Enhancement Books

I reread Deming's The New Economics the other day. For those of you unfamiliar with Deming, he is generally credited with helping to rebuild Japanese manufacturing after World War 2 and with the introduction of the quality revolution. Briefly, this book can be described as being about "people who are living under the tyranny of the prevailing style of management." It is basically an anti-competition, anti-top leadership book.

This book makes a great read and provides a simple introduction to Deming's approach. In his ideas, you can see a great many parallels to issues in the current economic crisis. Deming predicts such a crisis, although one could argue there have been many economic crises and predicting one about every 10 years would make you seem like a fortune teller.

One of Deming's argument, an argument echoed by Michael Moore, can be paraphrased as "everyone works hard and does a good job except top management." If we accept this argument, we have to ask why it is that only top management fails us (and it is a very hard argument to accept, but it does seem clear top management fails at times).

This goes back to our discussion of several weeks ago, and overlaps with the strategy theme. Basically, if we accept the argument that we are all ok except for top management that causes all the problems, there are several possibilities:

= Top management is evil because power corrupts.
= Top management is evil because evil people rise to the top.
= Top management is stupid because power makes us stupid.
= Top management is stupid because stupid people rise to the top.
= Modern organizations have become too large and too complex, making them nearly impossible to manage. We need to develop new methods of managing such organizations, including advanced decision aids.

Obviously, I lean toward the last one. And going back to HR and strategy, this is where HR can make a major contribution - in building comprehensive programs for succession management, including better methods. based on empirical research, of selecting, developing, and supporting leaders.

This book is excellently written by the late Dr. W. Edward Deming who was "heckled" out of America post-World War II by the American management leaders for his less-then-conventional managerial practices. After being heckled in America he was invited to Japan where that countries business leaders were re-building their nation. Dr. Deming's 14 Point Program was an instant success and he was soon heralded as the "Father" of modern Japanese Industrial Revolution. Japan honored him annually with the awarding of the Deming Award of Excellence. He was eventually called back to his native America where he continued to lecture until his untimely death in 1993. He was an icon of American management practices.

This book was very different from other author's quality books, and especially different from what I expected from other books that claimed to speak for Deming. There was no math (for better or worse), no goals of 6 sigma, or 8 sigma, or numerical goals at all. There was no treatment on how to rank employees, but there was a well-written section warning against this practice, and against pay-per-performance. This latter, I found veery believable. There was a good review of the diseases of companies and universities (mostly management diseases) and a clear view of how to deal with them. At the end there was also a treatment of non-management problems: product variation caused by equipment and the like. I found this last section hard to understand. Still, overall I thought I got my money's worth -- more of my money's worth from this book than from the 4 or 5 management books I'd read before.
After reading this book, I bought another Deming book, Out of the Crisis. It was similar though longer and more mathematical -- a plus for me.

"This book is for people who are living under the tyranny of the prevailing style of management," writes Deming in the preface. Deming has strong convictions, many of which are counter to conventional management thinking.

Deming does not believe in ratings and grades. He says performance is mostly attributable to the system in which that person works. "The forces of destruction that come from the present style of reward ... squeeze out from an individual, over his lifetime, his innate intrinsic motivation.... They build into him fear, self-defense, extrinsic motivation. We have been destroying our people from toddlers on through university and on the job. We must preserve the power of intrinsic motivation, dignity, cooperation, curiosity, joy in learning, that people are born with."

Nor does Deming think highly of goals. "Only the method is important, not the goal."

"It is wrong to suppose that if you can't measure it, you can't manage it - a costly myth."

"The customer is not in the pyramid. A pyramid, as an organization chart, thus destroys the system, if ever one was intended." Instead Deming uses flow diagrams.

"With shared responsibility, no one is responsible. Joint responsibility is totally different from divided responsibility... Learning under a teacher is a joint effort between teacher and pupil."

Deming makes the distinction between common causes of variation, and special causes. He quotes Brian Joiner who said, "One necessary qualification of anyone in management is to stop asking people to explain ups and downs ... that come from random variation."

Deming is a legendary name in quality management, especially in Japan through his consulting work with Japanese industry from 1950 onward. He died at age 93 before the second edition of this book went to press.

After reading the "New Economics" by W. Edwards Deming I was very surprised. Mr. Deming's made the book very easy to read and understand. In my case it was the examples that really put things in perspective. "The Red Bead Experiment" was an example that was very good at explaining exactly what it was that, we needed to take away from the example, the difference between common cause and special cause variation. Management should be solely responsible for the well being of the production line. Personally, Deming's did a really good job in describing typical work situations that I personally am aware of. I enjoyed the way he broke everything down into its simplest form. You do not have to be an industrial engineer to understand the message he is trying to convey. The message he is trying to convey is "Team Work" because it is only when every person in the group agrees with each other that everyone can come together for one common purpose. He was very specific in the situation that he believed everything and everyone could work together. In his eyes the hierarchy had to be done away with. There was no one person that was better than the next. This one belief that I have always believed in. I appreciate his train of thought and think that if it could be applied to the small stream businesses it would be extremely effective. It sounds like Deming's was a man of the people because he described every person's job just as important as the next. It sounded like he believed in the chain of command. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and would recommend it to those trying to get a more in-depth feel to what common cause variation and special cause variation really means.

Ramez Naam writes very well. His ideas a presented elegantly and supported by evidence. I always thought I was normal but Ramez Naam demonstrated to me that what I think is normal is really not so. He has also persuaded me to look forward to a great future of human achievement.

What if we could communicate with each other simply by thinking about it? I try that all the time but I don't know if it works. Now, researchers have developed techniques to connect a human's mind to robots and computers across the Internet. Using brain implants to restore motion to the paralyzed and sight to blind people allow some patients to control robots (and computers) simply by thinking about it!

'Serenity' is closer to the truth, though based in 2046, with the behavior modification used on rebellious recruits. It gave power and strength to a skinny little girl, River, with fighting skills of a giant. I saw the tallest man I ever did see at the post office the other morning, and it was scary seeing how long and skinny his legs were.

Is it good to alter our minds? I've watched the hypnotist at the fair make "normal" volunteers from the group watching act silly and do ridiculous things. I had decided that he'd hypotized them with his melodious, deep voice, as his personality was not spectacular.

Labs worldwide are dabbling with cloning, stem cell research, and genetic engineering as shown so clearly in the movie, 'The Island,' craeting ethical dilemmas as to the "rightness" to change people in this manner. The United States of America have imposed severe limits on government funding for stem cell research, but have left the private sector to do what it wants. Though embryonic stem cell science got its start in the States, the rest of the world is fighting to take the lead.

We were not granted life extensions, which may be possible in the future, but at what cost? Will it make life better for the "altered" or will it turn them into robots as in 'The Stepford Wives"? Bodies are flexible; by contrast, "our computers are simple, rigid, specialized things. An e-mail program will never learn to handle voice-mail, despite the similarity between the two." Voice mail is available on some of the Internet carriers now, but you would need a new, energized system with plenty of memory space.

Should we fear change? Ramaz Naam doesn't think so. Thanks to him, I am able to use Internet Explorer to clear out the junk in my daily computing so this old computer will go another day. He was also intrumental in developing Microsoft Outlook, but that is something I haven't tried. I am still a novice on the computer, learned word processing some years ago, which come in handy on these reviews.

Whether you are a technoprogressive biohacking singularity buff, or you think "H+" is just a hydrogen ion, this book will definitely interest you. Providing an incredibly optimistic view of the biotechnological advances soon to be made, Ramez Naam gives us a comprehensive overview of the potential benefits of human enhancement technologies. This book is nice in that is covers many aspects of current research in transhumanism, from mind-machine interfaces to gerontological engineering, unlike most books which are slimmer in scope. It is well written and well researched, although very obviously one-sided. If you want to get both sides of the controversy, read this, some Kurzweil, then check out Leon Kass or Francis Fukuyama. Although I don't agree with them, I suppose it's good to know your enemies =) Even if you've never heard of transhumanism, check this book out.

Ramez Naan does a great job here detailing rapidly growing and maturing biological enhancement technologies. This is a very diverse field, ranging from life extension medications, genetic modifications, to minds hooked directly to the internet, and even mind-to-mind connections may be possible. Such mind/computer links may become natural extensions of ourselves, Naam writes. Idle speculation this is not, Naam gives many examples of present day uses, and also discusses research projects now under way, in addition giving extrapolations sometimes for up to several decades into the future. If you are interested in this sort of thing, I recommend THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR, by Ray Kurzweil, a very forward-looking book.

Most futurist manifestos are not well founded in reality. Naam did his homework, and has pages and pages of endnotes to prove it, and to lead the curious reader to the original sources. I share his extreme optimism about all these present and future avenues for human enhancement, but needed some better arguments on which to base my optimism. He provided more than enough, including thoughtful analyses of economic, ethical, and societal ramifications. To sum it up, it is all going to happen, whether we want it or not, and we better begin to get used to the ideas now, and prepare for enhanced humans of all sorts. Getting scared and putting regulations on things does not work--He has many examples of that. If we embrace change it will all go much more smoothly and sooner! I hug the future warmly.

Dr. Diamond has written a book which covers a wide range of the areas to which he has turned his attention over many years. His work is indeed multifaceted and beneficial to both specialist readers from a range of disciplines as well as the general reader looking for further insight into his/her life. One of the most intriguing aspects of Dr. Diamond's writing is his focus on how insights and information are presented. His intention is to make the writing itself therapeutic and this intention, and its effect on the individual, is obvious and immediate as one dips into this book. Dr. Diamond writes with intensity and enthusaism as well as humour and compassion. This is truly a book which approaches healing and health holistically and with real concern for the sufferings, physical or psychological, more or less obvious, of others.

Facets of a Diamond is an incredible book that looks honestly, intelligently and profoundly at the roles of healer and patient, and more importantly, at the underlying motivation of man.

Diamond looks at every aspect of an illness or life problem: spiritual, societal, motivational, dietary, energetic, psychological, environmental, hereditary...

Lynne McTaggart, author of The Field, says that ""On Dr Diamond, I would say he is one of the great pioneering healers of our time. His greatest contribution (of so many) is his discovery that our emotional selves register physical weaknesses in the body and that the body's meridian points also are the seat of certain emotions. But he's also made an incredible contribution to the role of music, to the use of many herbs and substances in healing. He is, in short, a genius."

In the past, Dr. Diamond has on the whole confined himself to one major area of interest in each of his books. In the Life Energy in Music series he focuses on various aspects of music, The Healer: Heart and Hearth is concerned mainly with the role of the therapist or healer, Re-Mothering and its Experience examines the importance of our relationships with our mothers, and so on. In Facets of a Diamond, however, Dr. Diamond draws together all the aspects of his life and the experiences that make him the therapist that he is. But, more than being just an auto-biography, this book introduces us to the possibility that we are all therapists, whatever our profession or station in life. After reading this book I felt inspired to consider how my choices and decisions are determining the pattern of my own life, and how I can best develop and manifest my own philosophy day by day.

I think that this is one of the most remarkable traits of Dr. Diamond's writing: that, instead of claiming to have found the one true path to enlightenment, he presents his own ideas and thought in such a way as to be a springboard for the reader's.

This is an extraordinary book of depth and insight, not to be hurried though, to be dipped into time and time again to be refreshed by the wisdom and compassion contained in its pages.

I find this book a great inspiration - worth returning to repeatedly to stimulate my thoughts and uplift my spirit. It is as truly "multi-faceted" as its title implies - a reflection of the many-faceted author, Dr. John Diamond. In it, I find parts that apply to my personal, professional, artistic and inner lives. I can open it to any section and find a gem - and then I find myself engrossed by the wonderful stories, quotations, poems and aphorisms. It is full of humor and heart. I highly recommend it.

Awesome book. I enjoy reading it. It's easy to read and very comprehendable. It's good information!

I ordered this book and received it very quickly. The book came in new condition as described. Thanks!

The book arrived ahead of schedule and it was in mint condition. I am satisfied with the service and the product.

I am happy with the purchase that I Made. It was delivered on time and was in great shape.

I was asked to evaluate ths for the textbook selection committee at a local high school for possible use as the text book for an environmental science class next year. Since my degree is in Environmental Science, and I have done a lot of work with environmental education, I have read a large number of environmental science books and have seen the good, bad and worst of books on the market.

At first I just planned to skim the book, but after reading a few pages I decided to look at the book more closely, and I was impressed with what I saw. The book is well written in clear, easy to understand language, using a good amount of well done graphs, charts and photos. The layout, in addition, was good, making the book flow in an orderly manner.

The information in the book was excellent, and covered the entire range, as much as is possible in one book, of environmental science. The biology and chemistry were integrated nicely and flowed smoothly.

I have rated this book as four stars only because I feel the authors didn't cover the section on renewable energy as well as I would have liked. The book tended to move through the subject rather quickly, offering only a limited view of what can be done to eliminate the use of fossil fuels. In all other ways this book was superior to many I have read.

I would highly recommend this for an introduction course in college, and also think it would bean excellent choice for a text at the AP or regular high school level, provided the students had enough science background to be able to understand the science. I even believe that a motivated home schooled student could study from this book and do quite well in the subject. Overall, one of the best introductory text books I've had the pleasure of reading.

The first chapter, about seeing the ball, makes this book worthwhile for anybody. The author makes a good point about hitters worrying too much over minor mechanical details when tracking the ball is so important.

Having said that, this book is about the mental aspects of hitting and assumes that you already have decent mechanics. If you are a high school level player or beyond, there will be useful information here.

If you're a coach of youth teams, reading this book will help you better coach your hitters. There arent many specific swing techniques, but the book is full of advice from the mental aspect of the game. Similarly, there arent many detailed practice plans, but rather a good discussion of attitudes and how to approach practice time. You, as the youth coach, should be using these mental techniques to help your young hitters cope and adjust.

Hitting a baseball is one of the most difficult things to do in sports. That requires both physical and mental skills to perform at peak apacity.

For some hitters the battle against the pitcher and the defense is lost well before the ball is pitched. As a former head coach and now a hitting instructor at the semi-pro level, I have always been on the lookout for keys and prompts to give to my hitters to clear their mind of everything but a concentration on the ball and solid contact. This book gives me those cues in a simple to understand, and more importantly, a simple way of presenting those mental reminders. I particularly like the three simple questions to ask the hitter after every at bat. "What were you trying to do?", "What went wrong?" ,"What will you do next time?". The techniques suggested to get across to players the oft-repeated theme of this book - "see the ball and be easy!" are easy to understand and implement. I have been much more confident in my ability to get that message into my players heads after reading this book.

Best book on the subject I have ever read - very usable.

For the player who wants to excell at a high level, the information in this book is critical to that success. Easy to read & understand.

Chuck Schumacher
Owner-- Chucks Gym
Baseball & Martial Arts
Training & conditioning

Until I read this book I was throwing helmets, tossing bats, and swearing after every at-bat. The Mental Keys to Hitting gave me confidence to go to the batter's box with a plan and execute to the best of my ability. A must-read for any player.

Although this is a departure from author Lundin's famous "Fish" series of customer service focused books, "Top Performer" demonstrates yet another means of identifying and delivering excellent customer service. It is novel in that most people would never seriously consider a street performer to be excellent at focusing upon the "needs" of his customers and then delivering customer service that fulfills those needs. As in the "Fish" series, "Top Performer" will deliver those "light bulb goes on" moments. The lessons that it delivers are easy to recall and should be part of any process used to identify and deliver superior sales and service. This is a fast and easy read which you will end up going back to periodically for a refresher course.

What a cool concept, increase the energy of yourself and those people around you. Without getting metaphysical, Lundin and Hagerman have touched on something that is real but cannot be seen. A great, fun read to keep me on the path of continuous improvement.

Lundin and Hagerman have authored a book that is surprising in its depth. A burned-out businessman goes in search of new energy to stay on top of his game. What he finds surprises him and it will surprise you, the reader!

This clever fable of life lessons from a street performer is something we all need to learn. Life is about relationships--about living the moment with gusto--about honoring mistakes and surprises, and finally about taking care of one another. The principles that spark the protagonist are good advice for life. This book is a great gift. How rare to find a "business book" that is fun to read and offers life-changing advice.

Anyone who works in sales or customer service industries should definately read this book. It tells the story of a successful salesperson who finds that the extra hours and discipline which have worked well early in his career are no longer enough. His home life is strained, his motivation is low, and he no longer can sustain himself on the challenge of just meeting his targets. He finds the answers he needs from discussions with street performers and learns tools and strategies to excel and rekindle the excitement in his job and life. A quick and fun read full of great ideas that stick with you!

A wonderful journey in the land of intuitive reasoning and inner potential mining. For those of us struggling in the pursuit of new business ideas or suffocating in unattainable bottom lines. Top Performer will help you tap your natural energy, awaken your curiosity and leverage your unique abilities. A truly sustainable new year's resolution!

This book is about more than just drumming. It shows how you can use music to help yourself and those round you. Diamond's approach is a unique, and combines philosophy with psychology and numerous other modalities. The writing ranges from the philosophical to practical suggestions and it has been a great inspiration to me in using music to enhance my life. One wonderful aspect to his approach is that anybody can do it--it's all about intention, not technique.

An outstanding book for discoverying and understanding the power and spirit of a pulsing, steady beat. As a frustrated Drummer trying to get a workout, I found this book in my search to understand and explain the hypnotic rhythm created by speed bag punching, and this book enlightened me to several reasons that I (and others I teach) are so drawn to the pulsing bag beat. This book simply explains why what makes the "beat go on" inside us all. This was a refreshing read for a long time drummer.

I love this book. There are a number of brief papers which discuss important ideas and concepts, but my favorites are the little poems, or aphorisms. Maybe two or three to a page, they conjure up images, pose questions or set in motion trains of thought that really get to the heart of why the creative arts are so important to our life, health and general well-being.
This is a book that can be read over and over again - each time revealing something new.

This book gave me insight not only into music and drumming, but also into life. Too, I love the style of the writing! It is poetic and inspirational. I recommend this for anyone involved in percussion -- on all levels of proficiency -- and also for anyone interested in how music can help people throughout their whole lives.

Reading this book opened up the world of music and showed me a way to become free from the tyranny of the beat, the "must be right" of conservatory training.

Candle therapy is a wonderful books with lots of good ideas and suggestions on how candles can help your life and environment. I wish I lived in New York so that I could visit the author's store, Other Worldly Waxes, and really stock up on beautiful candles. This book will make an excellent present for almost anyone I can think of.

This book helps you help yourself. You can change your world even with something as simple as burning a candle. This book is easy to read, easy to do and is easy to help you. Buy it and see yourself change.

I love this book!
The information is beautifully presented.
The text is well oranized and very concise.
The Symbols are beautifully rendered and easy to copy.
The wisdom is generous and vital to your spiritual self.
This edition was well worth waiting for!

Rather than spending hundreds of dollars and being taken by counterfeit fortune tellers, buy this book. It shows how different colored candles serve different purposes, and how through concentration and candle burning you can bring good things into your life, uncross yourself, and resolve your own problems. Many of the basic remedies in this book are similar to those that fortune tellers try to charge you hundreds of dollars to perform. You can do it yourself.

Whether you are spiritual or not, believe in luck or not, this is a good book to add positive vibes into your environment.

With this book, I also had purchased the "Test Youe EQ : Find Out How Emotionally Intelligent You Really Are" and the "Counselling Athletes : Applying Reversal Theory".

Actually these books have been used by my son who are doing his Master Degree in the Psychology in Thailand (a small country in Southeast Asia). His aim is to go through the Sport Psychology Knowhow which is nothing in our Thailand at present. Not too many people know about what the Sport Psychology can do to their Emotional Enhancement and sports.

I had asked my son on what he get from these books, he told me that;

"Dear dad, all I can say is all the books are great and very useful. They become my bible for what I'm doing right now."

One thing I observe from my son is he is better in controlling his emotion and love his subject of "Psychology" much more than I have
expected before he entered this course. These books may contribute a great assistance to widenning his eyes and also his metal thinking.

Thank you for the writers, at least with your books, you help me guide a man to go for his dream. Thanks

Danai Bualert.....7/9/2007

The Sport Psychologist's Handbook is an applied Manual. I have started to work in the applied field, and it's very useful.. I recommend it too.

I have reviewed this book, and it's very practical...It's the first book to describe several interventions with specific teams and athletes (ice hockey, basketball, motorcycling, golf...). The Sport Psychologit's Handbook is an autentic Encyclopedia of applied sport psychologist!!!!!

This book is divided in two parts: 1. An overview of applied sport psychology (intervention with coaches, family, athlete, etc.), and 2. Consulting with specific sports (basket, soccer, ice hockey, cricket, handball, gymnastic, athletics, tennis, golf, rowing, figure skating... and more and more...). The Sport Psychologist's Handbook is a must have practical manual for applied sport psychologist, athletes, and coaches... The contributors are well-know sport psychogist, and they have experience consulting in different sports.
Definitly, I recommend this book if you are a sport psychologist...

Dan has created a must-read for anyone interested in the topic of doping in sport. It's easy to get caught up in the doping scandal of the moment, whether it's Marion Jones, or Roger Clemens, or Floyd Landis. Dan provides much-needed perspective, by giving us more than 100 years of doping history. With this perspective, we can see that no decade in the modern era lacks a doping scandal and no sport is immune from doping.

The book should be mandatory reading for every media talking head. Too often, we take the most recent doping story du jour, and attack the alleged doper as single-handedly corrupting our youth and destroying sport as we know it. Dan points out a bigger truth: doping is out there, every athlete has the opportunity to dope, and we fail to understand the problem if we focus on demonizing whatever athlete is currently connected with doping in the headlines.

In order for Dan to give us this kind of 50,000 foot view, he's had to keep each of his doping stories short and to the point. Often, I found this frustrating -- just as Dan got me hooked on one doping story, he'd move on to another. Many of these stories deserve their own books (and quite a few DO have their own books), but I think Dan's book serves a different purpose. It reminds us that these stories are NOT unique, that doping is now woven into the fabric of sport.

"Dope: A History..." is a well-balanced and informative book that brings clarity and perspective to an oft and all too easily misunderstood topic. Given the spate of doping scandals that consistently hit the news these days, it is timely and relevant. Daniel M. Rosen's writing is concise yet easy to follow, offering a wealth of historically grounded facts and interesting anecdotes. This book should be required reading for the professional - athlete, coach or official - as well as the lay person.

Dope provides a complete and engaging look at the role doping has played in sports over the years. Until very recently, most governing organizations and governments actively encouraged doping amongst its athletes. As pressure mounted, these organizations served platitudes but turned a blind eye to the actions of its athletes and coaches thus tacitly endorsing the practice. Finally in recent years, we are seeing the beginning of a real culture shift. We have come a long way in just a short time.

Mr. Rosen covers all sports from Olympic to US professional sports providing detailed information on the BALCO scandal. There is just enough science to understand the narrative but the author is able to steer clear of sounding like a medical textbook.

Given the backdrop of the current Olympic Games and some of the stories surrounding mysterious changing passports and other suspicious activities this book could not be better timed.

Instead of leaving the reader suspicious of any athletic accomplishment, Mr. Rosen leaves us hopeful that a clean sport is quickly descending on most athletic fields.