The Innovator's DNA by by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen & Clayton Christensen - Book review

The Innovator's DNA

Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators

By: Jeffrey H. Dyer, Hal B. Gregersen, Clayton M. Christensen

Published: July 19, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
ISBN-10: 1422134814
ISBN-13: 978-1422134818
Publisher: Harvard Business Press








"Our project's primary purpose was to uncover the origins of innovative - often disruptive - business ideas", write disruption, innovation and strategy thought leaders Jeffrey H. Dyer, Hal B. Gregersen, and Clayton M. Christensen, in their groundbreaking, research based book The Innovator's DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators. The authors describe how the ability to create innovative ideas is not simply conducted with the mind, but also depends on the innovator's behavior.



Jeff Dyer (photo left), Hal Gregersen, and Clayton Christensen recognize the critical importance of innovation to any company. Not only does innovation provide new products and services to the company's lines, but innovation creates a measurable innovation premium in the company's stock price, creating a double benefit for innovative organizations. For the authors, the challenge was to discover the company behaviors, from the top managerial leadership to the entire organizational activities. Through their interviews with leaders of companies, that the authors recognized for their innovations, it was determined that innovation was more than simply a way of thinking. Innovation was a way of behaving that could be broken down into five important core skills that can be duplicated through practice in other companies.



Hal Gregersen (photo left), Clayton Christensen, and Jeff Dyer interviewed innovative business leaders and compiled a list of innovative companies. The list included the obvious corporations, but also included some less well known innovative organizations. The research results uncovered the necessity of the company's leadership to be strongly supportive of innovation, and even to be important innovators themselves. The innovative companies were found to mirror the innovative style and strengths of the innovative CEO, making the business an innovative powerhouse.

The research also uncovered the five behaviors practiced by innovative leaders, and by extension, their companies. These traits are then organized into repeatable processes that encourage employees to continue innovating at all times. The five discover skills are:

* Associating
* Questioning
* Observing
* Networking
* Experimenting



For me, the power of the book is how Clayton Christensen (photo left), Jeff Dyer, and Hal Gregersen combine their pioneering research with practical advice for developing an innovative organization. The critical insight that innovation is not only a mind based activity, but also a behavioral one, transforms the very concept of innovation. The authors move the principle of innovation from one of being the sole province of the lone creative genius, to a set of steps in a process. That systematic basis for introducing innovation into a company culture becomes one of greater acceptance, and is less challenging for corporate leaders.

The introduction of a new process, in this case an innovation system, provides a powerful and game changing option for leading companies to embrace and utilize to their advantage. The additional revenue and profits from the resulting innovative products, combined with the stock value's innovation premium, makes this book an important addition to the overall field of innovation.

I highly recommend the transformational and very practical and real world oriented book The Innovator's DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators by Jeffrey H. Dyer, Hal B. Gregersen, and Clayton M. Christensen, to anyone seeking a systematic approach to innovation, that is grounded in real world experience by the world's most innovative companies. This book will change the way you and your company think about innovation, how ideas are generated, and how the proven process can be implemented within your own organization

Tags: The Innovator's DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators, Jeffrey H. Dyer, Hal B. Gregersen, and Clayton M. Christensen, innovation process and leadership, business book reviews

Barb Sanford: Decade Of Change - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio



Managing Editor at Gallup Management Journal and co-editor, along with Geoffrey Brewer, of the comprehensive and idea filled anthology Decade of Change: Managing in Times of Uncertainty, Barb Sanford, describes how the events of the new millennium have brought about unprecedented change, and that the forces of change will continue into the future. Barb Sanford presents stories and ideas from some of the leading thinkers in business, technology, economics, and strategy who provide insights into the events of the recent past, and share their thoughts on the future. Through these insights, you will learn how to manage change and to utilize change and uncertainty to the advantage of your organization. Uncertain times can lead to huge success stories for companies and leaders who are prepared to accept and maximize change.

Barb Sanford is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Tuesday, November 8, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Managing Editor at Gallup Management Journal and co-editor, along with Geoffrey Brewer, of the comprehensive and idea filled anthology Decade of Change: Managing in Times of Uncertainty, Barb Sanford, describes how the events of the new millennium have brought about unprecedented change, You will learn:

* What changes have taken place over the past decade

* How to lead change within an organization

* How to manage change effectively and overcome resistance

* How ongoing change will continue to be the new normal business environment

Barb Sanford is the managing editor of the Gallup Management Journal (GMJ). Sanford also contributes her writing and editorial expertise to the book publisher Gallup Press. She was an editor for Strengths Based Selling, HumanSigma: Managing the Employee-Customer Encounter, and Married to the Brand and for the bestsellers 12: The Elements of Great Managing and How Full Is Your Bucket? She co-edited Decade of Change: Managing in Times of Uncertainty.

In addition to her work with GMJ and Gallup Press, Sanford writes and edits for Gallup's corporate marketing team. Her responsibilities include writing, editing, and content management for many Gallup Web sites, including the Gallup Consulting site. In a study of Web sites conducted by The Bloom Group LLC, the Gallup Consulting site ranked third overall among 20 consulting sites for quality of content, ease of use, and providing links to related material such as articles, seminars, conferences, and client case studies.

Barb Sanford joined Gallup in 1999. Prior to that, she worked as a freelance writer and editor and served as a writer, editor, and project manager for various businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Barb Sanford received a bachelor's degree in English from Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas. She is actively involved in the International Association of Business Communicators and has served in leadership roles at the chapter and regional levels.

My book review of Decade of Change: Managing in Times of Uncertainty edited by Geoffrey Brewer and barb Sanford.

Listen live on Tuesday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with Managing Editor at Gallup Management Journal and co-editor, along with Geoffrey Brewer, of the comprehensive and idea filled anthology Decade of Change: Managing in Times of Uncertainty, Barb Sanford, as she describes how the events of the new millennium have brought about unprecedented change, and that the forces of change will continue into the future. Barb Sanford presents stories and ideas from some of the leading thinkers in business, technology, economics, and strategy who provide insights into the events of the recent past, and share their thoughts on the future. Through these insights, you will learn how to manage change and to utilize change and uncertainty to the advantage of your organization. Uncertain times can lead to huge success stories for companies and leaders who are prepared to accept and maximize change on Blog Business Success Radio.

Tags: Decade of Change: Managing in Times of Uncertainty, Geoffrey Brewer, Barb Sanford, change management and leadership, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.

Decade of Change: Managing in Times of Uncertainty edited by Geoffrey Brewer & Barb Sanford - Book review

Decade of Change

Managing in Times of Uncertainty

Edited by: Geoffrey Brewer, Barb Sanford

Published: May 17, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN-10: 1595620532
ISBN-13: 978-1595620538
Publisher: Gallup Press







"Change is often an abstract concept, discussed in business conferences and academic seminars. But it's been all to real in this past decade", write Editorial Director at Gallup Press, Geoffrey Brewer; and managing editor of the Gallup Management Journal, Barb Sanford in their comprehensive and idea filled anthology Decade of Change: Managing in Times of Uncertainty. The editors provide a wide ranging collection of timely and insightful essays and interviews that cover the many aspects of the field of change management and change leadership.

Geoffrey Brewer and Barh Sanford present a series of experts and thought leaders who offer their ideas and opinions on the series of tumultuous changes that began in the last decade and continue to transform business and society today. The thinkers share their observations into the changes that have already occurred, and that are continuing to unfold in the present day. The contributors also look into the immediate and more distant future to share some possible changes that may take place over time. Along with the overview of the past and ongoing changes, the writers also share their advice for managers and leaders on embracing change as part of what is now the new normal environment for business, and how to manage people and change effectively to meet the challenges of the present and the future.



Geoffrey Brewer (photo left) and Barb Sanford recognize the challenges and opportunities that are presented through change for business managers and leaders. While many managers and leaders may ignore, or even resist change, the articles shared in this collection provide compelling evidence that constant change will become the new normal business environment. The writers make it clear that managers who fail to understand, embrace, and lead change within their organizations will fall behind and become irrelevant over time. The various chapters in the book present a strong overview of the most pressing issued connected with change and change management, and for leading change within companies.

The book sections include:

* Global changes
* Crisis management
* Leading change
* Managing change
* Strategies for the "New Normal"

For me, the power of the book is how Geoffrey Brewer and Barb Sanford have compiled a powerful collection of authors who share their insights into the many facets of change and of change management. The many business and leadership minds that contributed to this anthology have guided organizations, leaders, and employees through changes and crises in the past.

The contributors' experiences and insights are beneficial and essential reading for managers and leaders today. With change becoming the normal and ongoing business challenge, leaders must recognize, understand, and manage change and any accompanying crisis effectively. If a leader fails to lead and manage change, they will be left behind or even face business extinction.

I highly recommend the groundbreaking and must read book Decade of Change: Managing in Times of Uncertainty edited by Geoffrey Brewer and Barb Sanford, to anyone seeking a comprehensive and insight filled book on change and change leadership. The authors in this collection understand change, and share their ideas for managing change and crises effectively, and with positive results, in any organization.

Tags: Decade of Change: Managing in Times of Uncertainty, Geoffrey Brewer, Barb Sanford, change management and leadership, business book reviews

Poor Economics by Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo Wins Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2011

Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo today won the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2011 for Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, published by PublicAffairs. The book is a journey into the multi-faceted and complex lives of the poor, based on over fifteen years of work the authors have done with the poor, trying to understand the specific problems that come with poverty – and to find proven solutions.

The Award, which aims to find the book that provides ‘the most compelling and enjoyable insight into modern business issues’, was presented today to Abhijit V. Banerjee at the Wallace Collection in London by Lionel Barber, Editor, Financial Times, and Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. The keynote speaker was Lord Patten of Barnes, Chairman, BBC Trust.

Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo share a £30,000 prize (about $47,926 as of today’s currency conversion rate). Each of the five runners-up received a check for £10,000 (about $15,975 as of today’s currency conversion rate), and can expect a heightened interest in their influential books.



Lionel Barber, Editor, Financial Times and Chair of the Panel of Judges, said: “I was blown away by the thoroughness of the empirical research. This is going to be a real basis for innovation in policy, innovation in government, and a guide to intellectual debate. This is a business book in the broadest sense.”

Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., commented: “This is an important and thoughtful book. It provides real insight into many of the fundamental issues that can help alleviate poverty. Poor Economics is a deserving winner.”

The distinguished judging panel for the 2011 Award was:

* Vindi Banga, Partner, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice

* Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice, London Business School

* Arthur Levitt, former Chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission

* Mario Monti, President of Bocconi University, Milan, European chairman of the Trilateral Commission, honorary president of Bruegel

* Jorma Ollila, Chairman of Nokia and Royal Dutch Shell

* Shriti Vadera, Director of Shriti Vadera Ltd, Non-Executive Director of BHP Billiton and AstraZeneca

Lord Patten of Barnes added: "This prestigious literary award has helped to rescue the concept of "business books” from that pile of volumes at airport terminals which advise you, first, how to make the most of your attributes as a first-class underling, and second, never knowingly to underestimate the taste of the public. This prize, with its distinguished list of past winners, has transformed the whole notion of business literature."

Tags: 011 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award, Abhijit V. Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, business books.

The Impulse Economy by Gary Schwartz - Book review

The Impulse Economy

Understanding Mobile Shoppers and What Makes Them Buy

By; Gary Schwartz

Published: November 1, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN-10: 1451671865
ISBN-13: 978-1451671865
Publisher: Atria Books










"In the 2010s, the mobile phone has become a digital hub where everything seems to converge: publishing, ticketing, media, wallets, banking, and shopping", writes technology entrepreneurs and founder of Impact Mobile, Gary Schwartz, in his pioneering and visionary book The Impulse Economy: Understanding Mobile Shoppers and What Makes Them Buy. The author describes both the history of the mobile communications industry, and offers ideas for businesses to develop their mobile platforms to vastly increase online sales and revenue.

Gary Schwartz recognizes the importance of connecting with customers and for building relationships. One of the key tools for creating those critical connections and developing those important relationships is through the immediacy of mobile technology platforms. For businesses, these new and ongoing relationships are crucial to finding and retaining loyal customers in the instantaneous mobile world. At the same time, the empowerment and opt in format of mobile applications and the use of mobile devices, has radically altered the behavior of customers. For businesses that fail to understand, and fail to integrate these new customer behaviors into their mobile marketing plan, their products and brands will become obsolete almost instantly.



Gary Schwartz (photo left) understands that mobile shopping is impulsive and instantaneous. As a result, a business must approach the customer with this rapid decision making process in mind. Mobile applications must be simple, streamlined, to the point, and requiring only one click to instant gratification for the customer. For many marketers and branders, this mode of thinking in terms of immediacy is counter-intuitive, and is not a continuation or extension of business as usual.

With the storefront moving rapidly to the mobile platforms, the entire concept of marketing and branding is being transformed every second of the day. For brands prepared to embrace the mobile marketing revolution and its impulse economy, the potential opportunities for maximizing sales is almost unlimited. For companies who fail to devote the necessary time and resources to the mobile economy, the future is very cloudy and dismal as they face complete irrelevance.

For me, the power of the book is how Gary Schwartz combines some intriguing background to how mobile shopping evolved, with a strong theoretical framework of the present and future of mobile shopping platforms and the impulse economy. The author also provides practical and ready to apply strategies and techniques for establishing connections and building relationships with the new mobile customer.

Gary Schwartz describes the differences between mobile customers and their behavior, from those who shop as tethered customers on computers or at bricks and mortar businesses. The author demonstrates how the mobile impulse economy really works, and shares a full scale road map to navigate the mobile world to connect with the mobile customer the right way.

I highly recommend the essential and insightful book The Impulse Economy: Understanding Mobile Shoppers and What Makes Them Buy by Gary Schwartz, to anyone seeking a straight talking and idea filled book that not only explains how the mobile consumer makes decisions, but why they make the impulse economy building decisions they do make in the mobile world. This book will change the way businesses think about the mobile impulse economy, and provide them with the tools and techniques necessary to connect with mobile customers in this rapidly evolving global marketplace.

Tags: The Impulse Economy: Understanding Mobile Shoppers and What Makes Them Buy, Gary Schwartz, mobile device marketing strategy, business book reviews

Retirement Heist by Ellen E. Schultz - Book review

Retirement Heist

How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers

By: Ellen E. Schultz

Published: September 15, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN-10: 1591843332
ISBN-13: 978-1591843337
Publisher: Portfolio/Penguin











"no one disputes that there's a retirement crisis, but the crisis was no demographic accident. It was manufactured by an alliance of two groups: top executives and their facilitators in the retirement industry - benefits consultants, insurance companies, and banks - all of whom played a huge and hidden role in the death spiral of American pensions and benefits", writes investigative journalist for The Wall Street Journal, Ellen E. Schultz, in her provocative and eye opening book Retirement Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers . The author describes how a little over a decade ago, companies had more than enough funds in their company pension funds to pay two generations of retirees, regardless of their life expectancy, and today those pensions have largely disappeared.

Ellen Schultz provides evidence that through loophole exploitation, regulation that was ambiguous, and changes in accounting rules, companies transformed the pension funds into cash cows, tax shelters, and even profit centers. Not only have fully funded pensions for retired workers disappeared, but have been replaced by unfunded pension liabilities for retired executives, creating a real pension crisis for the companies. The author painstakingly compiles research data that demonstrates how employers drastically overstated their worker pension liabilities, lobbied for taxpayer bailouts, and secretly cut pension benefits while keeping employees and shareholders in the dark as to the activity.



Ellen E. Schultz (photo left) points out that while pensions for rank and file employees was being cut and even eliminated, enormous and unfunded executive pension funds were being created that far exceed the liability expected for the worker pension funds. The author names names, and the companies represent some of America's best known corporations. For Ellen Schultz, this full scale looting of pension funds is not an isolated incident, or even restricted to the largest corporations. Small companies, non-profit organizations, and professional sports leagues have also destroyed their employee pension funds.

Ellen Schultz describes some of the abuses of pension funds as:

* siphoning billions of dollars to pay for downsizing and merger deals
* Overstating employee funds to defend cuts while boosting executive pensions
* Hiding executive pension liability that often exceeds regular pensions
* Purchasing life insurance policies on workers with the company as beneficiary
* Excluding low paid workers from 401(k) plans to benefit higher paid executives

For me, the power of the book is how Ellen Schultz pieces together the story of the wholesale looting of fully funded company pensions, while expanding the overall pension liability through unfunded executive pensions. The author pulls no punches, and names names, as she describes how the looting of pensions has taken place and continues to be done at the expense of workers. These actions were not done by the companies acting alone, but with the active support of other companies, and also through complicit politicians through intensive lobbying activities. In the end, the events demonstrate a complete breakdown of ethical behavior, on the part of business leaders, that harms not only the retirees and the current workforce, but the very companies themselves.

I highly recommend the important and must read book Retirement Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers by Ellen E. Schultz, to anyone concerned with the looting of company pensions from workers, combined with the rise of huge unfunded pensions for the very same executives involved in the worker pension demise. This book will shock and upset many people, but may serve as a wake up call for discovering the decline of ethics in business, and how those same bad ethics are destroying company pensions and the organizations themselves.

Tags: Retirement Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers, Ellen E. Schultz, business ethics, business book reviews

Connected Services by Paul Golding - Book review

Connected Services

A Guide to the Internet Technologies Shaping the Future of Mobile Services and Operators

by: Paul Golding

Published: October 25, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 350 pages
ISBN-10: 0470974559
ISBN-13: 978-0470974551
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.









"Any digital service that brings people together in a meaningful way - to engage, transact,share, and so on - is a 'connected service'. This includes digital communications in telcos and on the Web", writes widely respected and unassuming product specialist in mobile and Web, and CEO of Wireless Wanders, Paul Golding, in his pioneering and visionary book Connected Services: A Guide to the Internet Technologies Shaping the Future of Mobile Services and Operators. The author describes the current and emerging technologies that form the foundation of the the latest connected services, and offers insights into how the latest technology will apply to mobile applications in fresh and innovative ways.

Paul Golding understands that the point where telcos and the internet meet is a leading source of innovation and connections between people and within technology. The author explains how these connected services based technologies work, from the inside out, and why they are important both now and in the future. Paul Golding examines the new technologies of including the Web itself and mobile 2.0 technology. The author offers ideas about open source, mash-ups, the advent of cloud computing, augmented reality, and Web 3.0. Through these in depth considerations of the technology, and their tremendous potential, the author demonstrates how these technologies can be applied in meaningful ways within and between connected services.



Paul Golding (photo left) recognizes he importance of enabling technologies as a building block for managers to develop meaningful and useful applications. The author discusses the critical and ongoing technological change that is enveloping the communications world,including the massive increase in Smartphone usage, and the growth of Web 2.0 and its ongoing evolution into Web 3.0. At the same time, Paul Golding addresses the promise and challenges presented by the ever increasing entwining of mobile networks and the internet, as they converge into one vast communications and information system. The author shares his thoughts on the latest and fastest growing software paradigms, and considers how internet based start ups really work. As a telco CEO, Paul Golding examines how telcos can adapt to these rapid internet and mobile convergences, and develop methods for achieving better and more efficient services.

For me, the power of the book is how Paul Golding examines the the overall landscape of the internet, emerging software paradigms, the evolving web, mobile technology, and the telcos as they converge into one overall communication and information system. Using the inner workings of Twitter technology as a model, the author demonstrates how the technology works in an approachable format. Paul Golding provides insights into how the various technologies work under the hood, as well as how the various systems mesh together in a holistic model.

I highly recommend the essential and idea filled book Connected Services: A Guide to the Internet Technologies Shaping the Future of Mobile Services and Operators by Paul Golding, to anyone in any internet, telco, business, policy making, or technology related field who seeks a clearer understanding of the rapidly changing technologies affecting the overall information and communications landscape. This book explains in detail how the underlying technologies, that drive connected services, really work in a format that is understandable and applicable for anyone with a basic knowledge of technology.

Tags: Connected Services: A Guide to the Internet Technologies Shaping the Future of Mobile Services and Operators, Paul Golding, internet and telco applications, technology book reviews.

Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don't Work by Dan Roam - Book review

Blah Blah Blah

What To Do When Words Don't Work

By: Dan Roam

Published: November 1, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
ISBN-10: 1591844592
ISBN-13: 978-1591844594
Publisher: Portfolio/Penguin









"We think that thinking means stringing words together in meaningful ways. We think that talking is the best way to share an idea. We think that speaking well is the cornerstone of intelligence. We're only half right", writes blogger, management consultant and best selling author Dan Roam, in his empowering and transformational book Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don't Work. The author describes how the spoken word is misused and abused in everyday conversation and business communication, and provides an alternative form of vivid thinking through pictures to express ideas clearly.

Dan Roam understands that verbal communication results in misunderstanding, unnecessary complexity, and even boredom for the listener. Instead of clarity and ideas being shared and understood by everyone, the result is all too often one where words mislead or confuse rather than clarify the concept. The author calls this lack of understanding blah blah blah, as that is all that the speaker offers to the listener. To counter this loss of communication and clarity, Dan Roam proposes what he calls vivid thinking where pictures accompany the words, to illustrate the ideas more clearly. For the author, the more words that are used, the lower the level of understanding that results for the listener.



Dan Roam (photo left) provides compelling evidence that an infusion of pictures and drawings add interest to a presentation that reduces boredom, removes complexity, and lowers the possibility of misunderstanding. Dan Roam describes, and of course illustrates with simple and easy to comprehend drawings, how combining visual aids with words increases understanding dramatically. The failure to communicate effectively, and the resulting blah blah blah can be repaired effectively with the use of drawings to bring about vivid thinking.

To describe how ideas become more clear, through vivid thinking, Dan Roam shares the following steps:

* The Vivid F-O-R-E-S-T: The six essentials of vivid ideas
* F is for Form: Vivid ideas have shape
* O is for Only the Essentials: Vivid ideas fit in a nutshell
* R is for Recognizable: Vivid ideas look familiar
* E is for Evolving: Vivid ideas are complete but not over done
* S is for Span Differences: Vivid ideas include their opposite
* T is for Targeted: Vivid ideas matter to me

For me, the power of the book is how Dan Roam demonstrates clearly how ideas require both visual and verbal explanation and communication techniques for effectiveness. The author provides compelling evidence that people talk so much that the amount of thinking is actually lowered for both the speaker and the audience. Words are simply not powerful enough to convey ideas effectively for everyone in all situations. Even though words are the standard thinking tool, they are only able to perform half of the job of effective communications.

Dan Roam provides the powerful solution of combining words with easily understood pictures, creating a fresh clarity, that overcomes that sense of blah blah blah. Instead of obscuring and even hiding the true meaning of the words, pictures bring out the ideas in a form that everyone can understand with ease. When words fail the speaker, vivid thinking is the ideal solution to prevent misunderstanding on the part of everyone involved in the process.

I highly recommend the refreshing and engaging book Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don't Work by Dan Roam, to anyone seeking a straight talking and profusely illustrated guide to giving more effective and better understood presentations. Instead of experiencing the blah blah blah factor, your ideas will be well received and welcomed by your listeners.

Tags: Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don't Work, Dan Roam, effective communication strategy, business book reviews

Tom Rieger: Breaking The Fear Barrier - Blog Business Success Radio

Listen to Wayne Hurlbert on Blog Talk Radio



Senior Practice Expert for Gallup and author of the groundbreaking and research based book Breaking the Fear Barrier: How Fear Destroys Companies from the Inside Out, and What to Do About It, Tom Rieger, describes how fear can destroy an otherwise well managed company. Tom provides research from a huge global study conducted by research leader Gallup into how fear creates bureaucratic barriers that stifle success and end employee engagement. Tom Rieger points out the real costs of these barriers and how they can lead to an organizational malaise or even destruction. He offers insights into the traits displayed by the fear driven companies and how each of these ways of behaving can be overcome. Discover how to be a courageous person how helps to build a courageous company and provides a new type of leadership.

Tom Rieger is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on BlogTalkRadio.

The show airs live on Thursday, November 3, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Senior Practice Expert for Gallup and author of the groundbreaking and research based book Breaking the Fear Barrier: How Fear Destroys Companies from the Inside Out, and What to Do About It, Tom Rieger, describes how fear can destroy an otherwise well managed company. You will learn:

* Why fear is such a destructive force in any organization

* What a fear barrier filled company looks like

* How to overcome the bureaucratic barriers in fear based companies

* How to build a courageous company and be a courageous leader



From the boardrooms of America to the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, Tom Rieger (photo left) has studied how fear of loss and missed expectations can lead to instability and incredibly harmful behavior. Tom Rieger pioneered the study and science of organizational barriers and is an expert in applying behavioral economic principles to help understand how large complex systems self-destruct. Through this work, he has become a recognized leader in developing methods and frameworks to identify and remove barriers to success for societies and companies.

He regularly consults for a variety of organizations across multiple industries and sectors. In 1994, Tom Rieger joined Gallup, where he is the leader and chief architect of Gallup's worldwide consulting efforts regarding barriers. He is also an expert in international research and polling methods as well as in developing and applying statistical models to a variety of complex organizational issues.

Prior to joining Gallup, Tom Rieger designed and ran a global customer measurement program for a Fortune 100 company and worked with predictive models for new brands and strategies. He received a Master of Science degree in Industrial Administration from Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business in 1986 and currently resides in Southern California.

My book review of Breaking the Fear Barrier: How Fear Destroys Companies from the Inside Out, and What to Do About It by Tom Rieger.

Listen live on Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern, 5:00 pm Pacific time.



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with Senior Practice Expert for Gallup and author of the groundbreaking and research based book Breaking the Fear Barrier: How Fear Destroys Companies from the Inside Out, and What to Do About It, Tom Rieger, as he describes how fear can destroy an otherwise well managed company. Tom provides research from a huge global study conducted by research leader Gallup into how fear creates bureaucratic barriers that stifle success and end employee engagement. Tom Rieger points out the real costs of these barriers and how they can lead to an organizational malaise or even destruction. He offers insights into the traits displayed by the fear driven companies and how each of these ways of behaving can be overcome. Discover how to be a courageous person how helps to build a courageous company and provides a new type of leadership on Blog Business Success Radio.

Tags: Breaking the Fear Barrier: How Fear Destroys Companies from the Inside Out, and What to Do About It, Tom Rieger, company culture building strategy, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.

Breaking The Fear Barrier by Tom Rieger - Book review

Breaking the Fear Barrier

How Fear Destroys Companies from the Inside Out, and What to Do About It

By: Tom Rieger

Published: August 23, 2011
Format: Hardcover, 220 pages
ISBN-10: 1595620540
ISBN-13: 978-1595620545
Publisher: Gallup Press












"It was if were hearing the same story again and again. The language may have been different, but the basic lesson was the same: Fear destroys companies. More specifically, fear leads companies to destroy themselves", writes Senior Practice Expert for Gallup, Tom Rieger, in his groundbreaking and research based book Breaking the Fear Barrier: How Fear Destroys Companies from the Inside Out, and What to Do About It. The author describes how fear can destroy a company in any industry, and offers ideas for overcoming that fear to become a courageous organization.

Tom Rieger provides the extensive global research conduced by Gallup that examined and identified the fear barrier facing many companies. When that fear barrier is reached, companies become stuck, in the terms utilized by Gallup. Regardless of the business or the industry, and despite operating through what are usually considered best management practices, the stuck companies had some unknown obstacle in their way. The research uncovered that barrier as being fear. This sense of fear, within the companies, created their own barriers to success and led to stifling bureaucracies that limited outlooks and options, while ending employee engagement as a positive force. The Gallup research was conclusive. Fear destroys otherwise well managed companies.



Tom Rieger (photo left) understands the dangers of fear to an organization but recognizes that fear need not be a debilitating state for a company. Fear creates barriers, and one of the responses to that buildup of fear is an ever expanding bureaucracy. The bureaucratic model is slow to respond and works against employee engagement, resulting in an alienation from the organization, its goals, and its customers. The end result is a company in demise and even destruction. The bureaucratic responses are as follows:

* Parochialism where only one worldview is acceptable
* Territorialism where micromanagement and control become the norm
* Empire building where control over people and resources is enforced

To counter these bureaucratic responses to fear, Tom Rieger identifies strategies to break through the fear barrier and the bureaucratic model. In the place of fear, a sense of courage and true leadership are encouraged and supported to achieve organizational success. Without that courage, the fear based company will self destruct at great cost to all stakeholders.

For me, the power of the book is how Tom Rieger combines cutting edge global research with an insightful diagnosis of how fear creates barriers to success within companies. The author describes the fear factors that create massive and destructive bureaucratic barriers. Not only do these barriers stifle success and employee engagement, but work toward the actual destruction of the company. Tom Rieger provides the practical and barrier breaking strategies that have worked to overcome the fear factors at work in other successful companies. The author offers recommendations for creating a new type of courageous company, and a new type of courage based leadership.

I highly recommend the insightful and solution oriented book Breaking the Fear Barrier: How Fear Destroys Companies from the Inside Out, and What to Do About It by Tom Rieger, to anyone seeking real world proven and research based solutions to overcoming the organizational paralysis that results from fear. This book will provide the critical strategies for overcoming the fear barrier and revitalizing your company for success.

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