Book picks similar to
It's a Jungle Out There!: Dealing with Difficult Behavior in the Workplace by Charles Mallory
communication
customer-service
customer-service-project
editorial-credits
The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation
Drew Westen - 2007
For two decades Drew Westen, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University, has explored a theory of the mind that differs substantially from the more "dispassionate" notions held by most cognitive psychologists, political scientists, and economists—and Democratic campaign strategists. The idea of the mind as a cool calculator that makes decisions by weighing the evidence bears no relation to how the brain actually works. When political candidates assume voters dispassionately make decisions based on "the issues," they lose. That's why only one Democrat has been re-elected to the presidency since Franklin Roosevelt—and only one Republican has failed in that quest. In politics, when reason and emotion collide, emotion invariably wins. Elections are decided in the marketplace of emotions, a marketplace filled with values, images, analogies, moral sentiments, and moving oratory, in which logic plays only a supporting role. Westen shows, through a whistle-stop journey through the evolution of the passionate brain and a bravura tour through fifty years of American presidential and national elections, why campaigns succeed and fail. The evidence is overwhelming that three things determine how people vote, in this order: their feelings toward the parties and their principles, their feelings toward the candidates, and, if they haven't decided by then, their feelings toward the candidates' policy positions.Westen turns conventional political analyses on their head, suggesting that the question for Democratic politics isn't so much about moving to the right or the left but about moving the electorate. He shows how it can be done through examples of what candidates have said—or could have said—in debates, speeches, and ads. Westen's discoveries could utterly transform electoral arithmetic, showing how a different view of the mind and brain leads to a different way of talking with voters about issues that have tied the tongues of Democrats for much of forty years—such as abortion, guns, taxes, and race. You can't change the structure of the brain. But you can change the way you appeal to it. And here's how…
Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become
Michael Schrage - 2012
In this latest HBR Single, Schrage provides a powerful new lens for getting more value out of innovation investment. He argues that asking customers to do something different doesn't go far enough-serious marketers and innovators must ask them to become something different instead. Even more, you must invest in their capabilities and competencies to help them become better customers. Schrage's primary insight is that innovation is an investment in your client, not just a transaction with them. To truly innovate today, designing new products or features or services won't get you there. Only by designing new customers-thinking of their future state, being the conduit to their evolution-will you transform your business. Marketing executives, brand managers, strategic innovators, and entrepreneurs alike should understand how successful innovation rebrands the client and not the product. A requisite question for its time, Who Do You Want Your Customers To Become will liberate you and your team from 'innovation myopia'-and turn your innovation efforts on their head.
Parallel Thinking
Edward de Bono - 1991
In Parallel Thinking de Bono’s thesis is that these ‘boxes’ are no longer adequate to cope with today’s rapidly changing world. We need to switch from judgement to design, and use design to power us forward from parallel possibilities:· Accept possibilities without judging and lay them down in parallel· Accept both sides of a contradiction and lay them down in parallel· Design forward from these parallel possibilities Parallel Thinking is an invaluable insight into the world of creativity; de Bono unveils methods of brainstorming and explains preconceived ideas of what creativity involves and is. This book is not about philosophy; it is about the practical (and parallel) thinking required to get things done.
Art as Experience
John Dewey - 1934
Based on John Dewey's lectures on esthetics, delivered as the first William James Lecturer at Harvard in 1932, Art as Experience has grown to be considered internationally as the most distinguished work ever written by an American on the formal structure and characteristic effects of all the arts: architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and literature.
Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses "No, But" Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration--Lessons from The Second City
Kelly Leonard - 2015
But it also provides one-of-a-kind leadership training to cutting-edge companies, nonprofits, and public sector organizations—all aimed at increasing creativity, collaboration, and teamwork.The rules for leadership and teamwork have changed, and the skills that got professionals ahead a generation ago don’t work anymore. Now The Second City provides a new toolkit individuals and organizations can use to thrive in a world increasingly shaped by speed, social communication, and decentralization. Based on eight principles of improvisation, Yes, And helps to develop these skills and foster them in high-potential leaders and their teams, including: Mastering the ability to co-create in an ensemble Fostering a “yes, and” approach to work Embracing failure to accelerate high performance Leading by listening and by learning to follow Innovating by making something out of nothingYes, And is a must-read for professionals and organizations, helping to develop the invaluable leadership skills needed to succeed today.
Make Your Contacts Count: Networking Know-How for Business and Career Success
Anne Baber - 2001
Packed with valuable tools, the book offers a field-tested "Hello to Goodbye" system that takes readers from entering a room, to making conversations flow, to following up. Updated from its first edition, the book now includes expanded advice on building social capital at work and in job hunting, as well as new case studies, examples, checklists, and questionnaires. Readers will discover how to: * draft a networking plan * cultivate current contacts * make the most of memberships * effectively exchange business cards * avoid the top ten networking turn-offs * share anecdotes that convey character and competence * transform their careers with a networking makeover Job-seekers, career-changers, entrepreneurs, and others will find all the networking help they need to supercharge their careers and boost their bottom lines.
On Dialogue
David Bohm - 1996
Renowned scientist David Bohm believed there was a better way for humanity to discover meaning and to achieve harmony. He identified creative dialogue, a sharing of assumptions and understanding, as a means by which the individual, and society as a whole, can learn more about themselves and others, and achieve a renewed sense of purpose.
Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service
Ron Zemke - 1991
In order to keep them coming back, you can't just give them good, or even great, customer service...you have to knock their socks off!Completely updated with all new techniques that will help you successfully work with even the most difficult customers, Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service provides proven tips and strategies for:* meeting customers' expectations and satisfying their needs * becoming easier to do business with * determining the right times to bend or break the rules * becoming fantastic fixers and powerful problem-solvers * coping effectively with ""customers from hell.""Written in the same accessible and humorous style that made this book a classic, the fourth edition features fresh anecdotes and never-before-seen illustrations by cartoonist John Bush, as well as brand-new chapters on important topics including the generational divide, serving customers around the globe, and communicating effectively with coworkers across functions in other departments.Now more powerful than ever, this indispensable guide shows you how to provide better service than your customers have ever imagined
Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business
Frances Frei - 2012
Then service gets to make a brief appearance – for as long as it takes to calm the customer down and fix whatever foul-up jeopardized the relationship.In Uncommon Service, Frances Frei and Anne Morriss show how, in a volatile economy where the old rules of strategic advantage no longer hold true, service must become a competitive weapon, not a damage-control function. That means weaving service tightly into every core decision your company makes.The authors reveal a transformed view of service, presenting an operating model built on tough choices organizations must make:• How do customers define “excellence” in your offering? Is it convenience? Friendliness? Flexible choices? Price?• How will you get paid for that excellence? Will you charge customers more? Get them to handle more service tasks themselves?• How will you empower your employees to deliver excellence? What will your recruiting, selection, training, and job design practices look like? What about your organizational culture?• How will you get your customers to behave? For example, what do you need to do to get them to treat your employees with respect? Do you need to make it easier for them to use new technology?Practical and engaging, Uncommon Service makes a powerful case for a new and systematic approach to service as a means of boosting productivity, profitability, and competitive advantage.
Public Opinion
Walter Lippmann - 1922
As Michael Curtis indicates in his introduction to this edition. Public Opinion qualifies as a classic by virtue of its systematic brilliance and literary grace. The work is divided into eight parts, covering such varied issues as stereotypes, image making, and organized intelligence. The study begins with an analysis of "the world outside and the pictures in our heads, " a leitmotif that starts with issues of censorship and privacy, speed, words, and clarity, and ends with a careful survey of the modern newspaper. The work is a showcase for Lippmann's vast erudition. He easily integrated the historical, psychological, and philosophical literature of his day, and in every instance showed how relevant intellectual formations were to the ordinary operations of everyday life. Public Opinion is of enduring significance for communications scholars, historians, sociologists, and political scientists.
Critical Thinking: Your Guide to Effective Argument, Successful Analysis and Independent Study
Tom Chatfield - 2017
Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking
Matthew Syed - 2019
It explains how to harness our unique perspectives, pool our collective intelligence and tackle the greatest challenges of our age - from climate change to terrorism. It draws on a dazzling range of case studies, including the catastrophic failings of the CIA before 9/11, a fatal communication breakdown on top of Mount Everest and a moving tale of de-radicalisation in America's Deep South. Rebel Ideas will strengthen any team or organisation, but has dozens of personal applications, too: from the art of personal reinvention to the remarkable benefits of personalised nutrition. It shows us how to become more creative, how to collaborate in a world becoming more interconnected, and how to break free of the echo chambers that surround us all.
Conceptual Blockbusting: A Guide to Better Ideas
James L. Adams - 1969
Now, twenty-five years after its original publication, Conceptual Blockbusting has never been more relevant, powerful, or fresh. Integrating insights from the worlds of psychology, engineering, management, art, and philosophy, Adams identifies the key blocks (perceptual, emotional, cultural, environmental, intellectual, and expressive) that prevent us from realizing the full potential of our fertile minds. Employing unconventional exercises and other interactive elements, Adams shows individuals, teams, and organizations how to overcome these blocks, embrace alternative ways of thinking about complex problems, and celebrate the joy of creativity. With new examples and contemporary references, Conceptual Blockbusting is guaranteed to introduce a new generation of readers to a world of new possibilities.
Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content
Mark Levy - 2000
That’s because inside each of us is an internal editor whose job is to forever polish our thoughts, so we sound smart and in control, and so that we fit into society. But what happens when we encounter problems where such conventional thinking fails us? How to get unstuck? For Mark Levy, the answer is freewriting, a technique he’s used for years to solve all types of business problems, and generate ideas for books, articles and blog posts. Freewriting is deceptively simple: Start writing as fast as you can, for as long as you can, about a subject you care deeply about, while ignoring the standard rules of grammar and spelling. Your internal editor won’t be able to keep up with your output, and will be temporarily shunted into the background. You’ll now be able to think more honestly and resourcefully than before, and will generate breakthrough ideas and solutions that you couldn’t have created any other way. Levy shares six freewriting secrets designed to knock out your editor and let your genius run free. He also includes fifteen problem-solving and creativity-stimulating principles you can use if you need more firepower—seven of which are new to this edition—and stories of problems he and others have solved through freewriting. Also new to this edition: an extensive section on how to refine your freewriting into something you can share with the world. Although Levy originally taught freewriting as a private brainstorming technique, over the years he and his clients have found that, with some tweaking, it’s a great way to generate content for books, articles, and other thought leadership pieces.
Speaking Peace: Connecting with Others Through Nonviolent Communication
Marshall B. Rosenberg - 2003
Yet even with the best intentions, it is often difficult to express ourselves in ways that build harmony and trust. Speaking Peace presents a seminal four-part model you can use immediately to connect to the spirit of love and generosity within you, and start contributing to the wellbeing of everyone you relate to. Join Marshall Rosenberg, the visionary author of Nonviolent Communication, to learn: How to use your natural empathy to defuse stressful situations and safely confront anger, fear, and other emotions * Proven skills for overcoming "dehumanizing" communication patterns that block compassion * How to see through the eyes of others to foster understanding, and more. When you convey "what is alive in you"-your true feelings, and the values and desires behind them-you establish honest, nurturing relationships that eventually fulfill everyone's needs, teaches Marshall Rosenberg. Align your speech with your heart's purest depths with Speaking Peace.