This text introduces readers to the theory and research findings needed to understand how to make groups effective, and it helps build the skills required to apply that knowledge in practical situations.

    The various sectors of our communities--businesses, schools, social service organizations, churches, government--do not work together. They exist in their own worlds. As do so many individual citizens, who long for connection but end up marginalized, their gifts overlooked, their potential contributions lost. This disconnection and detachment makes it hard if not impossible to envision a common future and work towards it together. We know what healthy communities look like--there are many success stories out there, and they've been described in detail. What Block provides in this inspiring new book is an exploration of the exact way community can emerge from fragmentation: How is community built? How does the transformation occur? What fundamental shifts are involved? He explores a way of thinking about our places that creates an opening for authentic communities to exist and details what each of us can do to make that happen.

    

    You'll learn to find passion, think free, manage time, pay attention and more. Scott Berkun is the bestselling author of Making Things Happen, The Myths of Innovation and Confessions of a Public Speaker. His work has appeared on CNBC, MSNBC, NPR and in The New York Times, Forbes, The Economist, The Washington Post, Wired, and other media. His famous lectures and popular blog can be found for free online at www.scottberkun.com.

    Offering practical guidance for literacy educators, curriculum development specialists, and other education professionals and policy makers, this volume considers how we can most effectively improve the quality and content of reading and writing instruction. Leading researchers and practitioners address the eight principles of best practice, providing the most current information on how to enhance students' ability to construct meaning from text independently, draw upon texts to build conceptual understanding, effectively communicate ideas orally and in writing, and develop an intrinsic desire to read and write. This timely book blends state-of-the-art theory and research with workable suggestions based on extensive hands-on experience in the field.

    The term “complexity” can be misleading, however, because what makes West’s discoveries so beautiful is that he has found an underlying simplicity that unites the seemingly complex and diverse phenomena of living systems, including our bodies, our cities and our businesses. Fascinated by issues of aging and mortality, West applied the rigor of a physicist to the biological question of why we live as long as we do and no longer. The result was astonishing, and changed science, creating a new understanding of energy use and metabolism: West found that despite the riotous diversity in the sizes of mammals, they are all, to a large degree, scaled versions of each other. If you know the size of a mammal, you can use scaling laws to learn everything from how much food it eats per day, what its heart-rate is, how long it will take to mature, its lifespan, and so on. Furthermore, the efficiency of the mammal’s circulatory systems scales up precisely based on weight: if you compare a mouse, a human and an elephant on a logarithmic graph, you find with every doubling of average weight, a species gets 25% more efficient—and lives 25% longer. This speaks to everything from how long we can expect to live to how many hours of sleep we need. Fundamentally, he has proven, the issue has to do with the fractal geometry of the networks that supply energy and remove waste from the organism's body. West's work has been game-changing for biologists, but then he made the even bolder move of exploring his work's applicability to cities. Cities, too, are constellations of networks and laws of scalability relate with eerie precision to them. For every doubling in a city's size, the city needs 15% less road, electrical wire, and gas stations to support the same population. More amazingly, for every doubling in size, cities produce 15% more patents and more wealth, as well as 15% more crime and disease. This broad pattern lays the groundwork for a new science of cities. Recently, West has applied his revolutionary work on cities and biological life to the business world. This investigation has led to powerful insights into why some companies thrive while others fail. The implications of these discoveries are far-reaching, and are just beginning to be explored. Scale is a thrilling scientific adventure story about the elemental natural laws that bind us together in simple but profound ways. Through the brilliant mind of Geoffrey West, we can envision how cities, companies and biological life alike are dancing to the same simple, powerful tune, however diverse and unrelated they are to each other.From the Hardcover edition.

    But you’re concerned—why are so many graduates unprepared to enter the workforce and face life on their own? You’re doing your best to raise healthy children, but sometimes you wonder, am I really helping them?Tim Elmore shows you how to avoid twelve critical mistakes parents unintentionally make. He outlines practical and effective parenting skills so you won’t fall into common traps, such as…making happiness a goal instead of a by-productnot letting kids struggle or fight for what they believenot letting them fail or suffer consequenceslying about kids’ potential—and not exploring their true potentialgiving them what they should earnFind out why thousands of organizations have sought out Tim Elmore to help them develop young leaders—and how you can improve your parenting skills and help your kids soar.

    And it can make your work more fulfilling and purpose-driven by highlighting how you influence the success of your team, department, or organization. All companies are driven to success or failure by the same five simple drivers: cash, profit, assets, growth, and people. Kevin Cope will help you appreciate how your day-to-day decisions can balance these drivers and contribute to the big picture of your organization’s success. You’ll discover the acumen you need to bring real value and passion to your work. Whether you’re on the manufacturing floor or sitting in the corner office, you can learn how to follow the drivers through to measurable results—conquering your fear of numbers. Using Kevin’s simple explanations of the most important metrics presented in the income statement, the balance sheet, and the statement of cash flows, you’ll be able to quickly review financial reports for signs of success or impending doom. Convincingly communicate your ideas to leaders, improve your team’s performance, even launch a successful business of your own. No matter your goal, give yourself the foundational knowledge every businessperson needs, and discover new strategies for proving your value.

    

      Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath| Key Takeaways, Analysis & Review Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard (2010) is about how to bring about change in an organization. Its main focus is changing behavior by appealing to the rational and emotional sides of people’s psyches. To generate change, authors Chip and Dan Heath maintain, a leader must connect with both sides, the rational and the emotional. This is because sometimes, one side can work against the other and sabotage successful change. The rational side tends to analyze possibilities for change so much that it becomes unable to act—so change never occurs. The emotional side is ready, or even eager, to act on change, but it can act compulsively and without focus. This means that changes based solely on emotion are likely to fail. To bring about real change, a leader must stimulate the emotional side of a group’s psyche to get the process of change underway, then harness its rational side to give this change a concerted direction…  This companion to Switch includes: Overview of the book Important People Key Takeaways Analysis of Key Takeaways and much more!

    From this perspective the crisis was an interruption, caused by bad policy or bad people, and full recovery is to be expected if the cause is corrected.The End of Normal challenges this view. Placing the crisis in perspective, Galbraith argues that the 1970s already ended the age of easy growth. The 1980s and 1990s saw only uneven growth, with rising inequality within and between countries. And the 2000s saw the end even of that—despite frantic efforts to keep growth going with tax cuts, war spending, and financial deregulation. When the crisis finally came, stimulus and automatic stabilization were able to place a floor under economic collapse. But they are not able to bring about a return to high growth and full employment.Today, four factors impede a return to normal. They are the rising costs of real resources, the now-evident futility of military power, the labor-saving consequences of the digital revolution, and the breakdown of law and ethics in the financial sector. The Great Crisis should be seen as a turning point, a barometer of the rise of unstable economic conditions, which should be regarded as the new normal. Policies and institutions going forward should be designed, above all, modestly, to cope with this fact, maintaining conditions for a good life in difficult times.

    

    Based on extensive research and analytics, plus years of proven success in the field, the Business Chemistry framework provides a simple yet powerful way to identify meaningful differences between people’s working styles. Who seeks possibilities and who seeks stability? Who values challenge and who values connection? Business Chemistry will help you grasp where others are coming from, appreciate the value they bring, and determine what they need in order to excel. It offers practical ways to be more effective as an individual and as a leader. Imagine you had a more in-depth understanding of yourself and why you thrive in some work environments and flounder in others. Suppose you had a clearer view on what to do about it so that you could always perform at your best. Imagine you had more insight into what makes people tick and what ticks them off, how some interactions unlock potential while others shut people down. Suppose you could gain people’s trust, influence them, motivate them, and get the very most out of your work relationships. Imagine you knew how to create a work environment where all types of people excel, even if they have conflicting perspectives, preferences and needs. Suppose you could activate the potential benefits of diversity on your teams and in your organizations, improving collaboration to achieve the group’s collective potential. Business Chemistry offers all of this--you don’t have to leave it up to chance, and you shouldn’t. Let this book guide you in creating great chemistry!

    To track the effects of this bold experiment, the authors of Organizing Schools for Improvement collected a wealth of data on elementary schools in Chicago. Over a seven-year period they identified one hundred elementary schools that had substantially improved—and one hundred that had not. What did the successful schools do to accelerate student learning? The authors of this illuminating book identify a comprehensive set of practices and conditions that were key factors for improvement, including school leadership, the professional capacity of the faculty and staff, and a student-centered learning climate. In addition, they analyze the impact of social dynamics, including crime, critically examining the inextricable link between schools and their communities. Putting their data onto a more human scale, they also chronicle the stories of two neighboring schools with very different trajectories. The lessons gleaned from this groundbreaking study will be invaluable for anyone involved with urban education.

    Now it has developed into a proof of concept that Youths can build a STRONG CHURCH.GenerationS is a mindset-shifting, heart-changing book that shows you how to raise up generations of young people in your church to build His kingdom.After over 20 years, this youth church, operated by youths, for youths to reach youths, still has an average age of 22.Bonus #1: Contributors and 'Inside Stories'Read 1,000+ word contributions from 13 other contributing writers that provide an 'inside look' and 360º view of HOGC.Director of Global Relations, a Westerner's perspective on an Asian church Board member in his 60s, on what older people do in a youth churchChief of Staff, on what goes on inside the Senior Pastors' OfficeHead of Global Partnerships, on what co-senior pastoring looks likeBonus #2: Comes with Digital CompanionGo beyond the chapters! Access 100+ bonus content and interactive materials when you scan QR codes from within the book.