Alan Fox (1)

An insightful and inspiring collection of strategies and tools for your business and your life.

This book is a collection of 50 “tools” focused on success in business. The author has worked as an accountant, lawyer, real estate developer, and writer. His broad background has provided him with a variety of experiences from which he has drawn the tools he shares in this book.

The tools in this book span a wide range of topics, covering all manner of situations in which we often find show more ourselves in our professional lives. The tools and strategies include interpersonal/emotional tools such as “The Tin Woodsman” (effective compassion), “Leave Grumpy at Home” (trying to be happy at work), and “Wait Three Days” (calm down before you act) as well as practical tools such as “Budget, Don’t Fudge It” and “Don’t Run Out of Cash”, and many in between, such as “Toot” (speaking up for yourself and tooting your own horn when deserved) , “The (Dreaded) Annual Review” and “The Magic Piano” (noticing and appreciating the magic all around you – one of my favorites).

If you’re not a fan of business books, don’t let the title of the book dissuade you from taking a closer look. While the tools in this book are primarily aimed at business people, most of them (if not all of them) have applicability in our personal lives as well.

My experience in reading this book was somewhat uneven. At times I considered putting the book aside because it wasn’t holding my interest, and then at other times I didn’t want to put it down. I think this is because of the diversity of tools offered in the book. As I read through the tools in this book I would occasionally come across one or two that I didn’t find especially useful or inspiring (and there were a few of these), but then within a few pages I would find a few that really resonated with me. I expect the experience will be similar for many readers, and I believe this book has a lot of offer nearly anyone and everyone.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. Based on my experience with this book, I’ve added the author’s first book (“People Tools”) to my Wish List, and will keep an eye out for future book s by this author as well.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for insights, strategies, and tools for improving their business and/or personal lives.

Disclaimer: I won a free copy of this book from the "12 Books" group as part of its monthly book discussion program. show less

I received this book from 12 Books, a business book club at Goodreads for free.
I tend to read business books as self-help books, mostly because I'm retired and finally have the time to read. I find many of the books are better self improvement books than the ones marketed for that purpose. This slim volume exceeds most of the others I've read in that department. It has taken many strategies and boiled them down to their essences. A lot of his chapters have been made into entire books by show more other writers, without providing more insights than are here in two to four pages chapters. This book could easily become a meditative journal for those so inclined. show less

An entertaining, occasionally repetitive self-help guide. As stated in the title, there are 54 tools or concepts designed to help the reader define their goals and improve their relationships. Each chapter focuses on a single tool, but there are overlaps and repetition and some material is rather simplistic.

Not the kind of book that will benefit everyone, but readers seeking some easy to read, practical ideas for use in building and maintaining relationships might want to try this show more book.

Note: this review is based on an ARC received from the publisher show less

Benji loves Banana Squash. When he plants some seeds that were saved from a previous squash he learns all about taking care of something he is growing. He waters it and as the squash grows he uses sticks to measure it. When it is finally big enough, his father convinces him that it is time to eat his huge squash. Benji learns not only how to take care of a garden but has to develop patience. He has big dreams about his squash, hoping it will be the biggest ever. A cute story to read with show more kids who might be working on a garden with their parents as well as to teach children where food comes from. The illustrations are cute and colourful. A great book for a family library or a classroom or school. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. show less