<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--Generated by Squarespace Site Server v5.0.0 (http://www.squarespace.com/) on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:11:06 GMT--><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><title>Favorite Books</title><subtitle>Favorite Books</subtitle><id>http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/</id><link rel="alternate" type="application/xhtml+xml" href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/"/><link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/atom.xml"/><updated>2008-07-24T08:13:36Z</updated><generator uri="http://www.squarespace.com/" version="Squarespace Site Server v5.0.0 (http://www.squarespace.com/)">Squarespace</generator><entry><title>More on Goldratt's TOC</title><id>http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/3/21/more-on-goldratts-toc.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/3/21/more-on-goldratts-toc.html"/><author><name>Eric Methot</name></author><published>2008-03-21T11:00:00Z</published><updated>2008-03-21T11:00:00Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<p>Today I'm posting my mini reviews on three TOC related books: "Goldratt's Theory of Constraints", "Necessary but not Sufficient" and "Critical Chain".</p>

<p>Dettmers book <a href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/proc-improvement-books/#theory-of-constraints">"Goldratt's Theory of Constraints"</a> on the "Thinking Process" is a must have companion book that gives you
the basis for using the process yourself. The book goes in depth in all the 
topics it covers. It's really like a classroom book and well worth reading.</p>

<p>In <a href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/proc-improvement-books/#necessary-but-not-sufficient">"Necessary but not Sufficient"</a>, we follow the move towards "value" of an ERP systems supplier and how, in parallel they have evolved their ERP system into a system for management by TOC.</p>


<p>All Goldratts books are good, but <a href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/proc-improvement-books/#critical-chain">"Critical Chain"</a> is even more so.
I've learnt quite a bit about the complexities of managing in a multi-project
environment while reading this book. While some might argue that anyone
who has managed multiple projects should know this, I suspect that most of it
remains unknown to the vast majority of project managers. Otherwise, overrun 
projects would be anecdotal not the norm.</p>

<div class="book-cover" style="float: left; padding-left: 16pt;"><a href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/proc-improvement-books/#theory-of-constraints"><img alt="Goldratt's Theory of Constraints: A Systems Approach to Continuous Improvement" src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0873893700.01._PC.jpg" /></a></div>

<div class="book-cover" style="float: left; padding-left: 16pt;"><a href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/proc-improvement-books/#necessary-but-not-sufficient"><img alt="Necessary But Not Sufficient" src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0884271706.01._PC.jpg" /></a></div>

<div class="book-cover" style="float: left; padding-left: 16pt;"><a href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/proc-improvement-books/#critical-chain"><img alt="Critical Chain : A Business Novel" src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0884271536.01._PC.jpg" /></a></div>

<br style="clear: both" />]]></content></entry><entry><title>Naked Conversations</title><id>http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/2/12/naked-conversations.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/2/12/naked-conversations.html"/><author><name>Eric Methot</name></author><published>2008-02-12T11:15:41Z</published><updated>2008-02-12T11:15:41Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<div class="book-cover" style="float: right; padding-left: 16pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/047174719X/ericmethot-20"><img alt="Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers" src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/047174719X.01._PC.jpg" /></a></div>

<p>This book was cited quite a bit in another book I was reading called "The New Rules of Marketing and PR", which I will eventually get around to adding to my list of good Marketing books. It's going to be a nice change in subject area until I receive my new batch of books.</p>




]]></content></entry><entry><title>Viable Vision</title><id>http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/2/8/viable-vision.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/2/8/viable-vision.html"/><author><name>Eric Methot</name></author><published>2008-02-08T16:07:18Z</published><updated>2008-02-08T16:07:18Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<div class="book-cover" style="float: right; padding-left: 16pt;"><a onclick="this.target='new';" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/193215938X/ericmethot-20"><img alt="Viable Vision: Transforming Total Sales into Net Profits" src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/193215938X.01._PC.jpg" /></a></div>

<p>In the continuation of the TOC line of thought, I've started "Viable Vision". I'm also waiting for a new batch of four or five books related to this topic. Process improvement is one of the field for which I have considerable interest and TOC is quite interesting in that it does not look at local optimization but global optimization. I'm trying to figure out how it would apply a global service industry.</p>]]></content></entry><entry><title>Don't Make Me Think</title><id>http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/2/2/dont-make-me-think.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/2/2/dont-make-me-think.html"/><author><name>Eric Methot</name></author><published>2008-02-02T10:56:14Z</published><updated>2008-02-02T10:56:14Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<div class="book-cover" style="float: right; padding-left: 16pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321344758/ericmethot-20"><img alt="Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition" src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0321344758.01._PC.jpg" /></a></div>

<p>I've been reading lot's of business books lately so here is one that's closer to home about web usability. After a few minutes of scanning, it looks promising.</p>]]></content></entry><entry><title>Throughput Accounting</title><id>http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/2/1/throughput-accounting.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/2/1/throughput-accounting.html"/><author><name>Eric Methot</name></author><published>2008-02-01T15:25:40Z</published><updated>2008-02-01T15:25:40Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<div class="book-cover" style="float: right; padding-left: 2em;"><a onclick="this.target='new';" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471251097/ericmethot-20"><img alt="Throughput Accounting: A Guide to Constraint Management" src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0471251097.01._PC.jpg"  /></a></div>

<p>With this book I'm trying to learn more about the financial aspects of the Theory of Constraints so that I could explain to the bean counters why we might want to do things differently. Stay tuned...</p>]]></content></entry><entry><title>Zag</title><id>http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/1/30/zag.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/1/30/zag.html"/><author><name>Eric Methot</name></author><published>2008-01-30T18:54:19Z</published><updated>2008-01-30T18:54:19Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<div class="book-cover" style="float: right; padding-left: 2em;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0321426770/ericmethot-20"><img src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0321426770.jpg" alt="It's Not Luck"/></a></div>
<p>The next book in my recently arrived pile of books: Zag. A book on branding that I've decided to buy after having read Brand Simple, which I liked very much. Actually, this is a short book and as far as I can tell it's in the same vein as Blue Ocean Strategy, which I also liked quite a lot.</p>]]></content></entry><entry><title>It's Not Luck</title><id>http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/1/28/its-not-luck.html</id><link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://blogs.ericmethot.com/readings/2008/1/28/its-not-luck.html"/><author><name>Eric Methot</name></author><published>2008-01-28T08:59:02Z</published><updated>2008-01-28T08:59:02Z</updated><content type="html" xml:lang="en-US"><![CDATA[<div class="book-cover" style="float: right; padding-left: 2em;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0884271153/ericmethot-20"><img src="http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0884271153.01._PC.jpg" alt="It's Not Luck"/></a></div>

<p>I like books about process improvement. I've read quite a few about Lean &amp; Six Sigma or Both. After having read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0884271781/ericmethot-20">The Goal</a> I was ready to learn more about this Theory of Constraints so I ordered a new batch of books from Amazon. Ever noticed how these guys have cross-selling down to a science? Well anyways, I've started reading "It's Not Luck", which is the sequel to "The Goal". It's look promising though I don't really regard this book as a novel.</p>



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