Dr. Mutter’s Marvels

Dr. Mutter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine Paperback – September 8, 2015
Author: Visit ‘s Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz Page ID: 1592409253

Review

“[Aptowicz’s] poetic eye is exactly what makes Dr. Mütter’s Marvels a marvel itself. . . . With clinical precision, Aptowicz lays bare the facts of Mütter’s colorful, tumultuous life. . . . For a book so immersed in the intimate perspective of its subject, it also brings a broad perspective about everything from the development of modern medicine to women’s issues of the nineteenth century, not to mention how norms of beauty and the definitions of monstrosity have inspired and held us back over the centuries. With Dr. Mütter’s Marvels, Aptowicz keeps a steady hand on her historical scalpel, even as she wields it with a winning flourish.”
—NPR Books

“Ms. Aptowicz rescues Mütter the man from undeserved obscurity, recreating his short life and hard times with wit, energy, and gusto. Her book, like the Mütter Museum, is a reminder that the course of human suffering and the progress of medical science are often messy, complex, and stranger than can be imagined.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“As a huge fan of the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, I was excited to get my hands on this rich biography of the real doctor, Thomas Mütter, a nineteenth-century surgeon who treated people with misunderstood conditions and amassed a fascinating collection of medical oddities.”
—USA Today

“Austin-based poet and writer Aptowicz, a woman whose various awards and publications attest to her formidable skill and style when dealing with an impressive diversity of subjects . . . provide[s] such a thorough and compelling account of Mütter’s life and times, his medical innovations and personal fortitude, his enduring legacy, as is to be found between the well-designed covers of this new book.”
—The Austin Chronicle

“Aptowicz does an excellent job of establishing the context of the times and competing personalities. . . .  As Aptowicz clearly shows, [Mütter’s] legacy lives on in many aspects of medicine we now take for granted.”
—The Seattle Times

“Aptowicz has a keen eye for the era’s grotesque details (amputation accidents, for one thing) and an obvious sympathy for Mütter’s passion and legacy.”
—The Boston Globe

“Aptowicz shows Mütter, beloved by his students, evolving from a mischievous, impatient young doctor to an increIDgly spiritual man beset by premature illness, and her writing is as full of life as her subject.”
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“Dr. Mütter’s Marvels is both an insightful portrait of a pioneering surgeon and a reminder of how far medicine has come.”
—BookPage

“Dr. Mütter’s Marvels is narrative nonfiction at its best. . . . Aptowicz is refreshingly careful with her language, keeping the narrative speculation to a minimum, painting most of her scenery with the weight of her research. She revels in the details, but largely lets the reader draw their own conclusions. The result is an approachable history of a man and of a time period that does exactly what narrative nonfiction should do: answers the questions the reader never realized they had.”
—A.V. Club

“In her deftly crafted narrative, the author provides an absorbing account of the charismatic surgeon’s life and career as well as a vivid look at the medical practices and prejudices of his time. Aptowicz draws nicely on Mütter’s speeches and lectures to reveal the depth of his empathetic philosophies and humanist approach.”
—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

“Aptowicz penned a fast-moving and popular history of the early- to mid-nineteenth-century American and Parisian medical worlds, making the most of works by and about Mütter’s contemporaries.”
—Library Journal (Starred Review)

“Aptowicz pens a fascinating and muscular biography of Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter, splendidly re-creating the doctor’s medical advancements, the age in which he worked, and the conditions and practices he sought to change.”
—Library Journal, Wyatt’s World

“Aptowicz approaches her subject with passion and finesse, so that the book reads more like fiction than nonfiction, ensuring that it will appeal to a wide audience.”
—Publishers Weekly, Galley Talk

“Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’s ‘true tale of intrigue and innovation at the dawn of modern medicine’ is such a captivating, gripping, and intensely interesting historical tale that even the reader who has mere casual interest in the subject will find themselves devouring Aptowicz’s text in a matter of days, if not hours.”
—Fanboy Comics

“Ms. Aptowicz rescues Mütter the man from undeserved obscurity, recreating his short life and hard times with wit, energy, and gusto. Her book, like the Mütter Museum, is a reminder that the course of human suffering and the progress of medical science are often messy, complex, and stranger than can be imagined.”
—Dr. John J. Ross, author of Shakespeare’s Tremor and Orwell’s Cough: Diagnosing the Medical Groans and Last Gasps of Ten Great Writers

“An extraordinary, moving, and humbling story about a remarkable and compassionate surgeon who changed the face of medicine forever. Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz immerses us in the strange world of Dr. Thomas Mütter and unfolds the tale of his pioneering approach to surgery with verve, wit, and sensitivity. We are all of us the richer for Dr. Mütter’s visionary work and the legacy he left us in the shape of one of the world’s most beguiling museums.”
—Wendy Moore, author of The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery

 

About the Author

Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz is an award-winning writer of Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam and popular touring poet and spoken-word performer. She lives in Austin, Texas.

See all Editorial Reviews

Paperback: 384 pagesPublisher: Avery; Reprint edition (September 8, 2015)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1592409253ISBN-13: 978-1592409259 Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1 x 9 inches Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #20,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #29 in Books > medical books > Medicine > Surgery > General Surgery #82 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Medical #303 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > United States

If you have ever been to the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, which houses one of the largest collections of medical oddities in America, it is more likely you will walk out of the museum with your head full of questions such as "Why did that woman turn into soap?" and "How did that guy walk around with a 300 pound colon?" However, you might not ask yourself, "Who collected all of this weird, freaky stuff and why?" and that’s what Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’s new book seeks to answer.

Who was Thomas Dent Mutter?

Turns out he was one of the most innovative characters in early medical history who revolutionized the practice of plastic surgery, the use of ether and clean instruments during surgery and pretty much the concept of outpatient care!

The author does a great job taking us back to the pre-Civil War era of medicine in Philadelphia and to the founding of the Jefferson Medical College where Mutter lectured and performed his surgeries. It’s amazing how crude and primitive seems compared to the state of the medical advances we have today.

I don’t want to spoil too much of the book here, but I found it to be a very engaging read. If you like David McCullough or Erik Larson’s books, you are going to enjoy the fascinating story of Mutter!

Also, there are lots of pictures scattered throughout the book and most chapters start with words of wisdom from Mutter himself! A very well-designed book!

This book is phenomenal — a non-fiction book that reads like a page-turner of a novel. (Think Devil in a White City or Into Thin Air). Dr. Mutter’s Marvels traces tells the story of the life of Thomas Dent Mutter, but it is also an incredibly fascinating account of the birth of modern medicine. This is not a subject that is ordinarily at the top of my "to read" list, but Aptowicz has crafted it into a deeply compelling story — I found myself wanting to get to bed early each night so that I could read more! The book is also extensively researched and sourced. Highly recommended!

This is, hands-down, the best biography I’ve ever read. It’s an intimate glance into history, medicine, change, and compassion. It’s the finely crafted life story of a man that we should know, but sadly, many of us don’t. But that’s about to change, thanks to the hard work of writer, researcher, and poet Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz in her new book, Dr. Mütter’s Marvels.

Dr. Mütter’s Marvels is the story of Dr. Mütter, of course, but is also the history of a nation, a medical field, of everyday people that lived because of him. No dry tale, never fear – Aptowicz is a storyteller par excellence. She brings readers into history as fully as if we were there alongside Dr. Mütter, treating patients, teaching, full of curiosity, and always, always learning. In the 1800s, Philadelphia was the center of medical learning in the US, but was also rife with competing theories about medicine, germs, treatment protocol, and even rival medical schools. She makes Philadelphia in the 1800s come alive. The wealth of rich details and characters (and disagreements) populating the story make this book an extraordinary read.

Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine See more about Innovation Marvel and Medicine Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine DR MUTTERS MARVELS Hardcover ristinO KeefeAptowicz Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine Author Cristin O Keefe Aptowicz published on February 2015 Amazon com Customer Reviews Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine at Amazon com

Download Dr. Mutter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine – September 8, 2015

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Dr. Mutter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine Paperback – September 8, 2015
Author: Visit ‘s Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz Page ID: 1592409253

Review

“[Aptowicz’s] poetic eye is exactly what makes Dr. Mütter’s Marvels a marvel itself. . . . With clinical precision, Aptowicz lays bare the facts of Mütter’s colorful, tumultuous life. . . . For a book so immersed in the intimate perspective of its subject, it also brings a broad perspective about everything from the development of modern medicine to women’s issues of the nineteenth century, not to mention how norms of beauty and the definitions of monstrosity have inspired and held us back over the centuries. With Dr. Mütter’s Marvels, Aptowicz keeps a steady hand on her historical scalpel, even as she wields it with a winning flourish.”
—NPR Books

“Ms. Aptowicz rescues Mütter the man from undeserved obscurity, recreating his short life and hard times with wit, energy, and gusto. Her book, like the Mütter Museum, is a reminder that the course of human suffering and the progress of medical science are often messy, complex, and stranger than can be imagined.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“As a huge fan of the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, I was excited to get my hands on this rich biography of the real doctor, Thomas Mütter, a nineteenth-century surgeon who treated people with misunderstood conditions and amassed a fascinating collection of medical oddities.”
—USA Today

“Austin-based poet and writer Aptowicz, a woman whose various awards and publications attest to her formidable skill and style when dealing with an impressive diversity of subjects . . . provide[s] such a thorough and compelling account of Mütter’s life and times, his medical innovations and personal fortitude, his enduring legacy, as is to be found between the well-designed covers of this new book.”
—The Austin Chronicle

“Aptowicz does an excellent job of establishing the context of the times and competing personalities. . . .  As Aptowicz clearly shows, [Mütter’s] legacy lives on in many aspects of medicine we now take for granted.”
—The Seattle Times

“Aptowicz has a keen eye for the era’s grotesque details (amputation accidents, for one thing) and an obvious sympathy for Mütter’s passion and legacy.”
—The Boston Globe

“Aptowicz shows Mütter, beloved by his students, evolving from a mischievous, impatient young doctor to an increIDgly spiritual man beset by premature illness, and her writing is as full of life as her subject.”
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“Dr. Mütter’s Marvels is both an insightful portrait of a pioneering surgeon and a reminder of how far medicine has come.”
—BookPage

“Dr. Mütter’s Marvels is narrative nonfiction at its best. . . . Aptowicz is refreshingly careful with her language, keeping the narrative speculation to a minimum, painting most of her scenery with the weight of her research. She revels in the details, but largely lets the reader draw their own conclusions. The result is an approachable history of a man and of a time period that does exactly what narrative nonfiction should do: answers the questions the reader never realized they had.”
—A.V. Club

“In her deftly crafted narrative, the author provides an absorbing account of the charismatic surgeon’s life and career as well as a vivid look at the medical practices and prejudices of his time. Aptowicz draws nicely on Mütter’s speeches and lectures to reveal the depth of his empathetic philosophies and humanist approach.”
—Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

“Aptowicz penned a fast-moving and popular history of the early- to mid-nineteenth-century American and Parisian medical worlds, making the most of works by and about Mütter’s contemporaries.”
—Library Journal (Starred Review)

“Aptowicz pens a fascinating and muscular biography of Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter, splendidly re-creating the doctor’s medical advancements, the age in which he worked, and the conditions and practices he sought to change.”
—Library Journal, Wyatt’s World

“Aptowicz approaches her subject with passion and finesse, so that the book reads more like fiction than nonfiction, ensuring that it will appeal to a wide audience.”
—Publishers Weekly, Galley Talk

“Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’s ‘true tale of intrigue and innovation at the dawn of modern medicine’ is such a captivating, gripping, and intensely interesting historical tale that even the reader who has mere casual interest in the subject will find themselves devouring Aptowicz’s text in a matter of days, if not hours.”
—Fanboy Comics

“Ms. Aptowicz rescues Mütter the man from undeserved obscurity, recreating his short life and hard times with wit, energy, and gusto. Her book, like the Mütter Museum, is a reminder that the course of human suffering and the progress of medical science are often messy, complex, and stranger than can be imagined.”
—Dr. John J. Ross, author of Shakespeare’s Tremor and Orwell’s Cough: Diagnosing the Medical Groans and Last Gasps of Ten Great Writers

“An extraordinary, moving, and humbling story about a remarkable and compassionate surgeon who changed the face of medicine forever. Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz immerses us in the strange world of Dr. Thomas Mütter and unfolds the tale of his pioneering approach to surgery with verve, wit, and sensitivity. We are all of us the richer for Dr. Mütter’s visionary work and the legacy he left us in the shape of one of the world’s most beguiling museums.”
—Wendy Moore, author of The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery

 

About the Author

Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz is an award-winning writer of Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam and popular touring poet and spoken-word performer. She lives in Austin, Texas.

See all Editorial Reviews

Paperback: 384 pagesPublisher: Avery; Reprint edition (September 8, 2015)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1592409253ISBN-13: 978-1592409259 Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 1 x 9 inches Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #20,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #29 in Books > medical books > Medicine > Surgery > General Surgery #82 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Medical #303 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > United States

If you have ever been to the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, which houses one of the largest collections of medical oddities in America, it is more likely you will walk out of the museum with your head full of questions such as "Why did that woman turn into soap?" and "How did that guy walk around with a 300 pound colon?" However, you might not ask yourself, "Who collected all of this weird, freaky stuff and why?" and that’s what Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz’s new book seeks to answer.

Who was Thomas Dent Mutter?

Turns out he was one of the most innovative characters in early medical history who revolutionized the practice of plastic surgery, the use of ether and clean instruments during surgery and pretty much the concept of outpatient care!

The author does a great job taking us back to the pre-Civil War era of medicine in Philadelphia and to the founding of the Jefferson Medical College where Mutter lectured and performed his surgeries. It’s amazing how crude and primitive seems compared to the state of the medical advances we have today.

I don’t want to spoil too much of the book here, but I found it to be a very engaging read. If you like David McCullough or Erik Larson’s books, you are going to enjoy the fascinating story of Mutter!

Also, there are lots of pictures scattered throughout the book and most chapters start with words of wisdom from Mutter himself! A very well-designed book!

This book is phenomenal — a non-fiction book that reads like a page-turner of a novel. (Think Devil in a White City or Into Thin Air). Dr. Mutter’s Marvels traces tells the story of the life of Thomas Dent Mutter, but it is also an incredibly fascinating account of the birth of modern medicine. This is not a subject that is ordinarily at the top of my "to read" list, but Aptowicz has crafted it into a deeply compelling story — I found myself wanting to get to bed early each night so that I could read more! The book is also extensively researched and sourced. Highly recommended!

This is, hands-down, the best biography I’ve ever read. It’s an intimate glance into history, medicine, change, and compassion. It’s the finely crafted life story of a man that we should know, but sadly, many of us don’t. But that’s about to change, thanks to the hard work of writer, researcher, and poet Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz in her new book, Dr. Mütter’s Marvels.

Dr. Mütter’s Marvels is the story of Dr. Mütter, of course, but is also the history of a nation, a medical field, of everyday people that lived because of him. No dry tale, never fear – Aptowicz is a storyteller par excellence. She brings readers into history as fully as if we were there alongside Dr. Mütter, treating patients, teaching, full of curiosity, and always, always learning. In the 1800s, Philadelphia was the center of medical learning in the US, but was also rife with competing theories about medicine, germs, treatment protocol, and even rival medical schools. She makes Philadelphia in the 1800s come alive. The wealth of rich details and characters (and disagreements) populating the story make this book an extraordinary read.

Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine See more about Innovation Marvel and Medicine Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine DR MUTTERS MARVELS Hardcover ristinO KeefeAptowicz Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine Author Cristin O Keefe Aptowicz published on February 2015 Amazon com Customer Reviews Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Dr Mutter s Marvels A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine at Amazon com

Download Dr. Mutter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine – September 8, 2015

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Confessions of a Public Speaker Kindle Edition

Confessions of a Public Speaker Kindle Edition
Author: Visit ‘s Scott Berkun Page ID: B002VL1CGM

Done.
File Size: 3560 KBPrint Length: 240 pagesSimultaneous Device Usage: UnlimitedPublisher: O’Reilly Media; 1 edition (October 20, 2009)Publication Date: October 20, 2009 Sold by:  Digital Services, Inc. Language: EnglishID: B002VL1CGMText-to-Speech: Enabled X-Ray: Enabled Word Wise: EnabledLending: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Not Enabled Best Sellers Rank: #65,419 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #14 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Public Speaking #16 in Books > Computers & Technology > Business Technology > Software > Presentation Software #27 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Human-Computer Interaction
After grinding through far too many books on "how-to-present-better" books, I’ve finally found one that exceeds the promise. Scott Berkun, a former Microsoft executive who turned writer and professional speaker, practices what he preaches in his book.

* This book is written for anyone who has to give presentations (public speakers, managers, teachers) – it will benefit novices to veterans – and readers in all for-profit and not-for profit industries.

* This is a quick read – can be read in 1 or 2 sittings

* This is a page turning "how to" book

* It is written in a conversational tone packaged with excellent stories, persuasive tips, good research and "rhythmic" pace

* Author is informed via real world experiences – he is honest, humble and straightforward.

* He shares many usable tips and Do’s and Don’ts that will stick (e.g. ask smaller than expected crowd to move up and dense-up; lose your content, ask audience for 10 topics they would like you to address; grab them early with a meaningful title for your presentation)

* Finally, a readable how-to book that delivers as promised…highly recommended.

* Some of my favorite excerpts include:

"…when 100 people are listening to you for an hour, that’s 100 hours of people’s time devoted to what you have to say. If you can’t spend 5 or 10 hours preparing for them, thinking about them, and refining your points to best suit their needs, what does that say about your respect for your audience’s time? It says that your 5 hours are more important than 100 of theirs, which requires an ego larger than the entire solar system. And there is no doubt this disrespect will be obvious once you are on the stage.
I’ll preface this review by saying I read this as part of a book group. I was told that although it was a public speaking aid, it was in itself a piece of entertainment. This review is based on the Kindle version.

Scott Berkun launches into Confessions of a Public Speaker at great speed with a hugely entertaining chapter on why public speaking really isn’t as scary as we say it is. Using stats and surveys to prove that you really wouldn’t "rather die than speak in public". Multiple times I was given strange glances by my significant other due to my laughing out loud.

By Chapter 4 I found I was no longer laughing. The entertainment factor had gone. It was no longer the advertised "… unique, entertaining, and instructional romp through the embarrassments and triumphs Scott has experienced over 15 years of speaking…". It was at this point that I felt `Confessions of a Public Speaker’ may be an incorrect title, it had become a run-of-the-mill public speaking how-to guide. The advice was practical and I did take away many hints I can use, but much of it was common sense, strung out as far a possible to fill out an entire book.

One third of the book is made up of appendicies. These appendices are generally just repeats of the main segment. Ironically Scott teaches you to not waste your audience’s time. Treat them with respect and keep them interested with important information they want to know. So to have one appendix focus on how many m&m’s he ate while writing the book made me wonder if he practiced what he preached. The actual section containing real confessions of public speakers is also relegated to an appendix, again making me wonder if this is the correct title.
While there is a plethora of books such as Public Speaking for Dummies, and many similar titles; Confessions of a Public Speaker is unique in that it takes a holistic approach to the art and science of public speaking. The books doesn’t just provide helpful hints, it attempts to make the speaker, and their associated presentation, compelling and necessary. Confessions is Scott Berkun’s first-hand account of his many years of public speaking, teaching and television appearances. In the book, he shares his successes, failures, and many frustrating experiences, in the hope that the reader will be a better speaker for it.

An issue with many books on public speaking is that they focus on the mechanics of public speaking. While there is nothing necessarily wrong with that approach, Confessions takes a much deeper and analytical look at public speaking. The book demonstrates that the best public speakers are not simply people with fancy PowerPoint’s; rather they are excellent communicators with a strong message.

While other books focus and stress the importance of creating good PowerPoint’s, Confessions shows how one can rise above the PowerPoint and be a presenter of ideas to the audience. Such an approach can take a dry presentation and turn it into a compelling one.

Berkun notes that while many people perceive public speaking to be a terrifying experience, the reality is that it does not have to be so petrifying. With fundamental preparations, even the most timid person can be a public speaker. While such a person will never be a speaker at the caliber of a Steve Jobs, there is no reason they can’t present an enjoyable and educating presentation.

The book is loaded with chapter after chapter of practical advice.
Download Confessions of a Public Speaker Kindle Edition

CantikSigi545

Confessions of a Public Speaker Kindle Edition
Author: Visit ‘s Scott Berkun Page ID: B002VL1CGM

Done.
File Size: 3560 KBPrint Length: 240 pagesSimultaneous Device Usage: UnlimitedPublisher: O’Reilly Media; 1 edition (October 20, 2009)Publication Date: October 20, 2009 Sold by:  Digital Services, Inc. Language: EnglishID: B002VL1CGMText-to-Speech: Enabled X-Ray: Enabled Word Wise: EnabledLending: Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Not Enabled Best Sellers Rank: #65,419 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #14 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Public Speaking #16 in Books > Computers & Technology > Business Technology > Software > Presentation Software #27 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Human-Computer Interaction
After grinding through far too many books on "how-to-present-better" books, I’ve finally found one that exceeds the promise. Scott Berkun, a former Microsoft executive who turned writer and professional speaker, practices what he preaches in his book.

* This book is written for anyone who has to give presentations (public speakers, managers, teachers) – it will benefit novices to veterans – and readers in all for-profit and not-for profit industries.

* This is a quick read – can be read in 1 or 2 sittings

* This is a page turning "how to" book

* It is written in a conversational tone packaged with excellent stories, persuasive tips, good research and "rhythmic" pace

* Author is informed via real world experiences – he is honest, humble and straightforward.

* He shares many usable tips and Do’s and Don’ts that will stick (e.g. ask smaller than expected crowd to move up and dense-up; lose your content, ask audience for 10 topics they would like you to address; grab them early with a meaningful title for your presentation)

* Finally, a readable how-to book that delivers as promised…highly recommended.

* Some of my favorite excerpts include:

"…when 100 people are listening to you for an hour, that’s 100 hours of people’s time devoted to what you have to say. If you can’t spend 5 or 10 hours preparing for them, thinking about them, and refining your points to best suit their needs, what does that say about your respect for your audience’s time? It says that your 5 hours are more important than 100 of theirs, which requires an ego larger than the entire solar system. And there is no doubt this disrespect will be obvious once you are on the stage.
I’ll preface this review by saying I read this as part of a book group. I was told that although it was a public speaking aid, it was in itself a piece of entertainment. This review is based on the Kindle version.

Scott Berkun launches into Confessions of a Public Speaker at great speed with a hugely entertaining chapter on why public speaking really isn’t as scary as we say it is. Using stats and surveys to prove that you really wouldn’t "rather die than speak in public". Multiple times I was given strange glances by my significant other due to my laughing out loud.

By Chapter 4 I found I was no longer laughing. The entertainment factor had gone. It was no longer the advertised "… unique, entertaining, and instructional romp through the embarrassments and triumphs Scott has experienced over 15 years of speaking…". It was at this point that I felt `Confessions of a Public Speaker’ may be an incorrect title, it had become a run-of-the-mill public speaking how-to guide. The advice was practical and I did take away many hints I can use, but much of it was common sense, strung out as far a possible to fill out an entire book.

One third of the book is made up of appendicies. These appendices are generally just repeats of the main segment. Ironically Scott teaches you to not waste your audience’s time. Treat them with respect and keep them interested with important information they want to know. So to have one appendix focus on how many m&m’s he ate while writing the book made me wonder if he practiced what he preached. The actual section containing real confessions of public speakers is also relegated to an appendix, again making me wonder if this is the correct title.
While there is a plethora of books such as Public Speaking for Dummies, and many similar titles; Confessions of a Public Speaker is unique in that it takes a holistic approach to the art and science of public speaking. The books doesn’t just provide helpful hints, it attempts to make the speaker, and their associated presentation, compelling and necessary. Confessions is Scott Berkun’s first-hand account of his many years of public speaking, teaching and television appearances. In the book, he shares his successes, failures, and many frustrating experiences, in the hope that the reader will be a better speaker for it.

An issue with many books on public speaking is that they focus on the mechanics of public speaking. While there is nothing necessarily wrong with that approach, Confessions takes a much deeper and analytical look at public speaking. The book demonstrates that the best public speakers are not simply people with fancy PowerPoint’s; rather they are excellent communicators with a strong message.

While other books focus and stress the importance of creating good PowerPoint’s, Confessions shows how one can rise above the PowerPoint and be a presenter of ideas to the audience. Such an approach can take a dry presentation and turn it into a compelling one.

Berkun notes that while many people perceive public speaking to be a terrifying experience, the reality is that it does not have to be so petrifying. With fundamental preparations, even the most timid person can be a public speaker. While such a person will never be a speaker at the caliber of a Steve Jobs, there is no reason they can’t present an enjoyable and educating presentation.

The book is loaded with chapter after chapter of practical advice.
Download Confessions of a Public Speaker Kindle Edition

CantikSigi545

from 7 http://ift.tt/1XM23Ej
via IFTTT

Scaling Up Excellence

Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less Hardcover – February 4, 2014
Author: Visit ‘s Robert I. Sutton Page ID: 0385347022

.com Review

Author One-on-One: Robert Suttonand Huggy Rao talk about Scaling Up Excellence

Robert Sutton: Why dont we start off with why we wrote this book?

Huggy Rao: We wanted to give the executives we teach and advise better answers. In 2006, we launched an executive education program at Stanford called Customer-focused Innovation. Executives in the program kept asking us different versions of the same question. Their companies all had a pocket or two where people were customer focused. The problem was that there just wasnt enough of it. They asked how they could spread such excellence and do it fast. We scoured academic research and practical books on leaders and teams. We found a lot on topics such as leadership and innovation. But we couldnt find a single business book devoted to this problem, which we started calling “the problem of more” or the challenge of “scaling up excellence.”

We spent the next seven years studying and writing about it. I believe that this is the first major business or leadership book on scaling. We worked hard to write an approachable and useful book, but also one that digs into this vexing challenge in some depth. We offer much hard won advice, but no instant and easy cures.

Bob, why dont you tell people about our research? It was quite an adventure.

RS: We started by doing interviews and case studies, and digging up the most rigorous studies we could find on scaling. But we also wanted to reach out to people who were in the thick of scaling challenges. So we checked repeatedly with senior leaders such as Kaiser Permanentes Louise Liang (who led a successful information technology rollout in the largest U.S. private healthcare system), Facebook executives Chris Cox and Mike Schroepfer (who grew the engineering organization), and JetBlue Airlines pilot and executive Bonny Simi (who led a bottom-up effort to create and scale up a better system for dealing with operational challenges caused by bad weather). We wanted to make sure that the challenges we discussed, the stories we told, and advice we offered rang true to these and hundreds of other scaling up veterans we talked to during those seven years.

HR: What do you say when people ask you “what do you mean by scaling?”

RS: I tell them that we fixed our focus on a simple, but tough, question: If your organization has a bit of excellence, a pocket of goodness, how do you spread it? Early on in the project, I saw an interview with the famous folk singer Pete Seeger. He said something like “Sometimes the only thing wrong with it is there isnt enough of it.” A lovely way to describe the main problem we tackled.

HR: I was struck by how similar the scaling challenges were that different organizations faced. The challenges of growing Google, of opening 180 highly standardized Bridge International Academy schools for poor children in Africa, and spreading practices for preventing infections to over 3000 hospitals sound quite different on first blush. But they turned out to be remarkably similar in many ways once we looked closely.

RS: How so?

HR: In every case, successful scaling didnt mean just creating as big a footprint as possible, as fast possible it required spreading a shared mindset that guided how people thought and acted. We learned that, especially in cases of fast and effective scaling, the teams that guided these efforts often slowed down at key junctures to think about what they are doing and to develop true excellence so they could move faster later. Scaling takes both patience and persistence, in concert with an obsessive focus on making progress toward long term goals every hour of every day.

RS: We also learned that the key decisions and scaling principles were remarkably similar across different kinds of organizations. For example every organization and project gets more complex as it expands. More processes, layers, locations, and people are required. As a result, scaling nearly always adds “cognitive load” — increased demands — on people and teams. If it is not dealt with well, people feel overwhelmed. It becomes hard to get simple things done. In the best organizations, to paraphrase Twitters head of engineering Chris Fry, leaders use the hierarchy to destroy bad bureaucracy — to make things easier rather than harder for people. Frys advice holds in every scaling case we studied.

RS: Lets end with the question that EVERYONE asks me about you. Is your name really Huggy?

HR: My real name is Hayagreeva, but my family and friends have always called me Huggy. I thought “Huggy” would be easier for people to pronounce and remember.

RS: Its been quite a collaboration. Huggy was relentlessly optimistic during even the toughest days. Huggy is among the smartest and most imaginative organizational researchers on the planet. The rate at which he generates ideas astounds me. One minute he might be talking about “linking hot causes to cool solution,” the next “scaling is about going from bad to great, not so much good to great.”

We worked with so many terrific people facing scaling challenges, from entrepreneurs and startups, to senior executives at big corporations, to leaders and teams in nonprofits and large healthcare systems. But we stayed focused on one goal: Writing a book would ring true and be useful to anyone who strives to develop excellence in organizations and spreading it to others.

Review

“With a huge amount  of research and insight within its covers, this is a timely read for young ambitious companies.” -Trevor Clawson, Forbes

“A great read that provides real, practical advice whether you’re a team of 5 or 50,000.  Sutton and Rao find just the right stories to show how almost any team can get bigger and better.” –Laszlo Bock, senior vice president of People Operations, Google

“Scaling Up Excellence is one of the finest business books you’ll ever read. It is rich with vivid examples, deep research, and practical advice on the toughest challenge organizations confront: how to spread success from a few small pockets of an organization to its entire fabric. Whether you’re an entrepreneur who wants to get big, a CEO who wants to avoid stagnation, or a non-profit executive who wants make a deeper difference, Scaling Up Excellence is an essential read — a playbook that belongs on the desk of every leader.” -Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and To Sell Is Human
 
“Innovation at scale and speed is our goal.  Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao show us how to do it more often and better, knowing that scale matters.”  –Beth Comstock, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Office, GE

“The Internet creates new possibilities for scaling, but scaling rarely happens because of technology alone. This insightful book shares the methods and strategies that successful leaders rely on to spread the beliefs and behaviors that can accelerate an organization’s growth while simultaneously improving its processes.” -Reid Hoffman, co-founder/chairman of LinkedIn and co-author of the #1 NYT bestseller The Start-up of You
 
“Growth and reinvention are key to winning, especially in tech. In Scaling Up Excellence,  Sutton and Rao outline a real-world view of the challenges leaders face, and provide wisdom and practical tips about how to master them. I loved the insights.” –Shantanu Narayen, CEO, Adobe Systems

“Startups sow the seeds of their culture from the very first day. Yet their ultimate success depends on knowing when and how to scale.  Drawing on first hand accounts from a wide range of industries, Scaling Up Excellence is the first book to offer a detailed examination of the best practices needed to successfully scale without diluting the very qualities that made a company successful in the first place. An important book for corporations and entrepreneurs alike.” -Eric Ries, bestselling author of The Lean Startup

“Maintaining excellence while growing is full of pitfalls and pain, and requires a great deal of thoughtfulness.  Scaling Up Excellence gives us a well-crafted framework for thinking about and addressing the nitty-gritty problems on the ground without getting derailed by lofty goals.  Sutton and Rao keep us focused on the personal actions required for tackling this leadership challenge.”  –Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation Studios

“One of the challenges faced by any complex organization is how to improve performance by sharing best practices within the organization. Too often, scaling is done as an art. To be done well, it needs to be a science. ‘Scaling Up Excellence’ elevates scaling to a core competency instead of a talent. This is a worthwhile book to read.”  -George Halvorson, chairman of the board, Kaiser Permanente

“A must-read. Renowned experts Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao are the first to tackle a pervasive problem that every leader faces: spreading and multiplying success. This landmark book is full of rich examples, powerful studies, and actionable insights for anyone who cares about making groups or organizations more effective.” – Adam Grant, Wharton professor and bestselling author of Give and Take

“Sutton and Rao provide an illuminating perspective that is particularly useful for leaders and teams about to embark on their own challenging journey to scaling excellence. The stories and studies shared by the authors provide valuable strategic and practical advice, which will increase your odds of success when they are combined with the real “grit” required to make improvements.”   -Ann L. Lee,  senior vice president, Genentech and Global Head of pharma technical development, Roche 

“We are all searching for new ways to build more effective teams, startups, and organizations that will stand the test of time. Through compelling research, stories, and narrative, Scaling Up Excellence will show you how to help your best ideas reach a much wider audience. If you want to have a big impact . . . make sure your entire team reads this book.” –Tom Rath, bestselling author of Strengthsfinder 2.0

“An engaging exploration of a powerful and frequently neglected source of competitive advantage: Finding ways to spread and sustain the best ideas and practices we already know how to do. Packed with inspiring examples of how to make it happen –or miss out.” -Martin Riant, Group President Baby, Feminine and Family Care, Procter & Gamble Co.
 
“If you want your organization to expand and grow without losing what makes you special, this is the book for you.  Sutton and Rao have written a must-read handbook for scaling.” -Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Decisive, Switch, and Made to Stick
 
 “Scaling Up Excellence offers a strong antidote to the common pap–the delusions, impatience and incompetence– that too often frustrate reforms and keep many good ideas from achieving their goals.  Through engaging accounts of both organizational successes and colossal failures, Sutton and Rao offer practical wisdom for scaling improvements in  complex institutions.  Anyone involved in the work of improvement should hold this book close at hand.” -Anthony S. Bryk, president, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
 
 “Rather than a one size fits all recipe for what to do in scaling up your company,  Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao offer  guidelines for action in easy to read terms, based on case studies and research conducted over the last seven years.  If you are interested in excellence using the principle of Less is More, this is the book to read.” –Riccardo Illy, Chairman, Grupo Illy, S.p.A

“Scaling Up Excellence is the best book I’ve ever seen on making an organization’s vision come true. Sutton and Rao have created a deeply practical guide that is also a great read, grounded equally in astonishing stories and rigorous research. No matter what you do for a living, read this book to figure out how to link your “short-term realities to long-term dreams.” – Teresa M. Amabile, professor, Harvard Business School and coauthor, The Progress Principle

 “Taking a small, manageable organization and making it into a big, successful enterprise is a major challenge in healthcare or any other industry. Robert  Sutton and Huggy Rao take the mystery out of ‘going large’ with memorable mantras and fascinating case studies. Scaling Up Excellence shows the high roads – and the pitfalls – on the way to bigger and better.  Delos M. Cosgrove MD, CEO and President, Cleveland Clinic

 “Inspiring stories, compelling research, and actionable ideas masterfully woven together and immediately usable by any entrepreneur or manager.” –Clara Shih, CEO and Founder of Hearsay Social, member of Starbucks Board of Directors

“Sustaining exceptional performance in growing organizations is critical in today’s world.  Sutton and Rao bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to identifying best practices in a straightforward and accessible way.  If you want to grow your business, you need this book.” – Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone

“Rao and Sutton have hit on an important challenge for leaders in every organization – companies, social sector and government: how do you scale what works, and do it faster. The challenge of finding pockets of excellence and changing mindsets and behavior so that success becomes the norm not abnormal is very real for those who want to make excellence stick. Scaling up Excellence is a useful roadmap for today’s change leaders” –Lenny Mendonca, Director Emeritus, McKinsey and Company, Founder, Half Moon Bay Brewing Company

“Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao’s book provides insights on the key principles of scaling for excellence. For entrepreneurs or business leaders at the forefront of organizational growth, “Scaling up excellence” is a treasure trove of case studies and industry showcases.” -N. R. Narayana Murthy, Executive Chairman, Infosys Limited

“Scaling Up Excellence is a masterpiece. I have been wrestling with the same conundrum for 30 years, and I simply marvel at the way Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao have disentangled this supremely important Gordian knot.”-Tom Peters, bestselling author of In Search of Excellence

See all Editorial Reviews

Hardcover: 368 pagesPublisher: Crown Business; First Edition edition (February 4, 2014)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0385347022ISBN-13: 978-0385347020 Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.3 x 8.5 inches Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #8,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #39 in Books > Business & Money > Processes & Infrastructure > Organizational Learning #130 in Books > Business & Money > Small Business & Entrepreneurship > Entrepreneurship #209 in Books > Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Management
Sutton and Rao offer a comprehensive guide to management in a package of enticing stories, subtly supported by references to high-end research. Their personal history in the Silicon Valley and their global access to interesting organizations provides the backdrop.

MAIN THEME & WHO SHOULD READ
The main theme is that, while many good practices exist in organizations, they either get lost or there are difficulties when attempts are made to spread them (scale them) across the organization. The breadth of this theme means that this book will provide value to anyone who would like to see organizations improve. The benefits are not limited by industry, functional area, or organizational size.

KEY IDEAS: THE SEVEN MANTRAS
Sutton and Rao are far more direct than most academics; it often takes a lot to get a professor away from an “it depends” answer. In this instance they have enough background to be confident with the following:

We’ve identified reliable signs that scaling is going well or badly, and we’ve distilled these signals into seven mantras. If you are embarking on a scaling effort [I’ll add if you are doing anything to make your organization better], memorize them, teach them to others, and invent ways to keep them firmly in focus — especially when the going gets rough.

Spread a mindset, not just a footprint. This first one is their, and your, protection against being labeled a fad.
Engage all the senses. From my perspective, this is where you consider how to weave together human, technical, and organizational practices such that they work together, not against your goals. It’s also where I realize that my presentation of these ideas is much less colorful, and perhaps less likely to scale.
Growth is something we all assume will happen. Invent something cool, deliver a needed service, and you will naturally prosper and increase revenues, right? But what if there is a better way to grow, or scale? What if you need to constantly check whether it’s time to go “Buddhist” style or “Catholic?” What if growth depends on regularly stoking “hot causes” and linking them to “cool solutions”?

Bob Sutton is a veteran Stanford professor and organizational guru who has written ground-breaking books about the nuances of interpersonal and management innovation, often with his characteristic humor and humanity in such bestsellers as The No ARule.

Here, he has teamed up with fellow Stanford professor, Huggy Rao to tackle something incredibly complex and important: Why do so many businesses stumble as they grow? Sutton and Rao tell us in engaging, behind the scenes stories why Google and Facebook have scaled effectively while Starbucks and others have stumbled. Flexibility is a key positive message: Facebook advocates fast development and gives engineers the leeway to “feel safe to break some stuff along the way; they also widely promote “hack a month” where each year employees are loaned to another group for a month. Google, surprisingly, despite its meteoric growth, “has always been notoriously slow to hire…every new hire is still approved at the organization’s highest levels.”

One of the things you can count on in a Sutton book are stories you’ll be able to tell at your next business dinner or meeting. But unlike so many books today, these aren’t just culled from business articles or the web. Bob and Huggy have interviewed dozens of top executives at many of the nation’s premiere companies.
Download Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less – February 4, 2014

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Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less Hardcover – February 4, 2014
Author: Visit ‘s Robert I. Sutton Page ID: 0385347022

.com Review

Author One-on-One: Robert Suttonand Huggy Rao talk about Scaling Up Excellence

Robert Sutton: Why dont we start off with why we wrote this book?

Huggy Rao: We wanted to give the executives we teach and advise better answers. In 2006, we launched an executive education program at Stanford called Customer-focused Innovation. Executives in the program kept asking us different versions of the same question. Their companies all had a pocket or two where people were customer focused. The problem was that there just wasnt enough of it. They asked how they could spread such excellence and do it fast. We scoured academic research and practical books on leaders and teams. We found a lot on topics such as leadership and innovation. But we couldnt find a single business book devoted to this problem, which we started calling “the problem of more” or the challenge of “scaling up excellence.”

We spent the next seven years studying and writing about it. I believe that this is the first major business or leadership book on scaling. We worked hard to write an approachable and useful book, but also one that digs into this vexing challenge in some depth. We offer much hard won advice, but no instant and easy cures.

Bob, why dont you tell people about our research? It was quite an adventure.

RS: We started by doing interviews and case studies, and digging up the most rigorous studies we could find on scaling. But we also wanted to reach out to people who were in the thick of scaling challenges. So we checked repeatedly with senior leaders such as Kaiser Permanentes Louise Liang (who led a successful information technology rollout in the largest U.S. private healthcare system), Facebook executives Chris Cox and Mike Schroepfer (who grew the engineering organization), and JetBlue Airlines pilot and executive Bonny Simi (who led a bottom-up effort to create and scale up a better system for dealing with operational challenges caused by bad weather). We wanted to make sure that the challenges we discussed, the stories we told, and advice we offered rang true to these and hundreds of other scaling up veterans we talked to during those seven years.

HR: What do you say when people ask you “what do you mean by scaling?”

RS: I tell them that we fixed our focus on a simple, but tough, question: If your organization has a bit of excellence, a pocket of goodness, how do you spread it? Early on in the project, I saw an interview with the famous folk singer Pete Seeger. He said something like “Sometimes the only thing wrong with it is there isnt enough of it.” A lovely way to describe the main problem we tackled.

HR: I was struck by how similar the scaling challenges were that different organizations faced. The challenges of growing Google, of opening 180 highly standardized Bridge International Academy schools for poor children in Africa, and spreading practices for preventing infections to over 3000 hospitals sound quite different on first blush. But they turned out to be remarkably similar in many ways once we looked closely.

RS: How so?

HR: In every case, successful scaling didnt mean just creating as big a footprint as possible, as fast possible it required spreading a shared mindset that guided how people thought and acted. We learned that, especially in cases of fast and effective scaling, the teams that guided these efforts often slowed down at key junctures to think about what they are doing and to develop true excellence so they could move faster later. Scaling takes both patience and persistence, in concert with an obsessive focus on making progress toward long term goals every hour of every day.

RS: We also learned that the key decisions and scaling principles were remarkably similar across different kinds of organizations. For example every organization and project gets more complex as it expands. More processes, layers, locations, and people are required. As a result, scaling nearly always adds “cognitive load” — increased demands — on people and teams. If it is not dealt with well, people feel overwhelmed. It becomes hard to get simple things done. In the best organizations, to paraphrase Twitters head of engineering Chris Fry, leaders use the hierarchy to destroy bad bureaucracy — to make things easier rather than harder for people. Frys advice holds in every scaling case we studied.

RS: Lets end with the question that EVERYONE asks me about you. Is your name really Huggy?

HR: My real name is Hayagreeva, but my family and friends have always called me Huggy. I thought “Huggy” would be easier for people to pronounce and remember.

RS: Its been quite a collaboration. Huggy was relentlessly optimistic during even the toughest days. Huggy is among the smartest and most imaginative organizational researchers on the planet. The rate at which he generates ideas astounds me. One minute he might be talking about “linking hot causes to cool solution,” the next “scaling is about going from bad to great, not so much good to great.”

We worked with so many terrific people facing scaling challenges, from entrepreneurs and startups, to senior executives at big corporations, to leaders and teams in nonprofits and large healthcare systems. But we stayed focused on one goal: Writing a book would ring true and be useful to anyone who strives to develop excellence in organizations and spreading it to others.

Review

“With a huge amount  of research and insight within its covers, this is a timely read for young ambitious companies.” -Trevor Clawson, Forbes

“A great read that provides real, practical advice whether you’re a team of 5 or 50,000.  Sutton and Rao find just the right stories to show how almost any team can get bigger and better.” –Laszlo Bock, senior vice president of People Operations, Google

“Scaling Up Excellence is one of the finest business books you’ll ever read. It is rich with vivid examples, deep research, and practical advice on the toughest challenge organizations confront: how to spread success from a few small pockets of an organization to its entire fabric. Whether you’re an entrepreneur who wants to get big, a CEO who wants to avoid stagnation, or a non-profit executive who wants make a deeper difference, Scaling Up Excellence is an essential read — a playbook that belongs on the desk of every leader.” -Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and To Sell Is Human
 
“Innovation at scale and speed is our goal.  Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao show us how to do it more often and better, knowing that scale matters.”  –Beth Comstock, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Office, GE

“The Internet creates new possibilities for scaling, but scaling rarely happens because of technology alone. This insightful book shares the methods and strategies that successful leaders rely on to spread the beliefs and behaviors that can accelerate an organization’s growth while simultaneously improving its processes.” -Reid Hoffman, co-founder/chairman of LinkedIn and co-author of the #1 NYT bestseller The Start-up of You
 
“Growth and reinvention are key to winning, especially in tech. In Scaling Up Excellence,  Sutton and Rao outline a real-world view of the challenges leaders face, and provide wisdom and practical tips about how to master them. I loved the insights.” –Shantanu Narayen, CEO, Adobe Systems

“Startups sow the seeds of their culture from the very first day. Yet their ultimate success depends on knowing when and how to scale.  Drawing on first hand accounts from a wide range of industries, Scaling Up Excellence is the first book to offer a detailed examination of the best practices needed to successfully scale without diluting the very qualities that made a company successful in the first place. An important book for corporations and entrepreneurs alike.” -Eric Ries, bestselling author of The Lean Startup

“Maintaining excellence while growing is full of pitfalls and pain, and requires a great deal of thoughtfulness.  Scaling Up Excellence gives us a well-crafted framework for thinking about and addressing the nitty-gritty problems on the ground without getting derailed by lofty goals.  Sutton and Rao keep us focused on the personal actions required for tackling this leadership challenge.”  –Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation Studios

“One of the challenges faced by any complex organization is how to improve performance by sharing best practices within the organization. Too often, scaling is done as an art. To be done well, it needs to be a science. ‘Scaling Up Excellence’ elevates scaling to a core competency instead of a talent. This is a worthwhile book to read.”  -George Halvorson, chairman of the board, Kaiser Permanente

“A must-read. Renowned experts Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao are the first to tackle a pervasive problem that every leader faces: spreading and multiplying success. This landmark book is full of rich examples, powerful studies, and actionable insights for anyone who cares about making groups or organizations more effective.” – Adam Grant, Wharton professor and bestselling author of Give and Take

“Sutton and Rao provide an illuminating perspective that is particularly useful for leaders and teams about to embark on their own challenging journey to scaling excellence. The stories and studies shared by the authors provide valuable strategic and practical advice, which will increase your odds of success when they are combined with the real “grit” required to make improvements.”   -Ann L. Lee,  senior vice president, Genentech and Global Head of pharma technical development, Roche 

“We are all searching for new ways to build more effective teams, startups, and organizations that will stand the test of time. Through compelling research, stories, and narrative, Scaling Up Excellence will show you how to help your best ideas reach a much wider audience. If you want to have a big impact . . . make sure your entire team reads this book.” –Tom Rath, bestselling author of Strengthsfinder 2.0

“An engaging exploration of a powerful and frequently neglected source of competitive advantage: Finding ways to spread and sustain the best ideas and practices we already know how to do. Packed with inspiring examples of how to make it happen –or miss out.” -Martin Riant, Group President Baby, Feminine and Family Care, Procter & Gamble Co.
 
“If you want your organization to expand and grow without losing what makes you special, this is the book for you.  Sutton and Rao have written a must-read handbook for scaling.” -Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Decisive, Switch, and Made to Stick
 
 “Scaling Up Excellence offers a strong antidote to the common pap–the delusions, impatience and incompetence– that too often frustrate reforms and keep many good ideas from achieving their goals.  Through engaging accounts of both organizational successes and colossal failures, Sutton and Rao offer practical wisdom for scaling improvements in  complex institutions.  Anyone involved in the work of improvement should hold this book close at hand.” -Anthony S. Bryk, president, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
 
 “Rather than a one size fits all recipe for what to do in scaling up your company,  Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao offer  guidelines for action in easy to read terms, based on case studies and research conducted over the last seven years.  If you are interested in excellence using the principle of Less is More, this is the book to read.” –Riccardo Illy, Chairman, Grupo Illy, S.p.A

“Scaling Up Excellence is the best book I’ve ever seen on making an organization’s vision come true. Sutton and Rao have created a deeply practical guide that is also a great read, grounded equally in astonishing stories and rigorous research. No matter what you do for a living, read this book to figure out how to link your “short-term realities to long-term dreams.” – Teresa M. Amabile, professor, Harvard Business School and coauthor, The Progress Principle

 “Taking a small, manageable organization and making it into a big, successful enterprise is a major challenge in healthcare or any other industry. Robert  Sutton and Huggy Rao take the mystery out of ‘going large’ with memorable mantras and fascinating case studies. Scaling Up Excellence shows the high roads – and the pitfalls – on the way to bigger and better.  Delos M. Cosgrove MD, CEO and President, Cleveland Clinic

 “Inspiring stories, compelling research, and actionable ideas masterfully woven together and immediately usable by any entrepreneur or manager.” –Clara Shih, CEO and Founder of Hearsay Social, member of Starbucks Board of Directors

“Sustaining exceptional performance in growing organizations is critical in today’s world.  Sutton and Rao bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to identifying best practices in a straightforward and accessible way.  If you want to grow your business, you need this book.” – Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone

“Rao and Sutton have hit on an important challenge for leaders in every organization – companies, social sector and government: how do you scale what works, and do it faster. The challenge of finding pockets of excellence and changing mindsets and behavior so that success becomes the norm not abnormal is very real for those who want to make excellence stick. Scaling up Excellence is a useful roadmap for today’s change leaders” –Lenny Mendonca, Director Emeritus, McKinsey and Company, Founder, Half Moon Bay Brewing Company

“Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao’s book provides insights on the key principles of scaling for excellence. For entrepreneurs or business leaders at the forefront of organizational growth, “Scaling up excellence” is a treasure trove of case studies and industry showcases.” -N. R. Narayana Murthy, Executive Chairman, Infosys Limited

“Scaling Up Excellence is a masterpiece. I have been wrestling with the same conundrum for 30 years, and I simply marvel at the way Bob Sutton and Huggy Rao have disentangled this supremely important Gordian knot.”-Tom Peters, bestselling author of In Search of Excellence

See all Editorial Reviews

Hardcover: 368 pagesPublisher: Crown Business; First Edition edition (February 4, 2014)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0385347022ISBN-13: 978-0385347020 Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.3 x 8.5 inches Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #8,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #39 in Books > Business & Money > Processes & Infrastructure > Organizational Learning #130 in Books > Business & Money > Small Business & Entrepreneurship > Entrepreneurship #209 in Books > Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Management
Sutton and Rao offer a comprehensive guide to management in a package of enticing stories, subtly supported by references to high-end research. Their personal history in the Silicon Valley and their global access to interesting organizations provides the backdrop.

MAIN THEME & WHO SHOULD READ
The main theme is that, while many good practices exist in organizations, they either get lost or there are difficulties when attempts are made to spread them (scale them) across the organization. The breadth of this theme means that this book will provide value to anyone who would like to see organizations improve. The benefits are not limited by industry, functional area, or organizational size.

KEY IDEAS: THE SEVEN MANTRAS
Sutton and Rao are far more direct than most academics; it often takes a lot to get a professor away from an “it depends” answer. In this instance they have enough background to be confident with the following:

We’ve identified reliable signs that scaling is going well or badly, and we’ve distilled these signals into seven mantras. If you are embarking on a scaling effort [I’ll add if you are doing anything to make your organization better], memorize them, teach them to others, and invent ways to keep them firmly in focus — especially when the going gets rough.

Spread a mindset, not just a footprint. This first one is their, and your, protection against being labeled a fad.
Engage all the senses. From my perspective, this is where you consider how to weave together human, technical, and organizational practices such that they work together, not against your goals. It’s also where I realize that my presentation of these ideas is much less colorful, and perhaps less likely to scale.
Growth is something we all assume will happen. Invent something cool, deliver a needed service, and you will naturally prosper and increase revenues, right? But what if there is a better way to grow, or scale? What if you need to constantly check whether it’s time to go “Buddhist” style or “Catholic?” What if growth depends on regularly stoking “hot causes” and linking them to “cool solutions”?

Bob Sutton is a veteran Stanford professor and organizational guru who has written ground-breaking books about the nuances of interpersonal and management innovation, often with his characteristic humor and humanity in such bestsellers as The No ARule.

Here, he has teamed up with fellow Stanford professor, Huggy Rao to tackle something incredibly complex and important: Why do so many businesses stumble as they grow? Sutton and Rao tell us in engaging, behind the scenes stories why Google and Facebook have scaled effectively while Starbucks and others have stumbled. Flexibility is a key positive message: Facebook advocates fast development and gives engineers the leeway to “feel safe to break some stuff along the way; they also widely promote “hack a month” where each year employees are loaned to another group for a month. Google, surprisingly, despite its meteoric growth, “has always been notoriously slow to hire…every new hire is still approved at the organization’s highest levels.”

One of the things you can count on in a Sutton book are stories you’ll be able to tell at your next business dinner or meeting. But unlike so many books today, these aren’t just culled from business articles or the web. Bob and Huggy have interviewed dozens of top executives at many of the nation’s premiere companies.
Download Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less – February 4, 2014

CantikSigi545

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