The Project 50 (Reinventing Work): Fifty Ways to Transform Every "Task" into a Project That Matters!

The Project 50 (Reinventing Work): Fifty Ways to Transform Every "Task" into a Project That Matters!
Average customer rating:

Too Hard to pull the Content from the Marketing

Guides you in making your work and your life matter.

From ordinary task to cool, sexy, memorable WOW! projects

Useful, if (in appearence) banal and silly

WOW! This is a lot of WOW material.

The Project 50 (Reinventing Work): Fifty Ways to Transform Every "Task" into a Project That Matters!
Tom Peters
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business Life | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Motivational | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Brand You 50 : Or : Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an 'Employee' into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion!

The Professional Service Firm50 (Reinventing Work): Fifty Ways to Transform Your "Department" into a Professional Service Firm Whose Trademarks are Passion and Innovation! (Reinventing Work)

Leadership (Tom Peters Essentials)

Talent (Tom Peters Essentials)

The Pursuit of Wow!

ASIN: 0375407731
Release Date: 1999-09-21

Amazon.com

Does your work matter? Do you transform mundane tasks into "WOW Projects!"? And, most important, do you consider projects "dynamic, stimulating, a major bond builder with co-workers, a source of buzz among end-users, and ... inspiring, exhausting, hot, cool, sexy, where everyone else wants to be"? If not, consider reading this enthusiastic project primer, which joins The Brand You50 and The Professional Service Firm50 in Tom Peters's list-filled Reinventing Work series.

Stressing the importance of following a project from start to finish, Peters breaks the WOW Project (also known as the "Way Cool" project, by the way) into four stages--create, sell, implement, and exit--and 50 lists. No. 24 (titled "Work on BUZZ ... all the time!") recommends making a stir about the "WOW-worthy project," showing off your team's success with buttons, mugs, and T-shirts. Shameless? Perhaps. But if the project is truly worthy, then "parading your team's spunk is a matchless sales/marketing--not to mention morale-building--ploy."

Peters--who communicates in lists, one-word sentences, bold, capitalized, and half-tone text, parenthetical asides with jumpy punctuation, and more than a few interjections of "WOW!" and "Way cool!"--is not for everyone. Mellow readers may want, instead, to check out Eric Verzuh's The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management. But project managers seeking to shake up mundane assignments will find plenty of original, easy-to-implement ideas in this guide to getting things done. --Rob McDonald

Book Description

The common denominator/bottom line for both the professional service firm/PSF and the individual/Brand You is: the project. And for the cool individual in the cool professional service firm there is only one answer: the cool project.
A seminar participant said: "Reward excellent failures. Punish mediocre successes." So, how many of you are at work -- right now -- on "mediocre successes"? At work on projects that won't be recalled, let alone recalled with fondness and glee, a year from now?

We don't study professional service firms. (Mistake.) And we don't study WOW Projects. (Worse mistake.) There is, of course, a project management literature. But it's awful. Or, at least, misleading. It focuses almost exclusively on the details of planning and tracking progress and totally ignores the important stuff like: Is it cool? Is it beautiful? Will it make a difference? My No.1 epithet: "On time . . . on budget . . . who cares?" I.e., does it matter? Will you be bragging about it two--or ten--years from now? Is it a WOW project?

So, then: Step #1 . . .the organization . . .the professional service firm/PSF 1.0. Step 2 . . .the individual . . .the pursuit of distinction/Brand You. And: Step #3 . . . the work itself . . . the memorable project/WOW Projects.

The Project50 is a simple and handy guide that provides 50 easy steps to help the modern businessperson choose the right project, find the right team, develop strategies for success, and ultimately know when it's time to move on.

See also the other 50List titles in the Reinventing Work series by Tom Peters -- The Brand You50 and The Professional Service Firm50 -- for additional information on how to make an impact in the professional world.

Customer Reviews:

Too Hard to pull the Content from the Marketing.......2006-06-02

Too many fonts, Bold, Highlighted, Red black, !#@!#!^% marks to read what the point is. There is information in the book but you have to work hard to extract it. Too disjointed. "Paly" ("my Pal said this, my friend said that ") and condescending in style for me.

Guides you in making your work and your life matter........2002-06-01

When you learn to use this little book you can turn nasty little jobs into opportunities that are rewarding. Sounds like the same old words but it sure doesn't feel like "the same old" when you get it to work the first few times. It MAGIC and it makes your project fun, manageable, and they are all set up for further correction and deeper development.
I used to hate making some business telephone calls and after I defined the project and found the WOW in it, it became O.K and then went on to be one of my strengths and I'm making friends on the telephone now and have doubeled my income. This is powerful and Tom Peters is to big a part of our business evolution to not have as a traveling companion as we become more and more part of the global brain.

From ordinary task to cool, sexy, memorable WOW! projects.......2002-01-07

Tom Peters is an ex-McKinsey & Co. consultant, who become a management guru by being the co-author of business super-bestseller 'In Search of Excellence' (1982). He has written several books after that huge success, but nothing has come close in quality. This (little) book is part of his 'Reinventing Work' series.

The aim of this book is to make us "believe that work can be cool. That the work matters." The reason? "Work - yours and mine - as we know it today will be reinvented in the next ten years." Perhaps you believe this, but I do not. Yes, we can make work and, in this case, projects more interesting. Tom Peters comes up with a list of 50 ways how to do this. The list is split up in four parts: (1) Create; (2) Sell; (3) Implement; and (4) Exit. Each of the 50 ways raised consists of a short introduction, the main point ("the nub"), the impact, and some examples and quotes. Most of the 50 ways are quite interesting, but they could have been cut down to some 25.

I always feel disappointed when I have to write a negative review, but this time I have no choice. Tom Peters is a famous management guru and an excellent motivational speaker. I feel that he tries to bring his famous energy from his seminars across by using plenty of capitals, wild colors, abbreviations, and exclamation marks. But it just does not work (for me). There are some interesting points, but he would have been better by producing a video of his seminars or writing a proper book - like 'In Search of Excellence' (1982) - on projects. For people interested in projects and project management there is plenty of choice elsewhere. Although the book is small and consists of only 200 pages, the book is not that simple to read due to its format and structure.

Useful, if (in appearence) banal and silly.......2001-12-18

We are in the age of manufactured enthusiasm. How anyone can imagine that regular work in a business should be stimulating to the point of being really really cool is simply beyond me. Yet year in and year out, Tom Peters (and an immense cohort of lesser talents) continue to tell us that yes, work can be fun and cool, etc etc. And he continues to make the really really big bucks doing so.

Either Peters is onto something, or we are all fools for treating him like he is. What I believe is that he has inserted himself into business speak as one of our principal formulators of vocabulary to dress up our normal drudgery as something more than it is.

Peters pumps businessmen up, flatters their vanities, and sends them back to the real work with a new vocabulary of "change agents," "WoW projects," and innumerable other expressions of similar banality. He tells them that what they are doing is significant and interesting, and that they can make every project into a fantiastical thing that will change the workd as well as enhance their careers. This boggles the mind, particularly if you have read it more than once in such puffed up venues as Fast Company and Wired, which I believe bring the the profession of journalism to the crudest boosterism, akin to the promoters of primitive Western cities in the 19C America.

In Project 50, Peters offers "fifty ways to transform every `task' into a project that matters." They range from "reframing" the task as it was posed (make it revolutionary) to selling it succinctly ("metaphor time!") to implementing it ("celebrate failure"!! as a learning experince and as a useful exercise of thinking "crazy") to Exiting ("Seed your freaks into the mainstream"!). If this does not want to make you vomit, try reading it straight through. Doesn't it make you cringe?

And yet.

In my education work with managers whom I sincerely admire and who are undoubtedly highly intelligent and savvy, they gobble this stuff up and use it. While they disdain much of the ridiulous in Peters' vocabulary (the "nub", etc.), they find it profitable to discuss these ideas and it inspires them to change. Thus, I must conclude that there is something is all this hype, something useful that gets pulled out and applied. I just wish that it didn't seem so trivial and silly, so over the top for people who consider themselves writers. I saw a group of extremely bright people wave this book like it was Mao's Red Book durin the cultural revolution. It was stupefying.

So I must say: this book is useful. I make money from it too. And it changes behavior, at least in the activities that I have seen as an education professional. Thus, I must recommend it with a grain of salt. Don't get carried away, but don't have too closed a mind either.

WOW! This is a lot of WOW material........2001-06-29

I must say that this book is packed with insightful tips on how to truly create "WOW!" work. Peters is truly adapt at bringing successful theories into every day practices that can be implemented to succeed.

However, I did feel that this probably could have stopped at 20 or 25? It seemed that the books was continually stocked full of lists of things to do. If Peters truly wants to have his practices/theories implemented, he is going to have to break it down to maybe the top 10. Make one or two TTD at the conclusion of the book.

Overall, I feel that the reader will leave with useful information, and with a slight feeling of being overwhelmed.

A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down
Average customer rating:

Largely Unreadable

Less than meets the eye

Read it for the Science

Emergence disguised

Awful.

A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down
Robert B. Laughlin
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Solid-State Physics | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
Condensed Matter | Solid-State Physics | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Physics | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Solid State Physics | Physics | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe

Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe

A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of Godel And Einstein

Deep Down Things: The Breathtaking Beauty of Particle Physics

Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Godel (Great Discoveries)

ASIN: 046503828X
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Book Description

Why everything we think about fundamental physical laws needs to change, and why the greatest mysteries of physics are not at the ends of the universe but as close as the nearest ice cube or grain of salt.

Not since Richard Feynman has a Nobel Prize-winning physicist written with as much panache as Robert Laughlin does in this revelatory and essential book. Laughlin proposes nothing less than a new way of understanding fundamental laws of science. In this age of superstring theories and Big-Bang cosmology, we're used to thinking of the unknown as being impossibly distant from our everyday lives. The edges of science, we're told, lie in the first nanofraction of a second of the Universe's existence, or else in realms so small that they can't be glimpsed even by the most sophisticated experimental techniques. But we haven't reached the end of science, Laughlin argues-only the end of reductionist thinking. If we consider the world of emergent properties instead, suddenly the deepest mysteries are as close as the nearest ice cube or grain of salt. And he goes farther: the most fundamental laws of physics-such as Newton's laws of motion and quantum mechanics -are in fact emergent. They are properties of large assemblages of matter, and when their exactness is examined too closely, it vanishes into nothing.

A Different Universe takes us into a universe where the vacuum of space has to be considered a kind of solid matter, where sound has quantized particles just like those of light, where there are many phases of matter, not just three, and where metal resembles a liquid while superfluid helium is more like a solid. It is a universe teeming with natural phenomena still to be discovered. This is a truly mind-altering book that shows readers a surprising, exquisitely beautiful and mysterious new world.

Customer Reviews:

Largely Unreadable.......2007-10-24

I read loads of science books and generally take away something of value from each of them, however oddly written they may be, but this book was really a huge disappointment. It is supposedly about the concept of "emergence," as used by physicists, but it barely pauses between its random sophomoric stories and pontifications to even define -- let alone explain -- that term before we're off on a long series of almost completely unrelated topics, as for example, when he spends a paragraph, for no apparent reason I can find, snidely dismissing the possibility of building a quantum computer, and that even though several primitive versions of that device are now in operation. Maybe if you know this field inside and out this book will make sense to you. If you are looking for an introduction to the disputes around "emergence," however, this is no place to start.

Less than meets the eye.......2007-01-05

Emergence is an important concept, physically and philosophically, and Dr. Laughlin makes the case intrigingly, if not persuasively. His anecdotal style obscures rather than clarifies his arguments.

The importance of this book may come when future physicists determine whether Laughlin's assessment of the future of physics is the work of a sage prophet, or that of an overcautious member of the scientific establishment. I can predict (having no reputation to risk) that when someone writes a collection of predictions that failed to come true, Laughlin's critique will rank with the 1900 assertion that the Patent Office had outlived its usefullness since everything had already been invented.

Read it for the Science.......2006-12-21

There are some deep insights and ideas that are very well explained. The concept of emergence, and a truly different interpretation of the structure of space-time based on analogies with the structure of materials
are very well elucidated. That part is great. However the book is riddled with personal anecdotes which are intended to be funny ( kind of Dick Feynman wannebe), but somehow end up being weak if not entirely non-sequitor. But don't let that stop you. Not all Physicist can be as entertaining as Feynman - read the book for the science !

Emergence disguised.......2006-11-20

I agree with most of your reviewers--Laughlin's book is not Nobel
stuff. But give a point. It shows a laid back theorist who has
earned his prize already, and is easing into another perhaps more
important area of physics. In amongst his vignettes of personal
life he is pointing ahead in the understanding of our cosmos.

All "beyond physics" scientific progress emphasizes emergence.
Take for instance the guidance of DNA in evolution. I would in-
clude also the precise definition of the forces of nature. Any-
body out there with ideas to help this concept along?

Awful........2006-07-31

'A Different Universe' really is a complete waste of time.
Most of the anecdotes are dull. The book has no direction,
and you can find all of the 'science' and more in the
three and a half page article:
Laughlin and Pines, PNAS vol. 97 pp.28-31 (2000)

Average customer rating:

Dreadful performance piece, flaws fatally distract from value
Where is Tom Peters?
Brand You! Professional Services! Projects! Wow!
Sam Tsoutsouvas (Narrator)
Refers to audio version

Reinventing Work: The Work Matters
Tom Peters
Manufacturer: HarperAudio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Business Life | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Books on CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
Similar Items:

The Pursuit of Wow!
The Circle of Innovation: You Can't Shrink Your Way to Greatness
The Brand You 50 : Or : Fifty Ways to Transform Yourself from an 'Employee' into a Brand That Shouts Distinction, Commitment, and Passion!
The Professional Service Firm50 (Reinventing Work): Fifty Ways to Transform Your "Department" into a Professional Service Firm Whose Trademarks are Passion and Innovation! (Reinventing Work)
In Search of Excellence

ASIN: 0694523062
Release Date: 2000-03-22

Book Description

Tom Peters is universally recognized as the foremost management guru of our time. He is the co-author of the landmark In Search of Excellence, which changed the way that an entire generation thought about business. Now, in a revolutionary new audio, Peters once again challenges us - this time to undertake nothing less than a complete reinvention of work: how we think about it, how we bring ourselves to it, how we do it.

Reinventing Work presents a different approach to work, based on three lists of 50 ideas designed to enable you to protect yourself and your work with maximum effectiveness to thrive in the dynamically competitive environment of the 21st century.

The Brand You50 explains how to transform yourself into a dynamic and daring employee, a brand name (Brand You) that stands for distinction, commitment, and passion

The Project50 explains how to transform every task into a memorable, high-impact project that demonstrates your work makes a difference.

The Professional Service Firm50 explains how to transform your department into a "professional service firm" whose trademarks are passion and innovation and whose sole, powerful asset is knowledge.

With this audio, listeners will be equipped to reinvent themselves to keep pace with the reinvention of work itself - which will be one of the principal hallmarks of life in the new century.

Customer Reviews:

Dreadful performance piece, flaws fatally distract from value.......2005-07-08

Tom Peters' ideas are often a little strange, or arbitrary, but they can also be creative, avant garde, or edgy. Wading through his long lists of hot-off-the-press Notions of Success for whatever book he's publishing this year can be tedious, especially with his penchant for CAPITALIZATION and lots of exclamation points!!!!! Sometimes there are interesting ideas that are worth thinking about.

ReInventing Work was loaned to me by a friend, so I didn't even have to pony up my own bucks for it. However I knew halfway into the first CD that I would listen no more. Why?

Sam Tsoutsouvas is DREADFUL!!!!!! I don't even know who this guy is, but a look at IMDb shows he's a third-string actor/voice actor with a very short filmography of very minor parts. I don't hold that against him. What I do hold against him is that HE IS ACTING!!!!!! (See how annoying the CAPS and !!!! can be? Peters does that all the time. Okay, I'll stop now ... I PROMISE!!!!)

I noticed another reviewer said that he returned his immediately upon discovering that it wasn't Tom Peters narrating. Yes, Tom Peters can himself be annoying sometimes as he is so highly strung that he's practically shouting or pleading much of the time. But he can get away with it. Why? Because the material is his ... the ideas are his ... you can at least forgive him for being excited about sharing his ideas and passion.

Tsoutsouvas is an ACTOR. He was hired to voice act the narration for this. Is Peters getting lazy? Can't he spend a few days in a studio recording the thing himself? Tsoutsouvas was obviously instructed to be like Tom Peters, to key it up, to pump energy INTO EVERY SENTENCE!!! (Ooops, sorry.)

Motivational / self-improvement / personal achievement works such as this shouldn't be narrated by an actor. They should be delivered, with passion, by the author or at least by a success/motivation speaker who has closely studied the work in question and feels a passion for it. All I could hear in Tsoutsouvas false energy delivery while he's busy exhorting the listener in every sentence, was ACTING, ACTING, ACTING.

Motivational/success works don't do well as audio books unless the person delivering it is 100% genuine, speaking from the heart and the mind, and not just voice acting. Even a conventional narrator (more conservative performance) would have been a major improvement over Tsoutsouvas. And there is still NO EXCUSE that Peters couldn't just record the thing himself. At least he can get away with his hyped-up delivery since it's his content. You can't contract true passion from voice actor.

Tsoutsouvas is dreadful, absolutely dreadful. I stopped at 25 minutes. I did sample the other CDs to hear if it changed, it didn't. The same phony, pumped up, voice acted, melodramatic delivery throughout. What a complete waste of an audio book. Save your money. (If you doubt this appraisal, try to get a copy of ReInventing Work at your local library, and listen there before you bother to check it out and take it home.)

TOM PETERS IS REINVENTING WORK: HE'S DISCOVERED HOW TO PHONE IT IN. Message to Tom: try showing up next time and doing it yourself.

Where is Tom Peters?.......2002-08-16

Let's unite and refuse to buy this audiobook until Tom Peters himself reads it. The content of the reinventing work series is excellent and very personal, by reading the book one can feel that the recommendations come straight from Peters' gut. Unfortunatelly, having some one else exclaiming, screaming, and crying for him sounds extremely fake. I bought this audiobook and returned it the very next day. Save yourself the hassle. Peters did an amazing job reading his older book "Wow - in the search of excellence." Where is he now???

Brand You! Professional Services! Projects! Wow!.......2001-12-28

I've read the Project50 book and started to listen to the BrandYou50 material on the tape set. What can I say?
Wow! Liberating! Stretch and flex and enlarge your thinking beyond your paradigms to wonder how to avoid being boxed in by any paradigm at all. Innovate. Seek. Ask. Knock. Learn. Share. Invent. Create. Extend. Re-build. Re-define. Wow! These materials confidently assert the arrival of the reinvention of work and lead the way to establishing in it your own creative place as an independent agent of innovation and change. I wonder at times if Tom Peters doesn't recklessly recommend some bold moves that needlessly threaten whatever security you might enjoy. At the same time, I wonder if I'll regret not running faster and farther with the knowledge, insights, and ideas that Tom Peters provides and making the most of engaging the sweeping changes and opportunities that Tom describes. Follow up on the TTD's (things to do). Whether you implement these materials cautiously or agressively, it's liberating stuff. You'll find many ideas that you can apply today with good and fun results. You'll find a new way of thinking that you'll be likely to apply for the rest of your life. Consider many points of view, for sure. However, know that you'll be enriched if you hear and respond to Tom's POV. There may be no corner of the world itself that is left untouched by the creative innovation and liberation that Tom describes as it works itself out in years to come.

The tape set might have been more Wow! if Tom had been the reader himself. However Sam Tsoutsouvas is not without emotion and understanding of the material himself. A few four letter words are included which I would not recommend to my children. However, rather than being viewed as gratuitous, they can be viewed as mild and adding to the message of revolution in the way we work and its ramifications at the grass roots level.

Sam Tsoutsouvas (Narrator).......2000-07-03

There is no imitation for Tom Peters. Having someone else read his book out loud is like someone reading Maya Angelo's peotry - flat, uninspired, and ineffective.

Refers to audio version.......2000-06-16

Great books. On the audio, however, I miss"Chairman" Tom's almost manaical ranting (sometimes I listento his audiotapes wondering how close he came to cardiac arrest during recording because of passionate "overexhortion".) While I am sure the reader is an accomplished actor/narrator -- hearing the words "dude" "dudette" pronounced in a Shakespearian tone just loses something for me.

The work matters: The movement (Reinventing work)

Average customer rating:

The work matters: The movement (Reinventing work)
Thomas J Peters
Manufacturer: Tom Peters Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Human Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006R9XPA

How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers (How to Read a Financial Report)
Average customer rating:

great book

Excellent terse intro to financial statements

A pleasure to read

Arrows, Diagrams, and Simple Explanations

Uses Visuals to Show Financial Relationships

How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers (How to Read a Financial Report)
John Tracy
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Accounting | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Accounting | Accounting & Finance | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Finance | Accounting & Finance | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Business & Investing | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Financial Statements: A Step-By-Step Guide to Understanding and Creating Financial Reports

Reading Financial Reports For Dummies

The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Course In Finance for Non-Financial Managers

What the CEO Wants You to Know : How Your Company Really Works

How to Use Financial Statements: A Guide to Understanding the Numbers

ASIN: 0471478679

Book Description

Hidden somewhere among all the numbers in a financial report is vitally important information about where a company has been and where it is going. This is especially relevant in light of the current corporate scandals.
The sixth edition of this bestselling book is designed to help anyone who works with financial reports--but has neither the time nor the need for an in-depth knowledge of accounting--cut through the maze of accounting information to find out what those numbers really mean.

Customer Reviews:

great book.......2007-07-30

I spent a long time trying to find a book that could help me read a financial statement. It needed to be simple without sacrificing substance. Finally I found this book. It shows how income, cash flow, and balance sheet are related, in a visual, line by line way.

I think the only way you could do it better is by having a spreadsheet which linked all these together, which you could play with and see the linkages in action. But barring that, this book is great.

It does require study, but I don't think it requires much accounting background. I had no business or accounting background, and I found this book approachable.

The one downside is that it doesn't teach you how to interpret a financial statement. It teaches you to understand how one works, and how it fits together. But how to spot things that might be "troublesome" or in need of further inquiry in a real business report, this book doesn't tell you.

You need another book for that sort of thing. And I haven't found one of those yet -- that is simple and strong in its own way.

Excellent terse intro to financial statements.......2007-06-19

I loved this book. John Tracy does an outstanding job introducing financial statements: how to read them, how to make sense of the numbers, and the basic framework around the statements. His language is easy to understand, and his examples illustrate the new concepts very well. The book is 200 pages long, and there is zero fluff. I found everything to be very useful information - nice and crisp.

Tracy jumps in by introducing cash flows and basic financial statements. He continues through the first half of the book by going down the income statement and the balance sheet together, describing how the numbers from the two statements work together (i.e. which portions of the income statement affect various numbers on the balance sheet).

Next, Tracy jumps into cash flows and describes the cash flow statement. He nicely illustrates how cash flow and profit differ and how they can grow in opposite directions depending on whether the business is expanding or shrinking. Tracy then covers logistics - he talks about statement footnotes, the importance of CPA audits, and the organizations and standards surrounding financial statements. He continues by discussing the various methods of expensing the cost of goods (LIFO, FIFO, average) and various depreciation and amortization techniques, and wraps up with common financial ratios (ROE, ROI, P/E, etc.) and a brief FAQ of basic questions and answers.

There are many diagrams throughout the book, and they are, for the most part, very helpful. I found a couple small errors in the diagrams (and a couple typos throughout the text), but they didn't really hinder my understanding - it was obvious what the author was trying to say and show.

This book does not require any previous knowledge of the subject. In fact, Tracy does a fantastic job defining everything he discusses. I like how new terms and concepts are italicized to emphasize their importance. The book is well organized (see 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of this review), although I wish that chapters 20 and 21 (cost of goods expense methods, depreciation & amortization techniques) came earlier in the book - closer to where Tracy discussed these items on the income statement. However, I do understand his motivation to save these items for later - so as not to confuse the reader with more advanced topics while introducing the basics - and to postpone the discussion of various ways to affect the net income.

Tracy is unafraid to give his own personal advice. He often uses "I think" and "in my opinion" throughout the book to emphasize his own preferences and thoughts rather than the generally accepted ideas. He expresses his opinions on the GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), the organizations that ultimately govern the GAAP, and, most importantly, on acceptable and average values for various financial ratios - I found this to be most helpful.

On a totally different note, the book has an interesting physical format - it is wider than it is taller. While this sucks for bookshelf storage, it gives lots of room for the large and clear diagrams.

In conclusion, I recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn about financial statements. You will not see very advanced topics, but you will get a great introduction and quite a bit of practical advice. Excellent job by John Tracy!

Pros:
+ very easy to read and understand - Tracy's explanations are simple and straight to the point
+ lots of diagrams, which nicely illustrate the flow of numbers
+ great intro to the 3 basic financial statements
+ additional useful and interesting info on the organizations and standards surrounding financial statements
+ practical advice (average values for certain ratios, what to look for first in the financial statements, etc.)

Cons:
- a couple small diagram errors and typos (not very significant)
- could include more info on advanced topics

A pleasure to read.......2007-06-17

I am only a little way through the latest edition of "How to Read a Financial Report". One area i can already see as a huge plus is the style in which the book is written. Candidly, clearly and entertainingly relaying information on a topic that can so easily become one of the dreariest around has helped me understand and retain much more information on the terms and concepts I need to know.

Without even finishing half of this book, I am compelled to offer a strong recommendation to anyone contemplating purchasing it. I have only done what could best be described as rudimentary level accounting previously. This has left me with a great number of terms and definitions but little real understanding on the interconnectedness of financial reports and the terms within them. "How to Read a Financial Report" essentially gathers all the pieces of the puzzle and clearly shows you how it is put together. Whilst I cannot comment on the latter half of the book, this explanation of the way the financial statements connect has already proven invaluable to me.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone wanting to truly understand the nature of financial statements

James.L,
Sydney,
Australia

Arrows, Diagrams, and Simple Explanations.......2007-05-18

If you already know how to read financial reports like a pro or you work in the accounting department as an auditor, this book is definitely not for you. However, if the reams of reports spit out by corporations dumbfound you or you just feel intimidated when your accountant hands you a P&L, this book is perfect for you!

The author starts by explaining, line-by-line, each item in each type of report: Cash Flows, Balance Sheets, and more. The author then uses good ol' fashion simple diagrams and arrows that show direct interactions between lines in each report. The concepts are as easy to grasp as "if this number goes up, this other number goes down and here's why." It's just that elegant!

In my opinion, this should be required reading for any college graduate. In today's world a certain level of business acumen is expected which includes the ability to read and comprehend basic financial reports. This book gives you enough knowledge so that you can comfortably understand those reports. Of course, you can always delve deeper, if you choose, but keep in mind that this book is for the uninitiated which is just perfect for most of us mere mortals.

Uses Visuals to Show Financial Relationships.......2006-12-07

How to Read a Financial Report uses a lot of visuals to show the relationships between balance sheets, income statements, and statements of cash flow. If you have ever looked at a financial report and wondered what everything meant, this book is for you. This book took me from knowing hardly anything about financial statements to being able to understand them. I highly recommend this book to both investors and business owners.

How to Read Financial Statements (Successful Office and Skills Series)

Average customer rating:

Best kept secrets

How to Read Financial Statements (Successful Office and Skills Series)
Donald H. Weiss
Manufacturer: Amacom Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

The Interpretation of Financial Statements
How to Use Financial Statements: A Guide to Understanding the Numbers
How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers (How to Read a Financial Report)
You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits
Contrarian Investment Strategies in the Next Generation

ASIN: 0814476449

Customer Reviews:

Best kept secrets.......2002-02-02

This is very informative for people to understand Financial Statements in simple way.

How to Read Nonprofit Financial Statements

Average customer rating:

How to Read Nonprofit Financial Statements
Andrew S. Lang , and Laurie A. Rocha
Manufacturer: Amer Society of Assn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0880341688

Company financial reports: How to read and interpret them (A Fintec management guide)

Average customer rating:

Company financial reports: How to read and interpret them (A Fintec management guide)
Jim Phillips
Manufacturer: Financial Techniques Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Financial facts of life;: How to read a financial statement

Average customer rating:

Financial facts of life;: How to read a financial statement
Donald I Rogers
Manufacturer: Holt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

How to Read & Understand Financial Statements When You Dont Know What You Are Looking at: For Business Owners and Investors

Average customer rating:

How to Read & Understand Financial Statements When You Dont Know What You Are Looking at: For Business Owners and Investors
Brian Kline
Manufacturer: Atlantic Publishing Company (FL)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

How To Read A Financial Statement (Economic Education Bulletin, Vol. XXXIII, No. 11)

Average customer rating:

How To Read A Financial Statement (Economic Education Bulletin, Vol. XXXIII, No. 11)
Kenneth M Lefkowitz
Manufacturer: American Institute for Economic Research
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Average customer rating:

How to Read a Financial Statement.
Herbert G. Stockwell
Manufacturer: Ronald Press Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000L1PEX6

Average customer rating:

How to Read Financial News
Gerald Warfield
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Public Finance | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Investing | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Journalism | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

Book Description

A clear and accessible guide to learning how to decipher the financial section of the newspaper.

Income Statements with How to Read a Financial Report 5th Edition Set

Average customer rating:

Income Statements with How to Read a Financial Report 5th Edition Set
Franklin J. Plewa
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Designed as the ideal tutor, refresher and reference source for the nonfinancial manager. Step-by-step guidance enables readers to quickly learn the basics of income statements, cash flow, ROI and budgeting. Details gross margins, production costs, overhead, allocations, net income and much more.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books