Technology companies make up seven of the world's ten largest firms by market capitalization. And the key to their success is the key to all modern organizations. Jonathan Smart, business agility practitioner, thought leader, and coach, reveals the patterns and antipatterns that will help organizations from every industry deliver better value sooner, safer, and happier through high levels of engagement, inclusion, and empowerment. Through his decades of experience in the technology world, Smart provides business leaders with a blueprint for creating a world-class organization of the future. Through Agile and Lean ways of working, business leaders can empower teams to improve production, grow together, and create better services for their customers. These better ways of working have overflowed from the IT department to every corner of successful organizations, taking root in every industry from aerospace to accounting, insurance to shipping. This book is not about software development. It is not a book about the computer industry. This book is about applying agility across the entire organization. It's a book that will put you at the front of change and ahead of the competition.

    Many owners and CEOs think they have to be involved in every aspect of their business. They spend valuable brainpower on low-priority decisions. Before long, they're overworked and burned out.Instead of doing everything, it's time to focus on the right things.A CEO Only Does Three Things zeroes in on the three pillars of business: culture, people, and numbers. Steeped in twenty-plus years of practical knowledge, training, and consulting with some of the world's largest companies, this indispensable guide shows how to articulate the right culture for your business, hire people with the right mindsets, and inspire your teams to produce optimal results.Hundreds of CEOs have used Taylor's methods to create fulfilled, efficient, professional lives, and you can join them. Learn how to focus on the work you love-and avoid CEO burnout.

    A brand must be elastic enough to allow for reasonable category and product-line extensions, flexible enough to change with dynamic market conditions, consistent enough so that consumers who travel physically or virtually won’t be confused, and focused enough to provide clear differentiation from the competition. Strong brands are more than globally recognizable; they are critical assets that can make a significant contribution to your company’s bottom line.In Global Brand Power, Kahn brings brand management into the 21st century, addressing how branding contributes to the purchase process and how to position a strong global brand, from identifying the appropriate competitive set, offering a sustainable differential advantage, and targeting the right strategic segment. This essential guide also covers how customer ownership of your brand affects marketing strategy, methods for assessing brand value, how to manage a brand for long-term profitability, effective brand communications and repositioning strategies, and how to manage a brand in a world of total transparency—where one slip-up can go around the world via social media instantaneously.Filled with stories about how Coca-Cola, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., Marriott, Apple, Starbucks, Campbell Soup Company, Southwest Airlines, and celebrities like Lady Gaga are leveraging their brands, Global Brand Power is the only book you will need to implement an effective brand strategy for your firm.

    The Agile and Scrum software development method allows creation of the game–changing software you need to grow your business - in 30 days or less. Projects that use it are three times more successful than those that don′t, and the productivity gain versus traditional "waterfall" methods has been over 100 percent on many projects.For the business manager, the entrepreneur, or IT manager, Software in 30 Days explains how this unorthodox process works, how to get started, and how to succeed. Learn powerful concepts such as the "art of the possible," "bottom–up intelligence," and why it′s good to fail early. With simple but profound shifts in thinking, you will be able to control risk, manage projects, and deliver your best work possible, faster and cheaper than ever before.

    The authors' experiential learning approach makes it easy to put these skills into practice in any health care setting. This book helps students develop the critical thinking ability needed to apply skills on the job—from organizing patient care to motivating staff to managing conflict.

    Perhaps the most challenging leadership experience anyone will face isn't one at the top, but their first promotion to leadership. They must deal with the change and uncertainty that comes with a new job, requiring new skills, and they've been promoted from peer to leader. While the book addresses the needs of any manager, supervisor, or leader, it pulls from the best leadership and management thinking, and puts the focus on the difficulties that new leaders experience.Includes practical information for new managers who must supervise friends and former peers Authors are expert consultants who work with leaders at all levels Shows how to adopt the mindset of a leader, including: communicating change, giving feedback, coaching employees, leading productive teams, and achieving goals This much-needed book can help new leaders get beyond the stress and fear to focus on becoming the most effective leader they can be-starting right now.

    . . And here's what you can do about it on Monday morning with the definitive how-to book from the world's leading authority on innovationWhen it comes to innovation, Curt Carlson and Bill Wilmot of SRI International know what they are talking about--literally. SRI has pioneered innovations that day in and day out are part of the fabric of your life, such as:-The computer mouse and the personal computer interface you use at home and work-The high-definition television in your living room-The unusual numbers at the bottom of your checks that enable your bank to maintain your account balance correctly-The speech-recognition system used by your financial services firm when you call for your account balance or to make a transaction.Each of these innovations--and literally hundreds of others--created new value for customers. And that's the central message of this book. Innovation is not about inventing clever gadgets or just "creativity." It is the successful creation and delivery of a new or improved product or service that provides value for your customer and sustained profit for your organization. The first black-and-white television, for example, was just an interesting, cool invention until David Sarnoff created an innovation--a network--that delivered programming to an audience.The genius of this book is that it provides the "how" of innovation. It makes innovation practical by getting two groups who are often disconnected--the managers who make decisions and the people on the front lines who create the innovations--onto the same page. Instead of smart people grousing about the executive suite not recognizing a good idea if they tripped over it and the folks on the top floor wondering whether the people doing the complaining have an understanding of market realities, Carlson and Wilmot's five disciplines of innovation focus attention where it should be: on the creation of valuable new products and services that meet customer needs.Innovation is not just for the "lone genius in the garage" but for you and everyone in your enterprise. Carlson and Wilmot provide a systematic way to make innovation practical, one intimately tied to the way things get done in your business.Teamwork isn't enough; Creativity isn't enough; A new product idea isn't enoughTrue innovation is about delivering value to customers. Innovation reveals the value-creating processes used by SRI International, the organization behind the computer mouse, robotic surgery, and the domain names .com, .org, and .gov. Curt Carlson and Bill Wilmot show you how to use these practical, tested processes to create great customer value for your organization.

    When your customers are delighted, they can amplify your message in ways that were never before possible. But when your company’s performance runs short of what you’ve promised, customers can seize control of your brand message, spreading their disappointment and frustration faster than you can keep up.To keep pace with today’s connected customers, your company must become a connected company. That means deeply engaging with workers, partners, and customers, changing how work is done, how you measure success, and how performance is rewarded. It requires a new way of thinking about your company: less like a machine to be controlled, and more like a complex, dynamic system that can learn and adapt over time.Connected companies have the advantage, because they learn and move faster than their competitors. While others work in isolation, they link into rich networks of possibility and expand their influence.Connected companies around the world are aggressively acquiring customers and disrupting the competition. In The Connected Company, we examine what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and why it works. And we show you how your company can use the same principles to adapt—and thrive—in today’s ever-changing global marketplace.

    The Mindful Coach clearly articulates the essentials of how to do this. As someone who believes deeply in the potential of all people, I found Silsbee's approach both practical and profound. This is a must-read for everyone concerned with people and learning."—Arthur M. Blank, philanthropist; cofounder, The Home Depot; and owner and CEO, Atlanta Falcons "The Mindful Coach is not just another coaching model. It is a frame of reference for anyone involved in developing people. This highly readable book should serve as a reference for anyone genuinely concerned about helping others. It has had a significant impact on the way I approach coaching and developing others."—James N. Bassett, M.E?d., employee development, Institute of Nuclear Power Operations "The Mindful Coach digs deeply, offering a lens and structure for understanding the intimate and necessary connection between relationships and human development. No other skill set, knowledge, or awareness is more important to educators, leaders, and managers than what is presented in this precious volume."—Robert C. Pianta, Ph.D., dean, Curry School of Education, University of ?Virginia "This revised edition provides the structure for presence, through which new solutions become available. This book itself is a practice in the art of 'becoming,' while providing a clear action framework for powerfully engaging others with their own development. Silsbee has provided a gift to leaders, teachers, and coaches!"—Connie Maltbie-Shulas, manager, V-22 Training Systems, Boeing "This book has broad appeal not only for coaches, but also for managers, executives, and consultants. Leaders of all kinds can benefit from Silsbee's clear and caring process for bringing out the best in people. This is a must-read book for anyone who wants to jump-start themselves and others on their journey to their potential."—Diana Whitney, Ph.D., author, The Power of Appreciative Inquiry "This is the guide for leaders committed to helping others learn. The seven roles will help any leader facilitate more meaningful development conversations. This new edition engaged me instantly, with immediate applications in key relationships."—Darelyn "DJ" Mitsch, MCC, president, The Pyramid Resource Group; former president, The International Coach Federation

    It uses Lean concepts such as limiting work in progress to improve results. A Kanban system is a means of balancing the demand for work to be done with the available capacity to start new work. This book provides a distillation of Kanban: the "essence" of what it is and how it can be used. This brief overview introduces all the principal concepts and guidelines in Kanban and points you to where you can find out more. Essential Kanban Condensed is a great resource to get started or continue exploring ideas for evolutionary change and improvement in business agility.

    Since the book was first published, Net Promoter has transformed companies, across industries and sectors, constituting a game-changing system and ethos that rivals Six Sigma in its power.In this thoroughly updated and expanded edition, Reichheld, with Bain colleague Rob Markey, explains how practitioners have built Net Promoter into a full-fledged management system that drives extraordinary financial and competitive results. With his trademark clarity, Reichheld:� Defines the fundamental concept of Net Promoter, explaining its connection to your company’s growth and sustained success� Presents the closed-loop feedback process and demonstrates its power to energize employees and delight customers� Shares new and compelling stories of companies that have transformed their performance by putting Net Promoter at the center of their businessPractical and insightful, The Ultimate Question 2.0 provides a blueprint for long-term growth and success.

    Scrum recognizes this -- but unfortunately, many companies, agile resources, and training curricula focus primarily on the mechanics of product ownership. Mechanics are important, but only as a means to an end: value. The Professional Product Owner will help product owners and their organizations refocus on value as the primary objective. The authors offer detailed practices for identifying where value can be found, measuring it, and maximizing it throughout the entire product lifecycle. Drawing on their combined 40+ years of experience in using agile and Scrum in product delivery, the authors show how to go beyond merely writing requirements and managing product backlogs, to take accountability and drive the process from vision to value.

    Through cutting-edge research and case studies from leading organizations, including Spotify, Ericsson, Intuit, GE Healthcare, Pixar, CareerBuilder, and Intel, you'll discover proven patterns for developing that mindset. You'll see how to cultivate product teams that act like successful startups, create the kind of efficiency that attracts customers, and leverage the talents of bright, creative people. The Poppendiecks weave lean principles throughout this book, just as those principles must be woven throughout the fabric of your truly lean organization. Learn How To Start with an inspiring purpose, and overcome the curse of short-term thinking Energize teams by providing well-framed challenges, larger purposes, and a direct line of sight between their work and the achievement of those purposes Delight customers by gaining unprecedented insight into their real needs, and building products and services that fully anticipate those needs Achieve authentic, sustainable efficiency without layoffs, rock-bottom cost focus, or totalitarian work systems Develop breakthrough innovations by moving beyond predictability to experimentation, beyond globalization to decentralization, beyond productivity to impact Lean approaches to software development have moved from novelty to widespread use, in large part due to the principles taught by Mary and Tom Poppendieck in their pioneering books. Now, in The Lean Mindset, the Poppendiecks take the next step, looking at a company where multidiscipline teams are expected to ask the right questions, solve the right problems, and deliver solutions that customers love.

    Most importantly, it's about how to avoid making these same mistakes yourself.In The San Francisco Fallacy, serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist Jonathan Siegel looks at the 10 biggest fallacies that run through startup culture. Over his many years launching companies, he's fallen victim to what he now recognizes as a series of common errors, misconceptions that bedevil startups to this day. But he also learned how to sidestep and surmount many of these challenges.After multiple eight-figure exits and other startup successes, Jonathan began to see the deeper fallacies in which his failures took root. His biggest career successes, on the other hand, seemed to come when he and his teams went against the tide and did everything "wrong."This book is an examination of the popular belief system about startups. At its heart is a series of challenges to years of accumulated startup orthodoxy. What emerges is not just a critique but an inspiring call--to anyone trying to build a successful business--for a broader kind of critical thinking.

    Our traits and habitual behaviours can become traps. In each chapter of The Coach's Casebook the reader follows a skilled coach working with a client who is struggling with one of the twelve traits which every coach will face in their coaching work - traits such as people pleasing, perfectionism, impostor syndrome, performance anxiety and procrastination. In each of the case studies in The Coach's Casebook, the coach shares their emotions, their thought processes and their reflections from coaching supervision as they try to understand the psychological origins of these behaviours and to work out how to help their client.This book is a great book for leadership development and has been used extensively for executive leadership for results but is above all designed to help you improve your coaching practice. It gives you practical, tried and tested techniques which you can use today to improve your coaching habits and coaching practice to help your clients to change the habits of a lifetime.Both Kim and Geoff are thought leaders in business coaching and mentoring as well as coaching supervision and use this book to explain the key coaching principles in their coaching practice to help you develop great coaching habits.