Best Business & Investing Cheap Books Reviews

 This study was stimulated by Mr. Bill Meehan’s (head of McKinsey in San Francisco) observation that Built to Last wasn’t very helpful to companies, because the firms studied had always been great. Most companies have been good, and never great. What should these firms do?

Jim Collins and his team have done an enormous amount of interesting work to determine whether a good company can be come a great company, and how. The answer to the former question is "yes," assuming that the 11 of 1435 Fortune 500 companies did not make it there by accident. The answer to the latter is less clear. The study group identified a number of characteristics that their 11 companies had in common, which were much less frequently present in comparison companies. However, the study inexplicably fails to look at these same characteristics to see how often they succeed in the general population of companies. If these characteristics work 100 percent of the time, you really have something. If they work 5 percent of the time, then not too much is proven.

(more…)

  I don’t often write reviews on Amazon.com but I felt compelled to write one for this book because the author has convinced me to change my assumptions about worklife and personal goals. This is an easy read. Althought I am a slooooow and easily distracted reader, I finished the book from cover-to-cover in a few sittings. I even spent some time researching the weblinks but didn’t do all the challenges because I was eager to absorb all the ideas first.

It is probably best to read the book one time through quickly to grasp his point of view (the author even gives a brief blurb on how to speed read). Then after you "get it" take some time doing the challenges if you feel so compelled.

I have already implemented one of the author’s recommendations in my daily life….check email only twice per day: right before lunch then again an hour before the end of the day. Process every email at the time you read it. Seems a simple challenge but I did suffer "withdrawal symptoms" from not constantly checking email. And you know what? Because I stayed focus on the task at hand and not constantly checking email I left work last Thursday (April 27) feeling less stressed and more accomplished. This is only a brief part of the book but to me was impactful.

(more…)

Suze Orman is right on track with this overdue, and badly needed book directly aimed at women who in Suze’s words are dysfunctional about MONEY. The same ladies that can earn doctorate degrees in esoteric subjects just shut their eyes when it comes to money. Although Suze takes shots at what the reasons might be behind this behavior, whether it’s upbringing, cultural, or anything else, it doesn’t really matter.

What matters to Suze is DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM, and does she deal with it. In this entertaining, easily read book, Suze will teach you to EXECUTE SOLUTIONS to your money problems. I have to tell you, after spending 35 years in the money business myself, this best-selling author is spot on accurate - it’s about EXECUTING. It’s no longer about thinking about your money issues; it’s about DOING SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR MONEY ISSUES.

(more…)

I am learning a lot reading this, even though I’ve followed the economy for years. The preface summarizes the situation and outlines the book, but is maybe slightly dense and technical for the average person.

But the first chapter is great for giving perspective on how the US economy has evolved, especially the troubles of the stagflation period and what caused that.

The book goes up to November 2007, with a clear understanding that the credit bubble was going to have to unwind, and it was either going to cost $1 trillion, or, if the government tried to paper it over, a lot more.

(more…)