No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention


Reed Hastings - 2020
    It has led nothing short of a revolution in the entertainment industries, generating billions of dollars in annual revenue while capturing the imaginations of hundreds of millions of people in over 190 countries. But to reach these great heights, Netflix, which launched in 1998 as an online DVD rental service, has had to reinvent itself over and over again. This type of unprecedented flexibility would have been impossible without the counterintuitive and radical management principles that cofounder Reed Hastings established from the very beginning. Hastings rejected the conventional wisdom under which other companies operate and defied tradition to instead build a culture focused on freedom and responsibility, one that has allowed Netflix to adapt and innovate as the needs of its members and the world have simultaneously transformed.Hastings set new standards, valuing people over process, emphasizing innovation over efficiency, and giving employees context, not controls. At Netflix, there are no vacation or expense policies. At Netflix, adequate performance gets a generous severance, and hard work is irrel-evant. At Netflix, you don't try to please your boss, you give candid feedback instead. At Netflix, employees don't need approval, and the company pays top of market. When Hastings and his team first devised these unorthodox principles, the implications were unknown and untested. But in just a short period, their methods led to unparalleled speed and boldness, as Netflix quickly became one of the most loved brands in the world.Here for the first time, Hastings and Erin Meyer, bestselling author of The Culture Map and one of the world's most influential business thinkers, dive deep into the controversial ideologies at the heart of the Netflix psyche, which have generated results that are the envy of the business world. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with current and past Netflix employees from around the globe and never-before-told stories of trial and error from Hastings's own career, No Rules Rules is the fascinating and untold account of the philosophy behind one of the world's most innovative, imaginative, and successful companies.

Fundamental Analysis, Value Investing & Growth Investing


Roger Lowenstein - 1997
    Growth investing is a fundamentally different style that seeks to identify tomorrow's great business successes. Learn the ins and outs, and the pros and cons, of these basic investment styles.

Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership: Practicing the Wisdom of Leading by Serving


James W. Sipe - 2009
    Offers a skills-oriented approach to acquiring the most critical competencies of effective Servant Leadership, all without overlooking matters of the heart and soul that make it all worthwhile.

Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Getting Things Done


David Allen - 2003
    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.

Strategic Brand Management


Kevin Lane Keller - 2007
    Finely focused on how-to and why throughout, it provides specific tactical guidelines for planning, building, measuring, and managing brand equity. It includes numerous examples on virtually every topic and over 75 Branding Briefs that identify successful and unsuccessful brands and explain why they have been so. Case studies will familiarize readers with the real-life stories of Levi' s Dockers, Intel Corporation, Nivea, Nike, and Starbucks. For industry professionals from brand managers to chief marketing officers.

The Power of Intuition: How to Use Your Gut Feelings to Make Better Decisions at Work


Gary Klein - 2002
    Too often, we dismiss these feelings as "hunches" and therefore untrustworthy. But renowned researcher Gary Klein reveals that, in fact, 90 percent of the critical decisions we make is based on our intuition. In his new book, THE POWER OF INTUITION, Klein shows that intuition, far from being an innate "sixth sense," is a learnable--and essential--skill.Based on interviews with senior executives who make important judgments swiftly, as well as firefighters, emergency medical staff, soldiers, and others who often face decisions with immediate life-and-death implications, Klein demonstrates that the expertise to recognize patterns and other cues that enable us--intuitively--to make the right decisions--is a natural extension of experience.Through a three-tiered process called the "Exceleration Program," Klein provides readers with the tools they need to build the intuitive skills that will help them make tough choices, spot potential problems, manage uncertainty, and size up situations quickly. Klein also shows how to communicate such decisions more effectively, coach others in the art of intuition, and recognize and defend against an overdependence on information technology.The first book to demystify the role of intuition in decision making, THE POWER OF INTUITION is essential reading for those who wish to develop their intuition skills, wherever they are in the organizational hierarchy.

Technology Strategy Patterns: Architecture as Strategy


Eben Hewitt - 2018
    This book’s toolkit provides architects, product managers, technology managers, and executives with a shared language—in the form of repeatable, practical patterns and templates—to produce great technology strategies. Author Eben Hewitt developed 39 patterns over the course of a decade in his work as CTO, CIO, and chief architect for several global tech companies. With these proven tools, you can define, create, elaborate, refine, and communicate your architecture goals, plans, and approach in a way that executives can readily understand, approve, and execute. This book covers: Architecture and strategy: Adopt a strategic architectural mindset to make a meaningful material impact Creating your strategy: Define the components of your technology strategy using proven patterns Communicating the strategy: Convey your technology strategy in a compelling way to a variety of audiences Bringing it all together: Employ patterns individually or in clusters for specific problems; use the complete framework for a comprehensive strategy

Certain to Win: The Strategy of John Boyd, Applied to Business


Chet Richards - 2004
    Boyd for the world of business.The success of Robert Coram's monumental biography, Boyd, the Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War, rekindled interest in this obscure pilot and documented his influence on military matters ranging from his early work on fighter tactics to the USMC's maneuver warfare doctrine to the planning for Operation Desert Storm. Unfortunately Boyd's written legacy, consisting of a single paper and a four-set cycle of briefings, addresses strategy only in war. Boyd and BusinessBoyd did study business. He read everything he could find on the Toyota Production System and came to consider it as an implementation of ideas similar to his own. He took business into account when he formulated the final version of his OODA loop and in his last major briefing, Conceptual Spiral, on science and technology. He read and commented on early versions of this manuscript, but he never wrote on how business could operate more profitably by using his ideas.Other writers and business strategists have taken up the challenge, introducing Boyd's concepts and suggesting applications to business. Keith Hammonds, in the magazine Fast Company, George Stalk and Tom Hout in Competing Against Time, and Tom Peters most recently in Re-imagine! have described the OODA loop and its effects on competitors.They made significant contributions. Successful businesses, though, don t concentrate on affecting competitors but on enticing customers. You could apply Boyd all you wanted to competitors, but unless this somehow caused customers to buy your products and services, you ve wasted time and money. If this were all there were to Boyd, he would rate at most a sidebar in business strategy.Business is not WarPart of the problem has been Boyd's focus on war, where affecting competitors is the whole idea. Armed conflict was Boyd's life for nearly 50 years, first as a fighter pilot, then as a tactician and an instructor of fighter pilots, and after his retirement, as a military philosopher. Coram describes (and I know from personal experience) how his quest consumed Boyd virtually every waking hour.It was not a monastic existence, though, since John was above everything else a competitor and loved to argue over beer and cigars far into the night. During most of the 1970s and 80s he worked at the Pentagon, where he could share ideas and debate with other strategists and practitioners of the art of war. The result was the remarkable synthesis we know as Patterns of Conflict. Discussions about generals and campaigns, however, did not give Boyd much insight into competition in other areas, like businessNow you might expect, at first glance, that business is so much like war that lifting concepts from one and applying them to the other would be straightforward. But think about that for a minute. Even in its simplest description, business doesn't really look much like war. For one thing, there are always three sides to business competition: you, customers, and competitors. Often it is vastly more complex, with a multitude of competitors who are customers of each other as well. In business, unlike war, it may even be desirable to be conquered by a competitor in a lucrative merger or acquisition. Finally, and most important, it is rarely possible to defeat the other player in the triangle, that is, to compel an unwilling customer to buy. Attempts to pressure customers into paying too much or into buying more than they need often open a window for competitors (as the US airline industry is belatedly discovering.) Generally all we can do is attract offer products and services to potential customers, whose decisions determine who wins and who loses.What this means is that the strategies and tactics of war, Boyd's included, are destructive in nature and so never apply to business. Expressions like Attack enemy weaknesses have no meaning, except as metaphors and analogies. Across different domains, such literary devices are as likely to be misleading as helpful.Boyd's Strategy Still AppliesBusiness is not war, but it is a form of conflict, a situation where one group can win only if another group loses. If you dig beneath Boyd's war-centered tactics you find a general strategy for ensuring that in most any type of conflict your group will be the one that wins.Although Boyd made a number of new and fundamental contributions, his is an ancient school, extending back in written form 2,500 years. It is built around two primary themes:A focus on time (not speed) and specifically, using dislocations in time to shape the competitive situation. These effects, by the way, are quite different in business than they are in war.A culture with attributes that enable even impel organizations to exploit time for competitive advantage. Within Boyd's culture, members will seek out or invent specific practices that will work for it.Why You Should Read this BookThis book will give you a firm foundation in Boyd's strategy, starting with its military roots, but it is not a how-to manual. There could never be such a manual for strategy since all sides could use it and so would derive no strategic benefit. Anything you can write a how-to manual for is tactics or even technique. Strategy begins where these leave off.You should read this book if you ve found other books on business strategy lacking something. You should read it if you appreciate that Sun Tzu seems to be revealing fundamental truths, but it's not clear what they have to do with business. You should read it if you intend to run your own show without the decision making by committee, shunning of responsibility, and breakdown of ethics and trust that you see around you every day.

Leadership Lessons of the Navy Seals: Battle-Tested Strategies for Creating Successful Organizations and Inspiring Extraordinary Results


Jeff Cannon - 2002
    Built around inspiring stories from both the military and business worlds, Leadership Lessons of the Navy SEALS outlines a step-by-step approach to boosting morale and increasing productivity in any business organization.

The Wisdom of Bees: What the Hive Can Teach Business about Leadership, Efficiency, and Growth


Michael O'Malley - 2010
    How can large, diverse groups work together harmoniously and productively? Perhaps we could take what the bees do so well and apply it to our institutions." When Michael O'Malley first took up beekeeping, he thought it would be a nice hobby to share with his ten-year-old son. But as he started to observe these industrious insects, he noticed that they do a lot more than just make honey. Bees not only work together to achieve a common goal but, in the process, create a highly coordinated, efficient, and remarkably productive organization. The hive behaved like a miniature but incredibly successful business. O'Malley also realized that bees can actually teach managers a lot about how to run their organizations. He identified twenty-five powerful insights, such as: * Distribute authority: the queen bee delegates relentlessly, and worker bees make daily decisions based on local cues and requirements. * Keep it simple: bees exchange only relevant information, operate under clear standards, and use straightforward measures and feedback to guide their actions. * Protect the future: when a lucrative vein of nectar is discovered, the entire colony doesn't rush off to mine it, no matter how enriching the short- term benefits. Blending practical advice with interesting facts about the hive, The Wisdom of Bees is a useful and entertaining guide for any manager looking to get the most out of his or her organization.

Exit Strategy


Douglas Rushkoff - 2001
    Like Joseph, Jamie Cohen is betrayed by his compadres but unexpectedly finds himself at the right hand of power. He helps a huge venture capitalist build pyramids - except these are investment pyramids based on technology idols. An additional narrative conceit is this: 200 years later, anthropologists find the virtual manuscript of Exit Strategy and begin annotating the text. Hundreds of readers have already contributed footnotes for the book – they are charming, wacky, compelling and Rushkoff has selected one hundred of his favorites for inclusion.

Relational Intelligence


Steve Saccone - 2009
    This book unwraps the hidden power of a relational genius and the practical pursuits that contribute to increasing one's relational quotient (RQ). Steve Saccone offers thought-provoking and compelling pathways into understanding the synergistic effect of relational intelligence, mission, and influence. He demonstrates how critical the art of relational intelligence is for leaders who desire to better serve those they lead, as well as the organizations and communities they love.Offers practical wisdom, engaging anecdotes, and compelling stories that show leaders how to develop relational intelligence Delineates the essential skills that make leaders relationally intelligent Unwraps six roles of a relational genius and how these transform our approaches to influence Includes Foreword by Erwin Raphael McManus A new book in the popular Leadership Network Series The author reveals how to increase one's awareness of the nuances in relational dynamics and suggests ways to help navigate relationships more intelligently and productively.

Success Intelligence: Practical Wisdom for Greater Happiness


Robert Holden - 2005
    Robert Holden is the creator of a unique program—called Success Intelligence—used worldwide by artists and writers, entrepreneurs and leaders, and also global companies and brands such as DOVE, the Body Shop, the BBC, and Virgin. This landmark book is an invaluable guide to genuine success and happiness.

Toy Box Leadership: Leadership Lessons from the Toys You Loved as a Child


Ron Hunter Jr. - 2008
    Reach back into your childhood and recapture the leadership principles you learned from your favorite toys.What can LEGOS teach you about building your business through connection? How can Slinky Dog demonstrate the value of patience when you're growing your organization? What has every little boy learned from his Little Green Army Men that he can use in business strategy? Whether you are an executive, a manager, or a parent, in Toy Box Leadership you will find the toy box a great place for lessons to successfully influence and lead others.

The Business of Expertise: How Entrepreneurial Experts Convert Insight to Impact + Wealth


David C. Baker - 2017
    Three foundational chapters form the basis of the entire book: experts develop insight by isolating patterns in data; they convert those insights to wealth by crafting a unique positioning for which few available substitutes exist; and their confidence grows as the marketplace embraces their application of expertise. The next fifteen chapters--building on that foundation--each answer a single question, starting with the role of expertise in a developed society, how important it is for experts to love the hard work required to hone their expertise, and how to see all that in the context of their own purpose in the world. We pause to dig deeper by examining the very narrow overlap between expertise and entrepreneurship: the narrow slice of humanity for which this book was written, with a nod to how easy it is for those entrepreneurial experts to be pulled off mission to explore new things. What are the critical positioning mistakes to avoid? Are there helpful ways to keep your deep, narrow expertise from blinding you to a broader, wider relevance? How might you frame your expertise in horizontal or vertical terms or a combination of both? There are core principles for this and they start with distinguishing between strategy and implementation. What are the earlier and then later tests to validate your positioning? What are the most effective ways to demonstrate your expertise, and conversely the activities most important to avoid? If you are an entrepreneurial expert selling advice for a living, you ll absorb deeper and deeper insight each time you scour it. It emerges from the trenches, and is written for experts in the trenches. Following the three foundational chapters (A, B, C) that open the book, there are fifteen chapters that build on that: The Role of Expertise in a Developed Society; The Interplay Between Expertise and Fulfillment; The Why for Your Entrepreneurial Expertise; Combining Expertise and Entrepreneurship; The Relevance and Sustainability of Expertise; Positioning Mistakes and Why We Make Them; Practicing Expertise Within a Broader Context; Distinguishing Between Vertical and Horizontal Expertise; Principles for the Less Exchangeable Positioning of Expertise; Distinguishing Expertise from Implementation; Five Early Tests for the Positioning of Your Expertise; Demonstrating Expertise; Not Demonstrating Expertise; How Expertise Unfolds: A Recap; and The Long Game: Maintaining Relevant Expertise. The book is fully illustrated in color, is a hardback (case bound), and has a full-color dust jacket.