Need a shortcut to a degree in shipping great software? Successful team leaders must have an extremely broad skill set to find the right product, work through a complex and ever-changing development process, and do it all incredibly quickly. In this guide, Chris Vander Mey provides a simplified, no-BS approach to the entire software lifecycle, distilled from lessons he learned as a manager at Amazon and Google. In the first part of the book, you’ll learn a step-by-step shipping process used by many of the best teams at Google and Amazon. Part II shows you the techniques, best practices, and skills you need to face an array of challenges in product, program, project, and engineering management. Clearly define your product and develop your mission and strategy Assemble your team and understand enough about systems to communicate with them Create a beautiful, intuitive, and simple user experience Track your team’s deliverables and closely manage the testing process Communicate clearly to gracefully handle requests, senior-management interactions, and feedback from various sources Build metrics to track progress, spot problems, and celebrate success Stick to your launch checklist and plan for marketing and PR

"Von Drehle has chosen a critical year ('the most eventful year in American history' and the year Lincoln rose to greatness), done his homework, and written a spirited account."N"Publishers Weekly."

This book is based on my 30+ years of elite athlete/corporate executive coaching. It speaks about the psychology of performance.

From the editors of "Fortune" magazine comes this compendium of the advice, wisdom, and guiding principles that today's top CEOs and entrepreneurs live by in their careers and personal lives.

What are the origins of greatness? Few other questions have caused such intense debate, controversy, and diversity of opinions. In recent years, a large body of research has accumulated that suggests that the origins of greatness are extraordinarily complex. Instead of talent or practice, it's talent and practice. Instead of nature or nature, it's nature via nurture. Instead of practice, it's deliberate practice. Instead of the causes of greatness in general, it's the determinants of greatness specific to a field. The Complexity of Greatness brings together a variety of perspectives and the most cutting-edge research on genes, talent, intelligence, expertise, deliberate practice, creativity, prodigies, savants, passion, and persistence. A variety of different domains are represented, including science, mathematics, expert memory, acting, visual arts, music, and sports. This book demonstrates that the truth about greatness is far more nuanced, complex, and fascinating than any one viewpoint or paradigm can possibly reveal. Indeed, it suggests that the time has come to go beyond talent or practice. Greatness is much, much more.

From the 100-part Penguin Great Ideas series comes an excerpt from the famous Book of the Courtier. In his witty and perceptive discourses on the ideal virtues of a Renaissance courtier, Baldesar Castiglione sets out values that continue to offer illumination in questions of leadership and government—espousing such qualities as prudence, courage, loyalty, affability, and style, and even encouraging the playing of sport as one of the best ways to gain influence and power. Penguin Great Ideas: Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves—and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war, and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked, and comforted. They have enriched lives—and destroyed them. Now Penguin Great Ideas brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals, and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are. Other titles in the series include Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, and Charles Darwin's On Natural Selection.

“A fascinating historical account…A snapshot of the American Dream culminating with this country’s mid-century greatness” (The Wall Street Journal) as a man endeavors to build the finest, fastest, most beautiful ocean liner in history. The story of a great American Builder at the peak of his power, in the 1940s and 1950s, William Francis Gibbs was considered America’s best naval architect. His quest to build the finest, fastest, most beautiful ocean liner of his time, the SS United States, was a topic of national fascination. When completed in 1952, the ship was hailed as a technological masterpiece at a time when “made in America” meant the best. Gibbs was an American original, on par with John Roebling of the Brooklyn Bridge and Frank Lloyd Wright of Fallingwater. Forced to drop out of Harvard following his family’s sudden financial ruin, he overcame debilitating shyness and lack of formal training to become the visionary creator of some of the finest ships in history. He spent forty years dreaming of the ship that became the SS United States. William Francis Gibbs was driven, relentless, and committed to excellence. He loved his ship, the idea of it, and the realization of it, and he devoted himself to making it the epitome of luxury travel during the triumphant post-World War II era. Biographer Steven Ujifusa brilliantly describes the way Gibbs worked and how his vision transformed an industry. A Man and His Ship is a tale of ingenuity and enterprise, a truly remarkable journey on land and sea.

At some point, every single one of us has reached a point of frustration. A situation where we knew that we were having impact that was far less than what we were capable of. Large organizations are filled with smart people who have great ideas. Unfortunately, most of these people find themselves stymied in their ability to bring people to their full potential and ideas to fruition It doesn’t have to be that way. In Tap Into Greatness, noted performance coach and educator Sarah Singer-Nourie reveals the key truths of having outsized impact, influence and power. It turns out that most of us aren’t leading. We’re simply managing. We’re getting things done, but we’re not inspiring others to excel beyond what’s expected. Great leaders know better. They know leadership isn’t magic. It’s not just something you’re born with. Leadership is learnable. In this engaging and hands-on book, Singer-Nourie provides tools that have been developed over the last twenty years in her work with leaders and teams in corporate America, Silicon Valley startups, schools and non-profit organizations. The methodology is based on how people actually learn, rather than how most of us were taught in school. It leverages the insights of human motivation and the latest research in neuroscience to give leaders a roadmap for having impact. Readers who put the tools of Tap Into Greatness into practice have immediate and often surprising results. They find themselves able to influence colleagues who were previously unmoved. They’re able to inspire teammates to go above and beyond the call of duty. And they create teams that make better decisions even when the leader isn’t in the room.

For fans of Three Times Lucky and The Penderwicks, this endearing new classic spins together sparkling humor, sizzle-pop writing, and a sassy main character with an unforgettable voice. Gertie Reece Foy is 100% Not-From-Concentrate awesome. She has a daddy who works on an oil rig, a great-aunt who always finds the lowest prices at the Piggly Wiggly, and two loyal best friends. So when her absent mother decides to move away from their small town, Gertie sets out on her greatest mission yet: becoming the best fifth grader in the universe to show her mother exactly what she'll be leaving behind. There's just one problem: Seat-stealing new girl Mary Sue Spivey wants to be the best fifth grader, too. And there is simply not enough room at the top for the two of them. From debut author Kate Beasley, and with illustrations by Caldecott Honor artist Jillian Tamaki, comes a classic tale of hope and homecoming that will empty your heart, then fill it back up again--one laugh at a time.

Tired of playing small with your life? Feel like you were meant to be so much more? Ready to become spectacularly successful, breathtakingly effective and wildly fulfilled as you work and live at a level called extraordinary? Passionate, inspiring, provocative and full of big ideas that will get you to your ideal life faster than you’ve ever imagined, The Greatness Guide and The Greatness Guide, Book 2 are those rare books that truly have the power to release your potential and awaken your best self. The Greatness Guide, Book 2 offers more of Robin’s inspiring anecdotes, tips and big ideas. Discover ideas to generate wealth and energy, tool kits for practical work-life balance, time-management techniques that really work, practical strategies to turn setbacks into opportunities and so much more. The Greatness Guide, Book 2 will uplift, energize and move you to action. Robin Sharma is known around the world as the man behind The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari phenomenon, the #1 bestselling series of inspirational books spun around the modern fable of a jet-setting lawyer who gives it all up to search for his best life. Leaders, top entrepreneurs and renowned organizations in over 40 countries have turned to Robin for his deeply insightful yet exquisitely practical advice on getting to greatness. Both The Greatness Guide and The Greatness Guide, Book 2 offer an insider’s look at the tools, tactics and techniques that have transformed so many of Robin’s clients.