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

    Many leadership books can be boring. Instead of reading another repetitive book about 100 leadership essentials by a corporate CEO, search no more for the perfect leadership book. In "The Diary of a West Point Cadet," by Captain Preston Pysh, the author teaches essential West Point leadership through the most fun and unique reading of any book in its class. If you are an aspiring cadet, a small-group leader, or even an emerging leader in corporate America, this book is for you. Each intriguing firsthand account of Preston's most memorable stories from attending West Point will capture your interest and imagination. At the conclusion of each gripping story, Preston efficiently summarizes how the experience taught him lessons about leadership, which later prepared him to be a combat commander. If you like twists and turns while reading and learning, you are in for a treat. Prepare to be glued to your seat and the text as you experience unforgettable stories and lessons from "The Point."

    All authority for any sensei flows from experiments on the gemba [the place where work takes place], not from dogmatic interpretations of sacred texts or the few degrees of separation from the founders of the movement. In short, lean is not a religion but a daily practice of conducting experiments and accumulating knowledge.”So writes Jim Womack, who over the past 30 years has developed a method of going to visit the gemba at countless companies and keenly observing how people work together to create value. Over the past decade, he has shared his thoughts and discoveries from these visits with the Lean Community through a monthly letter. With Gemba Walks, Womack has selected and re-organized his key letters, as well as written new material providing additional context.Gemba Walks shares his insights on topics ranging from the application of specific tools, to the role of management in sustaining lean, as well as the long-term prospects for this fundamental new way of creating value. Reading this book will reveal to readers a range of lean principles, as well as the basis for the critical lean practice of: go see, ask why, and show respect.Womack explains: - why companies need fewer heroes and more farmers (who work daily to improve the processes and systems needed for perfect work and who take the time and effort to produce long-term improvement) - how “good” people who work in “bad” processes become as “bad” as the process itself - how the real practice of showing respect comes down to helping workers frame and solve their own problems - how the short-term gains from lean tools can be translated to enduring change from lean management. - how the lean manager has a “restless desire to continually rethink the organization’s problems, probe their root causes, and lead experiments to test the best currently known countermeasures”By sharing his personal path of discovery, Womack sheds new light on the continued adoption and development of the most important new business system of the past fifty years. His journey will provide courage and inspiration for every lean practitioner today.

    Yet many companies and organizations encourage their leaders to coach teams without ever teaching them how and without creating a culture that supports coaching.Nathan Jamail—a leading consultant, professional speaker, and the president of his own group of businesses—trains coaches at several Fortune 500 companies and learned that it takes not only different skills to achieve success, but a truly effective coach needs an organizational culture that creates and multiplies the success of every motivated team member. The Leadership Playbook shows leaders the skills necessary to be an effective coach and to build effective teams by:Fostering employees’ belief in the culture of a companyResolving issues proactively rather than reactively and creating an involvement that constantly pushes employees to be their bestFocusing on the more humane principles of leadership—gratitude, positivity, and recognition—that keep morale highHolding teams and individuals accountableConstantly recruiting talent ("building the bench") rather than filling positions only when they are emptyCombining research, interviews, and inspiring stories with the lessons that have earned Jamail the respect of the world’s foremost corporations including CISCO, FedEx, Sprint, the U.S. Army, and State Farm; The Leadership Playbook will dominate the category for years to come.

    Forget the dashing swashbuckler, effective leadership is typically understated. It's the myriad small things that make the big things possible. In Do Lead, Les McKeown demolishes the myths that have paralysed leadership in our modern era, then provides newt tools for the job. You'll discover that we can all lead. And what's more, we should. Because effective leadership is goal- not people-oriented. It's about the person with the right skills putting themselves forward. Find out:• The mindset required• The basic leadership toolkit• Techniques for dealing with the (inevitable) failuresWhether you are new to the game or reigniting a dormant passion, start leading from where you are, right now. And start to make a difference. You can lead. Yes, you.

    People need to be effective.Productivity books focus on doing more, Jim and Tonianne want you to focus on doing better. Personal Kanban is about choosing the right work at the right time. Recognizing why we do the things we do. Understanding the impact of our actions. Creating value - not just product. For ourselves, our families, our friends, our co-workers. For our legacy.Personal Kanban takes the same Lean principles from manufacturing that led the Japanese auto industry to become a global leader in quality, and applies them to individual and team work. Personal Kanban asks only that we visualize our work and limit our work-in-progress. Visualizing work allows us to transform our conceptual and threatening workload into an actionable, context-sensitive flow. Limiting our work-in-progress helps us complete what we start and understand the value of our choices. Combined, these two simple acts encourage us to improve the way we work and the way we make choices to balance our personal, professional, and social lives.Neither a prescription nor a plan, Personal Kanban provides a light, actionable, achievable framework for understanding our work and its context. This book describes why students, parents, business leaders, major corporations, and world governments all see immediate results with Personal Kanban.

    The good thing about these passages is that they're predictable, and with proper preparation, leaders not only can survive them to become stronger but can use these experiences to enhance their leadership, compassion, and effectiveness. This book lays out thirteen specific "leadership passages" based on research, interviews, and coaching of senior executives in such well-known companies as Johnson & Johnson, Novarits, Intel, GE, and Bank of America. For each passage, the authors describe what to expect, how the passage constitutes a choice point, and what effective leaders do to navigate and grow from the challenge. Some of the passages include: moving into a leadership role for the first time, dealing with significant failure for which you are responsible, derailing/losing your job, being acquired/merging, losing faith in the system, understanding the importance of children, family and friends, and personal upheavals such as divorce, illness, and death. The authors provide a wealth of practical tools and techniques to improve your leadership, along with real-life examples from recognizable leaders and breakthrough ways in which companies can use the concept of leadership passages to grow talent.

    SOAR takes the Appreciative Inquiry philosophy and applies it to provide a strategic thinking and dialogue process. The authors have been instrumental in developing this process and will share the concept and case studies to give you the confidence to try SOAR.

    The hands of a pocket watch reveal the time of day without following every spring, cog, and movement behind the face. Similarly, an OPPM template reduces any project--no matter how large or complicated--to a simple one-page document, perfect for communicating to upper management and other project stakeholders. Now in its Second Edition, this practical guide, currently saving time and effort in thousands of organizations worldwide, has itself been simplified, then refined and extended to include the innovative AgileOPPM(TM).This Second Edition will include new material and updates including an introduction of the ground-breaking AgileOPPM(TM) and an overview of MyOPPM(TM) template builder, available on-line Includes references throughout the book to the affiliated sections in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK(R)) Shows templates for the Project Management Office (PMO) This new and updated Second Edition will help you master the one-page approach to both traditional project management and Agile project management.(PMBOK is a registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.)

    To achieve consistent success, the Spurs have built an organization with a team-first mindset where all of the players, staff and management are focused on the same goals. How do they do it? How does head coach Gregg Popovich create strong relationships with his players? How did he get his team to bounce back from a devastating loss in the 2013 NBA Finals to come back one year later and to win it all? How does he create a team culture where players from around the world are able to work together towards a common goal? In this brief leadership case study, we analyze the methods and ideas that Gregg Popovich uses to get his team performing at a high level. By reading how a 3x NBA Coach of the Year manages his team, you’ll learn the following lessons: - How to create solid, trustworthy relationships with your players and staff. - How to exploit advantages and untapped resources before your competition - Why it’s essential to build a strong foundation and not skip any steps in your development. - What are the specific steps to focus on in order to persevere and bounce back from setback. Although Gregg Popovich is an expert at coaching basketball, this case study isn’t focused on his playbook. Rather, it highlights the strategy, culture, and organizational development style of the San Antonio Spurs. Basketball coaches will find it useful for developing their squads, but other team coaches, managers, and leaders in all industries will find the lessons useful as well. The lessons can be applied to any business or organization looking to create a strong team culture and achieve continuing success.

    In this transcript of the audio series, Gene Kim and John Willis present a nine-part discussion that includes an oral history of the DevOps movement, as well as discussions around pivotal figures and philosophies that DevOps draws upon, from Goldratt to Deming; from Lean to Safety Culture to Learning Organizations.The book is a great way for listeners to take an even deeper dive into topics relevant to DevOps and leading technology organizations.

    Less inventory. The highest quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer. In factories around the globe, Toyota consistently raises the bar for manufacturing, product development, and process excellence. The result is an amazing business success story: steadily taking market share from price-cutting competitors, earning far more profit than any other automaker, and winning the praise of business leaders worldwide.The Toyota Way reveals the management principles behind Toyota's worldwide reputation for quality and reliability. Dr. Jeffrey Liker, a renowned authority on Toyota's Lean methods, explains how you can adopt these principles--known as the "Toyota Production System" or "Lean Production"--to improve the speed of your business processes, improve product and service quality, and cut costs, no matter what your industry.Drawing on his extensive research on Toyota, Dr. Liker shares his insights into the foundational principles at work in the Toyota culture. He explains how the Toyota Production System evolved as a new paradigm of manufacturing excellence, transforming businesses across industries. You'll learn how Toyota fosters employee involvement at all levels, discover the difference between traditional process improvement and Toyota's Lean improvement, and learn why companies often think they are Lean--but aren't.

    By outlining the process every organization must go through to achieve its goals, and by identifying where and how even top performers derail during the change process, Kotter provides a practical resource for leaders and managers charged with making change initiatives work.Needed more today than at any time in the past, this immensely relevant bestselling business book serves as both visionary guide and practical toolkit on how to approach the difficult yet crucial work of leading change in any type of organization. Reading this highly personal book is like spending a day with the world’s foremost expert on business leadership. You’re sure to walk away inspired—and armed with the tools you need to inspire others. Published by Harvard Business Review Press.

    That principle is the value of slack, the degree of freedom in a company that allows it to change. Implementing slack could be as simple as adding an assistant to a department and letting high-priced talent spend less time at the photocopier and more time making key decisions, or it could mean designing workloads that allow people room to think, innovate, and reinvent themselves. It means embracing risk, eliminating fear, and knowing when to go slow. Slack allows for change, fosters creativity, promotes quality, and, above all, produces growth. With an approach that works for new- and old-economy companies alike, this revolutionary handbook debunks commonly held assumptions about real-world management, and gives you and your company a brand-new model for achieving and maintaining true effectiveness.

    You’ll explore how four different teams used Kanban to make paradigm-changing improvements in software development. These teams were struggling with overwork, unclear priorities, and lack of direction. As you discover what worked for them, you’ll understand how to make significant changes in real situations.The four case studies in this book explain how to:Improve the full value chain by using Enterprise KanbanBoost engagement, teamwork, and flow in change management and operationsSave a derailing project with KanbanHelp an office team outside IT keep up with growth using KanbanWhat seems easy in theory can become tangled in practice. Discover why “improving IT” can make you miss your biggest improvement opportunities, and why you should focus on fixing quality and front-end operations before IT. Discover how to keep long-term focus and improve across department borders while dealing with everyday challenges. Find out what happened when using Kanban to find better ways to do work in a well-established company, including running multi-team development without a project office.You’ll inspire your team and engage management to make it easier to develop better products.