Diversity MBA Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 11) Make the Impossible Possible: One Man’s Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary By Bill Strickland Doubleday Business, $23.95, 240 pages The Manchester Craftsmen Guild and Bidwell Training Center are more than worldrenown gateways to opportunity and culture in Pittsburgh’s inner city. They’re testaments to the idea that one can do well by doing good. In this case, the one is Bill Strickland, who grew up in that inner city, seized upon a glimpse of a better world, and proceeded to bring that vision to life. Manchester Bidwell has given scores of graduates career skills, and Strickland received a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant. This memoir recounts the key points in Strickland’s remarkable life, making the case that successful social entrepreneurs are fueled by two drives: a belief in what people can do given the opportunity, and a desire to build structures and institutions that create those opportunities. Strickland also asserts that each of us is capable of doing great things, given the right encouragement and nurturing. In straightforward prose Strickland explains how he did it, but the primary message here is, “you can do it too.” Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations By Clay Shirky Penguin, $ 25.95, 327 pages The communities of the 21st century aren’t formed around front porches, or churches, or any physical structure or social institution. The Internet has made possible communities of people who not only share interests and passions, but also manage to function at a high level, enjoy vigorous social interaction, and get things done. Think of Wikipedia as a high-profile example, but there are others ranging from amateur photographers to disaffected political activists. Shirky dissects the phenomenon by uncovering the equation beneath these leader-less organizations: a promise that makes sense, a tool to achieve it, and a bargain that the users can accept. Readers of books like “The Tipping Point” and “The Long Tail,” and other books that dove into the new nature of social interaction and mass commerce, will find Shirky’s tone and approach quite familiar. Good in a Room: How to Sell Yourself and Your Ideas and Win over Any Audience By Stephanie Palmer Currency, $23.95, 271 pages We’ve all been told that networking is a key skill for advancement, but not all of us ever got pointers on how to do it effectively. Palmer is a consultant with as tightly defined a niche as can be: she’s a coach for getting people to buy into projects and big ideas. This guidebook covers the do’s and don’ts of handling high-stakes meetings and similar situations. If Donald Trump was expert in the art of the deal, consider this a primer in the art of the pitch. Instead of going in for the hard sell, Palmer advises softer skills, like using listening skills to build rapport. Specific chapters offer guidance on determining who to reach out to (hint: it’s not that pile of business cards you collected from your last networking hunt), and how to work a meeting. She includes case studies from a variety of strivers. If you’re building a business and know you’re going to need some big-time help to reach your dreams, this might well be a valuable tool. How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything in Business (and in Life) By Dov Seidman Wiley, $27.95, 338 pages Some business books are glorified task manuals, culminating in a list of easy-to-remember bullet points. This is not that book. Seidman, founder and CEO of ethics and compliance training company LRN, takes a long time setting out the philosophical premise here, and that’s part of the point. His message is that it’s the quality of what we do, not the process, that matters most. Seidman draws upon a most eclectic range of case studies, from bicycle locks to the Scott Peterson murder trial. He spends a lot of time exploring the difference between “can” and “should”, and discusses the concepts of transparency, trust, reputation and culture in detail. He’s a detailed and fascinating thinker, but expect to re-read several passages to fully understand his densely stated concepts. 11 M arch 2008 Top 5 0 Co m p ani e s
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