The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

The Outliers is a outside the box look at success. If you have read Freakonomics or Super Freakonomics you can see some of the similarities of how Malcolm Gladwell takes data that is seemingly unrelated and makes some semblance of sense to it all. My friend Tim gave this book a great soundbite. "The biggest point in there is how seemingly unrelated sequences and coincidences can lead to unexpected outcomes." That puts it well after you have read it.

Gladwell takes you down a path to look at success and the reasons for it can sometimes be associated with environment, chance and personal will. This book fits well with my Success formula. Success = Knowledge + Luck + Hard Work. The less you have of one, the more you need of the other 2. It also brings to the table the idea of success. What is it. Is it simply measured by monetary means? I can't believe people can be that short sighted, but we are in a fallen world filled with people that simply seek self.

The following are some of my notes from this book.

Outliers definition:
1. something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body
2. a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample

Hockey players that are born at the beginning of the age cutoff have a higher chance of success on the ice, simply due to being slightly older than other kids? The data shows it to be true. Seems nuts, but when coupled with the 10,000 hour rule, it makes a little more sense.

Amazing the chance opportunities that Bill Joy(Sun) and Bill Gates had as young kids. They both had unlimited access to a computer before many people knew what they did. By the time they started their businesses they had logged 10,000 hours of programming time. More than about anyone else around. It is almost no wonder they were successful.

Mozart started writting music at age 6, but it was not until he had been composing for 10 yrs at age 21. He did not start out a musical genius, but practiced and practiced his way to greatness. It was choice coupled with talent. The same goes for pro athletes. Most have 10,000 hours of practice by the time they hit the pros. Also, the Beatles had 10,000 hours of performing due to a chance ability to perform every night at a club in Hamburg for 2 years. They performed more than 1200 times before 1964 when they had their early success. That is more performing than many artists do in a lifetime.

When you look at the all time richest people list, you notice that 14 of the top 75 names are American men born within an 8 yr time frame. The main reason is the US went through major growth in that time frame, the railroad and Wall street created enormous wealth, probably never to be seen again. This is total chance. These men were born at the right time and took their opportunity to make the best of the opportunities they found. Taking this a bit further looking at the computer revolution and leaders who were born between 1954 and 1955.
Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Ballmer, Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, Bill Joy,Scott McNealy, Vinod Khosla, Andy Bechtolsheim of Sun.

Your IQ won't bring you success alone. Your environment can play a role as well as noted with the lack of success found by Chris Langen. Good Schools and a nurturing home life play a role in your success as well.

Because many Jewish lawyers took on the business of mergers cases that the high up WASP lawyers wanted nothing to do with, this segment of the population was preparing them selves for a time when mergers and acquisitions became big business. These Jewish lawyers like Joe Flom took what they could get and could never have known what was in store for them. As mergers and acquisitions grew larger so did the firms run by these men. The combination of chance, hard work and knowledge got them there.

The attitudes of herding families in the mountains carries over from the herding mentality of the families from back in Europe. Even after the herding is gone, the feisty spirit remains in these men. That is why there are family feuds that few know the origins of.

Chinese are good at math because the way they put together numbers is more intuitive and faster to say and perform. Because children can perform more advanced math earlier, they tend to advance further and faster than other cultures/languages all the way through school.

The sacrifice that a poor child can face by being given the opportunity to go to a private school may remove their offspring from the grips of poverty, at a cost. Some would say that the child has no social time. But when you consider the success rate of certain programs, you would have a hard time arguing that it may be a good solution to remove future generations from poverty. Opportunity, Environment and Personal Will.

Will you read this book again? Maybe. It is a good read and brings you back down from your high horse that you are great by your own doing. There is so much chance, environment and personal will involved that you can't help but being brought down a level on your ego trip.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library? Public Library

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

A Christianity Worth Believing by Doug Pagitt

I really only read this book for one purpose. In the past 6 months, my faith in Jesus Christ has been shocked to life so to speak. My wife and I felt led to leave the church we were attending and search for another congregation to become a part of. Part of this process brought me to go back to the beginning of my conversion to Christianity back in High School. My youth pastor at the church we attended was Doug Pagitt. His "talks" as we called them back then, were always very fundamentally evangelical in nature. He believed and preached salvation by grace alone and faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to receive that gift. I reviewed this book simply to understand based on my knowledge of Doug and who he was then, if that Doug still exists or if he has truly fallen into the heresy that I have read/heard about online.

Since leaving the church I attend with him as the youth pastor and moving into a leadership role in what now is being called the emergent church, I have been questioning what it is that he now believes and is it truly different than what he taught in HS, or is all the fuss about the emergent church blown out of proportion. I can say that yes, Doug has become a heretic in the biblical sense of the word. I now understand the futility of the discussions I have heard Doug have with evangelical leaders. There is now little to no common ground to walk along with between Doug and Biblical Christianity. From the sounds of it, those that have been posted with the emergent label are nearly all believe very similarly to Doug.

I can say with certainty that all disagreement between Doug/emergent types and Biblical Christians stem from the inerrant authority of all the scriptures, sola scriptura. Doug no longer believes in the inerrant authority of all the scriptures. This is a key component to the Christian faith. Without the Bible being the true words of God, what differentiates this faith from that of Hindu, Islam or Buddhism? Which is exactly the reason why Doug refuses to offer the idea of a hell anymore. If Christ died once for all, then that means any religion that promotes good living will get you a good life after death. The basis of the Christian faith is that Jesus Christ came to earth as the propitiation for our sin on this earth. It is also clear that this propitiation is for those who repent and believe in Jesus Christ and for no one else. I don't doubt that Doug believes that Jesus was the propitiation for our sin, however, I think he may add that he doesn't know whether that means it is for everyone unconditionally or whether it is for the select believers as written by greek influenced jews(aka the apostles of Christ).

Because Doug does not believe in the inerrant authority of all the scriptures, a discussion about anything in the faith with the emergents becomes futile.

Any further dissection of the problems with Dougs Biography/Story about a Christianity Worth Believing is not helpful when his baseline that we have as Christians is not regarded with the same authority as I have.

I pray that Doug is convicted back into the realization that the Gospel is all we have. Jesus told a story though the authors of the Bible. As 2 Tim 3:16 says, All scripture is God breathed(inspired) by God and useful for teaching, rebuking(reproof) and training in righteousness. Paul didn't write that some scripture is God breathed, but ALL of it is.

Will you read this book again? No.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library? Public Library

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

Obstacles Welcome by Ralph de la Vega

This is a decent biography about Ralph de la Vega where he spends a lot of time bringing leadership principles into the story. I have to admit I had never heard his name before reading this book, but now I know who he is. He runs ATT Mobility and Consumer Markets fka ATT Wireless and Cingular.

His is what I think is becoming a rarer story in the US. Immigrated to the US as a boy in poverty, takes advatange of opportunities that arose and became a powerful executive leader. His goal in the book is to show many of the obstacles in his life that could have lead him down a different path, but through leadership principles he gained along his journey, he was able to make the best of the obstacles and grow personally and professionally.

The book had many takeaway points as seen in my notes below:
-Faith in a better future is a key enabler to overcoming incredible odds
-Courageous decisions and willingness to sacrifice provide an enabling force to overcome the most difficult of obstacles.
-The human spirit is incredibly resilient.
-Obstacles provide growth, embrace them.

The Pillars of Success
-Planning
-Take Risks
-Recognize opportunities
-Overcome Obstacles

-Seek your pivotal points that can change your lifes direction. These can provide for the greatest opportunity to learn and grow.
-Opportunities Exist everywhere. They often come disguised as problems.
-Be your own driver. Make a road map and a plan to control your journey. You increase your chance to find the opportunities when you are working your own plan.
-Be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
-Every experience is an opportunity to learn
-Unlearning is part of getting better. Knowledge and situations change, so must we.
-Your vision should drive everything you do.
-Get peoples buy in. A vision is just theoretical unless people want to be a part of it.
-Sacrifice is key. Sacrifice is a requirement to accomplish something great.

The Value Pyramid
-Integrity
-Credibility
-Teamwork
-Attitude
-Excellence
-Vision

-Leadership is a learned skill for most people
-Dreaming big makes you more likely to succeed as long as you match your dreams with your hard work and sacrifice.
-Only you can allow limits to be imposed on your dreams.
-Its up to you to understand the "yes-but" factor in your field, and remove them from your path.
-On the path to leadership, avoid shortcuts, because nothing can substitute for experience and learning.
-Hope is not a strategy

-Your game plan should have five parts
1. honest assessment
2. clear vision
3. concise explanation
4. solid alignment of the right people
5. room for adjustment

-Executing ideas is the most difficult thing to do.
-A vision without a plan and the proper accountability will get nothing done
-A game plan for your life is developed the same way as a game plan for business. The only difference is you are the only person responsible for carrying it out.
-Communication can never be done too much.
-Listening and learning are critical starting points
-3 Cs - Communication must be Clear, Concise and Consistent
-Establish a feedback loop to make sure your message has efficiently gotten through to the right people.
-Be authentic, everything about you communicates something.
-To get the most out of people enable and empower them.
-Empower at all levels
-Think about this strategically and revisit it often to determine who should be given more or less authority.
-No personal boundaries.
-Make goals not wishes
-Plans needs steps to achieve a goal
-Constantly and relentlessly measure your progress.
-There are hidden opportunities in every difficulty.
-Sacrifice is required to create value
-Sacrifice must accompany a vision of a better future.
-The more inspired you are about the brighter future, the more you will be willing to sacrifice.
-Sacrifice opens doors to opportunity and hard work and discipline turn that opportunity into a reality
-Your workforce should look like your customer base for best success.
-Create and environment that makes contributing easy.
-Leaders help people to reach thier full potential
-Leaders help communities reach their full potential and great leaders can have a great impact here.
-Leaders must focus on critical things not everything.
-Continuously improve yourself and your leaders.
-Growth is good, talent and capabilities grow over time
-Extraordinary leaders like Dr.King are rare, but becoming as effective as him should be everyones goal.


Will you read this book again? I may pick it up down the line, but I think this is one like most bio style writings, you read it once, grab some of the important ideas and move on.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Public Library.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

Lessons From The Top - The 50 Most Successful Business Leaders in America--and What You Can Learn From Them by Thomas J Neff and James M Citrin

The authors set out on a big adventure on this book. A research project at its best in my opinion. They took a group of metrics to determine who they believed were the 50 most successful businessmen of the time, interviewed them and took what they learned to turn it into Lessons From The Top. What is so ironic about this book, is that when they were researching highly successful leaders, Enron, MCI Worldcom and numerous financial powerhouse executives had not yet been found to be the frauds we now know them to be. It is interesting to read lessons from someone you now know to be fraudulent. My takeaway from these successful business men and women leave me questioning all that they espouse. Overall I find this to be a good thing for everyone to do anyways, but it makes it easier to grasp some wisdom and throw other advice away, when you question the integrity of the source.

All in all this was a book full of takeaways on leadership and responsibility. A common theme was building the right team of people to build up your company with you. Not everyone gets to be the CEO, but every person in the organization is required to make the CEO and business look good. Take care of your employees was another common theme.

Will you read this book again? I think this book is one to pick up everytime your career and/or business hits a growth milestone to help you maintain humility as your leadership requirements grow.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Personal library.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

How I turned $1000 into a Million in Real Estate in my spare time by William Nickerson

This book was originally published in 1959. It was republished in 1969 and 1984 under updated names, to include how he has continued to expand his $1000 investment 10 yrs and 25 yrs after the first publishing. I may read the followups and report back, but overall, this book and/or one of the followups should be required reading for all potential landlords. It takes the nitty gritty of what being a real estate investor really is. You are making this for an investment not to create a job.


-Looking at properties dogmatically and identifying when it is time to improve and move forward to expand your portfolio.
-Finding the right deal each time as to not force yourself into a bad decision when purchasing.
-Showing you the real numbers during his growth process. Even though he is using values from the 50s which have little reality in the 21st century, the financial concepts are sound to this day.

The focus on educating yourself to know enough about every aspect of the process as to know when someone working for you or working against you cannot take advantage of you. His goal is to train you to be deliberate in all your decisions. Know how you are going to get out before you get into an investment.

Overall, the takeaway from this book is. Be deliberate in your investing and eventually it will pay off exponentially.


Will you read this book again? I think I will read the updated versions to see the commonality. I would recommend this original.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Public Library. Since there are 2 updates to the book, I would leave this one at the library and purchase the 1984 version if at all.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

Super Freakonomics by Stephen J Dubner and Steven D Levitt

This book is a followup to the best selling Freakonomics by Stephen J Dubner and Steven D Levitt. If you enjoyed their eclectic choice of economic paradoxes before, you will not be disappointed by Super Freakonomics. Whether describing the supply and demand of prostitution based on customer demographics or laying out the fundamental problems with the global warming debates that are pervasive in our political arena currently, they use entertainment to make you feel smarter about the economics of the world.

An economic purist might take offense to the simplistic approach of this author team of a rogue economist and reporter at heart. The wordplay they use to make their points can at times take advantage of the ignorant reader, but you can't find fault in much of the data they are collecting and reporting on.

Will you read this book again? Probably not, but I would recommend it to others.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Public Library. It is entertaining, but not something I would likely come back to.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

So you want to start a Business by Edward D. Hess and Charles F. Goetz

This book is a practical guide to the things you should consider before starting a business. I can all but guarantee that there would be far less people starting businesses and far less business failures if every new business owner read this in advance.

The book is an easy read for the parts that you are not familiar with. If you already understand basic balance sheets and cash flow and operating costs and expenses, parts of the book are a bit monotones. If you do not understand them, it can be a bit overwhelming, but these are things that need to be considered.

The authors made it very easy to review this book by laying out business rules and lessons learned. Each business rule and lesson is laid out in detail at the end of each chapter and all of the lessons and rules are in an easily referenced section at the end of the book.

Will you read this book again? Yes

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? Personal. This is a good reference book for any time a new business opportunity that you may need to review and the rules and lessons are easily accessible at the end of the book.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

The Invisible Employee Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton

[Incomplete Report]

This book takes an analogy to its limits. It tells the story of an indiginous tribe living on a mountain filled with Jewels and Gemstones. The Highlanders and Wurc-Urs lived in a stereotypical employer employee relationship. This analogy that runs through the book, wraps itself around the idea of the Invisible Employee and how you can avoid what happens to the invisible employee when he remains invisible.

Invisible People:

-Invisible people do unremarkable work.

-Thankless jobs produce thankless employees.

Setting goals and a vision for the workforce provides clear direction for the employees to seek.

See the employees behaviors that support the goals and vision

Celebrate those behaviors in a public manner

Use surveys to your advantage to know what your employees need to feel visible.

Blink Outs:

-People don't leave for Money...they often leave supervisors

-Talented people are the first to go.

There are tangible rewards for praise of employees, namely employee retention.

Turnover is very costly to a company

The See-er:

-See-ers see people and their achievements.

-57% of employees would rather recieve praise from their direct supervisor, while 21% would rather be praised by the president

-Set the vision, team priorities, but make sure you set the "right" goals.

-Great managers are observant

--Get out of the office and see what people are doing.

-Welcome new employees, their first 90 days is critical to determining if you meet the needs of the employee.

Will you read this book again? Possibly Yes

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? An easily available book at the library. I would leave it there.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al Ries and Laura Ries

[Incomplete Report]

This book deserves a brief look at each law and how it can relate to improving my own business. It is interesting that he considers each of them laws, but in a way some of them contradict each other. I would not build a branding campaign around these principles, but they definitely are worth while to consider some of the ideas they may generate for your own campaign.

The 22 Laws:

The Law of Expansion

The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope.

-Think Chevrolet, the large, small, cheap, expensive car...or truck.

-Marketers often confuse the power of a brand with the sales generated by that brand

The Law of Contraction

The brand becomes stronger when you narrow its focus.

-Think Starbucks, narrow focus is coffee, but that doesn't mean it carries a limited line, they carry ~30 types of coffee.

-Stock in depth

-Buy Cheaper

-Sell Cheap

-Dominate the category

The Law of Publicity

The birth of a brand is achieved with publicity, not advertising.

-Think The Body Shop, with virtually no advertising, but massive amounts of publicity, the Body Shop has become a powerful global brand.

--Since this book was written and revised in 1998 and 2002, I think this is what might now be called viral marketing. Creating buzz online about a product that shoots it to the masses by word of mouth and internet traffic.

The Law of Advertising

Once born, a brand needs advertising to stay healthy.

-Think Goodyear, Their consistant advertising theme has been "#1 in Tires", so who makes the best tires?, it must be Goodyear from the consumers point of view since they are apparently the leader.

-Advertise leadership

-Forces the competition to pay heavily to compete with you

-You may not make a return on your advertising

-It is a requirement to keep the customer base you have, not necessarily generate new business.

The Law of the Word

A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer

-Think FedEx, they own the term "overnight" delivery in the mind of the air cargo user

-Kleenex

-Band-aid

-Jello

-Saran Wrap

-Rollerblade

-Xerox

The Law of Credentials

The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity.

-Think Coca-Cola, "Aint nothin like the real thing" claiming authenticity for 40 years

-The leading beer

-The leading light beer

-The leading imported beer

-The leading microbrew

-The leading ice beer

-The leading high-priced beer

-The leading Mexican beer

-etc...

The Law of Quality

The Law of the Category

The Law of the Name

The Law of Extensions

The Law of Fellowship

The Law of the Generic

The Law of the Company

The Law of the Subbrands

The Law of the Siblings

The Law of Shape

The Law of Color

The Law of Borders

The Law of Consistancy

The Law of Change

The Law of Mortality

The Law of Singularity

Will you read this book again? Possibly, Marketing is not really my thing. Maybe that means I will be reading it again. It is good to be well versed on many subjects, but this is not one that peaks my interests to keep around.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? This one I would leave at the library. It is a reference book plain and simple, not one I would keep on the shelf.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey

Funny to think this book is now really a classic. It was originally written 20 years ago and then updated 5 years ago. Think about how many times you had heard the word synergy or synergize before 1989. Some of the ideas in this book have made generational ideas go throughout business. It is almost laughable when I hear someone talk about synergy in a business environment today. It is kind of like using groovy. The word has now worn out its welcome in todays culture. This is not to say that any of the ideas in this book are now outdated, but just that we as a culture move forward and call old ideas by new names.

The seven habits:

1. Be Proactive

2. Begin with the End in Mind

3. Put First Things First

4. Think Win-Win

5. Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood

6. Synergize

7. Sharpen the Saw

Are really timeless ideas, not necessarily new even 20 years ago. Best sellers are made of self help books because people want something new. Even though most everything in self help books are regurgitations of previous works, the key is that people want to and need to be motivated. Reading provides an opportunity for folks to internalize things they may already know. They can make note of a nugget of wisdom. It could be life changing and the nugget they needed to move forward. It is not always purely the content, but the presentation that can lift someone out of their own funk to move past the hurdle standing in their way.

For me the book was a bit of a tough read. A little too much psycho-babble maybe, or a little too much thoughts that this info is the holy grail to your success. All in all it was a worth while read and carries some nuggets for me to refer back to later.

Quotable Quotes:

There is no real excellence in all this world which can be separated from right living. - David Starr Jordan

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle

I know of no more encouraging fact that the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. - Henry Dave Thoureau

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. - Goethe

There can be no friendship without confidence, and no confidence without integrity. - Samuel Johnson

We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; let us now commit it to life. - Edwin Markham

The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of. - Pascal

I take as my guide the hope of a saint:

in crucial things, unity -

in important things, diversity -

in all things, generosity.

Inaugural address of President George Bush

Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things...I am tempted to think...there are no little things. - Bruce Barton

You can pretty much summarize the first three habits with the expression "make and keep a promise" You can pretty much summarize the second three habits with the expression "involve others in the problem and work out the solution together." - Stephen Covey

Other Nuggets:

-Make your focus on the circle of influence. The larger your circle of influence the more you can accomplish. Your circle of concern is simply a distraction, since you have no control over it.

-Production vs Production Capacity relationship

Will you read this book again? No

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? Leave it at the library. It is worth a read, but not necessary to own it IMHO.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt

On Bullshit is an exploratory look into bullshit as it is unto itself. It is a short read that enamors you as the reader into really seeking the truth about bullshit. Frankfurt uses references from The Prevalence of Humbug by Max Black to illustrate how humbug is similar, but does not portray the essence of bullshit. Harry Frankfurt wraps a nice bow around some of what Ludwig Wittgenstein portrayed giving what he considers "a more accurate appreciation of the central characteristics of bullshit". To conclude his exploration into bullshit, he looks to the Oxford English Dictionary. With his diatribe of explanation, his conclusion to the book offers the ultimate gift.

"Our natures are, indeed, elusively insubstantial - notoriously less stable and less inherent than the natures of other things. And insofar as this is the case, sincerity itself is bullshit."

Will you read this book again? Yes

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? Personal

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

The Right To Lead - a book of quotable quotes by John C Maxwell

Quotable Quotes

Men are alike in their promises. It is only in their deeds that they differ. - Moli`ere

Resolved: never to do anything which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life. - Jonathan Edwards

Your talk talks and your walk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks. - John C. Maxwell

You will never do anything worthwhile in this world without courage. - James Allen

The time is always right to do what is right. - Martin Luther King

Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened. - Billy Graham

Men grow making decisions and assuming resposibility for them. - Bill Marriot Sr.

It is not fair to ask of others what you are not willing to do yourself. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Most of the significant things we have done in the world were done by persons who were either too busy or too sick! There are few ideal and leisurely settings for the disciplines of growth. - Robert Thornton Henderson

A leader knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. - John C Maxwell

God grant that men of principle shall be our principal men. - Thomas Jefferson

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. - Margaret Thatcher

He who is required by the necessity of his position to speak the highest things is compelled by the same necessity to exemplify the highest things. - Gregory the Great(450-604)

A life isn't significant except for its impact on other lives. - Jackie Robinson

No man's credit is ever as good as his money. - Edgar Watson Howe

Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful. - William Shakespeare

Some men succeed by what they know; some by what they do; and a few by what they are. - Elbert Hubbard

It is wisdom to use your influence...it is criminal to sell it. - Ed Cole

We don't need more strength or more ability or greater opportunity. What we need to use is what we have. - Basil Walsh

The harder your work, the harder it is to surrender. - Vince Lombardi

If you aren't going all the way, why go at all? - Joe Namath

If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of itself. - Dwight L Moody

Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones. - Philips Brooks

It is never too late to be what you might have become. - George Eliot

Will you read this book again? Yes

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Personal

It is a short sweet book of quotes and stories to remind you of what it means to lead well.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

The Entrepreneur's Guide to Writing Business Plans and Proposals by K. Dennis Chambers

This book is not a how-to, handholding, write your business plan from A-Z. Although it does show some basic business plans and structure. The Entrepreneur's Guide to Writing Business Plans and Proposals is more of a roadmap to reaching your goal of writing a good business plan. K. Dennis Chambers is a writer first and foremost. He is secondarily a business plan writer. This book provides good insight to the mechanics of conveying your message properly, identifying with your audience. Tailoring your writing to the recipient(s).

Quotable Quotes:

If you can't outplay 'em outwork 'em - Ben Hogan(pro golfer)

My three Secrets of Success: Get up early. Work Hard. Find oil. - J. Paul Getty

Just take the ball and throw it where you want to. Throw strikes. Home Plate don't move - Satchel Paige(Hall of Fame Pitcher)

The best headlines are those that appeal to the readers self interest, that is, headlines based on the readers' benefits. They offer the readers something they want-and can get from you. - John Caples(Copywriter's Hall of Fame)

It's supposed to he hard! If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great. - Tom Hanks as Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own

Its not money that brings happiness. It's lots of money. - Russian Proverb

Just hold them for a few innings fellas. I'll think of something. - Charlie Dressen(Former Brooklyn Dodgers Manager)

When you play this game for 20 years, go to bat 10,000 times, and get 3,000 hits, do you know what that means? You've gone 0 for 7,000. - Pete Rose

If things seem under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti

Writing a Business Plan:

Whats in it for me?

-Your plan is only going to be as good as your excitement for the plan.

-Identify why you are writing it and for whom

-Planning is valuable

-Your mission statement is the foundation on which to build your company

Whats in it for them?

-Create your reader profile

-What does your reader need to know. Focus on being succinct.

-We are in a new era, the business plan needs a new order

1. Customized Cover Letter

2. Table Of Contents

3. Executive Summary

4. The Financials

5. The Company

6. The Landscape

7. The Market

8. The Competition

9. Personnel

10. Sales and Promotion

11. Appendix

The First Draft

-Writing in general should follow the approx timeline

--Preparation 50 percent

--First Draft 20 percent

--Clean Up 30 percent

-Cover letter examples

-Subheadings guide the reader to the major points and make summary easier for the reviewer.

Editing: The Hard Part

-An editing checklist

-Active vs Passive voice

-Transitions for Flow and polish

-Parallel sentence structures

-Cliches and other writing pitfalls

-Graphics to enhance the reader's understanding of your ideas

Develop a Realistic Marketing Plan:

-SWOT

Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

-Market Segments

-Prospects

-Competition

-Products/Services

-Pricing

-Promotion

-Objectives

Demonstrate Financial Credibility:

-How much money do I need?

-What type of financing do I need?

-How do I pay back my creditors?

-Think monthly

-Forecasting

-A fairly in depth look at how to create a P&L and balance sheet

Todays Mechanics in writing:

-Utilize a style guide

-Utilize handbooks to help with Punctuation and Grammar

-Dictionary

-Say what you want to say succinctly.

Writing a Business Proposal:

What are you really proposing?

-Number one secret about writing a proposal--Write about them.

Why your proposal makes the Prospect so nervous

-Dictionary definition:

An offer or suggestion of marriage.

-For a company to bring in big ticket propositions is just like getting married.

-Ten Commandments for writing a killer proposal

1. No Boilerplate. Not even one paragraph.

2. Begin with the assurance of compliance.

3. Describe in your own words, the exact outcome that the prospect is seeking in vocabulary the prospect understands.

4. Deal with Money up front.

5. Avoid writing about your company for ten pages longer than you can stand.

6. Follow all my rules for twenty-first century grammar and punctuation.

7. Let one writer create the entire first draft, and let it be original to this project.

8. Avoid all cliches

9. Create a work breakdown structure or Gantt chart for your proposal project.

10. Do not delegate a proposal to junior people.

Convince your readers to see it your way

-The price has to be right

-Success in the life of your company depends on how the customer feels about you.

Will you read this book again? Yes

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? Personal. This book is a great reference for the current times and more relaxed writing style that has evolved since the internet revolution.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

This book is a pretty amazing look at the ideas of capitalism at its purest. At its brightest, the characters portrayed offer you a look inside the mind of extreme overachievers and gifted and talented people. At its worst, it shows the dark side of capitalism, since not everyone was born to be a leader, business owner, inventor, or even born to excel at anything. Some were born to work in and help a leader be successful. There is definitely a fine line between the emotional needs and desires of a leader and the needs and desires of a follower. This book seems to throw the followers by the wayside if they can't keep up. Who is John Galt by the way?

John Galt is a figment of the imagination. He has created something that everyone wants, but no one can get to. The element of utopian living with the ability to freely create and discover things without the intervening of the government. The happy place. It is pictured as a real place and looks like a parallel to what our society could become, given the chance to succumb to its own democracy.

Although a 1000 page book seems overwhelming, I must admit, this one tops my list of favorite books. The story although fiction, allows you to draw so many parallels to current times, whether you read it in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, or 2000s for the first time, you can draw parallels to today. It helps you understand capitalism in a different way, and although I don't buy into it fully, I can appreciate my economic and political views better after reading it. It also helped me to understand that politics and economics are a prerequisite to understanding societal influence and how and why the world works the way it does. You can watch the world work, or you can get up and do something.

Will you read this book again? Yes

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Personal

Anyone interested in business and capitalism should read this book.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cites, MN

Going Rogue by Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin has produced a well written, easy to read autobiography that takes you on a journey from her simple everyday middle american upbringing to the front lines of DC politics and all the joy and mayhem in the middle. Overall, I have two opinions on this book.

On the one hand, even though she paints herself as a simple citizen, fighting for the rights of the everyman, she has made enough impression on enough people that all she says is suspect. To support this idea, I heard that the NY Times put as many as 10 reporters on this book to do fact checking. I am sure you will see any of their bashing of the book in the conventional media.

On the other hand, Sarah Palin has been given the shaft by big politics. She spends the lions share of the book giving full explanations to many of the media stories that have made her (in)famous. It is truly sad that politics in this great nation has become a popularity contest and if you are popular and don't have a lot of money backing you, you might as well go home to middle america and shut up. Because us the big dogs are going to sabotage any chance you might have at succeeding.

She was simply a neighbor wanting to make sure government was fiscally responsible when she became mayor. She was looking be fiscally responsible as Governor. She calls a spade a spade and doesn't apologize for it. She isn't looking to succumb to lobbyists and whiners. She has her own agenda which seems to be energy. I would think she would be a prize on any presidential cabinet dealing with energy and leading the charge for the country to utilize renewable energy and wean us off foreign oil.

I am biased. I am extremely fiscally conservative. I am also very socially conservative. Does this make me a republican, I wish, but our current parties are broken and both are fairly close when it comes to responsible government spending.

Will you read this book again? No

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave it at the public library? Public Library. I don't think there is any need to review it or read it again. The only reason to buy it would be to loan it out to others.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

This book targets those who are debt burdened. It has some very good principles to live by and provides a good roadmap for people seeking to get out from under the burden of their debt. Dave Ramsey relies heavily on student success stories to keep the reader interested and motivated through the book. The back of the book provides even more success and motivational stories from all types of people.

His basic premise is that if you are willing to live like no one else, you will be able to live like no one else.

The basic baby steps he suggests in giving your finances a Total Money Makeover are as follows:

Step #1: Save $1000 Cash as a Starter Emergency Fund

Step #2: Start the Debt Snowball

-Payoff the smallest balance first. This gives you motivation to keep going as you see progress quickly.

-Use the extra you have left after paying off the smaller balance to payoff the next debt faster, creating a snowball effect paying off the larger debts faster as you pay of each debt.

Step #3: Finish the Emergency Fund.

-Create an account with 3-6 months liquid cash reserves to help you if/when job loss or other surprise expenses occur.

Step #4: Invest 15% of your income towards Retirement - 401k, Roth IRA, Mutual Funds

Step #5: Save for College - 529, ESA

Step #6: Pay off your mortgage - Buy with 100% down or take a 15 yr mortgage.

Step #7: Build Wealth

When you complete these steps, you will be able to live like no one else.

Will you read this book again? Not likely. This is recommended for folks needing to get their personal finances under control. The principles here are timeless for sustaining control over your personal finances.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Personal, if you struggle with your finances. It is a great reference.

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

The Time Trap by Alec Mackenzie

The Time Trap - The Classic Book on Time Management

This book is an in depth study into the reasons why time management is really a myth. You can't create more time, you can only adjust your life around the time that is available. It does put some things into perspective. I guess overall it fits into one of my core beliefs that, you are where you are today because of the choices you have made, as great or crappy as they may have been.

Part One - Time Management in the year 2000 and Beyond.

The underlying theme here is that time management is a myth. It is just as much a problem today as it was a century ago and we all know it, we have created technology to fix it and yet still fall into the same problems. Time management is fully self inflicted. Your choices will affect how your time is used and abused.

-Out with old habits in with new and better ones

-Time management is self management

-Time management does not take a lot of time, it does not take away from your freedom.

-Balance between work and personal life

-Less stress through time control

-Success through achieving goals rather than just thinking about achieving never with enough time to do it.

Part Two - The twenty biggest time wasters and how to cure them

1. Management by crisis

2. Telephone interruptions

3. Inadequate Planning

4. Attempting too much

5. Drop-in visitors

6. Ineffective Delegation

7. Personal Disorganization

8. Lack of Self-Discipline

9. Inability to say no

10. Procrastination

11. Meetings

12. Paperwork

13. Leaving Tasks Unfinished

14. Inadequate Staff

15. Socializing

16. Confused Responsibility or Authority

17. Poor Communication

18. Inadequate Controls and Progress Reports

19. Incomplete Information

20. Travel

Part Three - Using Time to Live and Work Better

This is a collection of stories of people using time management to their benefit.

To make the change:

-Choose a time waster

- Find a relative cause

- What solution goes with that cause

- Brainstorm possible action steps, even silly ones.

- Select the most workable ones and write them down.

Will you read this book again? Not likely. I think this book could be a good reference if you are working on identifying specific items to work on with your time management and is worth a read, but I don't think I would pick it up again unless I needed a refresher on some time management ideas.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library? No

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN

Failing Forward By John C. Maxwell

This book is designed to motivate you out of giving up after failure. It espouses the idea that you must fail to succeed. I am not sure I can sign on to some of its overall ideas as some of the recommendations in and of themselves lend to the idea of mitigating risk to not fail in the future. It considers each misstep a failure and categorizes all failures the same. I think there are different categories of failure. A mistake is short term and you can catapult up from it, but a failure to me is catastrophic. Bankruptcy, failed business, huge investment losses…etc…I don’t buy that they are all the same. Maybe I am missing the point here, but overall it was a worthwhile read, even if I don’t necessarily fully buy into some of its ideas. Nonetheless, below is my synopsis of the book, along with its many good quotable quotes.

Chapter 1 – Realize there is one major difference between average people and achieving people.

This chapter talks about the failures leading up to the success of Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay cosmetics.

Quotable Quotes:

We are all failures-at least, all the best of us are-JM Barrie

People are training for success when they should be training for failure. Failure is far more common than success; poverty is more prevalent than wealth’ and disappointment more normal than arrival. – J Wallace Hamilton.

“If your perception of and response to failure were changed, what would you attempt to achieve?”

“The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.”

Do you fear failure? Misunderstand it? Are you unprepared for failure?

Chapter 2 – Learn a new definition of failure

This chapter talks about the failures leading up to the success of Mary Kay Ash, the founder of Mary Kay cosmetics.

Quotable Quotes:

The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how and individual views a mistake. – Nelson Boswell

The average for entrepreneurs is 3.8 failures before they finally make it in business.

Errors become mistakes when we perceive them and respond to them incorrectly. Mistakes become failures when we continually respond to them incorrectly.

Many of lifes failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. – Thomas Edison

Stories:

-Tony Gwynn

-New Coke

-Chick-fil-A

Failure is Not…

-Avoidable

1. You will learn lessons

2. There are no mistakes – only lessons

3. A lesson is repeated until it is learned

4. If you don’t learn the easy lessons, they get harder.

5. You’ll know you’ve learned a lesson when your actions change.

-An Event

Success is…Knowing your purpose in life, Growing to reach your potential and Sowing seeds that benefit others.

-Objective

You are the only person who can really label what you do a failure.

-The Enemy

-Irreversible

-A Stigma

-Final

Chapter 3 – Remove the “You” from failure

This chapter talks about not taking failure personally. Don’t let it eat at you that you as a person are a failure, only that something you tried or did failed. It was a failed opportunity, they don’t all work out how you plan.

Quotable Quotes:

Failure isn’t so bad if it doesn’t attack the heart. Success is all right if it doesn’t go to the head. – Grantland Rice

Tell yourself, I’m not a failure. I failed at doing something…theres a big difference. – Erma Bombeck

When achievers fail, they see it as a momentary event, not a lifelong epidemic.

Value people. Praise Effort. Reward Performance.

Stories:

-Erma Bombeck, syndicated columnist

-Daniel “Rudy” Ruttiger – Notre Dame Football

Seven Abilities:

1. Achievers reject Rejection

2. Achievers see failure as temporary

3. Achievers see failures as isolated incidents

4. Achievers keep expectations realistic.

5. Achievers focus on strengths

6. Achievers vary approaches to achievement

7. Achievers bounce back

Look at an area of your life where you have repeatedly failed and do the following:

Examine your expectations

Find new ways to do your work

Focus on your strengths

Vow to bounce back

Chapter 4 – Take action and reduce your fear

This chapter talks about not taking failure personally. Don’t let it eat at you that you as a person are a failure, only that something you tried or did failed. It was a failed opportunity, they don’t all work out how you plan.

Quotable Quotes:

Fear makes come true that which one is afraid of. – Victor Frankl

The first important step in weathering failure is learning not to personalize it.

Your more likely to act yourself into feeling that feel yourself into action.

Stories:

-Dr Samuel P Langley…precursor to the Wright bros…failure and gave up just before the wright bros had flight.

-George Fredrick Handel – Composer – what he thought was the end of his career in music brought out his best work in Messiah

Fear Cycle:

-Fear>>Inaction>>Inexperience>>Inability>>Fear…

Takes on many forms including

-Paralysis

-Procrastination

-Purposelessness

Additional negative side effects

-Self pity

-Excuses

-Misused Energy

-Hopelessness

Take action and reduce your fear. Write down what keeps you from moving forward and act.

Chapter 5 – Change your response to failure by accepting your responsibility

This chapter talks about taking responsibility to your failure and reacting in a positive way towards it.

Quotable Quotes:

If you always do what you’ve always done, then you will always get done what you’ve always gotten done.

Try, then stop and think. Then Try again. – William Dean Singleton

Ninety percent of all those who fail are not actually defeated. They simply quit. – Paul J Meyer.

It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of our responsibilities.

Stories:

-The hungry monkeys trained to fail and teach each other to fail.

The cycle begins with a Mess Up then the responses:

-Blow up

-Cover up

-Speed up

-Back up

-Give up

MISTAKES

Messages that give us feedback about life

Interruptions that should cause us to the right path

Tests that push us toward greater maturity

Awakenings that keep us in the game mentally

Keys that we can use to unlock the next door of opportunity

Explorations that let us journty where we’ve never been before

Statements about our development and progress

Responsibility is the most important ability.

Chapter 6 – Don’t the failure from outside get inside you

This chapter talks about keeping a positive attitude and state of mind.

Quotable Quotes:

Life is not simply holding a good hand. Life is playing a poor hand well. – Danish Saying

A man is not defeated by his opponents but by himself. – Jan Christiaan Smuts

A problem is something that can be solved. A fact of life is something must be accepted.

Stories:

-Greg Horn – Payless Food Center – flooded with no insurance

-Roger Crawford – born without full arms and legs taught to believe he could achieve anything and made it happen.

Contentment is important:

-Contentment is not Containing your emotions

-Contentment is not maintaining your current situation

-Contentment is not attaining power, position, or possessions

Chapter 7 – Say good-bye to yesterday

This chapter talks about leaving the past behind and breakthrough ahead.

Quotable Quotes:

One reason God created time was so that there would be a place to bury the failures of the past. – James Long

In more than thirty years of working with people, I have yet to meet a successful person who continually dwelled on his past difficulties.

Stories:

-Arnie Palmer changes golf, similar to Tiger.

-Chippie the parakeet –doesn’t sing much anymore

-Sister Francis Cabrini – wanted to be a missionary in China, but made the best of every situation she was in even though she didn’t succeed here goal.

Have you gotten over it?

-Do you compare to a past failure

-Rationalize it

-Isolate yourself

-Regret

-Bitterness

Chapter 8 – Change yourself and your world changes

This chapter talks about discovering your flaws and strengths and understanding who you are and how you can change to reach your goals.

Quotable Quotes:

Failure is the greatest opportunity I have to know who I really am. – John Killinger

We can change our whole life and the attitude of people around us simply by changing ourselves. – Rudolf Dreikurs

All of the significant battles are waged within the self. – Sheldon Kopp

To excel do what you do well.

Stories:

-John James Audubon – National Audubon Society – Failures lead to success. His biggest problem was himself.

-Linda at Injoy realized her own failure and was able to redeem herself working with John Maxwell in the end.

Reach your potential:

-See yourself clearly

-Admit your flaws honestly

-Discover your strengths joyfully

-Build on those strengths passionately

Not realizing what you want is a problem of knowledge

Not pursuing what you want is a problem of motivation

Not achieving what you want is a problem of persistence

Chapter 9 – Get over yourself and start giving yourself

This chapter talks about giving support to others. Don’t get stuck striving only for yourself.

Quotable Quotes:

Don’t get stuck inside your own ego, because it will become a prison in no time flat. – Barbara Ward

Many people who struggle with chronic failure do so because they think of no one but themselves.

Generous people are rarely mentally ill people. – Karl Menninger

When you know peoples values, you can add value to them.

Stories:

-David Robinson. He gave up the spotlight to Tim Duncan so that the team could achieve the bigger goal.

Chapter points:

-Stop taking yourself too seriously.

-Start putting the team first.

-Start adding value to others continually.

-Influence the influencers

Chapter 10 – Find the benefit in every bad experience

This chapter talks about benefiting from failures. Learn from them and use it to carry on with the goal.

Quotable Quotes:

A failure is a man who blundered, but is not able to cash in on the experience. – Elbert Hubbard

Stories:

-Ceramics class with 2 sides, one side graded for quantity, the other for quality. The quantity side creates the best quality, because they were unhindered by the prospect of failure.

Adversity motivates

Chapter 11 – If at first you do succeed, try something harder

This chapter talks about seeking a greater goal.

Quotable Quotes:

While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior. – Henry C Link

Risk must be evaluated not by the fear it generates in you or the probability of your success, but by the value of the goal.

Stories:

-Amelia Earhart. She crashed many times, but kept trying and made a big name for herself in her accomplished goals. She died trying.

-Joseph Lister – revolutionized sugery with the advent of antiseptics and clean operating rooms.

Traps that make you back away from risk:

-Embarrassment

-Rationalization

-Unrealistic expectations

-Fairness

-Timing

-Inspiration(are you taking action quickly when you get it?)

Chapter 12 – Learn from a bad experience and make it a good one

This chapter talks about making bad experiences building blocks to greater things.

Quotable Quotes:

The things which hurt, instruct. – Benjamin Franklin

Your attitude toward failure determines your altitude after failure.

Adversity is the first path to truth. – Lord Byron

Don’t let your learning lead to knowledge; let your learning lead to action. – Jim Rohn

Stories:

-Beck Weathers – Left for dead on Mount Everest. Lives to tell the story now with no fingers or legs. He has made the best of the situation and tells everyone about its inspiration to him.

Chapter 13 – Work on the weakness that weakens you

This chapter talks about how to get yourself out of the way so that you can make and impact beyond your failures and weaknesses.

Quotable Quotes:

Lord deliver me from the man who never makes a mistake, and also from the man who makes the same mistake twice. – Dr William Mayo

Ours is a world where people don’t know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it. – Don Marques

Ten ways people get in their own way:

1. Poor people skills

2. Negative attitude

3. A bad fit

4. Lack of focus

5. Weak commitment

6. An Unwillingness to change

7. A Shortcut mind-set

8. Relying on talent alone

9. Response to poor information

10. No Goals

Chapter 14 – Understand there is not much difference between failure and success

This chapter talks about pressing forward, showing that there is a small difference between failure and success.

Quotable Quotes:

There is no failure except no longer trying. – Ken Hubbard

Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing. – Abraham Lincoln

Stories:

-R.H. Macy – fails to build a successful store until after he has many failures.

-Orville Redenbacher – he spent years tirelessly working to develop the perfect popcorn hybrid.

Purpose – Find one

Excuses – Eliminate them

Incentives – Develop some

Determination – cultivate it

Chapter 15 – Get up, get over it, get going

This chapter talks about taking action.

Quotable Quotes:

Experience is not what happens to you. Experience is what you do with what happens to you. – Aldous Huxley

By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail. – Benjamin Franklin

Stories:

-Milton Bradley – works hard and pushed the US to adopt the Kindergarten idea of the Europeans

-Singapore, the little country that could. It did and now is revered by many nations.

The goal shapes the plan.

The plan shapes the action.

The action achieves the results.

The results bring success.

Finalize your goal.

Order your plan.

Risk failing by taking action.

Welcome mistakes.

Advance based on your character.

Reevaluate your progress continually.

Develop new strategies to succeed.

Chapter 16 – Now your ready

Stories:

-Famous Dave Anderson – Many ups and downs.

Will you read this book again? Probably not. I recommend only for the perseverance aspect. Not from the idea that failure is a requirement to success, as I disagree with this notion.

Would you suggest this book be added to a personal library or leave at the public library? Public Library

Reviewed By Mike W - Twin Cities, MN