Two leading experts on designing strategic conversations unveil a simple, creative process that allows teams to tackle their most challenging issues. In our fast-changing world, leaders are increasingly confronted by messy, multifaceted challenges that require collaboration to resolve. But the standard methods for tackling these challenges—meetings packed with data-drenched presentations or brainstorming sessions that circle back to nowhere—just don’t deliver. Great strategic conversations generate breakthrough insights by combining the best ideas of people with different backgrounds and perspectives. In this book, two experts “crack the code” on what it takes to design creative, collaborative problem-solving sessions that soar rather than sink. Drawing on decades of experience as innovation strategists—and supported by cutting-edge social science research, dozens of real-life examples, and interviews with well over 100 thought leaders, executives, and fellow practitioners— they unveil a simple, creative process that leaders and their teams can use to unlock solutions to their most vexing issues. The book also includes a “Starter Kit” full of tools and tips for putting the book’s core principles into practice.

Contains practical suggestions from real-world business situations. Packed with case studies and Acceleration Tips, this title is suitable for those managers who want to take their organization to the next level or simply want to breathe new life into their own career.

Winner of the Shingo Publication Award Accelerate your organization to win in the marketplace. How can we apply technology to drive business value? For years, we've been told that the performance of software delivery teams doesn't matter―that it can't provide a competitive advantage to our companies. Through four years of groundbreaking research to include data collected from the State of DevOps reports conducted with Puppet, Dr. Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim set out to find a way to measure software delivery performance―and what drives it―using rigorous statistical methods. This book presents both the findings and the science behind that research, making the information accessible for readers to apply in their own organizations. Readers will discover how to measure the performance of their teams, and what capabilities they should invest in to drive higher performance. This book is ideal for management at every level.

All successful leaders have a secret power - where's yours? When leadership becomes a byword for control, and trust is outdated - how should YOU respond? 'Believe nothing, test everything'. This is the war cry of the maverick. This scream, an essential cornerstone of the maverick mindset. Leadership and maverick expert Judith Germain provides the blueprint to becoming a successful leader. - Discover the 5 maverick attributes all 'natural leaders' possess - Master the 8 maverick capabilities that all successful leaders demonstrate - Extend your influence by utilising the 3 key power bases - Become a transformational leader by deploying the Maverick DRIVEN Leadership(TM) Methodology 'Judith is one of those rare people who actually knows what she's talking about. She provides results based on good research and a professional approach'. Peter Clayton, author of 'Body Language at Work' and body language consultant for the BBC and ITV

As rewarding as it can be, leading a nonprofit business can seem like an overwhelming struggle. How is it possible to transform lives and have a positive impact on the community when you are surrounded by endless competing priorities? The Impact Triangle offers solutions to common challenges for even the most successful enterprises - Planning, Building strong boards, Fundraising, and Staff management. The tried and true strategies presented in this solution-oriented book show how to build a solid foundation with three cornerstones: 1. Choose the right mindset 2. Focus on strategic relationships 3. Utilize winning practices and tools This book is written as a practical guide, asking provocative questions, and based on experience and research. Any nonprofit leader - volunteer or staff - will benefit from the lessons and tools prescribed here. With this solid foundation, you will win back the joy of doing what it takes to transform lives and have a positive impact on the community without the chaos.

Everyone wants happiness and success, yet the pursuit of both has never been more elusive. As work and personal demands rise, we try to keep up by juggling everything better, moving faster, and doing more. While we might succeed in the short term, this approach comes at a high cost in the long term: it hurts our well-being, our relationships, and—paradoxically—our productivity. In this life-changing book, Emma Seppälä explains that the reason we are burning ourselves out is that we fall for outdated theories of success. We are taught that getting ahead means doing everything that’s thrown at us with razor-sharp focus and iron discipline, that success depends on our drive and talents, and that achievement cannot happen without stress. The Happiness Track demolishes these counterproductive theories. Drawing on the latest scientific research on happiness, resilience, willpower, compassion, positive stress, creativity, and mindfulness, Seppälä demonstrates that being happy is the most productive thing we can do to thrive—whether at work or at home. She shares practical strategies for applying these scientific findings to our daily lives. A fulfilling, successful, and anxiety-free life is within your reach. The Happiness Track will show you the way. Happiness Is the Fast Track to Success “Are you a hard-driving, multitasking, conscientiously striving professional? Then your ideas about success are probably all wrong—and you need The Happiness Track, Dr. Emma Seppälä’s investigation into the counter-intuitive factors that create career and life success. The best news of all? All these skills are well within your grasp.”—Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind “Emma Seppälä convinces us that reconfiguring our brain for happiness can change the way our lives unfold and the way we approach success. A worthwhile read for anyone who wants to achieve a successful and fulfilling life.”—Amy Cuddy, professor at Harvard Business School and author of Presence “Backed by extensive research in psychology and neuroscience, The Happiness Track offers a wealth of insight on changing how we approach our work, our personal lives, and our relationships. It’s a carefully researched, engaging look at how to improve ourselves without losing our authenticity or our sanity.”—Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author of Give and Take and Originals “Through her research-backed strategies, Emma Seppälä teaches us not only how to thrive in our chosen profession, but how to stay true to ourselves—and enjoy every moment of the process.”—Susan Cain, cofounder of Quiet Revolution and New York Times bestselling author of Quiet “For decades we’ve been tied to theories of success that have burned us out and driven us into the ground—because we don’t know of any alternatives. The Happiness Track provides us with a highly readable, science-backed solution to obtaining sustainable success, the sort of success we are all really striving for, that leaves us fulfilled, happy, and healthy.”—Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., scientific director at the Imagination Institute at the University of Pennsylvania

Turn ideas into goals—and goals into impact The road to school improvement and student achievement is paved with good intentions—so why does the destination seem so far away? If you’re like most educators, the answer is a pothole known as the implementation gap. This book provides a road map to bypassing that gap in your school or district, offering a carefully researched, field-tested methodology that takes leadership teams, professional learning communities, and educators all the way from good ideas to systematic impact. Following the five Ds, you’ll: Discover goals worth pursuing and problems worth addressing Design instruments and actions that generate deep impact Deliver interventions and collect data Double-back to monitor your progress and evaluate the impact Double-up to enhance, sustain, and scale your success You became an educator to make a difference in students’ lives. With this playbook, you’ll transform research and ideas into achievable actions—and make maximum impact.