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Bookshelf Daisy Wademan's Remember Who You Are might be consid- ered the ultimate graduation present. Inspired by the example of Harvard Business School pro- fessors who spend the last class hours sharing personal stories with their students, Wademan has collected essays from 15 HBS professors. Alternately moving, hilar- ious, and reflective, each story is as inspiring as an after-hours tête-à-tête with the most respected senior leader you've never had the chance to get to know. From Jeffrey Rayport's description of a bewilder- ing final exam to Rosabeth Moss Kanter's experience of delivering a crucial speech by telephone, each essay offers an intimate look at a key event in the life of a gifted and thoughtful business school professor. The life lessons, though sometimes familiar, remain pro- found. Savor the moment. Understand yourself. Care about the people around you. Follow your dreams. Be open to possibili- ties. The lessons are even easier to learn when presented in such a charming format. (Harvard Business School Press, $19.95) In general, women make less money than men do, and that's even more true when they open businesses as entre- preneurs. While 39 percent of all U.S. firms in the U.S. had revenues exceeding $1 million in the year 2000, only 26 percent of the firms owned by women broke that mark. Why would this be? Five professors with a background in entrepreneur- ship attempt to answer the question in Clearing the Hurdles. Candida 54 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2004 cles clustered in their path and launch the next superstar business. (Prentice Hall, $24.95) any individual bent on founding a fast-growing, high-stakes enterprise. They note that women historically start businesses in service-oriented sectors like flower shops and day- care centers, and often are content to keep them relatively small and controllable. But they also point out that other women with grander plans are frequently thwarted by stereotypical attitudes about women's roles in society that make it difficult for women to secure funding and develop essential social networks. As the title of the book suggests, the authors have plenty of advice about how women can over- come the obsta- Brush, Nancy M. Carter, Elizabeth Gatewood, Patricia G. Greene, and Myra M. Hart examine attitudes about women as well as women's traditional roles in the work- place and juxtapose these against the specific skills and commitments required by organization has been strengthened by key partnerships with employees, customers, host communities, other businesses, government, and the owners of the parent company. Tisch is not above being goofy—in one memorable chapter, he describes how he dressed up as his mother in a video designed to pitch Loews as the best contender to build a new hotel. Nor is he aloof—he spent a week doing the front-line jobs of his bellmen, housekeepers, cooks, and waiters. But his message is serious. Only through partnering with every stakeholder, from taxi drivers to city planners, can a business develop a strong staff that can weather eco- nomic troubles and nimbly move to take advantage of fresh opportunities when they present themselves. (Wiley, $24.95) Even the most self-reliant entrepreneur determined to go it alone depends on a vast and essential network of governmental agencies, community groups, and educational systems. According to Jonathan M. Tisch, Chairman and CEOof Loews Hotels, collaboration and coopera- tion are the basic building blocks of any successful enterprise. In The Power ofWe, he describes how his Most corporate leaders seeking to grow their companies are desperate to innovate their businesses and intro- duce new products. Not so fast, warns Sergio Zyman in Renovate Before You Innovate. The man who oversaw one of the most disastrous new product introductions in recent memory—New Coke—strongly believes that most innovation is a recipe for ruin. Instead, he favors renovation, in which companies examine their core essences and identify growth opportunities consis- tent with products consumers already want from them. "The phi- losophy of renovation is, 'Let's find out what we can sell and see whether we can make it,'" he writes. While CEOs might think they already know how consumers view them, Zyman suggests carrying out research to discover what emotional benefits, physical benefits, and attributes consumers associate with