The central premise of Strategic Project Management Made Simple is that most projects and strategies never get off the ground because of adhoc, haphazard, and obsolete methods used to turn their ideas into coherent and actionable plans. Strategic Project Management Made Simple is the first book to couple a step-by-step process with an interactive thinking tool that takes a strategic approach to designing projects and action initiatives. Strategic Project Management Made Simple builds a solid platform upon four critical questions that are vital for teams to intelligently answer in order to create their own strong, strategic foundation. These questions are: 1. What are we trying to accomplish and why? 2. How will we measure success? 3. What other conditions must exist? 4. How do we get there? This fresh approach begins with clearly understanding the what and why of a project - comprehending the bigger picture goals that are often given only lip service or cursory reviews. The second and third questions clarify success measures and identify the risky assumptions that can later cause pain if not spotted early. The how questions - what are the activities, budgets, and schedules - comes last in our four-question system. By contrast, most project approaches prematurely concentrate on the how without first adequately addressing the three other questions. These four questions guide readers into fleshing out a simple, yet sophisticated, mental workbench called the Logical Framework - a Systems Thinking paradigm that lays out one's own project strategy in an easily accessible, interactive 4x4 matrix. The inclusion of memorable features and concepts (four critical questions, LogFrame matrix, If-then thinking, and Implementation Equation) make this book unique.

    Perfect for fans who have read every book since 2008's The Back of the Napkin, as well as new readers who just need a crash course in the power of visual thinking. Dan Roam's brilliant strategies for creating images, sharing them and explaining them have finally been distilled into a "best of" handbook for busy readers who need to digest the takeaways, fast. Since his first book, The Back of the Napkin, Roam has argued that imagery is the most powerful tool for leadership, innovation, and sales. Even though we live in an era of big data, one great picture is worth a million numbers (not to mention a thousand words). A clever idea, visually expressed, can resonate with everyone from the CEO down to the newest intern. The best news is that you don't need to be an artist to create attention-grabbing images. Roam can teach anyone with a pen and paper to translate business ideas into engaging and clear images. He identifies the types of pictures that work best in various settings and shares the basic shapes that all business pictures can be built from. This is an indispensable handbook for business leaders struggling to communicate more effectively in a world that everyday becomes less verbal and more visual.

    It's not. It's easier to complicate than simplify. This book presents stunningly simple examples of concepts that have changed the world - from the single piece of paper that became the American Declaration of Independence, giving birth to the most powerful nation in the history of the world, to the symbol and line that enables us to write music. Thought-provoking and incisive, Brutal Simplicity of Thought is the distillation, in words and pictures, of the Saatchi method of creativity. Whether you are a student, a manager, self-employed or a CEO, this book has something to teach us all: simplicity rules.

    A superbly practical book that explains what established businesses, public survey institutions, and new yentures have to know, have to learn, and have to do in today' s economy and marketplace.

    Thrown into poverty at age four, Konosuke Matsushita (Mat-SOSH-ta) struggled with the early deaths of family members, an apprenticeship which demanded sixteen-hour days at age nine, all the problems associated with starting a business with neither money nor connections, the death of his only son, the Great Depression, the horror of World War II in Japan, and more. Yet John P. Kotter shows in this fascinating and instructive book how, instead of being ground down by these hardships, Matsushita grew to be a fabulously successful entrepreneur and business leader, the founder of Japan's General Electric: the $65 billion a year Matsushita Electric Corporation. His accomplishments as a leader, author, educator, philanthropist, and management innovator are astonishing, and outshine even Soichiro Honda, J.C. Penney, Sam Walton, and Henry Ford. In this immensely readable book, Kotter relates how Matsushita created a large business, invented management practices that are increasingly being used today, helped lead his country's economic miracle after World War II wrote dozens of books in his latter years, founded a graduate school of leadership, created Japan's version of a Nobel Prize, and gave away hundreds of millions to good causes. The Matsushita story expands our notion of the possible, even for a sickly youngster who did not have the benefit of a privileged background, education, good looks, or a charismatic presence. It tells us much about leadership, entrepreneurship, a drive for lifelong learning, and their roots. It demonstrates the power of a longterm outlook, idealistic goals, and humility in the face of great success. Matsushita Leadership is both a biography and a set of lessons for careers and corporations in the 21st century. An inspirational story and a business primer, the implications are powerful, for organizations and for living a meaningful life.

    In response to the dynamic environment of management, Richard Daft has written a text integrating the newest management thinking with a solid foundation in the essentials of management.

    Strategy and innovation expert, Max McKeown, draws on millions of years of evolution to create a practical and strategic set of rules which take adaption from an involuntary coping strategy to a deliberate winning strategy.To show how adaptability works McKeown looks at a rich set of examples, problems and situations. He includes the 15-year old geneticist working from his basement, and the Italian town that said no to seemingly inevitable change. Along the way, he visits the adaptation of Western technology to the social structures of sub-Saharan Africa and explores how quantum games may solve the world's trickiest problems. He looks inside global corporations like Starbucks, Netflix and McDonald's to see how they flirt with extinction, create internal barriers to adaptation, and adapt to transcend their situation.Adaptability proves that innovation is important but not enough. Strategy, branding, marketing and operations are all useful, but insufficient. And highlights that the ability to adapt smarter and faster than the situation changes is what makes the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win.

    But in this empowering guide, acclaimed photographer and speaker Dane Sanders reveals that the key to success is to stop worrying about what everyone else is doing and start focusing on your most powerful resource: you. Discover how to: ·        Use your unique skills and talents to carve out a niche all your own. ·        Avoid the mistakes most photographers make.·        Choose a business style that fits the way you want to spend your time—and live your life. Fast Track Photographer is not just another how-to book—it’s an entirely fresh way of thinking about your business, whether you’re just starting out, or an industry veteran wondering why all your hard work isn’t working. If you want to build a competition-proof creative business in the twenty-first century, it’s time to throw out the old rulebook and get on the fast track! Includes free access to Dane’s popular self-assessment test (a $20 value) to jumpstart your journey!"I can't think of a better way for anyone to start their professional photo career than to read Fast Track Photographer."—Scott Bourne, publisher and host of Photofocus.com  "As much about finding out who you are as it is about how to become a truly great photographer. Highly recommended!”—Amit Gupta, founder of Photojojo.com“This book is worth its weight in gold.”—Gary Fong, photographer, author, and creator of the Lightsphere“The best resource for today’s photographer—BAR NONE!”—Scott Sheppard, host of “Inside Digital Photography”

    In this companion guide, also suitable as a stand-alone project workbook, the authors provide a step-by-step framework for applying the D4G toolkit and process to a particular project, systematically explaining how to address the four key questions of their design thinking approach.The field book maps the flow of the design process within the context of a specific project and reminds readers of key D4G takeaways as they work. The text helps readers identify an opportunity, draft a design brief, conduct research, establish design criteria, brainstorm, develop concepts, create napkin pitches, make prototypes, solicit feedback from stakeholders, and run learning launches. The workbook demystifies tools that have traditionally been the domain of designers--from direct observation to journey mapping, storytelling, and storyboarding--that power the design thinking process and help businesses align around a project to realize its full potential.

    We depend more than we realize on wishful thinking and romanticized ideas of history. In the new paperback edition of this fascinating book, a book that has appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, Slashdot.org, Lifehacker.com and in The New York Times, bestselling author Scott Berkun pulls the best lessons from the history of innovation, including the recent software and web age, to reveal powerful and suprising truths about how ideas become successful innovations -- truths people can easily apply to the challenges of today. Through his entertaining and insightful explanations of the inherent patterns in how Einstein’s discovered E=mc2 or Tim Berner Lee’s developed the idea of the world wide web, you will see how to develop existing knowledge into new innovations.Each entertaining chapter centers on breaking apart a powerful myth, popular in the business world despite it's lack of substance. Through Berkun's extensive research into the truth about innovations in technology, business and science, you’ll learn lessons from the expensive failures and dramatic successes of innovations past, and understand how innovators achieved what they did -- and what you need to do to be an innovator yourself. You'll discover:Why problems are more important than solutionsHow the good innovation is the enemy of the greatWhy children are more creative than your co-workersWhy epiphanies and breakthroughs always take timeHow all stories of innovations are distorted by the history effectHow to overcome people’s resistance to new ideasWhy the best idea doesn’t often winThe paperback edition includes four new chapters, focused on appling the lessons from the original book, and helping you develop your skills in creative thinking, pitching ideas, and staying motivated."For centuries before Google, MIT, and IDEO, modern hotbeds of innovation, we struggled to explain any kind of creation, from the universe itself to the multitudes of ideas around us. While we can make atomic bombs, and dry-clean silk ties, we still don’t have satisfying answers for simple questions like: Where do songs come from? Are there an infinite variety of possible kinds of cheese? How did Shakespeare and Stephen King invent so much, while we’re satisfied watching sitcom reruns? Our popular answers have been unconvincing, enabling misleading, fantasy-laden myths to grow strong." -- Scott Berkun, from the text"Berkun sets us free to change the world." -- Guy Kawasaki, author of Art of the StartScott was a manager at Microsoft from 1994-2003, on projects including v1-5 (not 6) of Internet Explorer. He is the author of three bestselling books, Making Things Happen, The Myths of Innovation and Confessions of a Public Speaker. He works full time as a writer and speaker, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Forbes magazine, The Economist, The Washington Post, Wired magazine, National Public Radio and other media. He regularly contributes to Harvard Business Review and Bloomberg Businessweek, has taught creative thinking at the University of Washington, and has appeared as an innovation and management expert on MSNBC and on CNBC. He writes frequently on innovation and creative thinking at his blog: scottberkun.com and tweets at @berkun.

    Individuals and companies can no longer rely on the stocks of knowledge that they've carefully built up and stored away. Information now flows like water, and we must learn how to tap into the stream. But many of us remain stuck in old practices--practices that could undermine us as we search for success and meaning. In this revolutionary book, three doyens of the Internet age, whose path-breaking work has made headlines around the world, reveal the adjustments we must make if we take these changes seriously. In a world of increasing risk and opportunity, we must understand the importance of pull. Understood and used properly, the power of pull can draw out the best in people and institutions by connecting them in ways that increase understanding and effectiveness. Pull can turn uncertainty into opportunity, and enable small moves to achieve outsized impact. Drawing on pioneering research, The Power of Pull shows how to apply its principles to unlock the hidden potential of individuals and organizations, and how to use it as a force for social change and the development of creative talent. The authors explore how to use the power of pull to:Access new sources of informationAttract likeminded individuals from around the worldShape serendipity to increase the likelihood of positive chance encountersForm creation spaces to drive you and your colleagues to new heightsTransform your organization to adapt to the flow of knowledgeThe Power of Pull is essential reading for entrepreneurs, managers, and anybody interested in understanding and harnessing the shifting forces of our networked world.

    It's not only the big occasions that test a leader's mettle, but the little ones as well--in a casual conversation in the elevator, in phone calls, or one of many incidental, seemingly insignificant interactions in everyday work life. Written by one of the world's leading communications coaches, Speaking as a Leader shows you how to make the most of your daily communications, creating a presence on the job as a genuine and constant leader.In this eye-opening guide, aspiring (and established) leaders can enhance their reputations and influence by following a few simple steps. Speaking as a LeaderShows how to structure your thoughts and message in any situation using a four-step model Offers tips on listening effectively, in three dimensions Details why you are the best visual and how to avoid Death by PowerPoint Offers guidance on taking the numb out of numbers Includes tips on moving from subject to message With Speaking as a Leader, you'll learn to tap into your innate leadership skills at every occasion--whether small or large--and earn the sort of respect that creates devoted friends and passionate supporters.

    13 black-and-white photographs.

    Chief of Staff: The Strategic Partner Who Will Revolutionize Your Organization presents the results of his research in a clear and practical way. To help business leaders explore the value that a chief of staff offers as a trusted advisor and “chief get-it-done officer,” Parris presents three “pivots” to consider: Organization dynamics Most commonly reported benefits of the role (for leaders, chiefs of staff, and organizations) Deliverables that chiefs of staff most commonly manage for leaders He also explores the history and current context for the role, provides guidelines for how to find and hire the right candidate, suggests ways to make the most of the first 90–100 days, and offers advice on how to develop the role over time.As several of the CEOs Parris interviewed point out, even if you never hire a chief of staff, the thought process that goes into considering the possibility can be a useful exercise in finding strengths and gaps in your current team or approach—and can help you lead more effectively.

    We have launched two successful Kickstarter projects, in turn paving the way for a new era of independent hardware manufacturing, and recently entered the software world with our first iPhone app. We have learned a lot in a short period of time, and wanted to share this information with the world. So we wrote a book. This book was written to offer guidance and inspiration for those charting a similar path, and covers topics such as running a small business, creating hardware products independently, launching a Kickstarter project, and tips for promoting your products. Everything is told through the lens of our own experience.It Will Be Exhilarating is a short read that will provide the needed kick to start making stuff. There isn't a better time than now.“There is no recipe for passion, no 5-step guide to making your idea real, but there is good, solid advice, and this book is filled with it.” – Clay Shirky, author, Here Comes Everybody“It Will Be Exhilarating is both fun and informative. I was shocked at how transparent and thorough Studio Neat are at sharing the details of their journey. Moreover, the book reads quick so you can get back to building your next great idea, but now with a bit of extra inspiration and insight.” – Shawn Blanc, shawnblanc.net"Dan and Tom had a wild ride through the early days of this alternative to make stuff by finding an interested audience that funds the costs of bringing a dream to fruition. This book tells those lessons learned from two successive and successful Kickstarter projects and the first two years of bootstrapping their company. Studio Neat has a practical roadmap for taking something you love and potentially making it your livelihood." – Glenn Fleishman, a freelance technology reporter who contributes to The Economist, Macworld, and BoingBoing“Tom and Dan have created a hitchhikers guide to the black art that is successfully funding a Kickstarter project.” – Ben Brooks, brooksreview.net