Best Books of 2000
by Tom Brown 1. The Knowing-Doing Gap
by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton
(Harvard Business School Press, $27.50) Everyone knows how things should be managed today; this book clearly shows how
smart companies convert knowledge into excellent products and outstanding service. The book is brash, fiery in its opinions and phrasings, and willing to impose "tough love" on managers who may
be too easily content with high-gloss--yet merely cosmetic--fads. Kinetic. 2. The Working Life
by Joanne B. Ciulla
(Times Books, $25) For many people today, just "having a job" isn't working, in terms of creating
a meaningful life. Ciulla explores how people are employed and why so many are searching for something more. Compelling. 3. Unleashing Intellectual Capital
by Charles Ehin
(Butterworth-Heinemann, $19.95) Using anthropology and psychology, the author concludes that we'll never manage intellectual capital until we better understand human values.
Bedazzling. 4. Funky Business
by Jonas Ridderstrale and Kjell Nordstrom
(Financial Times Prentice Hall Publishing, $25) With its funky language and layout, this book declares that not only are the
old ways of business dying, but they really ought to! Revolutionary. 5. Simplicity
by Bill Jensen
(Perseus Press, $25) This work's thesis is that people and businesses are too often lost, confused, unproductive
and unhappy because priorities are muddled due to paralyzing complexities. The way out is simple. Essential.
6. Surfing the Edge of Chaos
by Richard T. Pascale, Mark Millemann and Linda Gioja
(Crown Publishing, $26.95) Science seems to be making breakthroughs daily, but what about management? The authors argue that scientific thinking must shape a leader's point-of-view. Darwinian.
7. Eyewitness to Power
by David R. Gergen
(Simon & Schuster, $26) On the surface, it's a book about politics, but Gergen takes his many White House years and posits seven leadership lessons for the chief of any
organization. Powerful. 8. The Weightless Society
by Charles Leadbeater
(Texere, $27.95) The "new economy" has never been more accessible. Mega-change may be wild and
frightening, but don't dare retreat into the past. The future can be a brave new world for the human spirit. Uplifting. 9. Age Works
by Beverly Goldberg
(Free Press, $25) The workforce
is aging. But what attitude shifts, management techniques and corporate policy changes are needed to overcome the attendant challenges? It's all here. Youthful. 10. The Arc of Ambition
by James Champy and Nitin Nohria
(Perseus Press, $26) Ambition has never been so appealing. The authors demonstrate how "ambition is the root of all achievement" through historical examples, anecdotes, fascinating facts and stories.
Vaulting. 11. The Cluetrain Manifesto
by Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls and David Weinberger
(Perseus Press, $23) A "Special InnoThink Award" for leading-edge thinking goes to this book. Call
it a business reformation: What started as "95 theses" nailed to a Web site became a global dialogue culminating in these crisp commentaries about today's new standards, communication tools and
more. Heed the Internet--or die! Linked. © 2000 by Management General. All rights reserved. More information about these books and their authors is
available at www.mgeneral.com . E-mail Tom Brown at tbrown@qualitydigest.com
, Fax (520) 244-9090 or call (502) 566-6652. |
