Clearly, concisely, and with many examples from public and private enterprise, Upgrading Leadership‘s Crystal Ball shows why predictions are usually wrong and presents a better way to look at the future forecasting. This book is essential-reading for anyone who needs to make the best possible strategic decisions for moving an organization forward i

Clearly, concisely, and with many examples from public and private enterprise, Upgrading Leadership's Crystal Ball shows why predictions are usually wrong and presents a better way to look at the future-forecasting. This book is essential-reading for anyone who needs to make the best possible strategic decisions for moving an organization forward in today's rapidly changing environment. Dr. Bauer supplies an insightful comparison of the two mainstream approaches for looking ahead. Although predicting and forecasting are usually used as synonyms for a single process, they are conceptually and methodologically quite different. He explains why everyday failure to operationalize these differences robs us of power to envision and pursue good futures, especially when we are headed in the wrong direction. Readers will learn the real-world value of distinguishing between predicting (extrapolating historical trends) and forecasting (estimating the probabilities of possibilities). Following a description of predictive modeling and a discussion of five reasons why it fails so often in current applications, Dr. Bauer explains the superiority of forecasting and how to do it. To complete readers' understanding of the many compelling reasons for making the shift from predicting to forecasting, Upgrading Leadership's Crystal Ball presents a practical approach to strategic planning in unpredictable times. It concludes with an analysis of the future of big data and its likely impact on the future. Dr. Bauer is uniquely qualified to write this important book; he is trained in both predicting (economics) and forecasting (meteorology). Author of more than 250 publications, he is internationally recognized not only for long-term success in foretelling the future of medical science and health care, but also for successful innovations to create a better delivery system. This book distills the lessons garnered over his 40 year career as economist and futurist into a guide that other leaders can use to avoid problems and create better options in any realm. The book includes a foreword by Dr. Stan Gryskiewicz, author of Positive Turbulence.

This is the first book to provide in-depth information on the key elements of effective outdoor leadership. First, the book examines the historical and philosophical foundations of adventure programming, reviews technical competencies that outdoor leaders should possess, and provides general safety and environmental guidelines they should follow. Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming goes on to take a detailed look at the organizational, instructional, and facilitation skills of outdoor leadership followed by a thorough examination of the six metaskills that outdoor leaders should possess. The book concludes with a discussion of six key future trends and issues associated with adventure programming and outdoor leadership.

Abstract: This text applies the basic principles and practices of marketing to a nonprofit environment and introduces the reader to basic concepts and tools for developing and implementing and managing a marketing effort. Part One focuses on developing a philosophy for marketing and is keyed primarily on the notion of developing a customer orientation. Part Two deals primarily with strategic planning and organization and covers the topical areas of the strategic marketing planning process, marketing research, market measurement and forecasting marketing planning, organization, leveraging limited resources, and fund raising. Part Three discusses a wide array of conceptual tools for determining an acceptable marketing mix. In Part Three the authors explain the notion of a marketing mix; describes differences in marketing programs for products, services, and desirable social behaviors; discusses management of the marketing effort; as well as basic concepts in the communication process and their relationship to marketing. Part Four deals exclusively with the notion of evaluation and control in the marketing process.