The Collaborative Enterprise. Campbell and Goold. ISBN 0738200891 Ever wonder why most mergers do not result in the synergy expected? in a concise and readible style these two lay out why the expected rsult is very very elusive. If you have been inside any of these mergers their words are twice as insightful If you work on or contemplate M&A in your future, a must have book. For all others, borrow it, read and heed it.

Outrageous (unforgettable service, guilt free selling) T.Scott Gross. If you (like me) love to sell, this is a keeper. Full of how tos and uplifting stories, its the kind of feel good book that a salesperson needs beside them when things may not be working well. Lots of examples (good and bad) An easy read. ISBN 0814479863.

Survival is Not Enough by Seth Godin. ISBN 074323387. Seth Godin writes about zooming to encompass change. His work is always original and well written. Totally irreverent as ever, Godin makes a good case for multiple rapid simultaneous testing projects through the company. Small ones that are easy to start and easy to kill. It makes total sense to do this on your website , have it evolve daily like Amazon does (but a small scale). Like the Kinetics book, Godin wants the power to be at the worker level to enable the fix to happen immediately, not through a hierarchy.You may chose to pick this up at a library as some of it is in his other books, Permission Marketing and The Big Red Fez. Useful discussions on feedback systems and how to create many many small changes (attempts at failure) in any size of company in order to find the path to the customer. It is more important to do and fail than not do and not learn anything. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results

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BIll Gates by Robert Heller. ISBN 078945159X. The Heller book is a keeper, but hard to get. Part of the Business Mastermind set, Heller researches all articles, interviews and books written by and about his subject to create a pocket capsule of the subject. Then he extracts business guidelines from the research. Very very valuable asset to your library. An easy but concise read. If you see his books on Peter Drucker and Warren Buffett I am on the hunt!

The Most Effective Organization in the United States by Robt. Watson. ISBN 060960869X,. 2001
This is a story about an organization that Michael Porter calls “the most effective organization in the US”, the Salvation Army. 5000 uniformed officers, 43 000 employees and a 3.3 million volunteer workforce with an annual budget of $3 B. This is not the best written book, but it is very useful ( a library borrow at the least). The engine that drives this army is a lofty mission and down to earth values built on consensus. There is, not surprisingly, lots of good business sense and ideas to be gleaned from this book. He references many of the books I have presented to you in the last few years. A worthwhile quick read especially if work is bringing you less and less joy ( mental paychecks). He uses stories well to illustrate his point, the book is full of validation and proof!