I’m going to recast the question a little bit. I think people are too focused on the mechanics of PS and sometimes lose site of the human
interactions needed to create fantastic value for our customers. So, with that, I would recommend “Presentation Zen” ( http://tinyurl.com/4pzkvz ) for
the short list of summer reads. It doesn’t matter how good your ideas are if they haven’t been presented such that your audience can understand them.

I’m off to Alaska for a couple weeks and I’m bringing two books:

The Back of the Napkin ( http://tinyurl.com/42aq9y )

Cryptonomicon ( http://tinyurl.com/5x3zh9 )—An extremely rare re-read for me. Fantastic sci-fi/historical fiction. This blurb from one of the amazon reviewers sums it up well

“This novel is fun, huge, funny, rambling, witty, and sprawling. It is clever, engaging, and well-paced. It is full of quirky, eccentric, immensely likeable characters, crazy, interesting ideas, and amusing, often hilarious, looks at various situations including, but not limited to, mathematics, life, how to eat Cap’n Crunch properly, the purpose of beards, and well, just about anything else you can think of. Obviously, then, this book is not for everyone. Those who like tight, meticulously pared-down straightforward stories may not be able to get into this one.”

Richard W.

Ron,

If you find a course on Professional Services, be sure to let the rest ofus know.
My all time favorite book on PS is Dave Maister’s book: “Managing the Professional Services Firm.”

I first read it very early in my PS career (1993). It has been updated in 2003 with some new examples. The original principals still apply.

Good luck.

Joe G.

Look at what is available from David Maister.

Roy S.

I agree this is a great book and from a service delivery perspective “The Trusted Advisor” is also an excellent read.

In fact we issue it to our consultants.

I thought I’d offer these book recommendations straight from my
bookself:

1) David Maister books - I concur with the previous posting about The
Trusted Advisor - Great for folks who want to be more than a technician.

2) Trust Based Selling - by Green- The best way to sell services is a
point of view style. If your younger staff aspire to sell as well as
deliver, this is a must read.

3) Business Consulting - by the Economist - describes the structural
changes that impacted the services space from 1995-2005. Really lays
out some interesting/disturbing trends

4) Why Johnny Can’t Sell - by Michael Nick - A really good read that
helps you understand why some of your biz dev folks are floundering and
what to do about it

5) Bargaining Across Borders - If you’re selling to global clients, you
really need to read this one. No other book delves into the cultural
differences of business buyers around the world and how you should deal
with these differences.

But, if you’re going on vacation, don’t forget to take along something
absolutely brainless/trashy to read, too! But, that’s another post
altogether....

Brian S.

This is really a request more for my staff than at the executive level, but does anyone have good recommendations on a book about running effective meetings / meeting facilitation?

Kevin,

“How to Make Meetings Work,” by Doyle and Strauss, is a classic, basic and clear.

I learned even more from Gerald Weinberg’s book, “Handbook of Walkthroughs, Inspections, and Technical Reviews.” This book has a narrow focus on specific types of meetings, and yet the insights it provides are widely applicable and easy to apply. I like the Q&A format, too.

However, the best training in running effective meetings does not come from books. It comes from experiencing effective meetings, and learning by experience how to take a stand for effectiveness even in the face of apparently disruptive behavior.

One of the deep skills that�s often overlooked is how to enroll people to attend and contribute to meetings they don�t realize are in their best interests. When done well, this sets the stage for an effective conversation.