----> Omaha Public Library
by Michael Finley.
A fun book that gives support to the computer skeptics who are intimidated (but afraid to admit it) by the all-knowing attitude of the computer true believers. The book encourages ordinary people to insist that techies make computers truly user friendly. After all, computers are a means to an end-not the end itself. Also some good practical advice. 200 pages. 658.4038 Finley
An insightful, quirky, readable book for both technozealots and technophobes. The author focuses on the work issues brought on by computer and communications technology: those things that cause us much unhappiness, frustration, and tension, even while they improve our productivity.
Peterson’s, 1995, ISBN: 1-56079-570-0, Paperback, 212 pp., $14.21 members, $14.95 non-members.
Project Management Institute 1996 SourceGuide
* Questers. These brilliant but odd types learn best on their own by doing something that they consider fascinating and fun. One possibility: Encourage them to surf the World Wide Web. Fuzzies. These warm people persons don't relate well to cold computers. Try to win them over by stressing the technology's power to communicate person to person – especially by e-mail.
* Worriers. They're sure that even one wrong command will cause a hardware meltdown. To help them overcome their fear, let them put commands on cards they can refer to often. Also, force them to hit buttons until they're convinced the hardware is hard to kill.
* Skeptics. Call them the technologically prejudiced. Their narrow-minded view: "Everyone knows computer technology causes headaches." The best approach -- as when fighting any prejudice -- is to have them really get to know what they're prejudiced against.
* Technophobes. They view embracing technology as a sellout of values they hold dear, so they won't persuade easily. You can try to get them to at least admire the technology's craftsmanship. But you may have to settle for a peaceful coexistence between them and the computer.
Next time you are ever in even a halfway good library, look to see if they have the Bangkok Post. It is a wonderfully readable, newsy newspaper from the other cheek of the world. I have always enjoyed it, and so this review in its pages is very special to me:
Graham K. Rogers
Once in a while, the columns of Michael Finley appear in the
Post Database. I happened to find one in a newsgroup
which I liked, wrote to him and mentioned what we do here. As a
result, he sends us his columns and he got his publisher to send
me his book, Techno-Crazed, which takes a pragmatic look at
computers. I write this, slightly tongue in cheek.
Finley has been using computers for several years and is neither
a starry-eyed novice nor a computer ace spreading the gospel of
office automation at all costs. He is, if anything, a realist
with a twinkle in his eye.
I am in no doubt that he loves his computers, while he is at
pains to point out that he also loves his wife. He also fosters
a careful relationship with his local repairman because he has
no delusions as to the shortcomings of these machines. The book
is, among other things, a careful balance between the pluses and
the negatives.
We have had books like this before. Indeed, Clifford Stoll, in
Silicon Snake-Oil attempted to take a similar stance
earlier this year. In my opinion, this is the book that Stoll
should have written.
Although the columns have provided meat for his ideas, Michael
Finley has resisted the temptation to simply make this a "Best
of" book. Instead he splits his approach to technology into ten
easily digested chapters. Each is written in a simple style,
which is not at all patronising, and is split into brief
sections.
Unfortunately, while this is a strong point, the fact that it is
easy to put down and resume later, was a disaster for me. I
kept putting it down and going off to do something else. When I
did return, sometimes days later, I had no problem in picking up
again right where I left off. As this fits in exactly with
Finley's expressed hope, "that readers do not zip through . . .
in one sitting," I do not feel the slightest tinge of guilt.
In addition to the text, almost every page has a sidebar with
highly usable quotes or snippets of information which are a
pleasure to come upon, such as this one from John Sculley:
"Computing gives us every incentive to be skeptical." One
presumes that was before Sculley left Apple.
I found I could pick the book up at any time, glance at a page,
smile and put the book down again. Usually with a smile. There
are scores of these bit of information, and they are all
properly cited and noted. Some are quite funny. Others deserve
serious consideration: "We are becoming the servants in thought,
as in action, of the machine we created to serve us" (John
Kenneth Galbraith). Perhaps Finley has taken this warning as
his guiding philosophy when creating this pleasant book.
While Finley writes in a style which is fairly light, he is not
flippant. Many of his ideas and comments have a lot of sense
behind them. I was particularly impressed with his chapter,
"How Technology is Turning the Office Upside Down." In this he
discusses the way we measure output in terms of "productivity."
He suggests that this is a basic error. Technology has changed
the world. There is often no end product, although the use of a
computer will make it possible for a secretary to produce 50
letters in a day where 10 might have been possible with the
typewriter, or 2 with a quill.
The one chapter I did not enjoy was the final one in which he
tries to predict the future by painting a scenario of the world
in the next century. I always have doubts about such attempts,
especially when they border on science fiction, although I am
sure some would take this in good spirit.
At the end of the book is a proper "notes" section and a
comprehensive index. Both of these are unusually long for this
type of book and Michael Finley is to be applauded for this.
While not yet available in Bangkok, I am hopeful that it may one
day soon arrive here. I would recommend looking out for it if
you are traveling abroad. Failing that, do what I have begun to
do with the unwillingness of local booksellers to order for me:
I have found a bookseller in the USA and when I want a book, I
simply send e-mail.
The publishers of Techno-Crazed also have an Internet
link through a web page at http://www.petersons.com and they
respond fairly quickly.
Michael Finley himself has a web page at
http://mfinley.com on which are
selections from Techno-Crazed, other books and some of
his columns.
Mention of TECHNO-CRAZED on "Byte This"
"Finley teaches the importance of knowing one's limits and
warns of the perils of taking technology too seriously. Lost
time, money, peace of mind, even health are the tolls taken on
the unwary businessperson investing too much time and money in
computers. "The author, Michael Finley, is a
computer journalist who writes with a style and substance that
should attract both the technically competent and
technophobic. "With tongue-in-cheek, Finley suggests that
office designers should have degrees in industrial engineering,
occupational medicine, industrial psychology or occupational or
physical therapy. "Avoid degrees in mortuary science," he
writes. "A 36-question test can place you among the power
users or technophobes, to whom the author suggests "you must
find the interface that is least off-putting, that transports
you out of computing and into the realm of work or play that you
do not object to. In short, you must buy a Mac." "Chapter 3
details how to communicate with computer people, including a
short glossary of essential terminology. "Finley's book has
a thorough explanation of ''netiquette,'' the rules and protocol
for Internet communication, including how to create the most
effective E-mail messages: Sound human, write clearly and
briefly, avoid jargon. "When mechanical failure strikes, a
chapter on finding the best repair person includes the advice:
Find someone who speaks on your level of understanding and
understands your size of problem and budget. "Some of the best
material is in margin notes, irreverant quotes and comments
about computers: 'Never let the computer know you're in a
hurry.' 'If the automobile had followed the same development
cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get
a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing
everyone inside.' "'At the source of every error that is
blamed on the computer you will find at least two human errors,
including the error of blaming it on the computer.' "This
breezy guide is a grab bag of essays meant to be read
nonlinearly. You won't find many computer books with such a free
spirit and yet with so much to say, especially to those who may
feel like bystanders in the technology revolution."
Dean Narciso, Columbus Dispatch
"Finley observes the relationship between human beings and
computers tends to either begin as 'giddy delight' and mutate
gradually into 'the behaviors of addiction' or begin as a 'mild
resistance to an idea,' and mutate quickly into 'mindless
denial.' He argues that 'neither side is safe ground.' He gets
us to rethink our relationship with technology so that we can
welcome its benefits, deal with its costs (both personal and
societal), and master ourselves as well as our computers.
"Finley examines the issues of 'computer mania' with clarity,
comedy, and comradeship, making us feel that normalcy is within
reach. I highly recommend this book to every compulsive
computer user -- and to anyone who knows one."
Steve Deyo, editor, ComputerUser (Twin Cities
edition), January 1996, p. 58
Phone: 612-339-7571
(Most B.
Dalton's and Barnes & Nobles stores currently carry
TECHNO-CRAZED). ----->"Teaming has been a
craze in modern organizations. This book is neither a
condemnation of teams nor an in-depth look at the history of
teams in organizations. "It is more about people. In their
epilog, Robbins and Finley write, 'Teams are trouble, because
they're made of people, and people are trouble.' "Indeed,
after the authors give an accounting of all the the things that
can go wrong with teaming, the reader might marvel that they
still have hope for the process. "After all, there are so
many uncontrollable variables at work just below the surface,
not least of which are the hidden agendas of team members. As
the authors demonstrate, teaming is actually an extremely
complicated, sometimes painful process that can take years to
refine. "This book is for the millions of workers who either
volunteered or were enlisted by a team, gave their honest best
to the cause, and then wondered why." RECOMMENDATION:
FOR ALL PUBLIC LIBRARY BUSINESS COLLECTIONS. --
Library Journal ----->"Finley is a business columnist
for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Robbins is a clinical
psychologist. If that sounds like a dangerous combination,
you're right. "But this book is a masterpiece of
explanatory journalism. It does exactly what the title says.
Work teams are a good idea, but the people who implement them
usually have no idea how to lead one, and team members are not
supplied with the training to do their jobs. "The failure of
teams has not been a failure of a system, but the failure of
people. As Finley says: 'Downsizing forced a false
introduction of teams to industry in this country -- it was a
kind of Trojan horse that looked great on the outside, with its
promises of empowerment and re-engineered process. But inside
was the enemy of teams everywhere -- reduced resources and
diminished job security.'" - John Bicknell, New Orleans
Times Picayune, Knight-Ridder Newspapers
----->"The secret's out: Many organizations have
turned to a team structure and waited for the magic that never
came. "Robbins and Finley explain what goes wrong and what
to do about it. The main problem is that teams are made up of
humans, each of whom is unpredictable and has his or her own
agenda. "The authors start at the beginning with the stages
teams go through, how teammates can work together most
effectively, team monsters and how to deal with them, how to
ratchet up group productivity, and more. With its slant on
the psychological, this one's a gem." WHY TEAMS DON'T
WORK has been nominated for BEST BUSINESS BOOK of the
year in the GLOBAL BUSINESS BOOK AWARDS competition. It was
also named "One of the best 30 business books of 1995" by
Soundview Executive Summaries. It is an alternate selection
for Macmillan Business Book Club. WHY TEAMS DON'T WORK, being a hardcover title,
may have to be special ordered. Or order from Peterson's WWW
site: Peterson's
Education Center You can even order it from Soundview
Hands-On Reviews.
And in my own home state of Ohio, in the Columbus
Dispatch ...
And in Computer User, which I write for ...
"ComputerUser's own Michael Finley is out of the paddock with
his latest book, Techno-Crazed, based in part on his musings in
these very pages, but with extra dollops of wit and insight
applied liberally throughout.
To order TECHNO-CRAZED, call
Peterson's/Pacesetter Books, of Princeton, NJ, at
1-800-338-3282, and ask for ISBN #1-56079-570-0. Or special
order it from your bookseller using that number.
What People
Are Saying about WHY TEAMS DON'T WORK
WHY TEAMS
DON'T WORK: What Goes Wrong and How to Make It Right
by
Harvey Robbins and Michael Finley; Pacesetter Books (221 pages,
$21.95).
Soundview
Hands-On Reviews
And a Portuguese-language
version will be published next year!
To order
WHY TEAMS DON'T WORK, call Peterson's/Pacesetter Books of
Princeton, NJ, at 1-800-338-3282, and ask for ISBN
#1-56079-497-6. Or special order it from your bookseller using
that number.
To contact Mike Finley ...
mfinley@mfinley.com
Visit Amazon.com
"A masterpiece of explanatory journalism!" - New Orleans Picayune
"Fast, funny, and highly stimulating!" -Business Book Review
Get your signed copy of
The NEW Why Teams Don't Work
by Mike & Harvey Robbins
from Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Just click on the book cover!
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