Uncommonsense Books for September 2008

Industry Transformers - Dan Sullivan
In a world where the Unions and other entitlement entrenched bureaucrats are screaming about offshoring, trade imbalances, a faltering economy and job losses, Dan Sullivan profiles eight entrepreneurs who are far from being the victims of the new world. These eight entrepreneurs whose businesses touch the field of education, patent law, commercial cleaning services, marketing, student loans, accounting, mortgage lending, and private jet cleaning services, have not only bypassed commoditization and complexity but triumphed in the process. This book is a must, ( as well as Sullivan’s lifetime focusing program The Strategic Coach) for entrepreneurs.

CrowdSourcing - Jeff Howe
The age of collaboration is on us and engulfing us wherever the web can be found. Jeff Howe talks about how the web can be used to get closer to your customers and the world they inhabit by asking them to design the products and services they would like to buy. Using American Idol, Proctor & Gamble, iStockPhoto, and Threadless as examples of modern day successful crowdsourcing, this book is one of many to have in your collection about the new consumers and the web that’s creating them. Web 2.0 is now the world’s largest retailer and soon you’ll understand why.

The Gridlock Economy - Michael Heller
Why do airline pilots have to change radio frequencies nine times in the course of a one hour European flight? Why is the US Patent and Trademark office two years behind? Why does 90% of bandwidth in the country go unused? What are the repurcussions of too much ownership and not enough collaboration? This is a great book to understand the morass of tangled, insane, and conflicting interests that make progress painfully slow. A great book on the need to bypass existing structures and organizations to get anything done.

Taking on the System - Markos Zuniga
The author, founder of the most successful political blog in the country, The Daily Kos, has written a new primer for radicals. While I don’t agree with his liberal leanings of Democratic platforms, I do agree that he has figured out the way to wage a war for change in almost any area in need of change by using technology, common folks, and the intuitive desire we have to change things for the better. This is a great book for anyone who has a doubt that change is possible or that they make a difference. Bravo.

The Age Curve - Kenneth W. Gronbach
I liked this book. It flies in the face of traditional beliefs and perceptions of what 70 million Boomers are going to look like as they age. Some counterintuitive stuff like the demise of assisted living centers and nursing homes and the rise of “aging in place” technologies and support systems. As a Boomer, I’m tired of reading about why I’ll be broke, why I can’t afford a nursing home, and why aging is so horrible they saved it until last. What Gronbach does is give some different perspectives on how this whole aging movement is going to play out. Optimistic and informative.

The World is Curved - David M. Smick
This book should be required reading for every capitalist on the planet. David Smick is a first rate mind who creates an interesting back stage view of what is REALLY going on in China, Russia, Japan, and Europe. His support and belief in capitalism as the only way out of the early stage messes of the 21st Century is encouraging for every entrepreneur. He discusses the role of the FED as the banker of last resort for every financial servicesentity be they banks, insurance companies, or securities firms. Loved, Loved, Loved this book.