This book of thoughts and quotations offers essential advice on business, sales, and leadership from some of history's most influential thinkers and doers. Organized into broad chapters such as Success, Motivation, Service, and Courage, these insights combine theory, practicality, and personal experiences.
Organizational consultant Walsh from TLC's Clean Sweep teaches people how they can reclaim their lives from the suffocating burden of clutter. He helps people let go of the emotional and psychological attachments of "stuff," freeing them to live the type of life that they want to live. By prioritizing posessions, determining what you really need, and organizing your home to support your desired lifestyle, he helps to free-up space, relieve stress, and reclaim lost energy to live a richer and happier life.
It is no secret that our planet and the ecosystems that collectively make it up are in danger. Climate change, pollution, loss of habitats, and the degradation of land are all threats to the environment, but more important to Corwin, they also threaten the continued survival of many of the animal species that inhabit our planet. Corwin takes readers on a global tour, showing them firsthand the damage that is being done to our natural world. Along the way, he shares the stories of conservation battles being waged and won, saving some of the planet's most endangered animal species. While these stories will certainly touch the hearts of animal-lovers, Corwin hopes that this approach will also serve as a wake-up call about the damage that people are doing to our environment by attaching faces--and heartbeats--to it.
This is the story of a small group of Special Forces soldiers who covertly entered Afghanistan shortly after 9/11. On horseback, they pursued the Taliban across mountainous terrain, fighting several intense battles, and capturing a city that was strategically essential to them. As hundreds of Afghan troops were surrendering to them, the group was ambushed, and fought for their lives in the city's fortress. This small group experienced some of the most intense fighting of the war, but their story has gone untold. Based on numerous after-action reports, interviews with more than 100 participants, and visits to the battle site, Stanton tells this exciting true story that contrasts 21st century technology with time-tested cavalry strategies, and shows that an important factor in war--regardless of the era--is humanity.
Leadership consultant Tracy asserts that great leadership depends on seven fundamental responsibilities that the best leaders are able to master. First, they set goals and follow through doing what it takes to achieve them. They work to continuously improve their products, services and processes. They are effective at solving problems and act decisively. They are able to set priorities and make effective use of time, money, and human resources. They set high standards and lead by example, and they inspire and motivate others. They use measurable, repeatable methods to get results and are judged by what they are able to achieve. This practical book includes lessons from history, the military, and successful business leaders. Each chapter is packed with thought-provoking questions and exercises that stimulate the reader to think about their own leadership style and motivations.
This book offers the latest strategies for improving energy efficiency in water treatment facilities. Addressing the needs of drinking water treatment as well as wastewater processing, chapters address energy requirements, potential sources of inefficiency, and recommended energy conservation methods for specific equipment and processes. Energy consumption estimates are presented in charts, but equations are often given so that treatment plant managers can calculate the energy savings after implementing conservation methods. This manual takes a practical approach, but offers numerous references for additional readings, particularly on specific equipment.
DeMoss suggests that instead of whining or complaining when things do not go our way, we instead begin to appreciate the goodness in our lives, regardless of the circumstances. She explores the biblical and practical aspects of what makes gratitude truly Christian. She argues that learning to respond with thanks, appreciation, and worship will help us to discover a more joyful and worthwhile life.
This book offers practical information on installing, repairing and rehabilitating pipes. It includes the latest piping codes, standards, and specification, explaining the reasons behind the designs. Materials, system components, mathematical calculations, safety, and other concerns are also discussed and explained. The book is thoroughly illustrated with both pictures and drawings to bring the explanations to life.
This playful and stimulating book is full of questions, examples, and exercises that stretch your thinking. It describes different types of thinking--for example positive or negative, left-brained or right-brained--and the kinds of ideas, conclusions, and even behavior that kind of thinking produces. The majority of the book, however, is devoted to challenging our existing ways of thinking using particular strategies, techniques, or analytical methods. Michalko argues that learning to use some of these new thinking strategies will result in increased creativity, a broader range of ideas, and new ways of solving problems. He recommends "playing" with these "toys" rather than reading this book in a traditional way from cover to cover. Many of these "toys" would also make outstanding team enrichment exercises or materials for workshops.
Bahamon and Perez gather together architectural work that was inspired by world geology--from crystals to volcanoes. Full of colorful illustrations and architectural plans, these selections show how geological formations can form the basis for modern design of all types and sizes. Natural materials play a starring role in many of these buildings, and not surprisingly, particular attention has been paid to providing sustainable building solutions.
Investigative journalist Rashid explains how religious repression, political corruption, and extreme poverty have created a climate conducive to the growth of militant Islam. Similar to his findings about the support of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Central Asian republics--Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan--are now active sites of the growth of militant organizations such as Al-Quaeda. He describes the activities and goals of these organnizations, and offers suggestions for reducing or neutralizing this threat and stabilizing the region.
The American Society of Civil Engineers is the leading professional association for Civil Engineering in the United States. In the society's code of ethics is the statement that "Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public..." In this context, then, it examines what went wrong with the built structures that protected the city of New Orleans from the Mississippi River and teh Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest storms on record to hit the coast of the United states. However, the failure of the hurricane protection system that had comforted the city brought about some of the most costly destruction that our country has ever seen. This brief book outlines the causes of that disaster and the decisions that contributed to it.
Advances in technology have enabled our access to a tremendous amount of information--whether it entertains us, allows us to collaborate and communicate, or become more involved in our government and society. However, this same technology has some drawbacks. Is email really private? How do search engines determine which results to present to you when you do a search? Technology is breaking long-held beliefs and assumptions about privacy, identity, freedom of expression, and personal control as our lives are captured as digital data. This book serves as a wake-up call to the human consequences of the technology behind the digital explosion.
The Sustainability Project offers twelve books, each focusing on a single challenge that is posed by globalization. In this book, water is examined. It is essential to life for every living thing. However, today approximately 1/3 of the world already has difficulty finding safe, clean water. This percentage is likely to rise to 2/3 over the next 25 years. This book shows what kinds of water resources conflicts are likely to arise and offers ideas for possible solutions.
This book examines busyness. A certain amount of busyness is necessary for life, but for many people, it has begun to consume them, run them ragged, and get them nowhere. In a world that drives us to always want more--more money, more activity, more stuff, more friends--Lesser's book explains the benefits of stopping. This book is about finding peace in the middle of activity. Lesser outlines a simple, yet radical approach to transforming your life from an endless list of to-do's to a more meaningful, productive, and less hectic one.
The United Nations estimates that the population of the world will grow to 9 billion by 2050. At the current usage rates, this would mean that by only 2030, we would need to consume 50% more natural resources to support this population growth. Pollution, greenhouse gases, and other negative effects would also increase by 50% during this period. In short, we must do something to curb our consumption of natural resources and production of waste. The Sustainability Project believes that this is only possible if changing our behavior makes economic sense. In short, sustainable behavior must pay off. This book outlines the economic conditions needed to achieve the goal of sustainable development in Europe and around the world. It also explains incentives for sustainable economic management. This is one of twelve books by the Sustainability project which address projects posed by globalization and population growth, and offer practical solutions for the 21st century.
America knows him as the pilot who made the remarkable emergency landing on the Hudson River in January, 2009. Capt. Sullenburger describes himself more simply as a pilot who believes that personal judgment must be used along with technology. He is a man who has trained, practiced, and worked hard for over 40 years, as a pilot, a husband, and a father. He describes learning to fly and his experiences in the Air Force, highlighting experiences that he believes have made him a better leader. What stands out about this man, however, are his values. He believes in taking responsibility for everyone in his care--a belief that certainly was put into action during his Hudson River landing. He also talks about his belief in the American "can do" spirit, which drives people to prepare for the unexpected and to meet those challenges with optimism and courage. This is the intimate life story of a man with traditional American values--hard work, responsibility, service to others--and a tale in how cultivating these seemingly ordinary traits can prepare someone to perform extraordinary acts.
Most of us spend our lives accumulating "stuff"--whether it is a desk covered with papers, a closet overflowing with clothes, a kitchen crammed with dishes, or a basement that hides boxes that we don't want to see. Most of this "stuff," Palmer asserts, carries negative emotions for us, and is holding us back, making us feel guilty, or quashing our spirit. By throwing out or giving away items we do not need, he believes that we can free ourselves from this negativity and unlock our potential. This book is loaded with anecdotal stories and practical tips for deciding what to keep and what to toss. The book is based on the idea that people may be scared to change, but by changing their surroundings, they are in fact, changing themselves. He also addresses the addictive nature of holding on to "stuff."
Most organizations practice strategic planning in one form or anther. They benefit from having a plan to follow, as well as from the planning process, which brings together requires that organizations and the employees and work groups within in communicate clear roles, products and services they provide, and work together to determine how to reach their goals. This provides a "just follow these steps" method to writing a strategic plan. It offers examples, worksheets, case studies, and tools that can be used along the way so that this method can be used by managers without previous strategic planning experience.
Evidence increases to show that the climate on the earth is changing. At the same time, natural resources such as water, energy-producing fossil fuels, and other resources are decreasing in supply. We must examine what we can do to appropriately limit our demand for these dwindling resources, knowing that the changes that we make will likely have an effect on patterns of human settlement as well as the way that we live our lives. This book looks at the history of the American Southwest and climatically similar areas to propose new--and sometimes very old--solutions to the challenges that we face. Some of these solutions can be found in designs that are used. Other solutions can be found in the way that people interact with the built and natural environment, forming communities, choosing where to build on land, and how to marshal water and energy resources. Among these proposed solutions are practical guidelines for creating affordable, evergy efficient, and environmentally sustainable living spaces.
