Tradition says there are three ways to grow a company’sprofits: Fire up the sales team with empty promises, cut costs anddownsize, or cook the books. But what if there’s a better way—a waythat nine amazingly profitable and well-run companies are alreadyembracing? Jason Jennings and his research team screened more than100,000 Amer?ican companies to find nine that rarely end up onmagazine covers, yet have increased revenues and profits by tenpercent or more for ten consecutive years. Then they interviewedthe leaders, workers, and customers of these quiet super?stars tofind the secrets of their astoundingly consistent and profitablegrowth. What they have in common is a culture—a community—based on ashockingly simple precept: Think big, but act small. It works forretailers like PETCO, Cabela’s, and O’Reilly Automotive,manufacturers like Medline Industries, service compa?nies likeSonic Drive-In, private educational companies like Strayer,industrial giants like Koch Enterprises, a

American capitalism is in dire straits, caught in a perilouspattern of increasing volatility, decreasing investor returns, andongoing bad behavior by executives. And it's getting worse. Sincethe turn of the twenty-first century, we've seen two massivevalue-destroying market meltdowns and a string of ethics breaches,including accounting scandals, options-backdating schemes, and thesubprime mortgage debacle. Just what is going on here? Is it theinevitable decline of the American economy? Is it the new normal ina technology-enabled global marketplace? Or is it possible that thevery theories we've embraced to underpin our capital markets areactually producing these crises? In "Fixing the Game", Roger Martinreveals the culprit behind the sorry state of American capitalism:our deep and abiding commitment to the idea that the purpose of thefirm is to maximize shareholder value. This theory has led to amassive growth in stock-based compensation for executives and,through this, to a naive and wrongheaded linkin

You can't ask for more than efficient, effective operations.Or can you? Given today's business landscape--increasing customerdemand, global competition, lower trade barriers--being good isn'tenough. This groundbreaking guide provides the knowledge and toolsyou need to transform your organization from a well-run company toa relentlessly innovative company. Innovation expert JeffreyPhillips has helped businesses around the world achieve thedream--the implementation of innovation as a consistent businessdiscipline. In Relentless Innovation, he reveals his secrets forthe first time. Phillips argues that today's typical businessmodels actually impede innovation because they place so much focuson efficiency, cost cutting, and short-term gain. Does thisdescribe your business model? If it does, you need to revisit yourapproach and redefine your idea of what success actually is. Youmay find that your "business as usual" processes actively rejectinnovation efforts. Relentless Innovation has everything you needto

During our ten-year association, I learned the missing number to my combination for worldwide successful achievement. The Master Mind Principle: two or more persons working together in complete harmony toward a mutual goal or goals...Napoleon Hill's philosophy teaches you what you were never taught. Specifically: How to Recognize, Relate, Assimilate and Apply principles whereby you can achieve any goal whatsoever that doesn't violate Universal Law - the Law of God and the rights of your fellowman.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Do you think it's possible to truly enjoy your job? No matterwhat it is or where you are? Timothy Gallwey does, and in thisgroundbreaking book he tells you how to overcome the innerobstacles that sabotage your efforts to be your best on thejob. Timothy Gallwey burst upon the scene twenty years ago with hisrevolutionary approach to excellence in sports. His bestsellingbooks The Inner Game of Tennis and The Inner Game ofGolf , with over one million copies in print, changed the way wethink about learning and coaching. But the Inner Game that Gallweydiscovered on the tennis court is about more than learning a betterbackhand; it is about learning how to learn, a critical skill that,in this case, separates the productive, satisfied employee from therest of the pack. For the past twenty years Gallwey has taken hisInner Game expertise to many of America's top companies, includingAT T, Coca-Cola, Apple, and IBM, to teach their managers andemployees how to gain better access to their own internalresourc

A Fresh and Important New Way to Understand Why We Buy Why did the RAZR ultimately ruin Motorola? Why does Wal-Martdominate rural and suburban areas but falter in large cities? Whydid Starbucks stumble just when it seemed unstoppable? The answer lies in the ever-present tension between fidelity (thequality of a consumer’s experience) and convenience (the ease ofgetting and paying for a product). In Trade-Off, Kevin Maney showshow these conflicting forces determine the success, or failure, ofnew products and services in the marketplace. He shows that almostevery decision we make as consumers involves a trade-off betweenfidelity and convenience–between the products we love and theproducts we need. Rock stars sell out concerts because theexperience is high in fidelity-–it can’t be replicated in any otherway, and because of that, we are willing to suffer inconveniencefor the experience. In contrast, a downloaded MP3 of a song is lowin fidelity, but consumers buy music online because it

The devaluation of the American dollar, with the subsequentinflation, iseerily similar to the chaotic markets of the 1970s.The factors that createdthe stagflation and the gold and silverbull markets of the late seventiesand early eighties are back. AsYogi Berra said, "It's deja vu all overagain." Only this time,they're even more exaggerated-offeringonce-in-a-lifetimeopportunities for middle-class Americans, if they lookbeyond theWall Street stock-market propaganda. This book can helpyoupanic-proof your life and your finances, and reap huge profitswithrelatively small investments in gold, silver, certain ETFs,mutual funds,and mining stocks.How to Prosper During the Coming BadYears in the 21st Century is amust-have survival and moneymakingguide for people who want to profit fromthe rough economic seasthat are upon us-and come through with their shareof treasure.--This text refers to the Kindle Edition.

The book that shows how to get the job done and deliverresults . . . whether you’re running an entire company or in yourfirst management job Larry Bossidy is one of the world’s most acclaimed CEOs, a manwith few peers who has a track record for delivering results. RamCharan is a legendary advisor to senior executives and boards ofdirectors, a man with unparalleled insight into why some companiesare successful and others are not. Together they’ve pooled theirknowledge and experience into the one book on how to close the gapbetween results promised and results delivered that people inbusiness need today. After a long, stellar career with General Electric, Larry Bossidytransformed AlliedSignal into one of the world’s most admiredcompanies and was named CEO of the year in 1998 by Chief Executivemagazine. Accomplishments such as 31 consecutive quarters ofearnings-per-share growth of 13 percent or more didn’t just happen;they resulted from the consistent practice of the discipline ofexe

The bestselling author of Emotional Intelligence and Primal Leadership now brings us EcologicalIntelligence —revealing the hidden environmental consequences ofwhat we make and buy, and how with that knowledge we can drive theessential changes we all must make to save our planet andourselves. We buy “herbal” shampoos that contain industrial chemicals thatcan threaten our health or contaminate the environment. We divedown to see coral reefs, not realizing that an ingredient in oursunscreen feeds a virus that kills the reef. We wear organic cottont-shirts, but don’t know that its dyes may put factory workers atrisk for leukemia. In Ecological Intelligence , DanielGoleman reveals why so many of the products that are labeled greenare a “mirage,” and illuminates our wild inconsistencies inresponse to the ecological crisis. Drawing on cutting-edge research, Goleman explains why we asshoppers are in the dark over the hidden impacts of the goods andservices we make and consume, vict

Business revolves around making decisions, often riskydecisions, usually with incomplete information and too often inless time than we need. Executives at every level, in everyindustry, are confronted with information overload, less leeway formistakes, and a business environment that changes rapidly. In lightof this increased pressure and volatility, the old-fashioned waysof making decisions–depending on intuition, common sense, andspecialized expertise–are simply no longer sufficient. Distillingover thirty years of groundbreaking research, WinningDecisions , written by two seasoned business advisers and worldleaders in behavioral decision studies, is a comprehensive,one-of-a-kind guide to the proven methods of making criticalbusiness decisions confidently, quickly–and correctly. Decision-making is a business skill which managers often take forgranted in themselves and others–but it's not as easy as some mightthink. The authors, whose expertise has been sought out by over ahundred companies, includi

A cocktail party. A terrorist cell. Ancient bacteria. Aninternational conglomerate. All are networks, and all are a part of a surprisingscientific revolution. Albert-László Barabási, the nation'sforemost expert in the new science of networks, takes us on anintellectual adventure to prove that social networks, corporations,and living organisms are more similar than previously thought.Grasping a full understanding of network science will someday allowus to design blue-chip businesses, stop the outbreak of deadlydiseases, and influence the exchange of ideas and information. Justas James Gleick brought the discovery of chaos theory to thegeneral public, Linked tells the story of the true science of thefuture.

A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principalcharacteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact;and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appearless random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishingsuccess of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For NassimNicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about ourworld, from the rise of religions to events in our own personallives. Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans untilafter they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is thathumans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focusedon generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and timeand time again fail to take into consideration what we don’t know.We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, toovulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, andnot open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the“impossible.” For years, Taleb has studi

Bill Strickland has spend the past thirty years transformingthe lives of thousands of people through Manchester Bidwell, thejobs training center and community arts program he founded inPittsburgh. Working with corporations, community leaders, andschools, he and his staff strive to give disadvantaged kids andadults the opportunities and tools they need to envision and builda better, brighter future. In Make the Impossible Possible, Bill Strickland shows how eachof us, by adopting the attitudes and beliefs he has lived by everyday, can reach our fullest potential and achieve the impossible inour lives and careers--and perhaps change the world a little in theprocess. Through lessons from Strickland's own life experiences andthose of countless others who have overcome challengingcircumstances and turned their lives around, Make the ImpossiblePossible teaches us how to build on our passions and strengths,dream bigger and set the bar higher, achieve meaningful success,and inspire the lives of others.

"[A]...breakthrough for the genre....Peters is not onlythe father of the postmodern corporation...he may well haveproduced the first piece of postmodern management literature."--LosAngeles Times "No matter where you are in your career, this book is a mustread. The younger your thinking the more you'll get out ofit." --The Cleveland Plain Dealer "A manual for businesses that want to survive and thrive in aworld continually undergoing change." --St. PetersburgTimes "Tom Peters has done it again."--J.W. Marriot, Jr., CEO, MarriotInternational, Inc. "[Peters] yields potent insights...his keen attention to thehuman element in organizational growth and change shinesthrough...No cutting-edge manager can afford to ignoreit."--Publishers Weekly -- Review

Named one of the Best Business Books of 1997 by BusinessWeek , Inside Intel is the gripping business saga of acompany that rose to dominance through technological innovation,and maintained its leadership against competitors throughaggressive marketing, tough business tactics, and liberal use oflegal firepower. In his in-depth portrait of Intel, the firsthistory/expose of the company, Financial Times columnist Tim Jackson reveals that: * Intel's corporate culture isdeterminedly secretive and authoritarian. * The company retains itsown force of private investigators to prevent its employees fromgoing astray. * Intel routinely uses the threat of lawsuits againstworkers and rivals. At the center of this story is AndyGrove , Intel's high-profile CEO and chairman, once a pennilessimmigrant who waited tables to put himself through college. It isGrove who has made the unpopular decisions which have kept Intel atthe top of the chip market. Exhaustively researched from courtrecords, unpublished documents,

YaYa CEO Ferrazzi works with "Inc." writer Raz to explain theguiding principles he has mastered over a lifetime of reaching outto explain what it takes to build the kind of lasting, mutuallybeneficial relationships that lead to professional and personalsuccess.

"As a manager, my purpose is to serve the greater goodby bringing people and resources together to create value that nosingle individual can create alone..." So begins the MBA Oath, conceived in early 2009 byMax Anderson, Peter Escher, and a team of Harvard Business Schoolstudents. They saw that in the wake of the financial crisis, theMadoff scandal, and other headlines, MBAs were being vilified.People were angry because business leaders, many of whom were MBAs,seemed not to care about anything beyond their own privateinterests. Many began to question the worth of business schools andthe MBA degree. The oath quickly spread beyond Harvard, becoming a worldwidemovement for a new generation of leaders who care about society aswell as the bottom line. Thousands of graduating MBAs have nowpledged to conduct themselves with honesty and integrity, just asmedical students swear by the Hippocratic oath before they canpractice. This book is the manifesto for the movement. It provides not only astrong case for wh

A compelling vision. Bold leadership. Decisive action.Unfortunately, these prerequisites of success are almost always theingredients of failure, too. In fact, most managers seeking tomaximize their chances for glory are often unwittingly settingthemselves up for ruin. The sad truth is that most companies haveleft their futures almost entirely to chance, and don’t evenrealize it. The reason? Managers feel they must make choices withfar-reaching consequences today, but must base those choices onassumptions about a future they cannot predict. It is thiscollision between commitment and uncertainty that creates THESTRATEGY PARADOX. This paradox sets up a ubiquitous but little-understood tradeoff.Because managers feel they must base their strategies onassumptions about an unknown future, the more ambitious of themhope their guesses will be right – or that they can somehow adaptto the turbulence that will arise. In fact, only a small number oflucky daredevils prosper, while many more unfortunate, bu

An Apple Store customer asks for the latest iPhone in blackbut suddenly changes to white when he sees others choosing it. Acitizen of a former communist country picks~ a drink at random;soda is soda, he says. A young man and woman decide tomarry--knowing that they'll meet for the first time on theirwedding day. In THE ART OF CHOOSING, Columbia University profes- sor SheenaIyengar, a leading expert on choice, asks fascinating questions:Are our choices innate or created by culture? Why do we sometimeschoose against our best interests? How much control do we reallyhave? What's the relationship between choice and freedom? Drawingon her award-winning, discipline: spanning research, thisremarkable book illuminates the joys and challenges ofchoosing--and shows us how we can choose better, one choice at atime.

Knowledge has become the most important factor in economiclife. It is the chief ingredient of what we buy and sell, the rawmaterial with which we work. Intellectual capital--not naturalresources, machinery, or even financial capital--has become the oneindispensable asset of corporations. Intellectual Capital is a groundbreaking book, visionaryin scope and practical in applications, that offers powerful newways of looking at what companies do and how to lead them. It isthe first book to show how to turn the untapped, unmapped knowledgeof an organization into its greatest competitive weapon. Intellectual Capital cuts through the vague rhetoric of"paradigm shifts" to show how the Information Age economy reallyworks--and how to make it work for you and your business. Readerswill learn how to discover and map the human, structural, andcustomer capital that embody the knowledge assets of a corporation;how successful companies manage their intellectual capital toimprove performance; how intellectual capital