Tags:culture

ReWork

ReWork

A radical new business book from business trailblazers Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson that offers a reappraisal of business best practice - advocating stripping everything back to bare essentials. With its straightforward language and easy-is-better approach, Rework is the perfect playbook for anyone who's ever dreamed of doing it on their own. It will COMPLETELY change your approach to work.Every once in a while, a book comes out that changes just about everything. This is one of those books. Ignore it at your peril' -- Seth Godin, New York Times bestselling author'Inspirational...REWORK is a minimalist manifesto that's profoundly practical. In a world where we all keep getting asked to do more with less, the authors show us how to do less and create more' -- Scott Rosenberg, Co-Founder of Salon.com'Filled with excellent plain English advice, it's one of the best books out there for business productivity' -- ***** Reader review'Every word is well-crafted, well-chosen, and easy to both digest and engage with' -- ***** Reader review'Thought-provoking and truthful' -- ***** Reader review'A must-read for today's managers' -- ***** Reader review**********************************************************************************************From the founders of the trailblazing software company 37signals, here is a different kind of business book - one that explores a new reality.Today, anyone can be in business. Tools that used to be out of reach are now easily accessible. Technology that cost thousands is now just a few pounds or even free. Stuff that was impossible just a few years ago is now simple.That means anyone can start a business. And you can do it without working miserable 80-hour weeks or depleting your life savings. You can start it on the side while your day job provides all the cash flow you need. Forget about business plans, meetings, office space - you don't need them. The key is stripping everything back to the bare minimum and basics and then rebuilding; keeping everything simple and under control. You'll learn how to begin, why you need less than you think, when to launch, how to promote and whom (and when) to hire.Hardcore entrepreneurs, small-business owners, people stuck in day jobs who want to get out, and artists who don't want to starve anymore will all find valuable inspiration and guidance in these pages.It's time to rework work.Perfect for readers of Tim Ferriss's The 4 Hour Work Week, Seth Godin's Purple Cow and Chris Anderson's The Long Tail.

What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast

What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast

Mornings are a madcap time for many of us. We wake up in a haze—often after hitting snooze a few times. Then we rush around to get ready and out the door so we can officially start the day. Before we know it, hours have slipped by without us accomplishing anything beyond downing a cup of coffee, dashing off a few emails, and dishing with our coworkers around the water cooler. By the time the workday wraps up, we’re so exhausted and defeated that any motivation to accomplish something in the evening has vanished.But according to time management expert Laura Vanderkam, mornings hold the key to taking control of our schedules. If we use them wisely, we can build habits that will allow us to lead happier, more productive lives.Drawing on real-life anecdotes and scientific research that shows why the early hours of the day are so important, Vanderkam reveals how successful people use mornings to help them accomplish things that are often impossible to take care of later in the day. While many of us are still in bed, these folks are scoring daily victories to improve their health, careers, and personal lives without sacrificing their sanity. For instance, former PepsiCo chairman and CEO Steve Reinemund would rise at 5:00 a.m., run four miles, pray, and eat breakfast with his family before heading to work to run a Fortune 500 company.What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast is a fun, practical guide that will inspire you to rethink your morning routine and jump-start your life before the day has even begun.

The Culture Map

The Culture Map

An international business expert helps you understand and navigate cultural differences in this "enlightening" (Foreign Affairs) and practical guide, perfect for both your work and personal life. Americans precede anything negative with three nice comments; French, Dutch, Israelis, and Germans get straight to the point; Latin Americans and Asians are steeped in hierarchy; Scandinavians think the best boss is just one of the crowd. It's no surprise that when they try and talk to each other, chaos breaks out. In The Culture Map, INSEAD professor Erin Meyer is your guide through this subtle, sometimes treacherous terrain in which people from starkly different backgrounds are expected to work harmoniously together. She provides a field-tested model for decoding how cultural differences impact international business, and combines a smart analytical framework with practical, actionable advice.

Right Kind of Wrong

Right Kind of Wrong

Winner of the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year 2023 A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2023 A revolutionary guide that will transform your relationship with failure, from the pioneering researcher of psychological safety and award-winning Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson.We used to think of failure as the opposite of success. Now, we’re often torn between two “failure cultures”: one that says to avoid failure at all costs, the other that says fail fast, fail often. The trouble is that both approaches lack the crucial distinctions to help us separate good failure from bad. As a result, we miss the opportunity to fail well. After decades of award-winning research, Amy Edmondson is here to upend our understanding of failure and make it work for us. In Right Kind of Wrong, Edmondson provides the framework to think, discuss, and practice failure wisely. Outlining the three archetypes of failure—basic, complex, and intelligent—Amy showcases how to minimize unproductive failure while maximizing what we gain from flubs of all stripes. She illustrates how we and our organizations can embrace our human fallibility, learn exactly when failure is our friend, and prevent most of it when it is not. This is the key to pursuing smart risks and preventing avoidable harm. With vivid, real-life stories from business, pop culture, history, and more, Edmondson gives us specifically tailored practices, skills, and mindsets to help us replace shame and blame with curiosity, vulnerability, and personal growth. You’ll never look at failure the same way again.

Joy, Inc.

Joy, Inc.

The moment you walk into Menlo Innovations, you can sense the atmosphere full of energy, playfulness, enthusiasm, and maybe even . . . joy. As a package-delivery person once remarked, “I don’t know what you do, but whatever it is, I want to work here.”Every year, thousands of visitors come from around the world to visit Menlo Innovations, a small software company in Ann Arbor, Michigan. They make the trek not to learn about technology but to witness a radically different approach to company culture.CEO and “Chief Storyteller” Rich Sheridan removed the fear and ambiguity that typically make a workplace miserable. His own experience in the software industry taught him that, for many, work was marked by long hours and mismanaged projects with low-quality results. There had to be a better way.With joy as the explicit goal, Sheridan and his team changed everything about how the company was run. They established a shared belief system that supports working in pairs and embraces making mistakes, all while fostering dignity for the team.The results blew away all expectations. Menlo has won numerous growth awards and was named an Inc. magazine “audacious small company.” It has tripled its physical office three times and produced products that dominate markets for its clients.Joy, Inc. offers an inside look at how Sheridan and Menlo created a joyful culture, and shows how any organization can follow their methods for a more passionate team and sustainable, profitable results. Sheridan also shows how to run smarter meetings and build cultural training into your hiring process.Joy, Inc. offers an inspirational blueprint for readers in any field who want a committed, energizing atmosphere at work—leading to sustainable business results.

Influence at Work

Influence at Work

'Outstanding...This book is superb.' Robert B Cialdini, bestselling author of InfluenceTo be successful at work you also need to be influential at work.And to be influential requires an understanding of how the rules of influence work. Not just those mandated by logic, economics and company policy. But the unspoken rules too. The rules people rarely talk about, but that frequently have an out-sized impact on who and what gets listened to and done, and who and what gets ignored. Recognising and navigating these rules of influence is crucial to your persuasive success.Influence at Work shows you what these rules are and how to effectively deploy them to command attention; connect with others; win over the sceptics; sway the undecided and motivate people to act.The result is a new guide to an age-old subject: what influence is, why it matters, and how to use it wisely and ethically.

Originals

Originals

WINNER of the Chartered Management Institute's (CMI's) Mangement Book of the Year Awards 2017, JP Morgan's Best Summer Read 2018, and a #1 New York Times Bestseller!‘Extraordinary’ JJ Abrams‘Fascinating’ Arianna Huffington‘Inspire creativity and change’ Richard Branson‘One of my favourite thinkers’ Malcolm Gladwell‘Masterful’ Peter Thiel‘One of the great social scientists of our time’ Susan Cain, bestselling author of Quiet‘Fresh research, counter-intuitive insights, lively writing, practical calls to action’ The Financial TimesThe New York Times bestselling author examines how people can drive creative, moral, and organisational progress—and how leaders can encourage originality in their organisations.How can we originate new ideas, policies and practices without risking it all? Adam Grant shows how to improve the world by championing novel ideas and values that go against the grain, battling conformity, and bucking outdated traditions. Using surprising studies and stories spanning business, politics, sports, and entertainment, Grant explores how to recognize a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act, and manage fear and doubt. Parents will learn how to nurture originality in children, and leaders will discover how to fight groupthink to build cultures that welcome dissent.Told through dazzling case studies of people going against the grain, you’ll encounter an entrepreneur who pitches the reasons not to invest, a woman at Apple who challenged Steve Jobs from three levels below, an analyst who challenged secrecy at the CIA, a billionaire financial wizard who fires employees who don’t criticize him, and the TV executive who saved Seinfeld from the cutting room floor. Originals will give you groundbreaking insights about rejecting conformity and how to change the world.

The Power of Culture

The Power of Culture

All organizations have a culture, whether they acknowledge it or not, and whether it's helping or hindering them. Get it right, and culture can be a positive force for good. Get it wrong, and culture can be a negative, becoming toxic and undermining performance and reputations.In short, culture matters.It can, though, be a tricky thing to understand and master. The Power of Culture tackles this head-on, exploring what culture is and why it matters; how it needs to be aligned with strategy and values, and how to understand it, change it and make it a reality.Told through real stories and examples and using the author's Intentional Culture Circle as a guide, this book helps everyone at work to be more aware of culture and how to find opportunities to make it work better.

The Psychology of Fear in Organizations

The Psychology of Fear in Organizations

In the context of global economic recession, fear has become institutionalized in many organizations, both in the private and public sectors. Board directors are under pressure from shareholders, senior executives are attempting to maintain sales in a nervous market and many people are concerned about job security and maintaining their living standards. The Psychology of Fear in Organizations shows how fear manifests itself in large organizations, how it impacts on the workforce and how by reducing our willingness to take risks and to innovate, it can inhibit economic growth and innovation, at both an individual and corporate level. The Psychology of Fear in Organizations examines the psychological barriers to innovation and presents initiatives to loosen the paralysis caused by the economic downturn. It presents psychological theory in an accessible way to provide a better understanding of the needs and fears of people and how they can be supported to improve productivity and innovation. Online supporting resources include lecture slides on how to harness fear to fuel innovation.

Managing In Turbulent Times

Managing In Turbulent Times

This book, the author explains, "is concerned with action rather than understanding, with decisions rather than analysis." It deals with the strategies needed to transform rapid changes into opportunities, to turn the threat of change into productive and profitable action that contributes positively to our society, the economy, and the individual.

The Executive in Action

The Executive in Action

Three complete Drucker management books in one volume — Managing for Results, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and The Effective Executive with a new preface by the author.In his preface, Peter F. Drucker says: "These three books should enable executives — whether high up in the organization or just beginning their career— to know the right things to do;— to know how to do them; and— to do them effectively.Together, these three books provide The Toolkit for Executive Action."Drucker identifies and explains the practices, decisions and priorities for achieving business performance and executive effectiveness. These books cover "the three dimensions of the successful practice of management." Managing for Results was the first book to explain business strategy. Drucker shows how the existing business has to focus on opportunities rather than problems to be effective, for it is the opportunities that will bring growth and performance. Innovation and Entrepreneurship analyzes the challenges and opportunities of America's new entrepreneurial economy. It is a superbly practical book that explains what established businesses, public service institutions and new ventures have to know, learn and do to prepare and create the successful businesses of tomorrow. In The Effective Executive, Drucker discusses the five practices and habits that must be learned for executive effectiveness. Ranging widely through business and government, he demonstrates the distinctive skill of the executive and offers fresh insights into old and seemingly obvious situations. Together, these three books have sold more than a million copies; they have been published throughout the world and continue to sell actively. These are essential works for the executive and manager by "the dean of this country's business and management philosophers." —Wall Street Journal

The Peter Drucker Collection on Managing in Turbulent Times

The Peter Drucker Collection on Managing in Turbulent Times

The Peter Drucker Collection on Managing in Turbulent Times includes: Management: Revised Edition, Management Challenges for the 21st Century, Managing in Turbulent Times, and The Practice of Management.