Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

I didn't realise this was a vampire book until I was well into it. I would not have chosen to buy it because of my prejudice about vampires and literature, however, the concept of the book is redeeming and engaged me. It works well as a "vampire-book-for-grown-ups".

Cade is a 160 year old vampire who is morally chained to the Office of the US President and who ultimately is the only person left to solve a crisis. The characters are believable and push the story forward. At times I felt there were too many people as new characters are introduced all through the book.

The back story and context is dealt with very well. Most chapters start with a quote from an "official" text which provides information necessary to understand the characters and the plot. Towards the end (trying not to provide a spoiler...) there is some confusion over whether there are three or four "thingies". It felt like the author originally had three and then edited to change to four, changing the numbers but not specific plot details. It took me three read-backs to work out what was going on. Until then the narrative flowed smoothly.

The vampire protagonist is a great character and I'd happily read another book by the same author with Cade in the lead. Though I'll be expecting the plot to be less convoluted and easier to follow.

Minor note to the author and publisher: the title Blood Oath has been used in other books, in a popular Star Trek episode and in vampire games. Consequently, an Internet search does not bring up details of this book without a bit more digging.

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

I can't recall ever before reading a book three times. I may even read it for a fourth time. This is a best-seller and truly deserves its position. It needs to be a compulsory textbook for all scientists, journalists, healthcare professionals, teachers, parents - well, everyone can benefit by digesting its contents.

Ben Goldacre has carved a niche for himself in highlighting the daft and downright dishonest reports that abuse statistics to sell products, pills, methods and interventions. If he writes a sequel, it hope he names it something like "Wise Up, You Idiots!".

Through compelling and sometimes controversial case studies, Goldacre teaches the reader how statistics can be and are manipulated for the benefit of some. Although I am not too bad at handling statistics I finished this book, each time, with a far greater understanding of the analysis, manipulation and presentation of data. For me, the best best aspect of the book is the totally no nonsense approach of the writing. It is perhaps toned down a wee bit compared to his blog http://www.badscience.net/.

So if you want to know the statistical facts behind the Brain Gym, the Media's MMR Hoax, Dr Gillian McKeith, Homeopathy, Professor Patrick Holford and other juicy topics which form part of our perceived wisdom, then read the book - at least twice.

In Good Company; how social capital makes organizations work by Cohen & Pusak

I had to stop and check out the publishing date of this book. Heavens, it is ten years old, yet seems as fresh as the this morning's dawn. What impressed me was its ability to focus on the social without getting lost in the technology aspects of social. That was my heads up to this book being written before the advent of the "bright and shiny" social networking (as in on-line) era.

The authors focus on the concept of social capital. Their definition of this is "Social capital consists of the stock of active connections among people; the trust, mutual understanding, and shared values and behaviours that bind the members of human networks and communities and make cooperative action possible".

The chapter on trust made more sense to me than most of the consultancy-type frameworks that proliferate. They explain how it is the key to social capital and how it is a demonstrable social system behaviour.

Networks and communities are a fashionable topic and have been since the onset of debate about communities of practice. These authors focus on the role of social groups, the basics of communities and networks, as well as the value of the networks. I wonder how much we know about our organizational networks and whether we have stopped to value them?

I loved the chapter on space and time to connect. In these impatient days of quick fixes, rapid cycles of change, the flurries of new ideas on how to do something, we can all do with a refocus on what it is that is the glue in the system. This glue is of course the social capital. Social capital is a by product of many processes and structures, and most importantly needs attention to time and space. When last did you calculate the return on investment of your lunch half hour away from your desk sitting at a table with some colleagues. The trouble;l with this book is I agreed with everything and in the same instant felt the impossibility of it all. Nevertheless there are some thought provoking issues to consider. For example there is no point in exhorting storytelling as a method of engaging staff in change unless we personally experience story telling, walk the talk, take the time to tell stories and more importantly to listen to other people's stories. The chapter on social talk and storytelling is a must for any leader who is evoking this as a method for change.

If you're not convinced so far then the chapter on the challenge of volatility is crucial. Here we learn how social capital can transcend and transform, against all circumstances.

In case you think they missed the boat by not considering the technology opportunities the chapter on the challenge of virtuality says it all, without getting lost in the technical details.

This is another book that has languished on my bookshelf. Something triggered me to buy it all those years ago. Having read it I felt affirmed and inspired. I'm going to reflect and work on my social capital. And you?

PS there are some great books written by Laurence Prusak - check out his website. There are also videos by him on storytelling and knowledge management.

Performance Drivers; A Practical Guide to using the Balanced Scorecard - Olve, Roy, Wetter

On the one hand the topic of this book seemed old and faded - there must be 10 new methods for change and improvement being issued every day - yet on the other hand, it seemed fresh and comforting, like a newly washed pair of favourite socks. It was comforting because it answered the questions I had in a way which build on my existing knowledge, and fresh because it left me with new ideas and measurement strategies.

Part I covers the reasoning behind the need for a Balanced Scorecard and how it is effective for strategic control. I liked the way the authors explained how the dynamic between measures is so important. I think so often this interdependence is lost, with the result that we have undesirable knock on consequences in our systems or we miss valuable opportunities for improvement.

Part II takes you through the process of building a Balanced Scorecard. The cases from different industries illustrate the diverse ways you can do this. There is more detail in here about understanding and using causal relationships between measures.

Implementing a Scorecard is discussed separately to building and designing one. This section, Part III, covers IT systems that help as well as the facilitation process to ensure the scorecard is used to develop a learning culture rather than performance management straight jacket.

Part IV explains how you can use Scorecards to inform parties outside the organisation and there is also a chapter on their use in the Public Sector. If you are working in the Public Sector you may like to start with this chapter.

Finally, Part V has hints, tips and advice on making the scorecard process a success. If it were me I would have put these notes earlier in the book as they are important.

If you are bereft of any ideas on what measures to use then the authors have helpfully compiled a "starter for 10" list in a useful Appendix.

I recommend this as a handbook for those who are searching for ways to measure the dynamic variables in a system or organisation, with the aim of learning from the output.