Book Reviews

"Discipline Without Punishment" turns the traditional progressive-discipline system into something that can truly turn performance issues around rather than just serving as a vehicle for documenting poor performance. I think it codifies into a system some things that good managers do by nature.

The most noticeable difference between the traditional system and DWP is the Decision Making Leave. Rather than the normal second to last step of suspension without pay, DWP uses a suspension with pay called the Decision Making Leave. The leave is for a single day. During that time the employee is being paid to think about whether he really wants to work for the organization. On the work day following the suspension, he must return with a decision to either solve the performance problem or to quit and find more suitable employment.

I attended Dave Ramsey's EntreLeadership one day event today. If you don't already know it, Dave is a reading machine.

I attempted to record every book that was mentioned during the lessons today. It's a great collection of business, finance, leadership and marketing books. I have read many of these and have most of the others on my reading list. These are listed roughly in the order they were mentioned.

Do Something! by Miles McPhereson is a call for Christians to move from belief to action, from head knowledge to serving and loving "the least of these" (Matthew 25:31-46).

In addition to “flashbacks” to the life of Christ, through the stories of the author and others, he presents a case that we all have a call and a purpose, everyone has something to do and we need to get about doing it. For anyone who wants to do something with their life and to do what Jesus did, here’s your chance. “[Jesus] has left a model for us to do something with eternal impact for those He would send our way.”

Continuing the theme and success of “For Women Only” which aimed to help women better understand and relate to their husbands, “For Men Only” by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn seeks to return the favor to wives.

While the differences between men and women are what make marriages work, they can also be stumbling blocks to those very same relationships. Through interviews, focus groups and a detailed survey Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn attempt to explain what makes most women tick. Using six key findings, the book sets out to help men understand and love their wives better.