques, we know that what we strive for matters for well-being. Striving for wealth and power is less likely to bring about happiness and meaning in life than working hard to care for other people and developing intimate bonds. But if there is one thing we know its that whatever society rewards is what you will see more of. Have you seen Forbes list of the 500 foremost people who provide love, friendship, support, and laughter in the world? Nope. Have you received any feedback on your ability to make and maintain friends in high school, college, or in the workplace? Probably not. Have your friends and colleagues given you a surprise party to celebrate your amazing ability to ask questions and take an interest in what they are passionate about? your willingness to sacrifice countless late nights consoling them? Unlikely. But if you landed a work promotion, published a book, or appeared in a movie, champagne bottles tend to appear alongside lavish praise.
In this book, Joiner does not suggest that we choose between success and friendship. He suggests that balance take the place of overly simplified solutions. Conscious attention needs to be given to friendships. Without regular nourishment, relationships wither and die like any other living, breathing organism. And when important relationships falter, and they will, we need to replenish them.
Unlike many researchers turned authors, Joiner doesn't let the storyline get weighed down with intricate details of study after study. Instead, he synthesizes what is known and provides insights into how people can manage loneliness and improve their social connections. We are not talking about psychological disorders or mental illness. We are talking about the difficulties of being human. We are talking about issues that men rarely acknowledge, talk about, or address.
Having worked with many people in the business world, I know many men and women who fit the template of prioritizing success at the expense of significant, meaningful relationships. Here's hoping this book gets into people's hands. The science is strong, the writing flows smoothly, and the final section on interventions makes sense and can be readily implemented right away.
cheers,
Todd
author of Curious?: Discover the Missing Ingredient to a Fulfilling LifeLonely at the Top: The High Cost of Men's Success Overview

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The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses Review

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The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses ReviewAs an experienced entrepreneur - inside of big companies in terms of the ubiquitous "change initiative," but also in new product or service development, and as a new subsidiary C-level executive - and now as a small business startup founder and owner - I really looked forward to reading this. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to like this book and see how I could apply Ries' learnings to better my entrepreneurship and my innovation, I was deeply disappointed. The book is repetitive, light on specifics, with many generalized insights (that are really not too insightful), and even includes a number of passages that lead the reader to second-guess whether the author's point is to share actual advice and steps to take, or to encourage people to use his "Lean Startup program" (which, coincidentally, entails hiring his firm - who knew?).
Six key strengths/pros of the book:
1. It's a very quick read; I finished it in two sessions
2. A great premise: "the application of lean thinking to the process of innovation"
3. An excellent threshold question that goes beyond the usual, Should this product be built? to: "Can we build a sustainable business around this set of products and services?" Definitely more would-be entrepreneurs should be able to definitely answer this question long before they go seek funding or decide to incorporate.
4. The suggestion to see customer requests/desires as the opportunity to run innovation experiments, not as the actual need for a new product or service (i.e., maybe you only need to tweak a current product or service, not invent new). For anyone who's followed Voice of the Customer new product innovation techniques over the past two decades, this is hardly news, but Ries does a good job of simplifying one of the core learnings of Voice of the Customer: stated customer feedback is not always an accurate reflection of actual need/desire.
5. The concept of the "engines of growth" (i.e., entrepreneurs have lots of ideas, it's really more a matter of selecting which ones will actually work and strongly grow the company).
6. The need to use metrics of customer churn rate versus customer retention versus new customer attraction to assess customer behavior associated with your product/service, and thus the likelihood for good business growth.Four frustrating cons of the book:
1. Mr. Ries must mention at least a dozen times throughout the book (and sometimes several times a chapter) something along the lines of "My experiences are now part of the entrepreneurship curriculum at several business schools, including Harvard Business School, where I serve as an entrepreneur in residence. I've also told these stories at countless workshops, lectures and conferences." It's one thing to tell stories in a book to demonstrate principles and tactics, it's another to constantly remind the reader about the great stories and advice he/she is getting by reading the book.
2. All of the strengths I noted above are just about how specific Mr. Ries actually gets. For instance, over pages 215-220, Ries discusses the metrics of customer churn, customer retention, and how, in order to get good growth, you have to have significantly more customer retention and more new customers than lost customers. At the end of those five pages, you'll have learned exactly what I just stated (and in the process read a bunch of stories and case studies taught in countless workshops, etc., illustrating that sentence).
3. A number of the mistakes that Mr. Ries talks about are related to his dot-bomb experiences, and do not, unfortunately, relate very well to innovators and entrepreneurs today. For instance, most of the venture capitalists that I know will not loan money or invest in startups that do not have rock-solid business plans stating specifically how the new product or service will make money, how quickly, the specific known hurdles, and so on. And the VCs will re-run their own numbers and do their own market analysis. Try getting a line of credit today, and you'll quickly see how different the financial investment in the startup landscape is today from back in the dot-bomb era.
4. Much of the book is written not for small business owners or those who'd strike out on their own and start a new company, but those who work within large companies (who, incidentally, will have the money to hire Mr. Ries as an entrepreneurship consultant) and want to start innovating better, being more creative, and being internal entrepreneurs.
While these pros and cons balance out any assessment of the book (and thus I give it 3 stars), I don't think they make for a satisfying - or even very helpful read. There's much better fare out there that is much more specific, including the Heath brothers' "Made to Stick" or their latest, "Switch."
If you must get "The Lean Startup," wait for it in the bargain bin.The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses Overview

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