Success @ Life: A Zen-trepreneur’s Guide to How to Catch and Live Your Dream.
Ron Rubin and Stuart Avery Gold. 2001. Newmarket Press. 159 pages.
Reviewed by Helen Ferraro, University of Phoenix
“While an entrepreneur creates a business, a Zentrepreneur
creates a business and a life,” so say Ron Rubin and
Stuart Avery Gold in their book Success @ Life: A Zentrepreneur’s
Guide to How to Catch and Live Your Dream. This book is
the authors’ combined effort at sharing their philosophy
of life and business with the world. The authors are the “ministers”
of the Republic of Tea, a California company whose marketing
and business acumen have revolutionized the tea business.
Republic of Tea sells the finest teas and herbs in the world
to cafes, department stores, restaurants, and specialty food
stores, as well as through their widely popular Web site.
The authors’ business success combined with their ability
to create a fast-growing and unique brand name has earned
them the respect and admiration of many in the business and
academic worlds.
Because of their success, both authors have been asked by
colleges and businesses to speak to students and employees
about their secrets to success. While the authors enjoy these
speaking opportunities, to fulfill their dreams they must
concentrate their time on their true passion and dream: unleashing
on the world the art of tea (p. 6). This book allows the authors
to share their unique philosophy of life and share the secrets
they have learned in living their own dreams.
The book is beautifully organized and flows easily from subject
to subject. With a unique and witty approach to writing, the
authors provide helpful hints on how to become more successful
by discovering and living your passion. Throughout the book
the authors challenge readers to do what they are meant to
do. Traveling this road to success is not easy they say, however
the trip is well worth the demands. The authors’ purpose
in writing this book was to let readers come to the “realization
that in order to be truly happy, to be completely fulfilled,
you need to live a life designed around your own special talents
and gifts” (p. 34).
Each chapter of the book is peppered with anecdotes about
the lives of the authors or with stories about celebrities
or friends who live the lives of Zentrepreneurs. The writing
is different from most business advice books, as it concentrates
on how to improve one’s life to improve how one performs
in business. This unique approach allows readers to take a
different approach to success. The authors stress the importance
of staying focused, finding a mentor, setting goals, and learning
from failure.
One unique piece of advice included in the book is the daily
assignment of writing down your goal as an achievement rather
than as a wish or a hope. For example, instead of writing
“I want to be the president of IBM,” write, “I
am the president of IBM.” This approach is much more
empowering, allowing the reader to daily visualize the achievement
of that life goal. The authors then take readers through the
remaining steps to achieving life goals.
In addition to giving advice on how to attain one’s life
goals, the authors offer advice on how to live a more fulfilled
life by giving to others. Their own company gives in several
different ways to local, national, and international causes.
Their sage advice states, “Without changing anything
else, if you change your attitude, you can change everything
else. Indeed, you can change the world” (p. 119).
This is the type of business book one must read more than
once and one that I will read many times as I strive to achieve
my status as a Zentrepreneur. After reading this book, I am
re-energized about my life goals. I have gained some helpful
tools, as well as a different approach to changing my attitude
in order to achieve my goals. This book is one I will recommend
to fellow graduate students as an inspirational guide to achieving
success at life.
Pilot Your Life: Comedian Turned CEO Helps You Star in Your Career.
Ron Shaw with Richard Krevolin. 2001. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice Hall. 224 pages.
Reviewed by Cindy Phillips, University of Phoenix
Every day is an opportunity to learn something new, and you
need to take advantage of it. This is the central theme carried
through the collection of stories and anecdotes in the story
of Ron Shaw. The story covers his life, with stops along the
way as Shaw relates interesting events and happenings. Every
story and thought that is shared has a central theme: You
are in control of your life. In writing the book, Shaw wants
to provide readers with encouragement and knowledge that will
allow them to keep going until they reach the pinnacle of
their own personal mountain.
Many people have no idea who Shaw is until you mention his
television commercials, where he is on a plane and someone
says that the pilot is missing and he saves the day by stepping
up and sharing his Pilot Pen. Acting in the commercials for
the Pilot Pen Company is a natural. Shaw has been acting since
he was 11 years old. His acting career lasted until his early
20s when he decided that he could not support a family. That
was the start of his career in writing instruments. It may
seem a long way from being a teenage stand-up comedian to
becoming the CEO of one of the world’s largest writing
instrument companies, but the tenacious style of Shaw allowed
him to do just that.
Shaw mentions numerous times that everyone is in charge of
his or her own life, and he or she decides where it goes.
He knows that by not accepting the statement that something
was impossible from the time he was 10 years old is why he
now has the opportunity to do the commercials for Pilot Pens.
His first experience of taking charge of his own destiny and
not letting other people tell him it couldn’t be done
involved a paper route. The paper carriers were no younger
than 12 years old. Shaw wanted a Black Phantom bike and he
was determined to earn the money delivering papers. He walked
in, told them he was 12, and was hired, when in fact, he was
only 10. By the time he was 12 he had already started working
on stage in front of a live audience. By watching the comedians
work the audience he learned how to handle people, and he
increased his knowledge when he began doing a comedy routine.
To this day, Shaw admits that the experience of doing the
comedy act was the greatest training he could have. He learned
how to deal with people in a variety of situations and how
to handle those situations.
Many books written about management by managers have the style
of a textbook and are about as interesting. This book is more
a collection of short stories than a textbook. Every chapter
begins with a story about something that has happened in Shaw’s
life. These stories are usually on the light side and many
are humorous. After sharing a story about a happening in his
life, the author goes on to tell how the event provided a
valuable lesson (even though he may not have known it at the
time). Several of his stories and lessons have a central theme,
and this is the reason Shaw wrote the book. He wants everyone
to understand how much control they do have of their lives.
Even when a happening was not a happy or good event, Shaw
came away with a lesson. Many of these lessons proved to be
ones he didn’t want to repeat, but it was a case of having
to experience it once to know how it really felt.
Pilot Your Life is not written in chronological order,
but as the chapters pass you learn how Shaw’s career
in writing instruments progressed. When he left the stand-up
comedy life to have a family he started working for the BIC
Pen Company. He was a salesman who decided he was going to
be the best salesman. This he did, and throughout his career
he has set goals and strived to reach them. He was not always
successful, but he came away having learned something that
he applied later in life. Even though Shaw has not worked
as a salesman for many years, he still enjoys promoting the
company and product. Pilot Pen is a Japanese company that
wanted to purchase a company in the United States. The company
had hit a plateau in American sales and it hired Shaw to take
it past that plateau. He did just that and continues to move
the company forward. He is also an ambassador for America.
Shaw is the only American on the board of directors of a Japanese
company. His business knowledge is a great example of the
quality of people in our country.
The book was thoroughly enjoyable. The light, humorous style
was easy to read. Shaw loves to learn, and he has a talent
for teaching readers what he has learned without making it
seem like learning. This book would be a great tool for high
school teachers. It would allow them to teach students to
be responsible for their lives. It can be hard to teach management
because it is not tangible. The stories in the book allow
readers to visualize the event and the lesson learned. Businesses
would also benefit from their employees reading the book.
The employees would be able to see what taking the initiative
in their job will allow them to do. I recommend reading Pilot
Your Life. I hope others enjoy it as much as I did.
Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition.Dennis N. T. Perkins with Margaret P. Holtman, Paul R. Kessler, and Catherine McCarthy. 2001. New York: AMACON. 245 pages.
Reviewed by Jeanine Bekas, University of Phoenix
Think of leadership challenges, and chances are you will think
of principles and theories used by leaders, as well as the
qualities that determine great leaders. Perkins profoundly
characterizes leadership in Leading at the Edge by
developing two dimensions to a place called “the edge:”
the limits of human endurance and the limits of individual
and organization potential. His translation of the remarkable
Shackleton expedition provided him with the ability to construct
10 lessons that powerfully disclose what it takes to be a
great leader. This road map can be used as a guide to help
leaders and organizations achieve their greatest potential.
Throughout his life, Perkins, a retired second lieutenant
from the Marines and president of a consulting company that
focuses on effective leadership in demanding environments,
sought to understand what it really means to be a great leader.
The saga of Shackleton’s trans-Antarctic expedition stood
out as a powerful example of accomplishments made as a result
of people working together to overcome adversity. In Leading
at the Edge, he details this extraordinary sailing voyage
of survival and captures examples of accomplishments made
as a result of people working together to overcome adversity.
Leading at the Edge is a story of the Endurance, a
ship led by Sir Ernest Shackleton, who sailed from the island
of West Georgia in the southern ocean. Its goal was the first
overland crossing of Antarctica. For Perkins, 10 leadership
principles emerged as critical factors that distinguish groups
that triumph from those that fail. These core leadership strategies
form the backbone of this book.
Furthermore, Perkins shows how using these 10 principles,
employed by Shackleton and others who have succeeded in the
face of extreme adversity, can help leaders reach the limits
of individual and organizational performance. Leading at
the Edge demonstrates how these leadership lessons can
be applied to organizations confronting such challenges as
competition, economic uncertainty, and the need for innovation,
growth, and change.
In evaluating one of the principles, symbolism and personal
example, Perkins defines a strategy of setting a personal
example with visible, memorable symbols and behaviors. Ernest
Shackleton was aware of his personal presence being a unique
source of energy and power. After the devastation of seeing
their home, the Endurance, crushed by ice, one of the
seamen remembers Shackleton addressing the crew. He stood
before his men and told them “not to be worried about
the vessel, and he assured them that by hard effort, clean
work, and loyal cooperation, they could make their way to
land” (p. 30). As a result of his example of leadership,
the men were focused beyond the devastation to a sense of
control over their fate, even though there was nothing tangible
to warrant this transformation.
Perkins uses Shackleton’s expedition as his example even
though the expedition did not achieve its goal. Shackleton
employed the 10 principles of being a great leader, yet he
failed to make the trans-Antarctic crossing. However, Shackleton
did lead his people on a voyage that they never should have
taken without more planning. By using this sailing voyage
as an example, it leads us to believe that although we may
employ these 10 principles, we, too, may fail.
On the other hand, the book does leave readers with this thought:
Success or failure does not measure success; rather, it can
be measured by one’s ability to break new ground and
press the limits. Inherently, these have greater risk and
uncertainty. The values of leaders are truly what drive their
behavior.
By studying Leading at the Edge, readers can learn
the things needed to lead organizations to their full potential,
and they can remember these principles when they are stretched,
stressed, and challenged.
Mining the Middle Ground: Developing Mid-Level Managers for Strategic Change.David N. Williams. 2000. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press. 280 pages.
Reviewed by Dale J. Cook, St. Mary’s College of California
David Williams is the president of Williams Alliance International.
He specializes in helping organizations succeed at large-scale
change. This book presents a management model on how to accomplish
strategic change by developing and tapping mid-level managers.
Williams’ management model has been refined over 15 years
and has been successfully implemented in more than 100 organizations.
In Mining the Middle Ground, Williams writes about
the success of managers who have used the various guidelines,
tips, and pitfalls to avoid that are presented in his book:
“A mobilized and enabled middle management resource,
which was likely skipped over and avoided in the past, has
been made capable of leading and managing change. Organizing
and enabling middle managers has opened up an entire source
of knowledge and change leadership. These managers have expanded
their purview beyond the walls of the silos, to recognize
both the full horizontal flow of strategic processes and the
power of linking strategic planning to tactical action. They
have seen how to make change work, how to make their jobs
work, for the full organization rather than just for a part”
(p. 244).
Williams uses several case studies, success stories, and interviews
to bring light to the concepts, approaches, and techniques
presented. Mining the Middle Ground also includes many
quotes shared by managers in a variety of industries. The
case studies, success stories, in-depth interviews, and quotes
helped explain and reinforce the topics addressed.
For example, Williams discusses the role of the executive
team, defining the strategic objective, assessing the organization’s
readiness and capabilities for change, and creating a mandate
for change. Other topics discussed are identifying the organization’s
strategic processes; assembling the campaign team; the campaign;
mapping; surveying and measuring the environment; process
performance; communicating; planning for tactical team support,
preparation, and launch; and tactical project mechanics, including
team ground rules and expectations. Williams also addresses
the ongoing role of the executive team, looking at the big
picture and implementing change itself.
Mining the Middle Ground features insight into how
to turn middle managers into strategic change drivers. The
book focuses on how to tap middle management and maximize
on the value gained from investments and resources. The book
also furnishes a field-proven model for developing, integrating,
and tapping the middle management resource. In addition, there
are step-by-step directions on how to apply the model in the
workplace.
Mining the Middle Ground addresses business, human
resources, teams, and leadership. Williams writes: “Successfully
enabled and cultivated, mid-level managers can be your company’s
strongest resource for knowledge creation breakthrough thinking,
and change leadership.” The team concept is a good way
to win or be successful in most business efforts. The book
enlightens readers of the vast amount of resources that are
already on hand. The step-by-step walk through the management
model’s concepts is a plus, along with the interviews
and case studies. In each case study there is the challenge
of change, included with a discussion of the leadership maneuvers
that were incorporated in order to initiate organizational
change. Each case study is also a success story. The situations
could be in any business today, which helps put the book into
a real-world context. The best part of the book, however,
is the detail. Williams writes: “Details are essential.…”
Middle managers are essential, too!
Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In.Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton (editor). 1991. New York: Penguin Press. 200 pages.
Reviewed by Jeff M. Bickerton, St. Mary’s College of California
Getting to Yes by Roger Fisher and William Ury gives
an insightful and pragmatic approach to winning negotiations.
Fisher teaches negotiations at Harvard Law School and both
he and Ury direct Harvard’s project on negotiation. Getting
to Yes is the result of years of study into how to conduct
successful negotiations in what the authors refer to as principle-centered
negotiations. “The method of principled negotiation
developed at the Harvard Negotiation Project is to decide
issues on their merits rather than through a haggling process
focused on what each side says it will and won’t do”
(p. xviii). The authors suggest this winning method of negotiation
can be best accomplished by separating the people from the
problem, focusing on interests and not positions, inventing
options for mutual gain, and insisting on using objective
criteria. According to Fisher and Ury, by following this approach
to negotiation, parties can reach gradual consensus on joint
decisions efficiently without the damage that can occur by
digging into respective positions.
How important are negotiation skills to managers and leaders?
Managers and leaders negotiate every day. According to Fisher
and Ury, “Everyone negotiates something every day”
(p. xvii). When I sit in a budget meeting with our company’s
financial analyst, or when I set out to hire a new employee,
I need to be able to negotiate effectively. For this type
of negotiation it is even more important to maintain an appropriate
amount of decorum and cultivate relationships rather than
pounding a shoe on a lectern.
One of the main tenets of principle-centered negotiation focuses
on effectively resolving conflict by separating the people
from the problem. According to Fisher and Ury, “dealing
with a substantive problem and maintaining a good working
relationship need not be conflicting goals if the parties
are committed and psychologically prepared to treat each separately
on its own legitimate merits” (p. 21). Further, being
able to see the situation as the other party or parties see
it is an important skill in principle-centered negotiation
(p. 23). In fact, this skill is so important that it is a
good idea to discuss each other’s perceptions in a frank
and honest manner (p. 26). To be effective, a good negotiator
must possess good negotiation skills. These skills will assist
the negotiator in listening to the other party and identifying
and properly responding to breakdowns in the process.
Another tenet of principle-centered negotiation is focusing
on interests, not positions. The best way to explain this
is through a historical event reported in Getting to Yes.
When Egypt and Israel sat down in 1978 to negotiate a peace,
they could not agree on where each country’s boundary
should be drawn. The two sides’ positions seemed irreconcilable
until they focused on their own interests not positions. Egypt’s
interest was in sovereignty, while Israel was concerned about
its own security. Once each country focused on its interest,
a deal could be struck. Egypt was able to fly its flag over
the entire territory provided that it agreed to not place
its tanks anywhere near Israel. The parties were focusing
on their own positions, not their own interests.
A third fundamental tenet is inventing options for mutual
gain. The authors basically state that during negotiations,
people sometimes get tunnel vision and focus on either/or
options. In order to invent options, the negotiating parties
must be prepared to brainstorm ideas, broaden the options,
multiply options by shuttling between specific and general
ideas, and looking for mutual gain (pp. 61-69). I have often
found myself at loggerheads while negotiating with someone
only to have a disinterested person come up with a fantastic
option that I had not previously thought of. My inability
to see the elegant solution is likely the result of not following
one of the aforementioned suggestions.
The final fundamental tenet of principle-centered negotiation
is insisting on objective criteria. According to Fisher and
Ury, “If trying to settle differences of interest on
the basis of will has such high costs, the solution is to
negotiate on some basis independent of the will of either
side—that is, on the basis of objective criteria”
(p. 82).
In Getting to Yes, Fisher and Ury have taken an interpersonal
and psychological activity and reduced it to a paint-by-numbers
approach. I have been able to apply many of the concepts set
forth in Getting to Yes to achieve resolution in negotiations
that would have otherwise produced some less desirable result.
The book’s approach to negotiation will help readers
to resolve disputed matters while fostering good working relationships.
I plan on keeping this book nearby.
Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership.
Howard Gardner. 1996. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 400 pages.
Reviewed by William J. Kohnen, Analog Devices Inc.
We are shaping the world faster than we can change ourselves, and we are applying to the present the habits of the past.
—Winston Churchill
On the surface, Leading Minds by Howard Gardner appears
to be another biography of great leaders that may provide
interesting trivia suitable for downtime reading. What Gardner
achieves, however, is far more valuable to professionals in
organizations that are searching for leadership in what is
now accepted as a constantly fluid environment. Simply put,
the objective of the book is to provide a better understanding
of the feature of effective leadership.
The book contains three main sections. The first section introduces
readers to Garden’s concept of cognitive leadership.
Specific areas covered include a general discussion of what
makes the phenomena of leadership possible, as well as the
types of stories that leaders tell. At the crux of cognitive
leadership is the idea that leaders have a story to tell that
is different from the present state yet is compelling enough
to make people want to change.
The second and most extensive section presents examples of
leaders and their experiences. The stories of leadership are
drawn from a broad spectrum, including business, politics,
religion, science, and education. There are familiar stories,
such as Alfred Sloan, Martin Luther King, and Eleanor Roosevelt,
as well as lesser-known stories of Robert Maynard Hutchins,
Margaret Mead, and George Marshall. Each story is 15 to 20
pages, and as the author states: “the leaders were carefully
and strategically chosen in order to reinforce the argument
of the book” (p. x). One could argue endlessly about
specific leaders to use as examples; however, the author does
not suggest that anyone referenced is necessarily the best,
so for his purposes his selections seem reasonable and support
his work.
In the final section Gardner presents what he identifies as
the six constants of leadership: story, audience, organization,
embodiment, direct and indirect leadership, and expertise.
Essentially a leader must have a central message that is easily
understood, that people can abide by, and that is addressed
to a specific audience. To support and propagate the story
the leader must have an organization and depending on circumstances
and position, will lead directly or indirectly. Finally some
level of domain expertise is important to establish credibility.
If one were to consider W. Edwards Deming in the field of
quality it is possible to reflect on how the six constants
applied in his case.
Story:
Total quality management tools will improve performance.
Audience:Business and government organizations
Organization:Deming Institute, ASQ, U. S. government
Direct and indirect leadership:
Direct with organization he consulted with; indirect with those who studied his material
Expertise:Doctorate in statistics, experience
Finally Gardner introduces his concept of the exemplary leader.
Signs that a person may fit this role from early on include
public speaking skills, keen interest and understanding of
others, and willingness to confront authority balanced with
an understanding of when to hold one’s tongue (pp. 285-286).
Interestingly, above-average intelligence or academics are
not required. Although individual traits alone do not create
an exemplary leader there must be circumstances that refine
and mold the traits and ultimately call for them to be used.
Before one aspires to become an exemplary leader the ultimate
result is a fall that is brought about by changing circumstances,
a story that is to narrow or broad, or overwork by the exemplary
leader. On the other hand, the ordinary leader-manager can
expect reasonable success without the life encompassing upheaval
experienced by an exemplary leader.
In summary, this book will be helpful to those who find themselves
moving toward leadership positions and those who are already
there by suggesting an interesting framework for leadership,
providing interesting examples, and identifying specific leadership
traits.
Marketing Plans That Work: Targeting Growth and Profitability.
Malcolm H. B. McDonald and Warren J. Keegan. 1997. Newton, Mass.: Butterworth-Heinemann. 288 pages.
Reviewed by Trish Drew, St. Mary’s College of California
Marketing Plans That Work is a thorough analysis of
the development of a marketing plan. McDonald and Keegan are
both professors from Cranfield School of Management and Pace
University, respectively. They have developed software programs
for strategic marketing planning. They share with readers
a global perspective on marketing strategy.
The authors set out to provide readers with a thorough discussion
on the development of a marketing plan. The areas of organizational
and management structure have been considered, making this
an effective tool for many types of organizations. The authors
stress the importance of analyzing the customer base, and
maintaining the intimacy with the desired customer base in
order to keep the marketing plan relevant. This includes the
important component of updating the marketing plan to fit
the dynamics of the industry specifically and the business
world in general. I have found this the case with internal
marketing plans developed for the senior project. Changes
that have occurred in the business world since August 1, 2001,
have affected some of the original objectives. Overall, McDonald
and Keegan provide a relevant and useful format upon which
to build the marketing plan.
One very important component of the marketing plan discussed
in chapter 2 is the situational analysis. This analysis, which
includes a SWOT analysis, should include both internal and
external review and strategic analysis, and all aspects should
be compared with the mission and vision of the organization
as a whole. Their concepts fit within traditional management
principles of planning and organizing. The authors state:
“The function of the plan is to determine where the company
is, where it wants to go, and how it can get there” (p.
27).
Important to the audit and planning stages is recognition
of the customer’s needs. This is a very important concept
that many organizations overlook. McDonald and Keegan state,
“Research has shown that there is a direct link between
long-run profitability and the ability of a firm to understand
its customers’ needs and provide value for them”
(p. 4). This is also discussed in more detail in chapter 4
when readers are asked to audit market attractiveness as it
relates to their product(s).
Another important concept is the interaction between marketing,
sales, and advertising. This concept is discussed in depth
in chapters 6 and 7 as the way that an organization communicates
with its customers. The authors point out that “Companies
continually experiment with the mix of communication techniques
they use in an attempt to become more cost effective...”
(p. 101). This reinforces the importance of continually reviewing
the organization’s marketing plan in both internal and
external perspectives. The analysis that the organization
performs in chapters 3 and 4 is the basis for the continual
review that the organization must perform regularly in order
for its marketing plan to remain effective.
In the opening chapter the authors discuss that fundamentally
there is “no difference whether we are marketing furnaces,
insurance policies, or soft drinks” (p. 6), but they
recognize that there are differences in the “emphasis”
of the marketing. For example, services are generally marketed
through personal selling and contain an element of trust because
there is no physical product. In practicality, however, the
authors do not emphasize these distinctions in the subsequent
chapters, which would be helpful for developing a marketing
plan for service or nonprofit organizations.
McDonald and Keegan include a practical method for reinforcing
the book’s concepts. At the end of each chapter are a
series of questions titled “Questions Successful Companies
Ask.” These questions allow readers to summarize their
interpretations from each chapter with the authors’ interpretations
of how the information is successfully applied. These questions
are an excellent starting point for a summary of the principles
found in the book as they relate to one’s own organization.
The questions from the chapters on analysis and developing
objectives and strategies were helpful in reviewing the marketing
plan developed for the senior project plan.
In summary, the book’s attributes include a thorough
discussion of development of marketing plans with systematic
instruction in achieving the plan. The authors include a series
of thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter,
allowing readers to relate their own organization to the methods
used by successful companies. While the book does not do justice
in the systematic instruction for a service or nonprofit organization,
it does reveal many important concepts relative to marketing
and how marketing is pivotal within an organization.
Fast Track to Quality: A 12-Month Program for Small to Mid-Sized Businesses.Roger Tunks. 1992. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. 292 pages.
Reviewed by Marcie Bidou, St. Mary’s College of California
Fast Track to Quality demonstrates the author’s
area of expertise. Roger Tunks is a master regarding total
quality management (TQM), which is what this book is about.
Tunks is president of the Richard-Rogers Group, a management
consulting firm specializing in TQM training, and is an acclaimed
educator and highly regarded TQM consultant and speaker. Tunks
also has 22 years of experience as a consultant to various
industries throughout the United States. Fast Track to
Quality provides managers with an action plan to develop
and apply TQM in small to mid-size companies.
The major theme of Fast Track to Quality is to provide
managers with an understanding of the proven technology of
TQM and the positive results that other companies have welcomed.
Tunks’ description of quality is “... everyone in
an organization consistently seeks to improve the quality
of products and services by performing error-free work the
first time and every time” (p. xi). TQM is the successful
method Tunks describes to achieve quality as illustrated previously.
Tunks wrote Fast Track to Quality to provide managers
with a useful tool that would empower and instruct them regarding
how to apply TQM within their organizations. According to
Tunks, if TQM is successfully applied within an organization,
managers will be rewarded with benefits, including becoming
more competitive in the marketplace as well as increasing
profits (p. xi).
In Fast Track to Quality, Tunks demonstrates a step-by-step
process that provides managers with a successful method of
achieving TQM within their companies in a relatively short
timeframe and with minimal cost (pp. xi-xii). In Part One
of Fast Track to Quality, Tunks outlines what TQM is
and why it is so important to organizations. According to
Tunks, “Total quality management is the involvement and
commitment of both management and employees to conduct business
by consistently meeting or exceeding customer expectations”
(p. 13). This is no simple task, and Tunks makes it clear
that managers must place TQM as a top priority—right
along with budget and schedule (p. 11).
By achieving TQM, Tunks states that companies will enjoy increased
customer satisfaction, enhanced image and reputation, increased
customer loyalty, higher productivity levels, improved employee
morale, and greater profitability (pp. 17-19). These reasons
should entice managers to try TQM. Tunks also adds that poor
quality costs organizations in a variety of ways, including
lost business, defects produced through manufacturing, and
repairing or replacing products.
After Tunks lists what TQM is and why it is so important,
he goes on to outline a fast-track paradigm. The paradigm
describes the sequence of events necessary to make TQM a success.
These events include TQM awareness training, leadership training,
planning, conducting external and internal quality audits,
and having all managers meet in a management forum to discuss
what has been achieved through TQM. Tunks also lists several
fast-track quality strategies for managers to introduce to
their organizations. These include employee empowerment, self-managed
work teams, competitive benchmarking, skill training, setting
organizational direction, conducting quality audits, employee
suggestion programs, and so on (p. 152).
I find Tunks’ ideas in Fast Track to Quality to
be extremely valuable. I have worked in a customer service
type organization for the past 11 years, and the majority
of it has been chaos. Most of the reason behind the chaos
is the lack of a formal process for customers to request service.
Many employees also lack commitment and accountability in
serving clients. It seems that adopting TQM would change that
significantly. Tunks’ outline of the TQM process and
the steps that managers must take to successfully implement
it are very thorough. The book is divided into four main parts,
which makes it easy for readers to find what they are looking
for. I think the book is well organized and the information
is meaningful. Tunks does an excellent job of demonstrating
why TQM is important, as well as how managers can implement
it successfully.
A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative. Third edition.
Roger von Oech. 1998. New York: Warner Books Inc. 232 pages.
Reviewed by Cristelle O’Connor, St. Mary’s College of California
The ability to be creative in today’s business world
has become a priority for many companies. If a company is
to be successful then innovation and change are required.
Roger von Oech, in an effort to assist people to think creatively,
has written A Whack on the Side of the Head. In his
book von Oech attempts to help readers be more creative by
suggesting ways to overcome obstacles that block their creative
processes. He explains techniques to change the way people
look at issues and problems that will enable them to view
them in a new light, ask questions, and not follow the status
quo. “Creative thinking involves imagining things in
a fresh light, questioning assumptions, and discovering connections
among various phenomena” (p. 195). In an attempt change
the reader’s mindset von Oech suggests that people “transform
one thing into another” (p. 11).
Roger von Oech is the founder and president of Creative Think,
a consulting company that specializes in creativity seminars
and products. To give readers the information they need to
be creative, von Oech starts with the assumption that everyone
can be creative. He describes what he calls “mental locks,”
which get in the way of our creative process and suggests
how to “look at what they are doing in a fresh way”
(p. 198). Some of the blocks to creativity are: 1) trying
to find the right answer: not looking for alternative solutions,
2) following the rules: not wanting to upset the status quo,
3) being practical: not asking “what if,” 4) the
fear of being a fool: not asking out-of-the-box questions,
5) the fear of making mistakes: not being a risk taker or
learning from mistakes, and 6) the self-fulfilling prophecy:
belief that a person is not creative therefore they are not.
With the description of each of his 10 mental locks, von Oech
spells out the causes of these obstacles and ways to overcome
each one. He provides real-life examples from his past seminars
and consulting positions, which enable readers to apply his
solutions to their particular situation. In addition, each
chapter has several exercises, which cause the reader to think
creatively and to look at circumstances not in one or two
different lights but with many different points of view.
As reinforcement to his description of the obstacles to the
creativity process and how to overcome those obstacles, von
Oech details what a person must do to be a creative thinker.
A creative thinker must be an explorer, an artist, a judge,
and a warrior. It is necessary to be an explorer so one will
examine new ideas, and “venture off the beaten path”
(p. 174). The artist takes the ideas and information the explorer
compiles and looks at it in many different views, rearranging
things, asking “what if,” listening to his or her
intuition, and breaking or creating his or her own rules.
The judge will then look at the idea to evaluate the idea,
look for drawbacks, question assumptions, and make a decision
as to whether or not to implement the idea. Finally, the warrior
will take that idea and put it into action by being the champion
for that cause, committing the person to reach his or her
objective. These are the things that von Oech says a creative
thinker must be to be successful. “Viewed together, these
four roles are your team for generating and implementing new
ideas” (p. 178).
Throughout the book von Oech describes situations in which
a “whack on the side of the head” is necessary to
view an idea or situation in a different perspective. For
example, he explains that school has taught people to look
for the ”right answer” and once they have found
that right answer they stop looking. People are rewarded throughout
their learning process for finding the right answer by receiving
high grades. This process of looking for the right answer
has caused people to lose “the ability to look for more
than one right answer,” which has diminished people’s
creativity (p. 29). He encourages readers to listen to their
intuition for often one’s intuition can lead him or her
to consider alternatives that one’s logical mind would
not contemplate, and to look at things with a positive attitude.
He suggests that to be creative one must be destructive as
well as constructive. A person may need to “break out
of one pattern in order to create a new one” (p. 60).
Furthermore, throughout the creativity process a person must
be asking questions, such as “what if” and looking
for many alternative solutions. Often those ideas that initially
seem least relevant become the most important because they
point to something that one has completely overlooked (p.
150).
I found this book very enlightening. The author is successful
in telling readers how they can become a creative thinker.
There are many good suggestions that can be used in real-life
situations. The examples provided offer many viewpoints, which
makes it easy to relate the situations to one’s own business
environment. The exercises in each chapter caused me to try
and come up with alternate solutions that I might not have
considered in the past. They forced me avoid the obvious and
ask the question, “What is he really trying to say?”
It was also beneficial to have a summary at the end of each
chapter with tips on applying the lessons learned to everyday
situations. I enjoyed the chapter that details where von Oech
got his ideas for creativity, Heraclitus of Ephesus. This
brief history of creativity is interesting and will cause
to me to research this Greek philosopher further. I recommend
this book to everyone; it will cause one to think carefully
about the “right answer.” “Believe in the worth
of your ideas, and have the persistence to continue building
on them” (p. 170).
