The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization


Peter M. Senge - 1990
    As Senge makes clear, in the long run the only sustainable competitive advantage is your organization’s ability to learn faster than the competition. The leadership stories in the book demonstrate the many ways that the core ideas in The Fifth Discipline, many of which seemed radical when first published in 1990, have become deeply integrated into people’s ways of seeing the world and their managerial practices. In The Fifth Discipline, Senge describes how companies can rid themselves of the learning “disabilities” that threaten their productivity and success by adopting the strategies of learning organizations—ones in which new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, collective aspiration is set free, and people are continually learning how to create results they truly desire. The updated and revised Currency edition of this business classic contains over one hundred pages of new material based on interviews with dozens of practitioners at companies like BP, Unilever, Intel, Ford, HP, Saudi Aramco, and organizations like Roca, Oxfam, and The World Bank. It features a new Foreword about the success Peter Senge has achieved with learning organizations since the book’s inception, as well as new chapters on Impetus (getting started), Strategies, Leaders’ New Work, Systems Citizens, and Frontiers for the Future. Mastering the disciplines Senge outlines in the book will:• Reignite the spark of genuine learning driven by people focused on what truly matters to them• Bridge teamwork into macro-creativity• Free you of confining assumptions and mindsets• Teach you to see the forest and the trees• End the struggle between work and personal time

15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management: The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympic Athletes, 29 Straight-A Students, and 239 Entrepreneurs


Kevin E. Kruse - 2015
    What if a few new habits could dramatically increase your productivity, and even 5x or 10x it in key areas? What if you could get an an hour a day to read, exercise, or to spend with your family. New York Times bestselling author, Kevin Kruse, presents the remarkable findings of his study of ultra-productive people. Based on survey research and interviews with billionaires, Olympic athletes, straight-A students, and over 200 entrepreneurs—-including Mark Cuban, Kevin Harrington, James Altucher, John Lee Dumas, Pat Flynn, Grant Cardone, and Lewis Howes—-Kruse answers the question: what are the secrets to extreme productivity? In this book, you'll learn: Why millionaires don't use to-do lists (and what they DO use) How to cure procrastination with the “Time Travel” trick How the Harvard "DDR Questions" save 8 hours a week How to identify your REAL priorities How to get to zero emails in your inbox using 321Zero How the simple E-3C system will double your productivity How to reduce stress with the Richard Branson Tool How to leave work at 5:00 without feeling guilty How to run meetings like Apple, Google & Virgin How to conquer social media distractions BONUS: QUIZ - Discover Your Time Personality BONUS: 100+ Time Management Quotes Buy this book NOW to increase your productivity and stop feeling so overworked and overwhelmed! Pick up your copy today by clicking the BUY NOW button at the top of this page!

The Decision Book: Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking


Mikael Krogerus - 2011
    

The Secrets of Consulting: A Guide to Giving and Getting Advice Successfully


Gerald M. Weinberg - 1985
    Weinberg shows you exactly how to become a more effective consultant. He reveals specific techniques and strategies that really work.Through the use of vividly memorable rules, laws, and principles -- such as The Law of Raspberry Jam, The Potato Chip Principle, and Lessons from the Farm -- the author shows you how to-- price and market your services-- avoid traps and find alternative approaches-- keep ahead of your clients-- create a special "consultant's survival kit"-- trade improvement for perfection-- negotiate in difficult situations-- measure your effectiveness-- be yourselfYou will also find straightforward advice on marketing your services, including how to-- find clients-- get needed exposure-- set just-right fees-- gain trustThe Secrets of Consulting -- techniques, strategies, and first-hand experiences -- all that you'll need to set up, run, and be successful at your own consulting business.

Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion


Jay Heinrichs - 2007
     The time-tested secrets this book discloses include Cicero’s three-step strategy for moving an audience to action—as well as Honest Abe’s Shameless Trick of lowering an audience’s expectations by pretending to be unpolished. But it’s also replete with contemporary techniques such as politicians’ use of “code” language to appeal to specific groups and an eye-opening assortment of popular-culture dodges—including The Yoda Technique, The Belushi Paradigm, and The Eddie Haskell Ploy. Whether you’re an inveterate lover of language books or just want to win a lot more anger-free arguments on the page, at the podium, or over a beer, Thank You for Arguing is for you. Written by one of today’s most popular language mavens, it’s warm, witty, erudite, and truly enlightening. It not only teaches you how to recognize a paralipsis and a chiasmus when you hear them, but also how to wield such handy and persuasive weapons the next time you really, really want to get your own way.

You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation


Deborah Tannen - 1990
    This is the book that brought gender differences in ways of speaking to the forefront of public awareness. With a rare combination of scientific insight and delightful, humorous writing, Tannen shows why women and men can walk away from the same conversation with completely different impressions of what was said.Studded with lively and entertaining examples of real conversations, this book gives you the tools to understand what went wrong -- and to find a common language in which to strengthen relationships at work and at home. A classic in the field of interpersonal relations, this book will change forever the way you approach conversations.

Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices


Peter F. Drucker - 1985
    "This book," in Peter Drucker'swords, "tries to equip the manager with the understanding, the thinking, the knowledge and the skills for today'sand also tomorrow's jobs." This management classic has been developed and tested during more than thirty years of teaching management in universities, in executive programs and seminars and through the author's close work with managers as a consultant for large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools. Drucker discusses the tools and techniques of successful management practice that have been proven effective, and he makes them meaningful and easily accessible.

The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage


B. Joseph Pine II - 1999
    We are on the threshold, say authors Pine and Gilmore, of the Experience Economy, a new economic era in which all businesses must orchestrate memorable events for their customers. The Experience Economy offers a creative, highly original, and yet eminently practical strategy for companies to script and stage the experiences that will transform the value of what they produce. From America Online to Walt Disney, the authors draw from a rich and varied mix of examples that showcase businesses in the midst of creating personal experiences for both consumers and businesses. The authors urge managers to look beyond traditional pricing factors like time and cost, and consider charging for the value of the transformation that an experience offers. Goods and services, say Pine and Gilmore, are no longer enough. Experiences and transformations are the basis for future economic growth, and The Experience Economy is the script from which managers can begin to direct their own transformations.

Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual


John Z. Sonmez - 2014
    In it, developer and life coach John Sonmez addresses a wide range of important "soft" topics, from career and productivity to personal finance and investing, and even fitness and relationships, all from a developer-centric viewpoint.For most software developers, coding is the fun part. The hard bits are dealing with clients, peers, and managers, staying productive, achieving financial security, keeping yourself in shape, and finding true love. This book is here to help.Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual is a guide to a well-rounded, satisfying life as a technology professional. In it, developer and life coach John Sonmez offers advice to developers on important "soft" subjects like career and productivity, personal finance and investing, and even fitness and relationships. Arranged as a collection of 71 short chapters, this fun-to-read book invites you to dip in wherever you like. A Taking Action section at the end of each chapter shows you how to get quick results. Soft Skills will help make you a better programmer, a more valuable employee, and a happier, healthier person.What's InsideBoost your career by building a personal brandJohn's secret ten-step process for learning quicklyFitness advice to turn your geekiness to your advantageUnique strategies for investment and early retirement

To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design


Henry Petroski - 1985
    More than a series of fascinating case studies, To Engineer Is Human is a work that looks at our deepest notions of progress and perfection, tracing the fine connection between the quantifiable realm of science and the chaotic realities of everyday life."Alert, inquisitive, unspecialized, wholly human...refreshingly eclectic." --The Spectator"Henry Petroski is an ardent engineer, and if he writes more good books like this, he might find himself nominated to become the meistersinger of the guild. [This is] a refreshing plunge into the dynamics of the engineering ethos...as straightforward as an I-beam."--Science

Living Rich by Spending Smart: How to Get More of What You Really Want


Gregory Karp - 2008
    Now, award-winning Tribune Company personal finance columnist Gregory Karp shows how to do just that. This book isn't about depriving yourself: you don't have to become a financial anorexic, and you won't have to start dumpster diving! Instead, Gregory Karp shows how to build real, long-lasting wealth by plugging the money leaks you're barely even aware of, and making sure you spend with a purpose. Drawing on everything he's learned writing his prize-winning weekly column, Karp reveals surprisingly painless, little-known techniques for eliminating wasteful spending in every area of your financial life. Karp shows how to spend on what you really care about, not what you don't... understand the real value of comparison shopping...save money in giving gifts without becoming a cheapskate. Karp shows how to slash your phone bill... spend less on food without changing what you like to eat... eliminate spending leaks in insurance, education, entertainment and beyond. From the clothes you wear to the cars you drive, Living Rich by Spending Smart will help you build a life that's truly rich, because it's truly financially secure.

Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business


Josh Bernoff - 2010
    Your people, armed with cheap, accessible technology, are connecting with customers and building innovative new solutions. But who are these creative problem-solvers? How can you be one? And just as important--how can you lead them?We call them HEROes: highly empowered and resourceful operatives. Your company needs them because in the age of Twitter, iPhones, Facebook, YouTube, and an ever-evolving torrent of Web information, your customers now step up to the counter armed with more data and access than ever before, and in many cases, your company is overmatched.In Empowered, Forrester's Josh Bernoff--coauthor of the pioneering book Groundswell--and Ted Schadler explain how to transform your company by unleashing the mighty force of these HEROes. Like John Bernier and Ben Hedrington at Best Buy, who built an army of 2,500 tweeting employees to reach out to customers online. Or Ross Inglis, who tapped into Internet computing resources to open an entirely new customer channel for Thomson Reuters. Or John Stadick, who equipped 600 sales staff with iPhones and boosted profits at his construction rental company.The truth is, one in three of your information workers already use easily accessible technologies that your company does not sanction. Empowered gives you a prescription for embracing this covert innovation. At the heart of a HERO-powered business is a new pact between these critical employees, company managers, and the IT department: HEROes build new solutions to meet customer needs, management sets clear rules while encouraging more experimentation, and IT expands its role to both support and secure these business solutions.Fueled by data from Forrester Research, Empowered is packed with the business tools and information necessary to move your organization several steps ahead of the competition:- Statistical analysis of the 16% of customers who account for 80% of the online influence- The four-step IDEA process to transform customer-facing service, marketing, and mobile applications- A tool to score HERO projects on value and effort, to offer guidance on which projects to support- The HERO index: A scorecard of the industries and departments with the most--and the fewest--HEROes- Roadmaps for collaboration systems that stimulate and support HERO innovation- The game plan for IT's new role as a key partner in technology ideas throughout the company- Dozens of case studies and examples from firms in every industry, from retail to business servicesArmed with an arsenal of exciting and valuable new technologies, your employees are already transforming the way you do business. You can lead them or block them--it's your choice. Empowered will help you make the right decision.

The Power of Visual Storytelling: How to Use Visuals, Videos, and Social Media to Market Your Brand


Ekaterina Walter - 2014
    Visual Storytelling is the new currency.Human brain processes visuals 60,000x faster than text.Web posts with visuals drive up to 180% more engagement than those without.Viewers spend 100% more time on web pages with videos.Filled with full-color images and thought-provoking examples from leading companies, The Power of Visual Storytelling explains how to grow your business and strengthen your brand by leveraging photos, videos, infographics, presentations, and other rich media. The book delivers a powerful road map for getting started, while inspiring new levels of creativity within organizations of all types and sizes."This book is not only a complete overview of [visual storytelling] but, most importantly, the key to doing it right, a total Right Hook!"--Gary Vaynerchuk, New York Times bestselling author of Crush It! and Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook"A valuable guide to understanding how to develop powerful marketing programs using the art of visual storytelling."--Guy Kawasaki, author of APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur and former chief evangelist of Apple"The Power of Visual Storytelling is the new marketing bible!"--Nancy Bhagat, Vice President, Global Marketing Strategy and Campaigns, Intel"If a picture is worth a thousand words, The Power of Visual Storytelling is worth a million."--Scott Monty, Global Digital & Multimedia Communications for Ford Motor Company

Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise and Other Bribes


Alfie Kohn - 1993
    We dangle goodies (from candy bars to sales commissions) in front of people in much the same way we train the family pet. Drawing on a wealth of psychological research, Alfie Kohn points the way to a more successful strategy based on working with people instead of doing things to them. "Do rewards motivate people?" asks Kohn. "Yes. They motivate people to get rewards." Seasoned with humor and familiar examples, Punished By Rewards presents an argument unsettling to hear but impossible to dismiss.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong


Eric Barker - 2017
    In Barking Up the Wrong Tree, Eric Barker reveals the extraordinary science behind what actually determines success and most importantly, how anyone can achieve it. You’ll learn:• Why valedictorians rarely become millionaires, and how your biggest weakness might actually be your greatest strength • Whether nice guys finish last and why the best lessons about cooperation come from gang members, pirates, and serial killers• Why trying to increase confidence fails and how Buddhist philosophy holds a superior solution• The secret ingredient to “grit” that Navy SEALs and disaster survivors leverage to keep going• How to find work-life balance using the strategy of Genghis Khan, the errors of Albert Einstein, and a little lesson from Spider-ManBy looking at what separates the extremely successful from the rest of us, we learn what we can do to be more like them—and find out in some cases why it’s good that we aren’t. Barking Up the Wrong Tree draws on startling statistics and surprising anecdotes to help you understand what works and what doesn’t so you can stop guessing at success and start living the life you want.