With extensive case studies for illustration, this is a practitioner's guide to an entirely new production system for construction management using flowline scheduling. Covering the entire process of presenting a comprehensive management system – from design, through measurement, scheduling, and visualization and control – its emphasis is on reducing cost and increasing quality. Drawing its components together into a management system, the authors not only include theory and explanations of how and why it works, but also examine and present a suite of methods for successful project implementation. Perfect as a how-to guide for researchers and advanced construction students to discover the simple application of the new techniques, and invaluable for acquiring the practical tools for planning and controlling projects. 4.0 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 1 customer reviews.

Building the Empire State by Carol Willis A rediscovered 1930s notebook charts the construction of the Empire State Building. The construction of the Empire State Building was orchestrated by general contractors Starrett Brothers and Eken, premier "skyline builders" of the 1920s. They scheduled the delivery of materials and the construction and recorded daily the number of workers by trade. Compiled from these records, an in-house notebook documented the construction process. Meticulously typed on graph paper and illustrated with construction photographs, this unique document combines a professional specificity of detail with a charming rhapsody to the firm's crowning achievement. Constructed in eleven months, the 1250-foot Empire State Building, the world's tallest skyscraper from 1931 to 1971, was a marvel of modern engineering. The frame rose more than a story a day; no comparable building since has matched that rate of ascent. 4.7 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 6 customer reviews.

During the past several decades, the manufacturing and service industries significantly increased their levels of productivity, quality, and profitability through the application of process improvement techniques and information technology. Unfortunately, the construction industry lags far behind in the application of performance improvement and optimization techniques, as well as its overall competitiveness. Written by Lincoln H. Forbes and Syed M. Ahmed, both highly regarded for leadership and innovation.
Drs. Forbes and Ahmed focus mainly on lean construction methodologies, such as The Last Planner(R) System, The Lean Project Delivery System (TM), and Integrated Project Delivery(TM). The tools and strategies offered draw on the success of the world-renowned Toyota Production System (TPS) adapted to the construction environment by construction professionals and researchers involved in developing and advocating lean construction methods. The book also discusses why true lean construction can best occur when all the construction stakeholders, owners, designers, constructors, and material suppliers are committed to the concept of optimizing the flow of activities holistically while de-emphasizing their self-interest.
The authors also reintroduce process improvement approaches such as TQM and Six Sigma as a foundation for the adoption of lean methodologies, and demonstrate how these methods can improve projects in a so-called traditional environment. The book integrates these methods with emerging interest in "green construction" and the use of information technology and Building Information Modeling (BIM), while recognizing the human element in relation to motivation, safety, and environmental stresses. Written specifically for professionals in an industry that desperately needs to play catch up, the book delineates cutting-edge approaches with the benefit of successful cases and explains how their deployment can improve construction performance and competitiveness. No review on Amazon as of 12/8/10.

When The Machine That Changed the World was first published in 1990, Toyota was half the size of General Motors. Today Toyota is passing GM as the world's largest auto maker and is the most consistently successful global enterprise of the past fifty years. This management classic was the first book to reveal Toyota's lean production system that is the basis for its enduring success.
Now reissued with a new Foreword and Afterword, Machine contrasts two fundamentally different business systems -- lean versus mass, two very different ways of thinking about how humans work together to create value. Based on the largest and most thorough study ever undertaken of any industry -- MIT's five-year, fourteen-country International Motor Vehicle Program -- this book describes the entire managerial system of lean production.
Nearly twenty years ago, Womack, Jones, and Roos provided a comprehensive description of the entire lean system. They exhaustively documented its advantages over the mass production model pioneered by General Motors and predicted that lean production would eventually triumph. Indeed, they argued that it would triumph not just in manufacturing but in every value-creating activity from health care to retail to distribution.
Today The Machine That Changed the World provides enduring and essential guidance to managers and leaders in every industry seeking to transform traditional enterprises into exemplars of lean success. 4.5 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 12 customer reviews.

The Toyota Way Fieldbook is a companion to the international bestseller The Toyota Way. The Toyota Way Fieldbook builds on the philosophical aspects of Toyota’s operating systems by detailing the concepts and providing practical examples for application that leaders need to bring Toyota’s success-proven practices to life in any organization. The Toyota Way Fieldbook will help other companies learn from Toyota and develop systems that fit their unique cultures.
The book begins with a review of the principles of the Toyota Way through the 4Ps model—Philosophy, Processes, People and Partners, and Problem Solving. Readers looking to learn from Toyota’s lean systems will be provided with the inside knowledge they need to:

• Define the companies purpose and develop a long-term philosophy
• Create value streams with connected standardized work, and level production
• Build a culture to stop and fix problems
• Develop leaders who promote and support the system
• Find and develop exceptional people and partners
• Learn the meaning of true root cause problem solving
• Lead the change process and transform the total enterprise . 4.7 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 30 customer reviews.

This is a quick read to the concepts of lean production presented in the building of a simple garage. This book explains basic principles of customer focused, high quality, low cost, on-time business management. This international bestseller is endorsed by reviewers from Business Week and other publications, and by numerous business and educational leaders. 4.0 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 20 customer reviews.

Highlights the application of value stream mapping methodology to product development. Identifies and defines the categories of waste that are specific to the product development process. Presents countermeasures and proven practices, based on Lean principles, developed for the product development process used at Toyota. Illustrates and clarifies the methodology by presenting actual case examples at Toyota and a U.S. competitor.
Readers of this book can focus on optimizing the entire product development value stream rather than focus on a specific tool or technology for local improvements. 2007 Shingo Prize Winner. 4.3 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 15 customer reviews.

Leading Toyota authorities Jeffrey Liker and David Meier give you the keys to growing top performers from within through a detailed process of preparation, training, and follow-up. Drawing upon Liker's detailed study of Toyota's manufacturing, technical, and service organizations across the globe, and Meier's deep experience gained from working with some of Toyota's best sensei, the authors bring the company's proven practices to life through insight and exercises, enabling you to:

• Define your organizational needs and objectives
• Create development plans for all employees
• Grow your top talent from within
• Analyze routine work and ancillary tasks
• Break down a job for effective training
• Break the cycle of poor training and results to create a cycle of continuous learning and improvement
• 4.7 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 12 customer reviews.

Group Genius tears down some of the most popular myths about creativity, revealing that creativity is always collaborative--even when you're alone. Sharing the results of his own acclaimed research on jazz groups, theater ensembles, and conversation analysis, Keith Sawyer shows us how to be more creative in collaborative group settings, how to change organizational dynamics for the better, and how to tap into our own reserves of creativity. Basing much of his work on that of mentor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi—who writes about reaching the state of heightened consciousness he calls flow—Sawyer offers guidelines for creating group flow. Insisting that collaborative webs are more important than creative people, he calls for an organizational culture that fosters equivocality, improvised innovation, and constant conversation—that's a recipe for group genius. 4.8 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 15 customer reviews.

Managing to Learn: Using the A3 Management Process,(2008) by John Shook reveals the thinking underlying the vital A3 management process at the heart of lean management and lean leadership. Constructed as a dialogue between a manager and his boss, the book explains how A3 thinking helps managers and executives identify, frame, and then act on problems and challenges. Shook calls this approach, which is captured in the simple structure of an A3 report, the key to Toyota's entire system of developing talent and continually deepening its knowledge and capabilities.
The A3 Report is a Toyota-pioneered practice of getting the problem, the analysis, the corrective actions, and the action plan down on a single sheet of large (A3) paper, often with the use of graphics. A unique layout puts the thoughts of a lean manager struggling to apply the A3 process to a key project on one side of the page and the probing questions of the boss who is coaching him through the process on the other side. As a result, readers learn how to write a powerful A3 - while learning why the technique is at the core of lean management and lean leadership. 4.6 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 11 customer reviews.

Understanding A3 Thinking by Sobek and Smalley first show that the A3 report is an effective tool when it is implemented in conjunction with a PDCA-based management philosophy. Toyota views A3 Reports as just one piece in their PDCA management approach. Second, the authors show that the process leading to the development and management of A3 reports is at least as important as the reports themselves, because of the deep learning and professional development that occurs in the process. And finally, the authors provide a number of examples as well as some very practical advice on how to write and review A3 reports. 4.5 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 17 customer reviews.

The new and revised edition of this modern day classic provides the critical piece that will make any lean transformation a dynamic continuous success. It shows you how to implement a transformation that cannot fail by developing a culture that will have all your stakeholders involved in the process and invested in the outcome. It will teach you how to build success from the top down and the bottom up at the same time. If you are a leader at any level in an organization undergoing or considering a lean transformation, this is where you should start and finish … and start again.

• Offers new insights on applications of lean management in administrative, technical, and professional environments
• Provides new guidance on how to begin implementing lean management in discrete manufacturing, office, and process manufacturing environments.
• Details specifics on how to engage executives through gemba walks
• Shows the difference between measuring improvement through results and through processes
• 4.8 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 22 customer reviews.

Drive, by Daniel Pink to get a sense of the human side of motivation. According to Pink (A Whole New Mind), everything we think we know about what motivates us is wrong. He pits the latest scientific discoveries about the mind against the outmoded wisdom that claims people can only be motivated by the hope of gain and the fear of loss. Pink cites a dizzying number of studies revealing that carrot and stick can actually significantly reduce the ability of workers to produce creative solutions to problems. What motivates us once our basic survival needs are met is the ability to grow and develop, to realize our fullest potential. Case studies of Google's 20 percent time (in which employees work on projects of their choosing one full day each week) and Best Buy's Results Only Work Environment (in which employees can work whenever and however they choose—as long as they meet specific goals) demonstrate growing endorsement for this approach. 4.4 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 171 customer reviews.

An excellent description of the agreement we make every day to trust others. If projects are a network of commitments, the commitment to trust should be high on that list. In business, politics, marriage, indeed in any significant relationship, trust is the essential precondition upon which all real success depends. But what, precisely, is trust? How can it be achieved and sustained? And, most importantly, how can it be regained once it has been broken? In Building Trust, Robert C. Solomon and Fernando Flores offer compelling answers to these questions. They argue that trust is not something that simply exists from the beginning, something we can assume or take for granted; that it is not a static quality or ""social glue."" Instead, they assert that trust is an emotional skill, an active and dynamic part of our lives that we build and sustain with our promises and commitments, our emotions and integrity. In looking closely at the effects of mistrust, such as insidious office politics that can sabotage a company's efficiency, Solomon and Flores demonstrate how to move from naive trust that is easily shattered to an authentic trust that is sophisticated, reflective, and possible to renew. As the global economy makes us more and more reliant on ""strangers,"" and as our political and personal interactions become more complex, Building Trust offers invaluable insight into a vital aspect of human relationships. 3.8 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 18 customer reviews.

2 Second Lean will flip your world right-side up. It's a practical way to improve your life every day by making a simple 2 second improvement. Join author, business expert, radio show host, and international speaker, Paul A. Akers, as he takes you on a LEAN journey that will transform every aspect your life... from your home to the office. Pankow is currently engaging in 2 Second Lean Study Action Teams company-wide.

The missing link to long-term Lean success! Despite the fact that companies worldwide have adopted Lean production, none has sustained the same levels of excellence as Toyota. Why? Leadership. In The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership, Jeffrey Liker and Gary L. Convis, a former executive V.P. and managing officer of Toyota, help executives and senior managers get employees to refocus their efforts--from simply performing their singular function to continuously improving in collaboration across the organization. Case studies from Toyota clearly illustrate the methods that create powerful, effective Lean leadership. Jeffrey Liker, author of the popular Toyota Way books, is the acknowledged expert on Toyota processes. He is professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan. After his executive leadership at Toyota, Gary L. Convis became the CEO of Dana Holding Corporation, a $6.1 billion supplier to the global automotive, commercial vehicle, and off-highway markets, and helped lead it to a successful turnaround from bankruptcy. 5 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 4 customer reviews.

The Toyota Way is the first book for a general audience that explains the management principles and business philosophy behind Toyota's worldwide reputation for quality and reliability.
Complete with profiles of organizations that have successfully adopted Toyota's principles, this book shows managers in every industry how to improve business processes by:

• Eliminating wasted time and resources
• Building quality into workplace systems
• Finding low-cost but reliable alternatives to expensive new technology
• Producing in small quantities
• Turning every employee into a quality control inspector

Winner of the Institute for Industrial Engineer’s Book-of-the-Year award and the Shingo Prize for Manufacturing Excellence. 4.4 out of 5 stars on Amazon based on 104 customer reviews.

In plain-English writing, this friendly guide explores the general overview of Lean, how flow and the value stream works, and the best ways to apply Lean to your enterprise. You will understand the philosophy of Lean and adopt it not as a routine, but a way of life. This highly informative book teaches you:

• The foundation and language of Lean
• How to map the value stream and using it to your business’s advantage
• The philosophy of Kaizen
• Different tools to improve management, customer service, and flow and pull
• How to “Go Lean” within your business and across the industry
• Avoid common mistakes in implementation
• Seek out resources for assistance
• 4.4 out of 5 stars on Amazon based on 13 customer reviews.

This book introduces the five lean principles and uses many non-automotive companies as examples of industry implementing lean, one home-builder is included. It maps how to get started implementing lean in an organization. 4.1 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 62 customer reviews.

Gives an experienced insight into the dilemma faced by some of North America's largest organizations, those who have embraced management science in all of its complexity to win national awards, only to find they are unable to compete successfully at the customer level. Using an engaging fictional narrative, Kennedy provides a fresh insight into product development; this book will challenge your beliefs and understanding and likely intrigue you sufficiently to investigate how aspects of the process can be made applicable in your enterprise. It is a treasure trove of information on, not just its principal topic, Toyota's unique product development process, but details on establishing and operating "a process renewal team" and "large group interventions for organizational change". 4.3 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 18 customer reviews.

Mike Kennedy continues our journey with a major industrial company in its struggles to maintain competitiveness via its product development process. Our adventure began in his first book, Product Development for the Lean Enterprise, as our hero, Jon Stevens, set out to prepare his company for an arduous journey through the jungle of corporate resistance to change. Now Jon is back for an even more dangerous mission -- implementing significant paradigm shifts beyond a single department to encompass the entire company. Mike shows us the way based on actual experiences of the author and his associates as they help real companies make real change and experience the rewards. 4.3 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 3 customer reviews.

The Simply Lean Pocket Guide for Construction was created to provide the necessary tools, forms and worksheets for a team to learn, implement, and document Lean problem solving activities using the PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT (PDCA) methodology while following an actual case of Lean construction. The purpose of this handy little pocket guide is to standardize and improve problem solving skills and serve as a basis for long term quality improvement in Lean organization. This book will not provide detailed explanations of Lean tools such as 5S, Mistake Proofing, Visual Controls, JIT, etc. - there is material already on those topics - but it is a book to more fully engage the construction industry worker with a step-by-step, how-to guide on implementing quality improvement tools with a Lean twist. 4.6 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 7 customer reviews.

A comprehensive and practical explanation of Lean concepts and tools made for the shop floor is now available in a larger format. The New Lean Pocket Guide XL has over 120 illustrations to visually convey the tools and concepts, along with detailed descriptions of all the Lean tools. This newer and larger version of the best selling The Lean Pocket Guide also includes: a section on Lean Office and Six Sigma, 20+ digital photos demonstrating Lean in action, a Waste Audit, and a Glossary of Lean terms.
The tools of 5S, value stream mapping, document tagging, continuous flow, standard work, visual control, takt time, pitch, runners, waste, plus numerous other Lean tools are thoroughly defined as well as guidelines provided for the implementation of each tool. 4.8 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 16 customer reviews.

The Gold Mine: a Novel of Lean Turnaround deftly weaves together the technical and human pieces of implementing lean manufacturing in an engaging story that readers will find both compelling and instructive. Authors Freddy and Michael Ballé have produced the first integrated and systematic approach to a set of ideas that have maximized value and minimized waste throughout the world. At the heart of the Gold Mine is Bob Woods, a curmudgeonly sensei coaxed out of retirement by his son Mike to help boyhood friend Phil Jenkinson save his struggling company. Despite terrific products and a backlog of orders, Phil’s company cannot generate enough cash from its operations to pay its bills. And so Mike enlists Bob to help his pal fix this crisis. The Gold Mine presents all the key lean principles, ranging from well-known ideas such as pull and flow, to lesser-known yet equally important principles such as jidoka and heijunka. The book also reveals lean as a system—using a realistic story to show how the principles are interrelated and how they lead to useful tools such as kanban or 5S. 4.5 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 15 customer reviews.

The Lean Manager, the sequel to the Ballé's international bestselling business novel The Gold Mine, tells the compelling story of plant manager Andrew Ward as he goes through the journey to becoming a lean manager. Under the guidance of Phil Jenkinson (whose own lean journey was at the core of The Gold Mine), Ward learns to use a deep understanding of lean tools, as well as a technical know-how of his plant's operations, to foster a lean attitude that sustains continuous improvement. He learns how to use tools to unleash the creativity and motivation of people, so they learn how to solve problems as well as coach and teach others to solve problems. 4.8 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 9 customer reviews.

What does it really mean to be a learning organization? What does it take to get the people in a nonmanufacturing environment to think of work in terms of flow? How do you build a culture based on lean principles and lead that culture as it continuously evolves? In his book, Follow the Learner: The Role of a Leader in Creating a Lean Culture, Dr. Sami Bahri describes how he and the staff in his dental practice tackled each of these questions. The book describes how their organization, the Bahri Dental Group, transformed their work and their thinking from a traditional batch-and-queue approach to one focused directly on the needs of the patient, not on the needs of the practitioners.
The book is organized into three sections -- Creating the Practice, Leading the Transformation, and Discovering the Principles of Lean Leadership -- that describe a personal and professional journey in terms that anyone, at any level, can learn from. Along the way, it demonstrates the universal application of lean concepts and methods in an environment with which you may be familiar, but is a long way from the traditional manufacturing roots of the Toyota Production System. Dr. Bahri has created an honest and straightforward look at organizational transformation. He describes the experiments that led to rapid improvement and dramatic change, as well as the lessons he learned that changed his own definition of what it meant to be a leader. And he has created a leadership model of continuous improvement that lean thinkers and leaders everywhere can understand and relate to. 4.0 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 3 customer reviews.

Touted by lean production experts everywhere as practical, down-to-earth, and easy to read, it warns of cultural issues that are almost certain to arise, and gives management step by step instructions as it explains clearly in terms anyone can understand such concepts as continuous flow, value stream mapping, kanban, kaizen, six sigma, just-in-time (JIT), techniques for converting to quick set-ups, and other pillars of the Toyota Production System. Indeed, Toyota may have been the first, but Toyota is not the only company that excels at lean manufacturing.
Dell Computers provides another model of a successful lean enterprise as do Harley-Davidson and Pella Windows. Learn why initial improvements of 40 percent in direct labor productivity and a 50 percent reduction in the space required for manufacturing are routine when production and assembly are converted to continuous flow. Lean Transformation is chock full of real life examples of value stream mapping, how kanban can resolve material supply issues, how kaizen brainstorming can result in startling improvements overnight, how just-in-time (JIT) frees mountains of money tied up in work-in-progress, why six sigma quality needs to be built in and not inspected in, how bottlenecks can be eliminated, kanban snafus spotted before they happen, and how instilling a championship mentality in cross-functional teams can lead to increased productivity and continuous improvement that doesn't stop after the initial kaizen event. 4.7 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 9 customer reviews.

How can companies perform so well that their industry counterparts are competitors in name only? Although they operate in the same industry, serve the same market, and even use the same suppliers, these “rabbits” lead the race and, more importantly, continually widen their lead. In The High-Velocity Edge, the reissued edition of five-time Shingo Prize winner Steven J. Spear’s critically acclaimed book Chasing the Rabbit, Spear describes what sets market-dominating companies apart and provides a detailed framework you can leverage to surge to the lead in your own industry. Spear examines the internal operations of dominant organizations across a wide spectrum of industries, from technology to design and from manufacturing to health care. 4.5 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 19 customer reviews (based on original Chasing the Rabbit reviews)

"Toyota Kata gets to the essence of how Toyota manages continuous improvement and human ingenuity, through its improvement kata and coaching kata. Mike Rother explains why typical companies fail to understand the core of lean and make limited progress—and what it takes to make it a real part of your culture."—Jeffrey K. Liker, bestselling author of The Toyota Way 4.9 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 11 customer reviews

The bestselling author of How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci shows how learning to juggle literally and metaphorically will help you become better at what you do, both in business and in life. As we struggle to get more done in less time, to balance our work and our personal life, and to adapt to constant change, we often feel that we're "juggling too many balls." Now, in More Balls Than Hands, leading organizational consultant Michael J. Gelb, a former professional juggler, shows us how to keep all those balls in the air. 4.8 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 5 customer reviews

In Getting the Right Things Done, Pascal Dennis outlines the nuts and bolts of strategy deployment, answering two tough questions that ultimately can make or break a lean transformation: What kind of planning system is required to inspire meaningful company-wide continuous improvement? How might we change existing mental models that do not support a culture of continuous improvement? Getting the Right Things Done tells the story of a fictional midsized company, Atlas Industries, that needs to dramatically improve to compete with emerging rivals and meet new customer demands.
While Atlas had already applied some basic lean principles, it had not really connected the people and business processes so that the company could dramatically improve. Something was missing: a way of focusing and aligning the efforts of good people, and a delivery system, something that would direct the tools to the right places. The book provides readers with a framework for understanding the key components of strategy deployment: agreeing on True North for the company, working within the PDCA cycle, getting consensus through catchball, the deployment leader concept, and A3 thinking. It links action to theory and reminds us that lean tools are only the means to an end, not ends in themselves. It takes a step-by-step instructional approach to the strategy deployment process. 4.2 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 11 customer reviews

A key problem facing the construction industry is that all work is done by transient project teams, and in the past there has been no structured approach to learning from projects once they are completed. Now, though, the industry is adapting concepts of knowledge management to improve the situation. This book brings together 13 contributors from research and industry to show how managing construction knowledge can bring real benefits to organizations and projects. It covers a wide range of issues, from basic definitions and fundamental concepts, to the role of information technology, and engendering a knowledge sharing culture. No rating on Amazon as of 12/8/10.

How do you say what needs to be said while avoiding an argument with a boss, child, or relationship partner? Crucial Conversations offers readers a proven seven-point strategy for achieving their goals in all those emotionally, psychologically, or legally charged situations that can arise in their professional and personal lives. Based on the authors' highly popular Dialogue Smart training seminars, the techniques are geared toward getting people to lower their defenses, creating mutual respect and understanding, increasing emotional safety, and encouraging freedom of expression. Among other things, readers also learn about the four main factors that characterize crucial conversations, and they get a powerful six-minute mastery technique that prepares them to work through any high impact situation with confidence. 4.5 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 206 customer reviews.

The authors, both management consultants for the Gallup Organization, use the company's study of 80,000 managers in 400 companies to reach the conclusion that a company that lacks great frontline managers will bleed talent, no matter how attractive the compensation packages and training opportunities. With this in mind, they sought the answers to the follow-up questions: "How do great managers find, focus and keep talented employees." Using case studies, diagrams, and excerpts from interviews, Buckingham and Coffman guide us through their findings that discipline, focus, trust, and, most important, willingness to treat each employee as an individual are the overall secrets for turning talent into lasting performance. The book concludes with suggestions on how to become a great manager, including ideas for interviewing for talent, how to develop a performance management routine, and how to get the best performance from talented employees. Although this is clearly an infomercial for the Gallup Organization, it nevertheless offers thoughtful advice on the essential task of developing excellent managers. 4.4 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 287 customer reviews.

Employing a lighthearted tone, the Heaths apply those selfsame techniques to create an enjoyable read. They analyze such narratives as urban legends and advertisements to discover what makes them memorable. The authors provide a simple mnemonic to remember their stickiness formula, and the basic principles may be applied in any situation where persuasiveness is an asset. The book is a fast read peppered with exercises to test the techniques proposed. Some examples act as pop quizzes and engage readers in moments of self-reflection. The book draws on examples from teachers, scientists, and soldiers who have been successful at crafting memorable ideas, from the well-known blue eye/brown eye exercise conducted by an Iowa elementary school teacher as an experiential lesson in prejudice following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., to conversations among Xerox repairmen. 4.6 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 372 customer reviews.

In this intriguing, readable business novel, which illustrates state-of-the-art economic theory, Alex Rogo is a UniCo plant manager whose factory and marriage are failing. To revitalize the plant, he follows piecemeal advice from an elusive former college professor who teaches, for example, that reduction in the efficiency of some plant operations may make the entire operation more productive. Alex's attempts to find the path to profitability and to engage his employees in the struggle involve the reader; and thankfully the authors' economic models, including a game with match sticks and bowls, are easy to understand. Recommended for anyone with an interest in the state of the American economy. His work is based on the Toyota Production System and introduces his “Theory of Constraints”. 4.5 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 157 customer reviews.

Powerful yet simple techniques to solve project management's toughest problems. This book teaches companies to drastically cut project development times resulting in early completion within budget and without compromising quality or specifications. Written in novel format, this book focuses on applying the “Theory of Constraints” to project management. 4.0 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 70 customer reviews.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni is an entertaining, quick read filled with useful information that will prove easy to digest and implement. In keeping with the parable style, Lencioni (The Five Temptations of a CEO) begins by telling the fable of a woman who, as CEO of a struggling Silicon Valley firm, took control of a dysfunctional executive committee and helped its members succeed as a team. Story time over, Lencioni offers explicit instructions for overcoming the human behavioral tendencies that he says corrupt teams (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability and inattention to results). Succinct yet sympathetic, this guide will be a boon for those struggling with the inherent difficulties of leading a group. 4.4 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 320 customer reviews.

Since the first edition of Managing the Unexpected was published in 2001, the unexpected has become a growing part of our everyday lives. The unexpected is often dramatic, as with hurricanes or terrorist attacks. But the unexpected can also come in more subtle forms, such as a small organizational lapse that leads to a major blunder, or an unexamined assumption that costs lives in a crisis. Why are some organizations better able than others to maintain function and structure in the face of unanticipated change?
Authors Karl Weick and Kathleen Sutcliffe answer this question by pointing to high reliability organizations (HROs), such as emergency rooms in hospitals, flight operations of aircraft carriers, and firefighting units, as models to follow. These organizations have developed ways of acting and styles of learning that enable them to manage the unexpected better than other organizations. Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of the groundbreaking book Managing the Unexpected uses HROs as a template for any institution that wants to better organize for high reliability. 4.5 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 6 customer reviews.

Ten Questions About Human Error asks the type of questions frequently posed in incident and accident investigations, people's own practice, managerial and organizational settings, policymaking, classrooms, Crew Resource Management Training, and error research. It is one installment in a larger transformation that has begun to identify both deep-rooted constraints and new leverage points of views of human factors and system safety. The ten questions about human error are not just questions about human error as a phenomenon, but also about human factors and system safety as disciplines, and where they stand today. In asking these questions and sketching the answers to them, this book attempts to show where current thinking is limited--where vocabulary, models, ideas, and notions are constraining progress. This volume looks critically at the answers human factors would typically provide and compares/contrasts them with current research insights. Each chapter provides directions for new ideas and models that could perhaps better cope with the complexity of the problems facing human error today. As such, this book can be used as a supplement for a variety of human factors courses. 4.5 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 4 customer reviews.

Harvard Business School professor Kotter, author of the bestselling Leading Change (1996), teams up with executive Rathgeber to offer his contribution to the "business fable" genre. Kotter presents his framework for an effective corporate change initiative through the tale of a colony of Antarctic penguins facing danger. This light, quick read should fulfill its intended purpose: to serve as a springboard for group discussions about corporate culture, group dynamics and the challenges of change. 4.1 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 97 customer reviews.

Value-stream mapping is an overarching tool that gives managers and executives a picture of the entire production process, showing both value and nonvalue-creating activities. Rather than taking a haphazard approach to lean implementation, value-stream mapping establishes a direction for the company. The workbook makes complicated concepts simple. It teaches you the reasons for introducing a mapping program and how it fits into a lean conversion. With this easy-to-use product, a company gets the tool it needs to understand and use value-stream mapping so it can eliminate waste in production processes. 4.5 out of 5 Stars on Amazon based on 21 customer reviews.