Creating the Innovation Culture. Leveraging Visionaries, Dissenters and Other Useful Troublemakers

In order to succeed in today’s competitive environment, corporate and nonprofit institutions must create a workplace climate that encourages employees to continue to learn and grow. From the author of the best-selling The Mentor’s Guide comes the next-step mentoring resource to ensure personnel at all levels of an organization will teach and learn from each other. Written for anyone who wants to embed mentoring within their organization, Creating a Mentoring Culture is filled with step-by-step guidance, practical advice, engaging stories, and includes a wealth of reproducible forms and tools.

Conquer the most essential adaptation to the knowledge economy Psychological Safety at Work: How to Ensure Learning and Innovation in the Knowledge Economy offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent—but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of “fitting in” and “going along” spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule or intimidate. Not every idea is good, and yes there are stupid questions, and yes dissent can slow things down, but talking through these things is an essential part of the creative process. People must be allowed to voice half-finished thoughts, ask questions from left field, and brainstorm out loud; it creates a culture in which a minor flub or momentary lapse is no big deal, and where actual mistakes are owned and corrected, and where the next left-field idea could be the next big thing. This book explores this culture of psychological safety, and provides a blueprint for bringing it to life. The road is sometimes bumpy, but succinct and informative scenario-based explanations provide a clear path forward to constant learning and healthy innovation. Explore the link between psychological safety and high performance Create a culture where it’s “safe” to express ideas, ask questions, and admit mistakes Nurture the level of engagement and candor required in today’s knowledge economy Follow a step-by-step framework for establishing psychological safety in your team or organization Shed the “yes-men” approach and step into real performance. Fertilize creativity, clarify goals, achieve accountability, redefine leadership, and much more. Psychological Safety at Work: How to Ensure Learning and Innovation in the Knowledge Economy helps you bring about this most critical transformation.

A complete and practical road map to achieving unprecedented business success through digital innovation excellence In this breakthrough book, world-renowned innovation strategist Nicholas J. Webb uncovers the secrets of the world's best innovators. And what he found is that there is a new phenomenon that he calls «Digital Innovation» which is sweeping the world. In this powerful book, Webb clearly defines innovation as «the process of delivering exceptional value through active listening.» His case studies show how great organizations like Kodak, IndyCar, U.S. Army, and Southwest Airlines have used Digital Innovation to drive colossal success. Webb also discusses how Dell Computers has set up their own Digital Command Center to monitor over 70,000 keywords in over 11 languages to listen, to learn, and to ultimately invent world-class technologies. He predicts that Digital Innovation will replace the term Open Innovation and that ultimately every successful organization in the world will hire a Chief Listening Officer (CLO). Demystifies the hyper-complex world of Digital Innovation Presents comprehensive case examples of how organizations both large and small have deployed Digital Innovation methodologies to grow both sales and profit Shows how organizations are using digital media, Web 2.0, and social media to connect to their customer communities and internal stakeholders alike With free online training that will help you put theory into practice, The Digital Innovation Playbook prepares you to implement a Digital Innovation culture into your corporate life.

A clear and focused guide to creating useful user experience documentation As web sites and applications become richer and more complex, the user experience (UX) becomes critical to their success. This indispensible and full-color book provides practical guidance on this growing field and shares valuable UX advice that you can put into practice immediately on your own projects. The authors examine why UX is gaining so much interest from web designers, graduates, and career changers and looks at the new UX tools and ideas that can help you do your job better. In addition, you'll benefit from the unique insight the authors provide from their experiences of working with some of the world's best-known companies, learning how to take ideas from business requirements, user research, and documentation to create and develop your UX vision. Explains how to create documentation that clearly communicates the vision for the UX design and the blueprint for how it's going to be developed Provides practical guidance that you can put to work right away on their own projects Looks at the new UX tools and ideas that are born every day, aimed at helping you do your job better and more efficiently Covers a variety of topics including user journeys, task models, funnel diagrams, content audits, sitemaps, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and more Communicating the User Experience is an ideal resource for getting started with creating UX documentation.

This book is a user manual for understanding and deployment of open source software licensing in business. Written for lawyers and businesspeople alike, it explains and analyzes open source licensing issues, and gives practical suggestions on how to deal with open source licensing in a business context. Including useful forms, information, and both technical and licensing background, this book will help you avoid legal pitfalls and edcuate your organization about the risks of open source.

Most leaders know that a winning, engaged culture is the key to attracting top talent—and customers. Yet, it remains elusive how exactly to create this ideal workplace —one where everyone from the front lines to the board room knows the company’s values and feels comfortable and empowered to act on them. Based on Ann Rhoades’ years of experience with JetBlue, Southwest, and other companies known for their trailblazing corporate cultures, Built on Values reveals exactly how leaders can create winning environments that allow their employees and their companies to thrive. Companies that create or improve values-based cultures can become higher performers, both in customer and employee satisfaction and financial return, as proven by Rhoades’ work with JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Disney, Loma Linda University Hospitals, Doubletree Hotels, Juniper Networks, and P.F. Chang’s China Bistros. Built on Values provides a clear blueprint for how to accomplish culture change, showing: How to exceed the expectations of employees and customers How to develop a Values Blueprint tailored to your organization’s goals and put it into action Why it's essential to hire, fire, and reward people based on values alone, and How to establish a discipline for sustaining a values-centric culture Built on Values helps companies get on the pathway to greatness by showing the exact steps for either curing an ailing company culture or creating a new one from scratch.

A front-line industry insider's look at the financial technology explosion The FINTECH Book is your primary guide to the financial technology revolution, and the disruption, innovation and opportunity therein. Written by prominent thought leaders in the global fintech investment space, this book aggregates diverse industry expertise into a single informative volume to provide entrepreneurs, bankers and investors with the answers they need to capitalize on this lucrative market. Key industry developments are explained in detail, and critical insights from cutting-edge practitioners offer first-hand information and lessons learned. The financial technology sector is booming, and entrepreneurs, bankers, consultants, investors and asset managers are scrambling for more information: Who are the key players? What's driving the explosive growth? What are the risks? This book collates insights, knowledge and guidance from industry experts to provide the answers to these questions and more. Get up to speed on the latest industry developments Grasp the market dynamics of the 'fintech revolution' Realize the sector's potential and impact on related industries Gain expert insight on investment and entrepreneurial opportunities The fintech market captured over US$14 billion in 2014, a three-fold increase from the previous year. New startups are popping up at an increasing pace, and large banks and insurance companies are being pushed toward increasing digital operations in order to survive. The financial technology sector is booming and The FINTECH Book is the first crowd-sourced book on the subject globally, making it an invaluable source of information for anybody working in or interested in this space.

Achieve more, do more, create more with the power of creative courage Creative Courage challenges you to step outside of your comfort zone and truly make an impact. Set aside the same old routine and break the status quo—because you can only rise to new heights if you first smash the ceiling. Written by the former Executive Creative Director of Creations at Cirque du Soleil, this book shows you how to step up your game, flex your creativity, and make big things happen. Whether you work independently or as part of a team, whether you're self-employed or part of an organization, and even if you think creativity isn't a part of the work that you do—this book gives you the perspective, courage, and kick start you need to think differently about the things you do every day. Creative courage is more than a strategy, it's a way of life. It opens your mind—and the minds of those around you—to new approaches, new ideas, and new schools of thought that can revolutionize the way you work. This book invites you to experience the freedom and power at the intersection of courage and creativity so you can finally: Foster a more collaborative culture Bring depth and meaning to every project Turn challenge into opportunity Create work that matters The value of creative thinking extends far beyond the arts, but the work it allows you to produce has the power to touch like great art can. You gain the ability to make a more profound impact, and you inspire and motivate others to do the same; you become a catalyst for bigger, better things, driven by the enormous potential of the free-thinking mind. Creative Courage helps you break out of the box and start making things happen today.

Smart financial decisions boost more than your bottom line—they'll make you healthier and happier too! Are you one of the 90% of people who are stressed about money? If so, you know it can take its toll on every part of your life. Financial health, physical health and happiness are profoundly interconnected. It's almost impossible to enjoy any one of these without the help of the other two. The authors describe this phenomenon as the intersection of money, health, and happiness. Leveraging Your Financial Intelligence will teach you a powerful values-based approach to achieving your most important life goals. As you take steps to improve your financial well-being, you'll discover that leveraging your financial intelligence will also fuel your physical and emotional well-being. Backed by the latest research findings in neuroscience, psychology, health, and cultural anthropology, the authors' invaluable advice focuses on the practical actions you can take to improve not just your finances, but your overall life satisfaction. You'll be inspired by meeting people from all walks of life who have leveraged their financial intelligence to build financial security, promote fitness and health, and increase their daily sense of happiness. Proven recommendations from the authors' work with countless clients, along with worksheets, self-assessments, and other tools will help you apply the book's concepts to enhance your own financial, physical and emotional health. Use the strategies presented in this book to leverage your financial intelligence in a way that's tailored to your individual circumstances and allows you to create your own extraordinary intersection of money, health, and happiness.

Shake up and redefine the market by changing your game! A new generation of businesses is rising out of the maelstrom of economic and technological change across our world. These companies are shaking up the world. In Gamechangers Peter Fisk has sought out the brands and businesses, large and small, from every continent, who are changing the game… and shows how we can learn the best new approaches to strategy and leadership, innovation and marketing from them. ‘Gamechangers’ are disruptive and innovative, they are more ambitious, with stretching vision and enlightened purpose. They find their own space, then shape it in their own vision. Most of all they have great ideas. They outthink their competition, thinking bigger and different. They don’t believe in being slightly cheaper or slightly better. Why be 10% better, when you could be 10 times better? Gamechangers is built around 10 themes that are shaping the future of business, brought to life with 100 case studies from across the world, and 16 practical canvases to make the best ideas happen in your business. The book is supported by a range of seminars, workshops and digital resources. Gamechangers offers guidance on: Thinking smarter and acting faster Embracing the new tricks of business Understanding how gamechangers dream and disrupt Delivering practical results and winning