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Amazon.com Review
About the Author
John Kotter has been on the faculty at Harvard Business School since 1972. He is the author of eleven award-winning titles and frequently gives speeches and seminars at Harvard and around the world. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Holger Rathgeber spent his early professional career in Asia. He has worked in industry since the early 1990's and is now with one of the leading medical technology companies, Bectom Dickinson. Raised in Frankfurt, Germany, Rathgeber currently resides in White Plains, New York.

Watch a video clip featuring author John Kotter

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Customer Reviews (95)

Überraschend eindimensional
Die Idee, Change Management als Fable zu erklären, fand ich witzig und habe deshalb das englische Original gekauft (leider nicht für den Kindle verfügbar - dann halt als Printbook). Hatte vermutet, dass es auch ein bißchen lustig zugehen würde und man trotzdem etwas lernt. Bin aber ziemlich enttäuscht, auch wenn es viele gute Kritiken gibt. Demnach können offenbar viele etwas mit dieser amerikanischen soft lecture Art anfangen, ich gehöre allerdings nicht dazu. Die Konflikte und Handlungsweisen der Pinguine erscheinen mir doch sehr eindimensional und aufgesetzt. Wenn es in der Praxis so einfach wäre, dann bräuchte man nicht so viele Bücher über Change Management. Jetzt soll eine Fabel natürlich gerade vereinfachen und auf's Wesentliche reduzieren, bloß tut sie das für mich nicht. Mein Fazit: Entweder mit Tiefgang oder aber richtig einfach und lustig. Aber so ein Mittelding ist mein Ding zumindest nicht...

Why Penguins
Usually a fan of short easy to read concept books, Our Iceberg is Melting is definitely a disappointment given the outstanding work that John Kotter does in the area of change and change management.

A fable, ok- but if you need to keep interrupting the story with the obvious such as penguins don't have arms, they can't smile or other human non-penguin like traits, perhaps another animal or mammal or even human should have been chosen.The constant references to the fact that we need to use our imaginations was a huge distraction.

Even the section of the book titled "case for the book" (pgs 139-146) is put together better then the entire rest of the book.At least there, he is describing the need for change in a manner relevant to the readers who would be interested in a book on change.

The author is correct in that "fables can be fun" but this one missed the mark.

Don't waste your time
Another simple-minded book that talks down to people.Maybe if you were 5 this would be cute, but for adults...don't think so.Too often books like these are given as a "band-aid" to "help" people with the change.Maybe some people need that.

I think that if a corporation is going to go through a change, at least for me, just tell me what you're doing, why you're doing it, and if I can get on board with it, fine, and if not, then that's my problem.

Keep it simple.End of story.

A Fabulous Fable!!!
Adulthood oftentimes involves abandoning the fantastic fables that have served to form us. John Kotter revisits this "monstrosity of maturation" by emerging us in a yarn about change, group dynamics and well - life.

We need more adult story-tellers who take us back to those methods of learning that are so powerful in our formative years.

Perhaps, it's what we must unlearn that matters most in adulthood. Kotter points the way in this wonderful tale.

light read that illustates important points
On the surface, this book appears to be ridiculously simple, unless you've read Leading Change, also by John Kotter and realize that changing an entire organization is never simple.

This is another easy to read book in the business fable genre that takes advantage of the appeal of a good, if light, story. The characters of the story are the members of a penguin colony who slowly - some more slowly than others - come to realize that the iceberg that they call home is in danger and that they must find another.

Predictably, at first many penguins don't accept that there is really a problem and even as realization dawns on most, there are strong hold-outs that attempt to sabotage the change effort underway.Someone who had not read Leading Change might miss the execution of each of the eight steps for leading a successful change effort.But those who have read that previous book will appreciate the complexity and importance of the issue that Kotter and Rathbeber have handed the penguins.

Equally predictable: the penguins solve their problem, make a big change successfully, and the story has a happy ending.Otherwise, there would not be much point to reading the story.

This is a light read, to be sure, but one that will appeal to those that would like to see the execution of the eight steps outlined in Kotter's previous book.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Snooker Champion - John Spencer - Autbiography
JOHN SPENCER'S NAME IS SYNONYMOUS WITH the halcyon days of snooker in this country.

Along with his friend and rival Ray Reardon, he helped to popularise the sport to such an extent that in the 1970s it became one of the UK's top televised sports, attracting millions of viewers for the major championships. Spencer was born into a poor working class family in Radcliffe, Manchester on June 18, 1935 with the country still suffering the aftermath of the economic slumps of the 1920s and 30s and plunging headlong into the Second World War.

As a youngster, he spent his formative years growing up in the shadow of the conflict. At the age of 15 he took up snooker, a game for which he had a rare gift, and was soon making century-plus breaks, but his National Service intervened and he gave up the game for over ten years. His appetite for snooker never diminished however, and in 1963 he entered the English Amateur Championships, reaching the final before being beaten by Reardon. He was runner-up again the following year before finally claiming the title in 1966 by beating Marcus Owen. He then went to Karachi to compete in the World Amateur Championships, where he lost to Marcus's brother Gary in the final.

Gary Owen, Reardon and Spencer then turned professional, the first new professionals in the sport since 1951, marking the beginning of the modern era for snooker. At the 1969 World Championships Spencer gained his revenge on Owen to win the first of his three World titles and begin a domination of the sport by himself and Reardon that was to last the best part of a decade. Reardon triumphed over Spencer in the 1970 semi-finals, but Spencer was to claim his title back by beating Warren Simpson the following November in Australia in what were the de facto 1971 championships. Beaten by Alex Higgins in the 1972 final, he did not claim his third and last World title until 1977, when he won the inaugural event at the Crucible, a place which has since become the home of the World Championship. However, during this period he won several other tournaments, including the Norwich Union Open Championship (twice), the Benson and Hedges Masters and the Benson and Hedges Irish Master. But it was his role in the legendary Friday night television programme Pot Black which catapulted him into the nation's consciousness.

He won the Pot Black title on no less than three occasions, in 1970, 1971 and 1976, and his celebrity status was assured. Double vision affected his play by the end of the 1970s and he won his final title, the Holsten Lager International, in 1979, although he did reach the quarterfinals of the British Open in 1987. He became a popular broadcaster noted for his intelligent commentary and dry wit, and, moreover, his popularity within the sport saw him spend six years as chairman of the sport's governing body, the WPBSA, from 1990. But perhaps the defining moment in Spencer's life occurred on May 9, 1985 at the Pontins tournament in Prestatyn when the double vision problems, which he had been experiencing sporadically for the best part of ten years, became much worse. He was diagnosed with the rare condition Myasthenia Gravis and it is a condition with which he has to live with for the rest of his life. Out of the Blue, Into the Black is John Spencer's own story of his struggle with Myasthenia Gravis, his early life of poverty in wartime Manchester, his magnificent snooker career and his memories of the men who he played alongside.

A rare glimpse of a golden era in British sport is accompanied by Spencer's observations on the way the game has developed since his retirement. Painfully honest, funny and, at times, sad - this is the account one man's journey from greatness through to the unknown and the brink of tragedy.
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Product Description
Evidence Concentrate is a high quality revision guide which covers the main topics found on undergraduate evidence courses. The clear, succinct coverage of key legal points, including key cases, enables students to quickly grasp the fundamental principles of this area of law. The book focuses on the needs of students to succeed in their exams, showing how all the legal rules fit together and the approach that should be adopted when answering questions. A range of pedagogical features help with preparation for exams and suggest numerous ways to improve marks.

OUP's Concentrate series is endorsed by students and lecturers for level of coverage, accuracy, and exam advice. Evidence Concentrate has been rigorously reviewed by law lecturers from a range of universities.

Evidence Concentrate is accompanied by a free, open-access Online Resource Centre (www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/orc/spencer_concentrate) which offers the following resources to support students:

- Multiple choice questions which provide instant feedback
- Interactive flashcards of key cases (the student is presented with a case and has to supply the principle, or vice versa)
- Interactive version of glossary
- Updates to case law and legislation
- Further reading
- Web links to key online sources
- Advice on revision and exam technique authored by renowned textbook writer and experienced examiner Nigel Foster, Professor of Law and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham ... Read more

Product Description
This book presents Spencer's classic attempt to expose the flaws in socialism and to assert political individualism as the best way to guarantee social progress. It will be of interest to both undergraduates and specialists in politics, political theory, social policy, sociology and history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Alternative publishing outlets:
If you want Spencer's Man vs. The State, you may as well purchase it from any number of independent libertarian publishing houses, the Mises Inst. in particular. ... Read more

Product Description
To keep pace in this rapidly changing arena, the new edition of this introductory text in clinical ethics carries forward an approach tested over time with clinicians, students in the health professions, and members of ethics committees.The new edition is admirably current with, and informed by, the extensive literature in clinical, ethical, and legal topics relevant to these problems. In many ways this text serves as an important model for creative work in bioethics. First, it is interdisciplinary and interprofessional, not merely multidisciplinary and multiprofessional. Members of different disciplines and professions talked, taught, and wrote with each other to develop clear and compelling ideas about clinical ethics. This text provides the fruits of their conversations. . . .In short, this book reflects an ideal approach to both teaching and scholarship in bioethics.From the Foreword, by James C. Childress, PhD ... Read more

Product Description
One of the most highly regarded educational theorists of our time explains that the ideas upon which public education was founded—and which continue to dominate our educational thinking—are wrong. Kieran Egan diagnoses our school problems in a radically different way, shows why our attempts at reform are doomed, and offers promising, novel alternatives.

“As we have come to expect from Kieran Egan, this book is full of brilliant insights. He has a great gift for posing fundamental, yet non-obvious, questions in such a way that we find some of our most deeply held assumptions up for grabs.”—James Wertsch, Washington University, St.Louis

Kieran Egan is professor of education at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia. A recipient of the Grawemeyer Award in Education, he is also author of the best-selling book The Educated Mind: How Cognitive Tools Shape Our Understanding and many other books and articles about education.


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Customer Reviews (3)

Beyond the obvious
Can't agree with the reviewer below about the dry hard-going style of the book - in fact it must be one of the most engaging academic works I've read (took less than a day). I just found it not a trivial matter that when someone is writing about the flaws of both "traditional" and "progressive" education which thwart their attempts to engage children's minds and imagination - then he himself be able to avoid the same mistakes he criticizes. And Egan goes far beyond this. He's a great story-teller, and he has a great story to tell - about the "permanent revolution" in education that has been going on forever, but succeeded very little, and the likely reasons for this.

Of course education - like the youth in general - has been spoiled since Plato, if not the upper Neolithic. So beware - you might not be the first one to seek a cure, and you definitely wouldn't be an exception if the cure you devised - back to the more natural types of learning! just let the child follow her natural course of delevopment and be a support! just take off from where the child is currently situated in terms of "stages"! just let her learn how to learn... would turn in results more drastically defective than the problems you began with. The point Egan makes is that these proposed progressive solutions the development of which he so engagingly follows from Spencer through Dewey and Piaget to our days -
together with studies in cognitive psychology and neuroscience of learning etc. are of modest help if we're not philosophically soundly positioned in what is unavoidably a philosophical problem - how do we devise being a wholesome human being? Only by outlining a qualitative theory of development in answer to this can we have real use of quantitative test results, or even decide how relevant are they to our educational aims.

So even though basing his theory naturally on observations (and not an insignificant amount at that), Egan doesn't try to strike us with his latest research findings as to the deep seated nature of children's thinking at this or that stage and respective cognitive capacities, which have often had the appalling tendency to overlook what children CAN do (perhaps much better than adults) in favor of what they can't - but envisages his own "not merely objective" approach to teaching as story-telling. A form of education that would make use of the story-form with all it's accompanying characteristics such as the narrative structure (with beginning, unfolding, and an end-conclusion), binary oppositions, rhythm, metaphor etc. which are all basic tools of thinking and categorization in general. It's remarkable how little attention is paid to these motives in textbooks, as if they were a threat to serious scholarship and objectivity (regarding the roots of such an attitude, see Havelock's excellent "Preface to Plato") on the one hand, and on the other - as if they could ever be evaded in principle, regardless of whether we "like" them or not. (see Lakoff and Johnson's "Philosophy in the Flesh" for instance). The author himself definitely knows how to use these devices of information organization when building his philosophical anthropology for the development modern man, both descriptive and proscriptive.

Egan really brings us closer to the center of problems facing us when trying to understand and improve the situation of our current educational practices. A vastly important and very accessible work.

A word of warning though - if you're already familiar with some of Egan's prior work, you probably won't find so much new stories added to the edifice with each new book, as rather getting a look from a different angle.

Getting it Right in Hindsight.
This is an outstanding title for a book and I could not wait for it to arrive in the mail.The author proves to be quite witty and authoritative regarding the history of education and the way in which it has been influenced, and in turn dominated, by the progressives.His recapitulation of the career of the Herbert Spencer was quite insightful but no where is Egan stronger than in the chapter that discusses the impact that progressivism has had on the study of history and all other forms of knowledge that are not directly useful to the real world (such as Latin).

Many of his observations about progressive education are worth highlighting, but the reason I could not give "Getting it Wrong from the Beginning" a higher rating is that I did not find the book to be particularly readable.It is a dry slog that takes longer than one would expect based on its less than 200 pages.Had he included more examples from our modern public schools I would have found it more useful as a reference work.Egan's put considerable thought into his positions though so the book is definitely worth a serious skim.

Getting it wrong form the beginning
It has been a long time since I read a book that both frustrated me and at the same time challenged the most fundamental "truths" that I have been taught about education. It is easy to both love some of the insights in this book and then be left lost trying to understand the alternative. I think I would of gained a better understanding of Egan's insights if I had read the predecessor The Educated Mind. One of Egan's main arguments is that the progressive school and its theories have resulted in "the reduction of academic content in primary schools in the 20th century". All the emphasis on making learning "natural" and "play-like" has cheated American students out of acquiring "cultural-cognitive tools" which should be the basis of all education.He challenges many of the long held beliefs of education and if anything I would recommend this book as a way of reconsidering the psychological pillars of education that all new teachers are trained in. ... Read more

Product Description

The basis of this story is an autobiography that has been changed into pseudo form. Any original names or title that have been left in are necessary and have been assessed as safe to use. However, most are not the original names. Although some segments of the story may be very near the truth, most presumes situations have been modified or are fictional.

The story involves poverty, institutions, sadness, happiness, disappointment, love, and romance, and plenty of humour. It also travels with the British Royal Navy, with minimal references to wartime activities.

The journey starts in London, England and then continues through to other parts of England and then on to the Mediterranean, Sri Lanka, Japan, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, Singapore, the West Indies, USA, Canada, Africa, Hong Kong, and finally back to Australia. ... Read more

Product Description
While the major American art museums boast record attendance in six and seven figures, there are hundreds of museums across the country with impressive collections, imaginative architecture, and creative programs that do not get the attention they deserve. This comprehensive resource guide to American art museums and galleries provides details about 1,680 famous and lesser-known venues, such as temporary exhibitions, number and size of galleries, attendance figures, and types of objects in permanent holdings. Illustrations of facilities and objects in the collections enable the art lover to plan more efficient trips and discover hidden treasures in an off-the-beaten-path venue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great for art museum visits to other US cities
Do you wish you had an easier way to decide which city's art museums to visit?Russell & Spencer make it easy to decide on both the city and its art museums.The beginning of each state's chapter presents a map of the state with numbers attached to each city.The numbers represent how many art museums are in that city.This allows you do decide which city to visit, depending on how many days you can devote to the city.Each museum writeup gives you just enough info to get a feeling for what makes the museum special.As a bonus, attendance figures are given, which gives you an idea of the relative importance of each museum.This helps with time budgeting. I would not visit another city without Art Across America.

Perfect for travel planning
We purchased this book from an art museum while on a driving trip. We used it all during out trip to make our stops a learning pleasure. It is amazing what wonderful art is out there in small museums. This book will be used whenever we plan a trip. If would be perfect for someone traveling in a motor home. ... Read more

Product Description
St. Johns River begins in the swamps in southeast Florida, then passes 310 miles through many lakes, communities, forests, and swamps north towards the Atlantic Ocean near Jacksonville. As a resource, it has been enjoyed by millions, but few know its full and fascinating story. It was explored by both the Spanish and French, and hosted a thriving Steamboat trade. Today it has become a popular recreation and tourist site. Illustrated by 300 vintage postcards, this book takes a virtual tour from St. Johns River's source to its basin, with stories of its history, tributaries, cities, and attractions along the way. ... Read more

Product Description

This book explains, demonstrates, and applies techniques that intersect with two great tools of the Information Age. The first tool&emdash; the database&emdash;is relatively old. While the second tool, the Internet, is still quite young. And when you pair these tools&emdash;voila! You can create powerful web pages.

With the help of this book, you will learn to incorporate databases into your ASP applications using ADO (which provides a set of objects that you can connect to, read from, and write to). You'll gain comfort installing necessary software handling stored procedures. And this book will answer many real-world questions, complete with code for you to copy and paste.Amazon.com Review
As a tutorial, Beginning ASP Databases offers an entry point to one of the most crucial aspects of Microsoft-oriented Web development--database integration with Active Server Pages. In Beginning ASP Databases, a trio of authors covers the basics of working with databases from ASP--especially using ActiveX Database Objects (ADO).

The book is quite substantive in content but is written in a somewhat light-hearted style that makes readers new to the technology comfortable. The authors begin with a discussion of the benefits of ASP and ADO, and then explain how to configure the technology on the various flavors of Windows. From there, they show how to access databases using ADO, demystify how it all works, and focus on several key areas, including debugging, SQL, and stored procedures.

Plenty of code examples are included, and each is captioned with step-by-step explanations. Exercises and quizzes also complement the material. Throughout the book the authors identify some quite useful techniques to employ and traps to watch for--nuggets of knowledge that will set new ASP programmers on the right track. A lengthy case study ties it all together with a real-world example.

If you're planning on building Web sites on the Microsoft platform, ASP/ADO database access knowledge is essential. This fine guide offers an excellent way to get up to speed seamlessly. --Stephen W. Plain

Topics covered: ADO/OLE DB architecture, SQL, recordsets, databases and cookies, error handling, command object, stored procedures, irregular data handling, performance testing and tuning. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (125)

Fantastic ASP DB Reference
I picked up this book while developing ASP with an Access backend for my own web site.I found this to be a terrific reference to learn how to communicate with ADO and it made database access/updating a snap!!

With the switch to ASP.NET and henceforth ADO.NET this book isn't as necessary as in the past (the author has a new book relating to this very topic), but if you are running ASP on your web server and need to communicate with Access or SQL Server you will not be disappointed!!My only complaint relates to the fact that nearly every example is written in VB and not JScript.I find Jscript to be a better server side language to use in the pre .NET world and would have liked it more if the author had mixed up the examples he uses in this book.Aside from that, the book is wonderfully organized and I found it to be very useful.

**** RECOMMENDED

A Must Buy for Beginners!!
As a web designer, I've always wanted to learn how to use ASP to access database records and use them in my projects.This book has given some great instruction and examples that will help beginners start a foundation of good coding and functions that they will use all the time.Thanks so much!

Excellent Book
Although I had an advanced degree in Computer Science all my project experience was in the field of non-web-based application development. So when I entered the web application development market I needed a fast paced book to teach me how to convert my skills from the usual database development to a web based one.

Although many online articles were helpful this book was the reason I understood many concepts.

Its a perfect book for a beginner but if you are already experienced in programming/databases this wouldn't be a bad place to start off web development in ASP (this is not ASP.NET).

The Real ASP Bible
This book took me from Frontpage Websites to being a real website developer. I've gone back to it hundreds of times. This is the Moby Dick of the ASP coding world.

Not well written
In my opinion, this book isn't well written.The authors seem to talk about certain subjects before they even teach you what they are talking about.The book also likes to jump around.Even though this book isn't a total waste of money, it should explain in more detail certain subjects that the author should know, might be a little confusing to the reader. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "John Spencer," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have John Spencer in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with John Spencer when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name John Spencer, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1815 edition by Longman, Hurst, and Co., London. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1904.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1901. This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1814 edition by Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Co.; etc., London. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more