The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform at Their Best

by Fast Company's Editors and Writers and John Byrne

Published on the tenth anniversary of the magazine, this Fast Company desk reference features the essential principles on a score of the most important business topics, from customer service to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385516312
• ISBN13: 9780385516310
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Broadway Business
• Length: 246 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 7.6"

Customer Reviews

daily reference

I use this as a daily reference for advice and sometimes just for a pick-me-up! Many interesting quotes and ideas.Open to any page in the book and let the ideas sink in as your day progresses.An excellent book.

Quotes for Success!

These 2 quotes are not from the book, but are quotes about quotes: "The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotations" - Isaac Disraeli "It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read a good book of quotations" - Sir Winston Churchill This book is basically a collection of quotes. Some are extremely powerful and some are well-not so powerful. I'm a big believer in quotes, here are a few from the book: On change, "Adapt or Die" The first 10 pages are about change and how business is constantly evolving and how those that can't keep up are doomed. "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration. Yes, sir, it's mostly hard work." - Thomas A. Edison "A half-backed strategy well executed will be superior to that marvelous strategy that isn't executed very well." - Allan Gilmour, vice chairman Ford Motor Co. "The only new thing new in the world is the history you don't know." - President Harry S. Truman "Good leaders are curious; they spend a lot of time trying to learn new things." - Jeffrey Immelt, CEO, GE There are lot of good inspirational quotes in this book. It's a good book to have on your desk and glance at time and again. By Kevin Kingston author of, A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate My blog: http://www.bloglines.com/blog/KevinKingston

Rules of Business and Essential Ideas by the Fast Company

The author provides pearls of wisdom on a plethora of complicated business topics and decisions. For instance, we are asked to anticipate or embrace change early. Ideally, this should take place when things are going well. Sometimes, success breeds difficulty in unlearning bad habits or undoing complacency. Very often, the identification of key facts will precipitate change. The author believes that customer service is part of the job. We are asked to learn from failure rather than wallow in it. Intuition is part experience and part talent; however, we should act upon our best instincts or feelings. The preferred decision- making process should involve the following: - framing questions - fact finding - analysis and conclusions - learning from experience and mistakes made previously Good process design should be common sense. Simplicity and ease of use by customers are the premier concerns. The corporate logo should be "faster, cheaper and better" . We should learn from the people in the trenches because they are aware of the practical dimensions of new ideas/processes. In addition, the author provides a timeframe of from 7-10 years to introduce, perfect and implement new techniques, designs and processes. The acquisition is worth the price charged for the reader who will implement the contents dispassionately.

Here's some great wisdom that's even fun to read!

I've looked forward to getting my monthly copy of the magazine Fast Company for an number of years. Now they have have "hit another home run" with an excellent book. It's a fun, easy read with an three excellent indexes in the back. The first, "Sources" gives the source for each quote found in the 22 different chapters. The second is an "Index of Quote Titles", and the third is and Index of Authors, i.e. the people who gave the business wisdom quote. This is also an excellent "idea starter" for short, meaningful motivational talks. Try it, you'll like it and probably will buy a friend a copy!