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Provides a close-up look at the cutting-edge research and experiments that could make time travel a reality, as well as at what such scientific developments would mean for our everyday lives. Original. 12,500 first printing.
A company’s worst enemy is not always the competition. Sometimes it’s the fear that lives within its own walls. The greatest threat to an organization’s success is not always the competition. Often, it is what a company does to itself. Because of fear, companies become plagued with barriers and bureaucracy that limit success, crush employees, and infuse frustration and a sense of futility across the enterprise. It starts with a narrowing of focus, which leads to the first level of bureaucracy: parochialism. Parochialism exists when managers and departments begin to view the world through the filter of their own little silo and build walls made of rules and policies to protect their turf. As businesses grow and become more complex, the second level of bureaucracy is reached: territorialism. While parochialism is about protecting a department from outsiders, territorialism is about controlling those inside the silo. The third and final level of bureaucracy is empire building, which is a response to perceived threats to a department’s ability to be self-sufficient. These barriers cost organizations a fortune in inefficiency, turnover, waste, and demoralization. Tearing down these barriers is difficult, but it can be done. Parochialism can be eliminated by resetting rules and policies and refocusing on the ultimate mission of the organization. Territorialism can be eliminated by creating true empowerment, along with appropriate levels of accountability. Empire building can be addressed through shared goals and a set of guiding principles that help act as a referee in decision making. But that’s not enough. Managers must also create a culture of courage to enable employees to take advantage of these new freedoms and accountabilities. Courage killers must be rooted out and dealt with swiftly and strongly. Finally, leaders must refocus on mission success rather than just checking off their part of the process, manage reference points, and engage employees. By doing all these things, an organization can become fearless and unstoppable.
Build Extraordinary Trust and Lead Your Team to a Higher Plane For former US Air Force Thunderbirds' commander and demonstration leader JV Venable, inspiring teamwork was literally a matter of life and death. On maneuvers like the one pictured on the cover, the distance between jets was just eighteen inches. Closing the gaps to sustain that kind of separation requires the highest levels of trust. On the ground or in the air, from line supervisor to CEO, we all face the same challenge. Our job is to entice those we lead to close the gaps that slow the whole team down—gaps in commitment, loyalty, and trust. Every bit of closure requires your people to let go of biases and mental safeguards that hold them back. The process the Thunderbirds use to break that barrier and craft the highest levels of trust on a team with an annual turnover of 50 percent is nothing short of phenomenal. That process is packaged here with tips and compelling stories that will help you build the team of a lifetime.
Strong leadership, parent involvement, mentoring, data-based intervention, and high expectations are known factors in student success, but what do they really look like in practice—and are they as powerful as research says? This book illustrates the specific strategies and critical steps that transformed a school beset with poverty and shockingly low proficiency into a National Showcase School.
As our daily lives and corporate well-being become more dependent upon computers, system reliability grows increasingly important. No longer are frequent system outages acceptable. In many cases, failure intervals must now be measured in centuries. Even current fault-tolerant computing systems will fail once every five or ten years. This book is the first in a three-part series on active/active systems. It describes techniques that can be used today for extending system failure times from years to centuries, often at little or no additional cost. The techniques described include splitting a large system into smaller, cooperating independent nodes. Copies of the application's database are distributed across the nodes. It is shown that these techniques significantly reduce the number of system failure modes and increase the level of sparing. As a result, the loss of a single node's capacity occurs far less frequently than the loss of all capacity when the equivalent monolithic system fails. Furthermore, the loss of more than one node's worth of capacity is almost never. Central to these techniques is the requirement that all database copies that are distributed across the network must be kept in synchronism. Several methods available today for maintaining synchronism are described. They include asynchronous data replication, synchronous data replication, and network transactions.
Busy people often become overwhelmed with short-term "crises", while postponing action on more important but longer-term activities. This unique career-and-time management workbook is designed to help managers define their goals, reclaim their valuable time, and focus their energies. Includes a full year's worth of daily/career planning forms. Charts, illustrations.
Chuck Yeager loved to fly. His determination led him to be a fighter and test pilot. He flew as often as he could in any craft he could. Eventually, he became the expert on military aircraft. He knew just what each plane could do, and more importantly, what it couldnt. As important as knowing how far he could push a plane, he also knew when to pull back. His pioneering efforts in breaking the sound barrier made modern aviation and space exploration possible.
Widely acclaimed for its engaging style and provocative perspective, this book has helped thousands transform their working lives. Now including a 30-page resource guide that explains the basics of working for oneself. It's about fulfillment. A revolution is sweeping America. On its front lines are people fed up with unfulfilling jobs, dysfunctional workplaces, and dead-end careers. Meet today's new economic icon: the free agent-men and women who are working for themselves. And meet your future. It's about freedom. Free agents are the marketing consultant down the street, the home-based "mompreneur," the footloose technology contractor. Already 30 million strong, these 21st-century pioneers are creating lives with more meaning-and often more money. Free Agent Nation is your ticket to this world. It's about time. Now, you can discover: The kind of free agent you can be-"soloist," "temp," or "microbusiness"-and how to launch your new career. How to get the perks you once received from your boss: health insurance, office space, training, workplace togetherness, even water cooler gossip. Why the free agent economy is increasingly a woman's world-and how women are flourishing in it. The transformation of retirement-how older workers are creating successful new businesses (and whole new lives) through the Internet.
