Recommended Resource – Getting to Yes

/in , /by

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In

by Roger Fisher and William Ury

About the Reference

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury recognizes that professionals are in a frequent state of negotiation and provides them with the tools needed to achieve a desirable outcome. This book probes many diverse negotiation circumstances from both sides of the debate and offers constructive, easy-to-follow methods to achieve one’s desired outcomes by:

  • Disentangling the people from the problem
  • Focusing on interests, not positions
  • Working together to find creative and fair options

These methods help the reader negotiate with anyone at any level of their organization.

Benefits of Using this Reference

StrategyDriven Contributors believe that negotiation is a key component to individual and organizational success. Getting to Yes breaks down these give and take situations; providing the immediately actionable tools needed to achieve a favorable outcome and making these situations less intimidating. If we had one criticism of the book, it would be that the authors seek to achieve a ‘fair’ or ‘equitable’ outcome for each side. While this appears admirable, it forfeits an upside gain that an effective negotiation might be able to otherwise achieve.

Getting to Yes provides a thorough, actionable negotiation tool set that is critical to every professional and organization’s success; making it a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Recommended Resource – I, Steve

/in , , /by

I, Steve: Steve Jobs in His Own Words

edited by George Beahm

About the Reference

I, Steve: Steve Jobs in His Own Words edited by George Beahm reveals Steve Jobs’ core beliefs about business in a way no other author has been able to achieve… because these insights come directly from Steve Jobs himself. George’s book systematically covers a wide range of topics from ‘Being the Best’ to ‘Risking Failure’, from ‘Passion’ to ‘Values’, and ‘Beyond Recruiting’ to ‘Firing Employees’.

Throughout I, Steve, three predominate themes are revealed:

  • the intersection between design and business values as expressed in products
  • the importance of people, teamwork, and organizational culture in achieving innovation, and
  • the necessity of cutting against conventional wisdom to fulfill what people want before they know they want it.

Benefits of Using this Reference

StrategyDriven Contributors like I, Steve because it reveals the intimate thoughts and beliefs of a man who was not only a creative genius but who was also a business giant. Most of Steve Jobs’ approaches align well with the principles and philosophies we recommend business leaders adopt to further the success of their organizations. While we recognize that some may disagree with Steve Jobs’ approach to certain circumstances – and on occasion we do too, all agree he was one of the great leaders and visionaries who has shape our modern world.

StrategyDriven Contributors appreciated the layout of I, Steve, the organization of quotes around meaningful topic areas, the dating of each quote, and Steve Jobs’ life story timeline provided at the end of the book. We found that knowing the setting and circumstances of the Steve Jobs’ quotes provided insightful context from which to interpret them. As such, we recommend first-time readers review the ‘Milestones’ timeline presented at the end of the book first and refer to it often when reading individual quotes.

For it’s intimate portrayal of an American entrepreneurial icon, I, Steve is a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Tribute to Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was one of America’s greatest entrepreneurs who has forever changed our global society. This tribute video by Antonio Marotta and Diana Casadiego was made on one of Steve Jobs’ Macs…

…and this article produced on another.

Recommended Resource – Born to Win

/in , /by

Born To Win: The Ultimate Seminar
by Zig Ziggler

About the Reference

Born To Win: The Ultimate Seminar by Zig Ziggler is an inspiring program focused on helping individuals recognize their value and potential. The program then provides insights as to how to unlock that potential by:

  • Achieving balance in seven key areas
  • Developing and maintaining a winning attitude
  • Building stronger professional and personal relationships
  • Becoming a better leader, employee, and parent through more effective communications

Benefits of Using this Reference

StrategyDriven Contributors like Born To Win because Zig recognizes what prevents many individuals from achieving their full potential and his methods provide real solutions to overcoming these barriers. His style and humor draws in seminar participants/listeners; making the principles presented easy to understand and relate to and the seminar itself engaging. If we had one criticism of the audio seminar it would be that the methods presented are not more actionably detailed.

The principles presented in Born To Win are well aligned with StrategyDriven‘s recommended personal performance improvement and leadership practices; making Born To Win a StrategyDriven recommended resource.

Recommended Resource – Make Every Second Count

/in , /by

Make Every Second Count: Time Management Tips and Techniques for More Success With Less Stress
by Robert W. Bly

About the Reference

Make Every Second Count: Time Management Tips and Techniques for More Success With Less Stress by Robert Bly presents a collection of time management and productivity tips to help knowledge workers and other professionals achieve greater levels of efficiency. Robert’s productivity methods address personal performance practices as well as the employment of technologies. While the methods presented focus on improving workplace performance, many of these methods are equally applicable to one’s personal life.

Benefits of Using this Reference

While the productivity methods presented are commonly known individually, the book itself does a good job at providing a fairly comprehensive and organization collection of productivity enhancers. This book will be particularly beneficial to those new to and entering the professional business world or to those who are reentering the professional workforce after a long-term sabbatical.

The Business of Innovation – The Responsibility Revolution

/in , /by

Innovation is the introduction of new things or methods and is the life blood of business today. Innovative companies realize remarkable marketplace rewards. The challenge before leaders is how to inspire their workforce to use the full measure of their creative power to advance the organization in new and better ways.

The Business of Innovation is a five part series created by CNBC in association with IBM. Within each episode, Maria Bartiromo and a distinguished panel of guests discuss what it takes to be an innovation leader.