Running head: BOOK REVIEW EXAMPLE 1
Book Review Example
John Doe
Trevecca Nazarene University
MOL 5800: Special Topics in Organizational Leadership
Dr. David Lomascolo
(Date)
BOOK REVIEW EXAMPLE 2
Shaw, H. (2013). Sticking Points: how to get 4 generations working together in the 12 places
they come apart. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Momentum, 264 pp.
Abstract
In Sticking Points: How to Get 4 Generations Working Together in the 12 Places They Come
Apart, Haydn Shaw balanced the challenge of both educating and training leaders for managing
with a multigenerational workforce. He introduced the idea of a dozen different areas within the
workplace that create friction for multigenerational operations, offered the reader an explanation
of why working with multiple generations provides a unique set of difficulties and challenges for
leaders, and revealed a five-step action plan framework to face these challenges. In addition,
Shaw explored each generation in depth, outlining what he termed ‘ghost stories’ that represent
the major defining characteristics and moments of each generational grouping. While this
investigation into the foundations of each generation was insightful and provided highly useful
information for leaders to think about the values and strengths of each generation in the context
of the workplace, its dated approach to generational explanation was apparent as it focused
discussion on Traditionalists born before 1945 while omitting the same in-depth examination of
Generation Z, the youngest generation whose contemporary emergence into the workforce is
likely to create a new wave of change, challenge, and innovation among work teams. Leaders
should keep a pen nearby when reading Shaw’s book, as they will want to take notes for
application of this important knowledge in their roles, as well as ponder the potential attributes of
Generation Z within Shaw’s framework.
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Table of Contents
Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 2
About the Book .................................................................................................................... 4
Author Qualifications .................................................................................................................. 4
Content Summary ........................................................................................................................ 5
Evaluation .................................................................................................................................... 7
Value for Leadership Studies ..................................................................................................... 10
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 10
References ......................................................................................................................... 12
Tables ................................................................................................................................ 13
BOOK REVIEW EXAMPLE 4
Book Review Example
Understanding how to communicate across generations in the workforce has never been
more important. According to Carpenter and Charon (2014), for the first time in history the
modern U.S. workforce includes 5 different generations, each with their own perspectives,
priorities, and opinions. Haydn Shaw’s 2013 nonfiction business book Sticking Points: How to
Get 4 Generations Working Together in the 12 Places They Come Apart attempted to cut through
the noise of deciphering these differences by breaking down the defining characteristics of four
generations, the twelve areas of work that most often cause conflict among these generations,
and a five-step process to successfully navigate the contrasts among a multi-generational group
at work. This work was useful in providing much-needed direction on potential problem areas
and the strategies to help team members from different generations see eye-to-eye, but began to
show its age in its incomplete exploration of generations, missing the opportunity to illuminate
key insights about the Generation Z members as they enter the labor force and how it will
inevitably impact workplace dynamics.
About the Book
Sticking Points was written as an answer for an as yet unfulfilled need. After receiving
the frequent request for a resource from clients in his professional life on how to think about the
different generations, Haydn Shaw aimed to write a reference guide for any leader dealing with a
diversity of age ranges. He used his own experience and professional passion as the spark for the
topic of this book.
Author Qualifications
Shaw is a consultant who specializes in the areas of leadership, management, change, and
generations; he has spoken to more than 100,000 people and worked with over 1500
organizations (Shaw, 2013). According to Steven Covey, he met Shaw at “the ripe age of twenty-
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eight” (Shaw, 2013, p. xiii) when he began working with FranklinCovey over 26 years ago, and
Shaw currently boasts certifications to deliver over 20 of their courses, in addition to authoring
the Working Across Generations workshop and their best-selling course Leading Across
Generations (‘Haydn Shaw,’ n.d.).
Shaw is also an ordained minister and his most recent work, Christianity Isn't Dying,
Millennials Aren't the Problem, And the Future Is Bright was on the topic of the spiritual lives of
generations (‘About the Author,’ n.d.). The United States Air Force chose Sticking Points for
their 2014 recommended reading list, capitalizing on the real-life experience that comes from the
Huffington Post contributor’s multi-generational household, which includes Shaw and his
Boomer/Gen-X cusper wife, their 4 millennial children, his Gen-X brother-in-law, and his
Traditionalist mother-in-law (‘Haydn Shaw – Contributor,’ n.d.). Shaw’s career reflects the ways
his experiences with multi-generational groups in his personal life have impacted his
professional guidance of others, and vice versa.
Content Summary
Sticking Points focused primarily on three central points – generational differences, the
twelve key sticking points, and an effective approach to multigenerational teams. In chapter 2,
Shaw outlined the novelty of a workforce with four (five as of 2020) generations, where he
highlighted that lifespans have increased; information has become more accessible, allowing
individuals at earlier ages to harness knowledge for productivity; and younger generations have
been taught that the “‘wait your turn’ approach no longer works… they were taught to question
authority, shop for the best deal, and expect to be entertained” (Shaw, 2013, p.15). These forces
converge to create a larger population of workers with a wider range of ages, often with the
younger half expecting standards the older half considered a privilege, not a right.
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This novel intergenerational workforce is said to create four standard approaches when
conflict occurs. A generation can typically expect that more tenured work groups will take the
following steps as they increasingly enter the labor market and organization: ignore them,
attempt to fix them, cut a deal with them as power begins to tip in their direction, and finally – at
the top of Shaw’s hierarchy of management needs – lead them. The author went on to explain
that leading through generational differences would typically be focused around a dozen
particular issues: the titular sticking points, which included topics such as communication, dress
code, loyalty, policy, respect, and worth ethic.
In order to lead through these sticking points, Shaw recommended a five-step leadership
framework. The steps included acknowledgement and awareness of the generational differences;
appreciation, or a focus on the common needs; flexibility and a willingness to oblige different
tactics; leverage, or capitalizing on the unique assets of each generation; and resolve, an
alternative option for when flexibility doesn’t meet the needs of the team that encourages the
leader to make a decision about which choice will lead to the best results.
Part one of the book sought to further understand the nuances held within each
generation. The introduction of this section included the explanation of Shaw’s methodology for
evaluating the generations. He explained how ghost stories, or “the historical events during a
generation’s childhood years shape their values, worldview, and definitions of success” (Shaw,
2013, p.44). Ghost stories, according to Shaw, were akin to generalizations, and were not to be
confused with urban legends, or stereotyping based on a kernel of truth. Shaw also made the
caveat that while generalizations tend to be true, outliers existed in every group, and they “fail to
predict or explain any one individual” (Shaw, 2013, p.46).
Chapters 4-7 each explored a different generation, including Traditionalists (born before
1945), Baby Boomers (born 1946-64), Generation X (born 1965-1980), and Millennials (born
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1981-2001). Each generation had at least four ghost stories, with Millennials having six. As
Table 1 illustrates, these ghost stories tended to be the key factors that the average person thinks
of when asked to talk about defining moments for people within a particular age range, and Shaw
went into great detail on how these environmental and economic causes created the effects on
general attitudes and perceptions within these age groups that play out in the workforce today,
with some surprising outcomes. One example: the Baby Boomers birth into a time period with
more babies than ever before meant that every civic entity was overwhelmed with the influx of
children, leading to the workaholic attitudes among Baby Boomers because “overcrowded
hospitals, grade schools, sports teams, campuses, and job markets taught them that you have to
compete to get what you want” (Shaw, 2013, p.65). Shaw also posited that this boom led to their
generation being the center of attention, explaining why the Boomers can appear domineering.
These type of explanations from Shaw helped to provide new insight into the driving forces
behind each generation that shaped their unique worldview.
Evaluation
Sticking Points had many assets as a reference material. It used humor and real-world
examples to relate the frustrations that many workers have faced when dealing with members of
a different age group, such as a jovial discussion of the different attitudes toward flip flops based
on age in chapter 2. All of the chapters focused on a single generation began with an at-a-glance
analysis of the generation, which included a graphical representation of the percentage of the
population represented by the generation, as well as alternate names, the decades that comprised
the teen years, key historical events, top television shows, top music, what makes the generation
unique, and how they see themselves at work. The ease of digesting the information made these
pages stand out as important resources for future use.
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When discussing the sticking points, Shaw (2013) noted “while there are many more
sticking points we could address, learning how to deal with the twelve most common will teach
us how to handle others we encounter” (p.31). In highlighting this distinction, Shaw not only
explained his approach to the topic, but also empowered the reader to use the stated sticking
points as the example by which to gain confidence to use the author’s methods successfully in
other workplace contexts. In the latter half of the book, Shaw delved further into each sticking
point, framing each in its own chapter while he customized action plans for the individual
sticking points based on these five steps. Again, this gave the signal to the reader that these
examples could easily be implemented in a myriad of real-world scenarios, while also building a
leader’s belief in their ability to navigate conflict; the repetition of the five-step process
throughout the book had the effect of becoming a memorization device as well as acting as
metaphorical training wheels, building self-esteem for the leader.
Shaw did an excellent job of conveying the necessity for yet another book on business
and leadership, and explained how his novel approach would provide unique benefit to the
reader. His tone throughout Sticking Points was casual and approachable, making the subject
matter seem both attainable and not overly academic. It appeared to be particularly geared
toward the Baby Boomer leader (as Shaw is a self-proclaimed Boomer/Gen X cusper, it makes
sense he would most naturally speak to his own generation) who may not have an awareness of
how multigenerational teams might clash, or, in being the largest senior group, could act as the
ambassadors and mentors for subsequent generations. This was a strength for the book as it made
it supremely easy to read and understand; for the informal leader, this could be a great approach
in allowing them to digest the information and make a plan for implementation. However, due to
the depth and breadth of the material covered in regard to different generations, it is possible
some leaders may desire more sources to reinforce and add authority to Shaw’s ideas. Because it
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can be difficult to tease out the different effects of age, historical era, and generation (Costanza et
al., 2017), using longitudinal studies or other academic sources to anchor Shaw’s generational
theories could help add to their validity beyond his own experience.
The biggest shortcoming of this book came from the absence of a few key pieces of
information. First, the introduction of the generations did express the notion of the cusp, or the
fringes of each generational group that would likely have attributes from two generations. In
theory, these cusps could be nearly as large as the base generations themselves, so it seems
important to remind the reader often of this distinction; it would be even better to have a
discussion of what particular strengths a Boomer/Gen X cusper or a Gen X/Millennial cusper
might bring to the table, given their ability to straddle two groups.
The other component the book lacked was a robust discussion of the Generation Z/iGen
group. Given the title was first published in 2013, this generation was still actively being born, so
it’s understandable why more coverage was not provided at that time. However, based on Shaw’s
(2013) own statement that “there has been a huge acceleration in the speed of information”
(p.15), a book written seven years ago is relatively outdated given the subject matter (indeed,
even this class requires sources no older than a decade for relevancy). The early members of Gen
Z are now emerging to take their first full-time jobs in the workforce, and while there is likely
much insight yet to be uncovered for this group, it will be critical to understand how the newest
generation is going to shape the labor market and organizational structure. The trouble with this
realization is that it makes Shaw’s once revolutionary resource more antiquated and less useful
with every passing day a revised edition is not available. In another five years, this edition will
go the way of the Dodo, the typewriter, and the Blackberry phone. However, much like other
technologies available today, the planned obsolescence of this book is an economic opportunity
for the author; his expertise makes him the ideal candidate to release updated content before a
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competitor seizes the chance first. Indeed, it appeared that Shaw may have already laid the
groundwork for a future edition, as the six ghost stories for Millennials likely included some
crossover, and some attributes may wind up defining Generation Z more than the Millennials.
Value for Leadership Studies
Sticking Points provided valuable insight into the minds and motivations of different
generations, and given that there will likely be four generations in the workplace for the
foreseeable future, it is wise for leaders to educate themselves on the challenges and
opportunities of a multigenerational workforce. This book was a strong introduction for the
uninitiated into generational differences, and will likely be a reference that many leaders will be
glad to have on their shelves. The author provided a particularly strong and accessible framework
for leading through conflict, and it seemed this framework would be effective beyond
generational disagreements to assist with any number of workplace issues that could arise due to
a difference of perspective or opinion. The information included can serve as a jump off point for
other sticking points not addressed in the book, it can give classmates (such as the
multigenerational cohort of our class) a starting point for thoughtful conversation and points of
connection, and it can spark curiosity for further research into motivations among generations or
the differences between attributes founded in generational ghost stories or related to age groups
more widely (for example, it would be fascinating to study if current 60-year-olds are reflecting
their Baby Boomer generational characteristics, or if similar attributes would be found in the 60-
year-olds of 10,15, or 20 years ago?). This book answered as many questions as it raised, and the
more dialogue is had, the more awareness and skill is available to our leaders.
Conclusion
Empathy and awareness are two important characteristics in a servant leader, and both are
also required for finding ways to create harmony and productivity among multigenerational
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teams. Haydn Shaw’s Sticking Points: How to Get 4 Generations Working Together in the 12
Places They Come Apart considered the defining characteristics among different generations to
build awareness and provided a framework for reconciling these differences with empathy. Equal
parts descriptive and prescriptive, this book was a rare reference that supplied both declarative
and procedural knowledge in equally useful amounts. The author wrote plainly, personably, and
knowledgeably about the subject matter, making this an easy read and a valuable resource. I will
gladly purchase the updated version when it is released so that I can reference it for myself and
use it as a resource for my team for decades to come.
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References
About the Author. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2020, from http://christianityisnotdying.com/#book-
author
Carpenter, M. J., & Charon, L. C. (2014). Mitigating Multigenerational Conflict and Attracting,
Motivating, and Retaining Millennial Employees by Changing the Organizational
Culture: A Theoretical Model. Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational
Culture, 5(3), 68–84. https://doi-org.trevecca.idm.oclc.org/10.1002/jpoc.21154
Costanza, D. P., Darrow, J. B., Yost, A. B., & Severt, J. B. (2017). A Review of Analytical
Methods Used to Study Generational Differences: Strengths and Limitations. Work,
Aging and Retirement, 3(2), 149–165. https://doi-
org.trevecca.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/workar/wax002
Haydn Shaw. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2020, from https://www.franklincovey.com/engage-with-
us/hire-a-consultant/haydn-shaw.html
Haydn Shaw – Contributor. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2020, from
https://www.huffpost.com/author/haydn-shaw
Shaw, H. (2013). Sticking Points: how to get 4 generations working together in the 12 places
they come apart. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Momentum.
BOOK REVIEW EXAMPLE 13
Tables
Table 1
Ghost Stories by Generation
Generation Traditionalists (born before 1945)
Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964)
Generation X (born 1965-1980)
Millennials (born 1981-2001)
Tag Line “Keep Calm and Carry On”
“Do Your Own Thing”
“Get Real” “Can We Fix It? Yes, We Can!”
Ghost Story The Great Depression
Sudden Increase in Births
Squished – smaller
generation
Heavy Parental Involvement
Ghost Story World War II Affluence as a Normality
Divorce as a Normality
Fear of Low Self- Esteem
Ghost Story Urbanization Advent of Television
Downward Mobility
The Consumer Age
Ghost Story Emergence of Mass Marketing
Generation Gap with Traditionalist
Parents
Parody September 11, 2001 (9/11)
Ghost Story Technology Everywhere
Ghost Story Emerging Adulthood
Note: Information collected from Shaw, H. (2013). Sticking Points: how to get 4 generations
working together in the 12 places they come apart. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale
Momentum.

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