Outside-of-you

The strength of this book is in its nuanced case studies, which show the real-life dilemmas of those who may be subject to bias -- minorities, women, the disabled, gay workers, etc. The case studies not only sketch out the situation but include follow-up analyses, labeled "what should "x" have done?", that model how to cope with difficult situations. Suppose you're a woman at an investment bank with a Ph.D in economics and a great record attracting clients, and your boss has you stereotyped as a research beetle? What if you're a secretary with a very popular boss, but his compliments about your dress and appearance make you uncomfortable? Or a Pakistani software engineer whose colleagues joke that you must be sympathetic to terrorists? Or a black sales manager whose subordinates go over your head to complain about your aggressive management style -- and your own boss passes on the complaints without checking into their validity or encouraging the complainers to confront you directly? The book shows how to educate colleagues and bosses in situations like these without alienating them. While some of the advice about corporate "get-ahead" behavior is a little generic, the case studies make the book as a whole practical, practical, practical. Those who feel like "outsiders" in their workplace and are looking for ways to form good relationships and have their skills recognized will find it truly useful.

Here is a brief excerpt from the Introduction: "A special caveat: In the book we describe group tendencies. But, as we all know, not all members of a group share the same beliefs, values, and behaviors. Moreover, this book is not intended to be a definitive study of every group discussed. Instead, it makes use of some distinctive tendencies in each group to demonstrate how these tendencies may affect personal interaction, teamwork, and promotional opportunities in the workplace." As the subtitle correctly suggests, the authors suggest seven strategies for success "when you're not a member of the dominant group in your workplace." That is, when you are outside and determined to get inside. Here are the strategies: 1. Check Your Baggage, 2. Call Out the Cavalry, 3. Accentuate the Positive, 4. Blow Your Horn, 5. Buy In, Don't Sell Out, 6. Know Your Rights, and 7. Have a Vision. Each of these seven strategies is carefully explained and then illustrated. The material is based on real-world experiences, strategies, and tactics recommended by real people. If you are (or feel that you are) excluded from the dominant group in your own workplace, I urge you to obtain a copy of this book and read it with appropriate care. Moreover, I presume to share a few personal caveats of my own. First, not all "in" groups are worthy of joining. Also, those who are "in" today may be "out" tomorrow and then "gone" soon thereafter. Finally, the strengths you now possess (ie what you have inside of yourself) such as intelligence, integrity, and passion are far more important than acceptance by a group whose members may lack them. Shakespeare's Polonius was right: "To thine ownself be true."

Great! My family is really crazy and this book helped me sort through MY part in their treatment. I guess the most important thing I learned was to get some help for myself.

I wish I had had this bok a few years back when I was dealing with the crisis of hospitalizing my husband. I can tell you that this will stay on my shelf for a while

This book was great. Each chapter is no more than 4 pages each. It gives you real life stories from the former CEO of Nike to a vietnam veteran to a divorced mother. This book helps you to understand what it is you control and how you can control it, and to decide what you cannot control, so that it won't get the best of you. It is very well written, and helped me with my stressful job. I recommend this book to anyone in business and those in a a management or leadership role. This can help to develop teamwork, or it can apply individually. Out of all professional development books I have read, this is by far the best influence in my life and at work.

My highest recommendation. This is a great little book that should be in the library of every professional.

As a teacher of special needs students, specifically those struggling with learning disabilities and attention difficulties, I consider this book a fairly good resource. The authors, Jonathon Mooney and David Cole, do an excellent job of explaining how their struggles in the educational system pushed them to succeed in the world of higher education. Their stories are truly inspirational for anyone who has had to overcome different learning styles and/or oppressive school systems. Both of these LD/ADHD labeled students were able to complete high school and more amazingly, receive their Bachelor degrees from Ivy league institutions. This book includes chapter after chapter of helpful hints for students struggling with the same issues. Note-taking strategies, test-taking techniques and "staying alive" in college are some examples of the information that Mooney and Cole provide to their readers. The book is extremely well organized and easy to read, although I do have to admit that the over-use of profanity is a bit irritating. Lastly, the authors stress the importance of finding one's unique learning style and using that information to learn. This is such an important part of educating our students. I truly appreciated this "reminder." Way to go Jonathon and David... you didn't give up!

"Learning Outside the Lines" is a must read for any college student, but especially students with learning or attentional differences. As a special educator I was impressed with the quality of advice and learning strategies Mr. Mooney and Mr. Cole set forth in their handbook. Many of the study strategies outlined are the same strategies taught in quality classrooms for the learning different. The upbeat philosophy of "Learning Outside the Lines" gives hope to anyone who doesn't seem to "fit" into the traditional educational system. I have brought this book into my elementary resource classroom to show my students with learning differences that they too can succeed despite their own struggles with learning outside the lines of the typical classroom. I also think it is time for our students to find their own voice and become a part of their own educational revolution. The personal stories of Mr. Mooney and Mr. Cole gave me great insight into the struggles of students with learning differences and how the educational system can crush their natural talents with "a one method fits all" philosophy. "Learning Outside the Lines" is a very readable book for students, parents, teachers or anyone who lives, thinks or learns differently.

As a parent, 25 yrs old with a 7 yr old son, I was informed that my extremely cute, but extremely active son had ADHD. What the heck is THAT? Denial, defiance, research, acceptance, empowerment and then the long struggle. 3 years later he was diagnosed as LBLD (language Based LD), EFD (Executive Function Disorder), Bipolar, etc yada yada.

What he IS is an extremely intelligent, majorly creative and gifted, funny, loving kid! And that is what we have spent the last 5 years pounding into a school system so interred in its histopry that it is afraid to face the present and the future! He is now 15, a high school freshman, struggling, always struggling, to meet the expectations of the world around us. I think this book is a great way to help him, and thanks to Jonathan for being kind enough to sign a copy of it to him at a recent conference! And one for me too! I loved hearing Jonathan speak, and have never seen the people at one of these conferences give a standing ovation to anyone - yet they did for Jonathan.

I thank Jonathan and David for giving a voice to all these children & adults. For through my struggles for my son, through my own self journey, I found out that I wasn't "stupid" in Math - I have Dyscalculia! I also found out that I have ADD, which explained all the "daydreams in class" comments on my report cards! For 5 years now I have been an Advocate for Children with Special Needs - I quit my paralegal work and started fighting for the children like my son, I also became the Chair of a Parent Organization for children with special needs, but even with all that experience, this book has given me more tools to help my son, other children like him....and myself. for years I had feared going back to school, a High School dropout, got a GED, joined the Army, took courses to become a paralegal..... and now here. I have yearned to go back to college, but feared the environment and the fact that I didn't want to feel stupid again....... now I have tools that can help my son and myself....so thanks again guys! You are both "wicked awesome" as we say here in Beantown! :)

As one of the people interviewed for the examples in this book, I was disappointed to see there are several rather significant errors in my own interview. Speaking only for myself, this book seems put together rather hastily, and has some misleading mistakes in it. Despite the errors that I noticed, I also think it offers good basic advice to job seekers.

In my own case, the book describes me as leaving my campus during my PhD for an "internship" in Washington, DC. I would never have done this and wouldn't recommend it as a saavy career move for other graduate students. Rather, I left with a partially complete dissertation for a job directing academic internships, a job that I negotiated a salary and "research days" off to allow me to complete the dissertation. I worry that other mistakes like this may paint a too-rosy future for those charting a course for either academic or non-academic careers. My plan worked for me because it was a plan--carefully considered, with deadlines and timeframes built in. Research errors regarding my experience make me nervous about the other examples in the book.

My husband and I discovered this book about 2/3s of the way through our PhD programs. To call it a revelation would be an understatement. Despite the fact my husband's still a professor (for the time being), we recommend this book to everyone we know who's nearing the job search part of their graduate program, in addition to disillusioned colleagues both in and out of academia.

We found different parts of the book useful at different points in our job searches. Initially, we used it as a way to affirm our ambivalence about academia and the tenure process. The second read was more like reading a self-help book for the motivation, impetus and reassurance to go ahead and look for non-academic jobs. Later, we used the book to assess how our skills were transferable to a non-academic setting, and then for developing resumes, cover letters and job search strategies.

Although it has many valuable aspects, what distinguished the book from other good job search/career resources were the sections on thinking about how our skills were transferable from academics and on how to market ourselves in non-academic jobs. And this is why we recommend it to people who are continuing in academia as well: to know that the decision to be an academic is a choice. So many people seem to go with the flow, feeling pressured by colleagues, advisors and their own expectations to continue in academia while all the while feeling ambivalent or unhappy about the whole process. However, to realize that you DO have skills, and that what you've done in grad school (no matter how arcane) is transferable to other settings, and that your decision to continue in academia is a choice and not simply doing what's expected of you, is highly liberating.

While I credit Basalla and Debelius for giving me the clarity and confidence to leave academics, and for giving me the skills to be successful in my search (like turning a c.v. into a resume, interviewing well, and writing a solid cover letter), this job search aspect of the book is secondary. If you need a book on writing resumes or how to interview well, I would advise you to buy one focused on those aspects of job hunting. That's not the primary strength of the book.

However, if you're in grad school or done, and you've ever felt ambivalent about the process or environment of academia, this is a fabulous book. So What Are You Going To Do With That? is excellent for enabling people to realize that they're not the only ones who wonder whether academia is the right path, to develop confidence to make the change to a post-academic career, and to think clearly about their skills and moreover, their options.

I read the reviews and realized that I purchased the book to help graduate students that I was mentoring. The book is absolutely perfect for MA students and for some PhD types who are contemplating what to do outside of academia.

It's an easy read and better than most other career minded books that are geared more so for business students. I've had good responses from students who I've either loaned my copy to or who have purchased the book themselves.

I could sum this book up in eight words:
So you didn't like law school? Try teaching.
There I just saved you the time of ordering and reading it. This book was a typical one of those books you see in a public library with really basic common sense ideas and little insight.

I am a career counseler at a law school in Chicago, and I used Ms. Arron's book about a year ago to decide what career I should pursue when I left the practice of law. I bought other career-change books and found none of them to be as useful as this one. I knew I wanted to stop practicing law, but was completely lost as to what career I wanted to pursue next. I kept dragging my feet because I felt so unsure of what awaited me. As soon as I started reading Ms. Arron's book, I instantly felt that she understood exactly what I was going through. Doing the self-assessment exercises really brought me a lot of clarity, and helped me decide what career I wanted to pursue next. Her book also contains an abundance of valuable resources which I used to research my options. By the time I applied for my job as a career counselor, I felt 100% ready to leave the practice of law and very excited about embarking on my new career. I had a much better understanding of my strengths, weaknesses, and values than I ever had before. Without this book, however, I think I would still be unhappily practicing law (or worse yet, that I would have left the practice of a law for a job that suited me even less than being an attorney). I recommend this book to all the law school alums I counsel with respect to career change issues, and I have also recommended it to several laywer friends of mine who are struggling with the question of whether they should continue practicing law. Everyone I know who has read the book has enjoyed it as much as I have and found it to be just as useful. It is, without a doubt, the best career-change handbook for lawyers.

Some of the people who have given this book negative reviews are obviously not the target audience for the book. This is NOT for law students looking for a job or for certain types of lawyers. This is for lawyers who are dissatisfied in their careers and are looking at career transition.

For the target audience, this book in invaluable. Deborah Arron really understands the issues involved and helps navigate the reader through the problems with letting go of a bad situation, finding ideas for next steps and getting to a solution. There is no other book on the market that addresses these issues in the way this one does.

I can't understand why people who aren't the target audience feel the need to trash the book publicly.

A fast read. This book contents are very poorly organized and story items repeated. Pictures could have enhanced the contents.

Good book. I remember this crime. Very accurate and interesting. Shows the changes in the justice system of that era.

Book lists schools which do not give credit for experience

Although it's a little dated, this is almost certainly the best book available on portfolio evaluations.