economics-times

The authors choose the "Ps" of Passion, People, Personnel and Product. They lead us through the success of Jack and Diane's coffee shop. It is an easy read. It will urge you to understand your workplace journey. It doesn't matter if you are an employer or the employee.

"Beans" is a journey from employment for a major airline (working for money), the unfulfilled entrepreneur step of self-employment selling martinis, and arriving at a passion for selling a cup of coffee. The realization that the "Ps" of Passion, People or Personnel will not make up for a quality Product leads Jack to develop the "best" cup of coffee! It takes all 4!

If you liked "Fish!" - you will like "Beans."

You might like to buy extra copies and give them to your personnel!

Good customer relations boosts sales and if more business owners and associates put "Beans" principles into practice, shopping would become a more pleasant experience.

Happy Shoppers spend money.

This book provides us with both the rationale and the know-how for setting up routines that can transform our lives. After decades of productivity, I found myself rattling around the house wondering,"What am I DOING with my life?". With nothing pressing, my "well-earned rest" turned into an unfocused waste of time and an uncomfortable feeling that I was wasting my life. My mood started to sink, as did my energy.

This book has galvanized me to action. I started with bedtime and arising routines, which quickly led to an exercise routine, then regularly scheduled meals. My energy has returned - I feel like the "old me"! - and my time is now filled with pleasurable and stimulating activities. This book has stopped me from growing old, and I am extremely grateful.

Not so with David Allen's "Getting Things Done." He offers clear, concise insights on action-oriented steps anyone can implement to make their worklife more productive and stress free. (He recommends the same approach for dealing with your personal life, and while they may work in this context, I'm not sure how many folks really want to run my family like a business).

Yes, a lot of Allen's advice is simple common sense and he tends to offer lists which simply added pages instead of help. Nonetheless, he presents obvious insights in useful context by showing how they've worked with his clients and it's simple to skip the unnecessary lists. The key is (and this is why I awarded five stars instead of four) Allen's advice is aimed at folks who live in the real world. You can actually implement what he talks about and see results.

While the book may not change your life, it will certainly help you keep it organized and focused. "Getting Things Done" is an ideal gift for the colleague who is more of a "big picture"-type than a detail person.

In short, this is one of the more valuable, interesting, AND usable books that I have read in years. I have ordered "Leadership and the Founding Fathers" and hope to gain as much from that as I have from the Lincoln book.

Donald Phillips wrote one of the best leadership books I have ever read. He skillfully blended many effective historical references (letters, speeches, vignettes, and anecdotes) with modern management and leadership theories to create an easy-to-read performance and character analysis of one of the very best leaders our country has ever known.

This remarkable book could (and should) serve as a "wake-up call" for the many self-proclaimed leaders in all walks of life who fail to understand the adage, "Leadership is action, not position." Some of the book's timeless leadership themes demonstrated and often perfected by Lincoln included:

*Leaders foster trust and build effective relationships with subordinates.

*Leaders are persuasive vice coercive; coercive dictatorships violate the basic rights of individuals.
*Leaders build leaders, not followers, though vision, patience, and persistence for long-term effectiveness vice short-term gains or conveniences.
*A leader who constantly maintains his honesty and integrity, and shows compassion and mercy, will inspire all around him or her to loyalty and great achievements.

Phillips, in his preface, perfectly described the book's value to the leaders of today and tomorrow...

"Since leadership principles are usually expressed rather abstractly, there is a great need for simple, concrete illustrations. Tangible examples make the difference; people relate to them. That's what the study of Lincoln gives us - tangible examples from a widely recognized great leader. Therein lies the basic premise of this book. I hope that present and future leaders in all walks of life will be enlightened (as I was) by the remarkable leadership genius of Abraham Lincoln and then will use that knowledge to improve their own skills."

The most valuable thing for me was the idea of a monthly planner. It does not matter if you are a busy professional or a housewife. To catch the bull by the horns you ought to have one.

One more thing, after reading the book you will understand that there no picture-perfect homes (of course, if somebody lives there). If your house is, and you are a clean-it-all slave of it, read this book. It will help you ease your cleaning passion and start enjoying life instead.

I am planning to stock up on a few copies of the book. Next time I am invited to a wedding, I will have an exellent addition to a present.

One thing that really helped me was the chapter on throwing stuff away. I never realized that I had such pack-rat like tendencies till I read this book. I am now a firm believer in throwing stuff away [or recycling it, giving it to charity, etc] and our home is so much more uncluttered and nice to live in.

She has so many great ideas in this book that it would be impossible to list all the ways I've been helped by it. She does have some ideas that didn't work for me [I spent a long time trying to organize my recipes and shopping like she suggested, but it just didn't work for me], but they might work for others. I found this a great book to use on a "take what works, leave what doesn't" basis. I think our lives have been improved as a family because I read this book and used many of her ideas and suggestions. I highly recommend it to anyone - but especially to young families!

Schultz walks you through some of the thought processes and actions that led to important advancements in Starbucks' success with their customers. And, he's not afraid to point out when he's been dead wrong. He's strong enough to admit being dead set against the Frappuccino & totally missing the boat on what ended up being a blowout product for the company.

One comment - it's hard for me to reconcile Schultz' recent fixation on the Internet, going so far as ruminating about buying Williams-Sonoma for its online potential, with the clear-headed thoughts expressed in this book. [Yes, let's see...I'll have a latte and this leather couch, thanks.] Throughout the book, Schultz shows a complete understanding of a company's need to please Wall Street via growing profits, and also is quite clear of having to evaluate each decision by asking "Will it strengthen or dilute the brand?"

POUR YOUR HEART HEART INTO IT:

1. A HUNDRED TIMES EVERY DAY I REMIND MYSELF THAT MY INNER AND OUTER LIVES DEPENDED ON LABORS OF OTHER MEN,LIVING OR DEAD AND THAT I MUST EXERT MYSELF IN ORDER TO GIVE IN THE SAME MEASURE THAT I RECIEVED.....

2.IF IT CAPTURES YOUR IMAGINATION..IT WILL PROBABLY CAPTIVATE OTHERS TOO.

3.SOME MEN SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE AND SAY..WHY. I DREAM THINGS THAT NEVER WERE AND ASK..WHY NOT!

4.IF YOU SAY NEVER HAD A CHANCE,,PERHAPS YOU NEVER TOOK A CHANCE.

5.VISION IS WHAT THEY CALL IT WHEN YOU CAN SEE WHAT OTHERS CAN NOT SEE

6.WHENEVER YOU SEE A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS...SOMEBODY SOMEDAY MUST HAVE MADE A COURAGEOUS DECISION...

7.WE JUDGE OURSELVES BY WHAT WE FEEL CAPABLE OF DOING.. WHILE OTHERS JUDGE US BY WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY DONE...

8.SOMETIMES..SINCERITY SELLS BETTER THAN BUSINESS PLANS

9.THE ULTIMATE MEASURE OF A MAN IS NOT WHERE HE STANDS IN MOMENTS OF COMFORT AND CONVINIENCE ,BUT WHERE HE STAND AT TIMES OF CHALLENGE AND ADVERSITY...

10.EVERYTHING MATTERS

11.WHEN YOU SEE THE OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME..MOVE QUICKLY

12.A 100 STOREY BUILDING NEEDS A FIRM FOUNDATION

13.DO NOT BE THREATENED Y MEN SMARTER THAN YOU

14.THE BEST EXECUTIVE IS ONE WHO HAS GOOD SENSE TO PICK UP GOOD MEN TO DO WHAT HE WANTS DONE AND SELF RESTRAINT TO KEEP FROM MEDDLING WITH THEM WHILE THEY DO TI.

15.THE ONLY SACRED COW IN AN ORGANISATION SHOULD BE IT"S BASIC PHILOSPHY OF DOING BUSINESS..

16.TO STAY AHEAD,ALWAYS HAVE THE NEXT IDEA WAITING IN THE WINGS..

17.THE BEST WAY TO BUILD A BRAND IS ONE PERSON AT A TIME.

18.THE FUNDAMENTAL TASK IS TO ACHIEVE SMALLNESS WITHIN A LARGE ORGANISATION..

19.VALUES SHOULD NOT WHITHER AS SALES GROW.

WHILE COPIES OF COVEY'S _SEVEN HABITS_ were still conspicuous business accessories on public transportation and at latte shops, the people who were changing the world had moved on to the book that cracked the shell on the third habit: putting first things first.

Everyone who has heard the phrase "time management" could suggest prioritizing. Covey, Merrill and Merrill dare to entertain, "How do you do that? How do you know what's first when your plans are buffeted by circumstances, business and people you love-whom you've already put 'first?'"

Excellence is not required by their success formula. You are guided in choosing how driven you want to be by your priorities, and you'll know what (or who) is suffering when you decide to read junk mail.

If your reluctance in addressing time management stems from (1) not wanting to lose yourself and your life in order to finish your list, or (2) no one can help you because you choose to wear more hats than the people who usually offer advice will allow, then _First Things First_ is the FIRST, and possibly only, book you need to read.

Brian Tracy gives this motivation and reasoning. This is a short, fast read. As the author says, it doesn't go into all the psychology of procrastination; rather, it gets right to the action. Brian Tracy covers such things as determining priorities, delegating and eliminating some tasks, knowing what's okay to procrastinate about, and whether to tackle your "frog" (your big task that will lend the greatest results) first or a lesser priority task.

The result is a clear, concise book that is helpful and shows that by regularly eating your frogs first, you develop a habit that makes it easier to accomplish more than the average person and do it with increasingly less effort. An excellent, worthwhile book that you will likely refer to time and time again.

This book contains 21 wonderful chapters. Each chapter is like a different store in a Mall called the "Action Now Mall". Some days you need something from a store. Some other day you need something from some other store. Well. Same thing happens with Mr. Tracy's book. Just keep it near yor personal workspace. And use it like that. Consult it and put it away. As many times as you need it. As many times as you would go to the Mall.

So, don't pay attention to other reviewers saying this book is a waste of money. This book is NOT a novel. It's not even intended to be read from start to finish in a single night. This books is like a reference text or a manual or an instruction booklet. YOU NEED THIS BOOK IF YOU REALLY REALLY WANT TO STOP PROCRASTINATING NOW.

Carlos Sicilia, Caracas, Venezuela