Böcker utgivna av Berrett-Koehler

Many people set out to achieve a dream-starting a business or learning to play the piano or publishing a book-but they don't succeed, and the dream fizzles away. In many cases, these people have lots of skills and expertise, such as deep knowledge of the business or career they are interested in, so why don't they succeed? Paul Levesque and Art McNeil have discovered that making a dream come true requires cultivating skills of a higher order-macroskills-that inevitably spell the difference between success and failure no matter what the specifics of a person's dreams are. These are the skills Dreamcrafting outlines in detail.

We all need to involve others to accomplish tasks and achieve our goals, but all too often involving others seems like more trouble than it’s worth. You Don’t Have to Do It Alone Alone is the Swiss Army Knife of involvement—a set of tools that can be used in any setting to get you the help you need. The authors lay out a simple, straightforward plan for involving others to get things done, detailing a practical five-step involvement process that begins with five key questions: What kind of involvement is needed? How do I know who to include? How do I invite people to become involved? How do I keep people involved? How do I finish the job? The answers to these questions serve as a guide to finding the right people and keeping them energized, enthusiastic, and committed until the work is completed. Real life examples from corporations, government, and nonprofits illustrate the process in action. You'll learn to involve others in a way that will actually make your work easier, resulting in less stress, better ideas, and more successful outcomes.

Supply Chain Optimization illustrates how companies that create, distribute, and sell products or services can join forces to establish a supply network with an unbeatable competitive advantage. Poirier and Reiter explain how companies can successfully employ partnering, rather than working on improvements in isolation, to identify high opportunity initiatives across a total supply network. By applying key resources on focused opportunities and sharing the resulting savings, members of the network get larger results, faster, as well as funding for future efforts. At the heart of Poirier's and Reiter's plan is a four-step model to mobilize joint effort and focus resources from suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers on initiatives that have a high pay-back potential. The authors have studied the successes of such influential retailers as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, and Sears, all of which are laying the groundwork for how to use point-of-sale data to create quick-response alliances with selected suppliers who will take responsibility for replenishing stock to predetermined levels. Supply Chain Optimization explains how to develop such effective partnering techniques and demystifies the electronic data linkages that are necessary to make them work. Supply Chain Optimization offers survival tools for companies of all sizes. The authors describe consortiums, or "share groups," of smaller companies that can compete with the volume leverage of large corporations, superstores, and warehouse stores. By analyzing their shared supply chain and pooling their available resources, these consortiums can find hidden savings to protect their profit margins and remain competitive in today's marketplace. The book includes case studies that show what a wide range of companies are actually doing to achieve supply chain optimization. Companies profiled include: Financing Division of General Electric, Dial Corporation, Proctor & Gamble, Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Navistar/Goodyear, Packaging Corporation of America, Dominick's, Hart Mountain Corporation, and General Motors--Saturn. Partnering requires more than technological expertise. Successful partnerships display high levels of cooperation expressed by the sharing of resources, time, energy, and the benefits achieved. Poirier and Reiter describe the many pitfalls that must be avoided, and create a vision of how firms can build on their existing supply initiatives to gain a greater competitive advantage in today's business world.

Shortchanged exposes how America's "fringe economy"-the booming industry of check cashers, payday lenders, pawnshops, and so on-that prey on the poor and middle class..The first book to chronicle how the fringe economy ruthlessly and systematically exploits the poor and middle classes.The number of people affected by the fringe economy is enormous-it's not just poor immigrants, but working and middle class families who are affected.Author provides both the hard facts and personal stories-has scores of shocking real-life examplesShortchanged takes a hard look at the corporate vultures that prey on America's poor and middle classes. This "fringe economy"-made up of pawnshops, payday lenders, check cashers, credit card companies and the like-entices vulnerable consumers into an economic netherworld of high interest rates and ever-increasing debt. Powerful analysis is combined with moving personal stories of the mothers, fathers, and families whose lives have been put on the line for the perpetuation of this economy. Ruthless, compelling, outrageous, and often enraging, Shortchanged puts the spotlight on the shady side of America's economic underbelly.

PEOPLE WHO HAVE FUN AT WORK are more productive, more creative, and report higher levels of job satisfaction, according to recent research. And they tend to stick around longer too-a key competitive advantage in today's tight job market. In short, fun in the workplace goes right to the bottom line. As coauthor of 301 Ways to Have Fun at Work, Dave Hemsath was among the first to show how fun could be beneficial to all types and sizes of organizations. The idea has caught on, and people are clamoring for more ways to make their workplaces fun places to be. His new book, 301 More Ways to Have Fun at Work, builds on the success of the earlier book by applying the concept to new areas of business life, showing how to inject an element of fun into hiring, customer service, events, sales and marketing, leadership, and corporate culture. Like the earlier book, 301 More Ways to have Fun at Work offers practical advice for creating a work environment infused with the spirit of fun. It's a comprehensive resource for building and maintaining a productive and satisfying work environment that inspires camaraderie among employees and loyalty to the organization. And also like its predecessor, each chapter includes dozens of real-life examples of how individuals and organizations have put fun into the normal course of their work. Throughout the chapters, a series of "Fun Facts" and "Fun Quotes" provides humorous and interesting information about the effects of fun on workplace performance, and "Fun Resources" direct readers to useful sources for products and services that increase the fun quotient in the workplace. The book also includes "Dave's Hierarchy of Fun," a lighthearted but thoughtful discussion of the factors needed for establishing and maintaining a fun workplace. Entertaining and accessible, 301 More Ways to Have Fun at Work legitimizes the issue of fun as an organizational strategy and has a good time doing it. Hemsath's infectious enthusiasm guarantees that readers will enjoy themselves as they discover how to make their workplace more enjoyable. He clearly shows that creating a fun atmosphere in the workplace not only makes working more pleasant, but also increases productivity, morale, and retention.

The Resiliency Advantage is the first book based in the emerging new "science" of resiliency. It shows people in all occupations and circumstances how to become skilled at bouncing back quickly from setbacks, making difficult challenges turn out well, and converting misfortune into good fortune.

When 'they' don't get it, what do we do?Typically, we push harder, talk louder, and insist more intensely. We assume that their not getting it is a problem with them. In truth, when they don't get it, the problem lies with us. They Just Don't Get It! is a business parable that explores this Universal Concept and provides Five Keys the reader can employ to ensure that everyone gets it.

Written for the first-time trainer, this is a concise, "hands-on" overview of the training field. It contains many valuable tools and references for those new to training and facing the "what if?" questions as they approach the job. Drawing upon years of experience as a trainer in both the private and public sectors, the author provides many specific examples and applications within the text and in helpful appendices.The book includes an overview of the field, adult learning concepts, how to determine training needs in an organization, and a variety of techniques for designing, delivering, and evaluating organizational training.

As President of the Giraffe Heroes Project, which since 1982 has been recognizing people who "stick their necks out for the common good," John Graham has seen what hundreds of average citizens around the world have done to bring about constructive change. He's drawn on their experiences, his own as a veteran environmental activist, and that of a hand-picked group of seasoned activists to produce an accessible, eminently practical, inspiring guide on how to work effectively for change in any environment. Stick Your Neck Out covers every aspect of working for change, from choosing an issue to mapping out a strategy, getting a team together, building alliances, working with the media, and more. Each chapter contains a series of practical tips as well as inspiring examples of real people--artists, truck drivers, doctors, waitresses, and others--who have made a difference on issues like poverty, racism, gang violence, environmental pollution, and many more. Everything in this book has been honed and practiced; nothing is untested theory. This is a comprehensive guide to the skills, qualities, and strategies you need to make a difference on any issue. But it's also about becoming fully alive--about the meaning and passion you can add to your own life by getting involved. Active citizenship and personal growth are linked. The information in this book can change your world--and it can change your life.

When was the last time you dealt with a bureaucracy-the phone company, an airline, a hospital, school, or government agency-and got what you wanted without weaving through a maze of infuriating hand-offs? Have you found these systems to be utterly indifferent to the inconvenience or hardship they cause? Russell Ackoff and Sheldon Rovin say, "Enough is enough!" They have extensively studied organizational systems-how they function and malfunction, what drives them, and where their weaknesses are. Here they share both perversely entertaining anecdotes about the abuse of individuals by various bureaucracies and detail the creative-and deeply satisfying-approaches these people used to get even. Best of all, they offer successful strategies and tactics you can use to pinpoint the weakness of any system and exploit it to your advantage.

Introduces a fresh approach to the art of selling -- where the buyer's needs count for more than the seller's -- Introduces the ""Buying-Facilitation"" technique, based on mutual respect, collaboration, trust, honor, and service -- Shows sellers how to find appropriate buyers and weed out inappropriate ones quickly, vastly reducing the sales cycle -- Schematic drawings, case studies, and ""skill sets"" help the reader master the author's sales approach The traditional sales model involves convincing and coercing buyers into believing they can't live without what sellers have to offer. According to this view, the seller and the product are at the center of the process, and the buyer's interests are marginal: a successful seller is one who can create a ""need"" where none exists. Selling with Integrity is based on the author's belief that closing the sale is less important than respecting the interests of the buyer. Morgen argues that the seller's primary responsibility is to the buyer. Both are well served by the author's ""Buying-Facilitation"" technique, where service is the goal, discovery is the outcome, and the solution may or may not be a sale. Buyers "win" by having their needs met. Sellers "win" by getting to work within their value systems and by expediting the decision-making process with appropriate prospective buyers. This frank assessment of the potential buyer's needs involves cooperation rather than confrontation, creating a better overall experience. Morgen's approach restores to the job of selling the honesty, integrity, and humanity that are missing from traditional sales techniques.

In the wake of the Solyndra collapse, solar power's detractors - particularly the fans of fossil fuel have been proclaiming that solar is just a hippie pipe dream. But as Danny Kennedy points out, Solyndra failed precisely because it was unable to compete in a red hot industry. The signs are everywhere: the United States and China have for the first time invested more money in clean, renewable energy than in dirty fossil fuels. Germany already gets 25% of its power from the sun and created 250,000 clean energy jobs in the process. Warren Buffet just bought a $2 billion solar project in the Southwestern desert. But these are facts the mainstream media has largely failed to report.In this hard-hitting book Kennedy shows that solar can save money, create jobs, and restore the environment - it's only politics and perception that are preventing it. For consumers, he describes the technological advances that have now made solar so cost-efficient and practical it's now competitive with gas and coal electricity. He breaks down the 100,000 jobs solar has already created in America and explains how it could create far more. Decrying the lack of leadership in this area on the part of both political parties, he outlines how we can take advantage of this historic opportunity to free ourselves from dependence on destructive and declining forms of energy and unleash the unlimited power of the sun.

"The key questions for today's managers and leaders," writes Jack Hawley, "are no longer issues of task and structure, but questions of spirit." Not only do we all yearn for spiritually rooted qualities at work, those very qualities-integrity, character, love, inspiration, faith, reverence-are key factors in an enterprise's success. Through real-life examples, Hawley shows how people can create improved workplaces and more resilient, effective, and successful organizations. He shows how leaders and managers who are motivated by a spiritual vision will liberate the best in people, and explains why all leadership is spiritual. Hawley offers examples of people actually living by their inner truth at work, and shows how such people can create an improved place to work and a more resilient, effective organization.

Managing By Values describes how companies of all types can achieve greater success-measured not by volume or profits, but by the quality of life for employees and the quality service for customers.By committing to a common purpose and shared values, any organization can adopt a way doing business that allows all stakeholders-owners and shareholders, employees, customer and clients- to win. Based on more than 25 years of research and application in organizations, Managing By Values details a practical game plan for clarifying your organization's core values, communicating them throughout the organization, aligning these values with actual practices, and reaching an exciting new level of organizational success.

Both pragmatic and inspiring, The Joy of Working from Home shows the current or prospective home-office worker how to set up an efficient home office and provides the support for making what for many will be a major life change. Combining detailed, useful information with encouraging advice and anecdotes, the book gives numerous positive examples of individuals who have successfully made the transition. The author-himself a home-worker for many years-provides realistic methods for striking a healthy balance between business and personal life. Addressing the vital questions of lifestyle, and the difficult trade-offs between work and personal priorities, The Joy of Working from Home offers guidelines for wisely allocating every home worker's most valuable resource: time. It shows: o how to organize both work and workspace efficiently; o the inherent advantages of using a home-based office to achieve practical and personal rewards; o techniques for avoiding the stress and distress of letting the demands of work and family intermingle. Drawing on the experiences of many home-based workers, this book helps solve the problems of self-discipline, financial insecurity, isolation, and interruptions. It also offers valuable advice on dealing with the vulnerabilities that inevitably come with self-employment-creating a professional image, maintaining a positive attitude, nurturing the capacity to persist against obstacles, and developing the flexibility to deal with a variety of clients or customers. The practical aspects of running a business out of a home office are also addressed. The Joy of Working from Home provides useful strategies for creating a business plan, low-cost marketing techniques, tips for networking in the community, and ways to keep expenses down. There is down-to-earth advice for avoiding the pitfalls of zoning and tax requirements, information on purchasing office equipment and supplies, and guidelines for contracting outside services. A resource section creates access to important publications, home-based business associations, government agencies, and database information for effective business and professional marketing. This book will appeal to a broad spectrum of current and prospective home office candidates, including the newly self-employed professional, the budding entrepreneur, those weary of the corporate work environment or long commutes, and those determined to restore the balance between their personal and professional lives.

How did Gatorade revitalize itself in the wake of Red Bull and Starbucks? How did OpenTable come to be? What makes one company thrive while others languish in mediocrity? There’s no doubt hard work is involved, but Soren Kaplan shows you can’t do it by simply creating a big vision and implementing a set plan. In his trailblazing debut, Kaplan gives business leaders the tools to do exactly what they’re taught to avoid: embrace surprise—the new key to business breakthroughs. Instead of fighting against uncertainty, Kaplan reveals how to use it to break down limiting mindsets and barriers to change the game. By highlighting specific ways to transform both good and bad surprises into unique opportunities, Kaplan encourages leaders to compete by embracing counterintuitive ideas, managing paradoxes, and even welcoming failure. This is the key to “leapfrogging”—creating or doing something radically new or different that produces a significant leap forward. Leapfrogging connects new research, unconventional strategies, and practical tools for navigating the “messy” and elusive process of achieving business breakthroughs. Filled with real-world examples from innovators such as Gatorade, Intuit, Philips, Kimberly-Clark, Colgate-Palmolive, OpenTable, and Etsy, Kaplan shows that any organization or business function can leapfrog. Using his LEAPS process (Listen, Explore, Act, Persist, and Seize), leaders learn to seek out, recognize, and respond to surprising experiences and events as a way to create solutions that leap beyond the current expectations of customers, partners, employees, the market, and the competition. Kaplan’s Leapfrogging is the new handbook for the modern leader.

Written by more than 50 of Berrett-Koehler's renowned and bestselling authors, Postively M.A.D. is a collection of real-world stories that will inspire readers to take action in their own lives to make a difference in their organisations and communitiesProvides inspiration and advice on a wide range of topics-from working with city hall to embracing diversity, capitalising on adversity and expressing gratitude.Offers "mad" stories-about people, actions and ideas that are out-of-the-ordinary, unexpected, counter-intuitive, interruptive, defiant, offbeat, and/or "edgy." The goal of the book is not to be heart-warming, but rather to inspire readers to take action.

If you work, you probably manage projects every day-even if "project manager" isn't in your official title-and you know how frustrating the experience can be. Using the familiar story of six blind men failing to describe an elephant to each other as a metaphor, David Schmaltz brilliantly identifies the true root cause of the difficulties in project work: "incoherence" (the inability of a group of people to make common meaning from their common experience). Schmaltz exposes such oft-cited difficulties as poor planning, weak leadership, and fickle customers as poor excuses for project failure, providing a set of simple, project coherence-building techniques that anyone can use to achieve success. He explains how "wickedness" develops when a team over-relies on their leader for guidance rather than tapping their true source of power and authority-the individual. The Blind Men and the Elephant explores just how much influence is completely within each individual's control. Using real-world stories, Schmaltz undermines the excuses that may be keeping you trapped in meaningless work, offering practical guidance for overcoming the inevitable difficulties of project work.