Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times


Stephen R. Covey - 2009
    Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times is about four essentials for getting great performance in good times and bad. (1) Excellent Execution: Winning companies have simple goals with clear targets and strong follow-through. All team members know what to do about the goals and they execute precisely. (2) High Trust Levels with All Stakeholders: Low trust slows you down and raises your costsespecially in times of turmoil. But when trust levels rise, everything speeds up and costs go down. (3) Achieving More with Less: In tough times, everyone tries to do more with less, but the real question is more of what? Winning companies focus on giving more valuenot just cutting back. (4) Transforming Fear into Engagement: Unpredictable times create anxieties that distract you just when you need total focus. Winning o

Designed for Digital: How to Architect Your Business for Sustained Success


Jeanne W. Ross - 2019
    But few established companies are designed for digital. This book offers an essential guide for retooling organizations for digital success. In the digital economy, rapid pace of change in technology capabilities and customer desires means that business strategy must be fluid. As a result, the authors explain, business design has become a critical management responsibility. Effective business design enables a company to quickly pivot in response to new competitive threats and opportunities. Most leaders today, however, rely on organizational structure to implement strategy, unaware that structure inhibits, rather than enables, agility. In companies that are designed for digital, people, processes, data, and technology are synchronized to identify and deliver innovative customer solutions—and redefine strategy. Digital design, not strategy, is what separates winners from losers in the digital economy. Designed for Digital offers practical advice on digital transformation, with examples that include Amazon, BNY Mellon, DBS Bank, LEGO, Philips, Schneider Electric, USAA, and many other global organizations. Drawing on five years of research and in-depth case studies, the book is an essential guide for companies that want to disrupt rather than be disrupted in the new digital landscape.Five Building Blocks of Digital Business SuccessShared Customer InsightsOperational BackboneDigital PlatformAccountability FrameworkExternal Developer Platform

Lean Inception: How to Align People and Build the Right Product


Paulo Caroli - 2018
    The Lean Startup movement is very promising, but for many teams it ends up translating into an important question: ”Yeah, but what to build ?” “In ThoughtWorks, our response has been a process called an inception. We gather together a good sample of the people who will be affected by the product and have an intensive session to set an initial direction, using a series of exercises focusing on collaboration and the capture of broad goals. We don't attempt a detailed specification, as that is exactly the kind of thing that becomes out of date as soon as code hits production. But we do want to understand what kind of outcomes we are hoping for, the features that we think will drive these outcomes, and how to assess the effectiveness of our product. With The Lean Inception, Paulo has captured his experience in running these inceptions over the last decade. In particular it's focused on his work to boil the inception down to its essence, concentrating the activity on a single, if very intensive, week of work. Paulo shares how he makes this work, through writing a product vision, capturing personas, understanding the user journeys, and developing high-level features. The result isn't a detailed plan of work, which we find quickly rots into irrelevance. It is a guiding set of goals to set us off in the right direction. It doesn't plan out a final product, with all the features that our users will need, instead it focuses on an initial product that we can release and learn from - the Minimum Viable Product. “ – Martin Fowler, Chief Cientist at ThoughtWorks

Rise of the Data Cloud


Frank Slootman - 2020
    

Management Information Systems


Raymond McLeod Jr. - 1979
    Focusing on the role of managers within an organization, the volume emphasizes the development of computer-based Information Systems to support an organization's objectives and strategic plans. Focusing on the Systems Concepts, the Systems Approach is implemented throughout the text. The volume covers essential concepts such as using information technology to engage in electronic commerce, and information resources such as database management systems, information security, ethical implications of information technology and decision support systems with projects to challenge users at all levels of competence. For those involved in Management Information Systems.

Remote: Office Not Required


David Heinemeier Hansson - 2013
    Moms in particular will welcome this trend.  A full 60% wish they had a flexible work option. But companies see advantages too in the way remote work increases their talent pool, reduces turnover, lessens their real estate footprint, and improves the ability to conduct business across multiple time zones, to name just a few advantages.  In Remote, inconoclastic authors Fried and Hansson will convince readers that letting all or part of work teams function remotely is a great idea--and they're going to show precisely how a remote work setup can be accomplished.

The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever


Michael Bungay Stanier - 2016
     Drawing on years of experience training more than 10,000 busy managers from around the globe in practical, everyday coaching skills, Bungay Stanier reveals how to unlock your peoples' potential. He unpacks seven essential coaching questions to demonstrate how--by saying less and asking more--you can develop coaching methods that produce great results. – Get straight to the point in any conversation with The Kickstart Question – Stay on track during any interaction with The Awe Question – Save hours of time for yourself with The Lazy Question – and hours of time for others with The Strategic Question – Get to the heart of any interpersonal or external challenge with The Focus Question – and The Foundation Question – Ensure others find your coaching as beneficial as you do with The Learning Question A fresh innovative take on the traditional how-to manual, the book combines insider information with research based in neuroscience and behavioural economics, together with interactive training tools to turn practical advice into practiced habits. Witty and conversational, The Coaching Habit takes your work--and your workplace--from good to great. "Coaching is an art and it's far easier said than done. It takes courage to ask a question rather than offer up advice, provide and answer, or unleash a solution. giving another person the opportunity to find their own way, make their own mistakes, and create their own wisdom is both brave and vulnerable. In this practical and inspiring book, Michael shares seven transformative questions that can make a difference in how we lead and support. And he guides us through the tricky part - how to take this new information and turn it into habits and a daily practice. --Brené Brown, author of Rising Strong and Daring Greatly

Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing: Theory and Application


Bessie L. Marquis - 1992
    The authors' experiential learning approach makes it easy to put these skills into practice in any health care setting. This book helps students develop the critical thinking ability needed to apply skills on the job—from organizing patient care to motivating staff to managing conflict.

Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming: The NIPCC Report on Scientific Consensus


Craig D. Idso - 2015
    This claim is not only false, but its presence in the debate is an insult to science." With these words, the authors begin a detailed analysis of one of the most controversial topics of the day. The authors make a compelling case against claims of a scientific consensus. The purported proof of such a consensus consists of sloppy research by nonscientists, college students, and a highly partisan Australian blogger. Surveys of climate scientists, even those heavily biased in favor of climate alarmism, find extensive disagreement on the underlying science and doubts about its reliability. The authors point to four reasons why scientists disagree about global warming: a conflict among scientists in different and often competing disciplines; fundamental scientific uncertainties concerning how the global climate responds to the human presence; failure of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to provide objective guidance to the complex science; and bias among researchers. The authors offer a succinct summary of the real science of climate change based on their previously published comprehensive review of climate science in a volume titled Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science. They recommend that policymakers resist pressure from lobby groups to silence scientists who question the authority of the IPCC to claim to speak for climate science. More than 50,000 copies of the first edition were sold or given away in five months to elected officials, civic and business leaders, scientists, and other opinion leaders. The response from the science community and experts on climate change has been overwhelmingly positive. To meet demand for more copies, we have produced this second revised edition. Changes include a foreword by Marita Noon, at the time executive director of Energy Makes America Great, Inc. Some of the discussion in Chapter 1 has been revised and expanded thanks to feedback from readers of the first edition. Graphs in Chapters 4, 5, and 6 are now full color, and new graphs have been added.

How Clients Buy: A Practical Guide to Business Development for Consulting and Professional Services


Tom McMakin - 2018
    If you're one of the millions of people whose skills are the 'product, ' you know that you cannot be successful unless you bring in clients. The problem is, you're trained to do your job--not sell it. No matter how great you may be at your actual role, you likely feel a bit lost, hesitant, or 'behind' when it comes to courting clients, an unfamiliar territory where you're never quite sure of the line between under- and over-selling. This book comes to the rescue with real, practical advice for selling what you do. You'll have to unlearn everything you know about sales, but then you'll learn new skills that will help you make connections, develop rapport, create interest, earn trust, and turn prospects into clients.Business development is critical to your personal success, and your skills in this area will dictate the course of your career. This invaluable guide gives you a set of real-world best practices that can help you become the rainmaker you want to be.Get the word out and make productive connections Drop the fear of self-promotion and advertise your accomplishments Earn potential clients' trust to build a lasting relationship Scrap the sales pitch in favor of honesty, positivity, and value Working in the consulting and professional services fields comes with difficulties not encountered by those who sell tangible products. Services are often under-valued, and become among the first things to go when budgets get tight. It is now harder than ever to sell professional services, so your game must be on-point if you hope to out-compete the field. How Clients Buy shows you how to level up and start winning the client list of your dreams.

Turn Your Ship Around!: A Workbook for Implementing Intent-Based Leadership in Your Organization


L. David Marquet - 2015
    Navy Captain David Marquet introduced a bold new approach to leadership, based on his experiences turning around the troubled submarine USS Santa Fe. He gave up the traditional command-and-control model and instead inspired his crew to assume responsibility for every individual action. Santa Fe rapidly improved its dismal performance record, and started winning awards as the best ship in its class.Now Marquet returns with a workbook so readers can apply his methods to their own organizations. With extensive questions and exercises on how to delegate and inspire, this workbook will help readers build a work community based on personal responsibility and trust.

Management Wisdom of Lord Krishna: A Treatise on Unified Concept of Management Performance for the Globalised World


Udai Vir Singh - 2008
    Hence, modern management minds have been looking for solutions beyond the reservoir of Western management thoughts and practices. They have examined and experimented with Japanese and Chinese systems of management. Of late, their focus has shifted to Indian philosophy to find solutions to re-occurring irritants in efficient management practices. As a step in this direction, Western management executives are being encouraged to put purpose before self during retraining sessions at institutions of management learning. Through Ved Vyasa's Bhagavad Gita, they are attempting to inspire themselves with the supremacy of action, learning to enrich matter with forces of spirit, realizing that the principle of karma has invaluable merits. The present work is a systematic presentation of the vital management contents as enshrined in Bhagavad Gita, the eternal Song of Wisdom. The book is a running treatise comprising principles, precepts, and practices employed by Lord Krishna to achieve his mission incarnate objectives, examining such qualities as: the dignity of work, commitment appreciations, strategic intervention, internal conflict --- management, and the management of uncertainties --- the skills of verbal and non-verbal communication, logic, and intellect --- the humility and ethicality of approach, respect for virtue and merit, skillful ego management, and total impartiality --- using energy as a management tool, the principle of causality, and the unified concept of management performance --- and much more

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard


Chip Heath - 2010
    Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systems - the rational mind and the emotional mind - that compete for control. The rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie. The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort - but if it is overcome, change can come quickly.In Switch, the Heaths show how everyday people - employees and managers, parents and nurses - have united both minds and, as a result, achieved dramatic results:- The lowly medical interns who managed to defeat an entrenched, decades-old medical practice that was endangering patients (see page 242)- The home-organizing guru who developed a simple technique for overcoming the dread of housekeeping (see page 130)- The manager who transformed a lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots by removing a standard tool of customer service (see page 199)In a compelling, story-driven narrative, the Heaths bring together decades of counterintuitive research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how we can effect transformative change. Switch shows that successful changes follow a pattern, a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you, whether your interest is in changing the world or changing your waistline.

Great Teams: 16 Things High Performing Organizations Do Differently


Don Yaeger - 2016
    Inspiring that to happen year-in and year-out is what keeps us in leadership. Don Yaeger has studied the best of the best. Now it is our turn to study this book.—Mike Krzyzewski, five-time NCAA Tournament Champion, two-time Olympic Gold Medal Winning Basketball coach, Duke University Men’s BasketballWhat makes a team great? Not just good. Not just functional. But great?Over the last six years, long-time Sports Illustrated associate editor Don Yaeger has been invited by some of the greatest companies in the world to speak about the habits of high-performing individuals. Delivering an average of 80 keynote speeches per year, Don was approached by his most consistent client, Microsoft, to develop a talk on what allowed some teams to play at a championship level year after year. From Microsoft and Starbucks to the New England Patriots and San Antonio Spurs, what do some organizations do seemingly better than most all of their opponents?Don took the challenge. He began building into his travel schedule opportunities to interview our generation’s greatest team builders from the sports and business worlds. During this process, he has conducted more than 100 interviews with some of the most successful teams and organizations in the country. From those interviews, Don has identified 16 habits that drive these high-performing teams.Building on the stories, examples, and first-hand accounts, each chapter in  Great Teams  comes with applicable examples on how to apply these characteristics in any organization.  Great Teams  is the ultimate intersection of the sports and business worlds and a powerful companion for thought leaders, teams, managers, and organizations that seek to perform similarly. The insight shared in this book is sure to enhance any team in its pursuit of excellence. Great Teams Understand the “Why”Great Teams Allow Culture to Shape Who They RecruitGreat Teams Run Successful HuddlesGreat Teams Manage Dysfunction, Friction, and Strong PersonalitiesGreat Teams See Value Others MissGreat Teams Know How to Win in Critical SituationsGreat Teams Embrace ChangeGreat Teams Build a Mentoring CultureGreat Teams Have a Rallying CryIt takes a special formula to construct championship quality teams and in this book by Don Yaeger you will be able to see how great teams are formulated. Don Yaeger is Awesome, baby, with a capital "A"! –Dick Vitale, Hall of Fame broadcaster, ESPN Everyone wants to work on or play on a Great Team. The differentiator I’ve noticed is that the best teams pay close attention to and protect their culture and their people. Don Yaeger shows in this book that the same lessons are true on the sporting fields. There’s much to be learned within these pages and I know you’ll enjoy.  –Gary Kelly, CEO and Chairman of Southwest Airlines There are so many parallels between building a great sports team and building a corporate one, not the least of which that great culture makes amazing things possible. Great Teams by Don Yaeger provides a roadmap for all of us...in either of those worlds.—GJ Hart, CEO, California Pizza Kitchen

Effective Delegation of Authority: A (Really) Short Book for New Managers About How to Delegate Work Using a Simple Delegation Process


Hassan Osman - 2019
    This quick read is a must for new managers -- and also for senior managers who are seeking a framework to help newer managers avoid the common mistakes." - Dave Stachowiak, Host of the ‘Coaching for Leaders’ podcast Do you feel stressed and overwhelmed with tasks that you can’t keep up with? Are you struggling with the delegation of work to your employees?  Effective Delegation of Authority is a brief guide for new managers that will help you improve your delegation skills in simple steps.If you’re a manager or entrepreneur who leads three or more employees, then this book is for you.It’s a super-short book that’ll help you avoid the common mistakes that new managers make when delegating tasks.It includes a comprehensive step-by-step process that tells you exactly what to do before delegation, during delegation, and after delegation.You’ll also get immediately applicable tactics that you can implement straightway with your subordinates. Here’s a partial list of what’s covered:  How to determine what to delegate to your employees before starting the delegation process The method you should follow to decide who to delegate work to on your team The five traits that every task should have before you delegate it.  How to describe authority levels the right way before you delegate work How to avoid micromanaging your employees How to check in with your subordinates and give them meaningful feedback.  How to avoid being too prescriptive, while still giving your employees a good description of what they need to accomplish The most important thing you should do after you delegate a task to verify understanding Some examples of delegation to help you understand the concepts better A downloadable sample delegation template and one-page cheat sheet that you can use as quick reference guides The book is divided into three sections that will serve as your new manager checklist:   Section I: Before Delegation Step One: Determine What to Delegate Step Two: Determine Who to Delegate to Section II: During Delegation Step One: Explain the Task Clearly Step Two: Describe Goals, Not Actions Step Three: Give Clear Timelines