Business Problem Solving

Why does your weather app say “there’s a 10 percent chance of rain” instead of “it will be sunny”? In large part, this is due to the insight of award-winning physicist Tim Palmer, who pioneered the introduction of uncertainty into weather and climate prediction. Now, he wants to apply it to how we study everything else.

The Entrepreneurial Process, one of Brown University’s highest-rated courses, has empowered thousands of students to start their own ventures. You might assume these ventures started because the founders were born entrepreneurs. You might assume that these folks had technical or finance degrees, or worked at fancy consulting firms, or had some other specialized knowledge. Yet that isn’t the case. Entrepreneurship is not a spirit or a gift. It is a process that anyone can learn, and that anyone can use to turn a problem into a solution with impact.

This super-practical guide to personal success is packed with no-nonsense tips that will get anyone where they want to be in business and in life.

Winning with Data explores the cultural changes big data brings to business, and shows you how to adapt your organization to leverage data to maximum effect. Authors Tomasz Tunguz and Frank Bien draw on extensive background in big data, business intelligence, and business strategy to provide a blueprint for companies looking to move head-on into the data wave. Instrumentation is discussed in detail, but the core of the change is in the culture.

The Financial Times Guide to Strategy is your unbeatable reference on strategy. It offers an incisive overview of both corporate level and business unit level strategy, an A to Z of the world's leading strategic thinkers, and introduces the key strategic tools and techniques you need to develop your own strategy. Based on long experience and on conversations with leading strategists around the world, Richard Koch helps you discover each critical step in creating, delivering, and understanding successful strategy.

Bina Venkataraman sees the way forward. A journalist and former adviser in the Obama White House, she helped communities and businesses prepare for climate change, and she learned firsthand why people don’t think ahead - and what can be done to change that. In The Optimist’s Telescope, she draws from stories she has reported around the world and new research in biology, psychology, and economics to explain how we can make decisions that benefit us over time.

Do you have a problem that you can’t see your way around, no matter how hard you try? You may be looking for the answer outside when the obstacles lie within. We’re all biased. You may have read the above and already your mind is raising its defenses. No...not me. I haven’t got a biased bone in my body. The fact is: You do. So does everyone around you. Cognitive Biases in a Nutshell will help you to identify and correct the cognitive biases you fall prey to in your everyday life.

Everybody hates meetings. And why shouldn't they? Most meetings are poorly led, counterproductive, and time-wasting. Based on decades of practice and research, best-selling authors Weisbord and Janoff have come to the conclusion that most people lead meetings incorrectly. They, instead, propose 10 contrarian principles that actually get things done.

In The Science of Dream Teams, Mike Zani details a data-driven approach to talent optimization that makes hiring, motivating, and managing people more efficient and effective than ever. It employs sophisticated assessments, tools, and software that enable leaders to: measure the traits and characteristics that predict success in a role or fit on a team; build finely tuned project teams and well-balanced leadership teams; and more.

Cost reduction...productivity improvement...customer retention...these are the promises of the Six Sigma quality management system. The Six Sigma Way reveals how GE, Motorola, and numerous other companies are successfully using Six Sigma to fine-tune products and processes, improve performance, and increase profits. Now you can hear the road map for implementing Six Sigma in your manufacturing or service organization.

Change for Good is a new system for making social change through business that reflects Paul’s experience over the last 35 years. One of the core principles of Change for Good is including people with lived experience of social problems in identifying promising solutions and collaborating to bring these solutions to life. This methodology can create impactful and sustainable social change in society in ways that aren’t possible when executives make decisions in their boardrooms that are intended to impact the lives of vulnerable people.

Should one enter a market where someone is in a monopoly position? When is going to the ER a good or a bad decision? Why is it never a good idea for rebels to concede? Practice Game Theory answers all these questions. Think about and solve problems more effectively applying strategic games models to real-life challenges. Learn how top world leaders analyze and assess their next best moves.

Should I move in with this person? Should I quit my job? When is the “right time” to have another child? All these life-altering questions at the juncture of money and love can be overwhelming. Often, we answer them either by staying overly rational or by only listening to our—at times fickle—hearts. Hardly ever, when faced with daunting questions, do we have the keys to combine both head and heart in a balanced and fulfilling way.

What makes a great team tick? Leadership guru John C. Maxwell says the answer is simple: great players. In 17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player, Maxwell teaches leaders how to develop better players and teaches each player how he or she can achieve true greatness from the inside out. Drawing on examples from some of history's most winning team players--including Quincy Jones, Ronald Reagan, and Bob Taylor--he shows readers how to develop qualities such as discipline, enthusiasm, communication, preparation, and commitment.

Every day, we make decisions on topics ranging from personal investments to schools for our children to the meals we eat to the causes we champion. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. The reason, the authors explain, is that, being human, we are all susceptible to various biases that can lead us to blunder. Our mistakes can make us poor and unhealthy. We often make bad decisions about education, personal finance, health care, family, and the environment.

Are you new to TRIZ and looking for an easy-to-follow guide on how you can use it to enhance your company's creativity, innovation, and problem-solving abilities? Look no further! Written in plain English and packed with tons of accessible and easy-to-follow instruction, TRIZ for Dummies shows you how to use this powerful toolkit to discover all the ways of solving a problem, uncover new concepts, and identify previously unseen routes for new product development.

Learn how to take the bold yet intelligent risks that will help you thrive in business - and in life. How can you challenge and change yourself when you need it most? We're creatures of habit, programmed by evolution to favor the safe and familiar, especially when the stakes are high. This bias no longer serves us in a world of constant change. Through stories of trailblazers in business, health, education and activism, Jonah Sachs reveals a path to higher performance and creativity for anyone ready to step out of their comfort zone.

Dr. McKibben guides us through her revolutionary and innovative self-help technique of dropping to the blank screen to learn how to manage triggered feelings and to understand why we feel the way we do. By monitoring neuromuscular signals that indicate unconscious triggered emotions, we can work with the brain rather than against it. She teaches us a practical, self-reliant method to retrain our brains and change our responses to life's stressors.

Modern work life is a maze, but you can find a shortcut through it. We are spending longer hours at work, although we desire more work-life balance. According to the World Population Review, the 10 countries with the longest workweeks averaged 42.2 hours. Given how much time you spend at work, wouldn’t it be better if you could be more efficient at your job? The Harvard Business Review says that workers spend as much as 41 percent of the average workday on tasks that don’t add value. Modern work poses its challenges.

Best-selling author Andy Andrews helps us break through false boundaries and rediscover the path to accomplishing extraordinary results in every area of our lives.