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Black Box Thinking by Matthew Syed
Brief Summary
An eye-opening, Gladwellian look at the power of a positive attitude toward failure and its profound impact on our success in any field. In the airline industry, failure is taken seriously. Every aircraft is equipped with an almost indestructible black box. When there is an accident, the box is opened, the data is analyzed, and the reason for the accident excavated. This ensures that procedures are adapted so that the same mistake doesn’t happen again. With this method, the industry has created an astonishing safety record.
For pilots working in a safety-critical industry, getting it wrong can have deadly consequences. But most of us have a relationship with failure that impedes progress, halts innovation, and damages our lives. We don’t acknowledge it or learn from it —though we often think we do. Moving from anthropology to psychology and from history to complexity theory, Matthew Syed explains why even when we think we have 20/20 hindsight, our vision’s still fuzzy. He offers a radical new idea: that the most important determinant of success in any field, whether sports, business, or life, is an acknowledgment of failure and a willingness to engage with it. This is how we learn, progress and excel. This approach explains everything from biological evolution and the efficiency of markets to the success of the Mercedes F1 team and the mindset of David Beckham.
Using a cornucopia of interviews, gripping stories, and sharp-edged science, Syed explores the intimate relationship between failure and success, and shows why we need to transport black box thinking into our own lives. If we wish to unleash our potential, we must diagnose and break free of our failures. Part manifesto for change, part intellectual adventure, this groundbreaking book reveals how to do both.
Becoming Steve Jobs
#1 New York Times Bestseller Becoming Steve Jobs takes on and breaks down the existing myth and stereotypes about Steve Jobs. The conventional, one-dimensional view of Jobs is that he was half-genius, half-jerk from youth, an irascible and selfish leader who slighted friends and family alike. Becoming Steve Jobs answers the central question about the life and career of the Apple cofounder and CEO: How did a young man so reckless and arrogant that he was exiled from the company he founded become the most effective visionary business leader of our time, ultimately transforming the daily life of billions of people?Drawing on incredible and sometimes exclusive access, Schlender and Tetzeli tell a different story of a real human being who wrestled with his failings and learned to maximize his strengths over time. Their rich, compelling narrative is filled with stories never told before from the people who knew Jobs best, and who decided to open up to the authors, including his family, former inner circle executives, and top people at Apple, Pixar and Disney, most notably Tim Cook, Jony Ive, Eddy Cue, Ed Catmull, John Lasseter, Robert Iger and many others. In addition, Brent knew Jobs personally for 25 years and draws upon his many interviews with him, on and off the record, in writing the book. He and Rick humanize the man and explain, rather than simply describe, his behavior. Along the way, the book provides rich context about the technology revolution we all have lived through, and the ways in which Jobs changed our world.Schlender and Tetzeli make clear that Jobs's astounding success at Apple was far more complicated than simply picking the right products: he became more patient, he learned to trust his inner circle, and discovered the importance of growing the company incrementally rather than only shooting for dazzling game-changing products. A rich and revealing account that will change the way we view Jobs, Becoming Steve Jobs
How to Think Like Steve Jobs
Learn how to view the world through the eyes of Steve Jobs, and you'll be thinking like a true innovator in no time
A titan of technological innovation, Steve Jobs thought differently than everyone else. He had the mercurial ability to know what people wanted before they knew it themselves, and what's more, he knew how to sell that idea.
An advocator of good design in both function as well as appearance, his influence in Silicone Valley changed the way the world thinks about technology. But how did he achieve such success? What were his methods?
How to Think Like Steve Jobs reveals the philosophies and carefully honed skills Jobs used in his journey to the top and in the consolidation of Apple's unique place in the public consciousness. With his thoughts on innovation, how to find inspiration, presenting an idea, advertising, and much more, you can delve into the mind of the master.
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Daniel Smith
Small Message, Big Impact
"Whether I’m pitching a potential client or creating a blockbuster ad campaign, I’m always thinking about how to make the message smaller so the impact will be bigger. Terri Sjodin has codified the science of getting this right.” —Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO of The Kaplan Thaler Group and best-selling coauthor of The Power of Small and Bang!
You’re at the airport waiting for a flight, burning time by checking your e-mail. Then you spot the CEO of a company you’ve wanted to connect with for ages. He’s also waiting for his flight. Your flight! Should you walk over? What would you say?
We’ve all been there. An opportunity presents itself and you have one chance to share your important message. The clock is ticking. And in this age of information overload, no business skill is more essential than being able to connect with others quickly, whether in a one-on-one meeting or in front of thousands of people.
Acclaimed speaker and consultant Terri Sjodin defines an elevator speech as a brief presentation that introduces a product, service, or idea. Its purpose isn’t to say everything about your topic—just to intrigue and inspire the listener to want to hear more. And Sjodin suggests you expand your vision of what it can do. "Don’t just think of an elevator speech as a generic tool you use in chance moments—consider the concept as a strategy to manage multiple talking points and to communicate more complex ideas as well.”
Her bestselling book is an entertaining, practical guide to making your message concise, compelling, and effective. She reveals, for instance, how to:
Build a convincing case using six of the most consistently effective arguments.
Incorporate unique illustrations to bring your message to life.
Speak in your own authentic voice; the art is in your delivery!
In this newly updated edition, Sjodin offers her time-tested strategies and advice, including simple outlines, worksheets, a sample elevator speech, evaluation forms, and much more.
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Terri L. Sjodin
Why I Left Goldman Sachs
On March 14, 2012, more than three million people read Greg Smith's bombshell Op-Ed in the New York Times titled "Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs." The column immediately went viral, became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter, and drew passionate responses from former Fed chairman Paul Volcker, legendary General Electric CEO Jack Welch, and New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg. Mostly, though, it hit a nerve among the general public who question the role of Wall Street in society -- and the callous "take-the-money-and-run" mentality that brought the world economy to its knees a few short years ago. Smith now picks up where his Op-Ed left off.His story begins in the summer of 2000, when an idealistic 21-year-old arrives as an intern at Goldman Sachs and learns about the firm's Business Principle #1: Our clients' interests always come first. This remains Smith's mantra as he rises from intern to analyst to sales trader, with clients controlling assets of more than a trillion dollars.From the shenanigans of his summer internship during the technology bubble to Las Vegas hot tubs and the excesses of the real estate boom; from the career lifeline he received from an NFL Hall of Famer during the bear market to the day Warren Buffett came to save Goldman Sachs from extinction-Smith will take the reader on his personal journey through the firm, and bring us inside the world's most powerful bank.Smith describes in page-turning detail how the most storied investment bank on Wall Street went from taking iconic companies like Ford, Sears, and Microsoft public to becoming a "vampire squid" that referred to its clients as "muppets" and paid the government a record half-billion dollars to settle SEC charges. He shows the evolution of Wall Street into an industry riddled with conflicts of interest and a profit-at-all-costs mentality: a perfectly rigged game at the expense of the economy and the society at large.After conversations with nine Goldman Sachs partners over a twelve-month period proved fruitless, Smith came to believe that the only way the system would ever change was for an insider to finally speak out publicly. He walked away from his career and took matters into his own hands. This is his story.
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Greg Smith
The Wolf of Wall Street
By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could, on drugs, sex, and international globe-trotting. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids waiting at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called . . .THE WOLF OF WALL STREETIn the 1990s Jordan Belfort, former kingpin of the notorious investment firm Stratton Oakmont, became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of the canyons of Wall Street and into a massive office on Long Island. Now, in this astounding and hilarious tell-all autobiography, Belfort narrates a story of greed, power, and excess that no one could invent.Reputedly the prototype for the film Boiler Room, Stratton Oakmont turned microcap investing into a wickedly lucrative game as Belfort’s hyped-up, coked-out brokers browbeat clients into stock buys that were guaranteed to earn obscene profits—for the house. But an insatiable appetite for debauchery, questionable tactics, and a fateful partnership with a breakout shoe designer named Steve Madden would land Belfort on both sides of the law and into a harrowing darkness all his own.From the stormy relationship Belfort shared with his model-wife as they ran a madcap household that included two young children, a full-time staff of twenty-two, a pair of bodyguards, and hidden cameras everywhere—even as the SEC and FBI zeroed in on them—to the unbridled hedonism of his office life, here is the extraordinary story of an ordinary guy who went from hustling Italian ices at sixteen to making hundreds of millions. Until it all came crashing down . . .
ISBN:2147483647
Author: Jordan Belfort
Adapt by Tim Harford
So are you an economic missionary, or is this just something that you love to do?
It began as something that I love to do--and I think I am now starting to get a sense of it being a mission. People can use economics and they can use statistics and numbers to get at the truth and there is a real appetite for doing so. This is such a BBC thing to say--there’s almost a public service mission to be fulfilled in educating people about economics. When I wrote The Undercover Economist, it was all about my pure enthusiasm for the subject; the book is full of stuff I wanted to say and that is always the thing with the books: they are always such fun to write.
Do you think that people these days are generally more economically literate?
People are now aware of economics for various reasons. There are the problems with the economy--there is always more interest in economics when it is all going wrong.
Where is the border line in your new book between economics and sociology?
I don’t draw a border line, and particularly not with the new book. The Undercover Economist was basically all the cool economics I could think of and The Logic of Life was me investigating a particular part of economics. All of the references in The Logic of Life were academic economics papers that I had related--and hopefully made more fun.
This new book, Adapt, is very different. I have started by asking what is wrong with the world, what needs fixing, how does it work--and if economics can tell us something about that (which it can) then I have used it. And if economics is not the tool that you need--if you need to turn to sociology or engineering or biology or psychology--I have, in fact, turned to all of them in this book. If that’s what you need, then that’s where I have gone. So I have written this book in a different way: I started with a problem and tried to figure out how to solve it.
What specific subjects do you tackle?
To be a bit more specific, the book is about how difficult problems get solved and I look at quick change; the banking crisis; poverty; innovation, as I think there is an innovation slow-down; and the war in Iraq. Also, I look at both problems in business and in everyday life. Those are the big problems that I look at--and my conclusion is that these sorts of problems only ever get solved by trial and error, so when they are being solved, they are being solved through experimentation, which is often a bottom-up process. When they are not being solved it is because we are not willing to experiment, or to use trial and error.
21 Speeches That Shaped Our World
In this fascinating book, Chris Abbott, a leading political analyst, takes a close look at 21 key speeches which have shaped the world today. He examines the power of the arguments embedded in these speeches to inspire people to achieve great things, or do great harm.
Abbott draws upon his political expertise to explain how our current understanding of the world is rooted in pivotal moments of history. These moments are captured in the words of a range of influential speakers including: Emmeline Pankhurst, Martin Luther King, Jr, Enoch Powell, Napoleon Beazley, Kevin Rudd, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Osama bin Laden, Margaret Beckett, Winston Churchill, Salvador Allende, Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Tim Collins, Mohandas Gandhi, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Robin Cook and Barack Obama.
The speeches in this book are arranged thematically, linked by concepts such as 'might is right', 'with us or against us' and 'give peace a chance'. Each transcript is accompanied by an insightful commentary that analyses how the words relate to our modern society. Fresh and relevant, this is a book that will make you stop in your tracks and think about what is really happening in the world today.
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Chris Abbott
The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs
Brief Summary
The landmark exploration of economic prosperity and how the world can escape from extreme poverty for the world's poorest citizens, from one of the world's most renowned economists Hailed by Time as one of the world's hundred most influential people, Jeffrey D. Sachs is renowned for his work around the globe advising economies in crisis.
Now a classic of its genre, The End of Poverty distills more than thirty years of experience to offer a uniquely informed vision of the steps that can transform impoverished countries into prosperous ones. Marrying vivid storytelling with rigorous analysis, Sachs lays out a clear conceptual map of the world economy. Explaining his own work in Bolivia, Russia, India, China, and Africa, he offers an integrated set of solutions to the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and social problems that challenge the world's poorest countries. Ten years after its initial publication.
The End of Poverty remains an indispensable and influential work. In this 10th anniversary edition, Sachs presents an extensive new foreword assessing the progress of the past decade, the work that remains to be done, and how each of us can help. He also looks ahead across the next fifteen years to 2030, the United Nations' target date for ending extreme poverty, offering new insights and recommendations.
The 3rd Alternative
From the multimillion-copy bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People—hailed as the #1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century—The 3rd Alternativeintroduces a breakthrough approach to conflict resolution and creative problem solving.One of Time magazine’s 25 most influential Americans, Dr. Stephen R. Covey has helped millions transform their lives. InThe 3rd Alternative, Covey turns his formidable insight to a powerful new way to resolve professional and personal difficulties and create solutions to great challenges in organizations and society.In any conflict, the 1st Alternative is my way and the 2nd Alternative is your way. The fight usually boils down to a question of whose way is better. There are many methods of "conflict resolution,” but most involve compromise, a low-level accommodation that stops the fight without breaking through to amazing new results. The 3rd Alternative is about more than just an armistice—it’s about creating a new and improved reality. A departure from the usual approaches to conflict resolution, negotiation, and innovation, this book reveals a new way of thinking that will be embraced not only by the many fans who have flocked to Covey’s prior books, but also by anyone who is seeking solutions in their professional or personal lives.The 3rd Alternative transcends traditional solutions to conflict by forging a path toward a third option, a 3rd Alternative that moves beyond your way or my way to a higher and better way—one that allows both parties to emerge from debate or even heated conflict in a far better place than either had envisioned. With the 3rd Alternative, nobody has to give up anything, andeveryone wins.To a world of escalating strife and contention, 3rd Alternative thinkers like those Covey profiles here bring creative solutions, peace, and healing. Through key examples and stories from his work as a consultant, Covey demonstrates the power of 3rd Alternative thinking. His wide-ranging examples include: a Canadian metropolitan police force that transformed a crime-plagued community by abandoning their "them vs. us” mentality and changing the whole definition of police work; a father who rescued his troubled daughter from years of despair and near suicide in one surprising evening; a judge who brought a quick, peaceful end to one of the biggest environmental lawsuits in American history without setting foot in a courtroom; the principal of a high school for the children of migrant workers who raised their graduation rate from a dismal 30 percent to 90 percent and tripled their basic skill levels; a handful of little-known people who are quietly finding new ways to bring peace to the Middle East; and many others. These various groups and individuals offer living examples of how to create new and better results instead of escalating conflict, as well as how to build strong relationships with diverse people based on an attitude of winning together.Beyond conflict and compromise, The 3rd Alternative unveils a radical, creative new way of thinking. It is a groundbreaking but practical work that demonstrates why 3rd Alternative thinking represents the supreme opportunity of our time.
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Stephen R. Covey
The Way I See It
Everyone knows that Lord Sugar has strong opinions and is not afraid to voice them - no matter how controversial they may be.
His bestselling autobiography revealed his incredible rags to riches story; his new book takes us into the world of Alan Sugar: entrepreneur, Twitter addict, television star, peer of the realm, keen cyclist and bemused grandfather.
You'll learn what he thinks of over-priced poncy restaurants and discover his latest weight-loss regime, the Tiny Fork Diet. He explains why would-be entrepreneurs should stop moaning, reveals the secrets of his own success and explains why today's health and safety culture is stifling business, as well as being an insult to our intelligence.
He also insists we should stop spouting jargon and speak plain English, tells us what's wrong with teenagers and why he respects Katie Price more than most celebrities. Crammed full of brilliant stories, amusing rants and sound advice, this is the last word on life, the universe and everything from the nation's favourite straight-talking businessman.
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Alan Sugar
Our Iceberg Is Melting by John Kotter...
Brief Summary
Our Iceberg Is Melting is a simple fable about doing well in an ever-changing world. Based on the award-winning work of Harvard’s John Kotter, it is a story that has been used to help thousands of people and organizations.
The fable is about a penguin colony in Antarctica. A group of beautiful emperor penguins live as they have for many years. Then one curious bird discovers a potentially devastating problem threatening their home—and pretty much no one listens to him.
The characters in the story, Fred, Alice, Louis, Buddy, the Professor, and NoNo, are like people we recognize—even ourselves. Their tale is one of resistance to change and heroic action, seemingly intractable obstacles and the cleverest tactics for dealing with those obstacles. It’s a story that is occurring in different forms all around us today—but the penguins handle the very real challenges a great deal better than most of us.
Our Iceberg Is Melting is based on pioneering work that shows how Eight Steps produce needed change in any sort of group. It’s a story that can be enjoyed by anyone while at the same time providing invaluable guidance for a world that just keeps moving faster and faster.
John Kotter, Holger Rathgeber
Global Tilt
The global economic landscape is 'tilting': countries such as China, India and Brazil are racing forward while established American and European companies struggle to keep up. To survive in this new climate, CEOs need to respond quickly and effectively, and in Global Tilt, best selling coauthor of ExecutionRam Charan shows how.His advice includes:- Unlearn Old Lessons- Get Ready for Strategic Bets- Fight the Short-Term Beast- Change Your Psychology
In this age of rapid economic change, we all have to be on our toes. Is your business ready to survive the Global Tilt?
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Ram Charan
Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard...
Clears out the mumbo jumbo and muddled thinking underlyingtoo many strategies and provides a clear way to create and implement a powerful action-oriented strategy for the real world Developing and implementing a strategy is the central task of a leader, whether the CEO at a Fortune 100 company, an entrepreneur, a church pastor, the head of a school, or a government official. Richard Rumelt shows that there has been a growing and unfortunate tendency to equate Mom-and-apple-pie values, fluffy packages of buzzwords, motivational slogans, and financial goals with "strategy.”
He debunks these elements of "bad strategy” and awakens an understanding of the power of a "good strategy.” A good strategy is a specific and coherent response to—and approach for overcoming—the obstacles to progress. A good strategy works by harnessing and applying power where it will have the greatest effect in challenges as varied as putting a man on the moon, fighting a war, launching a new product, responding to changing market dynamics, starting a charter school, or setting up a government program. Rumelt’snine sources of power—ranging from using leverage to effectively focusing on growth—are eye-opening yet pragmatic tools that can be put to work on Monday morning. Surprisingly, a good strategy is often unexpected because most organizations don’t have one.
Instead, they have "visions,” mistake financial goals for strategy, and pursue a "dog’s dinner” of conflicting policies and actions.
22 Immutable Laws of Branding by Al R...
This marketing classic has been expanded to include new commentary, new illustrations, and a bonus book: The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding.
Smart and accessible, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the definitive text on branding, pairing anecdotes about some of the best brands in the world, like Rolex, Volvo, and Heineken, with the signature savvy of marketing gurus Al and Laura Ries.
Combining The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding, this book proclaims that the only way to stand out in today's marketplace is to build your product or service into a brand—and provides the step-by-step instructions you need to do so.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding also tackles one of the most challenging marketing problems today: branding on the Web. The Rieses divulge the controversial and counterintuitive strategies and secrets that both small and large companies have used to establish internet brands. The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding is the essential primer on building a category-dominating, world-class brand.
The Magic of Thinking Big by David J ...
Set your goals high...then exceed them!
Millions of people throughout the world have improved their lives using The Magic of Thinking Big. Dr. David J. Schwartz, long regarded as one of the foremost experts on motivation, will help you sell better, manage better, earn more money, and—most important of all—find greater happiness and peace of mind. The Magic of Thinking Big gives you useful methods, not empty promises.
Dr. Schwartz presents a carefully designed program for getting the most out of your job, your marriage and family life, and your community. He proves that you don’t need to be an intellectual or have innate talent to attain great success and satisfaction—but you do need to learn and understand the habit of thinking and behaving in ways that will get you there. This book gives you those secrets!
Believe you can succeed and you will:-Cure yourself of the fear of failure-Think and dream creatively-You are what you think you are-Make your attitudes your allies-Learn how to think positively-Turn defeat into victory-Use goals to help you grow.
The Strategist: Be the leader your bu...
Based on an acclaimed professor's legendary strategy course at Harvard Business School, The Strategist offers a radically new perspective on a leader's most vital role. "Are you a strategist?" That's the first question Cynthia Montgomery asks the business owners and senior executives from all over the world who participate in her highly regarded executive education course. It's not a question they anticipate or care much about on opening day.
But by the time the program ends, they cannot imagine leading their companies to success without being—and living the role of—a strategist. Over a series of weeks and months, Montgomery puts these accomplished executives through their paces. Using case discussions, after-hours talks, and participants' own strategy dilemmas, she illuminates what strategy is, why it's important, and what it takes to lead the effort.
En route, she equips them to confront the most essential question facing every business leader: Does this company truly matter? In doing so, she shows that strategy is not just a tool for outwitting the competition; it is the most powerful means a leader has for shaping a company itself.
The Strategist exposes all business leaders—whether they run a global enterprise or a small business—to the invaluable insights Montgomery shares with these privileged executives. By distilling the experiences and insights gleaned in the classroom, Montgomery helps leaders develop the skills and sensibilities they need to become strategists themselves. It is a difficult role, but little else one does as a leader is likely to matter more.
Wealth and Power
From two of today's foremost experts on China, a thought-provoking new history that helps us understand China's future by looking at its rise over the last 150 years.Wealth and Power is a sweeping account of the key, iconic intellectual figures and political leaders of China since the mid-1800s. By examining what they thought and what they did through lively and absorbing portraits, Schell and Delury chart how China made its tortured transformation from a weak, humiliated country under foreign assault to its astonishing rise in the early 21st century. In so doing, they provide us with a deeper and richer understanding of China's present success story.
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Orville Schell, John Delury
The Power Of Positive Thinking In Bus...
Would you like to have the confidence and self-belief to get ahead at work?We are all born positive thinkers but our positive traits can be clouded over by the stresses and strains of daily life. Written in cooperation with the (Norman Vincent) Peale Center, The Power of Positive Thinking in Business will help you overcome negative attitudes, such as fear and lack of confidence, and replace them with the traits of a positive thinker: optimism, determination, patience and focus.Positivity also has a wider role to play: in fast-changing times and the uncertain economic climate it is important to have positivity in the workplace to rise to the challenges ahead. This book will show you how you can deal more effectively with tough situations and difficult people, and dramatically improve your performance and confidence at work.So reap the benefits of positive thinking in your professional life and say goodbye to negativity for good.
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Scott Ventrella
The Ten Faces of Innovation
A brilliant guide to fostering creativity and business innovation, based on the author's experience as the MD of IDEO - the world-famous design firm that has developed hundreds of innovative products, including the Palm Pilot.
When it comes to work, could you be an experience architect? Or a storyteller, caregiver or a cross-pollinator? These are just four of the characters developed by IDEO and presented in The Ten Faces of Innovation that any individual can adopt to innovate in their business lives. Individuals can use these different characters in different situations to create a broader range of solutions to business problems: at the start of the creative process you might be the "anthropologist", going into the field to see how customers use and respond to products; later, if there are obstacles, you might be the hurdler, who overcomes obstacles in the way to the finished product.
The book explains with examples from business how adopting these characters can beat naysayers who stifle innovation.
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Tom Kelley, Jonathan Littman
