Koncocoo

Best Business Management & Leadership

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win (New Edition)
Willink and Babin returned home from deployment and instituted SEAL leadership training to pass on their harsh lessons learned in combat to help forge the next generation of SEAL leaders. Detailing the mindset and principles that enable SEAL units to accomplish the most difficult combat missions, Extreme Ownership demonstrates how to apply them to any team or organization, in any leadership environment. Riveting, engaging, and free from the usual cliché platitudes, this book is strikingly impactful and will dramatically improve leaders of all types.” ― Amy Brandt Schumacher, entrepreneur, executive, and philanthropist. An inspiring and page-turning read, the leadership lessons are easy to digest and implement. This book made me a better leader and enabled my entire team step up our game!” ― Jared Hamilton, founder and CEO, DrivingSales "One of the best books on leadership I've ever read and a tremendous war story book as well."
Reviews
"Extreme Ownership is written by two former Navy SEALs, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, who now head a leadership training company. There aren't many books out there that give such detailed glimpses into the lives of SEALs in action. The authors convey one main point per chapter by sharing a story from their battlefield experiences, then highlighting the main principle of that story, and finally giving a concrete example of how this principle applies in business settings. In my opinion, the simplicity, clarity, and structure of this book are it's greatest strengths. There are several moments when the authors share a complete story or personal thought--and then share the story again, but this time in the context of telling it to either their SEAL teams or to a group of business executives. Second, while this book is very descriptive--especially with the battle scenes--it is also incredibly restrained, almost cold. Their lessons are insightful and thought-provoking, and I can definitely see how their experiences will help guide leaders in the business world."
"They explain hard-learned principles of leadership, which they experienced first-hand as US Navy SEALs, specifically in and around their 2006 deployment to Ramadi, Iraq, one of the most dangerous places and times in the war. Military recruits & officers, parents, corporate executives, students, low-level management, spouses, shop foremen, independent contractors, and sole proprietors will all benefit from the lessons of Extreme Ownership. If you feel you're stuck in a rut, lacking self-discipline, or perhaps know someone who simply needs to improve their lot, this book is an excellent starting point."
"I like the approach of looking at real life examples of leadership on the battlefield, followed by principles of leadership based on those experiences and concluding with proving the validity of these principles in areas requiring effective leadership."
"Instant purchase, my husband doesn't read a lot but he really enjoys reading this book and said it was the perfect gift."
"Good read, I've been reading multiple chapters at a time."
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Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers
From the author: “For the last two years, I’ve interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. This unusual depth has helped make The Tim Ferriss Show the first business/interview podcast to pass 100 million downloads. I’ve used dozens of the tactics and philosophies in high-stakes negotiations, high-risk environments, or large business dealings. The lessons have made me millions of dollars and saved me years of wasted effort and frustration. TIM FERRISS has been called “a cross between Jack Welch and a Buddhist monk” by The New York Times .
Reviews
"I have hereditary cholesterol problems and my forays into a ketogenic lifestyle dropped my particle count from ~1950 to ~1225. There are many other great things that have come as a result of my exposure to Tim's podcast, too many to list here. This is supposedly a "recipe book" (according to page xvi in the Foreword). A few guests on his podcast have amazing things to say about meditation (Sam Harris, Naval Ravikant, Kevin Rose, etc.). But there is no central place to which you can turn to find out the collected wisdom of the many guests who have delved into this topic. In fact, there's not even one central place in the book that gives a list of the commonalities between the guests. They have the discipline to turn down the good, so that they can pursue (and achieve) the great. It might teach the tactics and routines and habits of world-class performers, but there's FAR TOO MUCH here to make it valuable in showing YOU how to achieve those heights."
"This book suffers from the expectations of his previous work--Tim is honest about presenting "Tools of Titans" as sort of a glimpse of his journals/notes from his life's work, but this book loses nearly everything we've come to expect. It's WebMD with a clouded personality...it's a bit like a bound website without the hyperlinking. He's shown he's capable of completely rethinking a problem or a lifestyle or a way of doing things, and this book isn't like that at all."
"It was worth the price especially after 200+free episodes of the podcast which I enjoy every week."
"Pros- you can open up to any page and find a life lesson. - it has life lessons from over one hundred industry leaders."
"I ordered this book yesterday, and it showed up on my door step today. The book is laid out in a format that is easy to navigate should you want to go back to reference again."
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Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World
Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek , shares the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure book—a compilation of tools, tactics, and habits from 130+ of the world's top performers. From iconic entrepreneurs to elite athletes, from artists to billionaire investors, their short profiles can help you answer life's most challenging questions, achieve extraordinary results, and transform your life. To find answers, I reached out to the most impressive world-class performers in the world, ranging from wunderkinds in their 20s to icons in their 70s and 80s. This book, Tribe of Mentors , includes many of the people I grew up viewing as idols or demi-gods. • Why tennis champion Maria Sharapova believe that “losing makes you think in ways victories can’t.”. • How to truly achieve work-life balance (and why most people tell you it isn’t realistic). This reference book, which I wrote for myself, has already changed my life. TIM FERRISS has been called “a cross between Jack Welch and a Buddhist monk” by The New York Times .
Reviews
"You are supposed to find an actionable nugget on every page, from some of the best people in the world. He basically sent out an email to hundreds of successful people, asking them the same questions. But unlike his "Tools of Titan" (which is one of the most valuable books you can have in your bookshelf), the informations is shallow. I like the Tools of Titans format, since it is more of Tim's distillied notes and higlights."
"The fascination with Hollywood and stardom and constantly introducing people as “billionaire” and “‘New York Times’ Bestselling Author” etc. Ah, the old Tools of Titans profiles of everyday brilliant heroes profiled elsewhere like P. Attia, R. Patrick, D. D'agostino, N. Ravikant, W. Hof; C. Sommer and P. Tsatsouline...real, complete, true people - also Gabi and Laird come to mind - who are true mentors in action, word and bravery...thank you again Tim for that. But now with Tribe we see many others who have reaped far too much pathological adoration already, too many money whores and power whores who deign to preach to us plebes, and too few everyday heroes who are truly humbling, inspiring, and unsung."
"It was a massive treasure trove of wisdom and knowledge from some of the smartest people in the world. Most of the people who responded to his interview questions are not interesting people, especially the Hollywood celebrities."
"The introduction (a few pages) by Tim is the only valuable part of the book."
"I'm a big fan of Tim Ferriss and ran to the nearby Barnes and Nobles as soon as I heard that this book is released."
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Best Consolidation & Merger

Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers and Acquisitions
A timely update to the global best-selling book on investment banking and valuation. In the constantly evolving world of finance, a solid technical foundation is an essential tool for success. Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions, Second Edition is a highly accessible and authoritative book that focuses on the primary valuation methodologies currently used on Wall Street--comparable companies, precedent transactions, DCF, and LBO analysis--as well as M&A analysis. In codifying the art and science of investment banking, the authors convert this oral history into an accessible framework by bridging the theoretical to the practical with user-friendly, step-by-step approaches to performing primary valuation methodologies.” –Joseph R. Perella, Chairman and CEO, Perella Weinberg Partners. "Investment Banking provides a highly practical and relevant guide to the valuation analysis at the core of investment banking, private equity, and corporate finance. "This book will surely become an indispensable guide to the art of buyout and M&A valuation, for the experienced investment practitioner as well as for the non-professional seeking to learn the mysteries of valuation." Rosenbaum and Pearl have created a comprehensive and thoughtfully written guide covering the core skills of the successful investment professional with particular emphasis on valuation analysis." Investment Banking provides specific step-by-step valuation procedures for LBO and M&A transactions, with lots of diagrams and numerical examples."
Reviews
"This is a very good book for professionals working in the different areas of Corporate Bankin."
"It is my pleasure to recommend 'Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers and Acquisitions', which is easily one of the best and most practical books on M&A and valuation that I've read."
"This is more informative than many longer investment banking books I've owned and it's much more accessible and lays in the information out in a more practical manner than lighter investment banking books that I've owned."
"Actually, this is the only book I found, which is practical oriented and allows the reader to gain practical oriented experience while using the book as a tool to work through Valuation, LBOs, and M&As."
"Great product, great book."
"It even includes a sample LBO model which is well constructed and will give some insights not only into Excel, but also into the economics of an LBO."
"Book was required for my class at Pepperdine University for the fully employed graduate program."
"This provides detailed explanation on the process of investment banking and valuation methods including examples."
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Best Distribution & Warehouse Management

Essentials of Supply Chain Management, Third Edition
The latest thinking, strategies and technologies to stay current in supply chain management Presenting the core concepts and techniques of supply chain management in a clear, concise and easily readable style, the Third Edition of Essentials of Supply Chain Management outlines the most crucial tenets and concepts of supply chain management. Michael H. Hugos is an author, speaker, and principal at Center for Systems Innovation [c4si].
Reviews
"Well organized and well written numerous examples, charts, diagrams, uses the terminology the professionals in the field use on a day to day basis in addition to the academic backgrounds to the concepts in the book."
"Standard text, I will use it to teach my master's degree course."
"Covers metrics for measuring success, different software and hardware for supply chain mgt."
"Don't let the number of pages in the book fool you as there is generous white space between lines of text."
"I'm happy with the time and quality of the delivery and the book."
"Very pleased by this book."
"My husband used it as a source for a couple of research papers he wrote in graduate school."
"Provided some real world scenarios, use cases and metrics."
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Best Information Management

Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are
Blending the informed analysis of The Signal and the Noise with the instructive iconoclasm of Think Like a Freak , a fascinating, illuminating, and witty look at what the vast amounts of information now instantly available to us reveals about ourselves and our world—provided we ask the right questions. Everybody Lies offers fascinating, surprising, and sometimes laugh-out-loud insights into everything from economics to ethics to sports to race to sex, gender and more, all drawn from the world of big data. With conclusions ranging from strange-but-true to thought-provoking to disturbing, he explores the power of this digital truth serum and its deeper potential—revealing biases deeply embedded within us, information we can use to change our culture, and the questions we’re afraid to ask that might be essential to our health—both emotional and physical. All of us are touched by big data everyday, and its influence is multiplying. “Brimming with intriguing anecdotes and counterintuitive facts, Stephens-Davidowitz does his level best to help usher in a new age of human understanding, one digital data point at a time.” ( Fortune , Best New Business Books). “ Freakonomics on steroids—this book shows how big data can give us surprising new answers to important and interesting questions. Drawing on a wide variety of revelatory sources, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz will make you cringe, chuckle, and wince at the people you thought we were.” (Christian Rudder, author of Dataclysm ). “A tour de force—a well-written and entertaining journey through big data that, along the way, happens to put forward an important new perspective on human behavior itself. What he found is that Internet search data might be the Holy Grail when it comes to understanding the true nature of humanity.” ( New York Post ). “ Everybody Lies is an astoundingly clever and mischievous exploration of what big data tells us about everyday life.
Reviews
"The basic thesis of "Everybody Lies" is that online data on human behavior, including Google searches and data from Facebook, shopping and pornographic sites, can reveal much about what we really think than data from surveys in which people might be too embarrassed to tell the truth. What has allowed us to access this pool of unguarded opinions and truckloads of data concerning human behavior is the Internet and the tools of "big" data. As the author puts it, this data is not just "big" but also "new", which means that the kind of data we can access is also quite different from what we are used to; in his words, we live in a world where every sneeze, cough, internet purchase, political opinion, and evening run can be considered "data". Generally speaking there is quite an emphasis on exploring human sexuality in the book, partly because sexuality is one of those aspects of our life that we wish to hide the most and are also pruriently interested in, and partly because investigating this data through Google searches and pornographic sites reveals some rather bizarre sexual preference that are also sometimes specific to one country or another. Based on Google searches in particular states, the author shows how racism (as indicated by racist Google searches) was a primary indicator of which states voted for Obama in the 2008 election and Trump in the 2016 election. The primary tool for doing all this data analysis is correlation or regression analysis, where you look at online searches and try to find correlations between certain terms and factors like geographic location, gender, ethnicity. There are tons of other amusing and informative studies - sometimes the author's own but more often other people's - that reveal human desires and behavior across a wide swathe of fields, including politics, dating, sports, education, shopping and sexuality. As the author himself acknowledges, understanding correlation is not the same as understanding causation, and it's in very few cases that a true causal relationship between people's Google searches and their true nature can be established. At the end of the day you could thus end up with a lot of data (including a lot of noise), but teasing apart the useful data points from the red herrings is a completely different matter. Secondly, it's usually quite hard to control for all possible variables that may reflect a Google search; for instance in concluding that racism contributes the most to a particular political behavior, it's very hard to tease out all other factors that also may do so, especially when you are talking about a heterogeneous collection of human beings."
"I read it in two days. The data is the data, but the interpretation is subjective."
"In the end, I hope there is another book like this, or maybe a blog, because sometimes I'd like to get this kind of perspective on current events rather than ten or so years after the fact (dissection of Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaign)."
"Yes, subjects such as sex are discussed but in a manner of data extraction."
"A little long on commentary but easy read through."
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Best Business Leadership

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win (New Edition)
Willink and Babin returned home from deployment and instituted SEAL leadership training to pass on their harsh lessons learned in combat to help forge the next generation of SEAL leaders. Detailing the mindset and principles that enable SEAL units to accomplish the most difficult combat missions, Extreme Ownership demonstrates how to apply them to any team or organization, in any leadership environment. Riveting, engaging, and free from the usual cliché platitudes, this book is strikingly impactful and will dramatically improve leaders of all types.” ― Amy Brandt Schumacher, entrepreneur, executive, and philanthropist. An inspiring and page-turning read, the leadership lessons are easy to digest and implement. This book made me a better leader and enabled my entire team step up our game!” ― Jared Hamilton, founder and CEO, DrivingSales "One of the best books on leadership I've ever read and a tremendous war story book as well."
Reviews
"Extreme Ownership is written by two former Navy SEALs, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, who now head a leadership training company. There aren't many books out there that give such detailed glimpses into the lives of SEALs in action. The authors convey one main point per chapter by sharing a story from their battlefield experiences, then highlighting the main principle of that story, and finally giving a concrete example of how this principle applies in business settings. In my opinion, the simplicity, clarity, and structure of this book are it's greatest strengths. There are several moments when the authors share a complete story or personal thought--and then share the story again, but this time in the context of telling it to either their SEAL teams or to a group of business executives. Second, while this book is very descriptive--especially with the battle scenes--it is also incredibly restrained, almost cold. Their lessons are insightful and thought-provoking, and I can definitely see how their experiences will help guide leaders in the business world."
"They explain hard-learned principles of leadership, which they experienced first-hand as US Navy SEALs, specifically in and around their 2006 deployment to Ramadi, Iraq, one of the most dangerous places and times in the war. Military recruits & officers, parents, corporate executives, students, low-level management, spouses, shop foremen, independent contractors, and sole proprietors will all benefit from the lessons of Extreme Ownership. If you feel you're stuck in a rut, lacking self-discipline, or perhaps know someone who simply needs to improve their lot, this book is an excellent starting point."
"I like the approach of looking at real life examples of leadership on the battlefield, followed by principles of leadership based on those experiences and concluding with proving the validity of these principles in areas requiring effective leadership."
"Instant purchase, my husband doesn't read a lot but he really enjoys reading this book and said it was the perfect gift."
"Good read, I've been reading multiple chapters at a time."
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Best Business Management

StrengthsFinder 2.0
To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in 2001 which ignited a global conversation and helped millions to discover their top five talents. * A new and upgraded edition of the StrengthsFinder assessment. * A personalized Strengths Discovery and Action-Planning Guide for applying your strengths in the next week, month, and year. * A more customized version of your top five theme report. * 50 Ideas for Action (10 strategies for building on each of your top five themes). Those who are familiar with the StrengthsFinder assessment know that it is designed to uncover certain key talents -- patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior that can be productively applied. Those talents, when multiplied by the investment of time spent practicing, developing skills, and building knowledge, can become strengths. But some of it seems counterintuitive and runs directly against conventional wisdom: No amount of training will help you excel in your areas of weakness. StrengthsFinder has resonated with the business community because there's a direct link between talent development and performance. In this interview, Tom Rath, author of StrengthsFinder 2.0, discusses what Gallup scientists have learned since the publication of the first book, what more there is to discover about your talents, and why it's bad to focus on your employees' weaknesses, but simply cruel to ignore them completely. Tom Rath: StrengthsFinder 2.0 is an effort to get the core message and language out to a much broader audience. We had no idea how well received the first strengths book would be by general readers -- it was oriented more toward managers -- or that the energy and excitement would continue to grow. We also added more than five thousand Strengths Insights to version 2.0 that allow us to offer more individualized theme descriptions than we could before. But in the last ten years, we've also found that it's a good strategy just to wipe out the extreme negativity in the workplace. You may not take someone who's actively disengaged and make him into your most engaged employee, but it will help get him out of that mindset where he's scaring off colleagues and customers. GMJ: So is that the business case to be made for putting people in roles that play to their strengths? [Taking] StrengthsFinder is just a starting point; it's step one of a hundred in figuring out the areas where you have the most potential for growth. So while we have hundreds of new case studies and meta-analyses about strengths -- and about employee engagement and business outcomes -- we tried to stay as close as we could to the basics. Rath: Yes, we looked at that extensively as we started to review our plan for the updated version of the assessment. We found that so far, the thirty-four themes have done a good job of describing much of what we've learned since releasing the first version of the assessment.
Reviews
"Each copy includes a scratch off passcode that gives you access to the StrengthsFinder 2.0 test. Knowing these strengths is critical, because they are unchangeable traits that will enable you to succeed to your fullest potential."
"I really enjoyed taking this assessment and 4 of the 5 were spot on."
"Just be sure you are the first owner of the book since the code for the test is one time use only and isn't worth buying the book and then paying additionally for the test."
"This book definitely lives up to it's hype!"
"This book helped me understand myself and others better."
"A great way to figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are."
"But, like most tests, it is flawed in that it is your own evaluation of yourself and your preferences. People also tend to take the findings of tests like this and make excuses ("I can't be expected to do detailed work, it's not by strength") or pigeonhole others ("You can't be expected to do any work with the Marketing team, you're not creative enough.")."
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Best Management Science

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni once again offers a leadership fable that is as enthralling and instructive as his first two best-selling books, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive . This time, he turns his keen intellect and storytelling power to the fascinating, complex world of teams. In keeping with the parable style, Lencioni (The Five Temptations of a CEO) begins by telling the fable of a woman who, as CEO of a struggling Silicon Valley firm, took control of a dysfunctional executive committee and helped its members succeed as a team.
Reviews
"Corporate has made teamwork backwards and now we need to fix what was originally a good idea, implemented completely wrong due to personal goals instead of group goal."
"A great, quick read on the darker side of leadership that few are every educated or coached on and expected to figure out themselves regarding dysfunctional teams."
"Dysfunction within teams can be covered up with moderate success but greatness will on,y be a i.e. end when those dysfunctions are addressed."
"It was very interesting to read about (hypothetical) social interactions in a professional climate from the perspective of the chief officer, president, principal, etc."
"Written as a use case story, Five Dysfunctions guides the reader through navigating the essentials of teamwork, leadership, and communication."
"I'm only about five years into being a leader at my organization, so an older more experienced crowd might already know this stuff... then again you just might not, and you should read this book!"
"This book helps take a deeper look at the situation and most common issues experienced within a team."
"I like that the book explains things in details."
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Best Motivational Management & Leadership

Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers
From the author: “For the last two years, I’ve interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. This unusual depth has helped make The Tim Ferriss Show the first business/interview podcast to pass 100 million downloads. I’ve used dozens of the tactics and philosophies in high-stakes negotiations, high-risk environments, or large business dealings. The lessons have made me millions of dollars and saved me years of wasted effort and frustration. TIM FERRISS has been called “a cross between Jack Welch and a Buddhist monk” by The New York Times .
Reviews
"I have hereditary cholesterol problems and my forays into a ketogenic lifestyle dropped my particle count from ~1950 to ~1225. There are many other great things that have come as a result of my exposure to Tim's podcast, too many to list here. This is supposedly a "recipe book" (according to page xvi in the Foreword). A few guests on his podcast have amazing things to say about meditation (Sam Harris, Naval Ravikant, Kevin Rose, etc.). But there is no central place to which you can turn to find out the collected wisdom of the many guests who have delved into this topic. In fact, there's not even one central place in the book that gives a list of the commonalities between the guests. They have the discipline to turn down the good, so that they can pursue (and achieve) the great. It might teach the tactics and routines and habits of world-class performers, but there's FAR TOO MUCH here to make it valuable in showing YOU how to achieve those heights."
"This book suffers from the expectations of his previous work--Tim is honest about presenting "Tools of Titans" as sort of a glimpse of his journals/notes from his life's work, but this book loses nearly everything we've come to expect. It's WebMD with a clouded personality...it's a bit like a bound website without the hyperlinking. He's shown he's capable of completely rethinking a problem or a lifestyle or a way of doing things, and this book isn't like that at all."
"It was worth the price especially after 200+free episodes of the podcast which I enjoy every week."
"Pros- you can open up to any page and find a life lesson. - it has life lessons from over one hundred industry leaders."
"I ordered this book yesterday, and it showed up on my door step today. The book is laid out in a format that is easy to navigate should you want to go back to reference again."
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Best Business Negotiating

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
A former international hostage negotiator for the FBI offers a new, field-tested approach to high-stakes negotiations—whether in the boardroom or at home. Those who have benefited from these techniques include business clients generating millions in additional profits, MBA students getting better jobs, and even parents dealing with their kids. Never Split the Difference provides a gripping, behind-the-scenes recounting of dramatic scenarios from the gang-infested streets of Haiti to a Brooklyn bank robbery gone horribly wrong, revealing the negotiation strategies that helped Voss and his colleagues succeed where it mattered most: saving lives. It’s a riveting read, full of instantly actionable advice—not just for high-stakes negotiations, but also for handling everyday conflicts at work and at home.”—Adam Grant, Wharton Professor and New York Times bestselling author of originals and give and take. In these pages, you will find the techniques for getting the deal you want.”—Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of To Sell Is Human and Drive.
Reviews
"The author begins the book by relating his experience at a prestigious seminar at Harvard University. The author discovered that the same techniques used in life and death situations could be generalized--they "made great sense intellectually, and they worked everywhere...In the twenty years I spent at the Bureau we’d designed a system that had successfully resolved almost every kidnapping we applied it to." NEVER SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE is not just about tricky negotiation tactics, or ways to "outwit" your adversary in battle. This also means careful listening, or what the author calls, the martial art of "Tactical Empathy." Each chapter in NEVER SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE begins with a real-life example from the author's involvement with hostage negotiations. The book's title reflects the author's position that compromise, or "Splitting the Difference" is actually a lazy way to conclude a negotiation. Instead of taking the easy way, Chris recommends working relentlessly to see "what is really motivating the other side." All in all, I found NEVER SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE to be an impressive book, filled with practical knowledge, tips, and just plain WISDOM about how to deal with people."
"I've taken approximately 20 hours of graduate study in negotiation and conflict resolution. You will be best aided by these books by taking a chapter at a time and practice the ideas and techniques."
"MAIN CONCEPT: Tactical empathy: “This is listening as a martial art, balancing the subtle behaviors of emotional intelligence and the assertive skills of influence, to gain access to the mind of another person.”. IS IT FUN TO READ: Finished it in a day. The book’s full of riveting life-and-death hostage negotiations, and Voss spins a damn good yarn. But it makes all kinds of sense: letting your adversary say a solid “no” gives them a feeling of safety, security and control -- a great starting point to a negotiation. -- Ali Binazir, M.D., M.Phil., Happiness Engineer; Speaking Coach, KNP Communications; author, The Tao of Dating: The Smart Woman's Guide to Being Absolutely Irresistible."
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Best Business Planning & Forecasting

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail--but Some Don't
One of Wall Street Journal 's. Best Ten Works of Nonfiction in 2012 New York Times Bestseller “Not so different in spirit from the way public intellectuals like John Kenneth Galbraith once shaped discussions of economic policy and public figures like Walter Cronkite helped sway opinion on the Vietnam War…could turn out to be one of the more momentous books of the decade .”. — New York Times Book Review "Nate Silver's The Signal and the Noise is The Soul of a New Machine for the 21st century ." Drawing on his own groundbreaking work, Silver examines the world of prediction, investigating how we can distinguish a true signal from a universe of noisy data. Most predictions fail, often at great cost to society, because most of us have a poor understanding of probability and uncertainty. In keeping with his own aim to seek truth from data, Silver visits the most successful forecasters in a range of areas, from hurricanes to baseball, from the poker table to the stock market, from Capitol Hill to the NBA. With everything from the health of the global economy to our ability to fight terrorism dependent on the quality of our predictions, Nate Silver’s insights are an essential read. Baseball, weather forecasting, earthquake prediction, economics, and polling: In all of these areas, Silver finds predictions gone bad thanks to biases, vested interests, and overconfidence.
Reviews
"Longer review: I'm an applied business researcher and that means my job is to deliver quality forecasts: to make them, persuade people of them, and live by the results they bring. But we're not very good at it, and fall prey to cognitive biases and other systemic problems such as information overload that make things worse. However, we are simultaneously learning more about how such things occur and that knowledge can be used to make predictions better -- and to improve our models in science, politics, business, medicine, and so many other areas. For example, on p. 162: "What happens in systems with noisy data and underdeveloped theory - like earthquake prediction and parts of economic and political science - is a two-step process. Second, this noise pollutes journals, blogs, and news accounts with false alarms, undermining good science and setting back our ability to understand how the system really works." Of course this makes the book fascinating to generalists, geeks, and breadth thinkers, but perhaps more importantly, I think it serves well to develop reusable intuition across domains. The third non-fitting audience will be experts who desire depth in one of the book's many topic areas; it's not a technical treatise for them and I can confidently predict grumbling in some quarters."
"The anecdotes and exposition are fantastic, and I wish we could make this book required reading for, say, everyone in the country. This kind of pundit chatter, as Silver notes, tends to be insanely inaccurate. Weather prediction has gotten lots better over the last fifty years, due to highly sophisticated, large-scale supercomputer modeling. Nate Silver made a living playing online poker for a few years. When the government tightened the rules, the less savvy players ("fish") stopped playing, and he found he couldn't make money any more. Rational employees may have less career risk when they "bet with the consensus" than when they buck a trend: this may increase herding effects and makes bubbles worse. Note: Nate pointedly does not claim that one can make money on Intrade by betting based on FiveThirtyEight probabilities. But he stresses that Intrade prices are themselves probably heavily informed by poll-based models like the ones on FiveThirtyEight. Climate prediction: prima facie case for anthropic warming is very strong (greenhouse gas up, temperature up, good theoretical reason for former causing latter). But lots of good reason to doubt accuracy of specific elaborate computer models, and most scientists admit uncertainty about details."
"I do not teach statistics for a living, but I was able to follow Nate Silver's hypotheses, explanations, and formulas; his reasoning was clear."
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Best Business Pricing

Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms
Praise for Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms "Ron Baker is the most prolific and best writer when it comes to pricing services. Ron Baker's most recent offering is ambitious in scope, exploring topics that include economic theory, customer orientation, value identification, service positioning, and pricing strategy. He is on a radical crusade to align the interests of service providers with those of their customers by having lawyers, accountants, and consultants charge based on the value they provide, rather than the effort it takes. It is richly illustrated by the successes of firms that have embraced value-based pricing to make their services not only more cost-effective for their customers, but more profitable as well. Implementing Value Pricing demonstrates a superior model to price for professional services: selling intellectual capital with pricing based on the results and value it creates, not the cost or time it took to formulate. Driven by theory and the actual experiences of many firms, Implementing Value Pricing features seven appendixes available for download on the companion website containing checklists, strategies, sample forms, and case studies, and discusses: With case studies from firms that have profitably implemented these specific ideas, Implementing Value Pricing is a practical guide for how and why to implement a business model change, create more value, and unlock the tremendous competitive power hidden in the intellectual capital of every professional firm.
Reviews
"We are talking about going from the model where you are selling time to a model where you are giving the client the freedom to placing a value on the outcome of what they will receive from you. If any of you hesitated or had to re-read this last sentence then get this book and convince yourself that this radically different approach to doing business is something that you should have done a long time ago. You are no longer a Professional Service Firm, selling services and time, you are now a Professional Knowledge Firm, creating "value" for your customers and giving them an upfront fixed price that they can count on and budget for. Then consider that your customer is determined to get the lowest price for your services, while you are striving to get the highest price possible, so there is no common ground here."
"On a trip to China I had the opportunity to read from start to finish Ron Baker's Implementing Value Pricing book. The "theories" outlined in this prose are radical and very intelligently conveyed, allowing the reader to grasp these concepts in a methodical manner. As a person with a CI (continuous improvement) ideology of how to approach business (and life), I was enamored with the blend of rational and sensible concepts as delivered by Mr. Baker. Our goal is to make our value proposition (at premium prices) so that our Customers see us as a necessity in their business and highly dependent on the value we bring to the table."
"The idea of value creation as a measure of company plus customer profit, and how to apply this concept to define price, is applicable to anyone who uses their brain to make money. So if you missed that one entirely, if you're new to Ron's work, or if you're a professional looking to radically rethink how you and your company create value, get this book."
"The book takes you through a useful, logical path of reasoning: defining the problem with hourly billing (even considering the positives and the history behind it), why consumers buy anything, and replaces your current knowledge of what you believe is possible with pricing a customer based on services and gives you tools, processes, ideas, and case studies to help you visualize and reason through / unlearn what you currently know about time-sheets."
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Best Production & Operations

The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win
With the clock ticking, Bill must organize work flow streamline interdepartmental communications, and effectively serve the other business functions at Parts Unlimited. “The Phoenix Project is a must read for business and IT executives struggling with the growing complexity of IT.” —Jim Whitehurst, President and CEO, Red Hat, Inc. "This book is a gripping read that captures brilliantly the dilemmas that face companies which depend on IT, and offers real-world solutions. Today, our constraints aren't robots inside our factories, but it's how we manage technologies like Tomcat and Java that power our most critical projects and applications. This book continues the journey that began with Shewhart, Deming, Ohno and Dr. Goldratt, and shows us how to diminish our modern constraints to help the business win." "This insightful walk through the pain and success of business will trigger deja vu for anyone who has ever run afoul of their complete reliance in their IT organization.
Reviews
"This book is a story told in a similar fashion to Lencioni's, "Five Disfunctions," or Eli Goldratt's, "The Goal"."
"This is essentially reading if you're in development, operations, working on moving to a dev ops model."
"It's also very valuable as a tool for illustrating to management or business people the value of DevOps as a tool/philosophy and, perhaps more importantly, as a way to demonstrate what pathologically sick organizations look like. Even if a reading of the book by management doesn't result in a full organization wide DevOps buy-in it just might result in positive change as readers inevitably see some correlation between the bad behaviors, cargo culture and politics in Parts Unlimited and their own organization."
"Is the subject matter interests you this book is great."
"With the exception of a couple of cartoonish personalities (and you'll know which ones I'm talking about), the character development was pretty good, especially for the protagonist."
"After taking a training class, instructor mentioned this book."
"If anyone ever wants to know just how difficult this world is all they have to do is read this book."
"I had first read The Goal more than a dozen years ago, and while it's not the best literature, it is one of the best business novels I've encountered and a good way of explaining the theory of constraints."
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Best Project Management

PMP Exam Prep, Eighth Edition - Updated: Rita's Course in a Book for Passing the PMP Exam
Years of PMP exam preparation experience, endless hours of ongoing research, interviews with project managers who failed the exam to identify gaps in their knowledge, and a razor-sharp focus on making sure project managers don't waste a single minute of their time studying are THE reasons this book is the best-selling PMP exam preparation guide in the world. Rita was the founder of RMC Project Management, a project management training, consulting and speaking firm helping companies use project management tools and techniques to complete projects faster, cheaper, better, and with fewer resources.
Reviews
"Bottom line - I passed the PMP exam on my first try 3 days ago, and while Rita's 8th edition book was the most valuable source for my study, I didn't feel comfortable having it as my sole source outside the PMBOK. Rita Mulcahy's 8th edition. Andy Crowe's 5th edition. PMBOK guide 5th edition. Free practice questions online and iPad apps. My take on Rita's Book: Pros. - Goes beyond the processes and ITTOs and actually discusses and shows how PMI's framework can make a PM better prepared, more effective, and more knowledgeable. The Andy Crowe book offered end of chapter questions, but also a 200 question "final exam"."
"I also bought Head First PMP, McGraw-Hill's PMP Certification Mathematics with CD-ROM and I also signed up for a 20 day pass on PMStudy to rake practice test (yeah over kill, but it all paid off in the end). 2) Buy Rita's book and read as much as you can. 3) Get McGraw-Hill's PMP Certification Mathematics with CD-ROM to help with the math section (take the practice test on the CD-ROM) 1-2 days before the test. Take the first test to see where you are, study study study the knowledge areas where you are weak take exam 2 if you get less than 80 go back to Rita's book! 5) I LOVED Head First PMP but if you don't have time to study everything I would say to buy this book as a companion to Rita's book. 6) Make sure your referencing the PMBOK 5 (Most Important). During the exam (make sure your doing good on time before you follow these directions). 1) If you believe in prayer (PRAY) - You also do not need to tell anyone your taking the test, just in case........(I told my family I was doing some "me" team building time for a few hours!)."
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Best Quality Control & Management

Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service
Written in the parable style of The One Minute Manager, Raving Fans uses a brilliantly simple and charming story to teach how to define a vision, learn what a customer really wants, institute effective systems, and make Raving Fan Service a constant feature--not just another program of the month. 1 cassette / 90 minutes. Read by Rick Adamson, Kate Borger, and John Mollard.
Reviews
"Great book for any one in customer service or education!"
"Overall I give the book 4/5 stars because I believe the need to learn the concept of raving fans outweighs the boredom I experienced at times as I read the book. The book would have received 5 stars, however, I have to deduct one star for the many pages of character conversations that should have been omitted from the book."
"Every new employee gets a copy of this book."
"A lot of what he wrote was true in the industrys today and his observations were right on when it came to us as consumers and our acceptance of sub par service from the waiter to the CEO of some of the largest companies in the US today."
"In deed they are ... yet the book needed to be written and read to "remind us" that they are common sense."
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Best Strategy & Competition

Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)
These approaches have been honed from over three decades of advising tens of thousands of CEOs and executives and helping them navigate the increasing complexities (and weight) that come with scaling up a venture. The goal of this book is to help you turn what feels like an anchor into wind at your back -- creating a company where the team is engaged; the customers are doing your marketing; and everyone is making money. Scaling Up shows business leaders how to get their organizations moving in sync to create something significant and enjoy the ride. “Verne’s tools and techniques have been key to scaling up Benetton to become the #1 international fashion brand in India. Scaling Up is that business book. Verne’s tools and techniques have been critical to helping us drive and manage this growth during my 20 years as CEO ― and ultimately to freeing me up as the founder to pursue other interests.” -- Scott Tannas, founder and Vice Chairman, Western Financial Group; senator, Canadian Parliament. “Scaling up a significant business requires precisely the kind of discipline and focus detailed in Verne’s practical and ‘how-to’ driven book.” -- Scott Farquhar, co-founder and CEO, Atlassian. “Verne Harnish’s Scaling Up is one of the finest business books you'll ever read. Whether you're an entrepreneur who wants to scale up, a CEO who wants to take his business to the next level, or a non-profit executive who wants to leave a legacy, this book will be life-changing.” -- Tan Yinglan, Author of Way of the VC – Top Venture Capitalists on Your Board, Chinnovation – How Chinese Innovators are Changing the World and New Venture Creation - Entrepreneurship For The 21st Century - An Asian Perspective.
Reviews
"This book was great for our organization."
"Verne's insight is superb, fresh view, clear direction, a lot of new books, you are in good hands!"
"Most businesses in the world turnover less than $1 million and if you want to make it to the 4% this book has solid advice from an experienced entrepreneur on how to become part of the 4%."
"I have read a lot of business books, literally thousands, and I would put this book in my top 10 for sure."
"Excelente teory, dificult to achieve in practice."
"Great book."
"A good book for start ups in both business and other organizations."
"Book is to the point, full of tools to use and real business examples to follow."
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Best Leadership Training

Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition
The New York Times and Washington Post bestseller that changed the way millions communicate. The first edition of Crucial Conversations exploded onto the scene and revolutionized the way millions of people communicate when stakes are high. Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan , and Al Switzler are cofounders of VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance.
Reviews
"Enter the book Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. I heard Joseph Grenny, one of the authors speak on this topic recently at the leadership summit and got a lot out of his session. Christians and church staffs are notorious for avoiding crucial conversations. This is why churches often split, people leave hurt and visions never move forward. When in reality, because of what is at stake (salvation) and because of the calling of Jesus, we should do a better job of having crucial conversations. Individuals who are the most influential—who can get things done and at the same time build on relationships—are those who master their crucial conversations. The mistake most of us make in our crucial conversations is we believe that we have to choose between telling the truth and keeping a friend. This is one of, if not the main reason, most conversations stop and things do not move forward. If you are a boss and want honest feedback and conversation, people can't fear for their jobs or that you will yell at them. Recently, there has been a lot of writing online about pastors abusing people, creating a culture of fear, yelling at staff members, elders and volunteers and it blows my mind. One of the ironies of dialogue is that, when talking with those holding opposing opinions, the more convinced and forceful you act, the more resistant others become. But, in conversations, if we give the impression that something has been decided or that we aren't open to suggestions, we will kill discussion. If you find yourself pushing your ideas, you aren't having a good dialogue and instead are simply giving out orders. That may be your leadership style, but it won't accomplish a healthy team environment and in the end, your church or business will never reach its full potential. When a crucial conversation ends, there must be clear expectations and guidance moving forward."
"I'm on my second read- you will probably need to read it at least twice, and perhaps twice a year."
"I encounter crucial conversations all the time, this is why I purchased this book for guidance."
"This is a great book and I highly recommend it."
"Good listen."
"This is one of the best conversations books ever!"
"This is an excellent read."
"Surely, one can argue that not all negotiations are high stakes or emotional but whenever a difference of opinion is involved, one has to make an effort to come to a mutually satisfactory solution. And that is what the book is about - the authors come up with fancy names for negotiation methods which all boil down to one thing - finding a compromise, being able to understand and empathize with the other side, avoid bullying, and staying focused. Using established concepts would’ve completely eliminated this problem, but then the book couldn’t claim that it had “revolutionized the way millions of people communicate.”. Finally, the examples."
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