Ryan Floyd
- 4
- reviews
- 4
- helpful votes
- 34
- ratings
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The Adventures of an IT Leader, Updated Edition
- Written by: Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan, Shannon O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 3
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 2
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 2
Becoming an effective IT manager presents a host of challenges - from anticipating emerging technology to managing relationships with vendors, employees, and other managers. A good IT manager must also be a strong business leader. This book invites you to accompany new CIO Jim Barton to better understand the role of IT in your organization. You'll see Jim struggle through a challenging first year, handling (and fumbling) situations that, although fictional, are based on true events.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Poor Man's Phoenix Project
- By Ryan Floyd on 2019-08-24
- The Adventures of an IT Leader, Updated Edition
- Written by: Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan, Shannon O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
Poor Man's Phoenix Project
Reviewed: 2019-08-24
Might be ok for someone completely new to IT, who just wants a feel for how things work. Not too helpful for anyone who already has experience.
Similar to The Phoenix Project except:
- Not as well written
- Not as technical
- Doesn't provide insight in dealing with the problems IT organizations face (the 'game' seems to be set on easy-mode for the protagonist)
There is also a bunch of nudges in the books about the importance of "consultants", which seem to be more for the benefit of the authors, than the story.
I find it somewhat strange that the narrator is a women, given that the mine character is a man, and so are the majority of key characters.
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The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded
- Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter
- Written by: Michael Watkins
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
The world’s most trusted guide for leaders in transition. Transitions are a critical time for leaders. In fact, most agree that moving into a new role is the biggest challenge a manager will face. While transitions offer a chance to start fresh and make needed changes in an organization, they also place leaders in a position of acute vulnerability. Missteps made during the crucial first three months in a new role can jeopardize or even derail your success.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Mainly for Senior Managers
- By Ryan Floyd on 2019-05-25
- The First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded
- Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter
- Written by: Michael Watkins
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
Mainly for Senior Managers
Reviewed: 2019-05-25
Most of the advise in this book is mainly/only applicable for people at fairly senior levels in an organization. The author frequently assumes that you will have people directly reporting to you, and often an assumes that your direct reports will have direct reports. There is also the assumption that you will have the role power to make changes to process and strategic decisions within your organization.
If the above applies to you, this book may be helpful. If you are more junior (as I am) their isn't much helpful advise in this book.
1 person found this helpful
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Scattered Minds
- The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder
- Written by: Dr. Gabor Maté
- Narrated by: Daniel Maté
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 101
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 87
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Story5 out of 5 stars 87
Written from the inside by a person who himself has ADD, with the wisdom gained through years of medical practice and research, Scattered Minds explodes the myth of ADD as a genetically based illness, offering real hope and advice for children and adults who live with this disorder.
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5 out of 5 stars
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WOW
- By natty on 2019-01-16
- Scattered Minds
- The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder
- Written by: Dr. Gabor Maté
- Narrated by: Daniel Maté
Hippie-dippie nonsense
Reviewed: 2019-01-31
Started out ok, but the author starts throwing out a lot of bold claims with no real evidence. The author rarely tries to examine alternate hypotheses that fit the facts he is looking at.
His idea that the cause of ADHD kids not having sufficient emotional connection with their parents is a little too vague, and un-falsifiable. If this were 100% of the story, everyone has something in their childhood that could be pointed at that 'explains' ADHD (even those without it). Also his prescription for avoiding ADHD, would not be anything like the parenting style that people employed before ADHD rates started to spike.
He claims that 'spanking' and 'timeouts' essentially traumatize a child into being ADHD... ok... so we should have seen ADHD rates WAAAAAYYYYYYYY higher 70 years ago then we do today.... right...
The author also attributes a child's (emotional) sensitivity as the reason why some kids end up with ADHD more easily, and why there is the appearance of a genetic basis. If this were the case, why do way more boys have ADHD than girls?
This is a bunch of hippie dippie, laissez faire parenting, nonsense.
1 person found this helpful
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Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated
- And the Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
- Written by: Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz
- Narrated by: Richard Harries
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4 out of 5 stars 30
In Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi lays out the specific steps - and inner mindset - he uses to reach out to connect with the thousands of colleagues, friends, and associates on his contacts list, people he has helped and who have helped him. And in the time since Never Eat Alone was published in 2005, the rise of social media and new, collaborative management styles have only made Ferrazzi’s advice more essential for anyone hoping to get ahead in business.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Short on basics
- By Ryan Floyd on 2018-09-09
- Never Eat Alone, Expanded and Updated
- And the Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
- Written by: Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz
- Narrated by: Richard Harries
Short on basics
Reviewed: 2018-09-09
The first couple chapters of this book do a good job of stressing the importance of relationships with respect to career success. However, the majority of the book focuses on achieving a level of connectivity and contacts that seem to be well beyond the point of diminishing returns. For the sort of person who most needs to focus on increasing/improving relationships to get ahead, it goes much further than what would likely be achievable in practice. I would have appreciated more detail on the basics of how to build useful connections, rather than advocating that people try to build/maintain a massive network and giving advice on how to do so. 99.9% of people will never get to the level the author spends most of the book focusing on, nor would most people's careers be best served by trying to get to this level.
2 people found this helpful