Review of "Making Big Decisions Better: How to Set and Simplify Business Strategy," by Tim Lewko

Review of

Making Big Decisions Better: How to Set and Simplify Business Strategy, by Tim Lewko ISBN 9781472451088

Three out of five stars

 Many people think that they are developing a strategy for their organization when they are engaged in selecting tactics. Deciding on a strategy is what Lewko is referring to when using the phrase “Big Decisions,” as well as not implementing the strategic decisions more effectively.  The focus of the book starts with the initial recognition that strategic decisions must be made and then steps through the process to the point where the decisions are now company policy.

 Although they affect the entire organization and the quality of the strategy can be a matter of life and death for the company, many companies do not do a good job in making the key strategic decisions. Setting them on a better path is the point of this book.

 Unfortunately, while the advice is true, it is often obvious and simple, as stated in the title. The goal should not be to simplify business strategy, but to make it effective and appropriate. Whatever the purpose of your organization is, your goal is to develop a strategy that works, if you can do that, the level of simplicity is essentially inconsequential.

 The tendency to oversimplify is illustrated by the bulleted list on page 45.

“Do you currently have a one-page strategy tool that:

*) Illustrates your big decisions, products markets and capabilities?

*) Shows relative priority of ALL your products and markets?

*) Highlights where you make money and don’t?

*) Bases the truth if your competitive advantage is real?

*) Forces pinpointed dialog about performance?

The best-performing companies and CEOs do.”

 Unless you have only a few products and services, it is not possible to get all of this on one page, all the while keeping the descriptions specific enough to be useful. The bullet list itself took up one-sixth of the page real estate.

 While the advice in this book is good, it has a tendency to be obvious and is skewed too far towards the simple when effective is what the decision-makers want.

Review of "Showcase Presents Green Lantern Volume 5"

Review of

Showcase Presents Green Lantern Volume 5 ISBN 9781401230234

Four out of five stars

 The stories in this book feature a Green Lantern subject to personal and professional difficulties. Hal Jordan has lost his job and is down to his last couple hundred dollars. His overseers have stripped him of some of his power, leading to struggles as he fights the villains that are as strong and ruthless as ever. At times, the flaws in Green Lantern’s persona are so prevalent that they interfere with the story. After all, one must have great confidence if you are to protect the Earth from menaces of cosmic origin.

 The opening stories have Green Lantern battling alongside Green Arrow and occasionally the Black Canary, the big-busted female hero that fights in boots with heels. The once wealthy Oliver Queen has been reduced to a pauper and the two heroes whose names begin with “Green” are constantly bickering, again to the detriment of the stories. Having heroes with flaws does make the stories stronger and more interesting, but once again it takes a lot of confidence and courage to be a hero and take on the type of villains that these heroes must fight.

   One feature of the Green Lantern stories that I have always enjoyed and are a fundamental component of these stories is the devices he makes with his ring when he is fending off attacks from his opponents. For example, when he is transporting Green Arrow and Black Canary, he creates a flying sofa. Great imagination exhibited there.

Personal problems for heroes make better stories, as long as they are not overdone. In this case they are.

Review of "The Enforcer," a movie starring Humphrey Bogart DVD version

Review of

The Enforcer, a movie starring Humphrey Bogart DVD version

Three out of five stars

 Humphrey Bogart stars as a tough district attorney struggling to bring a case against the mastermind (Mendoza) of a murder for hire organization. Mendoza is in jail and scheduled to go to trial the next day. A lieutenant is in custody and has implicated Mendoza in personally committing a murder, but the man is suffering from a severe case of the jitters. When there is an attempt to kill him, he tries to escape by climbing out a window, but falls to his death.

 Bogart is unwilling to simply give up the case and so goes back and takes one last look at the evidence. The viewer then sees the flashbacks as Bogart and his assistants relive the events of the creation of the organization, how their investigation progressed and the way they built their case.

 The best Bogart movies are driven by the interaction between the characters and the quality of the dialog, neither of which is strong in this movie. There is also not a great deal of tension built up to the conclusion, the end result is obvious well before you see it. This movie is fine, but nothing spectacular.