Recommended Books
These are books that I have read that I recommend. This page will be populated as books are reported in the newsletter. As I have a library of over 500 books and am always adding more, this page will be growing for quite a while!
For a dedicated list of Goldratt related books, click here.
For books that I have authored or co-authored, please visite the books page. This includes both Visible Ops and Visible Ops Security.
The Dance of Change by Peter M. Senge
This follow on book to the Fifth Discipline is great. I actually read this one first and was so impressed that I later went and bought the Fifth Discipline.
Click here to visit Amazon and learn more
The book has a website at: http://www.fieldbook.com/DoC/DOC.html
The following is a review on LeadershipNow
The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook by Peter M. Senge
This book pre-dated The Dance of Change and was published in 1994. It provides a additional perspective.
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The book has a web page at: http://www.fieldbook.com/FDF/FDF.html
The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization
by Peter M. Senge
This book is a classic on the need for organizations that learn. He covers the need for a shared vision, how to foster creativity, team learning, personal mastery and offers a primer on systems thinking. He’s a great writer and the book is a very worthwhile read.
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This book is such a seminal work that there are many resources providing insights, reviews, etc. regarding it.
The Logical Thinking Process by H. William Dettmer
This book is Dettmer’s continued work on explaining Goldratt’s Thinking Processes (TP). He sets for a methodical approach to help the reader understand this powerful set of tools. Included with the book is a licensed copy of the Transformation Logic Tree software for Windows.
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Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt amd Stephen J. Dubner
This is a great book covering economics applied to real world situations. I had the opportunity to hear Levitt talk at the HIMSS conference this past spring as well. You can tell that he uses his wit and humor to explore new areas. He once commented that economics doesn’t lack tools – what it lacks is interesting questions. So, if you haven’t read this book yet, I highly recommend it.
Click here to visit Amazon and learn more.
To look at it at Google books – click here
The Wikipedia page has many links to reviews, blogs, etc.t
Wikisummaries has a complete summary of the book.
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow
I bought the book due to how amazingly inspirational and touching I found both his original lecture and his condensed presentation on the Oprah Winfrey show. This book has sat on my “I need to read this when I have time” list to the top of the next book I will read. Randy’s passing has reminded me that we need to never forget what matters and make the most of the time we have.
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Publisher’s Sponsored The Last Lecture Website
Critical Chain Project Management
Goldratt introduced Critical Chain as a means to successfully deliver projects on time and within budget by more effectively dealing with variation during the time it takes to deliver project tasks. It is so powerful that a Japanese ministry is currently assessing mandating its use on all future projects.
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Wikipedia article on Critical Chain Project Management:
Focused Performance’s Critical Chain FAQ
Metrics for IT Service Management by Peter Brooks, Jan van Bon and Tieneki Verheijen
This is one of the best books on metrics for ITSM. The authors cover the basics of why metrics are needed, how to use them, their design and production. They then have metrics for the various process areas. What I like is that for each metric they provide the description, specification, justification, audience, constraints, danger value, target value and possible value. The book provides the reader with enough background that he/she can make an informed decision about the metrics that make sense in a particular phase in a process lifecycle.
Click here to visit Amazon to learn more.
Corps Business – The 30 Management Principles of the U.S. Marines by David H. Freedman
This is a great book. I first browsed it in an airport and then bought it on Amazon. The book is full of stories and examples. One of my favorites is the 70% principle. When all things are equal, if a solution appears that meets at least 70% of requirements, then try it and learn vs. waiting for the perfect solution to come along and it be too late to help. The book is well written and definitely worth the read.
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The Limits of Expertise by R. Key Dismukes, Benjamin A Berman and Loukia D. Loukpopoulos
This book sets forth that to understand human error and aviation accidents, one must look at the entire system – a concept that makes sense. They studied 19 accidents from 1991-2000 that the NTSB ruled were crew error. They then apply cognitive psychology to each of the accidents to review what happened.
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It’s Not Luck by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt
This novel sets forth Dr. Goldratt’s Thinking Processes (TP) that are used to identify and resolve systemic conflicts. It’s a sequel to The Goal and works through how Alex and his team will overcome serious business issues. This book’s writing doesn’t flow quite as well as the Goal but the concepts are seminal so don’t give up early on as it gets better.
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A review of the book is at: http://www.strategy-business.com/press/16635507/11768
Deming and Goldratt: The Theory of Constraints and the System of Profound Knowledge
This is an excellent book. Domenico Lepore is a Deming Scholar and Oded Cohen collaborates with Dr. Goldratt. Combined, the two do a very good straightforward job explaining Deming’s Profound Knowledge and Goldratt’s TOC and how they work together.
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Human Error by James Reason
This book was published in 1990 and provides an interesting framework of how to assess the manner in which we commit errors. Definitely a recommended book!
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Read some of the book at google books by clicking here.
Normal Accidents by Charles Perrow
This is a great introductory book to accident theory relating to complex accidents. He uses Three Mile Island, Fermi, Bhopal and other incidents to introduce the reader to a number of fascinating concepts about how accidents come about and how simply saying “human error” is not appropriate. This is definitely a book I recommend to people interested in gaining new perspectives on how accidents can occur.
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A review / summary of the book is at: http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~piccard/entropy/perrow.html
Click here for the google books entry
The Goal by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt
This is the book that started it all. Basically Dr. Goldratt had been developing finite capacity scheduling software and became increasing interested about what made companies “tick”. After studying them for a while he decided to write a business novel that would allow him to set forth some of his ideas inside a love story. Many of his peers thought it was a bad idea and the writer was so disbelieving that he insisted on being paid up front versus on a percentage – and that was a huge mistake. The Goal has gone on to sell over 5 million copies worldwide and the Theory of Constraints has been proven to work across diverse industries and organizations. Today, readers have to options, they can get the book or an audio CD.
Click here to visit Amazon and learn more about the book.:
Click here to visit Amazon and learn more about the audio book on CD.
Click here to visit Amazon and order t he book in Japanese
Software Security Engineering: A Guide for Project Managers
“Software that is developed from the beginning with security in mind will resist, tolerate, and recover from attacks more effectively than would otherwise be possible. While there may be no silver bullet for security, there are practices that project managers will find beneficial. With this management guide, you can select from a number of sound practices likely to increase the security and dependability of your software, both during its development and subsequently in its operation.”
Click here to visit Amazon and learn more
Their website:
http://www.softwaresecurityengineering.com/
A podcast on the topic: http://www.cert.org/podcast/show/20080527allen.html
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