His blog has garnered a devoted following of millions of readers who have come to rely on him to help them run their businesses. A lifelong rap fan, Horowitz amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favorite songs and tells it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors, from cultivating and sustaining a CEO mentality to knowing the right time to cash in.His advice is grounded in anecdotes from his own hard-earned rise—from cofounding the early cloud service provider Loudcloud to building the phenomenally successful Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm, both with fellow tech superstar Marc Andreessen (inventor of Mosaic, the Internet's first popular Web browser). This is no polished victory lap; he analyzes issues with no easy answers through his trials, includingdemoting (or firing) a loyal friend;whether you should incorporate titles and promotions, and how to handle them;if it's OK to hire people from your friend's company;how to manage your own psychology, while the whole company is relying on you;what to do when smart people are bad employees;why Andreessen Horowitz prefers founder CEOs, and how to become one;whether you should sell your company, and how to do it.Filled with Horowitz's trademark humor and straight talk, and drawing from his personal and often humbling experiences, The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures.

    Odds are, these ideas will only take a few minutes apiece to complete. The problem? You might feel like there's not enough time to do all of them. One solution can be found using the power of "habit stacking." One Routine + Multiple Habits = Habit Stacking We all know it's not easy to add dozens of new habits to your day. But what you might not realize is it's fairly easy to build a single new routine. The essence of habit stacking is to take a series of small changes (like eating a piece of fruit or sending a loving text message to your significant other) and build a ritual that you follow on a daily basis. Habit stacking works because you eliminate the stress of trying to change too many things at once. Your goal is to simply focus on a single routine that only takes about 15 to 30 minutes to complete. Within this routine is a series of actions (or small changes). All you have to do is to create a checklist and follow it every single day. That's the essence of habit stacking. LEARN: 97 Small Habits that Can Change Your Life In the book "Habit Stacking: 97 Small Life Changes That Take Five Minutes Or Less," you will discover 97 quick habits that can instantly improve your life. Plus you'll discover how to create a simple routine (managed by a checklist) that you repeat on a daily basis. Even better, you'll discover a few tools that will keep you motivated and consistent. So even if you're completely stressed out, you'll still find the time and energy to complete these actions on a consistent basis. By completing dozens of small habits on a daily basis, you'll be able to make giant leaps forward in your business, strengthen your personal relationships, stay on top of your finances, get organized and improve your health.

    Students are exposed to detailed descriptions of 'how to' embark on a new venture in a logical manner. Comprehensive cases at the end of the text have been hand-picked by the authors to go hand-in-hand with chapter concepts. The superb author team of Hisrich, Peters, and Shepherd draw from their distinct backgrounds to create a book that addresses the dynamics of today's entrepreneurial challenges. From Bob Hisrich's expertise in global entrepreneurship to Mike Peter's background as a both a real-life entrepreneur and academic to Dean Shepherd's current research on cognition and entrepreneurial mindset, this book balances the crucial line between modern theory and practice.

    But many of those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched. Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned professionals in a Fortune 500 boardroom. What they have in common is a mission to penetrate that fog of uncertainty to discover a successful path to a sustainable business.The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively. Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on "validated learning," rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute.Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs - in companies of all sizes - a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it's too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in a age when companies need to innovate more than ever.

    Join Dr. Jerry B. Harvey as he clearly illustrates why no organization wants to find themselves goin' to Abilene. See how group dynamics can keep individuals from stating their true beliefs for fear of isolation and separation, and how that often leads to mismanaged agreement. You'll learn to recognize the warning signs of risky group dynamics and improve decision-making processes throughout your organization.

    This entertaining guide builds on scores of case studies taken from business, sports, the movies, politics, and gambling. It outlines the basics of good strategy making and then shows how you can apply them in any area of your life.

    Introduction to Services Chapter 2. Conceptual Framework for the Book: The Gaps Model of Service Quality PART TWO: FOCUS ON THE CUSTOMER Chapter 3. Consumer Behavior in Services Chapter 4. Customer Expectations in Services Chapter 5.

    This practical book demonstrates how entire organizations—from product managers and engineers to marketers and executives—can put Agile to work. Author Matt LeMay explains Agile in clear, jargon-free terms and provides concrete and actionable steps to help any team put its values and principles into practice. Examples from a wide variety of organizations, including small nonprofits and global financial enterprises, bring to life the on-the-ground realities of Agile across industries and functions. Understand exactly what Agile is and why it matters Use Agile to address your organization’s specific needs and goals Take customer centricity from theory into practice Stop wasting time in "report and critique" meetings and start making better decisions Create a harmonious cycle of learning, collaborating, and delivering Learn from Agile experts at companies like IBM, Spotify, and Coca-Cola

    They take initiative, and they forge consensus. Ultimately, they help others maximize their impact, so the organization can continue to thrive in a highly competitive future. Insprirational leadership without a firm grounding in organization politics risks becoming hollow rhetoric. Political Savvy discusses how successful leaders at all levels in the organization operate ethically behind-the-scenes to work the darker side of organizational life. The book helps you analyze your own political style, (yes, everyone has one) and understand the strategies and tactics used by ethical leaders. Through quotes, grids, tools, a case study, mapping techniques and examples, the book provides a systematic, practical guide to navigating political minefields so you can increase your influence in the organization, coach others, and obtain the career success, satisfaction, and meaning you want from work.

    It will persuade and inspire you to change your business, your work, and maybe your life.” —Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of A Whole New MindIn Practically Radical, William C. Taylor, the New York Times bestselling co-author of Mavericks at Work offers a refreshing, rigorous new look at pragmatic ways to shake things up and make positive change in difficult times. Exploring how twenty-five for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations—including IBM, Zappos, Swatch, the Girl Scouts, and Interpol—made remarkable strides in tough circumstances, Practically Radical raises (and answers) the make-or-break questions facing today's leaders in every field:Do you see opportunities the competition doesn't see? The most successful organizations embrace one-of-a-kind ideas in a world filled with "me-too" thinking.Do you have new ideas about where to look for new ideas? Routine practices in one field can be revolutionary when they migrate to another.Are you the most of anything? In business today, the middle of the road is the road to ruin.Are you getting the best contributions from the most people? Change is not a game best played by loners.Anything but your typical business book, Practically Radical is a must-own for small business owners and CEOs, for managers at all levels, and innovators and entrepreneurs of every stripe.

    Porter's Competitive Strategy has transformed the theory, practice, and teaching of business strategy throughout the world. Electrifying in its simplicity -- like all great breakthroughs -- Porter's analysis of industries captures the complexity of industry competition in five underlying forces. Porter introduces one of the most powerful competitive tools yet developed: his three generic strategies -- lowest cost, differentiation, and focus -- which bring structure to the task of strategic positioning. He shows how competitive advantage can be defined in terms of relative cost and relative prices, thus linking it directly to profitability, and presents a whole new perspective on how profit is created and divided. In the almost two decades since publication, Porter's framework for predicting competitor behavior has transformed the way in which companies look at their rivals and has given rise to the new discipline of competitor assessment. More than a million managers in both large and small companies, investment analysts, consultants, students, and scholars throughout the world have internalized Porter's ideas and applied them to assess industries, understand competitors,, and choose competitive positions. The ideas in the book address the underlying fundamentals of competition in a way that is independent of the specifics of the ways companies go about competing. Competitive Strategy has filled a void in management thinking. It provides an enduring foundation and grounding point on which all subsequent work can be built. By bringing a disciplined structure to the question of how firms achieve superior profitability, Porter's rich frameworks and deep insights comprise a sophisticated view of competition unsurpassed in the last quarter-century.

    Studying for the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification exam can take time and effort, but knowing what to study should be effortless. That’s where this book comes in! A complete study guide for the PMP certification exam, Andy Crowe’s The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try, 6th edition provides all the information project managers need to thoroughly prepare for and pass the test. This comprehensive study resource includes: All the processes, inputs, tools, and outputs that will be tested Insider secrets, test tricks and tips Links to 60 videos with Andy explaining concepts Over 400 practice exam questions including end of chapter quizzes and a simulated final exam Meaningful exercises designed to strengthen mastery of key concepts Dedicated margin space study notes One week subscription to InSite, Velociteach’s e-learning portal, with additional content including an extra 100 simulated practice exam questions Glossary of terms and definitions in back of book for reference The PMP Exam: How to Pass on Your First Try is clearly organized and presents the material in an easily understandable format. All of the concepts, and every process, input, tool and technique, and output is clearly explained. The most complete, concise, and up-to-date study resource, Andy’s book cuts down on the difficulty factors in obtaining the PMP certification and helps candidates pass the exam on the FIRST try.

    What does it take to be a real leader—one who is confident in who she is and what she stands for, and who truly inspires people to achieve extraordinary results?Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones argue that leaders don’t become great by aspiring to a list of universal character traits. Rather, effective leaders are authentic: they deploy individual strengths to engage followers’ hearts, minds, and souls. They are skillful at consistently being themselves, even as they alter their behaviors to respond effectively in changing contexts.In this lively and practical book, Goffee and Jones draw from extensive research to reveal how to hone and deploy one’s unique leadership assets while managing the inherent tensions at the heart of successful leadership: showing emotion and withholding it, getting close to followers while keeping distance, and maintaining individuality while “conforming enough.” Underscoring the social nature of leadership, the book also explores how leaders can remain attuned to the needs and expectations of followers.Why Should Anyone Be Led By You? will forever change how we view, develop, and practice the art of leadership, wherever we live and work.

    This book shows why execution is even more important than many senior executives realize, and describes why businesses fail to deliver on even their most promising strategies.

    But when he took the helm in 2004, America was losing that war badly: despite vastly inferior resources and technology, Al Qaeda was outmaneuvering America’s most elite warriors. McChrystal came to realize that today’s faster, more interdependent world had overwhelmed the conventional, top-down hierarchy of the US military. Al Qaeda had seen the future: a decentralized network that could move quickly and strike ruthlessly. To defeat such an enemy, JSOC would have to discard a century of management wisdom, and pivot from a pursuit of mechanical efficiency to organic adaptability. Under McChrystal’s leadership, JSOC remade itself, in the midst of a grueling war, into something entirely new: a network that combined robust centralized communication with decentralized managerial authority. As a result, they beat back Al Qaeda. In this book, McChrystal shows not only how the military made that transition, but also how similar shifts are possible in all organizations, from large companies to startups to charities to governments. In a turbulent world, the best organizations think and act like a team of teams, embracing small groups that combine the freedom to experiment with a relentless drive to share what they’ve learned. Drawing on a wealth of evidence from his military career, the private sector, and sources as diverse as hospital emergency rooms and NASA’s space program, McChrystal frames the existential challenge facing today’s organizations, and presents a compelling, effective solution.