Business & Economics

When Getting Things Done was published in 2001, it was a game changer. By revealing the principles of healthy high performance at an individual level, it transformed the experience of work and leisure for millions. Twenty years later, it has become clear that the best way to build on that success is at the team level, and one of the most frequently asked questions by dedicated GTD users is how to get an entire team onboard.

By building on the effectiveness of what GTD does for individuals, Team will offer a better way of working in an organization, while simultaneously nourishing a culture that allows individuals’ skills to flourish. Using case studies from some of the world’s largest and most successful companies, Team shows how leaders have employed the principles of team productivity to improve communication, enable effective execution, and reduce stress on team members. These principles are increasingly important in the post-pandemic workplace, where the very nature of how people work together has changed so dramatically.

Team is the most significant addition to the GTD canon since the original, and in offering a roadmap for building a culture of healthy high performance, will be welcomed by readers working in any sized group or organization.

From the stratospheric success of Jeff Bezos to the secret genius of Satoshi Nakamoto, 21st Century Business Icons uncovers the fascinating success stories behind some of the world’s most innovative business leaders.

Behind every success is the unique story of an individual who has transformed their ambition into reality. They have overcome their competition through innovation, determination and confidence. This book uncovers the stories behind these figures – while they may be divisive, controversial or polarizing – each of them offers fascinating insights into business and society.

Stretching from California to Tokyo and covering sectors such as tech, retail, banking and social media, this book uncovers the secrets behind success on a global scale. Discover how Whitney Wolfe Herd reinvented the dating industry and how Jimmy Donaldson built a YouTube business empire. 21st Century Business Icons is a fascinating exploration of the entrepreneurs, influencers and pioneers who have redefined the 21st century.

The final word on what traits make for highly successful managers—and a detailed explanation of how to identify potential standout performers.

Executive Intelligence is about the substance behind great leadership. Inspired by the work of Peter Drucker and Jim Collins, Justin Menkes set out to isolate the qualities that make for the ‘right’ people. Drawing on his background in psychology and bolstered by interviews with accomplished CEOs, Menkes paints the portrait of the ideal executive.

In a sense, Menkes’s work reveals an executive IQ—the cognitive skills necessary in order to excel in senior management positions. Star leaders readily differentiate primary priorities from secondary concerns; they identify flawed assumptions; they anticipate the different needs of various stakeholders and how they might conflict with one another; and they recognise the underlying agendas of individuals in complex exchanges.

Weaving together research, interviews and the results of his own proprietary testing, Menkes exposes one of the great fallacies of corporate life, that hiring and promotion are conducted on a systematic or scientific basis that allows the most accomplished to rise to their levels of optimal responsibility.

Finally, Menkes is a passionate advocate for finding and employing the most talented people, especially those who may have been held back by external assumptions.

How do Olympic medal-winning athletes turbo-charge their motivation?
How do multi-millionaire founders develop the habits of champions?
And how do Premier League football coaches lead their teams to victory?

High Performance reveals the methods the world’s most remarkable athletes, coaches and entrepreneurs use to excel.

From taking responsibility for your situation to finding your ‘trademark behaviours’, thinking flexibly to crafting a high performance culture, Jake Humphrey and Professor Damian Hughes identify the eight crucial steps to becoming the best ‘you’ possible.

Along the way, they draw on cutting-edge research to explain why these methods work – and how we can all use them. Anyone can learn the secrets of high performance.

Drawing on conversations with… Dina Asher-Smith | Steven Bartlett | Tom Daley | Steven Gerrard | Evelyn Glennie | Kelly Holmes | Chris Hoy | Eddie Jones | Siya Kolisi | Frank Lampard | Jo Malone | Matthew McConaughey | Ant Middleton | Tracey Neville | Robin Van Persie | Mauricio Pochettino | Gareth Southgate | Holly Tucker | Jonny Wilkinson | Clive Woodward | Toto Wolff and many more…

Avoid the speed trap! Discover how changemakers can find lasting solutions to urgent social problems through a proven 5-step process for listening thoughtfully, building broad support, and exploring unconventional options.

Society celebrates leaders who promise fast, easy solutions to the world’s problems—but quick fixes are just mirages that fade, leaving us with the same broken systems. The truth is, effective social change happens through slow, intentional actions. The author, a globally acclaimed social entrepreneur, offers a 5-step process for taking the slow lane to change—the lane that gets you to the right place faster:

– Listening—Listen to build trust, which can change hearts and minds and allow for something new to emerge.
– Holding the urgency—Accept that even in moments of crisis you can move only at the speed of trust instead of rushing into action.
– Sharing the agency—Create an inclusive environment where everyone can lead.
– Healing democracy—Build bridges that allow marginalized people to participate.
– Maintaining curiosity—Be inspired by nontraditional sources.

Using dozens of examples—prison reform in England, urban development in Venezuela, healthcare in the Navajo Nation, early childhood education in New York, and many more—The Slow Lane shows how, by following the principles taught in this book, readers can create lasting change.

Why human skills and expertise, not technical tools, are what make projects succeed.

The project is the basic unit of work in many industries. Software applications, antiviral vaccines, launch-ready spacecraft: all were produced by a team and managed as a project. Project management emphasizes control, processes, and tools—but, according to The Smart Mission, that is not the right way to run a project. Human skills and expertise, not technical tools, are what make projects successful. Projects run on knowledge. This paradigm-shifting book—by three project management experts, all of whom have decades of experience at NASA and elsewhere—challenges the conventional wisdom on project management, focusing on the human dimension: learning, collaboration, teaming, communication, and culture.

The authors emphasize three themes: projects are fundamentally about how teams work and learn together to get things done; the local level—not an organization’s upper levels—is where the action happens; and projects don’t operate in a vacuum but exist within organizations that are responsible to stakeholders. Drawing on examples and case studies from NASA and other organizations, the authors identify three project models—micro, macro, and global—and their different knowledge needs. Successful organizations have a knowledge-based culture. Successful project management guides the interplay of knowledge, projects, and people.