It is a unique book that conveys the challenges in human service agencies via two stories of nonprofit organizations. One is constantly dealing with one crisis after another and is usually in a reactive mode. The second story tells of an organization that is run as a learning organization and thus is more effective in running efficiently, as it is in a constant state of evaluating and learning from its mistakes. At the end of each chapter are reflective questions and finally after both stories are two theoretical models that help explain what is happening in these organizations.