Businesses thrive on creative ideas. But creativity can be terrifying. It’s not easy to open up and risk sharing your inner thoughts and ideas with others. In 99% Inspirations, Bryan W. Mattimore explores how a creative idea is made and shares with us many tools we can use to help ourselves
The man behind Zara brand is unknown to the most of us, but in the world of business, his impact is loud and clear in everyone's face. Amancio Ortega, our protagonist. Many people talk about him, but the reality is that no one really knows who he is. What we do
The key to being an effective manager is leadership. Woody Allen says that success in life is “… 20% timing and 80% just showing up.” People usually “show up” in leadership situations. But leadership success is much more than just showing up. It is the application of tested concepts and the
In 1983, Dr. Rosabeth Moss Kanterwrote The Change Masters, a practical book which had a major impact on the conduct of American business and management.Sheargued that American business was facing an unfavorable economic and social environment and in dire need of an American corporate Renaissance. In executive suites throughout America, The Change
Do things right in the first place, and you won't have to pay to fix them or do them over. Whether you manage a large plant or run your own small business, applying this simple principle of quality control will boost your profits and your career. Quality Is Free sets forth
Gemba kaizen is a Japanese business philosophy that shows how step-by-step improvements process refinements and enhancements are the surest, easiest, quickest method in maximizing productivity and quality. Defined as the real place where real action occurs, gemba is where products are developed (the lab and design table) and made (the shop floor),
Guerrilla Marketing is about taking the consumer by surprise, making an indelible impression, and creating copious amounts of social buzz. Guerrilla marketing is said to make a far more valuable impression with consumers in comparison to more traditional forms of advertising and marketing. This is due to the fact that most
Many people today are seeking to build their own winning gemba (workplace) management system, just like the one built by Taiichi Ohno at Toyota. The study and application of Kaizen (continuous improvement) and Toyota Production System has become increasingly a part of how hospitals, governments, universities, banks, mining operations, and retailers
The oil crisis in the fall of 1973 resulted in a recession of government and business, as well as society. By 1974, Japan’s economy had reached a state of zero growth and many companies were suffering and even bankrupted. But at the Toyota Motor Company, despite the declined profits, earnings were
Almost all the literature in the first 150 years or so focused on what could be called the “Character Ethic” as the foundation of success—things like integrity, humility, fidelity, temperance, courage, justice, patience, industry, simplicity, modesty and the Golden Rule. Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography is representative of that literature. It is, basically,
In this definitive and revealing history, Henry Mintzberg, the iconoclastic former president of the Strategic Management Society, unmasks the press that has mesmerized so many organizations since 1965: strategic planning. One of our most brilliant and original management thinkers, Mintzberg concludes that the term is an oxymoron—that strategy cannot be planned
The One Minute Manager is a concise, easily read story that reveals three very practical secrets: One Minute Goal, One Minute Praisings, and One Minute Reprimands. The book also presents several studies that clearly explain why these apparently simple methods work so well with so many people. By the book’s end,
The quantity of work to be done, or that the manager chooses to do, during the day is substantial and the pace is unrelenting. Why do managers adopt this pace and workload? One major reason is the inherently open-ended nature of the job. The manager must always keep going, never sure
Every professional is concerned with the use of knowledge in the achievement of objectives: the engineer as he designs equipment, the medical practitioner as he diagnoses and prescribes for the ills of his patients, and the lawyer or the architect as he serves his clients. The professional draws upon the knowledge
The Great Game of Business has become the most celebrated approach to Open-book Management, a unique and well-proven approach to running a company, based on a simple, yet powerful, belief; “When employees think, act and feel like owners… everybody wins.” In its simplest form, The Great Game of Business is a
The book is a story of Robert Kiyosaki, the author and narrator, who has two dads: the biological father (the poor one), and the other dad who was the father of his close childhood friend. Both dads taught the author how to achieve success but from different perspectives, and throughout the
When someone asks us for a quick definition of business reengineering, we say that it means starting over. It doesn't mean tinkering with what already exists or making incremental changes that leave basic structures intact. It isn't about making patchwork fixes—jury-rigging existing systems so that they work better. It does mean
The Belgian Surrealist Rene Magritte painted a series of pipes and entitled the series “Ceci n’est pas une pipe (This is not a pipe). The picture of thing is not the thing. In the same way, an organization chart is not a compandy, nor a new strategy an automatic answer to
You may not consider yourself a leader, but if you take some time thinking about your daily activities, you might discover that you are. Don’t believe? Here are some examples that may convince you: If you are good at your job to the extent that your co-workers ask for your advice,
Six Action Shoes is written by the world-renowned expert on creative thinking and author of the best-selling Six Thinking Hats and Tactics. Six Action Shoes provides a brilliant method of taking control of any business or life situation. No one can be 'perfect' in all situations, but everyone can gain from
When Motivation and Personality appeared in 1954 as the first complete statement of the new humanistic psychology, it quickly became established as a classic in the field. In this book, Maslow's work deals with the subject of the nature of human fulfillment and the significance of personal relationships, implementing a conceptualization
Management by objectives is the process of defining specific objectives within an organization that management can convey to organization members, then decide on how to achieve each objective in sequence. According to George S. Odiorne, the system of management by objectives can be described as a process whereby the superior and
Lateral thinking is the ability to think creatively, or outside the box, as it is sometimes referred to in business, to use your inspiration and imagination to solve problems by looking at them from unexpected perspectives. The term was promulgated in 1967 by Edward de Bono. According to him, lateral thinking
Is there a certain key to riches? A surefire secret to riches that is established and proven? If a secret like that exists, it can only be found in the minds of the most successful men on earth, people who built an empire from scratch. That was the task given to
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