But how can you be the person who comes up with those ideas? In this revised and expanded edition of his groundbreaking Thinkertoys, creativity expert Michael Michalko reveals life-changing tools that will help you think like a genius. From the linear to the intuitive, this comprehensive handbook details ingenious creative-thinking techniques for approaching problems in unconventional ways. Through fun and thought-provoking exercises, you’ll learn how to create original ideas that will improve your personal life and your business life. Michalko’s techniques show you how to look at the same information as everyone else and see something different.  With hundreds of hints, tricks, tips, tales, and puzzles, Thinkertoys will open your mind to a world of innovative solutions to everyday and not-so-everyday problems.

    Unlike so many education 'reforms, ' this is not small-bore stuff. For that reason alone, it's likely to be resisted by defenders of the status quo, even though it's necessary and right for our kids. We owe it to them to make sure this book isn't merely a terrific read; it must become a blueprint for educational transformation." --Joel Klein, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education"A brilliant teacher, Christensen brings clarity to a muddled and chaotic world of education."--Jim Collins, bestselling author of "Good to Great"According to recent studies in neuroscience, the way we learn doesn't always match up with the way we are taught. If we hope to stay competitive-academically, economically, and technologically-we need to rethink our understanding of intelligence, reevaluate our educational system, and reinvigorate our commitment to learning. In other words, we need "disruptive innovation."Now, in his long-awaited new book, Clayton M. Christensen and coauthors Michael B. Horn and Curtis W. Johnson take one of the most important issues of our time-education-and apply Christensen's now-famous theories of "disruptive" change using a wide range of real-life examples. Whether you're a school administrator, government official, business leader, parent, teacher, or entrepreneur, you'll discover surprising new ideas, outside-the-box strategies, and straight-A success stories.You'll learn how Customized learning will help many more students succeed in school Student-centric classrooms will increase the demand for new technology Computers must be disruptively deployed to every student Disruptive innovation can circumvent roadblocks that have prevented other attempts at school reform We can compete in the global classroom-and get ahead in the global marketFilled with fascinating case studies, scientific findings, and unprecedented insights on how innovation must be managed, "Disrupting Class" will open your eyes to new possibilities, unlock hidden potential, and get you to think differently. Professor Christensen and his coauthors provide a bold new lesson in innovation that will help you make the grade for years to come.The future is now. Class is in session.

    Written by bestselling author Peter Pande, What Is Six Sigma? is a concise summary of the core themes and processes of Six Sigma. Unlike almost all other books on Six Sigma, it is written for the employees of organizations rolling out Six Sigma--not just managers. This helpful overview describes what Six Sigma is, why companies are implementing it, and how employees can make it a success in their own organizations.Based on the bestselling The Six Sigma Way, this accessable introduction to Six Sigma answers typical employee questions, concerns, and even skepticism about this revolutionary program. Includes:The six themes of Six SigmaA five-step roadmap to Six Sigma implementationThe 10 basic tools of Six Sigma, with an entire page devoted to each

    Ira Chaleff's Courageous Follower model has facilitated healthy upward information flow in organizations for over 15 years. The Harvard Business Review called Chaleff a pioneer in the emerging field of followership--this new edition shares his latest thinking on an increasingly vital topic. The updated third edition includes a new chapter, "The Courage to Speak to the Hierarchy." Much of Chaleff's model is based on followers having access to the leader. But today, followers can be handed questionable policies and orders that come from many levels above them--even from the other side of the world. Chaleff explores how they can respond effectively, particularly using the power now available through advances in communications technology. Everyone is a follower at least some of the time. Chaleff strips away the passive connotations of that role and provides tools to help followers effectively partner with leaders. He provides rich guidance to leaders and boards on fostering a climate that encourages courageous followership. The results include increased support for leaders, reduced cynicism and organizations saved from serious missteps.

    She uses a highly instructive and entertaining story to show how to quickly recognize any undermining questions that pop into your mind--or out of your mouth--and reframe them to achieve amazingly positive and practical results. The third edition includes a new introduction and epilogue and two powerful new tools that show how Question Thinking can dramatically improve coaching and leadership. Based on Adams's decades of research and experience, this book can make a life-transforming difference--as it already has for many thousands of people around the world.

    Now award-winning Harvard Business School Professor Michael Wheeler provides a dynamic alternative to one-size-fits-all strategies that don’t match real world realities.The Art of Negotiation shows how master negotiators thrive in the face of chaos and uncertainty. They don’t trap themselves with rigid plans. Instead they understand negotiation as a process of exploration that demands on-going learning, adapting, and influencing. Their agility enables them to reach agreement when others would be stalemated.Michael Wheeler illuminates the improvisational nature of negotiation, drawing on his own research and his work with Program on Negotiation colleagues. He explains how the best practices of diplomats such as George Mitchell, deal-maker Bruce Wasserstein, and Hollywood producer Gerry Weintraub apply to everyday transactions like selling a house, buying a car, or landing a new contract. Wheeler also draws lessons on agility and creativity from fields like jazz, sports, theater, and even military science.The Art of Negotiation includes preparation tools for setting stretch goals in negotiation, as well establishing when walking away from a deal is better than saying yes. The book also lays out nine principles for crafting resilient strategy, and techniques for maintaining emotional poise in tense situations. Effective negotiators are both calm and alert, patient and proactive.Wheeler provides a comprehensive view of negotiation, from openings to closings, including critical moments along the way. For experienced practitioners, The Art of Negotiation provides a new and powerful way to analyze and manage the process. For students and others new to negotiation, it offers a clear path for building success and confidence in this all-important arena.

    Why did Ray Kroc's plan for McDonald's thrive when many burger joints failed? And how, decades later, did Krispy Kreme fail to heed Kroc's hard-won lessons? How did Walt Disney's most dismal day as a young cartoonist radically change his career? When Estée Lauder was a child in Queens, New York, the average American spent $8 a year on toiletries. Why did she spot an opportunity in selling high-priced cosmetics, and why did she pound on Saks's doors? How did Thomas Watson Jr. decide to roll the dice and put all of IBM's chips on computing, when his father thought it could be a losing idea? We learn about these CEOs' greatest challenges and failures, and how they successfully rode the waves of demographic and technological change.New Ideas from Dead CEOs not only gives us fascinating insights into these CEOs' lives, but also shows how we can apply their ideas to the present-day triumphs and struggles of Sony, Dell, Costco, Carnival Cruises, Time Warner, and numerous other companies trying to figure out how to stay on top or climb back up.The featured CEOs in this book were not candidates for sainthood. Many of them knew "god" only as a prefix to "dammit." But they were devoted to their businesses, not just to their egos and their personal bank accounts and yachts. Extraordinarily fresh and deeply thoughtful, Todd G. Buchholz's New Ideas from Dead CEOs is a truly enjoyable and fun—yet serious and realistic—look at what we still have to learn and absorb from these decomposing CEOs.

    Businesses of the future need all hands on deck when implementing new ways to stimulate grown and cost efficiency, and this includes human resources. In HR Transformation, the team presents a four-phase model of transformation that shows you step-by-step how to make meaningful progress in contributing to the performance of your company by redesigning HR to work as a strategic partnership.From the "#1 Management Educator & Guru"-BusinessWeek"The authors have presented us with an accessible, readable, and practical illustration of a clear path for successful strategy execution in a complex environment." -Majed Al Romaithi, Executive Director, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority"HR can only transform organizations if it transforms HR. This book shows us how. HR Transformation would have been important in the past-it is critical now! We are entering a new world. HR Transformation can help our organizations thrive in the midst of uncertainty." -Marshall Goldsmith, author of the Wall Street Journal bestsellers What Got You Here Won't Get You There and Succession: Are You Ready? "Ulrich and his colleagues talk tough and provide a detailed blueprint for how those of us in the field can use our own tools to do a "720-degree" evaluation of ourselves. We cannot contribute to the success of our organizations until we upgrade ourselves." -Linda A. Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School"Based on groundbreaking research with hundreds of companies and thousands of executives, HR Transformation provides compelling theory and practical tools to create alignment between strategy, systems, and people. This important book should be read carefully by leadership teams everywhere." -Mark Huselid, Professor of HR Strategy, Rutgers University, Co-author of The HR Scorecard, The Workforce Scorecard, and The Differentiated WorkforceTurn to the front matter for more than thirty rousing endorsements of HR Transformation.INCLUDES CASE STUDIES FROM Intel, Pfizer, Takeda, Flextronics

    That’s not always easy: Maybe you’re not sure what kind of data your stakeholders will trust. Or perhaps you’re intimidated by number crunching.The HBR Guide to Building Your Business Case , written by project management expert Raymond Sheen, gives you the guidance and tools you need to make a strong case. You’ll learn how to:• Spell out the business need for your idea• Align your case with strategic goals• Build the right team to shape and test your idea• Calculate the return on investment• Analyze risks and opportunities• Present your case to stakeholders

    But most organizations fail to realize this potentially extraordinary source of revenue-enhancing ideas. The authors of "Ideas Are Free use real-world examples from their work with hundreds of organizations to show how to exploit the virtually free, perpetually renewable resource of employee ideas. The book explains how sustainable competitive advantages in areas ranging from productivity and responsiveness to cost reduction and quality assurance are only possible with the attention to detail that comes from getting and implementing large numbers of ideas from employees. Subjects include how to make ideas part of everyone's job, how to set up and run an effective process for handling ideas, how to help people come up with more and better ideas, and how a strong flow of ideas can have a profound impact on an organization's culture.

    Adler gives a short course in effective communication, invaluable for salespeople, negotiators, teachers, and families seeking better communication among themselves.

    Maybe you re going for MCSA first, then MCSE. Maybe you need to upgrade your current credentials. Now, direct from Microsoft, this set brings together all the study resources you ll need. You get the brand-new Second Edition of all four books: for Exam 70-290 (Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server Environment), 70-291 and 70-293 (Network Infrastructure), and 70-294 (Active Directory). What s new here? Deeper coverage, more case studies, more troubleshooting, plus significant new coverage: Emergency Management Services, DNS, WSUS, Post-Setup Security Updates, traffic monitoring, Network Access Quarantine Control, and much more. There are more than 1,200 highly customizable CD-based practice questions. And, for those who don t have easy acess to Windows Server 2003, there s a 180-day eval version. This package isn t cheap, but there s help there, too: 15% discount coupons good toward all four exams. Bill Camarda, from the August 2006 href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/newslet... Only

    Just when she doesn't think things could get any worse, they do. When her car stalls out at a busy intersection and she gets out to check under the hood, a guy steals her car. Armed with a dress and a pair of Chucks, Avery runs after the thief. When a hot stranger offers to help, she can't say no. That's how Avery mets Sean Ferro, the totally sexy, totally damaged guy with more secrets than she has time for. Avery doesn't have time for anything anymore. Her is life falling apart and it's not just the car. It's everything, and it doesn't matter how tightly she tries to hold on, there's nothing left to hold on to. With the sudden death of her parents, it's only a matter of months until Avery's shot at college is gone, and she's living in a cardboard box. Other students have their families to rely on when things get bad. Avery has no one. But there's one option, one incredibly sexy, morally devoid, option. If Avery takes a job as a call girl, one guy could save her. One client. One time. She just has to say yes. Genre: Romantic Suspense Collection A: Includes Volumes 1-3 Pages: 352 THE FERRO FAMILY The Arrangement (Sean & Avery) Damaged (Peter & Sidney) Stripped (Jon & Cassie) The Proposition (Bryan & Hallie) Easy (Jocelyn Ferro) Broken Promises (Trystan & Mari) The Wedding Contract (Nick & Sky) Secrets & Lies (Kerry) H.M. WARD'S NEW YORK CITY LOVE STORIES REVIEWS: "H.M. Ward writes an emotional, deeply felt story that will rock your world." -Carly Phillips, New York Times Bestselling Author "H.M. Ward takes this series to a whole new level of intensity!" -Cary Mattiller "One of the most emotionally charged novels I have read all year." -Crystal via Goodreads "If you love The Arrangement, then you will not be disappointed with The Proposition." Linda Wallace "Amazing, awesome, and unbelievably sexy." -Cheryl, via Goodreads "You can't go wrong with any book written by H.M. Ward." -Christon Benford "This is a story about true love/ first love never dying and making it through all odds. An incredible book." -Gabby's Book Blog "This has to be H.M. Ward's best work yet!" -Sheri via Goodreads "The tension is palpable and so physically powerful; it literally reaches out and tugs at all my emotions. My God, it was beautifully erotic. When a story elicits so much emotion from you, you know it's good." Tessamari Reviews "I want to marry this book and have it's fictional babies" "Move over Christian Grey and welcome Sean Ferro." -Reading, Eating, & Dreaming "You can't go wrong with a book written by H.M. Ward." -Christon Benford "I thought nothing could top Damaged & The Arrangement Series. I was wrong." -Curious Kindle Reader "Serious sexual tension!" -Spare Time Book Blog "Hilarious, witty, with a 'gut punching' story line." -Workman "Amazing, hot, sexy, and leaves you wanting more." -ENA AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY: H.M. Ward continues to reign as a NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author who is swiftly approaching 13 million copies sold, placing her among the literary titans. Ward has been featured in articles in the NEW YORK TIMES, FORBES, and USA TODAY to name a few.

     From energizing morning routines, to insanely efficient work routines, to empowering evening rituals, the ultra-successful structure their days to utilize every last waking minute to its fullest potential. And in this book, you will learn how to do the same. How will you learn to create the ultimate daily routine? Inside the book: The secret to creating the ultimate morning routine so you can have your best day every day (Hint: It has 3 parts) How to get more done with an ultra-efficient work routine (plus the ultimate work routine for squeezing every last drop of potential out of your work hours) How to renew your energy throughout the day with an “energy ritual” for all-day energy and productivity (plus how to schedule tasks according to your energy levels) Why having cold showers every morning can leave you feeling more energized, happy, and productive The secret to waking up feeling energized (Hint: It has nothing to do with how long you sleep for) How to finish your day with a powerful evening routine so you can kick ass the next day (plus an example of a great evening ritual you can copy) And much more… To create a powerful daily routine and perform at the peak of your abilities day in and day out, scroll up to the top of this page and click BUY NOW.

    The white slave trade was rampant, and along with all the vice crimes, murders became a weekly occurrence. Law enforcement seemed to turn a blind eye, and cries of political corruption were heard in the state capital. This scenario replayed itself over and over again during the past century as mobsters and madams ruled and murders plagued the city and county at an alarming rate.