The Firefly Effect. Build Teams That Capture Creativity and Catapult Results

Praise for RESULTS RULE! «What on earth could pre-thawed turkeys, Eva the dolphin, and toothpaste tubes squeezed from the middle have to do with the success of your business? Everything. Results Rule! is that rare business book that you can't put down, and you shouldn't, because the lessons within aren't just helpful, they're vitally important. Don't put Results Rule! on the stack of books you mean to read soon. Buy it, take it home, and read every word before your competitor does.» –Joe Calloway, author of Indispensable: How to Become the Company That Your Customers Can't Live Without «Most business books give you everything you need and want to do, except the only thing that matters–getting results. This book is well written, with great examples, stories, and real advice that will actually show you how to improve your results. Buy it–read it–heed it–and watch your results improve.» –Larry Winget, author of Shut Up, Stop Whining & Get a Life «Results Rule! delivers practical ideas that will keep your organization on course for success in a competitive marketplace. Randy Pennington offers ideas that work if you are on the frontline or in the executive suite. He has nailed the essence and importance of culture.» –Howard Putnam, former CEO, Southwest Airlines author of The Winds of Turbulence «If you hate your competition, it's because they're beating you. If you want your competition to hate YOU–read Randy Pennington's book, and give it to all your people.» –Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Little Red Book of Selling «Six rock solid concepts plus real examples in a quick and easy read equal real results. A guide to differentiating your organization in the marketplace.» –M. Cass Wheeler, CEO, American Heart Association «Randy's business savvy and expertise are evident throughout this book. His thoughtful analyses produce vital points for any business that wants to grow and thrive in the twenty-first century.» –Nido Qubein, President, High Point University Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Company «In a very engaging, quick read, Randy Pennington cuts through the hype of most management bestsellers to propose a deceptively simple premise–a culture that never loses focus on the desired result and always wins. Pennington takes you by the hand and shows you how to take an honest look at your own organization, then act immediately to create and nurture a culture that achieves results day in and day out. Results Rule! is one of those rare books you'll keep close at hand for years to come.» –Marci Armstrong, PhD, Associate Dean, Masters Programs Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University

Create simple, engaging, and effective outputs that actually get results Billions of corporate dollars are spent every year on initiatives to help people succeed in their job, but much of it goes to waste. Across industries, people are scrambling to find what they need to grow and improve at work, and executives are left wondering why these initiatives aren’t effective. Author Juliana Stancampiano has plumbed the depths of this massive disconnect with her team. With this book, she bridges the gap. Radical Outcomes is a blueprint for a new way of working. Instead of taking old methods and retrofitting them for new technology, Stancampiano unveils a collaborative, fast, and effective way of working that avoids randomness and organizational drag. The book offers a new way of working—the future of the way people and teams will work together. Find out how to get tangible results through a structured process Cut through noise and information overload to give people what they really need Design the right output for the right outcome Improve and succeed no matter where you are in the organization Find out how to create radical outcomes through high performing teams—and get started today.

Today's communities—whether they are currently strong, or struggling to survive—face difficult challenges if they want to be tomorrow's healthy, vibrant communities. The challenge for leaders and citizens of modern communities is not just to solve specific problems today. Their real challenge is to keep learning from their experience so they can keep improving their communities tomorrow. Results That Matter will provide a new governance framework for using valuable tools of community improvement—especially performance measurement and citizen engagement—to empower communities to achieve the outcomes their citizens most desire. Government and nonprofit managers will learn how to combine these tools in new ways, not only to achieve one-time improvement of their organizations and communities, but to foster continual community renewal and improvement. The benefits and practicality of the framework and related practices will be reinforced by case examples from 25 communities across the country. The book will offer «how to» guidance to public and nonprofit managers, including promising practices for effective communities, and new roles for citizens, community leaders, and managers.

Ask the right questions and get improved, sustained employee performance Since technology has made it easy to access, share, and distribute company data, many managers avoid live interaction, instead relying on emails, text messages, Web-based seminars to manage their employees. But although technology has changed, people have not. There is still a need for effective face-to-face communication; managers need to have the ability to ask the right questions and use the answers to find solutions. Questions That Get Results is an innovative, powerful resource that provides managers with the questions that lead to real answers for motivating employees, minimizing conflicting priorities, maximizing working relationships, building trust, holding the team accountable, coaching for greater performance, selling ideas, creating change, hiring the best candidates, and negotiating solutions to internal and external conflicts. Each chapter profiles a manager who is struggling to communicate, an otherwise successful leader who is simply missing an element in their managerial toolkit Following each profile are practical tools that will assist any manager faced with a similar situation Together the authors train approximately 30,000 professionals per year Increase your effectiveness and bring out the best in your employees by learning the Questions That Get Results.

Businesses can do well by doing good – Kotler, Hessekiel, and Lee show you how! Marketing guru Philip Kotler, cause marketing authority David Hessekiel, and social marketing expert Nancy Lee have teamed up to create a guide rich with actionable advice on integrating marketing and corporate social initiatives into your broader business goals. Businesspeople who mix cause and commerce are often portrayed as either opportunistic corporate «causewashers» cynically exploiting nonprofits, or visionary social entrepreneurs for whom conducting trade is just a necessary evil in their quest to create a better world. Marketing and corporate social initiatives requires a delicate balancing act between generating financial and social dividends. Good Works is a book for business builders, not a Corporate Social Responsibility treatise. It is for capitalists with the hearts and smarts to generate positive social impacts and bottom-line business results. Good Works is rich with actionable advice on integrating marketing and corporate social initiatives into your broader business goals. Makes the case that purpose-driven marketing has moved from a nice-to-do to a must-do for businesses Explains how to balance social and business goals Author Philip Kotler is one of the world's leading authorities on marketing; David Hessekiel is founder and President of Cause Marketing Forum, the world's leading information source on how to do well by doing good; Nancy Lee is a corporate social marketing expert, and has coauthored books on social marketing with Philip Kotler With Good Works, you'll find that you can generate significant resources for your cause while achieving financial success.

Praise For Results That Last «Quint Studer is a superb communicator with a deep belief in the power of relationships. His informal tone, sense of humor, and real-world stories bring his business principles to life. Results That Last has a vital, optimistic quality that will keep readers re-reading long after other leadership books have been relegated to a dark corner of the shelf.» –Nido Qubein, author of How to Get Anything You Want; President, High Point University; Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Company; and founder, National Speakers Association Foundation «Results That Last is long overdue and fills a big gap in effective business management. There are legions of books that show us the way to achieve successful results in business, but very few that teach us how to institutionalize success. In reality, achieving success is the easy part. The real challenge is to achieve results that last. Quint Studer not only proves it is possible to hardwire a culture for lasting results, but lays out a simple, logical, and effective way to do so. Anyone who wants to make success a habit needs to read this book.» –Bob MacDonald, former CEO, Allianz Life of North America and author of Beat the System: 11 Secrets to Building an Entrepreneurial Culture in a Bureaucratic World «I have always been fascinated by how the various parts of an organization work together to achieve strategic objectives. In Results That Last, Quint Studer explores the complex subject of performance improvement in a fresh, readable, and easy-to-grasp way. By standardizing certain business practices and leader behaviors, any company in any field can create an environment that allows it to achieve and sustain long-term results.» –David F. Giannetto, coauthor of The Performance Power Grid: The Proven Method to Create and Sustain Superior Organizational Performance

Two leading experts present a new approach to help teams nurture extraordinary experiences and excel Occasionally we participate in a group that inspires us to describe the experience as «powerful» or simply «wow.» Why are some teams described in such exceptional terms, while most are not? Bellman and Ryan argue that an extraordinary group emerges when a group experience satisfies two or more core needs that members intuitively bring to any group they join. Based on extensive research, the book presents the Group Needs Model to help anyone nurture extraordinary experiences in their groups and achieve outstanding results. Introduces a new approach for creating extraordinary experiences and results in teams Identifies the key characteristics that define exceptional teams Describes the Group Needs Model for encouraging extraordinary experiences and team success A timely resource for anyone who leads groups including HR and OD professionals, managers, executives, nonprofit managers and directors, virtual teams leaders, and trainers

The Architect's Brain: Neuroscience, Creativity, and Architecture is the first book to consider the relationship between the neurosciences and architecture, offering a compelling and provocative study in the field of architectural theory. Explores various moments of architectural thought over the last 500 years as a cognitive manifestation of philosophical, psychological, and physiological theory Looks at architectural thought through the lens of the remarkable insights of contemporary neuroscience, particularly as they have advanced within the last decade Demonstrates the neurological justification for some very timeless architectural ideas, from the multisensory nature of the architectural experience to the essential relationship of ambiguity and metaphor to creative thinking

The missing how-to manual for being an effective team leader The Art of Coaching Teams is the manual you never received when you signed on to lead a team. Being a great teacher is one thing, but leading a team, or team development, is an entirely different dynamic. Your successes are public, but so are your failures—and there's no specific rubric or curriculum to give you direction. Team development is an art form, and this book is your how-to guide to doing it effectively. You'll learn the administrative tasks that keep your team on track, and you'll gain access to a wealth of downloadable tools that simplify the «getting organized» process. Just as importantly, you'll explore what it means to be the kind of leader that can bring people together to accomplish difficult tasks. You'll find practical suggestions, tools, and clear instructions for the logistics of team development as well as for building trust, developing healthy communication, and managing conflict. Inside these pages you'll find concrete guidance on: Designing agendas, making decisions, establishing effective protocols, and more Boosting your resilience, understanding and managing your emotions, and meeting your goals Cultivating your team's emotional intelligence and dealing with cynicism Utilizing practical tools to create a customized framework for developing highly effective teams There is no universal formula for building a great team, because every team is different. Different skills, abilities, personalities, and goals make a one-size-fits-all approach ineffective at best. Instead, The Art of Coaching Teams provides a practical framework to help you develop your group as a whole, and keep the team moving toward their common goals.

A proven approach for helping leaders and teams work together to achieve better decisions, greater commitment, and stronger results More than ever, effective leadership requires us to work as a team, but many leaders struggle to get the results they need. When stakes are high, you can't get great results by just changing what you do. You also need to change how you think. Organizational psychologist and leadership consultant Roger Schwarz applies his 30+ years of experience working with leadership teams to reveal how leaders can drastically improve results by changing their individual and team mindset. Provides practical guidance to help teams increase decision quality, decrease implementation time, foster innovation, get commitment, reduce costs and increase trust Outlines 5 core values leadership teams can adopt to exponentially improve results Author of The Skilled Facilitator and The Skilled Facilitator Fieldbook Get the results you and your team need. Start by applying the practical wisdom of Smart Leaders, Smarter Teams.