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Blink - The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

3 stars (Blinking) - Ok but not great...seem to wonder off in too many different directions at times. 5 stars (Really Interesting and an Easy Read) - Blink is a look at all the various things scientists have discovered about how we think without knowing we're thinking. It particularly takes a long, hard look at why it is that people's first impressions so often conflict with either what careful analysis says or what people think they believe. Gladwell looks at a broad range of applications of these ideas. He looks at why, even though Pepsi wins the blind "Pepsi Challenge," Coke continues to be the market leader. He investigates the psychology and split-second thinking that caused the death of an unarmed, fleeing immigrant from over 40 gunshots fired by NYPD officers. He looks at various factors that affect everything from standardized test scores to electing a President. Some have suggested that all Gladwell really tells us is that our first impressions are sometimes right and sometimes wrong. If after reading this book that's all you come away with, you have completely missed the point. The point is that whether those impressions are right or wrong is governed by a complex set of physiologic and experiential rules, and that we can do something about them. Cops can do things to make sure those first impressions don't result in an innocent death. And yes, you can learn to tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi when you drink a whole can, not just a sip. Gladwell is a writer for the New Yorker, and his writing style is very much like a bunch of magazine articles. But they are very GOOD magazine articles, and you want to read them all. 4 stars (Informative) - This book was very interesting to me, though I will admit it got boring at parts. Some sections were just very repetitive and seemed to be overkill, but the overall message the book sent was intriguing. It helped me understand the way the mind works and how people use this knowledge of their mind...
Little- Brown :: Business & Economics & General :: Social Psychology :: Psychology :: Intuition :: Decision making :: Decision Making & Problem Solving :: Cognitive Psychology :: Bu :: Blink - The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

 

The Memory Jogger II

5 stars (The guide for all) - I first used this as a high school student then later at university doing engineering. It's so worn it's due for replacement. Handy size, useful tools, practical. Worth every cent. 5 stars (The guide for all) - I first used this as a high school student then later at univerity doing engineering. Now I use it as an engineer. It's so worn it's due for replacement. Handy size, useful tools, practical. 5 stars (US Navy Leadership School) - This US Navy uses this book in the Leadership School for PO1s/E-6s. It's a great hip pocket book. ...
Project Management Institute :: Quality Control :: Psychology :: General :: Entrepreneurship :: Decision Making & Problem Solving :: Business&Economics :: Business & Economics :: Diane Ritter :: Mic :: The Memory Jogger II

 

OLAP Solutions- Building Multidimensional Information Systems

4 stars (Fundamental Olap principles) - I was impressed by the quality of this book; this is probably the most complete book on OLAP theory and is a fundamental reading for professionals involved in the design of olap systems. In most cases it gives all the details and information needed to master this technology. It also contains some practical examples that are very useful to see how the theory can be applied in the real world. I didn't read the first edition, but the second edition contains new sections and many updates, like a description of SQL-99 OLAP extensions. The author chose to be vendor-independent, so all practical examples are based on a multidimensional language that he created, called Located Contents (LC). However, when I read it I had already used a couple of OLAP tools (Microsoft Analysis Services and Microstrategy), and I think that this helped me understand many of the concepts contained in the book. 4 stars (Good OLAP Methodology) - OLAP is a somewhat arcane corner of the IT universe and this book is a good guide to it for information and business professionals. It covers the basics well and provides decent exaples to get you going. Of course, the hardest part of OLAP is making the conceptual leap from relational databases and transactional processing to the world of analytical processing, but finance experts and accountants will appreciate OLAP and its ability to summarize data in a way that is hard to do in most ERP and legacy systems. 5 stars (A must read for anybody involved in Olap design) - A book which gives you a comprehensive theoretical foundation together with useful, pratical techniques to design Olap solutions. In the first half of the book the author explains you all you need to think clearly in N dimensions, in the second half he guides you through the design of a rather complex application, stepping into the purchasing process, the material inventory analysis, sales & marketing, and activity-based management. He teaches you ...
John Wiley - Sons Inc :: Information Management :: Decision Making & Problem Solving :: Database Management - General :: Computers :: Computer Bks - Data Base Management :: Business & E :: OLAP Solutions- Building Multidimensional Information Systems

 

Six Sigma For Dummies

5 stars (Understanding the Power of SIx Sigma) - This book is an excellent guide for people who want to know, what is Six Sigma? The authors inform you that Six Sigma is more than a bunch of statistics in a production environment, but also a culture that can be applied to any organization. There is a section; however, that covers the statistical tools used by Six Sigma professionals. They provide important information on how to use the DMAIC model and what it can do for your organization. It covers the key points of implementing Six Sigma and how to measure processes by looking for the "vital few" variables". I highly recommend this book for anyone considering implementing Six Sigma or those who want to know more about this powerful culture. It is well written in terms that can be easily understood by all. 5 stars (Useful for Learners, Teachers & Leaders) - I work as a manager and Master Black Belt at a Fortune 100 company. This book has been very useful in my training of others. I just finished teaching a Six Sigma Black Belt course in which I referred students to this book to reinforce their learning and deepen their understanding. It has transformed the way I teach Six Sigma as well as the way my students learn it. Not only am I suggesting that BB's and BB's-in-training get this book, but I'm also recommending that leaders who have GB's and BB's on their staffs read this book. It gives enough information for leaders to understand what their Six Sigma staff are going through in the trenches. And it also provides leaders with enough education to ask meaningful questions. (Nothing is worse than an uninformed leader trying to lead Six Sigma resources!) 2 stars (Doesn't have a target audience) - If you're just curious about what six-sigma is this is a good, easy to understand, book. But it teaches you little that can be applied. I'm in a company that is begining a six sigma effort and I am assisting the black and green belts in their work. I had wanted...
For Dummies :: Business & Economics & Finance :: Business & Economics-Decision Making & Problem Solving :: Bruce Williams :: Neil DeCarlo :: Craig Gygi :: :: Six Sigma For Dummies

 

Managing Customer Relationships- A Strategic Framework

Managing Customer Relationships: A Strategic Framework...
John Wiley - Sons Inc :: Business & Economics & Finance :: Business & Economics-Decision Making & Problem Solving :: Martha Rogers :: Don Peppers :: :: Managing Customer Relationships- A Strategic Framework

 

Building the Data Warehouse

1 stars (The (im)practical approach to DW design) - If you work for a large corporation which has millions of $ to spend on DW projects, maybe you should look at this book and even consider some of the ideas that it contains. But if you need to develop a data warehouse using limited resources and within a certain timeframe, your time will better used reading other books, because following the Inmon approach will lead you to an unnecessary complicated and expensive design. I found that the arguments used by Inmon to demonstrate the limits of the dimensional approach are not convincing at all. For example, at page 142 he says "Because there is a different data structure for each data mart, making any data mart into a data warehouse doesn't make sense." Having personally implemented several data warehouses using the "conformed dimensions" approach, I can guarantee that it worked and produced a very elegant and clean data model. 5 stars (Everything you wanted to know about building a Data Warehouse) - An extremely well written book that not only is wide in scope but also tells the story - shows how and why the data warehouse evolved. The author details the subject thoroughly, points out the pitfalls, explains the proper methodology for success. The illustrations are terrific! This is a must have for anyone involved in Data Warehousing projects. 1 stars (Pedantic and sluggish) - I know the Inmon vs. Kimball thing has turned into something of a feud. Having owned the first and second edition of this particular book (the first edition is now more useful than ever hollowed out with a knife to hide jewelry) and having browsed through the third edition that a colleague purchased, I must say that the major change since the obscure first edition is that Inmon has now taken a much more defensive tone now that Kimball is out there presenting clear, concise and useful real-world concepts and implementation techniques and gathering followers. I also own Inmon's "Using the Dat...
John Wiley - Sons Inc :: Decision Making & Problem Solving :: Database Management - Data Warehousing :: Computers :: Computer Bks - Data Base Management :: Client-Server Computing - G :: Building the Data Warehouse

 

Serious Play- How the World-s Best Companies Simulate to Innovate

4 stars (Readable User-Friendly Book on Innovation) - I am enjoying this book. I like the title "Serious Play", but I dislike the sub-title "How the World's Best Companies Simulate to Innovate". Companies don't innovate people do is my thought. I think the author could have taken this concept one step further. That is tie in the concepts of how innovation relates to chaos theory and fractals and larger concepts. The author's ideas are not that new to me because I am a project manager in a software engineering environment where prototyping and iterations is the name of the game. We have at most 3 months to make a difference, to deliver and then we are swept into the ocean of change. You have a small window of opportunity before both the game and the players change. I think that the world may be on the verge of moving so fast that we begin to see things like the wiki, open source culture in that it takes all of us innovating collectively in serious play. Long term I wonder if you are not free, workable and now, you are not in the game. Some concepts for me are: 1) Importance of being able to improvise in the moment 2) Prototyping both reveals the underlying power cutural structures and changes them. 3) Human beings are relationship morphing entities. 4) the importance of shared collaboration space that invite clever interactions between people. 5) Treating prototypes as conversation pieces 6) Watch for the underlying feeling of geniune fun 7) The importance of the challenge or obstacles to the game 8) We shape our models, our models shape us 9) "In order to have actionable meaning, the fuzzy mental models ... must be externalized in representations in ways... that can be grasped" 10) Prototypes force individuals to confront the tyranny of tradeoffs (i.e. difficult decisions) 11) "All models are attempt to manage the complexity by making it simpler and more accessible" While the text is very readable I had trouble pulling out the underlying structure of the b...
Harvard Business School Press :: Technology :: Technological Innovations :: Strategic Planning :: Simulation methods :: Nanotechnology :: Models and model making :: Management :: Decision Making & :: Serious Play- How the World-s Best Companies Simulate to Innovate