This text's applied approach addresses how and why a business operates. Students can then build upon their practical skills through examples, exercises and projects to help them gain a full understanding of how and why to develop a business plan. Each text is packaged with a Business Plan Booklet and CD-ROM, which are tied to end-of-part features, allowing students hands-on practice in creating a sound business plan. Through lively examples this text emphasizes key core skill areas including, Decision-Making and Planning, Teamwork, Technology, and Communication.

    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

    Full of exercises and checklists, "Develop Your Leadership Skills" provides the tools to recognize and develop leadership qualities, acquire personal authority and master core leadership functions, including planning, communicating and motivating. Suitable for anyone who wishes to improve their leadership skills, this guide distills the essence of Adair's teaching and offers a framework for becoming an effective leader.

    Great for individuals, great for groups -- large or small. Problems come in all shapes and sizes, yet most have common characteristics that can be addressed with the techniques found in this book. Rapid Problem-Solving with Post-it Notes shows you how to use six types of techniques:The Post-up-Provides methods for getting information into chunks The Swap Sort-Shows listing and organization methods The Top-down Tree-Works when the nature of the problem is unknown The Information Map-Maps messy problems and complex relationships The Action Map-Plans actions or maps an existing processMore than 70 diagrams and examples for solving everyday problems This refreshing book reminds us the simplest ideas are often the most effective. Solve problems, create solutions and find answers fast-all with the help of Post-it Notes. Tens of millions of Post-it®Notes users can now learn how to do far more with these great little tools. Post-it Notes can be used to help solve difficult problems because they:Are the right size to hold one piece of information from a problem Are easily to attached to flat surfaces and stay put Can be moved and reattached many times

    Desire and motivation aren't enough: even when it's literally a matter of life or death, the ability to change remains maddeningly elusive.Given that the status quo is so potent, how can we change ourselves and our organizations?In Immunity to Change, authors Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey show how our individual beliefs--along with the collective mind-sets in our organizations--combine to create a natural but powerful immunity to change. By revealing how this mechanism holds us back, Kegan and Lahey give us the keys to unlock our potential and finally move forward. And by pinpointing and uprooting our own immunities to change, we can bring our organizations forward with us.This persuasive and practical book, filled with hands-on diagnostics and compelling case studies, delivers the tools you need to overcome the forces of inertia and transform your life and your work.

    Yet men still predominate in the corporate world. In The Confidence Code, Claire Shipman and Katty Kay argue that the key reason is confidence.Combining cutting-edge research in genetics, gender, behavior, and cognition—with examples from their own lives and those of other successful women in politics, media, and business—Kay and Shipman go beyond admonishing women to "lean in."Instead, they offer the inspiration and practical advice women need to close the gap and achieve the careers they want and deserve.

    As a long time manager who dealt with organizational issues, growth, personnel matters, finance, and political influences, and one who teaches undergraduate and graduate school courses in management and leadership, I have experienced most of these issues. The author has done a remarkable job in the detail and accuracy of the work. The work is clear and understandable and organized in such as way as to allow easy access to information. To find such a compendium of information in one book instead of many is an additional benefit. Content is also ratified by the collective skills sets the authors bring.I highly recommend this book as a desk reference for anyone in a leadership or management role, and highly recommend it for anyone aspiring to the job. The comprehensive nature of the material in the book provides the foundation for new managers. In addition, the reference material leads readers to many other sources, reducing the need for Internet surfing trying to find information, or visiting the local library. As a graduate school faculty member I would also state for the record that this would be a great textbook. The book is written by practitioners who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. This book is a must read. Well done to all the authors - you have provided a book any manager, supervisor, or teacher should have.

    Now "the personal productivity guru" (Fast Company) shows readers how to increase their ability to work better, not harder every day. Based on Allen's highly popular e-newsletter, Ready for Anything offers readers 52 ways to immediately clear your head for creativity, focus your attention, create structures that work, and take action to get things moving. With wit, inspiration, and know-how, Allen shows readers how to make things happen with less effort and stress, and lots more energy, creativity, and effectiveness. Ready for Anything is the perfect book for anyone wanting to work and live at his or her very best.

    These small-format books take Tom Peters' key ideas from "Re-imagine! and revise and update them with Peters' latest ideas.

    Includes a foreword by bestselling author and FranklinCovey executive Sean Covey.Teamwork is crucial to the success of any business, and as acclaimed author and speaker Ron Clark illustrates, the members of any team are the key to unlocking success. Imagine a company as a bus filled with people who either help or hinder a team's ability to move it forward: drivers (who steer the organization), runners (who consistently go above and beyond for the good of the organization), joggers (who do their jobs without pushing themselves), walkers (who are just getting pulled along), and riders (who hinder success and drag the team down). It's the team leader's job to recognize how members fall into these categories, encourage them to keep the "bus" moving by working together, and know when it's time to kick the riders off.In the tradition of Who Moved My Cheese? and Fish!, Move Your Bus is an accessible and uplifting business parable that illustrates Clark's expert strategies to maximize the performance of each member of a team. These easy to implement techniques will inspire employees and team leaders alike to work harder and smarter and drive the organization to succeed.

    True persuasion is not about arm-twisting or out-maneuvering your adversary. True persuasion is the creation of consensus from conflict or indifference.

    Tragically, these teams often devolve into wheel-spinning, contentious assemblies that get nothing done.  Or members may disengage from a team if they find its work frustrating, trivial, or a waste of their time.  Even teams with a spirit of camaraderie may take actions that are flat-out wrong. But there is also good news. This book draws on recent research findings as well as Harvard Professor Richard Hackman’s own experience as an intelligence community researcher and advisor to show how leaders can create an environment where teamwork flourishes.  Hackman identifies six enabling conditions – such as establishing clear norms of conduct and providing well-timed team coaching – that increase the likelihood that teams will be effective in any setting or type of organization.. Although written explicitly for intelligence, defense, crisis management, and law enforcement professionals it will also be valuable for improving team success in all kinds of leadership, management, service, and production teams in business, government, and nonprofit enterprises.

    Leading agile consultant and practitioner Mike Cohn presents detailed recommendations, powerful tips, and real-world case studies drawn from his unparalleled experience helping hundreds of software organizations make Scrum and agile work. "Succeeding with Agile" is for pragmatic software professionals who want real answers to the most difficult challenges they face in implementing Scrum. Cohn covers every facet of the transition: getting started, helping individuals transition to new roles, structuring teams, scaling up, working with a distributed team, and finally, implementing effective metrics and continuous improvement.Throughout, Cohn presents “Things to Try Now” sections based on his most successful advice. Complementary “Objection” sections reproduce typical conversations with those resisting change and offer practical guidance for addressing their concerns. Coverage includes: - Practical ways to get started immediately–and “get good” fast - Overcoming individual resistance to the changes Scrum requires - Staffing Scrum projects and building effective teams - Establishing “improvement communities” of people who are passionate about driving change - Choosing which agile technical practices to use or experiment with - Leading self-organizing teams - Making the most of Scrum sprints, planning, and quality techniques - Scaling Scrum to distributed, multiteam projects - Using Scrum on projects with complex sequential processes or challenging compliance and governance requirements - Understanding Scrum’s impact on HR, facilities, and project managementWhether you've completed a few sprints or multiple agile projects and whatever your role–manager, developer, coach, ScrumMaster, product owner, analyst, team lead, or project lead–this book will help you succeed with your very next project. Then, it will help you go much further: It will help you transform your entire development organization.

    The first type drain intelligence, energy, and capability from the ones around them and always need to be the smartest ones in the room. These are the idea killers, the energy sappers, the diminishers of talent and commitment. On the other side of the spectrum are leaders who use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them. When these leaders walk into a room, lightbulbs go off over people's heads, ideas flow, and problems get solved. These are the leaders who inspire employees to stretch themselves to deliver results that surpass expectations. These are the Multipliers. And the world needs more of them, especially now, when leaders are expected to do more with less. In this engaging and highly practical book, leadership expert Liz Wiseman and management consultant Greg McKeown explore these two leadership styles, persuasively showing how Multipliers can have a resoundingly positive and profitable effect on organizations—getting more done with fewer resources, developing and attracting talent, and cultivating new ideas and energy to drive organizational change and innovation. In analyzing data from more than 150 leaders, Wiseman and McKeown have identified five disciplines that distinguish Multipliers from Diminishers. These five disciplines are not based on innate talent; indeed, they are skills and practices that everyone can learn to use, even lifelong and recalcitrant Diminishers. Lively, real-world case studies and practical tips and techniques bring to life each of these principles, showing you how to become a Multiplier too, whether you are a new or an experienced manager. Just imagine what you could accomplish if you could harness all the energy and intelligence around you. Multipliers will show you how.

    Army.Duke University's head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has proved himself a leader both on and off the court. He's led the Duke Blue Devils to five straight Final Four appearances, culminating in back-to-back championships in 1991 and '92. He has received five National Coach of the Year Awards—and many of the players he coached in college have gone on to NBA stardom.From sportsmanship to respect, Leading with the Heart is a genuine gift from a coach who knows how to lead with heart.