Good to Great

Good to Great
Author: Jim Collins
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2001-10-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0066620996

The Challenge Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning. But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? The Study For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great? The Standards Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck. The Comparisons The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good? Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't. The Findings The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include: Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness. The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology. The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap. “Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.” Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?

Think Like Zuck: The Five Business Secrets of Facebook's Improbably Brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg DIGITAL AUDIO

Think Like Zuck: The Five Business Secrets of Facebook's Improbably Brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg DIGITAL AUDIO
Author: Ekaterina Walter
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2013-04-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0071809503

Wall Street Journal Bestseller Make Your Mark in the World with the Five Success Principles of the World-Changing Social Media Site If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world. Facebook accounts for one of every seven minutes spent online. More than one billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook. There’s no doubt about it. Mark Zuckerberg’s creation has changed the world. Literally. Facebook has singlehandedly revolutionized the way more than one-seventh of the world’s population communicates, engages, and consumes information. If you run a business or plan to start one, you’re probably asking yourself the same question organizational leaders worldwide are asking: What did Mark Zuckerberg do right? At long last, the answer is here. Think Like Zuck examines the five principles behind Facebook’s meteoric rise, presented in actionable lessons anyone can apply—in any organization, in any industry. Written by social business trailblazer Ekaterina Walter, this groundbreaking book reveals the five “P”s of Facebook’s success: PASSION—Keep your energy and commitment fully charged at all times by pursuing something you believe in PURPOSE—Don’t just create a great product; drive a meaningful movement PEOPLE—Build powerful teams that can execute your vision PRODUCT—Create a product that is innovative, that breaks all the rules, that changes everything PARTNERSHIPS—Build powerful partnerships with people who fuel imagination and energize execution Packed with examples of Facebook’s success principles in action—as well as those of Zappos, TOMS, Threadless, Dyson, and other companies—Think Like Zuck gives you the inspiration, knowledge, and insight to make your own mark in the world, to build a business that makes a difference, and to lead your organization to long-term profitability and growth. “Think Like Zuck is a fascinating look at how entrepreneurial vision drives success. If you want more out of work than just a job, if you have the burning desire to build something of lasting value, then this is your guide.” —DAVID MEERMAN SCOTT, bestselling author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR “Whether you’re a seasoned business executive or the next Mark Zuckerberg in your dorm room right now, this book is a must-read! Two likeable thumbs up!” —DAVE KERPEN, New York Times bestselling author of Likeable Social Media and Likeable Business “True success lies at the place where passion and purpose collide—this book will help you uncover yours.” —JOHN JANTSCH, bestselling author of Duct Tape Marketing and The Commitment Engine “Think Like Zuck is a must-read for any innovator, social entrepreneur, or business owner looking to capitalize on the success of Facebook to propel and realize their own vision.” —SIMON MAINWARING, New York Times bestselling author of We First “This book takes you on the ride of a lifetime and shows you how YOU can be successful! The question is: What does it take? Ekaterina gives us the answers!” —JEFFREY HAYZLETT, bestselling author of Running the Gauntlet and global business celebrity “In Think Like Zuck, you will find important principles to infuse meaning into your business strategies and inspire change. Don’t just read this book; use it.” —SHAWN ACHOR, author of the international bestseller The Happiness Advantage

The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management

The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management
Author: Zachary Wong
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2018-12-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1523097949

Zachary Wong offers practical strategies, skills, and tools to help project managers diagnose and solve their toughest people problems. Based on decades in the trenches, the book shows how to confront and correct bad behavior, increase team performance and inclusion, turn around difficult people and poor performers, get people to do what you want them to do, boost employee motivation and attitude, reduce change resistance and risk aversion, and manage difficult bosses. Wong believes that the best team leaders are problem-solvers and facilitators, so this book provides problem-solving models and tools to diagnose people problems, and facilitative methods, processes, and techniques to correct them. It's an approach that can be personalized to fit any person or situation. Each skill is explained with a well-balanced mix of case stories, examples, strategies, processes, tools, and techniques along with illustrations, graphics, tables, and other visuals to clarify key concepts and their workplace application. To reinforce the most important learnings, Wong includes a “Memory Card” and “Skill Summary” at the end of each chapter. Nothing is harder than leading people and managing project teams. Being successful takes a combination of knowing human psychology, organizational behaviors, and human factors; having supervisory, process, and communication skills; ensuring good teamwork, high integrity, and strong leadership; and having the ability to integrate and apply these skills to a diverse work team. The Eight Essential People Skills for Project Management is designed for individuals, team leaders, and managers who oversee and coordinate the daily performance of others and who are seeking solutions that they can apply immediately.

Breaking the Code of Project Management

Breaking the Code of Project Management
Author: A. Laufer
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2016-04-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0230619517

This new classic is an examination of how to refigure project management to be more efficient and effective, particularly in terms of leadership. Using a case study approach, the author, Alex Laufer presents a specific set of guidelines on how to improve the team approach to any project, be it a new airline jet or an IT project.

Project Management

Project Management
Author: Hans Mikkelsen
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 843
Release: 2017-10-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1787148297

Modern projects are confronted with complexity and ambiguity. To provide a holistic framework, this book presents a new project management model that is used to identify the nature of a project and develop appropriate project solutions. It also allows a circular planning process, leading to coherence across the project’s elements.

Results Without Authority

Results Without Authority
Author: Tom Kendrick
Publisher: Amacom Books
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2006
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0814429572

When you're a project manager with a team of people who don't technically report to you, your challenge is to get Results Without Authority. This book delivers proven techniques for controlling projects and managing diverse teams in a wide variety of situations, and bringing those projects to successful closure. The concepts in this book are essential for all project managers, with and without authority, because they offer a productive alternative to "command and control" management techniques that can easily backfire. Tom Kendrick's system will help you get successful project results from diverse, cross-functional, virtual, outsourced, and other types of project teams by showing how to establish and build: Control Through Process. Key project management processes, infrastructure, and the role of the project office. Control Through Influence. Productive leadership styles, reciprocity, and maintaining relationships. Control Through Project Metrics. Quantitative, predictive, diagnostic, and retrospective metrics for project control, motivating desired behaviors, and avoiding potential problems. Control Through Project Initiation. The role of the sponsor in project control, the importance of project vision, project launch documentation, and the project start-up workshop. Control Through Project Planning. Collaborative planning as the foundation of project control; planning as a key factor in setting baselines and establishing metrics. Control During Project Execution. Measurement and interpretation of project status, informal communication, and maintaining relationships as keys to maintaining control. Control Through Tracking and Monitoring. Controlling scope and other project parameters; formal project communication and reporting, rewards and recognition, and project reviews. Enhancing Overall Control Through Project Closure. Sign-off, evaluating retrospective project metrics, celebrating, and rewarding the team; improving long-term project control through lessons learned. Packed with invaluable guidance for controlling projects of all scopes and in any field, Results Without Authority will help novice and experienced project leaders get the best from their project teams.

Strategic Project Management Made Simple

Strategic Project Management Made Simple
Author: Terry Schmidt
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2009-03-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 047044293X

When Fortune Magazine estimated that 70% of all strategies fail, it also noted that most of these strategies were basically sound, but could not be executed. The central premise of Strategic Project Management Made Simple is that most projects and strategies never get off the ground because of adhoc, haphazard, and obsolete methods used to turn their ideas into coherent and actionable plans. Strategic Project Management Made Simple is the first book to couple a step-by-step process with an interactive thinking tool that takes a strategic approach to designing projects and action initiatives. Strategic Project Management Made Simple builds a solid platform upon four critical questions that are vital for teams to intelligently answer in order to create their own strong, strategic foundation. These questions are: 1. What are we trying to accomplish and why? 2. How will we measure success? 3. What other conditions must exist? 4. How do we get there? This fresh approach begins with clearly understanding the what and why of a project - comprehending the bigger picture goals that are often given only lip service or cursory reviews. The second and third questions clarify success measures and identify the risky assumptions that can later cause pain if not spotted early. The how questions - what are the activities, budgets, and schedules - comes last in our four-question system. By contrast, most project approaches prematurely concentrate on the how without first adequately addressing the three other questions. These four questions guide readers into fleshing out a simple, yet sophisticated, mental workbench called "the Logical Framework" - a Systems Thinking paradigm that lays out one's own project strategy in an easily accessible, interactive 4x4 matrix. The inclusion of memorable features and concepts (four critical questions, LogFrame matrix, If-then thinking, and Implementation Equation) make this book unique.

Great at Work

Great at Work
Author: Morten T. Hansen
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2019-09-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1476765820

The Wall Street Journal bestseller—a Financial Times Business Book of the Month and named by The Washington Post as “One of the 11 Leadership Books to Read in 2018”—is “a refreshingly data-based, clearheaded guide” (Publishers Weekly) to individual performance, based on a groundbreaking study. Why do some people perform better at work than others? This deceptively simple question continues to confound professionals in all sectors of the workforce. Now, after a unique, five-year study of more than 5,000 managers and employees, Morten Hansen reveals the answers in his “Seven Work Smarter Practices” that can be applied by anyone looking to maximize their time and performance. Each of Hansen’s seven practices is highlighted by inspiring stories from individuals in his comprehensive study. You’ll meet a high school principal who engineered a dramatic turnaround of his failing high school; a rural Indian farmer determined to establish a better way of life for women in his village; and a sushi chef, whose simple preparation has led to his unassuming restaurant being awarded the maximum of three Michelin stars. Hansen also explains how the way Alfred Hitchcock filmed Psycho and the 1911 race to become the first explorer to reach the South Pole both illustrate the use of his seven practices. Each chapter “is intended to inspire people to be better workers…and improve their own work performance” (Booklist) with questions and key insights to allow you to assess your own performance and figure out your work strengths, as well as your weaknesses. Once you understand your individual style, there are mini-quizzes, questionnaires, and clear tips to assist you focus on a strategy to become a more productive worker. Extensive, accessible, and friendly, Great at Work will help us “reengineer our work lives, reduce burnout, and improve performance and job satisfaction” (Psychology Today).