How to Live a Low-Carbon Life

Global warming is one of the greatest challenges facing us today--certainly the most significant threat to our planet. Scientists and environmentalists assert that we must change our behavior to stop or possibly even reverse this trend. Goodall states that each individual must change their behavior to accomplish this. He shows numerous simple ways to reduce your carbon consumption as well as ways to calculate your carbon footprint. Although this book focuses on British and other European appliances, transportation, and other daily conveniences, the ideas discussed here apply regardless of where you are living.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

How to Live a Low-Carbon Life: The Individual's Guide to Stopping Climate Change
Chris Goodall
QC 879.8 .G62 2007

The Impulse Factor

We make hundreds, or even thousands of decisions every day. For some, the cautious option is the usual choice, but others follow their impulse to try something new or more risky. Being impulsive is usually viewed negatively, but we must remember that following these impulses can result in new entrepreneurial businesses, acts of heroism during crises, and game-changing innovations. Tasler explores the biological and personality factors that drive impulsive behavior and show the role that they play in our personal and day-to-day lives. Armed with some knowledge of what makes us cautious or impulsive, he helps us to appreciate the opposite tendency and work toward a balance between the two.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

The Impulse Factor: An Innovative Approach to Better Decision Making
Nick Tasler
BF 611 .T37 2009

Coaching Corporate MVPs

Butteriss defines corporate MVPs as the employees in any company who contribute the most to its value. They are highly motivated, aware of their strengths and failures, eager to learn, and hungry for feedback and results from their actions. Although they are only 5%-10% of any organization, managing these employees and providing sufficient developmental opportunities for them can be a challenge. Many organizations approach this by developing one-on-one coaching relationships between senior employees or external mentors and their MVPs. Butteriss also describes partnerships between direct supervisors and human resources departments to line up "stretch" assignments that allow these employees to develop and grow, while providing them with ways to see their impact to their organizations and move up the career ladder. An appendix of assessment tools is included here to help identify MVPs within an organization as well as to help them become more aware of their leadership, communication, and personality styles.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Coaching Corporate MVPs: Challenging and Developing High-Potential Employees
Margaret Butteriss
HF 5549.5 .C53 B88 2008

The Project Management Tool Kit

This book is a collection of techniques to manage project tasks of all sorts--from presentations to metrics, managing change to managing risk. It defines each task in easy-to-understand language, explains when and why it would be used in managing a project, and provides concrete steps showing how the task can be accomplished. This book refers to numerous other tools, particularly types of charts, graphical software programs, and the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) methodology for project management, but may not define them completely. This book is a nice quick-start or refresher for those who manage projects from time to time, but it may prompt you to consult with other materials to thoroughly explain particular processes.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

The Project Management Tool Kit: 100 Tips and Techniques for Getting the Job Done Right
Tom Kendrick
HD 69 .P75 K462 2004

Satisfaction

This book captures more than 30 years of knowledge and expertise about customer satisfaction. Based on the data captured through numerous surveys, Denove and Power share the trends and observations that demonstrate that customer satisfaction is directly related to company success and profitability. At the same time, they find that higher employee happiness, usually resulting from the freedom to make decisions that they feel do the "right thing" for their customers, also directly impact the customer's satisfaction with the company and its profitability. The authors share tips on what customers value and what they don't, how companies can get information from their customers, and how companies can change their behavior to better mirror the traits that their customers want to see.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Satisfaction: How Every Great Company Listens to the Voice of the Customer
Chris Denove and James D. Power IV
HF 5415.355 .D46 2007

Mega Disasters

Why do disasters so often catch us by surprise--and therefore unprepared? This book looks at the science and mathematics behind predicting natural disasters and financial crashes. It describes true stories of people whose lives are impacted by these events, while at the same time detailing the work of scientists and mathematical modelers who are working feverishly to predict the next disaster and minimize it horrible impact.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Mega Disasters: The Science of Predicting the Next Catastrophe
Florin Diacu
GB 5014 .D53 2010

The Punishment of Virtue

Chayes spent five years living in Afghanistan, dressing as a man so that she would not draw attention. Working from a border town, she learned about the Afghani tribes, playing on their stereotypes of one another to fit in. She adopted local customs, including fasting during Ramadan, helping her to see the situation from the Afghani point of view. She lived among the people, learning the truth about the economy and how fragile democracy is built and even more easily destroyed. She met heads of state, tribal leaders, warlords, insurgents, opium traders, politicians, and intelligence agents--all of whom were competing for power in this turbulent time.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

The Punishment of Virtue: Walking the Afghan Frontline of the War on Terror with a Woman who has Made it her Home
Sarah Chayes
DS 371.4 .C45 2007

The Happiness Project

"The days are long, but the years are short." Rubin's epiphany one rainy afternoon made her realize that she did not focus her life on what really matters, so she set out on a year-long project to become happier. This book is a chronicle of that year--what she tried, as well as the lessons that she learned. Each month, she tackled a new set of resolutions--from boosting energy, making time for friends, and simply paying mindful attention to what is going on. This project has not only made the author happier, but now inspires millions of others who follow in her footsteps using her tools through the Happiness Project Toolbox.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean my Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
Gretchen Rubin
BF 575 .H27 R83 2009

Leadership and the Sexes

This book brings together the science of male-female brain differences to their role as business leaders. It offers tools that can be used to help understand one another. These GenderTools explain specific differences between male and female tendencies and how these may affect workplace behaviors. They also offer strategies and techniques for understanding others better. Communication, teamwork, conflict resolution, negotiation and coaching scenarios are all specifically addressed.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Leadership and the Sexes: Using Gender Science to Create Success in Business
Michael Gurian with Barbara Annis
HD 57.7 .G87 2008

Design Ecologies

Architects are under increasing pressure to design buildings that are sustainable. With all of the focus on green building, there has been little discussion about the connections between artictectural design, ecology, and environmentalism. This book tries to make these connections, linking what people do with the biological world in which we live. It demonstrates that design strategies, whether intuitive or technological, may be based in social, material, or ecological ideals.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Design Ecologies: Essays on the Nature of Design
ed. by Lisa Tilder and Beth Blostein
NK 1520 .D465 2010

Fort Randall on the Missouri, 1856-1892

Established on the Missouri River near present-day South Dakota, Fort Randall served as an important western frontier outpost for the mid-19th century American Army. Greene chronicles the establishment of the post and describes the day-to-day activities of troops who supported expeditions into the Black Hills region. This post is notable in American history because the "Buffalo Soldiers" of the 25th Infantry were garrissoned there, and Sioux leader Sitting Bull and his followers were confined there beteen 1881 and 1883. Based on personal letters, official reports, and other primary sources, this book provides an interesting view into our western history

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Fort Randall on the Missouri, 1856-1892
Jerome A. Greene
F 659 b.F678 G74 2005

Borrowing Brilliance

Murray asserts that there is no such thing as an original idea. Instead, he believes that great thinkers and successful inventors and businessmen borrow ideas from others. This is a controversial concept, challenging the notion of authorship and intellectual property. In this book, Murray takes readers step-by-step through his thought process--some of it analytical and some of it non-traditional--teaching them a six-step "borrowing" process that anyone can use to innovate in the business environment. Murray combines practical ideas with anecdotes about "brilliant borrowers," both past and present.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Borrowing Brilliance: The Six Steps to Business Innovation by Building on the Ideas of Others
David Kord Murray
HD 53 .M87 2009

Lives of the Trees

This book shares the historical origins of the names of trees, their medicinal uses, and their uses in art and literature. These tree "biographies" show us what trees have meant to world cultures throughout history and how they continue to be important to us today.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Lives of the Trees: An Uncommon History
Diana Wells
GR 785 .W45 2010

Viral Loop

Pennenberg defines a "viral loop" as technology that you have to spread to use. After all, what is the use of being on Facebook if none of your friends are there too? He describes how successful entrepreneurs have harnessed this idea to create successful and profitable online businesses. The trick, he believes, is to create a product that customers really want so that they spread the word about it to others. Other kinds of companies can use this same concept to enable their businesses using technology

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today's Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves
Adam L. Penenberg
HF 5415.1265 .P46 2009

Critical Thinking

This text offers readers the "intellectual tools that they need for lifelong learning and rational, conscientious living." It teaches how to think deliberately, to analyze and evaluate reasoning, and to make decisions and solve problems. It points out some of the barriers to thinking critically, including bias, ego, and socioeconomic conditioning. Full of "do it yourself" exercises, questions, and problems, this book will help you to become a more clear, rational, and conscientious thinker.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Critical Thinking: Tools for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Your Life
2nd ed.
Richard Paul and Linda Elder
BF 441 .P385 2006

Nanotechnology

The field of nanotechnology spans a range of scientific fields, all of which are investigating the manipulation of materials at the atomic and molecular level. At this scale, the principles of Newtonian physics--gravity, electricity, and magnetism--are no longer dominant, and instead the laws of quantum mechanics prevail. Nanotechnology holds much promise for scientific learning as well as practical application in technological, medical, and other related fields. Unlike the huge breakthroughs that have marked scientific discovery in the past, experts predict that the field of nanotechnology will be marked by numerous smaller discoveries. In 2003, Congress passed legislation supporting research and development in the area of nanotechnology. Isn't it about time that we understand what potential effects this may have on our society?

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Nanotechnology: Science, Innovation, and Opportunity
Lynn E. Foster
T 174.7 .F68 2006

Rewilding the World

Scientists warn us that half of the plants and animals on our planet may disappear by the end of the century. This would leave the earth unable to support human life. Fraser advocates an innovative way of combating this loss of species and our environment--rewilding. This ambitious approach to conservation attempts to save species by restoring their habitats, recreating animal migratory pathways, and teaching humans how to coexist with their animal neighbors. She describes how rewilding efforts are currently underway on nearly every continent and illustrates how the creation of animal sanctuaries has had measurable effect preserving some endangered species.

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Rewilding the World: Dispatches from the Conservation Revolution
Caroline Fraser
QH 75 .F738 2009

Fierce Leadership

This book highlights the "best" practices that have been identified from major companies over the last decade and suggests an alternative to them. Scott asserts that many of the business practices that we have been taught to follow are simply wrong and are, in fact, costing the companies that use them billions of dollars each year, driving away customers, and hurting their own employees by limiting their performance, holding back their careers, or even pushing them out of the company. Scott puts forward alternatives to employee feedback, hiring practices, customer focus, holding people accountable, and other common organizational practices. She also discusses how to identify hurtful business practices by observing with our "squid eye."

This book can be found in HECSA Library:

Fierce Leadership: A Bold Alternative to the Worst "Best" Practices of Businesses Today
Susan Scott
HD 57.7 .S426 2009