Written by two experts who have dedicated their careers to quality improvement, Escape the Improvement Trap: Five Ingredients Missing in Most Improvement Recipes separates itself from other improvement books by looking at why most companies rarely achieve anything more than an average level of improvement maturity. They identify five critical ingre

To stay competitive in today’s market, organizations need to adopt a culture of customer-centric practices that focus on outcomes rather than outputs. Companies that live and die by outputs often fall into the "build trap," cranking out features to meet their schedule rather than the customer’s needs. In this book, Melissa Perri explains how laying the foundation for great product management can help companies solve real customer problems while achieving business goals. By understanding how to communicate and collaborate within a company structure, you can create a product culture that benefits both the business and the customer. You’ll learn product management principles that can be applied to any organization, big or small. In five parts, this book explores: Why organizations ship features rather than cultivate the value those features represent How to set up a product organization that scales How product strategy connects a company’s vision and economic outcomes back to the product activities How to identify and pursue the right opportunities for producing value through an iterative product framework How to build a culture focused on successful outcomes over outputs

'OMG! This book is SO me! The tips and stories shared by Ed, Mark and Nicky will help you live a life filled with more fun, joy and enthusiasm!' ALISON HAMMOND, TV Presenter 'Kids are so authentic and there's no reason for us to lose that when we're older. Kids see the wonder and awe in the smallest things every day. Be More Kid reminds us how important it is to bring out the best in ourselves and how we can do that in way that also brings out the best in others.' BEN SHEPHARD, TV Presenter 'This book gives you the tools to bring the belief, energy and passion you had as a child into your current life with transformational results.' SARAH STIRK, TV Presenter, Sky Sports & Entrepreneur THIS ISN'T JUST ANOTHER SELF IMPROVEMENT BOOK. Have you ever felt there must be more to life? Do you feel unfulfilled? Have you felt stuck, not knowing how to move forward and found yourself settling for less than you deserve? AND IT ISN'T ABOUT HAVING TO CREATE A NEW YOU. Since childhood you've had all of the resources that you need to create the life that you want, and over time you've simply lost touch with them. Now is the time to find them again. With expert guidance from broadcaster and entrepreneur, Ed James and behaviour and relationship experts, Mark & Nicky Taylor, you'll rediscover your sense of purpose, reconnect with what is important to you and find out how to unlearn unhelpful habits and behaviours. Employing simple tools and techniques you can use each day, Be More Kid shows you how to: Enjoy a meaningful and fulfilling life Stop overthinking and build resilience in a challenging world End the conflict of putting everyone else before your own needs Rediscover the contentment, enthusiasm and zest for life you had as a child If you are ready for a new approach to your happiness, relationships and your future, Be More Kid will guide you through the journey, one step at a time.

"The wry classic that inspired new age atheists."Brian Sutton-Smith, Professor of Psychology, Columbia UniversityHOW TO SHUN SELF-SABOTAGE AND WIN YOUR OWN FREEDOM. Most people are paralyzed by unconscious forces that provoke acts of unwitting self-sabotage. John Wareham makes his point with chilling examples, then with clarity and acerbic wit, he shows how to break free."John Wareham possesses the cool, clear eyes of a seeker of wisdom and truth."--New York Times."Wareham's psychological understanding and nicely tuned intuition show how to give up the life of fantasy and achieve our greatest satisfactions." -Leo Madow, M.D. Psychiatrist and author of Anger and Love."Supportive yet disturbing, amusing yet deadly serious; a master key to unlock the mind, heart and soul." -Jess Maghan, PhD. Psychologist; Director of Training New York Police Department. Most of us may not control our destinies. John Wareham shows us why. Wareham's Way shows what to do about it."-George Green, President, The New Yorker."Inspired, whimsical, philosophically savvy."-Kirkus Reviews"Wareham's Way is wise, witty and uniquely insightful."-Booklist, American Library

We are obsessed with self-improvement; it’s a billion-dollar industry. But apps, workshops, speakers, retreats, and life hacks have not made us happier. Obsessed with the endless task of perfecting ourselves, we have become restless, anxious, and desperate. We are improving ourselves to death. The culture of self-improvement stems from philosophical classics, perfectionist religions, and a ruthless strain of capitalism—but today, new technologies shape what it means to improve the self. The old humanist culture has given way to artificial intelligence, social media, and big data: powerful tools that do not only inform us but also measure, compare, and perhaps change us forever. This book shows how self-improvement culture became so toxic—and why we need both a new concept of the self and a mission of social change in order to escape it. Mark Coeckelbergh delves into the history of the ideas that shaped this culture, critically analyzes the role of technology, and explores surprising paths out of the self-improvement trap. Digital detox is no longer a viable option and advice based on ancient wisdom sounds like yet more self-help memes: The only way out is to transform our social and technological environment. Coeckelbergh advocates new “narrative technologies” that help us tell different and better stories about ourselves. However, he cautions, there is no shortcut that avoids the ancient philosophical quest to know yourself, or the obligation to cultivate the good life and the good society.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER | NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR. From an eminent international security scholar, an urgent examination of the conditions that could produce a catastrophic conflict between the United States and China—and how it might be prevented. China and the United States are heading toward a war neither wants. The reason is Thucydides’s Trap: when a rising power threatens to displace a ruling one, violence is the likeliest result. Over the past five hundred years, these conditions have occurred sixteen times; war broke out in twelve. At the time of publication, an unstoppable China approached an immovable America, and both Xi Jinping and Donald Trump promised to make their countries “great again,” the seventeenth case was looking grim—it still is. A trade conflict, cyberattack, Korean crisis, or accident at sea could easily spark a major war. In Destined for War, eminent Harvard scholar Graham Allison masterfully blends history and current events to explain the timeless machinery of Thucydides’s Trap—and to explore the painful steps that might prevent disaster today. SHORT-LISTED FOR THE 2018 LIONEL GELBER PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: FINANCIAL TIMES * THE TIMES (LONDON)* AMAZON “Allison is one of the keenest observers of international affairs around.” — President Joe Biden “[A] must-read book in both Washington and Beijing.” — Boston Globe “[Full of] wide-ranging, erudite case studies that span human history . . . [A] fine book.”— New York Times Book Review

Outsmart the traps that are holding you back from success! Trap Tales is your guide to avoiding the seven obstacles that ensnare people every day. We all fall into traps, and we often don’t even realize it until we’re deeply entrenched. Like quicksand, traps are easy to step into, but difficult to escape—it seems that the harder we try to climb out, the deeper we sink. But what if there were another way? What if we knew the right strategies to escape the traps we have fallen into? What if we could spot traps from a distance, and avoid them entirely? In this book, authors David M. R. Covey and Stephan M. Mardyks train you in the art of Trapology. You’ll meet Alex and Victoria, who have fallen into traps you’re sure to recognize. As you read their stories, you’ll learn about the seven most common traps in life and work, and how even the smartest and seemingly most accomplished people find themselves stuck and unable to see their way out. Traps are masters of disguise, but there are telltale signs that give them away every time. If you discover that you’re trapped right now, consider this book your lifeline—the lessons contained in Trap Tales will teach you how to escape these traps and how to sidestep them in the future. This book, unlike most books, offers counter-intuitive strategies and unconventional wisdom to: • Learn the seven biggest traps in life and work that catch people unaware • Identify the traps that are holding you back right now • Discover your escape route and climb out of the quicksand • Become a “Trapologist” and avoid traps altogether The core message of Trap Tales is hope—the belief that anybody can change the trajectory of their life, at any stage of their life. Stop letting traps steal your time, money, energy, and happiness—Trap Tales provides survival training of a different sort, allowing you to write your own tale of success.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-175) and index.

The business case for acting sustainably is becoming increasingly compelling - reducing our global footprint to sustainable levels is the defining issue of our times and it is one that can only be addressed with the active participation of the private sector. However, persuading well-established organizations to act in new ways is never easy. This book is designed to support business leaders and organizational scholars who are grappling with this challenge by pulling together leading edge insights from some of the world's best researchers as to how organizational change in general - and sustainable change in particular - can be most effectively managed. The book begins by laying out the economic case for change, while subsequent chapters describe how leaders at firms such as Du Pont, IBM and Cemex have transformed their organizations, exploring issues such as the role of the senior team and the ways in which firms shift their identities, build innovative cultures and processes, and begin to change the world around them. Business leaders will find the book a source of both powerful examples and immediately actionable ideas, while scholars will be deeply intrigued by the insights that emerge from the cross-cutting exploration of one of the toughest challenges our society has ever faced.