change Books

I became very enthusiastic about the term "social entrepreneurship" when I made the transition from reading about collective intelligence and citizen wisdom councils and wealth of networks, to understanding that there was a form of energy I first encountered in How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Updated Edition.

This book is remarkable, all the more so for being the third in the series that started with Cannibals with Forks in 1997 that introduced the term "triple bottom line" (financial, social, environmental); and in 2001, The Chrysalis Economy: How Citizen CEOs and Corporations Can Fuse Values and Value Creation, anticipating the period of creative destruction coming from 2000-2030.

I like this book very much, in part because after 20 years of thinking of myself as a reformist beating his head against the idiot secret world, I now realize I am a social entrepreneur who has turned his back on secrets and is focused on creating public intelligence in the public interest.

The authors made me smile with their early explanation that most social entrepreneurs can be so unreasonable as to be called lunatic. This is precisely what happened to me when I published "E3i: Ethics, Ecology, Evolution, and Intelligence" in the Fall 1992 edition of the Whole Earth Review--for having the temerity to suggest that we should emphasize open sources of information instead of spying, and sharing instead of hoarding, I was told that Sandra Cruzman, the top woman at CIA at the time, said "this confirms Steele's place on the lunatic fringe." So forgive me for this sidebar, but this book speaks to me in very personal as well as socially meaningful terms, it resonates with me, and I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to think about ways of doing good while doing well enough.

I always look for whether authors are respecting those that came before or have made adjacent contributions, and on that score this book is completely satisfactory. It is also blessed by the authors' broad range of examples, carefully selected from what is clearly a universe they know better than anyone else.

Citing George Bernard Shaw, they explain early on that "unreasonable people" are seen so for their seeking to abandon outmoded thoughts, mindsets, or practices. Amen, brother!

This is not a feel-good book in intent, although it achieves that effect. It is a serious book that methodically reviews new business models, leadership styles, and thinking about value creation. It held my total attention over two evenings of reading.

The authors offer esteem to social entrepreneurs with the observation that corporations are noticing and hiring such individuals for three reasons:

1. They see the future sooner than the average cubicle resident
2. They help retain talent by making the business challenging
3. They bring love and fun into the office environment

The authors caution that social entrepreneurs fail more often than not, but they persist and ultimately find means of making a difference while making a living.

They suggest that immature markets are best explored by non-profits while noting that hybrids with blended values are the most interesting forms.

Page 5 is suitable for scaling up and framing for the office. The ten characteristics of social entrepreneurs (severely abbreviated here):

1. Shrug off ideology and discipline
2. Focus on practical solutions
3. Innvoate
4. Do social value creation and SHARE
5. Jump in without waiting for back-up
6. Have unwavering beliefs in innate capacity of others
7. Dogged determination
8. Passion for change
9. Have a great deal to teach change makers in other sectors
0. Healthy impatience (don't do well in bureaucracies)

They tell the reader that confusion is a normal circumstance for social entrepreneurs, whom they define as those that take "direct action that generates a paradigm shift" while attacking an "unsatisfactory equilibrium."

They see a deep and lasting need for social entrepreneurs because coming decades will require unprecedented levels of system change (I add, and will have unprecedented and often unanticipated disasters, many turning into catastrophes for lack of planning, preparation, or responsiveness)

The authors tell us that the best of the charitable foundations are shifting from plain grant-making to sequential investments and deeper continuing relations with those being funded. At the same time they tell us that corporation and private equity firms are beginning to notice the value options in this space. [I think to myself, this is great, just at a time when corporations are also understanding green to gold, sustainable design, ecology of commerce, and true cost accounting.]

I am totally impressed with one page that describes how China has developed new green accounting methods and now realizes that environmentally-related work loss is no less than 10% of their newly-understood green Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

They provide a fine overview of new measures of merit including the double bottom line, the triple bottom line, the Social Return on Investment (SROI), and the "blended value proposition."

On page 20 I see a quote worth posting: social entrepreneurs "bring together natural, social, human, intellectual, and cultural forms of capital."

LEVERAGE is a key concept for these authors, and one I take very serioiusly as they describe how small investments can leverage indigenous capabilities (such as hard work from people who are poor but not stupid), philanthropic and other support, business partnerships, and income from previously untapped markets (at the Base of the Pyramid, like my Seattle friends they are clearly not comfortable with C. K. Prahalad's choice of title in The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks).

The middle section of the book discusses three models and examples of each:

1. The leveraged non-profit, which is hard to scale, dependent on hand-outs, focuses on public goods and being a change catalyst

2. The hybrid non-profit that combines non-profit and revenue generating activities, with a focus on outcome generation, empowering the people at the base, community-centric, focused on low cost long term, and on driving the market or pulling more traditional providers into the market.

3. The social business, which focuses on both social and financial returns, scales much more easily because it can assume both debt and equity. We learn that Whole Foods is an example, that it drove the organic market and leverages voluntary cooperation among many networks. Another example combines sustainable organic agriculture, rural employment of the uneducated but willing, price security for farmers, and transparent information.

I want to emphasize the latter: transparent information. I have been persuaded by numerous books on the wealth of knowledge as well as my own 30+ years as an intelligence professional that shared information and transparent decision support is a wealth creation process that scales fast and inexpensively.

The authors go on to discuss ten markets that lend themselves to social entrepreneurship, and I will list them with tiny examples--the book is absolutely a gem that merits buying a reading from end to end.

1. Demographic: condoms, aging, disadvantages
2. Financial: child knowledge of finances, simple technologies, helping poor self-organize for leverage
3. Nutritiional: duck rice, food bank, food waste elevated to tasty and nutritious near zero cost consumables
4. Resources: energy, energy, energy (I would add water, and throw a respectful salute the the George Mason University professor born in Bangladesh who created a virtually free means of removing arsenic from water using a combination of charcoal and steel filings (from the ships torn apart there, see The Outlaw Sea : A World of Freedom, Chaos, and Crime
5. Environment: educatae, plant trees
6. Health: high volume low cost (or free), cateract cures, telephone centers to help poor remotely
7. Gender (best ROI ever is on educating women, see A Half Penny on the Federal Dollar: The Future of Development Aid)
8. Educational: end rote learning, cross-pollinate, barefoot college that trains doctors and engineers narrowly and without years of credentialing (my own idea is call centers to education "one cell call at a time," I would love to see India do this sooner than later)
9. Digital: embrace and empower poor as citizens
0. Security: redefine as jobs for everyone rather than high-end military

The last third of the book covers

1. helping those at the base of the pyramid with access (e.g. curing neglected diseases); price (slash to 10%); and quality (e.g. $100 laptops).

2. Democratizing technology (four clusters: basic building blocks, motorcycles and free neutral air in and out of disaster zones; media and media technology; and genetics and biology.

3. Changing the rules of the game (search for my "New Rules for the New Craft of Intelligence" free on the Internet). They emphasize transparency; accountability; certification; land reform; emission trading; and value & valuation.

4. Scaling solutions, with examples covering true costs, clean toilets for tens of millions, and General Electric's commitment to 17 clean technoloogies, sustainability attracting the best and the brightest of the social entrepreneurs.

5. Lessons for leaders (below does not do the section justice--buy the book and read the whole thing):

- Focus on scalable entrepreneurial solutions
- Tackle apparently insolvable problems
- Be prepared to fail--but learn from failures
- Experiment with new business models
- Close the pay gap
- Join forces
- Seed tomorrow's markets
- Fuel growing expectations
- Help democratize technology
- Work to change the system
- Figure out how to scale and replicate
- Within reason, cultivate the art of being unreasonable

I put the book down extremely pleased with the content and the presentation. This is a very serious book for serious people, not just social entrepreneurs, but Second and Third World policy makers, bankers, investors, international and non-governmental leaders, and so on.

As I see it, social networks and collaboration among what I call the "ten tribes" (government, military, law enforcement, academia, business, media, non-governmental, labor, religion, and civil society) are in their very infancy. The Internet has not been matched by easily available information sharing and decision support tools (DARPA STRONG ANGEL and TOOZL is a start), and governments persist is wasting tens of billions waging war and stealing secrets, instead of waging peace and nurturing open sources of information in 183 languages.

This book continued the inspiration that I have been getting from others, and here I list a few others including the first book from Earth Intelligence Network (free at the website):

Improper behavior
Radical man
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace

Maybe it's just me, but I could not put this book down...

You've undoubtedly heard this said about a novel, but of a business book? Never. Yet this is exactly how this book effected me. From cover to cover, I was completely captivated!

This is the book for the pioneer and champion of alternate business models. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the future of business, whether micro-or mega-business. Not only does it feature businesses already established in carrying out some traditionally unheard-of practices, practices that incorporate the human element into what has thus far been a fairly sterile business environment, it also brings hope and a very real sense of possibility that the future will see a different model, one that is more adapted to basic human need.

Far from separating itself out as the model for micro-businesses that serve the poor, the new model suggests that basic human need is universal and that this need should be addressed through a new paradigm that recognizes, and caters to, the human element.

Those of us who follow the non-traditional start-up business world will recognize some of the companies mentioned here, companies such as the groundbreaking Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and its founder, Mohammad Yunus. But several other companies of equal importance in changing the way business is done are covered as well, making for fascinating reading for the follower of the entreprenurial world, be s/he mere spectator or active participant in the business world to come.

Get a copy of this book; it's inspiring! For progressive business owners it's a must read; for the small business start-up, it's the next best thing to a how-to guide. For both, it's a way to change the world. Unreasonable? I think not.

Most books about emerging, improved leadership and management methods capture high points among well known examples that haven't changed in years: Fortunately, The Power of Unreasonable People is a happy exception to that common weakness in being forward looking. As an example, the book ends with a call for filling in what's missing for social entrepreneurs to become an unstoppable force that solves the world's most important and persistent problems.

Who should read this book? Anyone who wants to make a difference in producing a society that provides better opportunities and qualities of life for everyone. If you think you might want to start a social enterprise, you should be reading this book today.

Why do I say these things? I recently sat through four days of conferences at a well-known university where the leading lights among its alumni described what they were doing as social entrepreneurs. I was appalled by what I heard. All but one organization had no larger vision than to slowly build a small effort from foundation grants. If you added up all of the likely results from these organizations, it wouldn't amount to much . . . except to warm the heart strings. Clearly, no major solution problems were going to be improved except in a few locales.

What's more, the leading lights were almost totally unaware of other, more effective methods for how to accomplish similar things. They needed to read this book rather than attend those conferences.

I started writing about social entrepreneurs in 2002, and it was hard then to find examples of superior operating models being used by entrepreneurs (as opposed to attention-getting methods that reporters like to write about) that were affecting over 10 million people. A lot has changed since then. Now I run into social entrepreneurs all the time through my teaching who are developing operating models that could affect hundreds of millions of people.

I was pleased to find out about a number of social operating models in this book that could serve as useful examples to others in different fields. I intend to recommend this book to everyone I know who wants to learn about such new models. I also intend to read more about the most interesting of the many cases in this fine book. That's rare for me because I read a lot. I applaud the intensive research that is the basis for this book. Well done!

The book does have one limitation that I think would be worth addressing in a future book that updates what is reported on here: There isn't enough discussion of how to develop better business models by assembling bit and pieces of what others have done in new ways.

For example, the book correctly applauds (through different examples) the operating principles of open-source innovation, serving more people by eliminating harmful costs to provide offerings for 5-10 percent of the usual resources, employing local people with a good understanding of what's needed, measuring social performance as a way to inexpensively encourage others to shift their focus, and being able to become large rapidly. Imagine what could be accomplished if the best enterprises mentioned in this book had a process to add the aspects of those approaches that they aren't using now.

Check it out and take action!

I love the topic of course which is why I read this after already reading other similar books.

This book lays out a classification of different kinds of social entrepreneurs, ranging from pure charity to pure business. This is the strongest element of the book, since other popular books have not explicitly discussed the fact that all are possible. The book also tries to provide case studies, and indeed I took notes of things to go look up further. However the case studies are to brief and scattered to really be useful.

I found the book mildly engaging in terms of writing style. I finished it, but I also put it down a lot of times.

If you have been doing your homework in this space much of this book will be repeat, but there is enough new that its worth your time. If you are new to this space of social entrepreneurship start with either of Bornstein-How To Change the World, which is very engaging to read and provides sufficiently in-depth case studies that you feel like you learned a few examples. Another place to start might be Yunnus - Banker to the Poor, also very engaging, but focused on just one case.

In COOL IT, Professor Lomborg approaches the global warming controversy by admitting that global warming is real, may in fact be caused in part by recent human activity, but no, global warming is not the End Of Days as predicted by Al Gore. Lomborg takes the hydra-headed Green Peace monolith of global warming and analyzes it in ways that have caused some environmentalists to tag him and others of his ilk as climate deniers, the operative word "deniers" meant to resonate with those who seek to assail true Holocaust deniers. Lomborg suggests that recent attempts to reduce the amount of CO2 in the air as exemplified by the failure of the ratification of the 1997 Kyoto Protocols cannot work as hyped because the cost is too high and the benefit is too low. When I first began to read about Kyoto years ago, I believed the hype that we today are too selfish to reduce our standard of living so that our children and grandchildren can live on a planet with moderate, life-sustaining climate. It was only recently that I learned the United States had good reason to refuse to ratify Kyoto. Lomborg succintly summarizes these reasons as follows: (1) The cost to implement Kyoto would be so staggeringly high that no nation would willingly agree to subsidize the attempt. (2) The benefit would be so miniscule that given the cost of the buck, the "bang" is unacceptable. (3) Lomborg urges society to consider the novel idea that global warming might actually be good for many societies that would benefit from higher temperatures. and (4) there are more efficient ways to alleviate human suffering other than by tossing trillions of dollars down the financial black hole of a global warming that has been appropriated for political agendas by the left. Lomborg's conclusion that we need to focus on R & D as the key is a compelling one. I have a criticism that Lomborg might seek to address in future editions. His entire analysis is relentlessly optimistic only because he considers recent human history vis a vis global warming. What of global warming's very long history of plaguing life on earth over the last few hundred million years? In UNDER A GREEN SKY, Peter Ward considers how global warming has been the catalyst for several mass extinctions, the most severe of which concluded the Permian Period some 230 million years ago. Ward notes that the very oceans turned toxic, pumping noxious fumes into the air until the skies above became tinged with green. If Professor Lomborg were to consider the unhappy lot of the Permian reptiles, his thesis of optimism concerning global warming might then be more palatable. Still, COOL IT is required reading, if for no other reason than to counter the annoying Al Gore and his phony Pultizer.

He has the right idea in that we need to be looking at climate change in terms of costs and benefits. Not in terms of the hysterics that we are force fed daily.

Are all his facts and numbers correct? I don't know. I've seen some webpages that have gone through point-by-point and refuted Lomborgs claims. Lomberg supposedly has rebuttals (though they're in Danish).

Regardless I like and buy the gist of Lomborg's argument: there are things we can do in the short run to mitigate the adverse effects of global warming. These measures are vastly cheaper than Kyoto and high carbon taxes (for one, let's not subsidize people to live in hurricane prone areas...duh). Expensive carbon taxing can make us much worse off than global warming. Killing our economies is not the answer. In the long run, Lomborg proposes that sufficient R&D could give us solutions to our energy needs. Thus we should fund R&D on a massive scale.

The author takes anthropogenic global warming to be a given. Whether he actually believes that to be the case or is just making the claim for the sake of argument, I'm not sure. However, this is not a book about whether anthropogenic GW is true or not - it's about the costs and benefits of stopping GW.

This book is 'footnoted' but not in a convenient or transparent way. And I think this is awful. You have no idea where footnotes are unless you peer into the Notes section in the back. I have no idea why this is done.

The author believes in Man-caused Global Warming. However, rather than reflectively go along with the majority of that group, he demonstrates that their course of action will do little to stem the warming.

He concludes that the better approach is to use the same (or less) amount of money to help people in the developing world. The overall increase in human welfare will then allow the people to adapt to the warmer world.

This book is very well thought out and documented. I totally enjoyed it...especially the fact that global warming will actually result in a net saving of lives rather than loss.

Also, I enjoyed the practical economic solutions such as not encouraging building near the seashore. Time to stop state and federal government flood (& wind) subsidies for expensive beach homes.

This book seemed reasonable until I started investigating what climate scientists think. For a more informed opinion, see Hell and High Water: Global Warming--the Solution and the Politics--and What We Should Do. Also, read Joseph Romm at ClimateProgress web site and for some real meat go to RealClimate web site. You can look up the actual web site addresses in Google.

This book is written on a level that is very accessible and easily understandable. Therefore, I would recommend it if you haven't read much on the Kingdom of God and/or Jesus' message before. You may find McLaren's writing to be somewhat less "loaded" or profound than other writing on similar themes (take, for instance, that of N.T. Wright or Donald Miller). However, it still strikes some very relevant chords and makes some inspirationally "radical" observations. The thematic strands are very well laid out and easy to follow. A good read, all around.

Brian McLaren's goal in this book is a part of his journey to better understand Jesus, His message and His Kingdom. McLaren is curious, he is a learner, an explorer, an excavator, an observer, a discoverer, a thinker and a truth seeker. In this book McLaren explores three areas, Jesus and his times, the message of Jesus and our time, our world today and his hope is that our curiosity will not be satisfied in the reading of this book but ignited as we continue to explore its application.

I like McLaren's style of raising and asking questions, digging, searching, looking at the Jewishness of Jesus, the religious backdrop of prophet and priest of that history and context. This will be very helpful for people that consider Jesus a great teacher and or a prophet. He explores the political and social message of Jesus in a land that was occupied by Rome, the superpower of the day. I think that it is sometimes easy for us to read the Bible, consider the life of Jesus and even become followers today without fully grasping what that message meant to the hearers in Jesus' day. It was good to be reminded.

McLaren reflects on Jesus' private and public conversations, his parables, his language, his indirect or hidden approach that eventually becomes visible, that raise questions, that require further engagement not just the sharing of information. "This form of parable helps to shape a heart that is willing to enter an ongoing, interactive, persistent relationship of trust in the teacher." page 46. " It was the most religious who seemed to get the secret message of Jesus the least, and the least religious who seemed to get it the most." page 81.

What does this book say to us today? It raises the significant question, what does the Kingdom of God look like in the 21st century? How do we live out the life of God in every sphere of society today? If the Kingdom of God is in the midst of us today, what does it look like and when it comes, what can we expect? What is our role to play or where do we start? This book gives us some things to think about and to act upon.

McLaren puts the world of Jesus and what that might mean for us in perspective. Thought-provoking, Scriptural and potentially life-altaring. Much different perspective than most of our modern-day churches give us of Jesus.

Mclaren preaches what secular people want to hear, everyone must read the bible to understand the Truth.
I rated this a one because it asked for a rating. Otherwise I would of given it a zero. Read Gods word, don't rely secondhand. Question preachers who say they don't understand the Bible.

Here's the "Secret Message:" One doesn't have to die to go to Heaven!!!

The Kingdom of God, the one Jesus talked about, is here, right now, all around us, if we could (would) but see it.

There is a lot of difference in the Kingdom of God preached by Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven as preached by Paul. They are not mutually exclusive, but one (Jesus) emphasizes life we live now, how we live it and says the Kingdom of God is at hand. The other (Paul) views Heaven as a destination or realm achieved, reached or obtained only after death.

In understanding this book, one phrase kept coming to mind again and again: "A peace that passeth all (human) understanding...Find that peace and you have heaven, a heaven here on earth, in this life and, perhaps, Paul's heaven in the afterlife.

"Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done...On Earth as it is in Heaven..." A lot of us say it, but not a lot of us--a whole lot of us--don't really mean it. We really want "our will' on earth, "..Thy will" in Heaven"

Simply put, that's what this book is about. Heaven on earth as Jesus taught it, and as the author beleives it to be, or Heaven in the life to come, as Paul saw it.

Find that peace that passeth understanding and you have, in my opinion, found Heaven.

As a screenwriter and screenwriting coach ([...], I'm constantly looking for ways to eliminate procrastination. Turns out everything I needed to know was in this book!

Great book. Easy, short read gives you the urge to keep reading at the end of a chapter. Great advice, if you follow it. It's changed my life in a very positive way. I bought ten copies to give to those I love.

I was fortunate enough to hear Dr. Maurer speak. He is an excellent speaker and I knew I needed to buy the book. It reenforced what he said and was easy to follow. I recommend it to anyone who is trying to make a change in their lives.

Great Book with great ideas on how to strat major changes in your life with small steps.

Well written, easy suggestions, essentially the message is clear - take small steps toward positive outcomes and keep taking them until they become part of you and your life. In that way, over time, you will find it possible to make major changes in your life. All the kaizen references are a bit annoying, and, as another reviewer stated, the kaizen program is all about manufacturing and as such using kaizen in this way has no real relevance... however, despite that, a very good little book!

According to the powerful perspectives offered by this unique take on organizational development, a tribe is a group between 20 and 150 people. Tribes emerge from the language people use to describe themselves. Change the language, change the tribe. Executive coaches will love this resource.

The authors make the point that our first instinct to bring about change in organizations is often to tell people what to do differently. Such a strategy often enhances compliance, but reinforces a sense of powerlessness, and impedes change.

The authors describe five Tribal Stages (centers of gravity) that inform some groups.
1. About 2% of groups - "life sucks" Gangs of individuals who operate without social rules or values except absolute loyalty to the group.
2. 25% of groups- "my life sucks" passively antagonistic, quietly sarcastic and resigned. Seen it all before and watched it fail.
3. 49 % of tribes - "I'm great, and you're not." Knowledge is power. Winning is personal and based on "my" values.
4. 22% of group - "We're great, and they're not." "We" are greater than "me." The bigger the foe, the more powerful the tribe. Based on shared, "our" values. Leaders build the stage on which others perform.
5. 2% of groups - "life is great" Infinite potential of the group - not beat competitor, but make global impact. Based on "global" "resonant" values

Through language, leaders can move the group's center of gravity through progressive stages by focusing on the words people use and the types of relationships they form. Groups can't leap over a stage as they progress. Additionally, culling out `bad apples' is ineffective. If you fire the bottom 10% of performers, the people who remain redistribute to stages others leave.

The authors observe that people's language correlates to the specific tribal stage, nature and structure of their relationships. The book lays out strategies that coaches and leaders can employ to unlock greater productive potential.

To uncover someone's values, ask "What are you proud of?" and follow it up with three to five open-ended questions. Pride ties actions to values. For tribes at stage 2, ask "What ticks you off?" The tone of responses goes from passive to passionate as answers shift from chatter about the surface to their core values.

To progress a tribe to higher stages, the authors suggest finding values that unite and resonate with people in the group. Tribal leaders follow the core values of the tribe no matter what the cost. They keep looking for new ways to express the values. Authenticity is a key - avoid identifying values and then making decisions based on expediency. Such acting above the law disempowers the tribe.

As a coach, help clients set the noble cause by asking "For the sake of what?" Identifying values and establishing a noble cause is a process, not an event. It's more than printing values posters or inscribing a mission statement on employee badges. Instead, leaders talk about values, base decisions on them, and engage tribal members in discussions about what they mean. Most strategies are based on understanding of the external environment, not the highest aspirations of the tribe.

The authors identify five components of Tribal Strategy
1. Values - What we stand for
2. Noble cause - What we live for
3. Outcomes -What we want
4. Assets - What we have
5. Behavior - What we will do

Accountability - outcome vs. goal - a goal is off in the future, it implies a failure in the present. People are motivated by the goals in a crisis, but they lose their drive once the fire is out. An outcome is a present state of success. "We have already succeeded, and this is how it looks at this point in the process (succeeding now with an outcome)

The models and techniques offered by the authors have broad application for executive coaches and for leaders. Definitely well worth the read.

Review by Bruce Ervin Wood

What an amazing book. Infact this is far more than a book it is a guide to creating and building great teams. If you have ever wondered why some team building events don't work this is a must read book. My sincere thanks to the team who put this together. This book will change the way Organisational Development/HR specialists and Performance Consultants go about their work. It is that influential. Like all the best material, simple to understand and powerful in the way it insightfully helps you to see things for what they are.

I have worked in organisational design/business performance and HR for over 20 years and this is one of the most imformative and best books I have ever read. It has reinforced my long held views about the need to understand the dynamics of what makes for a great team. If you also ever wondered why you felt automatically part of some teams and others almost rejected you before you even got started, then this is a 'must read' book. I have become a raving fan and will enthusiatically introduce the concepts and methods, as I have the fortune and privalage, in my day to day work, to make a difference to the lives and work of the thousands of people I come into contact with.

Mark Pym
Director of Reward Matrix & Great Teams

I was initially put off by the title of this book, but once I started reading it i couldn't put it down. This is by far the best organizational behavior book I have ever come across and it literally changed the way I view my own company's culture, as well as those of our clients, and people I meet every day.

The book is easy to read, and summaries of the key ideas at the end of each chapter make it easy to review, retain concepts, and implement their suggestions. I recommend spacing out the book by reading a chapter a day over a few weeks so you have time to reflect on the book's concepts and really digest the material. I've recommended this book to all my co-workers, clients, colleagues, and partners at my firm. A must have!

There is a tidal wave of Leadership and How To's out there on the market. Having read most of the best sellers, this book stands out as one that will have a lasting effect on how Leaders and Managers think of their mission. I particularly enjoyed the development of the levels/stages of teams. The sought after level five is where history is made and teams see beyond their current task. When you get right down to it, it is about legacy. Are you enriching the lives of others or not? The authors cleverly use real life case studies that give us a guidepost on just how to make this a reality in our own lives and businesses.

I plan to keep this one close to my desk and refer back to it many times. It is an excellent teaching and coaching tool for developing effective teams.

Dave Logan and his team deliver poignant concepts in an easy to read and entertaining book that will quite likely change your perspective on your culture at work and also your personal life. It is a must read for those interested in increasing efficiency and enhancing relationships. The 5 stages approach make sense and the authors give clear recommendations on how you and your team can progress through the stages.

Very well written Mr. Duplantis. My wife and I are professionals and we found this book's challenge to the status quo to be inspiring.
If you are looking to jump start your life or career this is the book for you.

I totally adored Long and Shannon's original book, and by golly this is definitely a worthy sequel! Jeremy Jones seems to be up to a fairly ordinary afternoon keeping an eye on his sleeping baby sister. But then, aye, those crazy, loveable pirates return to dig up their treasure in order to buy a new ship. But those pirates are loud and soon the baby is screaming. This has all the charm of the original book and a more organized plot that puts all these fun characters into a good, tight storyline. These scurvy sea dogs may be able to tackle the high seas, but dealing with babies is quite a challenge for them! Shannon's illustrations are as wonderful as ever and I completely fell in love with Long's new story. I hope this is the beginning of a good pirate series, because it truly is a fu

My 4 year old son loved the first book (How I became a Pirate) so I got him the sequel recently, when our baby daughter was born. He LOVED the book and the heavy pirate lingo. The pictures, as in the first book, are beautiful. I think it's a great "big brother" gift (so much more fun than the usual "big brother" books that are out there) or birthday gift for a boy (you could also supplement with a pirate eye-patch or scarf to make the gift complete).

We don't have the first book, so I can definitely say that this book can stand on it's own merit. My 6 and 3 year old boys love this story. From the funny illustrations (just look at how many things those pirates practiced diapering) to the silly pirate greek chorus (they get to echo what Braid Beard, their captain says or what he orders them to do). The boys particularly seem to enjoy the results of the Captain's order to, "Rock on, me hearties." (Yes, there is air guitar involved, and you will laugh out loud when you seen the illustration). The utter helplessness of these poor pirates as they try to contend with babysitting Bonney Anne is charming. We have read this story several times over the past couple of months and it's as enjoyable for me as it is for them.

This book is hysterical! I read it aloud to my kids and they laugh every time.

Great book. Love the story as well as the illustrations. I first purchased How I Became a Pirate by the same author, and glad I purchased this one also. The kids love the humorous pictures, and the story.
Good purchase.

I read this book for a college class on Social Work, and although Loeb tells many meaningful and powerful stories, this is the same text I have heard before. If you read the first and last paragraph of each chapter you basically get the point. It's an easy read, and some may find it powerful, but I just found it repetitive and over-told.

I read Soul of a citizen which inspired me to action. I am now a volunteer activist in my neighbourhood and have formed a group of concerned citizens to negotiate and participate in our city's development plan. We have made an impact in the corporation and even had a few small successes along the way.

As many other reviewers I was asked to read this book as a part of a college course. My wife was recently assigned the reading in her MSW program. I do believe it has some value, but to a specific generation and type of activist. The book rarely (if at all) discusses a model of activism outside of that born from the peace and love movement of the 60-70s. If you are from these eras, by all means this is the book for you. If you are or will soon be a college student you will likely find little to connect with in the book. I suspect that its over use in courses at this time is a result of faculty promoting a book they feel applies to them greatly without thinking of how it applies to younger generations.

Paul is an outstanding voice in our world. Fantastic book helping bring hope to a difficult time for those of us who aspire to service. It is a challenge to keep engaged in service and Paul does provide hope. I also appreciate his newsletter and recommend it to those who appreciate his work. Great insights.

Must we indulge yet another collection of tripe in the guise of self-help? Didn't we get this sort of nonsense out of our systems a long time ago?

If you are the type who hangs around in the self-help section of Borders looking for something you haven't yet read, hoping the nice-looking man ordering the latte isn't as bad as your ex-husband, well, sure, pick this up. You can read it a few hours later after you've snuck that man past your sleeping children's doors and out to his car, and feel good about yourself and how wonderful a person you are for reading something like this.

For the rest of us that live with a real sense of morality, well, we know books like this are just excuses - a mechanism by which the anointed democrat leftists sanctify themselves. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure why I wrote this review. If it offended you, you're beyond help. If it rang true, you already know you don't want to get anywhere near this book.

I purchased this book for a college class. According to the syllabus, I will be reading it in about two weeks, so I cannot tell you if the material is valuable or not. However, after skimming through it, it appears to be well organized.

DAVID HOULE'S "THE SHIFT AGE" OPENS OUR EYES TO OUR OWN INCRERDIBLE TIME OF TRANSFORMATION.

IN A TIME WHEN THE SPEED OF PROGRESS CAN RENDER RECENT INNOVATIONS OBSOLETE BEFORE OUR MORNING COFFE COOLS, OUR ABILITY TO INFLUECE THE DESTINY OF MANKIND AND PLANET EARTH WILL REQUIRE A STEADY HAND. HOULE'S ABILITY TO CONNECT THE DOTS AS THEY SPEED US INTO THE FUTURE PROVIDES US WITH A MACRO VIEW OF HOW OUR WORLD WILL BE SHAPED BY SIX CRITICAL FACTORS.

TECHNOLOGY
ENERGY & GLOBAL WARMING
TRANSPORTATION
DISINTERMEDIATION
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
MEDIA

THE ONLY CHALLENGE WITH "THE SHIFT AGE" IS SOME REDUNDANCIES IN THE USE OF COLUMNS WRITTEN BY HOULE TO DEVELOP FORWWARD MOVING COMNCEPTS. OTHERWISE, THIS IS A GREAT READ. HOWEVER, BECAUSE OF THE REDUNDANCIES, I GAVE THIS BOOK 4 0F 5 STARS.

IN ALL, THIS IS A VERY INSIGHTFUL AND FORESIGHTFUL BOOK REGARDING THE WHOLE OF HUMANITY AND THE PLANET WE LIVE ON.

70 pages are missing from this version on sale. My review is the only place that mentions this Key fact.
Try the paperback version or even another vendor.

I heard about this book during a presentation by Howard Rheingold at a Rotary Honolulu luncheon. I jotted the name of the book down and bought a copy.

This book has given me a broadened perspective on where our world is today in regards to business, technology, medicine, security, terrorism, population, immigration, the environment, energy, and even what it may mean to be human during the remainder of this century and beyond.

The book is divided into 12 chapters. The first chapter sets the premise: The future can be extreme. The future can be bright, or it can be dark. The concept of "Future-Readiness" is introduced, and how the degree of awareness and readyness can change the probable outcome of the future. Dr. Canton also describes a process of looking at the future to determine the extremes, the causes of the extremes, and thus the choices that can be made today to shape the future.

The next eight chapters address various factors which we are living with today which will have a bearing on how the future develops. These topics include: Energy, Prosperity/Poverty, Human Capital, Medicine, Environment, Globalization, Security, and Advanced Science.

The last three chapters serve to pull together the information in the first nine chapters to "plug in the crystal ball" and examine how the confluence of factors will impact the future of the individual, and the global future with an emphasis on China and the U.S.

Granted, there are some pretty wild and imaginative "predictions" of specific inventions, such as teleportation of matter, but the public thought Leonardo DaVinci crazed when he suggested that people could fly with the aid of machines.

For me, the chapter with the most impact was the last chapter: The Future of America and Democracy. This chapter is a "call to service" for America, and the world. It very powerfully urges that we the people, government and business, consider taking certain actions to address the challenges that face our communities, our nation, our world, and humanity.

This was both a thoroughly enlightening and entertaining read. Two years after publication, this book is prescient and timely reading for anyone who wonders "Where are we going?", "How are we going to get there?", "What could go wrong?", but most importantly "What can we do?".

The book contains a lot of preening; the author seems to think it is important to remind us (anecdotally) how many huge companies and heads-of-state he's interacted with. Many of his predictions range from poorly explored (he talks about a hydrogen fuel economy without addressing the fact that hydrogen is just a transport--not a readily available source of energy) to the absurd (predictions that teleportation will be available within decades, given the fact of photonic teleportation which doesn't even slightly approach the complexity of disintegrating, transporting and reintegrating an object!) There's also a lot of political advocacy here; I'd have simply preferred an analysis of technological and cultural trends along with research to back it up.