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1.Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by: Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein April 08, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $26.00 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $17.16 You Save: $8.84 (34%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $15.00
This was an interesting book. It talked about how to structure choices to nudge people in the right direction concerning health, wealth, and happiness. The books lays a foundation for the discipline. The authors believe in freedom of choice, but also believe that organizations have the role of nudging people towards the best choices in life. The book highlights that people are typically lazy and not proactive. It made me think about ministry in the sense that few ministers actively plan for retirement. Congregations should automatically set up a retirement fund for them and put in a certain amount of money per month. The book is weighty and not the most enjoyable read. Some of the information was more common sense advice than radically changing ideas. To boil down the book, be proactive ... Read More

2.Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by: Ori Brafman, Rom Brafman June 03, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $21.95 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $14.93 You Save: $7.02 (32%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $12.94
I have read some great books the past few months. One of these is Sway: The Irresistible Pull Of Irrational Behavior by Ori and Rom Brafman. Having loved The Starfish and the Spider, I was curious as to how SWAY would live up to its touted, will change the way you think about the way you think. Essentially SWAY is a book that seeks to identify the unseen forces that sway us in our decision making. What was fascinating is how vulnerable we all are to these psychological forces. What I often consider "rational, reasoned, logical thinking" is, admittedly, more often than not, my own "blind spots" influencing the way I think and reason. For anyone dealing with people, ministry, organizations, church work, etc. this book will be an eye-opener. All of us tend to think ... Read More

3.The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World by: Tim Harford January 15, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $25.00 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $16.50 You Save: $8.50 (34%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $11.95
The book is interesting and worthwhile to read, because it reveals studies and statistics (mostly by others) that illuminate why individuals and why society behave like they do. For example, it was surprising to learn how conclusive are the data supporting the idea that criminals actually are deterred by the severity of punishments specified by law. So we learn that criminals are more rational than many expert criminologists who argue for shorter jail sentences and condemn the irrationality of the death penalty. The book does not prove that people are mostly rational or that people are not mostly rational, but simply that if one is clever or lucky about finding data, one can pinpoint a reason behind any observed behavior. For example, the evidence is convincing that black people in the USA have ... Read More

4.The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by: Leonard Mlodinow May 13, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $24.95 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $16.47 You Save: $8.48 (34%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $15.80
... you cannot change randomness but you can give yourself more shots on goal! It's eye-openeing that genius has a lot more to do with not giving up and trying again than common sense would predict.

5.The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by: Dan Roam March 13, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $24.95 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $16.47 You Save: $8.48 (34%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $9.25
OK, I'll admit it. I use the white board a lot. I thought this book would be a quick hit group of hints to make my life/verbiage/ideas more simple and clear. I found the book full of lists, like I'm going to be doing some free flowing idea presenting at a whiteboard and still remember some arcane 12 point list. I'd actually would have given it a 1 star rating, but I know there are some people this would be good for, someone possibly who isn't already jumping out of there chair and fighting for the whiteboard. If this describes you, my suggestion is skip this book.

6.Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by: Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, Robert B. Cialdini June 10, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $25.00 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $16.50 You Save: $8.50 (34%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $13.44
Yes! is a quick read with short easy chapters, the kind you can flip back to and read to a friend or co-worker. The fact that the authors (and others) put these ideas to the test lend the book more credibility. The examples and stories are useful but I wonder if the quirky titles add to the chapters or take from them. I found this book useful and at time enjoyable. Some stuff I started using minutes after flipping the last page; with other ideas I can see a use for them in the future; and some of the stuff will likely go unused in my lifetime. The bottom line: there's something for everybody.

7.On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not by: Robert Burton February 05, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $24.95 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $16.47 You Save: $8.48 (34%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $12.99
"On Being Certain: Believing You are Right Even When You're Not" provides a compelling examination of the feeling of certainty each of us have. Robert Burton, a neurologist and gifted writer, argues that this "feeling of knowing" is a sensation, much like touch or sight. Burton proposes a well-crafted thesis, suggesting that this feeling of knowing is identical whether or not the associated knowledge is true. Through a variety of means, he draws in the reader to formulate a convincing case. Burton explains that his motivation is for the reader to question how we really "know what we know," and much of the book serves this purpose quite well. However, a few chapters distract the reader by straying away from the central thesis. At other moments, Burton seems to do the very thing he cautions the reader against: presenting a "stance of absolute certainty" ... Read More

8.Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter) by: Garr Reynolds January 04, 2008
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $29.99 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $19.79 You Save: $10.20 (34%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $15.94
A great compilation of basic and simple ideas about public presentation, yet fundamental ones. You may have read about these concepts already (e.g. Made to Stick, slide:ology), but Garr connects them nicely and the zen concept is not only refreshing, it helps alleviating the stress often assotiated with public speaking.

9.Blind Spots: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things by: Madeleine L. Van Hecke April 26, 2007
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $19.98 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $13.59 You Save: $6.39 (32%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $10.86
I found this book to be very good and I recommend it to others who are looking for ways to identify and fix performance blind spots. Explanations were very clear and I had no trouble following the content. I thought the recommendations, provided by the book to help identify and remedy my blind spots when dealing with situations and people, were excellent.

10.Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by: Carol Tavris, Elliot Aronson 2008-03
Average Rating: >>More Details		List Price: $15.00 Off The Bookshelf's Price: $10.20 You Save: $4.80 (32%) Prices subject to change. Used Price: $7.94
I'll confess, I've had moments in my life where I thought that the woman I had fallen hopelessly in love with was part of a foretold prophecy and the fact she had rejected me was sure evidence that she was a recovering sex addict having intercourse with any third rate bass player who would cross her path on a Tuesday night at the Whiskey, and that syphilis was sure to follow. To say I was raised to have strong opinions is a gross understatement. However, admitting mistakes for those strong opinions was somehow left out of the guidebook. Is someone slow to get the point? They're obviously a moron!! Did someone forget to clean up dog pee? There are sure signs of narcissist personality disorder!! My family does not "suffer fools gladly". Thankfully, we are not the exception to the rule, as is the case in point of the book "Mistakes were Made (but not ... Read More

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