What Reviewers Say
"Understanding business rules is an essential part of achieving organizational agility. If you don't know what your organization's business rules are, how can you change them?! This book is essential reading for anyone involved in the definition or execution of business change, at any level. It's particularly crucial reading for anyone undertaking business analysis. Even the most experienced practitioner will learn something by reading this book! Highly recommended. " – Adrian Reed, Blackmetric [back]
"ALL businesses and government organizations are, to a certain extent, policy and business rules driven. Customer experiences do not only depend on processes but also on rules guiding the behavior of frontline employees. But who really understands how to write good rules and policies? Who really pays attention to the business vocabulary and its impact on customers, citizens etc. We all have stories to tell about bad, confusing, conflicting rules, and the emotions that go with it! This book is a real eye-opener about business rules and policy writing for all of us having to deal with business rules and policies on a day-to-day basis. Thanks Ron for reminding us about the importance of clear rules and policies for any organizations caring about customers, employees and partners' experiences." – Gilles Morin, BPMPlus [back]
"Despite improvements in technology and methodology, IT projects continue to yield poor and unsatisfactory results, even (or especially) in cases where large investments are made. The problem is recurrent — developers do not really know the business they need to improve because communication with experts is poor. This book lays the groundwork for having an engineered way of communication between business experts and developers that allows knowledge to be shared at a level of detail where everyone can be involved in achieving the desired results." – Antonio Catalá & Amir de la Torre, The Anonymous Architect [back]
"Ron's newest book addresses the very important topic of business rules. Against the current trend of statistics- and data-driven approaches to governance, his approach provides a practical way to managing the core decisions in your organization in a transparent and human-centric way. A must read for any governance professional." – Bas van der Raadt, hapsah.org [back]
"I enjoyed reading this new book! It's concise and to the point, accessible for many disciplines and relevant to a large public. I highly recommend it. Too many professionals often work only from a data or IT or business analysis point of view." – Charlotte Bouvy [back]
"Love all the examples used throughout the book. They help the reader understand very easily. By capturing and interpreting rules, I always feel we understand things deeply and clearly" – Eric Brown [back]
"This book addresses the challenges facing those using rules in business and government. It should be, not in every practitioner's library, but at their elbow. Well thumbed, annotated in the margins, and full of sticky notes. Get it, read it internalize it, act on it." – Fred Simkin [back]
"... a nice, clear read, sometimes even funny. A good job explaining the two kinds of rules, stressing the importance of (good) behavioral rules, proper automation, and direct support for violations" – Jan Vanthienen [back]
"Engaging style. I recommend that legislative drafters read this book. It is remarkable that the main textbooks on legislative drafting don't really deal with how rules work. A lot is similar, but the book looks at it from a different angle, which is very useful." – Matthew Waddington, legislative drafter [back]
"Really enjoyed the book. Very readable. Plenty of easy-to-follow everyday examples, which are critical to helping the reader appreciate the concepts being discussed. This is your go-to book for understanding rules and all the ways we can use them in the world around us." – Jasmine Lee [back]
"Valuable insight into how to move business rules from unclear and ill-considered diktats to thought-through and clear boundaries that promote freedom within your organization." – Alex Hamilton [back]
"Compelling reasons why you want to read this book. An easy read. A power reader can plow through it relatively quickly. The examples are easy to understand and interesting, and made the book lighthearted and fun, but still potent. Why has this crucial message not been getting through to people?!" – Kim Schilling [back]
"In this book, Ron considers carefully every word in every sentence to prevent misunderstandings and convey precise meaning. Every analyst writing a definition, constraint, rule, or guideline should take his example and learn from his guidance. The result is easy to understand and follow. " – Silvie Spreeuwenberg [back]
"What are 'business rules'? The precise answer may be a surprise to some. In this book, Ron gives a concise definition and explains them in clear, accessible language, along with their place in the broader landscape of business concept modeling and ontologies.
This book is a must-read for anyone in business who wants to understand this important aspect of real-world conceptualization, whether for business reporting and decision making or as part of stakeholder oversight of IT developments. It should also be recommended reading for those in IT tasked with the programmatic implementation of business rules and/or data models." – Mike Bennett [back]
"This is a thought-provoking book, from two perspectives: From a business perspective it offers a versatile approach to turn business strategies into fine-tuned business rules. From a formal logic perspective it demonstrates how this formal science may be turned into business value. The combination is absolutely outstanding." – Markus Schacher [back]
"... a really good and useful book, worth every minute you spend reading it. Should be required reading for everyone dealing with business knowledge. Full of valuable insights and practical advice not only for people new to the topic, but also for seasoned experts. Applying even some of the advice in your organization will save you time and money and prevent trouble." – Patrick Grässle [back]
$24.95/paperback $14.95/kindle
