Soundview Executive Book Summaries


A Push Toward the Top

There are times when I sit down to write this blog that I feel like I’m repeating myself. We touch on a number of topics in our little thrice-weekly conversation but often we return to the news of the day as it ties together the economy and the world of business books. The news, largely, hasn’t been good, but out of this cloud has been a shower of great reads.

Historically, the most trying times often produce works of brilliance. In other instances, a book that under normal circumstances would be considered a solid read takes on greater importance in a time of crisis. With articles such as this piece in The Wall Street Journal indicating that we’re far from regaining a firm economic foothold, even executives find themselves with the occasional bout of nerves.

This is one of the reasons we opted to include Scott Eblin’s The Next Level as a bonus summary in our December package. Differentiation and the ability to display confidence in a turbulent time will continue to be assets of ever-increasing value. Eblin’s book refers to the concept of having a Life GPS (Goals Planning System). When the road ahead looks uncertain, it can be a big asset to be able to forge your own path. I found Eblin’s advice to be a good fit for our current economic climate. Companies won’t exactly be dealing out promotions to any manager with a few years of experience. The new path up the ladder will require a bit of ingenuity and Eblin delivers the frank advice to keep executives at any level driving toward the top. If you’re in need of a boost, I’d recommend checking out our summary of his book.



The Climate of Change
November 13, 2009, 1:24 PM
Filed under: Books in General, Environment | Tags: , , , ,

When we look at the stacks and stacks of submissions to decide which books to summarize, I like to make a few notes if I see trends developing in subject matter. Looking back at the last two years, I see the words “India” and “China” appear numerous times in my hurried script. Developing nations are a point of interest in the business book world because so many executives are looking for the best advice on how to understand, interact and partner with these two rapidly growing economic forces. Take a moment to consider this statistic: one out of every three people in the world is from one of these two nations. Combine the sheer number of people with the rate of industrialization and it’s no wonder that books on the subject can barely hit shelves fast enough.

One of the major areas where India and China are addressed is in titles on climate change. Here’s an article from the L.A. Times that discusses recent United Nations’ efforts to get India to agree to emissions targets. I always find discussions about Asia’s rapid industrialization and its impact on climate to create some uncomfortable moments for those in international politics. For those who point out that Europe and North America industrialized without much regard for the environment, I’d counter by saying these same regions of the globe are now the leaders of the green movement. Perhaps much of that came from a deeper understanding of the true impact of growing one’s economy.

The upside of this careful attention to the planet’s wellbeing is that it has produced some great books. One of the best we’ve seen is The Necessary Revolution by Peter Senge, Sara Schley, Nina Kruschwitz, Bryan Smith and Joe Laur. In a truly collaborative effort, these authors help executives understand the true need for sustainability and how one’s business can contribute to finding solutions to the most pressing environmental problems. It continues to be one of our most popular summaries. In light of the UN’s efforts, perhaps Soundview should consider translating this into Mandarin and Hindi. In a global economy, ecological concerns are something we all share, and so is the work to make it better.



From the Battlefield to the Boardroom

… And so it was settled. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the combatants entered into armistice and the curtain fell on the “War to End All Wars.”

Of course, we realize that such hopes were not to be. Were that truly the end of the story, the mere mention of places such as Normandy, Guadalcanal, Incheon, Khe Sanh, Baghdad and Kabul would not invoke solemn reflection on the part of Americans. Whether in field or forest, dense jungle or cloudy sky, churning sea or burning sand, American men and women have sweated and sacrificed, with many paying the ultimate price in their tireless defense of liberty and the principles of democracy. Today is a day to remember and give heartfelt thanks, but it should not stand alone on the calendar. As they are ever vigilant in their duty, so should we be fervent in our gratitude.

The fact that veterans populate so many of the boardrooms of American corporations means there is an interesting link between the military and the world of business. While critics debate the validity and tastefulness of comparing dollars and cents to life and death on the battlefield, many authors are willing to undertake the examination. One cannot argue with the military’s track record as it applies to leadership, execution of strategy and inspiring individuals to the highest levels of personal performance.

I receive a fair number of these books as they hit the market and I’m generally impressed with them. Leadership, in particular, is a topic which most executives would do well to look to the military for advice. In addition, I’ve found that the military is a key resource on the subject of accountability. One branch of the Armed Forces in particular seems to draw a large percentage of attention for the effectiveness of its training and strategy execution. If you’re looking for a unique insight from experts in efficiency, any of the above titles is highly recommended.

On this Veterans Day, one which is especially solemn in light of recent events, take a moment and give thanks to the men and women who served. I know I will.

 



These Messages Do NOT Self-Destruct

How many times have you composed an e-mail in anger or frustration, sat back to review it, and then hit the Delete button? I expect that the delete feature has saved many a career. In fact, it’s good to be able to delete and forget many haunting, spontaneous actions we may have done. And maybe we’ve gotten a little obsessed in our digital record saving. We probably should be doing a little more deleting when you think about it.

This notion has the support of Viktor Mayer-Schonberger author of Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age. He believes that in our saving frenzy we are not losing enough of our digital data and are guilty of “failing to forget.” He also points to examples of stalled careers and lost jobs through events captured on Facebook and YouTube, among other things, to prove his point.

In the Wall St Journal review of this book, the writer points out that perhaps it isn’t all bad that the digital world has such a long memory. It may just cause us to be more careful about what we post in the public realm.

Certainly, the recent surge of digital-themed books would lead one to believe that perhaps caution is the better solution than deletion. Here are just a few of the titles that we have been checking out recently: Behind the Cloud – about salesforce.com’s development of cloud computing, Viral Loop – how to grow a business from scratch through the use of social media, Twitterville – using Twitter to help a business thrive, and The Laws of Disruption – disruption technologies in the digital age.

Since the digital realm shows no signs of slowing down, or moving with caution, perhaps we as individuals should make more of an effort.



A Decade of Insight at Your Fingertips

I tend to be one of those people who gets caught up in the moment. Much of my time is spent looking ahead to upcoming business titles and working with our editorial team to chart out the trends in business publishing. The downside is there’s often little time left for looking back.

What tends to spark those rare moments of reflection is when I read something online or am doing a bit of research on a past event, such as this list of world headlines from 1999. In those moments I tend to shudder and think to myself, “Wow, that was 10 years ago … already!” While this statement is generally followed by a lament about my age, sometimes it causes me to look back at the titles that we’ve covered.

I’m always grateful for these moments because it’s in them that I see the continued relevance of many of our summaries. There’s a reason that James Collins and Jerry Porras’ Built to Last is still among our top sellers five years after its release. The business book world is one in which a high percentage of titles released in a given year are deemed out-of-date within a year of their debut. Fortunately, part of our selection process is to give subscribers summaries of books that we know will be around for some time.

The culmination of our efforts is now available for your benefit. Soundview is now offering a Premium Online Subscription. This subscription gives you full access to our entire online library. That’s 10 years of summaries! The library is completely searchable by title, author and subject.

Visit us at Summary.com for more information. Sometimes the best way to look ahead is to look back first.



The Buck Stops Where?

It’s amazing how far 0ne can travel from one’s original intent while clicking away on the Internet. All I really intended to do was read a few headlines about the weekend’s news. That simple goal led me to clicking on an op-ed piece in the New York Times. Of course, much like with any blog (mine included, I hope) the lure of clicking an embedded link was too much to resist. So that led me to Gene Healy and the public policy group the CATO institute. The CATO folks published an essay excerpted from Healy’s book The Cult of the Presidency. It makes for quite interesting reading.

As I often mention in this forum, I avoid anything political because it inevitably leads readers of otherwise sound minds into a tizzy as they attempt to decipher my personal opinions. I first delved into Healy’s essay because of the quote featured in the Times article that Americans have come to view the president as a “living American talisman” against all sorts of problems, even natural disasters. The notion of culpability for the nation’s highest office is echoed in miniature at virtually every corporation. We’ve covered the topic ourselves on many occasions, recently with our summary of Brian Dive’s The Accountable Leader.

Accountability is the “high price” one has to pay for a position of notoriety within a company. However, there are many individuals who thrive on such conditions. The subject of individual accountability continues to rank as one of the most discussed in any company. It’s important to point out that accountability isn’t designed as a system where someone takes the fall for any mistakes that occur. In fact, that’s the opposite of good accountability practices. The key point made in many books that discuss this topic is the need for accountability to be proactive rather than reactive. If job roles are clearly defined and expectations are simply stated at the outset of any project, it becomes easier to track the project’s progress and clear up any mistakes along the way.

Stay tuned to Summary.com to learn more about the subject of accountability. We are currently looking at additional accountability titles for upcoming editions of Soundview Executive Book Summaries. In fact, I’ve got one here on my desk right now. I’d better stop my clicking and start my reading for the day!



Is Your Business Going in Circles?

When was the last time you were lost? Take a minute and think about it. When was the last time that you were unable to find your way from point A to point B? Now that we live under the constant glare of the electric eye known as GPS, we don’t spend too much time worrying about where we’re going. The wilderness (what little of it remains) is probably the last place where there are no guarantees that if we veer off the clearly marked path, we’ll find our way home again.

The fear generated by being lost is something both films and novels have used to great effect over the years. One way to up the tension level is to have the character make what seems to be a life-saving turn only to discover that he or she has been walking in a complete circle. According to a recent study on a German TV show, discussed in this Science magazine blog , walking in circles may not be a plot-device invented by writers.

The fear of getting lost evaporates when we take the time to prepare the course we plan to travel. The same rule applies in business as it does in exploration. A well-planned strategy is a business’s map to its eventual destination. When we don’t take the time to look ahead to the potential barriers that may stand in our way, we inevitably seem to go around in circles attempting to solve these issues.

If you’re preparing to set your course for success, Soundview has something that may help you with your plotting. The brand new Soundview Strategy in Business Collection presents summaries from 25 books that cover every angle of designing and executing a successful strategy. Order your copy by clicking on this link. Consider it a GPS for CEOs.



This Network is Our Big News

Wouldn’t it be nice to attend a presentation without having to hear a lot of shouting? Bet you thought that wasn’t possible anymore.

Well, I’ve got good news for everyone today. Soundview isn’t in the business of resolving the country’s health care debate. (Although, if you caught our recent Soundview Live event with Harvard professor and author Clayton M. Christensen, we hope you learned as much as we did!) What we can offer you is the knowledge and experience of some of the top speakers in the areas of leadership, management and success.

How do we manage this feat? The Soundview Author Network!

One aspect of our business of which I’m most proud is the time and effort we put into developing good working relationships with the authors whose books we summarize. Like the authors themselves, we know that the book is only part of the author’s overall message. Our author network keeps you posted on an ever-evolving calendar of events featuring some of our favorite authors. The calendar includes a list of speaking engagements for authors in our network. These are the “shouting free” events I referred to earlier.

But that’s just the beginning! Click on each author in the Soundview Author Network to view the author’s bio, featured Soundview products and multimedia relating to some of the author’s major topics. I spent some time yesterday watching author Patrick Lencioni discuss why teams fail and was very surprised by what he had to say.

The Soundview Author Network is growing all the time and that, I think, is some good news. Who doesn’t enjoy a bit of good news now and again?



Alerting You to The Shift

I’ve received a few questions recently about our FREE e-newsletter Soundview Executive Book Alert. Actually, one of them made me chuckle because it said, “Are these books we should avoid? Is that why it’s called an alert?” This poor reader must perpetually see the glass as half empty, but I hope I can make him feel better with a proper explanation.

In point of fact, Soundview Executive Book Alert is intended to give anyone who signs up a quick look at a book that is either about to break through on the business publishing horizon or one that may have escaped a less discerning editorial staff. I’m fortunate that our editorial team keeps a very watchful eye on the happenings in the business book arena. We’ve uncovered a few gems during the past six years of writing Soundview Executive Book Alert.

This month, Soundview Executive Book Alert gives you a closer look at Scott M. Davis’ new release The Shift. We covered this book because we count a good number of Chief Marketing Officers among our subscriber base. If you’re in marketing, The Shift is a book that deserves your attention. Davis describes five shifts that need to occur to help a marketing department become part of the movement for pervasive innovation. When one considers that marketing sits in the enviable position of having access to both the people producing the product and the people buying the product, Davis’ ideas could help CMOs propel their careers to a new high point.

If you’re interested in receiving Soundview Executive Book Alert, visit us online at Summary.com and click on the tab for “Free E-Newsletters” on our front page. Join the thousands of monthly readers who enjoy that extra bit of insider knowledge. And best of all, it’s FREE!



Is This YOU? (Or just someone you know?)

You may or may not know, but we offer a free e-newsletter entitled Soundview Executive Book Alert. The writer of this monthly look into the hot and the hidden in the world of books is a good colleague of mine. When he reviewed Grown Up Digital, by Wikinomics author Don Tapscott, my friend wrote, “What else are you doing while reading this review?” The implication is that no one can simply sit and read anything anymore. Looking at one screen isn’t enough, so the average reader is probably texting or checking e-mail while reading any article or blog post (this one included, I’m sure).

Apparently, this prevailing trend is starting to irk more than a few people, particularly in today’s sensitive business environment. Here’s one story that gives a perspective on this new era of digital rudeness. In the first five to seven years after e-mail became the standard of communication for the modern office, we were treated to dozens of business books that included a chapter on “e-mail etiquette.” In fact, it became so prevalent that my editorial colleagues and I would groan if we saw a top-ten list that started with “Don’t use all caps. This gives the appearance of shouting.” WE KNOW!

In contrast to e-mail etiquette, the digital distraction debate brings up some questions of genuine merit. Is there such a thing as being too plugged-in? As noted in the article above, the inability to focus on one task for a concentrated period of time may lead to more careless errors. Additionally, the evaporation of our attention spans creates changes in how we present and receive content. It’s possible that we’re reaching a point where even the shortest message isn’t safe from being knocked aside by distraction. How do we differentiate in a world where everything is labeled “urgent?” How people answer this last question, combined with the evolving world of PDA etiquette will make for interesting analysis over the next few years.

If you can look away from your iPhone long enough, catch Soundview at the annual conference of the Special Libraries Association. The show takes place from Sunday, June 14 through Wednesday, June 17 in the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Soundview will be located in BOOTH #1142. Stop by and inquire about our corporate site license program. We’re looking forward to seeing you!