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The Bookworms

Bookworms is a group of Standish and non-Standish contributors that like to read books and who spends a lot of time reading and studying. Bookworms provide reviews with a rating from 5 (best) to 1 (worst) butterflies. The rating is based on the value of the information to project managers, sponsors, and the general success of projects. Bookworms include Jim Johnson, Mark Snow, Jennifer Lynch, and Jim Crear.

Advice Articles

A Perfect Mess

Jim Johnson gives A Perfect Mess by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman 3 out of 5 butterflies.

A Whole New Mind

Jim Johnson rates A Whole New Mind 4 out of 5 butterflies.

 

Adventures of an IT Leader

Ronald Kerremans rates The Adventures of an IT Leader…

Against the Gods Review

Jim Johnson gives Against the Gods four out of five butterflies.

Agile Coaching

Jim Johnson rates Agile Coaching 5 out of 5 butterflies.

Agile Conversations

Henny Portman reviews Douglas Squirrel and Jeffrey Fredrick ‘Agile Conversations – Transform Your Conversations, Transform your Culture’.

Agile Conversations

Jim Johnson reads Agile Conversations: Transform Your Conversations, Transform Your Culture by Douglas Squirrel , Jeffrey Fredrick after Henny Portman’s review.  

Agile Estimating and Planning

Jim Johnson rates Agile Estimating and Planning 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Agile Portfolio Management

Molly Baunach rates Agile Portfolio Management 3 out of 5 butterflies.

Agile transformation

Henny Portman reviews Neil Perkin ‘Agile transformation – Structures, processes and mindsets for the digital age’.

Ambiguity

Richard Mark Soley suggests you cannot resolve all ambiguity.

Antifragile

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb is about surviving and even flourishing when things break.

At Home

Jennifer Lynch Rates At Home by Bill Bryson 4 out of 5.

Beyond the Goal

Mark Snow rates “Beyond the Goal “ 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Beyond the Goal

Jennifer Lynch quotes the first principle of economics is a scarcity of resources against unlimited wants.

Blink

Mark Snow rates “Blink” 5 out of 5 butterflies.

Blink

Jennifer Lynch suggests that Malcolm Gladwell book titled Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking confirms our...

Book Review: The Good Sponsor

Stijn Van Looy reviews The Good Sponsor and suggests…

Call Sign Chaos

Jim Johnson rates “Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead” with 5 out of 5 CHAOS Butterflies.

Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy

Jim Johnson reviews “Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy” by Joseph A. Schumpeter.

Chaos 2020 Beyond Infinity’ by Jim Johnson

Henny Portman reviews Jim Johnson ‘Standish Group Chaos 2020 Beyond Infinity’ report.

Choke

Mark Snow rates “Choke” 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur

Jim Johnson rates Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur 3 out of 5 .

Confronting Reality

Jim Johnson rates “Confronting Reality: Doing What Matters to Get Things Right ” 3 out of 5 butterflies.

Connections

Standish Team gives “Connections” a CHAOS Rating: 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Creating Effective Groups

Jim Johnson gives “Creating Effective Groups” a CHAOS Rating of 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Cycles by Bryan Cassady

Henny Portman reviews Bryan Cassady ‘Cycles – The simplest, proven method to innovate faster while reducing risks’.

Death by Meeting

Jim Johnson rates Death by Meeting 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Decision Latency Theory: It is All About the Interval

Pascal de Haan reviews Decision Latency Theory. 

Difficult Conversations

Jim Johnson rates Difficult Conversations 3 out of 5 butterflies.

Do More Faster

Jennifer Lynch rates “Do More Faster” 2 out of 5 butterflies.

Drive

Jim Johnson gives Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us 3 of 5 butterflies by Daniel Pink.

Einstein

Jim Johnson gives Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson 3 out of 5 butterflies.

Engaging stakeholders

Henny Portman reviews Elizabeth Harrin ‘Engaging stakeholders on projects – How to harness people power’.

Enterprise 2.0

Jennifer Lynch rates “Enterprise 2.0” 3 out 5 CHAOS Butterflies.

Enterprise Ontology

Hans Mulder reviews the book Enterprise Ontology of professor Dr.ir. Jan Dietz and...

Execution

Jim Johnson Rates “Execution” 3 out of 5 butterflies.

Executive Sponsor Research Report

Robert Dirks reviews Executive Sponsor Research Report.

Failing Forward

Jim Johnson gives Failing Forward Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success five out of five butterflies. 

Finance Basics

Mark Snow rates “Finance Basics” 2 out of 5 CHAOS butterflies.

Flow Governance Foundation

Hans Mulder reviews the books of professor Dr. Jan Hoogervorst, namely "Foundations of Enterprise Governance and Engineering"...

Focus

Jennifer Lynch gives “Focus” 2 out of 5 butterflies. 

Freedom From Fear

Jim Johnson rates Freedom From Fear 5 out of 5 butterflies.

Get You There

Jennifer Lynch rates “What Got You Here Won't Get You There” 3 out of 5 butterflies.  

Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds

Jim Johnson gives How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less 4 out of 5. 

Going Lean

Jim Johnson gives “Going Lean” 4 out of 5 CHAOS butterflies

Google Story

Jim Johnson rates The Google Story 3 out of 5 butterflies.

Greenlights

Jim Johnson reviews Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey.

Hot Groups Specialize

Jim Johnson rate Hot Groups: Seeding Them, Feeding Them, & Using Them to Ignite Your Organization by Jean Lipman-Blumen & Harold Leavitt 4 out 5 butterflies.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Jim Johnson rates “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” 3 out of 5 butterflies.

House of Lies

Jennifer Lynch rates House of Lies 2 out of 5 butterflies.

How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less

Jim Johnson rates “How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less” by Milo O. Frank 4 out of 5 butterflies.

How to Run a Successful Meeting in Half the Time

Mark Snow rates “How to Run a Successful Meeting in Half the Time” by Milo O. Frank 4 out of 5 butterflies.

How To Win Friends and Influence People

Jim Johnson gives “How To Win Friends and Influence People” 5 out of 5 butterflies.

I Can See You Naked

Jim Johnson gives “I Can See You Naked” 4 out of 5 butterflies.

In Search of the Obvious

Jim Johnson gives "In Search of the Obvious, The Antidote for Today's Marketing Mess" a rating 4 out of 5 butterflies. 

In Search of the Obvious

Jennifer Lynch suggests that Search of the Obvious is a key practice of Infinite Flow.

Influence

Jim Johnson rates Influence The Power to Change Anything by authors: Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Inspired

Jim Johnson rates Inspired “Take Your Product Dream from Concept to Shelf” by Vik Venkatraman 3 out of 5 butterflies.

Invention: A Life

Jim Johnson gives “Invention: A Life” by James Dyson 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Investment Philosophers and Financial Economists

Jim Johnson gives “Investment Philosophers and Financial Economists” CHAOS Rating: 2 out 5 butterflies. 

It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For

Jim Johnson rates “It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For” 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Jim reviews “The Infinite Game”

Jim reviews “The Infinite Game” 

Jim reviews “The Innovator's Dilemma”

Jim reviews “The Innovator's Dilemma” 

Jim reviews “The Innovators”

Jim reviews “The Innovators” 

Jim reviews “Think Like a Rocket Scientist”

Jim reviews “Think Like a Rocket Scientist”

Jim reviews “Upstream”

Jim reviews “Upstream”  

 

Law of Diminishing Returns

he behavioral economic Law of Diminishing Returns states that in all productive processes, adding one...

Laws of Success

Jim Johnson rates “Laws of Success: In Sixteen Lessons” by Napoleon Hill 5 out of 5 butterflies.

Leadership That Gets Results

Mohamed Bougharda suggests you read Leadership That Gets Results.

Leading with Obeya by Tim Wiegel

Henny Portman reviews Tim Wiegel ‘Leading with Obeya – Maximizing human leadership potential’.

Lean Start-up

Jim Johnson rates “Lean Start-up” with 4 out of 5 CHAOS butterflies. 

Legacy of Ashes

Jim Johnson rates Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA four out of five butterflies.

Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas

Jim Johnson reviews Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries by Safi Bahcall.

 

Made to Stick

Jim Johnson gives Made to Stick 5 out of 5 butterflies.

Making the Difference

Sam Opdenakker rates Making the Difference…

Managing in the Next Society

Jim Johnson reviews 'Managing in the Next Society' is a book by Peter F. Drucker.

Meeting in Half Time

Jim Johnson rates “How to Run a Successful Meeting in Half the Time” 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Microtrends

Jim Johnson rates “Microtrends” 3 out of 5 butterflies. Microtrends

Model Driven Architecture

Jim Johnson rates “Model Driven Architecture” 3 out of 5 butterflies.

Moneyball

Jennifer Lynch rates Moneyball 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Our Iceberg is Melting

Dave Bats reviews Our Iceberg is Melting.

People Over Process

Henny Portman reviews Michael K. Levine ‘People Over Process – Leadership for Agility’.

Practical Software Project Estimates

Jennifer Lynch rates Practical Software Project Estimates: A Toolkit for Estimating Software Development & by Peter Hill 5 out of 5 butterflies.

Predictably Irrational

Jim Johnson rates Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely 3 of 5 butterflies.

Primal Leadership

Jennifer Lynch gives Primal Leadership 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Project Management Maturity Model by Kent Crawford

Henny Portman reviews J. Kent Crawford ‘Project Management Maturity Model’.

Reading People Book Review

How to Understand People and Predict Their Behavior – Anytime, Anyplace is a book written by Jo-Ellan Dimitrius and Wendy Patrick Mazzarella.

Sages

Sages: Warren Buffett, George Soros, Paul Volcker and the Maelstrom of Markets is a book by Charles R. Morris. 

Sapiens a brief History of Humankind Review

Tommy Van de Wouwer gives Sapiens, a brief history of humankind…

Servant Leadership: The Struggle for Character

Pieter Borrias rates Servant Leadership..

Situational Sponsorship

Jim Crear gives Situational Sponsorship of Projects and Programs 5 out of 5 butterflies.

Start-up of You

Jim Johnson gives The Start-up You a rating of 3 out of 5 butterflies. 

Successful Digital Transformation by Marc Beijen

Henny Portman reviews Marc Beijen ‘Successful Digital Transformation’

Talking to Strangers

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People...

Team Topologies

Henny Portman reviews Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais ‘Team Topologies – Organizing business and technology teams for fast flow’.

Team Topologies

Jim Johnson reads Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow By Matthew Skelton, Manuel Pais after Henny Portman’s review.

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Jim Crear gives “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership 5 out of 5 butterflies.

The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

Lieven Coelus rates The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland…

The Canon

Jim Johnson rates The Canon 3 out of 5 butterflies.

The Education of a Coach

Jim Johnson gives The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam 3 out of 5 butterflies.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Jim Johnson rates The Five Dysfunctions of a Team 3 out of 5 butterflies.

The Good Mate

Hans Mulder reviews the book ‘The Good Mate: How understanding team relationships can make you happier and more productive' by Evan Sorensen and Jim Johnson...

The Good Sponsor

Koen Versavel reviews The Good Sponsor.

The Good Sponsor

Hans Mulder reviews Jim Johnson ‘The good Sponsor’.

The Great Bridge

Jim Johnson rates The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge 5 out or 5 butterflies.

The Law of the Long-tailed Monster (2022)

The Law of the Long-tailed Monster states: “You will always build too much of what you don’t need and not enough of what you do need.”

The Match King

Jennifer Lynch rates The Match King 3 of 5 butterflies.

The Phoenix Project

Joseph Puthenpurackal reviews The Phoenix Project

The Phoenix Project

Hans Dijckmans suggests that you read the book “The Phoenix Project”

The Phoenix Project

Frederic Crabbé reviews The Phoenix Project…

The Power of Habit

Jim Johnson gives The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg 4 out of 5 butterflies. 

The Power of Habit

Kurt Tierens reviews The Power of Habit.

The Project Saboteur

Tim Vermeulen rates The Project Saboteur 5 out of 5 butterflies.

The Public Execution of Miss Scarlet

Jim Crear reviews The Public Execution of Miss Scarlet.

The Public Execution of Miss Scarlet

Theo van Leest rates The Public Execution of Miss Scarlet…

The Secret Life of Houdini

Jim Johnson gives The Secret Life of Houdini 3 out of 5 butterflies.

The Ten Faces of Innovation

Jennifer Lynch suggests that team persona diversity is a must as much as skills diversity.

The Ten Faces of Innovation Review

Jim Johnson gives The Ten Faces of Innovation three out of five butterflies.

The Wisdom of Crowds

Jim Johnson gives The Wisdom of Crowds 3 out of 5 butterflies.

The World Is Flat

Jim Johnson rates The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century written by Thomas L. Friedman five out of five butterflies.

The Worry-Free Mind

Jim Johnson reviews The Worry-Free Mind, Train Your Brain, Calm the Stress Spin Cycle, and Discover a Happier, More Productive You by Carol Kershaw EdD, Bill Wade PhD. 

Thinking Like an Economist

Jim Johnson reviews Thinking Like an Economist: A Guide to Rational Decision Making by Randall Bartlett. 

Tippecanoe and Tyler Too

Jennifer Lynch rates Tippecanoe and Tyler Too…

Toxic Coping

Jim Johnson rates “A Guide to Coping with Difficult People at Work” 

Toyota Way

Jim Johnson rates Toyota Way 3 out of 5 butterflies. 

Tribal Leadership

Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization...

True Compass

Jim Johnson rates True Compass 4 out of 5 butterflies.

Tuned In

Jennifer Lynch suggests that focusing on user needs is really hard.

Tuned In Book Review

Jim Johnson rates Tuned In: Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities That Lead to Business Breakthroughs Rates 5 out of 5 butterflies. 

Turn Enemies into Allies

Turn Enemies into Allies: The Art of Peace in the Workplace is...

Twelve and a Half

Jim Johnson reviews “Twelve and a Half: Leveraging the Emotional Ingredients Necessary for Business Success” by Gary Vaynerchuk.

Vanderbilt

Jim Johnson reviews “Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty “written by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe.  

Viral Loop

Jennifer Lynch gives Viral Loop by Adam Penenberg a rating: 3 out of 5 butterflies.

Wealth of Nations

Jim Johnson comments on Adam Smith’s classic “Wealth of Nations”.

What Matters Now

Jennifer Lynch gives What Matter Now a rating of 3 out of 5 butterflies. 

Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?

Jim Johnson gives Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?: Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround by Louis V. Gerstner Jr. 3 out of 5 butterflies.

Will It Fly?

Will It Fly? How to Test Your Next Business Idea...

Wired to Care

Jim Johnson gives Wired to Care 3 out of 5 butterflies.

Work Like Da Vinci

Jim Johnson gives Work Like Da Vinci 3 out of 5 butterflies.

You Can Negotiate Anything

Jim Johnson gives “You Can Negotiate Anything” five out of five butterflies.  

You Can Negotiate Anything

Abid Javaid gives “You Can Negotiate Anything” four out of five butterflies.

You can Negotiate Anything Review

Tommy Van de Wouwer gives You can negotiate anything…

Your Brain at Work

Jim Johnson gives Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distractions, Regaining Focus, and Work Smarter All Day Long by David Rock a rating: 4 out of 5 butterflies.