I Know It When I See It: A Modern Fable About Quality
6 journalers for this copy...
I enjoyed this business-educational bedtime story even without the aspect of needing inspiration in how to run a company. The idea of rival companies that sell punctuation marks is a clever one, and the language is filled with humour ascending from that theme.
Picked this book from the pigbag. Seems quite interesting.
Reserved to savotar, who won my Eurovision challenge!
Reserved to savotar, who won my Eurovision challenge!
I didn't know what to expect when I started the book but I were just positively surprised by the book. It was quick to read (took me about one hour) and I really liked it. It was fun that the story didn't quite happen in this world (due the puctuation business) but still that much for me to see the similarity. And I loved the illustrations!
Journal Entry 4 by Savotar from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on Thursday, December 4, 2008
Thank you, Rakuna!
Journal Entry 5 by Savotar from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on Saturday, May 2, 2009
A fun quick read. I did some gardening today and then went to lie on the sofa, exhausted, reading this book.
Perhaps this wasn't exactly my type of book but it was mildly entertaining anyway.
Perhaps this wasn't exactly my type of book but it was mildly entertaining anyway.
Journal Entry 6 by Savotar at Hotelli Lanterna, Nauvo in Parainen, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on Thursday, June 4, 2009
Released 14 yrs ago (6/6/2009 UTC) at Hotelli Lanterna, Nauvo in Parainen, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I'm taking this to the Finnish summer convention 2009.
I'm taking this to the Finnish summer convention 2009.
Journal Entry 7 by potok-fan from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on Saturday, June 6, 2009
Picked this up at the book buffet today. I had thought I might skim a little during our free time to be sure I wanted it before taking it away - but I got totally sucked into the other book that I'd picked up to browse ("Ghost Girl" by Torey L. Hayden), and so never cracked the spine of this one. I brought it home anyway, and will see what I think.
Thanks, Perdue, for registering this, and for chatting in English today!
Thanks, Perdue, for registering this, and for chatting in English today!
Journal Entry 8 by potok-fan from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on Sunday, August 23, 2009
Meh.
I like what Rakuna said about this not being set in "our" world. I should probably have read that before I started. Instead, I got really irritated with the auther as soon as I started reading, because I know something about the origins of punctuation, and about linguistics.
Once upon a time the English lan guage was very dull Flat Lifeless The same was true for both written and spoken English There was no poetry No songs Hello!? Beowulf??!!?
So I got off on the wrong foot with the book. But I think I would have found this book depressing either way. It has three main points: (1) You cannot improve performance just by telling your workers to work harder. That's DEmotivating, because it makes them feel criticized. (2) Hiring inspectors won't necessarily improve quality, because if the workers know that someone else is responsible for catching mistakes they might themselves stop being so careful. (3) Even if customers aren't articulate about what they want, you should trust their judgement more than you trust your own specifications.
I think point 2 is an interesting one, and a little counter-intuitive. But it depresses me to think that there are many bosses and companies out there who need to be told 1 and 3. It especially depresses me to think that here in Finland they are about to completely remodel the universities to be on a business model. If this is the level of business knowledge and training, G-d help us.
Sorry to be so negative, folks. Thanks anyway for sharing the book.
I like what Rakuna said about this not being set in "our" world. I should probably have read that before I started. Instead, I got really irritated with the auther as soon as I started reading, because I know something about the origins of punctuation, and about linguistics.
Once upon a time the English lan guage was very dull Flat Lifeless The same was true for both written and spoken English There was no poetry No songs Hello!? Beowulf??!!?
So I got off on the wrong foot with the book. But I think I would have found this book depressing either way. It has three main points: (1) You cannot improve performance just by telling your workers to work harder. That's DEmotivating, because it makes them feel criticized. (2) Hiring inspectors won't necessarily improve quality, because if the workers know that someone else is responsible for catching mistakes they might themselves stop being so careful. (3) Even if customers aren't articulate about what they want, you should trust their judgement more than you trust your own specifications.
I think point 2 is an interesting one, and a little counter-intuitive. But it depresses me to think that there are many bosses and companies out there who need to be told 1 and 3. It especially depresses me to think that here in Finland they are about to completely remodel the universities to be on a business model. If this is the level of business knowledge and training, G-d help us.
Sorry to be so negative, folks. Thanks anyway for sharing the book.
Journal Entry 9 by potok-fan at Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland on Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Released 14 yrs ago (11/24/2009 UTC) at Turku, Varsinais-Suomi / Egentliga Finland Finland
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Azuki picked this out of the VBB (virtual book box), and I've packaged it up to mail this morning. I'll take it to the PO in about an hour.
Azuki picked this out of the VBB (virtual book box), and I've packaged it up to mail this morning. I'll take it to the PO in about an hour.
Seems like this little book had a good time in Finland, even going to a BC con! Now it is in Florida to enjoy some warmer weather. I've taken a sneak preview and it seems like a delightful book. What an interesting idea of selling punctuations!!
Read this a couple of days ago as I am a few books short of my 2012 reading goal and need some quick reads.
I find the idea of selling punctuation quite fun, as long as I don't delve too hard into the real possibility of it. As a business book it's okay, presented some good points that are worth reminding once in a while.
I find the idea of selling punctuation quite fun, as long as I don't delve too hard into the real possibility of it. As a business book it's okay, presented some good points that are worth reminding once in a while.
Journal Entry 12 by Azuki at Panera Bread - West Kendall in Miami, Florida USA on Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Released 10 yrs ago (11/26/2013 UTC) at Panera Bread - West Kendall in Miami, Florida USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Put into book basket by side door.
Hi! How wonderful you've found one of my books! Thank you so much for checking out the journal. I would really appreciate if you can take a moment to let me know you have it now. Trust me, it'll totally make my day to hear from one of my "wild" books.
Bookcrossing is a wonderful online community of book lovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. We are also curious to see how far and wide our books can travel. I would appreciate if you can make a journal entry on this book so we know where the book has been. You don't have to set up an account.
Feel free to keep this book, return it to where you found it, or pass it on to the next reader. If you sign up as a member, you will hear from the book as it travels and gets journaled. Feel free to explore the BookCrossing site, and visit our forum to meet other booklovers. Membership is confidential, free, and spam-free. Happy reading!
Hi! How wonderful you've found one of my books! Thank you so much for checking out the journal. I would really appreciate if you can take a moment to let me know you have it now. Trust me, it'll totally make my day to hear from one of my "wild" books.
Bookcrossing is a wonderful online community of book lovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. We are also curious to see how far and wide our books can travel. I would appreciate if you can make a journal entry on this book so we know where the book has been. You don't have to set up an account.
Feel free to keep this book, return it to where you found it, or pass it on to the next reader. If you sign up as a member, you will hear from the book as it travels and gets journaled. Feel free to explore the BookCrossing site, and visit our forum to meet other booklovers. Membership is confidential, free, and spam-free. Happy reading!
The number of books I have read in their entirety in the past ten years has now increased by 50% -- from two to three. It joins THE CLIENT and THE DAY THE WORLD CAME TO TOWN! To say I am not an avid reader is a great understatement but I found this book to be entertaining, educational and difficult to put down. It should be required reading for everyone in or aspiring to management positions.