From Cubicles 2 Cabins: A survival guide to your first job by Sanket J Danatra

Hi Friends

This book, is as it name suggests, Lots of Good Gyan to survive during first year of Job, by this IIM A passout. And, I think the contents are relevant not all to rookie but to all the professionals.

The book has been written in a very informal manner, covering most of the broad pointers that a rookie should know about. But I think, its too brief to grab a permanent RAM share of Reader’s Hard Drive J. So, I anticipate this won’t be the first book, but first of the series that will follow.

On the flip side, the book needs more structure, and should make better use of Bold, Italics and Frameworks, which definitely involves reader more.

So, in nutshell, I will recommend this book to all the rookies, irrespective of the field they are in. And, hope Sanket after his debut book, will share more Gyan in coming series.

Book Promotion - From Cubicles 2 Cabins: A survival guide to your first job

Hello Friends

This is not a review, but a promotion excerpts by the Author, my friend Sanket Danatra

It is 3 am, the year 2008. Exams done, graduation in a month, convocation a week after that. Me and dorm mates were sitting and thinking about the two years that went by. A couple of years back, we were skeptical about how easy or difficult it will be to go back to college after having worked for a few years. No salary no more, the rigor of academics. Were we up to it? Two years and a MBA degree later, we are discussing life after IIMA. Looking back at how we ended up at this juncture, how different would the work life be with the new degree.

We concluded that, ‘Life is tough’ and ‘People are stupid’. And this applies to each and every one of us, no matter how smart. In retrospect, we were absolutely naive during our first few work years. And yet luckily things worked out for us.

There are thousands of graduates from various universities all over the country, who join the workplace with all the relevant technical skills. But is that enough? What else does it take to thrive in a competitive business environment? And to find answers to this was born the first book of the Elf series – ‘From Cubicles 2 Cabins: a survival guide to your first job’

Want to know more ??? Visit http://elfseries.wordpress.com/ and get excerpts and download other freebies !!!

Book out! Order now at flipkart and avail a 35% discount on the list price.

Visit http://www.flipkart.com/books/9380349435

So enjoy reading it and gift it to your sons and daughters and nieces and nephews ! Forward this mail to all you think would benefit !

Warm Regards,

Sanket J Dantara [ http://elfseries.wordpress.com/ ]

Drive by Dan Pink

Drive
A review of Daniel H. Pink’s Book
By Peter A Hunter

Managers, recognising that Command and Control Management is no longer working, have been looking for the “something” to give to their workforces that will allow them to perform.

Their greatest mistake is assuming they know what it is that their workforces need.

All that managers really have to know is how to give their workforces what they already want.
All they really have to figure out is what that is.

Daniel Pink in his book “Drive” tells us what the workforce already want, and he also shows us how to give it to them.

There is a growing awareness today of the destructive nature of traditional management practices, usually called “Command and Control Management.”

Our workforces have long been aware of these problems but nobody ever listened to them.
What we are seeing today is an increasing volume of academic endeavour focussed on making management aware of those same problems because, as Dan Pink says;

“Management is not the solution, Management is the problem.”

Unfortunately management are not aware of the problems they create so they have no reason to look for solutions.

Daniel Pink, in this book “Drive,” not only very clearly and elegantly brings the problems to the attention of the reader but has also gone into some detail laying out many solutions that can be mixed and matched to suit individual circumstances/organisations.

All that we need to happen now is that the right people read this book, understand from Daniel Pinks analysis that they are the problem, and that they continue to read it as far as the solutions.

The book is divided into three separate parts;

The first takes the reader from a current position, perhaps of vague discomfort, or a mild annoyance that not everything seems to fit.
From this position Dan Pink takes us on a journey that starts, in time, in the late forties through an accumulation of seventy years of academic endeavour, largely disregarded because it did not fit with accepted notions of management and behaviour.

Dan summarises this section neatly with his “Seven Deadly Flaws of Carrot and Sticks.” Which he says can:
· extinguish Intrinsic motivation
· diminish performance
· crush creativity
· Crowd out good behaviour
· encourage cheating, shortcuts and unethical behaviour
· become addictive
· foster short term thinking

Together these flaws sum up the conditions that a conventional “Command and Control Management,” approach will create.

Dan quotes Richard Ryan who said that we all have the “Drive,” that is the title of the book, and that it is a part of our humanity, but whether it emerges, or not, in our lives depends on whether the conditions that surround us will support it.

In our working lives “Drive” tells us that these conditions are created by those who manage us.

What the first section of the book does is expose the management behaviour that crushes our “Drive” and leaves a potentially able and imaginative workforce unable to do original work, be creative or think for themselves.

Many managers will read this first section and genuinely believe that it does not apply to them.
These are the people who believe that the world begins and ends with them, who believe that without them nothing will happen and that other people exist to be used.

These are the people whose behaviour Dan Pink likens to coal.
“Cheap, easy, and efficient to resource but polluting and ultimately finite.”

The type of behaviour that must replace this antediluvian management model, Daniel compares to the Sun; “Clean energy that is inexpensive, safe to use and endlessly renewable.”

The book, having brought us to an understanding of the historical support for “Drive,” examines in more depth what this Drive actually consists of, how we can tap its potential and finally a whole host of tools that we can use on Monday morning to start to release the “Drive” that exists inside every single member of our workforce.

Daniel H. Pink with his book “Drive” has captured what generations of managers have never felt the need to acknowledge, that every single member of the workforce has experience, imagination and “Drive.”

The time will shortly be upon us when an organisation that has not released the “Drive” of it own workforce will not be able to compete in the same marketplace as those who have.

Those who have, will likely have read this book.

Peter A Hunter
www.breakingthemould.co.uk

Our Iceberg is Melting by John Kotter & Hogler Rathgeber

I read this book, after strong recommendation of my professional guide.

The book is in the fable form, and it reminded me of book 'Who Moved My Cheese?' by Spencer Johnson.

Though I have read the ideology of John Kotter, in one of his Harvard Press Articles, listing out his 8 steps Change Management Press, but fable is more enjoyment, less stress and more insight.

So, in general it was fabulous book on Change Management, which is becoming increasingly important, as global forces are making businesses and all other spheres of life fast changing. It actually reminds of the phrase ' Changing is Changing So Fast!!' in the book 'Future Shock' by Alvin Toffler.

Still, I think most of the management theories are unable to answer one vital question 'How to create a change, when its not actually not a zero sum game, but at the same time, also to an extent a zero sum game?' The typical and extreme case is 'Downsizing'.

And, I couldn't get the answer to this question in this book too.

But, in total its a good methodology and book to follow in any Change Management Process.

One can refer to the site of John Kotter, http://www.kotterinternational.com/Default.aspx for further details on the book and its methodology

Reengineering the Corporation by Michael Hammer & James Champy

This book was written by the authors, who coined the term 'Business Process Reengineering', which has been a buzz word since 1990's and still is.

Though this book as written in 1990's and then rewritten in early 2000's, but the approaches discussed in it are quite relevant.

The best thing I liked about the book is how the authors took me through the journey of Industrial Revolution, Adam Smith's Factory Model, Ford's Assembly line model and then back to Process based industry.

I think, this book is must read for any corporate manager. While many of the approaches discussed, may not be immediately applicable in one's environment, but it surely will broaden the perspective of readers

More works of Michael Hammer can be explored at his company's website http://hammerandco.com/

Mckinsey Mind by Ethan Rasiel & Paul Friga

I have been in corporate for around 6 years. Have attended lot of trainings on Problem Solving

And used to think that Business problems are really complicated, and we need tools like Six Sigma to solve it.

But, after reading this book, I came to understand that how easy it is, provided we follow the systematic approach with rigour. Although approach is more of common sense, but systematic and rigour are the key differentiators

Balanced Scorecard by Robert Kaplan & David Norton

I was constantly fascinated by the article written by Robert Kaplan & David Norton 'Balanced Score Card' and its sequel 'Strategy Maps'

I used to think that article is more than enough. But, when I actually read this book, came to understand the book is much more than the article.

It illustrates the Dashboard approach of Balance between Long term and Short Term strategic metrics, for a business.

I recommend this book to all the Top Management of Corporates

Rising Sun by Michael Crichton

This is the fourth novel by Michael Crichton, which I read.

Actually, it was suggested by one of my friend. And the topic was intriguing. So I picked it asap.

The novel is about, different management styles of Americans and Japanese. The front end of the story is about a murder, but backend is pure management.

Though I worked with Japanese joint venture company for 4 years and thought I knew a lot about their management style. But reading this I felt, there is lot more to learn, digest and understand.

I recommend this novel to anybody and everybody, who is interested in Japanese Management Style.

Aol.com by Kara Swisher

I read this book almost after the decade, it was published. I was apprehensive, whether should I or shouldn't I read this book. But, i went ahead.

This book gives us a snapshot of internet industry in its infancy stage. More over it tells us about the AOL-America On Line- its birth and rise.

I recommend this book to all the netizens as well as to all the brand managers. It gives us a classic case of brand management.

Goal by Goldratt

I read this book, after i was recommended by my friends atleast dozen times.

I was surprised that this book is in story form, where the author has explained lot of management tactics via form of situations arising in front of our Hero.

I was more surprised to learn that this book was a textbook of MBA students in NITIEE.

It definitely acts as a source of inspiration to all management practioners in general and to operations guys in particular.

Joker in the Pack

By Ritesh Sharma & Neeraj Pahlajani

This is the book, I saw in my friends hand few months back, during the placement season of my college.

I came to know that it’s the story about IIM life, and wanted to read immediately. But, as time was scarce couldn’t pick it.

Few weeks ago, I was out shopping, and saw it in one of the windows of the book shop, and immediately bought it.

The story is indeed about the life in B-Schools in general and IIM’s in specific. While reading it was remniscent of my life in general and my B-School life in specific. The dilemma, whether to do MBA or not? Which B School to choose? How to convert the interview call?

Then it further walked me down the lane of ragging, summers, Business Plan Competitions, Co-curricular activities, Placement fight, and of course academics.

To make the story spicy, it had a estranged love story, lot of funny incidents. And the best part was the insertion of ‘hindi’ dialogues.

I would recommend it to any B-School aspirant, student and alumunus.

Business@Speed of Thought

By Bill Gates

I picked this book recently, though written around 10 years back.

During the first few pages, I thought that I did a mistake by buying this, as most of the things or technologies mentioned in it are already in place. But, at the same time I was really surprised by the Bill’s forecasting of the future, much of it has come true.

When I further read the book, I was more than amazed. I used to think Microsoft to be only Windows and Microsoft Office. I used to think, that soon it will be cannibalized by more innovative company like Google.

But I was wrong, what Microsoft has done around 10 years back, it will take other companies around a decade from now to catch up.

The book talks about Digital Nervous System in any system, organization, society or nation. It gives a fabulous examples in industries like Healthcare, Governance, Aeronoutical and what not.
Bill claims that this book is for CEO’s of this century. But, I disagree with him on this point. This book is for any and every person living at this point of time. As we can see, the impact of Information Technology is so great on our present lives, that it has become as essential in education as arithmetic. So, I recommend this book to any and every person who wants to educate oneself on how Information Technology has and would fundamentally change our lives forever.

Its Your Ship by Captain D Michael Abrashoff

A review of the book
by: Captain D Michael Abrashoff

“It’s Your Ship”

Summary:

Peter A Hunter, author of Breaking the Mould, reviews a new and unlikely management book by US Naval Captain D Michael Abrashoff.

Body:

Captain Abrashoff has written a phenomenal book about the journey he made with his ship the USS Benfold, a guided missile destroyer, from a vessel that was failing on all counts, into the best ship in the US Navy at a time of active conflict in the Persian Gulf.

You could be forgiven for assuming that this was another book about a Gung Ho great guy who dragged his crew kicking and screaming up to standard through his sheer force of will and amazing personality.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Captain Abrashoff realised that the only way to achieve the best for his ship was for his crew to want to achieve the best.

He knew that telling his crew to be the best would not make a blind bit of difference, he knew he had to create the environment in which they would want to become the best and he did that by allowing them to become proud of what they did.

This book tells the stories of what he did, and how the crew responded, to change this crew from a collection of losers into the tight knit crew of the most effective ship in the Pacific fleet.

Captain Abrashoff ‘s efforts were always about the way his crews felt about what they did.

By changing the environment that they worked in he changed the way that they felt about what they did and the result was their phenomenal performance.

As he said, “Given the right environment there are few limits to what people can achieve.”

In this book Captain Abrashoff shows us what happens when we do receive the suggestions from below, not only the hard financial value that occurs when we do something in a different way as a result of listening to the needs of the workforce but also the change in the way that we make the workforce feel about what they do as a result of the fact that someone has listened to them Normal behaviour is to ignore the junior.

One of his crew, David Lauer, had been ignored in his last job before being transferred to USS Benfold. He had ended up on a charge of insubordination and had been transferred as a last resort.

By listening to his ideas and giving him the authority to act on them Captain Abrashoff allowed him to become the imaginative independent thinker that he always had been instead of the insubordinate ne’er-do-well he had been forced to become because nobody would listen to his ideas.

In one environment David had been ignored, the result was his dysfunctional behaviour.

On USS Benfold he was listened to and as a result became Captain Abrashoff’s personal assistant bypassing on the way five more senior people.

The fault was not his, it was the environment that had been created for him on his previous ship where nobody had listened.

Captain Abrashoff understood that the way people behave is the result of the environment that the manager creates for them.

He was the manager of his ship and he deliberately set out to create the environment in his ship that allowed his crew to take pride in what they did.

The performance improvement that resulted for his ship, and in some cases for the entire Navy, were phenomenal.

The stories that Captain Abrashoff tells in this book are not however about the Navy.

These are stories about people and how there are two ways to manage people.

The first is the traditional command and control that Captain Abrashoff found so destructive when he first arrived on the USS Benfold.

The second is the supportive recognition driven environment that Captain Abrashoff created.

The way he did this, the stories and the strategies he used, translate into almost any working environment on this planet because the performance improvement he created was not about the Navy or process.

The performance improvement on USS Benfold was about people and an understanding that the way they are treated has a direct affect on their ability to perform.

The manager is responsible for performance, but most managers drive performance down by shouting and telling people what to do.

Captain Abrashoff discovered how to drive performance up by listening to what his crew needed to do a good job, then he gave them it.

As he said: “The more I thanked them for their hard work, the harder they worked.”

Any manager reading this book will recognise problems and performance that they see on a daily basis in their own organisation.

Unlike most management books, Captain Abrashoff does not suggest academic solutions or strategies that might work.

He tells simple stories of what actually happened, what did work and can be repeated in any organisation.

Captain Abrashoff’s philosophy is simple and the results are stunning. If you don’t read this book, when you start to lose your market share, consider seriously if it might be because your competitors have read it.

Peter A Hunter
Author – Breaking the Mould
http://www.breakingthemould.co.uk/

Breaking The Mould

By Peter Hunter

This book was recently gifted to me by my friend. He has been insisting me to read it for last three years. But, I was lazy and not interested. So, now when he just gifted to me, I was caught, I had to read it. And so I read it.

The book was about the ‘Change Management’. I have myself seen, lot of consultancy projects going on in the companies I worked for. Normally, they are at the top and middle management levels. And rarely at lower management or operator level. Above all, I never saw actual results being delivered. So, according to me all these change management drives were nothing more than lip service.

With these preconceived notions, under compulsion I picked up this book. But, there was one relief, very small size of the book. So, I started reading. And found its about oil rigs. Now, oil rigs are greek to me. Still, I carried on. And after 20 pages, my interest started building up. Though I was not able to visualize the exact actions going on the rig, but I could very well correlate the attitude and feelings of human beings with the operators in the production department, where I worked.

I carried on. There was one story, then there was another. In each story, there was one technique of change management was described. It was all beautiful and vivid description.

The best part about the stories I liked was the actual results the methodology delilvered and these were the real life stories, not the cooked one’s.

At the end of the book, I was just wondering that ‘Why I didn’t read this book 3 years ago?’ I am sure, had I read it three years ago, it would have helped me and the environment around me in a substantial manner. After I read it, I just called my friend who gifted the copy to me, and apologized for not taking his advice and reading it since last 3 years.

Now, I recommend this book, to all the professionals(irrespective of the field), who want to make the working environment around them to be more conducive and efficient. And if you don’t read this book now, and do read it later on, and you remember my advice, then do mail me and apologize :)

The One Minute Manager

by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson

I read this book around six years ago, by borrowing from a co-passenger in bus. Now, how I could have read it full in the small journey. The answer is that its concise size and gripping content. At that time I was a engineering student. But, even then I was able to relate to it. Though I have read and practiced a lot afterwards in the management field, still I think it’s a masterpiece.

The book is crisp direction towards team building. It focuses on the way a effective manager and leader should treat his subordinates in different phases of their association with the organization. The phases are the induction, routine and exit.

And the best part of the methodology explained is that the One Minute Manager himself becomes trainer to bring out One Minute Management out of all his subordinates.

I think, in today’s world of time pressure, if one reads this methodology and masters it, nothing can stop him.

Rich Dad Poor Dad

Author: Robert T. Kiyosaki

Do you hate to work for money?

Are you broke at the end of every month?

Do you believe life has much more to offer to you than it has already done in terms of riches and luxury?

Do you want to REALLY get rich?

Then go ahead, read this book.

I read this book recently and it breaks all the myths about getting rich. It radically changes the mindset our culture, our peers and our parents try to instill in us. The mindset that the ONLY way to make more money or get rich is to become more education, get more academic degrees, work hard to earn more money and the list goes on.

Robert starts with comparing the teachings of his poor dad (his biological father) and the teachings of his rich dad (father of his friend). He compares the teachings of both of his fathers and tries to explain to the readers how each kind of teaching impacts anyone's path to become rich and free from "rat race".

Robert teaches in this book about financial IQ, about how to build assets, how to free yourself from the rat race. He gives tremendous examples on how to earn money and get rich by investing in real estate. He gives his own personal real time examples to show how he made money work for him rather than work for money.

The book is a total mind opener and gives valuable insight on how rich people make money work for them rather than work for money.

A must read if you really want to make big money!

Recommendation: 10/10

The Dilbert Priciple

Words can do no justice to the amazing humour that scott adams brings to the table with this book. If you are a Dilbert fan, this is a must read for you. He mocks consultants, HR policies and anything and everythings remotely connected to management right from cubicle space to TQM to compensation to leadership in this typical Dilbert satire ! A must read .. especially if you are a management student with a sense of humor :)

22 Immutable Laws of Branding

By Al Ries & Laura Ries

Smart and accessible, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the definitive text on branding, pairing anecdotes about some of the best brands in the world, like Rolex, Volvo, and Heineken, with the signature savvy of marketing gurus Al and Laura Ries. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding proclaims that the only way to stand out in today's marketplace is to build your product or service into a “brand” — and provides the step-by-step instructions you need to do so. The Rieses divulge the controversial and “rational” strategies and secrets that both small and large companies have used to establish brands. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the essential primer on building a category-dominating, world-class brand. So, one of the world's authorities on branding turns his attention to some of the best -- and worst -- decisions made by America's top companies in regard to branding.

“The 22 Immutable laws of Branding “is very similar in presentation, format and even writing style to the "Laws of Marketing". It's an accessible, easy read in which each law is broken down in to a very short chapter that makes it as enjoyable to dip in to while on the go as it does to read cover to cover. The book also covers examples cited of different companies and what were the
circumstances that could have revamped their current positions .Every example is unique and represents one of the 22 laws that the author wants to convey.

This book focuses on branding. Using brands that were current at the time, it presents the authors thoughts on how a brand should be maintained, why tightening your focus is always better than line extension and why a number of the less successful brands suffer their fates. Using a number of (mostly) anecdotal examples the essential points of what not to do with your brand are conveyed in an easy to following and occasionally light-hearted tone. Although the "The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding" contains nothing as profound as the "Laws of Marketing" it does provide some valuable insights on how the big players of the time, some smart and some not so, approached their brands and tried to exploit them.

According to Al and Laura Ries, a brand name is a name in the mind of the consumer that conveys a single proposition about a particular product or service. The power in a brand name lies in its ability to positively influence purchasing behavior. In an increasingly cluttered information society, a powerful brand image can act as a guidepost for the consumer in making a purchase decision.

What is accelerating this trend is the decline of selling. As a profession and as a function, selling is slowly sinking like the Titanic. Today, most products and services are bought, not sold. And branding greatly facilitates this process.

Branding "pre-sells" the product or service to the user. Branding is simply an efficient way to sell things. A successful branding program, therefore, should differentiate your product or service from all the similar products or services out there. A successful branding program is based on the concept of singularity. It creates in the mind of the prospect the perception that there is no product on the market quite like your product.

The concept of singularity makes certain that no one brand can possibly have a universal appeal. In this book, the authors discuss 'laws' of branding that they have found to hold true across innumerable product and service offerings. A major problem for companies is the temptation to extend a successful brand into other, sometimes only peripherally-related, areas. Such brand extensions only serve to confuse the consumer and dilute the single message strength of the core brand.

The 22 laws defined by authors are:

1) Law of expansion
2) Law of publicity
3) Law of contraction.
4) Law of advertising
5) Law of words
6) Law of credentials
7) Law of category
8) Law of name
9) Law of extension
10) Law of generic
11) Law of name
12) Law of sub-brands
13) Law of siblings
14) Law of clour
15) Law of borders
16) Law of consitency
17) Law of change
18) Law of mortality
19) Law of singularity
20) Law of shape
21) Law of fellowship
22) Law of quality

A very nice books to know about brands and how each law is applicable in different fields.

Positioning - The battle of your mind

"Al Ries and Jack Trout on Positioning:
The Battle for Your Mind", the book that launched the concept of positioning and caused a major paradigm shift in marketing thinking, define positioning as how you differentiate your product or service in the mind of your customer or prospect. It is where your product or service fits into the marketplace in relation to your competition based on the perception of your customers and prospects.

In this book, Al Ries and Jack Trout describe how positioning is used as a communication tool to reach target customers in a crowded marketplace. Jack Trout published an article on positioning in 1969, and regular use of the term dates back to 1972 when Ries and Trout published a series of articles in Advertising Age called “The Positioning Era”. Not long after, Madison Avenue advertising executives began to develop positioning slogans for their clients and positioning became a key aspect of marketing communications.

Book Description

Positioning, a concept developed by the authors, has changed the way people advertise. The reason? It's the first concept to deal with the problems of communicating in an over communicated society. With this approach, a company creates a 'position' in the prospect's mind, one that reflects the company's own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of its competitors. Witty and fast-paced, this book spells out how to position a leader so that it gets into the mind and stays there, position a follower in a way that finds a 'hole' not occupied by the leader, and avoid the pitfalls of letting a second product ride on the coattails of an established one. Revised to reflect significant developments in the five years since its original publication, Positioning reveals the fascinating case histories and anecdotes behind the campaigns of many stunning successes and failures in the world of advertising.

Introduction

The average American consumer is exposed to $376 worth of advertising per day over 365 days. With this enormous volume of communication, the only way to score big is to be selective and concentrate on narrow targets through Positioning. It’s about how you position a product in the mind of your prospect.

Do you know how your product or service is positioned in the minds of your customers or prospects?

Your company's position in the market place evolves from the defining characteristics of its product or service; namely, pricing, quality, service, distribution and packaging. It is critical for you to define their market position. If you do not, your competitors will do it for you. Through the initial strategy process or a stand-alone market analysis, at Image Perspective, we seek to discover your unique positioning. Once it is defined, we exploit it to secure a memorable position in the mind of your customers or prospects.

When positioning your company, it is important to consider the following elements: the attributes that differentiate your product or service in the market place, your competition and the demographics of your target market.

The first book to deal with the problems of communicating to a skeptical, media-blitzed public, Positioning describes a revolutionary approach to creating a "position" in a prospective customer's mind-one that reflects a company's own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of its competitors. Writing in their trademark witty, fast-paced style, advertising gurus Ries and Trout explain how to:

- Make and position an industry leader
- Position a follower so that it can occupy a niche not claimed by the leader
- Avoid letting a second product ride on the coattails of an established one.
- Positioning also shows you how to:
- Use leading ad agency techniques to capture the biggest market share
- Build your strategy around your competition's weaknesses
- Reposition a strong competitor and create a weak spot
- Use your present position to its best advantage
- Choose the best name for your product
- Determine when-and why-less is more
- Analyze recent trends that affect your positioning.

Ries and Trout provide many valuable case histories and penetrating analyses of some of the most phenomenal successes and failures in advertising history. Revised to reflect significant developments in the five years since its original publication, Positioning is required reading for anyone in business today.

YOU CAN NEGOTIATE ANYTHING

By Herb Cohen

Regardless of who you are or what you want, you can negotiate anything, promises Herb Cohen, in his masterpiece YOU CAN NEGOTIATE ANYTHING. Herb Cohen has been a participant in thousands of negotiations, including every situation imaginable, from mergers and acquisitions to hostage and terrorist negotiations for law enforcement agencies. Herb Cohen was a consultant to some of the largest corporations in North America. He has advised presidents on everything from domestic policy to hostage crises to combating international terrorism. In addition, he traveled internationally to conferences and conventions, where his entertaining and informative style made him a sought-after speaker. Successful is the right word for Herb Cohen.

Every day, you negotiate for something: from mergers to marriages, from loans to lovemaking; this book proves that prestige, money, security, justice, love - it’s all negotiable. This straight-talking guide shows you how to get what you want by dealing successfully with your mate, your boss, your children, your best friends and even yourself. As Cohen counsels, "Power is based upon perception - if you think you've got it then you've got it. Be patient, be personal, be informed - and you can bargain successfully for anything."

“Wow” is what most people would say first, after Cohen's book is finally put down. Because of his remarkable effectiveness in delivering the point of effective negotiating you feel that negotiating is not some hidden art or that ‘Harvard or INSEAD’ education is necessary to be effective in the everyday occurrences that we deal with on a regular basis. There are as many techniques and methods of negotiating as there are people and cultures in the world, but this book focuses on simplicity as well as effectiveness. The methods are hilariously portrayed and the terms are easily grasped by the reader without the necessity of classroom discussion or instructor evaluation. Guys…this is real stuff! Use this book daily and change your life forever. These are home truths on negotiating tactics from one of America's professional corporate negotiators. You are unlikely to learn much you haven't heard many times before and many of the examples are very "homely" as opposed to corporate. His writing style is casual, with a conversational tone, and his applications of techniques are presented in a down-to-earth manner that the average reader can easily relate to.

The book is divided into four sections. It begins with defining the term ‘Negotiation’- what is it, why do we need it, where can we use it etc. According to him this real world is a giant negotiating table, and whether anybody likes it or not, he or she is a participant. Herb then went on to describe the term by giving a real life personal experience. The first section, furthermore, introduces the three basic components of negotiation as the perception of power, time investment and constraints, and the balance of information between the parties. The author discusses tactics that employ these three components to control negotiations.

The second section of the book gives an in-depth description of power, time, and information. The power chapter, 40 pages long, brilliantly outlines fourteen specific types of power essential to understand when negotiating with others. Cohen effectively addresses the psychological element of power. The information in this chapter alone is worth the price of the book.

Different negotiation styles are discussed in the third section. Win-Lose and Win-Win negotiations are described in detail, to include countermeasures to avoid being victimized if involved with a Win-Lose negotiator. The examples provided in this section are both interesting and informative.

The fourth section is a short collection of additional illustrative stories. If the author had excluded anecdotes, this book would have been a twenty-page booklet instead of a 255-page awe-inspiring piece of writing, but the extensive examples effectively clarified the pertinent points of negotiation, serving as an amusing, yet effective teaching method.

This book is an excellent introduction to negotiation for the causal reader, but is not appropriate as a quick reference guide because of the illustrative nature of the text, with information buried within stories. It is not that after reading this book one will become master in the art of negotiations, rather this book will initiate one's journey in the world of negotiations. This book really gives a great launching point for those who wish to carry out successful win-win negotiations in every facet of their lives, be it at home, with suppliers, at your favorite shop or at work.

This is an absolutely fascinating book. I recommend the book to anyone interested in successful and fruitful negotiations. We all have the potential to negotiate, and this book unleashes that power. It’s a rare work of sublime genius.


NISHANT SINGH