Book Description

Step-by-step, Creating a Reusable Learning Objects Strategy shows how to create and implement a reusable learning objects (RLO) strategy that is flexible enough to accommodate your individual needs or use across a global organization. Creating a Reusable Learning Objects Strategy outlines the benefits and challenges of RLO and shows how to compare your current development process with one based on reusable learning objects. The book also helps evaluate the level of changes you will need to account for during the transition to RLO. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

perhaps the best of it kind
I've had to read many learning organizational books for my graduate studies -- this was one of my favorites out of maybe 10 I've read. One, it's fun to read! The examples are erudite, taken from other disciplines like science and math, not just business. The 10 steps are easy to follow, logical and well represented. The authors rely on concrete examples that everyone can relate to. If I had to train a group of people or point an organization towards achieving its goals as a learning organization, I would rely on this book as my bible. Great writing style, great examples -- overall one of the most enjoyable I've read!

From the Information Age to the Age of Relationships
While there are many books about brain-compatible learning, systems thinking, communication, organizational and culture change, multiple intelligences..., this book has integrated them all into a very practical, wise and interesting manual for organizational growth. Ideally, people in any organization should start with the assessment tool and go sequentially through all the ten steps: 2. promote positive, 3. safe thinking, 4. risk taking, 5. people as resources, 6. learning power, 7. map the vision, 8. model the vision, 9. systems thinking, 10. get show on the road. But there are so many useful guidelines, stories and exercises, you can dip into any page and be enriched and enlightened. Just take "16 principles that promote learning" (pp. 16-19) or the 36 assessment items (pp. 66-67), they are very specific goals for us to aim at. "Why most training doesn't work" (pp. 168-171) should be required reading for all trainers. In fact, the whole book should be required reading by all those in management or interested in fostering growth through participative learning. For follow-up, it helps to read Peter Kline's The Everyday Genius, that gives a more comprehensive background to the Integrative Learning that underlies the present book. People can also go on to Peter Senge and team's books--if they haven't done so. In another revised edition, it might help to include an index and also update the checklist on 7 multiple intelligences to include the natural and existential intelligences.

Amazing
This book is amazing from the point of view of a H.R Professional.As the head of HR for a Global Multi National Corp I have been looking at a concise book which will help me to sell the idea of a Learning Organization to the top management.

I'am planning to distribute a copy of this book to each of the Executive Committe Members in my Company.

The 10 steps outlined in the book are Simple and Clear which will motivate any Top Mgmt to go towards creating a Valuable Organization.

A must read for every H.R Professional. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is essential for anyone who needs to understand how organizations work, evolve and learn. In this new edition, Argyris discusses vital topics of current management research, such as tacit knowledge and management, so reflecting the evolving field of organizational learning.

Focusing on learning and organizational politics, the book addresses the key issues of: Organizational learning and Action Science.Organizational effectiveness and what inhibits it.Organizational development and human resource activities.Usable knowledge and how it is inhibited. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Tough and Generally Uninformative Reading
I read "On Organizational Learning" based on a good reference from another author that I did like, James Tingstad in "Good Technical Management Practices". However, Mr. Tingstad led me astray. This book is tough and generally uninformative reading. There are 27 chapters in "On Organizational Learning", and I read eight that I thought would be most useful to me - based on my rankings, there was one 3-star chapter, two 2-star chapters, and five 1-star chapters. It does not get much worse than that. Into the circular file it goes.

The reason I found the book is so poor is that I felt no connection to the material - the writing lacked creativity and expressiveness. The book needed a better editor. Therefore, never use this book as either a general organizational learning book or, for goodness sakes, a textbook.

A collection of essays from a master
A collection of essays, articles, and chapter length contributions to other books. Readers new to Argyris might wish to start with "Knowledge for Action: A Guide for Overcoming Barriers to Organizational Change". "On Organizational Learning" expands and deepens what you will learn in "Knowledge for Action". The bottom line is that Argyris's work is as highly respected as the name is hard to spell. I give this book a 9 instead of a 10 only because of the academic style of the writing, the content is outstanding. - Cortlandt Wilson, Software Consultan ... Read more

Amazon.com

When new-car developers at Ford Motor Company wanted to learnwhy the original Taurus design team was so successful, no one could tellthem. No one remembered or had recorded what made that effort sospecial; the knowledge gained in the Taurus project was lost forever.Indeed, the most valuable asset in any company is probably also itsmost elusive and difficult to manage: knowledge. Authors Thomas H.Davenport and Laurence Prusak assert that learning how to identify,manage, and foster knowledge is vital for companies who hope to compete in today's fast-moving globaleconomy.

Working Knowledge examines how knowledge can benurtured in organizations. Building trust throughout a company is thekey to creating a knowledge-oriented corporate culture, a positiveenvironment in which employees are encouraged to make decisions thatare efficient, productive, and innovative. The book includes numerousexamples of successful knowledge projects at companies such as BritishPetroleum, 3M, Mobil Oil, and Hewlett-Packard. Concise and clearlywritten, Working Knowledge is an excellent resource for managerswho want to better harness the experience and wisdom within theirorganizations. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

KEY LESSONS OF MAKING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT WORK
If you are like most people, you are a victim of "stalled" thinking about how to make knowledge transfer work better in your organization. As the authors point out, many people believe things that will not work in practice, such as "build it and they will come" from a technology resource sharing perspective that all one needs to do is have the resource available. Unlike the theory about knowledge management, Davenport and Prusak have investigated many organizations to learn what does and does not work. Unlike some books that are no more than a few case histories strung together, the authors concisely use examples to examplify the key points of what they have learned. In their parlance, this book is full of "knowledge" rather than just "information" or "data." They are also astute observers, and notice things that many might miss. A key example of their astuteness is the observation that those who are expected to share must be given some meaningful incentive to do so. In these days of downsizing, rightsizing, etc., those with knowledge often see that knowledge as a security blanket for an economic livelihood. You have to provide some incentive to share that matches or exceeds the incentive to hoard knowledge. You need to read and understand the lessons of this book if you want to get further along in using the knowledge that is available (both in and outside of your company) to achieve greater results. A terrific book on the related subject of how to create new knowledge and use that knowledge to then create much greater results is "The 2,000 Percent Solution."

A solid overview
While this book summarized the concept of working knowledge with thoughtfulness and communicated these concepts clearly, it is not a comprehensive step-by-step instruction guide for knowledge management. Also, the book examples from organizations seemed more like a portfolio of successes or resume of experiences by the authors rather than serving as a means to more clearly covey working knowledge in action. While the examples did allow the reader to delve into more areas of working knowledge and better understand it in action, the parallel of how one would implement such strategy in one's own workplace was not nearly explored. All that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and feels it serves a good, basic introduction into working knowledge. It covers what knowledge is, who has it, who uses and needs it, what skills are necessary to form and manage it, cultural and other issues related to knowledge management, ways to incorporate it (with or without technology) into the workplace, and what measurements can be used. The measurements area was a little weak. But, again, the absence of true measurement analysis and instruction remind the reader that this is a book intended for a solid look and understanding of knowledge management--not a comprehensive guide for implements and assessing it within an organization. This book provides the information that might persuade someone to value and seek knowledge management. Additional reads and study would be required in order to master it.

Great KM Systems Template
The authors wrote this book 178 page book in 2000--it is still very relevant in 2004. Not only is this book clearly written providing a wealth of content on KM systems, it is also provides a very practical and realistic template for initiating a KM system.

The final chapter was a wonderful summary of the practicals to implementation:
-start small
-business problems relates to knowledge (loss of customers and key personnel, low win rates on service engagements, poorly designed products, etc.).
-a knowledge system is more than technology. You may start with an intranet and Lotus notes. More than a third in $, time and effort on the tech part, you're neglecting the other key factors.
-Getting content will take a while. It's easy enough to put the technology in place but getting the organization contribute and use content is a behavioral challenge. So, assess the culture of your organization before launching a knowledge initiative.

"What makes knowledge valuable to organizations is ultimately the ability to make better the decisions and actions on the basis of the knowledge".

Thanks Tom and Laurence for a great book.

Learn From the Experts!
Great for any reader interested in KM.

A KM classic!
This classic is an excellent blueprint of knowledge management (KM) in action, and is a must read for KM professionals, CIOs, and CEOs. One of the unique aspects of the book is its treatment of knowledge roles, skills and personnel (such as CKOs), in addition to detailed analysis of knowledge generation, codification, transfer and technologies. The material is divided into 9 chapters, and draws on case studies of KM in action in about 40 organisations.

Today, the 'knowledge movement' is picking up as more and more companies have instituted knowledge repositories, supporting such diverse types of knowledge as best practices, lessons learned, product development knowledge, customer knowledge, human resource management knowledge, and methods-based knowledge.

'The only sustainable advantage a firm has comes from what it collectively knows, how efficiently it uses what it knows, and how readily it acquires and uses new knowledge,' the authors begin.

First, companies must understand the difference between data, information and knowledge. Generally speaking, data is transformed into information after it has been 'contextualised, categorised, calculated, corrected and condensed.' This becomes knowledge after a process involving 'comparison, consequences, connections and conversation.'

'Knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information,' the authors state. Knowledge is fluid as well as structured, and involves experience, truth, judgement and rules of thumb.

'Knowledge is aware of what it doesn't know. Many wise men and women have pointed out that the more knowledgeable one becomes, the more humble one feels about what one knows,' the authors explain.

In contrast to individual knowledge, organisational knowledge is a more complex and murky dynamic, involving socio-political factors of knowledge buying, selling, brokering, pricing, reciprocity, altruism, reputation and trust.

The chapter on knowledge generation focuses on conscious and intentional techniques like acquisition (eg. of Lotus by IBM, NCR by AT&T), rental (sponsorship of research in academic institutes, hiring a consultant), dedicated resources (research centres and universities like Xerox PARC, McDonald's universities), fusion (via brainstorming and retreats), adaptation (eg. via learning sabbaticals), and knowledge networking.

Successful codification is implemented via a knowledge taxonomy suited for different knowledge types and attributes and which is aligned with business goals, as well as narratives and rhetorical devices for communicating knowledge behaviours. This can include external knowledge (eg. competitive intelligence), structured internal knowledge (eg. research reports), and informal internal knowledge (eg. know-how databases).

Instead of 'Stop talking and get to work,' Alan Webber recommends a better attitude: 'Start talking and get to work.'

Other approaches, depending on organisational and national cultures, include corporate universities, KM workshops, group dinners, and even group drinking sessions in nightclubs as in Japan (where inebriation can sometimes be used as an excuse for voicing criticism!).

Key roles here include knowledge project managers, coaches, trainers, councillors, counsellors, officers, integrators, administrators, engineers, librarians, synthesisers, reporters, and editors -- capped by learning officers, CKOs, directors of intellectual assets, or CIOs. Consulting firms have hundreds of KM jobs; Buckman Labs even has a role for 'anecdote management' to develop stories about successful KM in practice.

Good knowledge workers need to have a combination of 'hard' skills (structured knowledge, technical abilities, professional experience) and 'soft' skills (cultural, political and personal aspects of knowledge), the authors advise.

Three key CKO responsibilities include building a knowledge culture, creating a KM infrastructure, and making it all pay of economically, the authors recommend.

'The recent dramatic rise in Internet and Intranet use is one manifestation of the expanding role of electronic technology in communication and knowledge-seeking. Firms are becoming aware both of the potential of this technology to enhance knowledge work and of the fact that the potential can be realised only if they understand more about how knowledge is actually developed and shared,' the authors explain.

The authors caution against a technology-centred KM approach, but argue that a technology ingredient is a necessary ingredient for successful KM projects.

'Peter Senge, the influential author of The Fifth Discipline, has argued recently that organisations seeking to manage knowledge have placed too much emphasis on information technology and information management. We agree. However, the world of organisational learning places too little emphasis on structured knowledge and the use of technology to capture and leverage it,' the authors forcefully argue. In fact, the word 'knowledge' is not in the index of Senge's book!

Hoffman-LaRoche used KM to efficiently manage the drug application process, cutting it down by several months at a savings of $1 million a day. New England heart surgeons have jointly collaborated to cut down mortality rate for coronary bypass surgery. HP's case-based reasoning KM tool for customer support helped reduce call times by two-thirds and cost per call by 50 per cent.

Other benefit calculations include better management of patents (eg. Dow Chemicals), improved cycle time, better customer satisfaction, and even phone calls avoided (HP).
Intangible but also important outcomes include higher workforce morale, greater corporate coherence, richer knowledge stock, more knowledge usage, and stronger meritocracy of ideas.

In terms of pragmatic steps, the authors have lots of recommendations. Start with a focused pilot project. Work along multiple fronts at once: technology, organisation, culture. Begin with existing information resources. Focus on weak areas. Lead with technology and organisational learning.

The book is also peppered with useful quotes about knowledge, and it would be appropriate to end this review with some of them:

'In the end, the location of the new economy is not in the technology. It is in the human mind' (Alan Webber);

'The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers' (Sydney Harris);

'The great end of knowledge is not knowledge but action' (Thomas Huxley).

Knowledge is the only unlimited resource, the one asset that grows with use, according to Stanford economist Paul Romer.

>>>>>>>>>

... ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Very helpful overview of the Future Search Process
I found this book easy to follow and easy to understand. If you want to understand Future Search as a large group strategy, this book will be very helpful. By the time I finished the book, and it is a fast read, I felt that I had a strong understanding of Future Search and when it is to be applied.

A Solid Effort!
In this book, Marvin R. Weisbord and Sandra Janoff describe a three-day program to help organizations develop a future plan. Their conference is designed to unite groups of people from different areas of an organization so they can create a program together that they all support. Typically, the conference includes 50 to 70 people who review the past, explore the present environment, create future scenarios, identify common ground and make action plans. The program encourages dialogue and working together as peers.

Future Search suggests how you might organize this program yourself, from setting up the agenda to planning the logistics. Because the book is a specific, practical guide for a particular type of conference, it will primarily interest those leaders and managers who want to put on such a program. We at getAbstract recommend Future Search as a good hands-on tool for companies, non-profits, government agencies or other organizations that want to hold a future planning conference.

Search No More
No need to go any further. This the THE book to read if you are involved in planning or facilitating a future search. The authors anticipated all my questions and answered them in a clear, concise manner. The book is an excellent manual for anyone responsible for conducting future searches. Don't leave the present without it.

Practical tools in organizational change and action
Weisbord and Janoff provide practical tools, advise and many decades of experience in organizational change and action in their "Future Search." As they say, a Future Search Conference is "simple, not easy" and provides a structured means for leaders to bring in the "whole system" into planning and action. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Can't we all just get along (and together)?
The book describes another knock-off copy-cat system of the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator and the MBTI's marvellous refinement, Keirseian Temperament. Wouldn't it be great if all these copycat system people, and the MBTI and Keirsian people, could get together and admit they are merely describing the same thing? Heck, the world might actually see the truth to these systems, once they're unified. But no, I guess there's money to be made by coining a new name for something and establishing a copyright for that new name.
Still, basically, it more or less all boils down to 4 basic temperaments, further extrapolating into 16 total types, no matter which system.
This book is brief and hence does not get into much of any depth, but it is useful for an introduction to the idea.
One thing humorous: The author is obviously a Sensing Perceiver on the MBTI (I forget what she calls it in her system) and admits that her type does not like being predictable or nailed down to anything; then, she spends the rest of the book hedging her bets and declaring that her type fluctuates and is really hard to nail down. (Something which MBTI most emphatically denies; still, it is typical of SPs to hate being predictable).

Great Book, Enjoyabe Reading
This was a wonderful book. I laughed throughout the entire book. It is so practical and applicable!

No more cookie cutter learning styles!
The Way We Work by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias

The Way We Work is a wonderful followup to Ms. Tobias's previous book, The Way They Learn. As an entrepreneur and educator, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing these learning styles translated into workplace applications. Not only does the book encourage evaluation of our own learning styles, but teaches us how to get along with those having different learning and communication styles from our own.

The author wisely discourages the use of labeling and cookie-cutter analysis, which is a refreshing approach. This is one I will quickly place on my recommended reading list for my students and colleagues alike. Well done!

A MUST READ FOR EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES
Forget over-priced feel-good sensitivity seminars. This book is full of common sense insights and ideas that will really make things better at work! Whether you are top level management, a worker bee, or somewhere in the middle you will benefit enormously by reading this book. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"Metanational" is the term that Jose Santos, Peter Williamson, and YvesL. Doz--management and technology professors at the international INSEADgraduate school of business--coined to describe a new type of globalcorporation. It refers, they explain in From Global to Metanational, to"a company that builds a new kind of competitive advantage by discovering,accessing, mobilizing, and leveraging knowledge from many locations around theworld." And as they unveil and dissect the concept, it becomes apparent that itmay indeed be an apt description for those worldwide enterprises most likely tosucceed in our rapidly changing times. Based on interviews with 36 companiesfrom America, Asia, and Europe (including long-established firms like 3M andToyota and newcomers like Acer and Shiseido), the authors describe innovativeways to efficiently tap into "pockets of technology, market intelligence and ...specialist knowledge scattered around the world," rather than relying solely oninput from a home nation or a few select locales. They explore how trailblazersare identifying this information wherever they find it, parlaying it into newproducts, services and processes, and merging the result with all sales,distribution, and marketing efforts. Anyone involved in multinational businessshould find this both provocative and potentially useful. --HowardRothman ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The new small world
I was delighted to grab a better understanding on global competitiveness and the new productive opportunities provided by the Metanationals.

You don't know about it yet?? God, your business is under great danger...

nothing new here
Just a recap of ideas about globalization. They didn't even coin the term metanational, they probably read Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) and stole it from him. Furthermore, the book doesn't even begin to deal with the issue of democracy in global corporations. These so-called "virtual states" are feudal by design, and fundamentally backwards. They may make money for their CEOs and boardmembers, and "stimulate the economy" (which really means helping other CEOs and boards make money), but where does all that money come from? Ultimately globalization just centralizes power and money, putting us back in the dark ages.

Finding knowledge in unlikely places
What does a large company need to concentrate on for sustained success in a globalized world? Doz and his colleagues claim that it is to become metanational and to become good at innovating from a platform of bringing together knowledge from many different parts of the world. Metanationals differ from globalized companies in that they recognise that new ideas, products or directions may originate somewhere other than the corporate centre.

The focus of the authors is on innovation and they argue that this requires that the organization becomes good at :
• identifying where good ideas and special competencies are;
• mobilizing the often scattered capabilities and opportunities (they use the term 'becoming a magnet' for such capabilities); and
• optimising the size and configuration of operations for efficiency, flexibility and financial discipline.

This is a book that makes an important point about success in a globalized world, but presents one factor in success as if it was the whole. As with a number of books, I had an uncomfortable feeling that the content of a very good article was expanded into an only moderately good book.

The core message is important and useful. Organizations that operate on a global scale need to move beyond the extension of a unitary culture into new localities and recognise that new knowledge is found in unlikely places. They need to become excellent at recognising that knowledge, becoming an attractor for it, mobilizing it to provide a superior stream of innovations and operationalizing production, distribution and marketing into diverse markets.

The weakness is that the book is written at a fairly high conceptual level - for all the detailed example - that fails to get to grips with how to manage multiple cultures or the detail of innovation, or the issues of governance across countries. It also has surprisingly little on the major changes that are occurring in world consumer markets.

The book also falls into the 'one size fits all' trap. Issues of being effective globally are very different for a consumer fashion business, a high tech product or service industry and a major commodity business, but this is not recognised explicitly in the book.

Must reading for international business
This is one of the most refreshing books about managing multinationals that I have read. It goes one step beyond the idea of a transnational, proposing a new model of how a company can succeed by prospecting the world for new knowledge about technologies and customer behaviour and using this to innovate. It won't be easy to implement, but the last three chapters provide a good starting point about how to make it happen. I was convinced that if we didn't try and build a metanational we would simply be left behind.

Nostalgia for Globalization
The first two chapters tell you the picture and that is it. The kernel is summarized in a table at page 83 (end of chapter 3). Make a copy of this page, file it for later reference, and you are done. At best, this book reviews the vaunted wisdom of globalization, which many companies have been living at and dealing for years. At worst, it recites the squabbles between the global platform (the standardization) and regional initiatives (the deviations and the sensing ends). No specific solution or action is advised for the first & most obvious problem - how to transcend the intracompany transaction, which more than often bogs down companies attempting to quickly profit from the global learning. ... Read more

Book Description

Priceless Wisdom From An Leadership Development Pioneer

For over twenty-five years, Peter Vaill has profoundly influenced what is studied and practiced in the field of leadership and organizational development. One of the early voices on spirituality in the workplace, Vaill has consistently broken new ground in such areas as adult learning, culture, and systems thinking. And now, for the first time, Spirited Leading and Learning brings together a wealth of classic writings and exclusive new offerings from this noted management teacher and consultant--all in one volume. All those who tackle the complex issues of modern organizations and management development will find Vaill's unique perspective and thoughtful observations as relevant today as ever before.

... Read more

Reviews (1)

Incredible!
This book will change your life. It is the best management book I've ever read ... Read more

Book Description

In the post-Enron climate corporate executives are increasingly pressured to increase productivity and create an ethical, trustworthy organizational climate. 'Total Performance Scorecard' introduces a concept of organizational improvement and change management that combines the Balanced Scorecard model with the learning organization theory.

The TPS contains a personal balanced scorecard, which is tied to an organizational balanced scorecard. These scorecards reflect not only performance goals but personal learning and growth goals as well, and the organizational scorecards also address organizational climate issues. Continuous improvement, change management, 360 degree feedback, and the learning organization are theories that the TPS makes use of in a very straightforward way. If implemented, the TPS enables a company to tie personal goals to organizational goals and tie personal performance to organizational performance, all within a culture that supports integrity, personal growth, learning, and open communication. Nirvana!

* Links the personal scorecard to the organizational scorecard in a clear, straightforward way
* Addresses issues of personal ambition and growth within the context of corporate integrity and the learning organization
* Ties in several popular management concepts in one overarching concept ... Read more

Book Description

The business environment has changed. Sharper competition requires organizations to exhibit greater effectiveness in their operations and services and faster creation of new products and services-all hallmarks of the knowledge economy. Up until now, most of the knowledge management literature has focused on technology, systems, or culture. This book moves to the next stage, to focus on the people-the knowledge workers themselves. Noted expert Karl Wiig synthesizes recent research findings in cognitive science and related fields to describe how people actually work. He focuses on how people learn, remember, make decisions, solve problems and act-in general, how knowledge relates to work behavior. By understanding how people work, managers can improve effectiveness to gain competitive advantage.

ú First book to connect cognitive science with knowledge management
ú Karl Wiig has worldwide name recognition as thought leader
ú Clearly written for professionals with charts and checklists ... Read more

Book Description

A fresh, impassioned guide on the art of question-asking--withpowerful examples to use in every workplace situation.

What's wrong with this picture? On the one hand, a passive, unquestioningattitude is considered detrimental to a person's career and to an organization'sgrowth. On the other hand, focused, probing questions are rarely encouraged, andthe skills needed to ask them almost never taught.

QUESTIONS THAT WORK is here to change that. Written by a seasoned businessreporter and manager, this provocative "questioning manifesto" and practical"how-to" book gives people the insights and tools to ask thoughtful questions inevery realm of their professional lives. It is also a powerful tool to helpbusiness leaders create a progressive environment where questions flow freelyand creatively--boosting knowledge and performance at all levels of theorganization.

Best yet, the book supplies hundreds of pre-prepared, carefully craftedquestions that readers can use to find the right job, negotiate the best pay,hire the right team, sell an idea, or change their company.

When companies collapse, it is often a lack of questioning that contributed tothe crisis. When careers falter, it is a lack of questions that created thefailure. In the words of the author: "Your success depends on what questions youask. Workers of the world, question!" ... Read more

Reviews (6)

questions you never thought to ask
A lot of work went into this book. You can tell the author interviewed many people in many lines of work to come up with all of these questions. The book received a good review from the ALA which recommended it to their librarians. The book was described as sagacious. When you look it up, that's means it has keen practical sense. We need more books like that. Hope this review helps.

A Useful Tool and Enjoyable, Insightful Read
I read this book and found it to be extremely useful in a number of applications. In particular if you are looking for a job or career advancement, this book gives you great ideas to help you analyze your own objectives as well as the value that you bring to your company.

I think this book would be of great help to college students as well as they write papers or apply for internships. It helps you isolate what is important and to research appropriately.

I would highly recommend this book. A great read on business trips - gets you thinking.

Wonderful! - I recommend this book to my MBA students
Recent research suggests that questioning and listening are important but often neglected skills for MBA students. Therefore this past summer I surveyed the available books on this topic to see if there was a book I could use as a resource for my new course (at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley), which requires the students to do a significant amount of interviewing. I was delighted to discover "Questions that Work." Finlayson's argument is that in this time of constant change we each need to cultivate a "personal questioning network" of people with all sorts of expertise to whom we can go for help. His book is an inspiring and practical how-to guide for the construction of, and graceful and effective use of, such a network. I recommend it highly.

High hopes, but disappointed
I have always been a strong advocate for intelligent questioning, so was excited to see a book devoted to this topic. There were definitely some good points, but overall, I felt like I do after seeing a long movie I was anticipating to be wonderful, but turns out to be a waste of my time...I want my money back!

A few nice ideas but too long
Asking questions is an important skill and this book contains some useful ideas and techniques. However, it would benefit from some serious editing as it is far too long and is badly arranged. About 150 pages less would be about right. ... Read more

Book Description

Boost individual and team performance with this indispensable collection of newly designed and field-tested games. Authors Steve Sugar and Carol Willett show how these dynamic games can enhance a team’s ability to prioritize, problem solve, communicate, collaborate, and reach effective decisions.

Use these games to analyze company culture, help new teams break the ice, or to fine-tune communication. These games are not only engaging and fun, but they also reveal the assumptions that we make about our jobs, about one another, and about the roles we each play in the organization. Each game featured in this book

• Is complete and ready to play.
• Can be played and processed in under an hour.
• Includes facilitator notes to extract maximum value from the experience.
• The CD-ROM contains copies of the game handouts for easy reproduction.

Finally, this book contains these three exclusive features:

• Each game links to thirteen common workplace performance goals, which in turn link to critical workplace behaviors. Use the “Game Versus Performance Goals Matrix” to quickly match the appropriate game to the desired learning outcome.
• Six of the most common workplace situations, such as new hire orientation, are matched with a short list of suggested games that can be used in each situation.
• A practical and informative game model walks you through each step of game selection, development, setup and play, and facilitation. You can use this model with any performance game in your resource library.

Book Description

Building on his first book, Games That Teach, Steve Sugar, along with George Takacs, tackles teams and team learning through the use of more than 20 competitive games and interactive learning exercises. Using the comprehensive facilitator notes, you'll be able to customize these innovative games to suit the training needs of the teams in your organization.

Games That Teach Teams:

• Gives your teams the opportunity to discuss serious team topics in a non-threatening setting
• Includes a matrix indicating which games are most appropriate for specific team isues
• Contains sample exercises using game "frames" that allow you to create your own games
• Is completely reproducible, saving you time and money!

"Games That Teach Teams is packed with activites that can help your team increase its ability to learn from its successes and failures and its ability to work together."
—Rick Mauer, consultant; author of Beyond the Walls of Resistance ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Two Thumbs up for this great teaching tool!
I manage an office of 70 lawyers that needed team building skills, but have a deep scepticism about the usual drills. I found this book to be clearly written, well organized and easy to adapt to my training needs. We used several of the games at a recent office retreat to great success. I strongly recommend Games That Teach Teams to anyone who wants to get their team to work, and play, better.

More than a team activity book...
if you are in the process for building a team and looking for activites to teach effective team behaviors, then this book is for you. This book can be used for a team just starting to work together or teams who have been working together for quite some time. There is much more to this book than the 21 teams provided.

The first section helps you determine what type of team you have by classifying teams. In the next section there is a model and structure for effective team development. Once you've determined the team classification and team development area, then you can use the handy matrix to select the most appropriate activity.

The book provides very helpful facilitation strategies for before, during and processing each activity. Each of the 21 activities has detailed well though out instructions and reproducible handouts. You have everything you need to facilitate any of the activities in this book.

Valuable Resource for Facilitators!
As an in-house OD consultant, I am always on the lookout for new games to use with teams and energizers for off-site meetings. The collection of games assembled here provides a wide variety of time frames and a comprehensive set of objectives for team learning. The formats of the various games are simple and yet engaging -- and you won't be hunting everywhere for props and materials. I can't wait to try these out at my next off-site meeting.

Genuine fun, genuine learning, any time, any place
Games that Teach Teams by Steve Sugar and George Takacs, is a collection of 21 well-documented, carefully detailed, copy-ready games that help teams learn about cooperation and creativity, management and goal-setting, decision-making and communication -- and secondarily fun. It's the secondarily fun part that caught my eye. Any method that helps people develop team skills that has anything to do with fun is a method worth learning. Far too many team-building activities are built around "tasks" and "worksheets." These exercises are built around fun.

Each of the 21 games is described as a "frame game" The authors explain how ach game can be modified to focus on a different combination of skills or respond to a different team setting and composition, giving the reader more of a comprehensive instructional strategy than a collection of games. The authors also recognize that it's not just the games, but how they are led that makes for a good learning experience, taking great pains to detail facilitation techniques for each activity. They even include a table that carefully documents the skills that each activity emphasizes.

I was especially pleased to discover the inclusion of games like "ww.where and ww.when" that are specifically designed for building "CyberTeams." Here is an area of team development that is much neglected and critical to the successful deployment of the kind of communication infrastructure that technography is designed to implement.

Great Context, Very Practical
I've read this cover-to-cover and had a chance to actually use a number of the activities in it with some of my clients. This book is a rare combination of background and context that will provide a powerful grounding for new trainers, inexperienced facilitators and managers asked to help build a team while also combining great explanation and setup for a wide range of activities that senior practitioners and OD professionals can use immediately. The explanations for each activity are clear and also cover what could go wrong as well as how to modify the activity and debrief instructions. I found the matrix in the book (talking about what activities could be used for what kinds of teams and what kinds of dynamics/needs) to be especially strong. If you do OD, facilitation,or work in teams, this is a very useful book. I don't find many games and activities books that are appropriate for a wide range of users--this one is. I very highly recommend it. ... Read more

Book Description

Chapters on strategy, practice, and technology demonstrate how to achieve immediate lasting results by encouraging curiosity and learning at all levels of the organization. Profiles of organizations (including General Motors, Home Depot, and WD-40 Company) using learning-focused approaches, accompany leading-edge research into how and why people best work together when learning as they work. This book is intended for business leaders and educators seeking innovative approaches to cultural transformation, with learning at the center of their corporate strategy. ... Read more

Book Description

This guide introduces the unique but very practicalapproach to "work-based learning" that recognizes worksites as acceptable locations for learning. It offers managers, faced with the relentless pace of pervasive change, an opportunity to overcome time pressures by reflecting upon and learning from the artistry of their own action. Downsizing, transient workforce, and competitive, fast-paced environments make quick response and adjustment to organizational change a necessity.This book aims to bring organizational learning out of the classroom and back into the most natural place for it to occur: at work.Integrating a vast array of action and reflection strategies, this comprehensive approach covers topics of reflective practices, collective learning, and the facilitation, management, and evaluation of work-based learning.This trade reference would be of interest to any executive educators, whatever function they may occupy in their organization, who are concerned about promoting and delivering training and development services within their organizations.Secondly, the book would be of general value to any manager who wants and need to learn while doing.It can also be used as a supplement in training programs or reading resources for any professional who wishes to consider making a transition into management and needs a practical way to learn the related skills and leadership. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Some good information but not great writing
I have mixed feelings about this book.

I ordered it because I was considering a work based learning business degree. And, I have to say, the information in the book was very useful. (I carefully read the first half of the book and then skimmed the second half.) If I graded this book on content alone, I'd give it five stars.

Nevertheless, the writing isn't great. I write professionally myself and publish books that cover similarly complex subjects. And the writing in this book is just barely acceptable. Too many buzzwords. Complicated sentence structures. Too many paragraphs with no topic sentences. For the less than friendly writing, I give it one or two stars... Hence the three-star average

My bottomline suggestion? If you really want the information, you'll probably be quite satisfied with this book. But because of the stilted, academic style, you'll work much harder in your reading than you should have to work.

All You Need to Know about Work Based Learning
I enjoyed the book immensely for a variety of reasons. Among the reasons: it filled in my own understanding of Work Based Learning; it combines a nice balance between theory and practice; and, the organization of the book was excellent.

The book is comprehensive; solid; impressive in its breadth and depth; and, written confidently by an expert in the field.

Kudos to Joe Raelin for helping us business types so readily understand all sides of Work Based Learning. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is about organizational survival: the reasons why organizations do not always survive, and what can be done about it.

Survival means creating value for stakeholders, and the survival problem starts with uncertainty, change and the need for organizations to adapt to shifting needs and market conditions. The key question is 'Why are organizations slow to change and adapt?' Unsuccessful organizations are distinguished by their failure to overcome thinking and behavioural flaws at personal, organizational and community levels. In this book, we explain what these flaws are and how the scenario approach helps senior managers and organizations to overcome them. Our approach is based on reasoning, research, real world observations - and a long track record developing scenario-based thinking, combining the most effective elements of the many scenario approaches that have been tried over time.

"Organizational learning and scenario planning are seen by many business people as two separate disciplines, with different programmes and communities of practice. This book builds a bridge between the two. I believe this is important. It will invite the organizational learners to develop a deeper perspective on the longer-term business environment, and it will invite the scenario planners to consider their work in the context of organizational survival and development. Both will be better off, to the benefit of their organizations." —Arie de Geus, author of The Living Company

"Helping organizations learn their way into the future in a world of complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity is what The Sixth Sense is all about. The book is a deep, insightful and practical guide to the tools an organization needs to break through the limits of its own thinking. Scenario thinkers and planners working to make their organizations adaptive learners will find invaluable tools and examples to guide their own development." —Peter Schwartz, co-founder and chair of Global Business Network and author of The Art of the Long View. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Insightful!
This book disserves itself by purporting to be merely about scenario planning, although it covers that subject thoroughly. In fact, it's one of the most lucid, interesting examinations of fortune and folly you will ever read. The recapitulation of disastrous episodes at a handful of once-great companies shows just how little inclined the gods are to spare the proud. Closed minds and entrenched habits of thought managed to afflict even such a venturesome New Economy firm as Yahoo! Originality and experimentation bless even companies in humdrum industries, such as packaging. Captivating anecdotes and illustrations are, in fact, the meat of the book. The scenario planning analysis, while solid, is less convincing than the cases themselves. At times, the book shows the weaknesses that are probably inevitable when so many authors share creation. It tends to meander and, now and then, loses its way in jargon-choked thickets. But, we assure you, the clarity of the cases redeems it and makes it valuable.

Scenario conversations as agents of change
The key theme of this book is that the appropriate use of scenario thinking is a highly effective way of catalyzing organizational change and, in particular, minimizing the risk that the organization will suffer due to learning disabilities such as 'group think' or a variety of other flaws in organizational thinking.
The focus is therefore on the process by which the management group can improve their ability to shape their future, through the way in which they engage with the creation of scenarios, and in strategic conversations about their implications in the context of the 'business idea' (competitive stance and advantages) of the organization.
This book represents a consolidation and further exploration of ideas first put forward in van der Heijden's Scenarios: The Art of Strategic Conversation. As a successor, it does not have the impact of the first book, and it goes into issues of learning disabilities to a level of detail that can be tedious to those who are familiar with these issues. None the less, it is very useful in reinforcing a sound appreciation of the value of scenarios and the importance of the process by which they are generated and used.
There are very useful summaries at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book. My main criticism is that the authors do not seem to have quite worked out whether they were writing a practical guide for business people or a text for students. ... Read more

Book Description

Leading Organizational Learning brings together today’s top thinkers in organizational learning—including Jon Katzenbach, Margaret J. Wheatley, Dave Ulrich, Calhoun W. Wick, Beverly Kaye, and other thought and industry leaders. This handbook helps business, government, and nonprofit leaders understand how to master learning and knowledge sharing within their organizations.  This one-of-a-kind volume is filled with chapters that directly address the most current ideas, concepts, and practices on the topic of organizational learning. Acclaimed authors, world-renowned thought, global, and industry leaders, managing directors, and presidents of leading organizations have contributed their original essays to this provocative collection. Leading Organizational Learning

• Offers ten guidelines to help key employees and knowledge workers do a better job of influencing upper management
• Demonstrates the best way to move ideas through an organization
• Outlines the principles that facilitate knowledge management
• Explains how people learn on the job
• Discusses how larger organizations can leverage their “bigness”
• Proposes a method of knowledge mapping to effectively organize and use knowledge in decisionmaking
• Outlines the knowledge and attributes integral to the success of today’s executives
• Discusses passing knowledge from person to person
• Explains how consultants can help organizations develop ideas
• Debunks the myths and explores the realities of knowledge management

Reviews (1)

Must Read
This book will be helpful to anyone within an organization who is resposible for leading people and training initiatives - or wants to learn how to do it properly. Good, practical advice on Learning and Knowledge Transfer from the significant Thought Leaders of this field. Good stuff! ... Read more

Book Description

In the world's harshest environments, the key to survival is adaptation. It's a simple tenet of biological life, but when you apply it to the business realm, it can yield fresh insights and innovative ideas for companies struggling to survive.

In this intriguing new book, Harvard Business School Fellow William Fulmer does just that. Drawing on ideas and concepts of biology, he provides a broad, sweeping look at the business environment today--one characterized by unprecedented volatility and constant uncertainty.

And the book supplies concrete advice on how to build an adaptive organization that's able to embrace constant change and thrive in today's highly competitive business landscape. Readers learn how to:

* Pinpoint which landscape they operate in, recognize how rugged it is, and gauge their own fitness for survival * Cultivate learning, the root of adaptive organizations, through strategic planning and organizational design* Emulate the leadership skills needed for creating adaptive organizations, both start-ups and established companies * Discover why "the edge of chaos" is the best place to be.

SHAPING THE ADAPTIVE ORGANIZATION is packed with powerful examples of how adaptive companies are coping in an unpredictable, ever-changing environment--as well as eye-opening stories of how successful businesses can quickly find themselves in serious trouble. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Insightful!
Author William E. Fulmer uses a biological analogy to discuss how organizations form and evolve in an environment that changes through co-evolution with other organizations. Organizations must be ready to learn, and need leaders who can help participants understand change and adapt to it. Though strategic planning can help, Fulmer emphasizes preparing for continual adaptation. His thoughtful, in-depth discussion draws on research from biologists, philosophers and various academic and business writers to create a biological model. He weaves in examples of businesses that have thrived or failed based on their ability or inability to adapt. When Fulmer veers away from his biological analogy, he starts to sound much like many of the other adapt-or-die prophets out there today, but nevertheless, we [...] recommend this solid presentation of a complex subject to executives, top managers and academics.

The changing face of business strategy
While the coverage of some topics is slightly more cursory than I might consider appropriate, I have found this book useful in prompting new thinking about how we fashion strategy in the new business environment. This is an excellent book for anyone who has interests in the new understandings we are gaining in the sciences, and is wondering about how to apply the new thinking to shaping organizations, old or new. While one may question some of the corporations selected as exemplars, among the real benefits of this book is that the author steps far out onto the limb to suggest practices in current organizations that illustrate key points in the development of an organization that can thrive in the tumult of our times. I believe that this book is a must read for people interested in the evolution of business strategy. ... Read more

Book Description

How does evaluative inquiry contribute to your organizational learning? How do you practice evaluative inquiry to maximize individual and team learning? Offering you a way of thinking about and conducting evaluative inquiry in every kind of organization, Evaluative Inquiry for Learning in Organizations provides a data-based approach to organizational learning and change. By focusing on the use of evaluative inquiry processes within organizations rather than across large-scale, multisite programs, authors Hallie Preskill and Rosalie T. Torres are able to bridge the gap between what research "says" about individual, team, and organizational learning and what it "says" about evaluation. The authors lay the foundation and context for evaluative inquiry by including:

- How organizations are changing.

- What it means to learn at the individual, team, and organizational levels.

- The four learning processes that facilitate evaluative inquiry.

Through the use of an illustrative case, the authors guide you through the three phases of evaluative inquiry - from focusing the inquiry to developing action plans. Also included are interviews from four different organizations: Land O’Lakes, Colorado Department of Education, Ford Motor Company, and Presbyterian Hospital and Healthcare Services. These interviews allow you to "hear" how participants perceived and experienced these procedures. This exciting volume concludes with additional considerations when practicing evaluative inquiry, including an exploration of the evaluator’s role and challenges to implementing evaluative inquiry in today’s organizations.

Written for evaluators, managers, consultants, and trainers, Evaluative Inquiry for Learning in Organizations shows you how to integrate evaluative inquiry into your organization’s work processes so that its members are better able to make their organizations successful.

 

Reviews (2)

Evaluation from a new, more powerful perspective!
This book presents a convincing case for changing the purpose and methodology of organizational evaluation. The old 4-stage Kirkpatrick model may have been fine for the industrial age, but in the era of knowledge, globalization and learning organizations, it is no longer valid or valuable. Evaluative inquiry is the road to the 21st century.

Outstanding! The place to start in creating a learning org.
The first book to link evaluation practice with the notion of organizational learning. This book provides both a theoretical and practical approach to addressing compelling evaluation issues. ... Read more