Book Reviews by Lynne Cunningham

2012

You're free to forward my reviews to colleagues and friends and many of you do that. I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight books which I felt deserved an "excellent" review.

• Psychology of Waiting Lines by David Maister was recommended at Studer Group's ED Excellence Institute and it is well worth the time. Whether you run an ED or another department or service that sometimes has queuing challenges, read the article and share the findings with your team.
• Their Wait in Gold is from www.thedaily.com. This is a short article that should be shared with your medical staff.
• Find Your Next by Andrea Kates is energizing and applicable for leaders whether you're working in healthcare or another field.
• Influential Leadership was good and contains a number of quotable concepts. I think you'll be hooked by my summary.
• Deadly Spin was written in 2010 but is scarily-relevant in today's political/election climate. Not since college journalism and public relations classes have I been so sickened by the power of communications – and misinformation. As election season is in full swing and the Supreme Court is pondering Obamacare, maybe it's the perfect time to read Deadly Spin and then try to sort out what's true – and what's not.
• Corporate Culture is an excellent study of culture and how to build a positive culture in your organization. The problem with any book that uses real companies as examples is that things change – that's especially true during the current economic crisis. In spite of this, the themes and models are solid if you want to make culture a differentiating strategy.
• What Matters NOW is Gary Hamel's new book. It's energizing and I think will be an ideal book for a leadership group interested in making the changes necessary to position their business for a successful future. A couple of quotes that I think are classics:
• In an environment of transparency, folly and sloth are soon exposed.
• Managers the world over have spent the last decade wringing inefficiencies out of their operating practices. Now they need to face the fact that management itself is a swamp of inefficiency. Some of these inefficiencies show up on the P&L, but it's the ones that don't, such as decision lags, hidden biases, and disempowerment, that may be the most costly.

• Health Insurance: Navigating Traps & Gaps by Maura Loughlin Carley is an incredible resource for someone facing a health insurance transition or for someone approaching their "Medicare birthday" or for someone helping a colleague, family member, friend – or themselves – through the sign-up-for-Medicare maze. If you're facing a health insurance transition, there are many helpful tips that will ensure you are able to negotiate and navigate the transition. If you're approaching that magic birthday, get the book and highlight its recommendations. If you still have a few years to go, buy the book and make sure you read it a year before the magic date so you are prepared. I'm putting a copy in my church library as a resource to others.

Happy Reading.