Economics-and-finance

The title of The 2000 Percent Solution, the new book from business strategists Don Mitchell, Carol Coles, and Robert Metz, plays off the famous Sherlock Holmes mystery title. But the mystery here is how the authors have uncovered a whole new way of looking at improving business performance.

They define the "stall' - a condition that affects us all - which keeps us from achieving accelerated growth. They introduce "stallbusters" - a plethora of ideas for overcoming the dreaded stalls. They pepper their analysis with hundreds of colorful examples and anecdotes, such as the story of Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin. A typical stall Is: avoidance of the unattractive. Fleming did the opposite by focusing on the green mold such as found on old bread.

In the second part of the book, they introduce the eight step process for improving performance twenty-fold - 2000%. Their advocate "uncovering and capturing maximum opportunity by asking new questions". They go beyond best practices to discussing how to pursue the theoretical ideal best practice, which they call "perfection as only you can imagine it".

Don't miss their stimulating "thought-starters", any one of which could justify your time investment in reading this book. If you have a problem stretching your mind on a Sunday afternoon or a long plane ride, here's your 2000 percent solution.

Roger Fridholm; President, Business, Technology, and Staffing Services Group; MSX International.

Who knew making huge leaps in achievement could be this easy -- and this fun? The 2000 Percent Solution gives you a simple process for overcoming mind blocks (the book calls them "stalls") and achieving fantastic results. The book gives funny and vivid examples (my favorite is the apes in the cage)which make the book an enjoyable read instead of just another dry essay on management. You'll be kicking yourself because you haven't recognized many of the self-imposed obstacles to progress that the authors describe. I had to read the book more than once to grasp some of the ideas in the second part and I'm sure that I will read it again to get more of the fine points. The best part of the book is that the authors give you this great concept but then they also give you a process to enable you to act on that concept. You'll actually find yourself acting differently instead of just filing the book and then proceeding with business as usual. Read this book and you'll start looking at the world in a whole new light. Suddenly the unattainable seems just around the corner!

I have often recommended this book to my organizational clients who are frustrated with their inability to get their organizations to "go." This book provides practical, common sense tools to handling complacency in organizations. It isn't enough to want change to happen, or to "say it to happen;" you must DO some things. This book gives great examples and explanations that anyone in an organization can use.

The book was a dissapointment. A long list of "bumper sticker" phrases is not my cup of tea. I guess some people like to read common sense advice over and over and over. Not me. Thanks,

I've read many books about direct marketing and each has had it strong points. The problem is that each book tends to cover one or two areas and so to get a thorough understanding of all the options in direct marketing you have to read a lot of books. This book covers every area of direct marketing. Whether it is via the Internet, brochures, catalogs, headlines, testimonials, or whatever, it is covered in this book. The book is filled with tips for direct marketing no matter what method you choose. These secrets have been collected from the most successful direct marketers in history and is their distilled knowledge from years of experience. It is the collected knowledge of the greatest direct marketing minds and how to make your efforts successful. Thorough in coverage and detailed, it is the book to read first and understand before starting a direct marketing campaign. It will save you many times the cost of the book if it just helps you avoid even one mistake.

Anyone writing copy for the web or direct marketing should not be without.

I work on a team with 2 other realtors and each week when we get together to go over our advertising we're always looking for a "unique" or "powerful" ad. This book has hundreds of great ideas and fully written ads. The best part is that you can piece together parts from different ads to get the ideal one for the property you're advertising.

I would have given it five stars, but some of the categories of property types they give ads for I never see, let alone list, and some of the ones I do list are not included (for example Planned Unit Developments).

Overall a super reference and well worth the investment.

I write over 60 ads a month and this has really helped in streamlining and getting the calls to come in.

Working in public accounting for a long time, but beeing new to the accounting world in the U.S., I found this book very instructive and helpful to resolve practical questions on one hand and finding access to the underlying "World of Statements", the scientific backbone, at the same time.

First it offers a red thread through most of the relevant areas of accounting and financial reporting. But even more important, the book contains a reliable and quick guidance to find solutions for a lot of different actual practical issues, occurring in specific industries and situations.

This set is the most comprehensive, informative, and complete writing on accounting. No other book is necessary! These are hard to find though. Good luck!

Yep, indeed I have read a good portion of this 2 volume set. Now under normal circumstances I'd advise not operating heavy machinery or driving a car after some serious FASBY reading. However, when you're trying to crank out some financials and you've got a real problem with how to allocate periodic costs or how to present the loss from discontinued operations, these babies become your best friends! Happy reading!