Aaron U. Bolin, Ph.D.

In business projects, the metaphorical language of picking the low-hanging fruit almost always comes up. Just to be clear, the low-hanging fruit refers to the idea that the easiest or lowest cost work should get done first. Examples of low-hanging fruit include things like eliminating obvious waste, cutting overtime, reducing excessive stockpiles, and removing self-inflicted policy constraints. Good things generally happen when you pick the low-hanging fruit. First, the project team can satisfy an immediate need to be successful, if only on a small scale. Because the low-hanging fruit is so easy to get, harvesting it early in a project can generate momentum for a more sustained effort. Second, everyone on the team can agree. Because the low-hanging fruit is obvious, disagreements on the obvious course of action are normally quite easy to resolve. Third, the project team can de-clutter the solution space. Getting the little things out of the way can help the team stay focused on the

Blah Blah Blah: What To Do When Words Don't Work by Dan Roam (List Price: $29.95; 2011 Portfolio/Penguin) This book actually delivers on the title promise. Dan Roam provides an application-oriented structure to turn weakly-presented ideas into really elegant communication tools. If you've read the Back of the Napkin  or Beyond the Back of the Napkin , then you'll recognize his engaging style that mixes text with oddly compelling simple drawings. In Blah Blah Blah, he extends his earlier work and reinforces the same basic message: words go better with pictures. I am a fan, and I really liked the overall book. In terms of criticism, the presentation felt a little padded in some parts -- saying in 5 pages what could be said in 5 words. I also missed the exercises that Roam included in his other volumes. In this book, readers are more passive; the text was less interactive. This book would be useful to anyone who routinely presents information: teachers, executives, stu