The call to excellence was never destroyed, it is in this book. it figured it out.
586668
Sometimes the good don't die young, they gain experience enough to become virtuous as survivors who know how older treacherous agents would do things nefarious. The high powered Mauser cartridge with a formerly low velocity Carcano bullet fired from somewhere else leaving Oswald a patsy makes good planning sense.
The honorific to Colby does not follow by extension though. Like Haig, he was a member of the Knights of Malta, as Oliver North is a member of the Knights of St John Hospitalier. Self viewed knights in dirty tricks as black knights whether Knights Templar or noughts, are not to be dreaded but figured out also. The last vestige of the mindset of the Office of Strategic Services that anticipated enemies moves and got inventive not merely in reaction but proactive, is what was at work in 1963 between at least two factions that knew it well. That a good man figured out at least one is admirable. The willingness of LBJ's group to take from the halves by force and give to the havenots as wards of the state, was also against Kennedy's awareness of percentage-of-income alternatives in the free market from his republican on his Council of Economic Advisors. Colby was part of that group also willing to use force to solve a problem caused by the installment payment system cracking up, and used as an excuse to forward a giant bureaucracy the equivalent of the military industrial complex and today is 3 times larger with equally destructive power with the will to keep using force, all unnecessary as problems could be solved otherwise in free exchange. Human Investments could have been done another way. Going to the Moon and building space stations could be done without American state competition with Soviet state competition.
Similarly, JFK's direct infusion to the economy of $500-million $2 bills could trigger banksters who like FRN subsidies and do today. Subsidizers interest in these self same shooters has not been analyzed, but how it was accomplished now has. Excellent.
3971579
This plan for success covers it all. It's simple and direct with loads of charm and wisdom. The book it is a very American success story with history and advice from some of our real heroes, written by one of our real heroes.
4395151
If you want to read a book that is accurate and understandable, this is the book.  It tells it like it is, without being pushy.
3010318
The book is very well written obviously, and the story compelling. More than that though, the book has a clear blue print for improvement/success in your own endeavors. No, it is not just another self-help book, far from it.
Look, I am as competitive as the next guy and have always gotten up after getting knocked down. Daron's "Call an Audible" was a bit of a wake-up call though: I can already think of a few specific instances when I chose the easy way out instead of keeping my head down and powering on.
I hardly ever talk about books I read, or gift them to others. This one is different. I finished Daron's book last night and already bought it for a friend of mine and made plans for my wife and son to read it. Right now, I'd say it is life-altering. Do me a favor - just buy the book and read it. $16+tax and a few hours later, I truly believe you will agree w/ me and thank Coach D.
3482405
Peter Schwartz evidences charming honesty and humility about his experiences building scenarios. He learned from his failures, so he includes them, as well as his rather impressive successes. Schwartz emphasizes that scenario planning is not the same thing as predicting the future and that complete accuracy is not the goal. Yet, it is still striking how accurately his 1991 scenarios played out. He may have missed a few specific events and trends but, if you'd based your actions on his scenarios, you would have been well-equipped for the last two decades. His very useful principles of scenario planning and multisource information gathering have not changed since he delineated them. The result is a classic. getAbstract recommends this book to entrepreneurs, organizational decision makers and anyone interested in strategic planning, futurism or  change.
2680254
Smart Calls may be the best book on using the telephone I have ever read.

I am the Designated Broker for Keller Williams Realty Professionals a 100+ agent office.  I recommended the book to all 100+ and explained that it was written more towards a "corporate caller" than it was to a homeowner but the principles are just as valid, maybe even more so.  Granted it would be difficult to find "social engineering" regarding homeowners but that would not preclude agents from gathering real information about their neighborhoods; the good, the bad and the ugly.  As I read the book I put myself in the position of the person being called upon and could not help but feel the principles and techniques described would in fact result in a positive conversation.  In other words, I truly believe I would be treated as I would want to be treated rather than just another "number" being called.  Great, great, great book.  I would highly recommend it for anyone in any type of sales position.  You could not help but learn from it.
4340412
In previous books, Danny taught us that the orphan heart has no place in our lives and the lives of our children.  Now, Bob and Danny reveal how to  uproot the orphan heart in business.  I am having our entire leadership team read this book.  As The Business of Honor teaches, we are committed to fear-free connections in every business relationship.  The message in this book will help to transform our company culture and to catapult our success.  It has universal application in every profession.  Read it; live it.
3405455
This book saved my career. Our human tendency toward something we care passionately about, is to make zealots of all we encounter. We all have been taught by example after example, is too see things myopically. To win a position no matter the relationship cost. For 15 years I struggled to find a strategy that would deflect positively, the aggressive behavior of the modern day psych, (b) help everyone in the room discover their true needs and (c) help my team arrive at  consensus.that would be supported away from the meeting table.  Enter Dr. Petersen's, nothing short of revolutionary, idea-"just learn to listen". By employing his book's key points of listening well. I was able to ask meaningful clarifying questions that kept everyone thinking more about the needs of the organization and much less about their personal points. Moral is up and team performance as a whole, has been better. Thank you Dr. Petersen.
807922
David Mosby and Michael Weissman have authored a nifty fable on how excellence, if not managed, can kill you. "The Paradox of Excellence" can be applied not only to companies but to public sector and non-profit sector organizations...and by excellent performers, regardless of their walk of life, to avoid being victimized by professional excellence.

"The Paradox of Excellence" is revealed in a story about Premiere Specialty, a mid-sized logistics company serving Silicon Valley. Premiere has been notified that is about to lose MicroZip Electronics, one of its largest customers, due to a rare shipping error after years of excellent service.

The fable centers on several key employees investigating the error, what they learn, and how they put their "learnings" to work to insure against lost orders in the future, despite excellent service.

The book ends with a concise overview of the "Paradox of Excellence" - the symptoms, the root cause, root behaviors and assumptions, and the remedy - complete with a self-assessment.

"Paradox of Excellence" is a quick and easy read. The book is profound due to the concept's simplicity, a simplicity that due to its subtlety (excellence) has been overlooked until now, and that, too, is a paradox.
2763311
I agree with all the reviews that say these practices bring more success.  It's true.  Even better, PHH has taken the time to demonstrate how these principles have played out in world history.  This guidance is tried and true, and applies in any era.
4326518
Few books in management have attained the stature of Tom Peters and Robert Waterman's In Search of Excellence.  Easily the first business book bestseller, their examination of the Eight Basic Principles (see below) of the excellent companies they discovered through their research (chapter 1) is the gold standard by which most management books are compared.

Peters and Waterman do a thorough job of attacking the rational model of management that took hold on American management after WWII and continue in chapters 3 & 4 to argue for the need of a new model for management to not only motivate workers, but keep order and consistency in an alarmingly complex world.

However, the question remains:  is what they discovered and argued persuasively for relevant to today's manager in a much different world than the early 1980s?  While Peters and Waterman's research can be called into question - see Phil Rosenzweig's influential The Halo Effect for a clear overview of that topic; what does stand the test of time is the simplest of In Search of Excellence's arguments - excellent companies are and continue to be "brilliant on the basics".

If you or your company doesn't have 1- a bias for action, 2- stay close to the customer, 3- celebrate autonomy and entrepreneurship, 4- find productivity through its people, 5- act hands-on and value driven, 6- stick to what they know, 7- keep a simple and lean staff and 8- do all this while operating close to core values and being disciplined, no book will help you or your company find excellence.

It is these eight basic principles that are both easy to talk about and expound, but so hard to deliver every day.  In Search of Excellence may seem dated when viewed from today's business environment changed wholesale by the internet revolution, but what it does offer is timeless advice that any company should heed:  the hardest part of success is doing the easy things day-in and day-out.
1251805
In 35 years of construction, I have never seen a book so well done about a topic so needing a book. The initial premise is so right on. The existing housing stock needs to be dealt with. It cannot be just the new. The actual book is a work of art. The regional aspects, with case studies is outstanding. The low fruit and more advanced steps are excellent ways to approach material of this sort. The photos and other sidebars, just fall in line. The appendices are worth the price by themselves.
2889821
As relevant today as when first published in 1991, John Tschohl's 'Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service' outlines the many steps any business must take to continually deliver and profit from quality service. A must read for any leader wishing to establish a truly service driven culture.
2191872
What a wonderful book this turned out to be.  Not only did it give me an insight into what these individuals key strengths were, but the book also had enough personal information about them that you came away from the book feeling you knew more about them as individuals.  The book starts off by making the assurance that great leaders are not only capable individuals, but they also have a desire to lead and chose to do so above all else.  They are not just great because of smarts or drive, but because they want to be and work at it continuously.  Thus the authors provide a book that is not a road map to greatness, but a review of these 25 leaders and what they do that has made them successful.  It is a broad group of people and it is interesting that the traits highlighted in the book are also wide spanning.  I had incorrectly assumed that the book was going to give me a simple list of the things I needed to get good at, no such luck.

The goal of the book is to help current day leaders observe proven and successful leaders to help them in coming better.  The purpose is not so much to imitate their qualities but really to discover which attributes resonate with yourself and the cultivate those traits to expand and improve your leadership skills.  There are so many good examples in the book that it is almost too much to take in with one reading, this is one of those books that you will find yourself highlighting and marking pages for further review.  It comes as close as possible to a how to guide for personal improvement.  Overall I not only enjoyed the book, but I learned a great deal from it.  This book as so many helpful bits of info that all managers and business owners can learn from it.  The book is not only worth the money, but also worth the time to read.
2244883
Don Adams in his excellent book, New Product Blueprinting,  referenced Ulwick's ground breaking work on Jobs That Need Doing and this book. It is everything Adams said it was. I read and reread several sections as this disciple of Christensen (The Innovators Dilemma)  does a terrific job of  highlighting the  flaws in Voice of the Customer product research and replacing it with something much better.

  Buyers have a job that needs doing .
  They have multiple metrics they use to see if the job is done to their satisfaction.

Ulwick maintains,  and I agree , that the bulk of the innovation failures and monstrous dissipation of capital in the pursuit of it , is due to not really knowing what job the customer needs to do and how they will measure success. (And then not delivering a solution) . Through the many examples given, Ulwick lays out how the market research and strategy work should  done, how to choose between alternatives and the degree this will impact different industries. His clear  examples run from very mature industries through to the most cutting edge ones.  I agree with his supposition as in our practice we all to often are called into clients to help ,  and find that the troubles come from them just do not knowing enough about their customers. Too often both sales and marketing are looking at the wrong things to help the company.  He repeats the key role that ongoing market research needs to play.
1333773
Pollard offers us an example that the old adage - Treat others as you would like to be treated - can work in a service business and be very successful (read billions of dollars). Its no harder than any other business model and you are left with the idea that all companies should work this way. He begins by examining the need to work and then the wisdom of the choices business leaders make to address that need. Self worth, dignity, honoring God and bettering yourself and peers are woven into the business' objective to pursue excellence and make a profit. His wisdom built through personal choices, experiences and constant learning is clearly detailed in the pages and is a must read for every level of management.
1400423
Before I even finished the book, I knew I would be carring it with me and referring back to it constantly.  Dave has done a terrific job of reminding me some of what I have learned along with the step by step processes that have helped him grow his buisness to such a successfull company who values it's team and who's team loves their workplace. My husband and I have been in business for 18 years and have had many good books on business and leadership come our way. Ramsey's approach is no fluff and point-on the EntreLeader.  The name says it all. I reccomend this book for anyone who has even thought of owning a business someday as well as people who have been at it a while. My husband and I are so convinced this book is our new "playbook" that we ordered 35 coppies for our friends in business that we network with, just our way of paying it forward. Jan from Ohio.