There are many books that seek to explain Lean and Agile software that offer theory, techniques, and examples. Michael Levine’s first book, A Tale of Two Systems, is one of the best, synthesizing Lean manufacturing and product development with agile software concepts in an engaging business novel. However, there has been precious little practical guidance for those seeking to change existing organizations to become Lean and Agile, until now. Mr. Levine has followed the successful approach of A Tale of Two Systems, telling two simultaneous intertwined and contrasting stories, to bring organizational transformation to life. Mary O’Connell and James "Wes" Wesleyan, recently engaged to be married, share a commitment to Lean and Agile Software. They have recently become leaders in two very different companies – one, stuck in a slow-moving, unresponsive, process-driven quagmire of a software culture; the other, struggling through the chaos of a sales-driven, process-less swirl. Together with their wise mentor, Neville Roberts, they identify two approaches to making needed changes: Drive People (a top-down approach focused on processes and tools), and People Driven (an enablement approach focused on people and organizations). Mary and Wes evaluate their situations and choose approaches that best fit for them, and the transformations commence. A Tale of Two Transformations differs from many information technology books by grappling with all the complexities of our organizations: the people, the politics, the financials, the processes – in short, the culture from which our Lean and Agile journeys must begin. The change model presented in the flow of the stories is generally applicable, and can help anyone thinking about how to improve their organization.

Given the established nature of geoscientific knowledge of the Kaapvaal craton compared to the Slave craton, and given the exciting new interdisciplinary results coming from the Kaapvaal Project and from Slave craton studies, scientists working on both cratons were brought together in a workshop to compare and contrast the nature of these two cratons. Of the 54 papers presented at the workshop, 24 are included in this volume. There are clearly major similarities and differences between these two Archean cratons. The crust of both was predominantly formed in the Mesoarchean. Both contain crustal sections consisting of terranes of different ages welded together by Archean accretionary events. Both crustal sections are underlain by lithospheric mantle sections consisting of peridotites that experienced extensive partial melt extraction between 2.9 Ga and 3.2 Ga, but this is where the similarities between the cratons end. One of the most striking differences between the Slave and Kaapvaal cartons is the apparent seismic homogeneity of the Kaapvaal craton's SCLM whereas the Slave craton is seismically layered. The seismic layering in the centre of the craton correlates laterally and with depth with electrical layering and geochemical layering. Taken together, these differences suggest that SCLM formation was different for the two cratons, implying that the search for a single causative formation process is bound to fail. Reprinted from the journal Lithos Volume 71, numbers 2-4.

Corrupt politics and surprising superheroes, The Book of Transformations is the third book in Mark Charan Newton's Legends of the Red Sun fantasy series. A new and corrupt Emperor seeks to rebuild the ancient structures of Villjamur. But when the stranger Shalev arrives, empowering a militant underground movement, crime and terror become the rule. Emperor Urtica calls upon cultists to help construct a group to eliminate those involved with the uprising, and calm the populace. But there’s more to these Villjamur Knights than just phenomenal skills and abilities - each have a secret that, if exposed, could destroy everything they represent. Investigator Fulcrom of the Villjamur Inquisition is given the unenviable task of managing the Knights’, but his own skills are tested when a mysterious priest, who has travelled from beyond the Empire’s edge, seeks his help. The priest’s existence threatens the church, and his quest promises to unweave the fabric of the world. Then in a distant corner of the Empire, the enigmatic cultist Dartun Súr steps back into this world, having witnessed horrors beyond his imagination. Broken, altered, he and the remnants of his cultist order are heading back to Villjamur. All eyes turn to the Sanctuary City, for Villjamur’s ancient legends are about to be shattered.

This landmark book begins with the premise that an organization must often fundamentally transform its business practices and organizational culture to fully align with and realize the value of product and process innovations. The methods and practices that are set forth give readers the tools to create the essential organizational transformations needed to meet the challenges of a complex, rapidly evolving global economy. Enterprise Transformation is organized into four parts: * Introduction to Transformation begins with an introduction and overview of the book. It then features a systems-oriented view of transformation as well as a theo-retical perspective on the forces that propel transformation and the nature in which transformation is pursued. * Elements of Transformation addresses issues of transformational leadership and organizational and cultural change. Next, it examines transformation principles and case studies relevant to manufacturing, logistics, services, research and development, enterprise computing, and quality management. * Transformation Practices focuses on transformation planning and execution, financing, bankruptcy, tax issues, public relations, and the lessons learned from a variety of transformation experiences. * Transformation Case Studies features detailed studies of Newell Rubbermaid, Reebok, Lockheed Martin, and Interface. This part also considers transformation in academia with an overview of fundamental change at Georgia Tech. These case studies demonstrate the application of principles and practices and their results. The authors of this contributed work are senior executives, leading consultants, and respected academics. Their experience in leading enterprise transformation and supporting management teams is unparalleled. Managers and executives from all industries, as well as business students, will learn about the critical tools needed to transform their organizations to keep pace with market demands and surpass competitors.

It is estimated that approximately seventy percent of organizations fail in their attempts to implement transformative change. This book will help lessen that rate. Using real-world examples, Bruce J. Avolio maps four states of change that any organization must go through: identifying and recognizing, initiating, emerging and impending, and institutionalizing new ways of operating. Each state is described in detail, as are the leadership qualities necessary to solidify and transition from one to the next. These "in-between moments" are an often-overlooked key to organizational transformation. So too is the fact that organizational change happens one individual at a time. For transformation to take root, each person must shift his or her sense of self at work and the role that he or she plays in the transforming organization. Intended as a road map, rather than a "how-to" manual with fixed procedures, Organizational Transformation will help leaders to locate their organization's position on a continuum of progress and confidently navigate planned, whole-systems change, overcoming the challenges of growing from and adjusting to watershed moments.

This dramatic story of land and power from twentieth-century Eastern Europe is set in two extraordinary villages: a rebel village, where peasants fought the advent of Communism and became its first martyrs, and a model village turned forcibly into a town, Dictator Ceauşescu’s birthplace. The two villages capture among themselves nearly a century of dramatic transformation and social engineering, ending up with their charged heritage in the present European Union. "One of Romania’s foremost social critics, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi offers a valuable look at several decades of policy that marginalized that country’s rural population, from the 1918 land reform to the post-1989 property restitution. Illustrating her arguments with a close comparison of two contrasting villages, she describes the actions of a long series of “predatory elites,” from feudal landowners through the Communist Party through post-communist leaders, all of whom maintained the rural population’s dependency. A forceful concluding chapter shows that its prospects for improvement are scarcely better within the EU. Romania’s villagers have an eminent and spirited advocate in the author.”

Since Benoit Mandelbrot's pioneering work in the late 1970s, scores of research articles and books have been published on the topic of fractals. Despite the volume of literature in the field, the general level of theoretical understanding has remained low; most work is aimed either at too mainstream an audience to achieve any depth or at too specialized a community to achieve widespread use. Written by celebrated mathematician and educator A.A. Kirillov, A Tale of Two Fractals is intended to help bridge this gap, providing an original treatment of fractals that is at once accessible to beginners and sufficiently rigorous for serious mathematicians. The work is designed to give young, non-specialist mathematicians a solid foundation in the theory of fractals, and, in the process, to equip them with exposure to a variety of geometric, analytical, and algebraic tools with applications across other areas.

Marvelous Transformations is an anthology of tales and original critical essays that moves beyond canonized “classics” and old paradigms, documenting the points of historical connection between literary tales and field-based collections. This innovative anthology reflects current interdisciplinary scholarship on oral traditions and the cultural history of the print fairy tale. In addition to the tales, original critical essays, newly written for this volume, introduce readers to differing perspectives on key ideas in the field.

Explores the decline in religious influence in American universities, discussing why this transformation has occurred.

With its emphasis on emerging and cutting-edge debates in the study of comparative constitutional law and politics, its suitability for both research and teaching use, and its distinguished and diverse cast of contributors, this handbook is a must-have for scholars and instructors alike. This versatile volume combines the depth and rigor of a scholarly reference work with features for teaching in law and social science courses. Its interdisciplinary case-study approach provides political and historical as well as legal context: each modular chapter offers an overview of a topic and a jurisdiction, followed by a case study that simultaneously contextualizes both. Its forward-looking and highly diverse selection of topics and jurisdictions fills gaps in the literature on the Global South as well as the West. A timely section on challenges to liberal constitutional democracy addresses pressing concerns about democratic backsliding and illiberal and/or authoritarian regimes.