Iconoclast, by Gregory Berns

No organization can survive without iconoclasts — innovators who single-handedly upturn conventional wisdom and manage to achieve what so many others deem impossible.Though indispensable, true iconoclasts are few and far between. In Iconoclast, neuroscientist Gregory Berns explains why. He explores the constraints the human brain places on innovative thinking, including fear of failure, the urge to conform, and the tendency to interpret sensory information in familiar ways.

Through vivid accounts of successful innovators ranging from glass artist Dale Chihuly to physicist Richard Feynman to country/rock trio the Dixie Chicks, Berns reveals the inner workings of the iconoclast’s mind with remarkable clarity. Each engaging chapter goes on to describe practical actions we can each take to understand and unleash our own potential to think differently — such as seeking out new environments, novel experiences, and first-time acquaintances.

Packed with engaging stories, science-based insights, potent practices, and examples from a startling array of disciplines, this engaging book will help you understand how iconoclasts think and equip you to begin thinking more like an iconoclast yourself.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gregory Berns, MD, PhD, is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University. He has written for numerous science publications and has been interviewed on National Public Radio, CNN, and ABC’s Primetime. He has been profiled frequently in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and other media.

Mastering the Hype Cycle, by Jackie Fenn and Mark Raskino

It happens over and over again. Some innovation (a new product, a management trend) comes along that captures the public’s imagination. Everybody joins the parade with great fanfare and high expectations. This “next big thing” promises to transform the companies that adopt it — and inflict great peril on those that don’t.

Then, when the innovation fails to deliver as promised immediately, everyone starts bailing out. Investments are wasted; stock prices plunge; disillusionment sets in.

It doesn’t have to be this way. In Mastering the Hype Cycle, Jackie Fenn and Mark Raskino explain what drives this pattern and how your company can avoid its potential dangers. By understanding the hype cycle, you can ride it more skillfully — timing your investment decisions so that the innovations you adopt stand the best chance of succeeding in the long-term.

Drawing on company examples and Gartner’s proven STREET (Scope, Track, Rank, Evaluate, Evangelize, Transfer) framework, the authors show how to orchestrate the key steps in the innovation-adoption process — from choosing which innovations to take on and when in their life cycle you should adopt, to paving the way for a successful introduction.

The hype cycle isn’t going away. But this book arms you with the strategies you need to ride the crest of a new idea to success — and steer clear of the trough of disillusionment.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Jackie Fenn is a vice president and Gartner Fellow in Gartner Research. She focuses on innovation management issues and emerging technology trends. Mark Raskino is a vice president and Gartner Fellow in Gartner Research, specializing in emerging trends.

The Innovator’s Guide to Growth, by Scott Anthony, Mark Johnson, Joseph Sinfield, and Elizabeth Altman

“…the authors have provided a model that should help companies spot and seize opportunities for growth.” — Financial Times

More than a decade ago, Clayton Christensen’s breakthrough book The Innovator’s Dilemma illustrated how disruptive innovations drive industry transformation and market creation. Christensen’s research demonstrated how growth-seeking incumbents must develop the capability to deflect disruptive attacks and seize disruptive opportunities.

In The Innovator’s Guide to Growth, Scott Anthony, Mark Johnson, Joseph Sinfield, and Elizabeth Altman take the subject to the next level: implementation. The authors explain how to create this crucial capability for unlocking disruption’s transformational power. With a foreword by Christensen, this book provides a set of market-proven tools and approaches to innovation that have been honed through fieldwork with innovative companies like Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Pepsi, Intel, Motorola, SAP, and Cisco Systems. The book shows you how to:

• Follow a market-proven process — so your company can reliably create blockbuster businesses
• Create structures, systems, and metrics — so the disruptive innovations that will power your firm’s future growth receive the funding and personnel needed to succeed
• Create a common language of disruptive innovation — so managers can reach consensus around counterintuitive courses of action

Incisive and practical, this book helps your company take the steps necessary to benefit from disruption — instead of being eclipsed by it.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Scott D. Anthony is president of Innosight, a consultancy cofounded by Clayton Christensen that helps organizations build innovation expertise. Mark W. Johnson is chairman and cofounder of Innosight. Joseph V. Sinfield is a senior partner at Innosight and an assistant professor of civil engineering at Purdue University. Elizabeth J. Altman is vice president of strategy and business development in Motorola’s Mobile Devices business.

Ben Bernanke’s Fed, by Ethan Harris

How will Bernanke’s leadership affect the Fed’s actions in the coming years? How will Bernanke build on Greenspan’s success, but also put his own stamp on the Fed? What will all this imply for businesses and investors? In Ben Bernanke’s Fed, Ethan Harris provides exceptional insights into these crucial issues.

As a leading “Fed watch” economist, Harris draws on Bernanke’s academic research, his speeches as a governor of the Fed, and his first two years on the job to shed light on:

• How the Federal Reserve analyzes and manages the economy using a synthesis of classical and Keynesian theory
• Bernanke’s strategies for fighting inflation
• The implications of the new chair’s remarkably plain-spoken style
• How Bernanke has cultivated diverse viewpoints but still builds consensus within the Fed

Engaging and discerning, this book demystifies the man who has stepped into what many describe as the second most powerful job in America.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ethan S. Harris is a member of Lehman Brothers’ Global Economics team. A U.S. chief economist, he started his career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, joining Lehman Brothers in 1996.

Harris was recently named top economic forecaster by the Wall Street Journal.

Failure to Communicate, by Holly Weeks

Your stomach’s churning; you’re hyperventilating — you’re in a badly deteriorating conversation at work. Such exchanges, which run the gamut from firing subordinates to parrying verbal attacks from colleagues, are so loaded with anger, confusion, and fear that most people handle them poorly: they avoid them, clamp down, or give in.

But dodging issues, appeasing difficult people, and mishandling tough encounters all carry a high price for managers and companies — in the form of damaged relationships, ruined careers, and intensified problems.

In Failure to Communicate, Holly Weeks shows how to master the combat mentality, emotional maelstrom, and confusion that poison difficult conversations. Drawing on her many years as a consultant and coach to leaders and executives, the author explains:

· Why we turn to ineffective tactics when the heat is on

· How to avoid the worst pitfalls of difficult conversations, and how to pull yourself out if you fall in

· Ways to regain your balance and inject respect into stressful conversations, even when you’ve been confronted, infuriated, or wronged

· Strategies for mitigating aggression and defensiveness, and for clearing the fog of misconceptions

· How to get through the hardest conversations with your reputation and relationships intact

Using proven techniques paired with detailed real-life examples, Weeks equips you with the strategies and practices you need to transform even the toughest conversations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Holly Weeks is an independent consultant and the president of Holly Weeks Communications in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She teaches at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge.

Data Driven, by Thomas Redman

Your company’s data has the potential to add enormous value to every facet of the organization—from marketing and new product development to strategy to financial management. Yet if your company is like most, it’s not using its data to create strategic advantage. Data sits around unused—or incorrect data fouls up operations and decision making.

In Data Driven, Thomas Redman, the “Data Doc,” shows how to leverage and deploy data to sharpen your company’s competitive edge and enhance its profitability. The author reveals:

· The special properties that make data such a powerful asset

· The hidden costs of flawed, outdated, or otherwise poor-quality data

· How to improve data quality for competitive advantage

· Strategies for exploiting your data to make better business decisions

· The many ways to bring data to market

· Ideas for dealing with political struggles over data and concerns about privacy rights

Your company’s data is a key business asset, and you need to manage it aggressively and professionally. Whether you’re a top executive, an aspiring leader, or a product-line manager, this eye-opening book provides the tools and thinking you need to do that.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thomas C. Redman is President of Navesink Consulting Group and was the first to extend quality principles to data and information. He is the author of Data Quality: The Field Guide, Data Quality for the Information Age, and Data Quality: Management and Technology.

A Sense of Urgency, by John Kotter

Most organizational change initiatives fail spectacularly (at worst) or deliver lukewarm results (at best). In his international bestseller Leading Change, John Kotter revealed why change is so hard, and provided an actionable, eight-step process for implementing successful transformations. The book became the change bible for managers worldwide.

Now, in Urgency, Kotter shines the spotlight on the crucial first step in his framework: creating a sense of urgency by getting people to actually see and feel the need for change.

Why focus on urgency? Without it, any change effort is doomed. Kotter reveals the insidious nature of complacency in all its forms and guises.

In this exciting new book, Kotter explains:

· How to go beyond “the business case” for change to overcome the fear and anger that can suppress urgency

· Ways to ensure that your actions and behaviors — not just your words — communicate the need for change

· How to keep fanning the flames of urgency even after your transformation effort has scored some early successes

Written in Kotter’s signature no-nonsense style, this concise and authoritative guide helps you set the stage for leading a successful transformation in your company.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John P. Kotter is Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School, and is widely regarded as the world’s foremost authority on leadership and change. His has been the premier voice on how the best organizations actually do change.