Filed under: Books in General, From the Editor, General Business, Hands-On Management, Human Resources, Leadership, Other, Personal Development, Small Business | Tags: books, Business, business book, business books, Harper Collins, Harry Paul, Instant Turnaround, Leadership, management, patrick lencioni, Publishing, Ross Reck, Small Business
While engaged in one of my favorite activities (trolling various publishers’ Web sites to check out upcoming business book releases), I came across a title that’s set to debut next week. A title like Instant Turnaround grabs one’s attention pretty quickly. The premise is even more interesting. Authors Harry Paul and Ross Reck explore a subject that might prove sensitive for both executive and employee: Do people intentionally “gear-down” their efforts as a way to retaliate for perceived mistreatment?
According to the authors, this is a “business reality,” and it can hit any level of an organization. Fortunately, they provide solutions to help executives tap the wellspring of employee enthusiasm that may be held in reserve. I found it interesting that even in difficult economic times, people still hesitate to give their all. However, this can often be the result of an incorrect assumption that a company is nearing a round of layoffs or considering cutting perks and pay. Instant Turnaround should serve as a reminder to executives everywhere that communication is essential to keep employees motivated and on the same page as the company.
This book also appears to capitalize on a growing trend of writing a parable to illustrate the book’s main concepts. With any luck, Paul and Reck will be able to create a parable that can stack up to the master of a similar technique, Patrick Lencioni. His use of leadership fables has served him well through more than a half-dozen releases.
It’s obvious that none of the above authors lack any motivation when it comes to producing valuable work. Speaking of which, it’s about time I got back to my editorial duties.
I always enjoy perusing Fast Company for inspiration, but today my aim was to see what they thought about one of the newest tech gadgets—what many have been calling the “Google Phone.”
Now, let me put it out there that being an editor tends to make me a Mac user; if you walk through the editorial and art departments at Soundview you see plenty of Apple products. I’m also surrounded by Apple fanatics, and as I’m sure you know, their devotion can be a bit contagious.
Nevertheless, the stir that Google and T-Mobile have made with their new phone is also exciting. What will this mean for the iPhone, which has held court over the other smart phones on the market?
First, let’s get something straight. Though people refer to this new smartphone as the “Google Phone” it’s not. Unlike Apple, Google did not design the phone, it is only supplying its Android software as the operating system (OS). Apple, on the other hand, created the hardware (the actual iPhone itself), as well as the Apple OS that runs on it. A decision was then made that AT&T would be the carrier, locking consumers into that network if they wanted that phone.
In August 2008, T-Mobile, one of the not-so-popular (in my humble opinion) cell phone carriers announced that it would deliver the HTC Dream smartphone (now known as the GI) with the Android OS. According to an article on Wikipedia, Google, and more specifically Android, has been criticized for “not being all open-source software,” despite Google’s claim that more code would be released over time. For non-tech geeks, I’m sure this is not a sticking point, but for others, it could be a deal breaker if Google fails to be open and transparent with its code.
I think there will be plenty to say in the coming weeks about the G1 and what this means to Apple and the iPhone, as well as other smartphones. Let’s see what happens.
