It seems so basic. Why is it so hard to actually get right? According to innovation expert Phil McKinney, the real problem is that we're teaching people to ask the wrong questions about their businesses--or none at all. There has to be a better way. In Beyond the Obvious, McKinney will help you use his proven FIRE (Focus, Ideation, Rank, Execution) Method to dig deeper and get back to asking the right questions--the ones all companies must ask to survive. Full of real-world examples, this book will change the way you operate, innovate, and create, and it all begins with battle-tested questions Phil has gathered on note cards throughout his career. Shared for the first time here, these "Killer Questions" include:What are the rules and assumptions my industry operates under? What if the opposite were true?What will be the buying criteria used by my customer in 5 years?What are my unshakable beliefs about what my customers want?Who uses my product in ways I never anticipated? These questions will reframe the way you see your products, your customers, and the way the two interact. Whether you're a company of thousands or a lean startup, Beyond the Obvious will give you the skills and easy-to-follow plan you need to make both the revolutionary changes and nuanced tweaks required for success. Praise for Beyond the Obvious "Human beings are creatures of habit, so getting ourselves and our teams to think beyond the obvious is a challenge we face all the time. Phil McKinney is an innovation expert, and his killer questions and hit-the-spot anecdotes provide a great way to get out in front of opportunities we otherwise won't see." -- Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Escape Velocity "I've always believed that asking the right questions is the essence of design. Phil McKinney proves that point with this wonderful set of killer questions that will jumpstart-or greatly enhance- your innovation efforts." -- B. Joseph Pine II, co-author, The Experience Economy & Infinite Possibility. "Product Innovation is a prerequisite to building great brands. Phil's questions are a prerequisite to building innovative products." -- Satjiv S. Chahil, former global marketing chief, Apple"

    “The definitive work on pool and billiards” (National Billiard News) by champion player Robert Byrne Now updated throughout and expanded with new material on strategy in eight- and nine-ball, trick shots, and billiard memorabilia, Byrne's New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards is the classic guide to cue games—complete with detailed diagrams and photographs to help improve play at every level.

    It features maps of each city and region, with call outs for characters, quest locations and dungeons. It also includes quest data - contacts, quest type, item rewards and more.

    It is not intended for the faint of heart. The stories are extreme and the descriptions graphic. Patients come and go, but some leave behind a memory so intense that it cannot be erased.Third year medical student Raj Mok quickly learns that patients don’t behave like his beloved medical texts led him to believe.The seven most outrageous patients of his first year in clinical medicine teach Raj that medicine isn’t always about healing and that killing isn’t always murder.

    B.

    Based on extensive research and analytics, plus years of proven success in the field, the Business Chemistry framework provides a simple yet powerful way to identify meaningful differences between people’s working styles. Who seeks possibilities and who seeks stability? Who values challenge and who values connection? Business Chemistry will help you grasp where others are coming from, appreciate the value they bring, and determine what they need in order to excel. It offers practical ways to be more effective as an individual and as a leader. Imagine you had a more in-depth understanding of yourself and why you thrive in some work environments and flounder in others. Suppose you had a clearer view on what to do about it so that you could always perform at your best. Imagine you had more insight into what makes people tick and what ticks them off, how some interactions unlock potential while others shut people down. Suppose you could gain people’s trust, influence them, motivate them, and get the very most out of your work relationships. Imagine you knew how to create a work environment where all types of people excel, even if they have conflicting perspectives, preferences and needs. Suppose you could activate the potential benefits of diversity on your teams and in your organizations, improving collaboration to achieve the group’s collective potential. Business Chemistry offers all of this--you don’t have to leave it up to chance, and you shouldn’t. Let this book guide you in creating great chemistry!

     On the cutting edge of kitchen science, Kamozawa and Talbot regularly consult for restaurants to help them solve cooking conundrums. And yet they often find it’s the simplest tips that can be the most surprising—and the ones that can help home cooks take their cooking to a new level.  With this book, you’ll learn:   • Why steaming potatoes in the pressure cooker before frying them makes for the crispiest French fries    • Why, contrary to popular belief, you should flip your burgers often as you cook them for the best results    • How a simple coating of egg white, baking soda, and salt helps create chicken wings that are moist and juicy on the inside with a thin, crackling exterior    • How to cook steak consistently and perfectly every time    • How to make easy egg-free ice creams that are more flavorful than their traditional custard-base cousins    • How to make no-knead Danish that are even better than the ones at your local bakery    • How to smoke vegetables to make flavorful vegetarian dishes    • Why pâte à choux—or cream puff dough—makes foolproof, light-as-air gnocchi    • How pressure cooking sunflower seeds can transform them into a creamy risotto    • How to elevate everyday favorites and give them a fresh new spin with small changes—such as adding nori to a classic tomato salad Sharing expert advice on everything from making gluten-free baking mixes and homemade cheeses and buttermilk to understanding the finer points of fermentation or sous-vide cooking, Kamozawa and Talbot chronicle their quest to bring out the best in every ingredient. With a focus on recipes and techniques that can help anyone make better meals every day and 75 color photographs that show both step-by-step processes and finished dishes, Maximum Flavor will encourage you to experiment, taste, play with your food, and discover again why cooking and eating are so fascinating and fun.

    Their mutilated torsos are witness to an unspeakably agonizing death. It becomes chillingly clear that this discovery is a horrific message to the Metropolitan Police - and to one officer in particular.DI Stacey Collins finds herself on the hunt for a psychopathic killer. But it would seem that this is no ordinary homicide ... all the victims had themselves been predators, terrorizing the innocent. Is this a twisted vigilante mission, or something far more sinister?Meanwhile, Collins must battle her own demons as the MET's Internal Affairs department investigate her past and her connections to London's underworld.Collins faces her toughest challenge yet - torn between justice and revenge

    Now, Weir follows up with another terrifically moving- and often disarmingly funny-book about loss, survival, and sexuality in the post-AIDS era. Returning to a Manhattan haunted by the memory of all the young men who died in the late 1980s and early 90s, "What I Did Wrong" has at its heart a protagonist for whom that loss is still all too palpable. Tom, a forty-two-year-old English professor, watched his best friend die years earlier and now finds himself sliding into middle age while questioning everything he thought he knew about his "gay identity." His Queens College classes are filled with borough boys displaying their own bravado along with their confused masculinity. As Tom balances their friendship with the occasional displaced erotic overtones, he finds an unexpected common ground with these proud young men and, surprisingly, claims his place in the world and in history. "What I Did Wrong" is a dazzling work juxtaposing low comedy and heartfelt tragedy with astonishing finesse, a book worthy of John Weir's return to fiction that will be warmly welcomed by critics and readers alike.

    Darcy’s disastrous marriage proposal to Elizabeth Bennet, they meet again. Due to an unexpected twist of fate, Elizabeth finds herself a guest in the home of Mr. Darcy’s aunt, the Dowager Lady Matlock. Long believing Elizabeth lost to him, Darcy has recently proposed marriage to an old flame, the widow of his friend. Now newly engaged Darcy encounters Elizabeth again and realizes she still owns his heart.Although bound by honor to another, Darcy sets out to improve Elizabeth’s opinion of him. Tension mounts between Darcy and Elizabeth in that pursuit, and Darcy’s betrothed begins to see Elizabeth as a threat to her upcoming marriage. How will Darcy and Elizabeth ever reach their happily ever after?How to Mend a Broken Heart is a non-canon variation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and is intended for mature readers.

    Not bound by a western, Silicon Valley stereotype, this group of courageous and energetic doers has created a global and diverse mix of companies destined to become tomorrow’s leading organizations.Worthless, Impossible, and Stupid is about how enterprising individuals from around the world see hidden value in situations where others do not, use that perception to develop products and services that people initially don’t think they want, and ultimately go on to realize extraordinary value for themselves, their customers, and society as a whole. What these business builders have in common is a contrarian mind-set that allows them to create opportunities and succeed where others see nothing. Amazingly, this process repeats itself in one form or another countless times a day all over the world.From Albuquerque to Islamabad, you will travel with Isenberg to discover unusual yet practical insights that you can use in your own business. Meet the founders of Grameenphone in Bangladesh, PACIV in Puerto Rico, Sea to Table in New York, Actavis in Iceland, Studio Moderna in Slovenia, Hartwell Metals in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, Given Imaging in Israel, WildChina in China, and many others. You’ll be moved by the stories of these plucky start-ups—many of them fueled by adversity and, more often than not, by necessity.Great stories, stunning successes, crushing failures—they’re all here. What can we, in the East and West, learn from them? What can you learn—and what will these entrepreneurial stories, so compellingly told, inspire you to do?Let this book open doors for you where you once saw only walls. If you’ve ever felt the urge to turn a glimmer of an idea into something extraordinary, these stories are for you.

    Written with co-author Rosser Reeves, The 99 Critical Shots in Pool remains one of the most authoritative guides to the game ever written. Over 200 illustrations show the proper form, technique, and approach to shots such as:- The Center Ball Cheat-the-Pocket - The Hook Shot - The Seven Ball Stop Shot - The Jump Shot - The Frozen Kiss Shot - The Nudge Shot - The Side Pocket By-Pass ShotRay Martin, a Billiards Congress of America Hall of Fame inductee, is one of only seven players in the twentieth century to win three or more world 14.1 titles. He co-wrote this book with Rosser Reeves in 1976.

    From humble working-class roots, growing up with a mother who struggled to make ends meet and a father away at war, she had always dreamed of bigger things.After responding to an advert in the local newspaper she secured herself an interview for the Pan Am training programme, and at just 22-years-old was selected from thousands of eager young British women to begin a career that would change the course of her life. Betty said goodbye to everything she knew and boarded a plane to New York, a city full of noise, towering skyscrapers and promise.Under the watchful eye of her 'housemother', Dottie, Betty mastered the art of being the perfect Pan Am stewardess; everything from faultless etiquette, geography and safety to seamless make-up application, how to charm influential passengers and preparing five-course Parisian cuisine at 37,000 feet. But no amount of training could have prepared her for the rollercoaster of life in the air.Up in the Air charts the gruelling yet fabulous life aboard the most iconic airline there has ever been, and how a young woman from Essex opened her eyes to the world and lived her dream.

    He loves them so much, in fact, that he's decided to invent his own ... and get them into the dictionary. But, as Alex discovers, gaining entry into the official lexicon takes more than just a gentle word in the ear of the editor. Evidence is required - Alex needs proof that his words are being spoken by more people than just him and his mum. He needs what the dictionary authorities call a 'corpus' of examples, hard data showing that his new words are in widespread and long-term usage. So a corpus he resolves to create, no matter what obstacles he might meet on the way. This is the epic and ridiculous story of one man's struggle to break into the dictionary. From covert word-dropping on Countdown to wilfully misinforming schoolchildren, Alex tries it all in his quest for dictionary-based immortality. Does he succeed? Are you already using one of Alex's words without realising it? You won't regret spending your hard-earned honk on this hugely entertaining book.

    Exceptionally skilled at totally reinventing herself, reading people, and bluffing her way through careers, she is a corporate spy on the search for her big break. Her charm and flexibility mask a past filled with hardship and anguish, and her brash impulsiveness won't work forever. But love was the one curveball she could never prepare for. Cole Andrews is as blindingly rich as he is untouchable. Deceptively savvy. Incredibly withdrawn. One final obstacle puts his empire on the line. He's going to need the perfect partner. Someone who can play the game. But deceit and danger surrounds him, and beneath his calm, collected persona lies a painful secret that will push their blossoming romance to the very limit. Caring for her was never part of the plan...but can he finally trust someone else? It was supposed to be simple, but every punishing twist and turn and every last truth revealed only tested our unlikely bond.