I was looking at various people on LinkedIn a few weeks back to see if there are any acquaintances on there, and I came across an individual who had this in their blurb about themselves (changed mildly to protect the innocent):

“PMP certified IT Project Manager with over fifteen years of experience with the ability to leverage her proven record of strategic leadership in solving complex business problems, increase ROI and decrease CTO, as part of a collaborative work environment.”

Maybe it’s the fact that I am sensitive to business bull after having listened to the Bullfighter’s guide, but all I can say is WOW! I can’t really believe that she speaks about herself in the third person and has one sentence so fortified with business bull. Now, I don’t know this person, but if I were a hiring manager I would say that there is a lot of smoke blow from her direction. I personally prefer to more personal blurb. You can be a high powered whatever, but making your blurb more personal shows that you are a person and thus, in my opinion, more valuable to the organization than a business bull automaton.

Just my two cents…

Tags: books, bullshit, business, social, networks

I recently finished listening to Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter's Guide during my commutes from home to work and vice versa. I was never really a fan of business speak, crazy work such as paradigm shift, or leveraging my assets to build up a best of breed solution. While in business school I tried to avoid such BS, but I do have to admit that I have in a number of occasions (when in the presence of Business people) used such language.

The book was actually quite refreshing for both people who actively seek asylum from such language, and people who should reform their vocabulary to eliminate such non-sense from their word banks. The book comes in audiobook form, and I highly recommend it. At the very least the book is entertaining and it won’t be a waste of your time. Who knows, the book might convince you to look at your own usage of business bull and encourage you to cut it out.

Tags: books, entertainment, business, bullshit, audiobooks

I was out last weekend and I found a good deal on jPod by Douglas Coupland.

If you recall, I had heard the audiobook, and since I got a good deal on it, I decided to ‘splurge’ and get it. I am glad I did. The audiobook was quite funny, but the book looks even funnier, and the way it is set up makes you appreciate the humor even more.

I definitely recommend it! Amazon has it for about $15 new - I bought it for $13 at a used bookstore.

Tags: books, jpod, deals

I enjoyed JPod so much, that I am seriously thinking of getting Microserfs either in an audiobook format or a physical book. I already have both of them on my wish list for books (liked them so much I would like to own them) – just deciding what a good time would be for the purchase.

Tags: books, microsoft, microserfs

I recently discovered a show on CBC called JPod. Having watched all episodes up to now, I discovered that the series is based on a novel by Douglas Copland (yes I know, the most obvious sometimes escapes me). Since I liked the series so much, I decided to buy the book and read it (or rather listen to the unabridged version of it on my iPod). I have to say that it was quite hilarious!

This was my first audiobook from audible/iTunes, and there were no reviews of the audiobook, but a number of reviews of the physical book (which were glowing!) I decided to take the plunge and buy it. This was one of my best purchases! The series on CBC veers off the course of the book, but both are funny in their own right.

I highly recommend reading the book, and also seeing the CBC series (which is being cancelled due to low ratings – what a travesty!) You won’t be sorry you read/watched it

http://www.cbc.ca/jpod/

Tags: books, audiobooks, parody, comedy

This semester I have started a new Master’s program (having already finished two). I am studying the art and science of Instructional Design so that I can be a better teacher (when I do finally become a professor), or to use the skills that I have gained to help existing teachers with their course design dilemmas (or something like that anyway).

In years past I have always looked at ways to get cheap books, because as most college students know – textbooks are no cheap. My ally up to now has been addall.com – a website that searches 30 or so websites, and gives you a list of sellers, and their prices, and you can go ahead and order the book you want. I have generally saved anywhere from 50% to 75% compared to Campus Bookstore prices.

This semester I decided to try something I haven’t tried in ages – look at my local library’s catalog (and the virtual catalog as well.) I was able to find ALL of my textbooks. I paid absolutely nothing to get these books, and I can use them throughout my semester. I think I can renew the books at least a couple of times, and I can also check them out again.

If at the end of the semester I decide that I like the book, or it will be an invaluable reference for future endeavors, I can go ahead and buy a used version from addall.com (something that I have already done for one my semester books already). This semester I saved 90% by going to the library.

Lessons learned:
1. Never trust your bookstore – just go there to get your ISBNs
2. Always check your public and/or college library for the books
3. If you don’t find them, use addall.com
4. Always support your public library – volunteer, become a ‘friend of the library’ by donating a small amount of money, make sure your local leaders know you support your public library – because as things have proved – a small donation here and there can save you money elsewhere!

Tags: money, school, libraries, books, bookstore

Recently I finished going through Evaluating Performance (pictured on the left) and Communicating Effectively - both of which I found at my public library. Just like the books I read before (Motivating Employees and Managing People) the content in these two books is not rocker science, and it is not meant to be read quickly from cover to cover. Rather, it is meant to be used as a guide and to be consulted every now and then.

I found both books to be a great resource. Evaluating performance was something that was covered in my Human Resources class, but it was never something that we went extensively into. A lot of effort in the evaluation of performance is about communication - it's not just enough to fill out a piece of paper once a year to give (or deny) someone an annual merit raise - it's important to communicate with your employees in order to gauge what is happening, and to be able to steer the ship in the right course (if it isn't already).

The book on communicating effectively is a great companion to the evaluating performance. I have written (and co-written) a lot of papers during my management curriculum, and I have had many presentations. However, I never took a course on business communications. I found this particular book to be a good guide on business communications from the humble (but yet so hated) memo, to the more elaborate business report. There was also a section in the book on oral communication, which I found helpful as well.

I have a couple more of these books to read, but thus far, it seems to me that this series on best practices is quite a useful thing to have and consult if you are a manager or aspiring to be one.

Tags: management, work, evaluation, books, communication

A couple of weeks ago I was at my local public library and I was browsing through the new books that had come in. Two books stood out, both by Barry Silverstein. One was Best Practices: Motivating Employees: Bringing Out the Best in Your People (Best Practices)(pictured on the left) and the other was Best Practices: Managing People: Secrets to Leading for New Managers (Best Practices). These books are pocket sized books, so since they were 'light reading' I picked both of them up and checked them out. Anyone who's been through an MBA curriculum (at least one as rigorous as I have been through) will not necessarily find something really groundbreaking in these two books.

The thing I liked about these two books was that they both were good summaries of what I had learned, and they both offered a convenient place for Do's and Don't's, as well as some red flags to look out for (just to prevent things from going south). The books were a really fast read, however I don't think that this is the kind of book that you pick up, read and then put it back on the shelf. I do believe that this is the kind of book that you pull out for a quick reference when you need some help in these two areas. I would say that these books are akin to the in a nutshell series of books that are written on technical subjects.

Tags: management, work, motivation, books

I was at my public library last week, when I noticed a book called "Send - the essential guide to email for office and home." I thought to myself, eh, why not get it? After all it seemed like light reading, and like something that I would enjoy. I am glad I borrowed this book from the library, because not only did it give me insight into some aspects of email (and other non-verbal, electronic forms of communication) that I had not stopped to consider (even though they were in my subconscious...somewhere), but it also re-affirmed things I either knew to be true, or my gut was telling me were true. Here are a couple of things I learned or were re-affirmed:

1. At a previous workplace - my last few days in fact, we had a new director. His first decree was to give everyone a blackberry, because voice communication was inefficient, email will speed things up (i.e. make things more efficient). At the time, both I am my colleagues disagreed (and still do). Voice communication is not inefficient, email is. If you take your time to craft a well worded, properly spelled email that does indeed convey what you want to convey, you will spend more time than actually talking to someone. Email's perceived speed is based on the fact that you can type five words, click send, and believe that the recipient knows what you are talking about. I've had many of these emails where I needed to either ask for clarification emails, and there have been many times I had to call the sender to ask what they meant in their email!

2. The cover you own behind emails - also known as CC everyone (or even worse, put everyone in the TO line). Again, in a previous work environment, most emails were relevant to my work. They were emails from my boss, colleagues and vendors. There were of course a few 'ha ha' emails and a few 'delete this' rumor emails (both no-nos in send), but the great majority were relevant. At a more recent work environment, there are a lot of CYOA (cover your own behind) emails, where people send the email TO everyone at the work-site, even if they do not need the information. This has contributed to many emails just being tossed without looking at the information, which in the end causes a lot of confusion and disorganization. I've hated CYOA emails, and I tried resisting the CYOA type of email, but unfortunately it is being imposed on me...

All things considered, this is a good book to read whether you are a rank-and-file employee, or a manager (somewhere in the managerial food chain).

Tags: books, englighting, entertainment, work, technology, email, annoying, thought

It has been a rough year at work maybe I will elaborate further in another post - but maybe this post is sufficient to underscore certain tones and themes. Anyway, about a month ago, one of my colleagues sent me an email, after I told him of a few of my work-woes, suggesting that our place of employment should purchase the book called the no asshole rule. I smiled at the title, given that the place had sucked me dry and made me a miserable human being, and I bookmarked the Amazon product listing page so that I could look at it when I went home.

When I came home, I looked on LinkedIn, as a few of my invitees has accepted my invitation, and I saw a plug for the book, and a related blog post by Guy Kawasaki. It peaked my interest more, so I went to Amazon and I read an excerpt from the first chapter (or what it the introduction? I can't remember), but it felt like the book was written for me! A few days later the book arrived via UPS and I started reading it. While going through the book, reading it made me feel like I was not alone. There were other people out there tortured by assholes in their workplace, be it bosses, clients or co-workers, the net effect was the same: high turn over, low job satisfaction, and low returns for the company (among many other things). It made me feel good that I was not alone facing such problems, and that there are businesses out there that really don't take any shit from these assholes. They, in effect, have a no asshole rule - if you are one, you are out!

There were a number of tips in the book (after all it does say it is a survival guide) that made sense, and I feel like I might be able to apply to my situation. The book was fun an interesting to read, and I feel like I got something out of it - the most important of which is that there is indeed hope. I sort of which that more people, at least where I currently work, would read this and have a good self-evaluation and see that others do see them as sadistic assholes, at least when they are within the confines of the company walls. One amazing statistic is that the effect of an asshole in a group is five times greater than the effect of a positive person. This means that it takes 5 cheery people to offset one asshole. This would explain the transformation I have seen from people entering the organization from high energy social go-getters, to locked-in-your-office low energy pessimists.

Anyway - in conclusion, it is a good read, I would recommend that people buy it and read it (or get it at your local library)

Tags: books, englighting, feel good, assholes, work, survival

...also known as the publishing houses.
I've been a college student for almost ten years now - yeah, I know, I am a perpetual student - nothing wrong with that! Anyway, I have gone through almost three degrees now, and one thing is constant: textbooks are expensive! When I was an undergrad, I was young and stupid and bough everything at the college bookstore (and paid premium for it!). Now I do my homework beforehand, and I get my books online. The college bookstore (effollet.com) does not provide me with an ISBN number, because obviously people can go elsewhere if they know the ISBN! Here is a comparison for a book (for a class that I am not taking, but I took in the past)

Book: Operations Management
ISBN: 0131-69739-0
Authors: Larry P. Ritzman, Manoj K. Malhotra, Lee J. Krajewski

Prices on effollet (and in the college bookstore:
New: $162.00
Used: 121.50

Holly mother!!!

OK... now lets look on amazon, just in case we get a better deal:
New: $125.01
"New & Used": $68

OK better...but let's look on addall.com
Lowest Price: $30
but since it's only one, there are a couple that cost $50.

All I can say is WTF?!?!?! Why do college students accept this horrible gouging?
If someone can sell the book used for $50-68, why would you buy it used at the college book store for essentially double the price?
Why would you pay three times the price to get it new at list price? The textbook industry is despicable. We should be promoting knowledge, not inhibiting it by pricing textbooks so high!

Tags: books, textbooks, bookstore, thieves, online, store, ISBN, price gouging