Business Problem Solving

When faced with new challenges, it’s easy to feel our solutions need to be equally unprecedented. We think we need a revolution. But what if this is a big mistake? In Evolutionary Ideas, Sam Tatam shows how behavioral science and evolutionary psychology can help us solve tomorrow’s challenges, not by divining something the world has never seen, but by borrowing from yesterday’s solutions–often in the most unexpected ways.

In Tune In, award-winning Nuala Walsh champions understanding behavior as an insurance policy against mishearing, misinformation, and misjudgment. This timely masterclass stands apart in its original treatment of 'deaf spots,' the hidden judgement killers that stop us from hearing what really matters. It not only explains your worst mistakes but equips you to prevent future error and the sting of regret.

Whether you run your own business or work for someone else, you’ve probably got a lot on your plate. Along with the portion of your work that you truly feel like doing comes a generous helping of things you’d rather not do. As consultants, Steve Levinson and Chris Cooper have seen countless clients struggle - and often fail - to do the many success-producing things they know they should do but don’t feel like doing. The Power to Get Things Done will teach you how to consistently turn your good intentions into action so that you can be as successful as possible.

Successful decision-makers are fierce interrogators. They square critical thinking with open-mindedness by blending information, intuition, and experience. Balancing these elements is at the heart of Decisions Over Decimals.

In The 24-Hour Rule and Other Secrets for Smarter Organizations, business consultant Adrienne Bellehumeur shows how her six steps of documentation can become your and your team’s new superpower.

Mark Schwartz, author of leadership classics A Seat at the Table and The Art of Business Value, reveals a new (empowering) model for the often soul-shattering, frustrating, Kafkaesque nightmare we call bureaucracy. Through humor, a healthy dose of history and philosophy, and real-life examples from his days as a government bureaucrat, Schwartz shows IT leaders (and the whole of business) how to master the ways of the Monkey, the Razor, and the Sumo Wrestler to create a lean, learning, and enabling bureaucracy.

Intuition is the great differentiator in business. Listening to, trusting, and acting on your intuitive intelligence separates you from the pack as most people are not listening to theirs. Intuition is the one intangible skill that enables teams to function at a higher level and add more dimension and power to their ability to solve problems and grow. Yet the question that each business leader and manager struggles to answer is how do you train and develop intuitive thinking in a team to achieve the greatest result?

The Power to Thrive! draws on proven research to show how we all can reach beyond the superficial meaning of success to help us achieve a meaningful impact - in our homes, in our offices, and in everyday life. Kay provides the formula for achieving better results, fulfillment, and appreciation in everything we do.

One of the nation's leading psychologists asks why today's corporate leaders desire but reject creative solutions - and finds some surprising conclusions.

List the hottest buzzwords in business today and "analytics" is bound to come out near the top. But to most people, analytics implies complex tools and technical experts manipulating massive amounts and varieties of information (i.e.,"Big Data"). But complex Big Data analytics isn't the only game in town. And many people don't realize that a business doesn't need data scientists and complex tools to derive useful information and valuable benefits from any amount of raw data.

From profiles and interviews with the world's leading venture capitalists and high-profile coaches of business founders, A Dozen Lessons distills a set of bedrock methods for approaching business questions and creating value. The veteran business writer Tren Griffin takes the listener through the investment philosophies of VC luminaries such as Bill Gurley of Benchmark Capital, Marc Andreesen and Ben Horowitz of Andreesen Horowitz, and Jenny Lee of GGV Capital to draw out a set of guiding principles that successful businesses follow.

No one wins at everything they try. But any setback, whether professional or personal, can become a step forward with the right tools and mind-set to turn loss into a gain. Drawing on nearly 50 years of leadership experience, Maxwell provides a roadmap for winning by examining the 11 elements that constitute the "DNA" of people who succeed in the face of problems, failure, and losses. Learning is not easy during down times. It takes discipline to do the right thing when something goes wrong.

Our species, it appears, is hardwired to get things wrong in myriad different ways. Why did recipients of a loan offer accept a higher rate of interest when a pretty woman's face was printed on the flyer? Why did one poll on immigration find the most despised aliens were ones from a group that did not exist? What made four of the Air Force's best pilots fly their planes, in formation, straight into the ground?

Being creative is a state of mind. Techniques may help, though some, like brainstorming, can, surprisingly, do more harm than good. And the climate at work and play matters too. But essentially, creativity is an attitude. We either meet life's challenges with a spirit of adventure, or we keep trying to make it fit old habits that don't work any more.

The traditional hierarchy of business leadership is being proven more and more each year to be unsustainable. In an economy where innovation is king, companies find it much more difficult to create competitive advantages when ideas, solutions, and strategies flow from the top down. In Break Through to Yes, Dave Savage offers 10 steps to heading a company in the right direction.

In the early 1980s, Harley-Davidson was on the verge of bankruptcy. In the general public's opinion, quality was substandard - of both motorcycles and riders. Harleys leaked oil and were often broken down. Riders were roughnecks, out to raise hell. The Harley-Davidson brand was tarnished. What s more, the charges were true.By the mid-1980s, Harley couldn't produce enough bikes to keep the public happy. Dealers were selling bikes off the showroom floor, struggling to assuage customers frustration.

People who are trying to solve tough economic, social, or environmental problems often find themselves frustratingly stuck. They cannot solve their problems in their current context; the larger system within which they are operating is too unstable or unfair or unsustainable. They cannot transform this system on their own or by working only with their friends or colleagues; the system is too complex to be grasped or shifted by any one person or organization or sector.

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.

Our ability to foresee and protect against natural catastrophes has never been greater; yet we consistently fail to heed the warnings and protect ourselves and our communities, with devastating consequences. What explains this contradiction? In The Ostrich Paradox, Wharton professors Robert Meyer and Howard Kunreuther draw on years of teaching and research to explain why disaster preparedness efforts consistently fall short.

Learn to release gifts and talents you never knew you had and how to use them to become hugely successful, happy, and even wealthy. Discover how it is your daily standards and authenticity that determine your success or failure with your goals.