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"The American business approach to workplace teams is filled with powerful subtleties and is also quite different from the Japanese. The phrase, "How come all this quality stuff don't work," nicely sums up the challenge making teams work in America. Authors Robbins and Finley present practical solutions
to the problems with and misconceptions about teams that will be
valuable to any organization inclined to assign teams to work on
legitimate operational issues. Pragmatic team tips covered here
include team decision-making, communication skills with teams,
reward and recognition ideas, the importance of effective team
leadership, and the fundamental factor of organizational culture
that could help or hinder team success. The authors swap
narration of chapters, enlivening this useful handbook on how to
make the commitment to teams a success. Serves well any manager's interest in
maximizing productivity and quality improvement with teams. Recommended for all quality
professionals." -- Quality World
Why Change Doesn't Work:
From TECHNO-crazed to TECHNO-crats
Peterson's/Pacesetter Books
Princeton, New Jersey, 1995
I liked what I read on the back cover of Michael Finley's book, and I bought it as a kind of "self-defense" course to protect me from someone who has been subjecting me to their symptoms of compulsive technophoria. On the basis of my preliminary scan, it seemed like a good collection of idiosyncratic cases of technological extremism -- no great depth, but some useful ammunition.
The more I read the book however, the more I revised that judgement. This book is by far the best compendium of computer-culture wisdom that I have ever come across. Both the extent of knowledge and the breadth of comparison that Finley brings to bear on this topic, are truly exemplary.
Let me give you a few specifics:
There is a short test to administer and score yourself, and it tells you what kind of computer person you are -- from power user to technophobe, and everyone in between. It's short, simple, and very insightful. And on the basis of both mine and my wife's results, I can assure you that it's right on!
There is a running thumb-nail history of the evolution of computers that is better than many of the other books and charts I have seen elsewhere. And, it is modularized (the secret of good instruction), so it doesn't sidetract or waste time.
The advice on how to develop a relationship with an after-sales service provider, is a gold-mine of useful tips. We are all lost without repairmen and online help desks, yet we usually deal with these people haphazardly, and they don't do much better by us. Finley explains how and why we need each other, and how to behave to minimize difficulties.
The essential theme of Finley's book is that both technophoria and technophobia are undesirable extremes (I suspect they are forms of psychopathology) that should be avoided by anyone with good sense (wisdom). Neither lionizing nor demonizing gizmos is a fit attitude for self-respecting adults.
Throughout the book, Finley recommends frugality, self-reliance, patience, and good sense when dealing with computers and technicians -- and these are precisely the virtues which my own experience also recommends. There is, in addition, much more of value in the book, which is exactly why you should buy it, read it, and take it to heart!
TECHNO-CRAZED
The business person's guide to controlling technology before it controls you
by Michael Finley
Copyright © 1998 by Michael Finley
"Finley examines the issues of 'computer mania' with clarity,
comedy, and comradeship, making us feel that normalcy is within
reach. I highly recommend this book to every compulsive
computer user -- and to anyone who knows one." -- Steve Deyo
Michael Finley
Paperback
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The NEW Why Teams Don't Work
by Mike & Harvey Robbins
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A fully revised second edition of this award-winning classic
by Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley
Paperback
Table of contents and sample chapters of this book...
Techno-Crazed:
The Businessperson's Guide to Controlling Technology-Before It Controls You
"Finley examines the issues of 'computer mania' with clarity,
comedy, and comradeship, making us feel that normalcy is within
reach. I highly recommend this book to every compulsive
computer user -- and to anyone who knows one." -- Steve Deyo
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Michael Finley
Paperback
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Why Initiatives Go Wrong and How to Try Again and Succeed
Harvey Robbins, Michael Finley
Hardcover
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"This is the first treatise on change we've seen that is actually entertaining. The authors cover human and organizational barriers to change and change theories, and then take a tour of management theory that's guaranteed to upset every reader at one point or another." -- HR ONLINE
Table of contents and sample chapters of this book...
AN INTERNET BOOK REVIEW
by William Sheridan
TECHNO-CRAZED
Michael Finley
"How To Avoid Cyberspace Stupidity"
- Living with technology
- And why we can't slow it down
- And whose fault that is, and what can be done about it
- What to look for, what to ask for, and how to say it
- The importance of a solid repair partnership
- The challenge of affordable computing
- Death and disease were not supposed to be part of the deal
- Eco-schemes for users worried about the world
- Eliminating the distance between technology and user