A tightly organized, well-presented case for a fresh way of doing business.
An executive coach offers a five-step process to unlock personal productivity in this guide.
According to Khouri, who leads the largest executive coaching firm for dentists in the United States, most supervisors are “constantly busy rather than purposely productive.” One reason: Managers find it difficult to say no. The author’s approach is to “triage requests” using a methodical practice he developed to protect his own time. Khouri admits the five steps he recommends may at first seem complex, but his lucid explanations of each are reassuring. The business book begins with a look at the shortcomings of the to-do list and multitasking. Both have their limitations, writes the author, and neither helps one know “when to say yes.” Khouri addresses other intriguing psychological barriers to decision-making before turning his attention to the five specific steps: 1. Create your Roadmap. 2. Define your relationship hierarchy. 3. Assess the quality of the request. 4. Prioritize and reprioritize. 5. Master delegation. In Part 2, the author covers each of these steps in considerable detail, using numerous pertinent examples from his own experiences and coaching practice. There are some excellent productivity boosters embedded in this section, such as “Khouri’s Seven Cs,” seven criteria that apply to developing solid goals, and the “Five Components of a Quality Request.” Part 3 is highly instructive; it demonstrates how to apply the five steps in a five-week period. The author also offers examples of how he used the process for three specific requests. A particularly useful chapter illustrates how the five steps can be applied to the bane of existence for many managers—email. Khouri concludes by explaining how his process can be integrated with a meetings and appointments calendar. Each chapter includes a “Productivity Corner,” an exercise that relates directly to the section’s content. In an engaging, creative touch, the author repeatedly references segments of the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life to playfully reinforce his methodology. This is a book that ingeniously applies psychology and time management techniques to address the challenge of being productive.
A tightly organized, well-presented case for a fresh way of doing business. (Appendix)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77-458139-1
Page Count: 220
Publisher: Page Two Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
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