Business Transformation: A Roadmap for Maximizing Organization Insights

I recently finished the narration of a book for Wiley and SAS Business Series on organizing a business to utilize big data most effectively. All companies use information to set strategies and accomplish business objectives. But how many CEOs and CIOs would say they are satisfied that their companies get maximum value from information? Business Transformation reveals how SAS's Information Evolution Model (IEM) can be used together with analytics for groundbreaking results. Author Aiman Zeid provides the necessary information you need to introduce and promote the use of analytics and insight across your organization. Along with examples and best practices of global companies that have successfully been through this process, you'll learn how to identify the starting point and develop a road map for execution. The audiobook is available on Audible, Amazon and iTunes.  A sample is provided here:

Dancing With Bear Released

This true story of the life and death of J. Bear Marler, and his wife, Marie, who became known as "Lady Bear" or "Mama Bear", will tug at your heart, make you believe in forever, and give you hope. It was my pleasure to narrate this delightful work.  This audiobook is now available at Audible, Amazon and iTunes.

An audio sample is provided here:

Happy Birthday President Lincoln

It's been a bit more than 150 years since Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, a speech many of us were required to memorize in high school.  A recent project was cause for me to revisit this eloquent speech, for the following audio:

Angst: Origins of Anxiety and Depression

I have just finished the narration for Angst: Origins of Anxiety and Depression.

In this path-breaking volume, engagingly written for the general public, psychiatrist Jeffrey Kahn reveals that the Angst of anxiety and depression ultimately results from our transformation, over tens of thousands of years, from biologically shaped, almost herd-like prehistoric tribes, to rational and independent individuals in modern civilization. Because of our Reason, we don't choose to act like sheep. Kahn looks at five basic types of modern-day angst--Panic Anxiety, Social Anxiety, OCD, Atypical Depression, and Melancholic Depression--and shows how each derives from primeval social instincts that once helped our ancestors survive. For instance, the "panic disorder" which prevents some people from flying may have originally evolved to keep our tribal ancestors from traveling dangerously far from home. Likewise, the increased emotional sensitivity to social rejection that now triggers episodes of "atypical depression" may have helped maintain polite behavior and social harmony in our ancestors. Our distinctly human civilization and rational consciousness lets us defy these social instincts. But those over-ridden instincts can resurface as stressful emotional disorders. Kahn notes that some of us painfully tackle this distress head-on, in ways that can advance intellectual creativity, social performance and productivity. He also describes the interplay of instinct with the advance of civilization, and on how evolutionary perspective explains why modern treatments work. 

Ranging from Darwin and Freud to the most cutting-edge medical and scientific findings--drawing from ancient writings, modern humor and popular lyrics, and with many amusing cartoons--Angst offers us an exciting new slant on some of the most pervasive mental health issues of our time.

Now available on Audible.com, Amazon and iTunes. A sample from the preface is provided here:

Spirituality in Patient Care

Since the publication of the first edition of Spirituality in Patient Care in 2002, the book has earned a reputation as the authoritative introduction to the subject for health professionals interested in identifying and addressing the spiritual needs of patients. The body of research on religion, spirituality, and health continues to grow at a dramatic rate, creating an urgent need for a new edition of this landmark work.

In this, the third edition, Harold G. Koenig, M.D., updates every chapter by incorporating the newest research and introducing sensible ways of translating that research into caring for patients. Like previous editions, this new one addresses the whys, hows, whens, and whats of patient-centered integration of spirituality into patient care so that health professionals, including physicians in primary care and the medical and surgical specialties, can utilize this information in clinical practice. Whole chapters are also included offering profession-specific information for nurses, clergy, mental health professionals, social workers, and occupational and physical therapists.

Other chapters address topics like culturally and spiritually sensitive care for each major religious group, potential limitations or barriers to application, and even what may happen when research on spirituality and health is misapplied. Throughout these chapters, listeners will find new case histories and clinical examples on how to integrate spirituality into patient care depending on their particular circumstances.

The audiobook is available at Audible, Amazon and Apple Books.  An audio sample is provided here: