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Average Customer Review
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
To be or not to be?, Jan 17 2008
I'm an ardent Bryson fan ...and although this is a departure from his normal fare, I still very much enjoyed it. I may not agree with his views on Shakespeare as the real author of the works attributed to the bard, but he tells his side of the story in an interesting and entertaining way as always. I'd recommend this to anyone who is unsure whether to follow Bryson off his normal beaten track.
As an aside, I'd also suggest you get 'Shakespeare My Butt!' and put it on your bookshelf next to Bryson's Shakespeare just to balance the 'did he or didn't he' debate - even if just for show!. Oddly enough, Shakespeare My Butt isn't about Shakespeare at all - but is a lot more Brysonesque (if that's a word) than this actual Bryson book.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Concise and to the Point, Jun 12 2009
As readers of my Amazon reviews are aware, I have read several Shakespeare biographies. This one is short, concise and, thankfully, sticks to known facts. Unlike some, author Bill Bryson refrains from wild speculation based on a reference in a play or poem which is taken as revealing some hidden aspect in Shakespeare's life. If it cannot be found in the historical record, Bryson does not dabble in it. Because of the requirements of the series of which it is a part, Bryson has to use his words sparingly, but he still finds time to promote his ideas about Shakespeare and to oppose the concepts of others which he does not accept. At the end he does a thorough job of discrediting the claim that someone else must have written Shakespeare's works. There is not much known about Shakespeare's life and this book covers it. No other book is needed.
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Bill's Shakespeare is a keeper, Feb 15 2009
Full of information on the bard - at least all that is worth knowing and written in Bryson's easing flowing style. A good and easy read.
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0 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
An invitation to take a "six-point journey", Jan 16 2008
The title of this review refers to Emmanuel Gobillot's invitation to his readers to accompany him on a "journey" to explore six separate but related leadership propositions that he identifies in the Introduction (please see Page 5). They are best revealed within the context he creates for each. He asserts that a "formal" organization is one designed with structures and processes that focus (almost entirely) on task completion. "This organization is always slow to respond to unplanned context change.
"There is however another way to look at an organization. The `real' organization is made up of the networks of relationships people have within (and outside) the `formal' organization. As a network, this `real' organization is robust and flexible. To be a great leader is not to be able to lead the `formal' organization but rather to channel the vitality of the `real' [i.e. extended] organization towards the delivery of the `formal' organization's objectives. It is this ability that I call `connected leadership.'"
The "real" organization that Gobillot recommends is based on what Henry Chesbrough has so aptly characterized as an "open business model." (I find it curious that that are no references to Chesbrough nor to the open business model in this book.) In this book, Gobillot explains how to create an agile organization for people who achieve and then sustain profitable performance. He divides the material in Four Parts. First, he makes the case for the importance of connectivity and, especially, for engagement that nourishes effective communication, cooperation, and (most important) collaboration. Next, he explains what leaders in an agile organization must be and do to succeed. Then he identifies three "levers" that enable leaders to connect through trust, engage through meaning, and sustain performance through dialogue.
In the fourth and final Part, Gobillot examines the process by which to develop connected leadership at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise. After each Part, he includes a summary of key points ("The 30-Second Recap" and "The Leadership Takeaway") followed by set of diagnostic tools. This material should be reviewed periodically by those who have designed and then established (with appropriate modifications, of course) a "real" organization.
Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out two books by Henry Chesbrough, Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology and Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape. Also Geoffrey Moore's Dealing with Darwin: How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of Their Evolution, Howard Gardner's Five Minds for the Future, Richard Ogle's Smart World: Breakthrough Creativity and the New Science of Ideas, Gary Hamel's The Future of Management, Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis' Judgment: How Winning Managers Make Smart Calls, Steven Feinberg's The Advantage-Makers: How Exceptional Leaders Win by Creating Opportunities Others Don't, and Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change co-authored by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony, and Erik A. Roth.
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