Everyday Turnaround

Every successful business needs to have turnaround tactics in its arsenal. When a business is struggling, it's these tactics that will turn the tide. Everyday Turnaround tells the tale of a turnaround CEO of a fictional organization who uses agile tactics such as kaizen and scrum to achieve success. Author Eric Kish developed and tested the Everyday Turnaround concept while executing 12 turnarounds across seven industries and three continents over a period of 18 years. From the introduction: "The guy who hired me to do my first turnaround was very smart. He gave me on average 18 months to complete a turnaround and then, overnight and with no warning, would move me to the next one. And he would not allow me to take any of the people I trained and coached in the previous one. This became a ritual for the next 10 years and resulted in 7 successful turnarounds. "I had very little time, if any, to prepare for the next turnaround. I had to get my bearings on the spot and 'fly the airplane while it was being built'. This meant that while discovering and developing assumptions I needed to act and have the organization follow. And I also knew that the day will come when I will move on overnight and will leave behind a leadership team and an organization that can fly 'the airplane' without me."

Enjoy a deep spirit of recollection when reading this detailed yet practical book. The title, Stand on Your Own Feet, comes from Thomas Merton's final address in Bangkok, Thailand, when he emphasized that each one of us is responsible for our own baptismal calling. In this book, the author, cofounder of the Lay Cistercians of South Florida, is passing on a way of prayerful living.

What it's like to explore Mars from Earth: How the Mars rovers provide scientists with a virtual experience of being on Mars. Geologists in the field climb hills and hang onto craggy outcrops; they put their fingers in sand and scratch, smell, and even taste rocks. Beginning in 2004, however, a team of geologists and other planetary scientists did field science in a dark room in Pasadena, exploring Mars from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) by means of the remotely operated Mars Exploration Rovers (MER). Clustered around monitors, living on Mars time, painstakingly plotting each movement of the rovers and their tools, sensors, and cameras, these scientists reported that they felt as if they were on Mars themselves, doing field science. The MER created a virtual experience of being on Mars. In this book, William Clancey examines how the MER has changed the nature of planetary field science. Drawing on his extensive observations of scientists in the field and at the JPL, Clancey investigates how the design of the rover mission enables field science on Mars, explaining how the scientists and rover engineers manipulate the vehicle and why the programmable tools and analytic instruments work so well for them. He shows how the scientists felt not as if they were issuing commands to a machine but rather as if they were working on the red planet, riding together in the rover on a voyage of discovery. Learn more about the book here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZQSWSZnTYs&feature=youtube_gdata

Every leader in the social sector starts out believing they can change the world. But they often find that making a clear, measurable difference isn't easy. Few, by mid-career, are achieving quite as much impact as they anticipated. Some leaders settle for that and focus on having a decent career. Others don't sit back. Instead, they look to take their effectiveness as a social sector leader to another level. This book shares the experience of more than 25 exceptional leaders running successful charities, social enterprises and public service mutuals. 'We need honest discussion and bold solutions to the challenges facing our society today. This book will help you play your part in leading the change we all need to see,' Norman Lamb MPWe're seeing increasing insecurity and instability in the charity sector as funding becomes harder to secure. This book will help you adapt to these changing times, survive and succeed.' Dawn Austwick, CEO Big Lottery Fund

Don’t Miss Poorly Drawn Lines on Cake, airing on FX and streaming on FX on Hulu! Absurd comics for our absurd times, from the artist behind the wildly popular webcomic Poorly Drawn Lines—the perfect gift for comic book fans! In his follow up to the New York Times bestselling Poorly Drawn Lines, beloved webcomic artist Reza Farazmand returns with a collection of comics that hilariously skewers our modern age. Comics for a Strange World takes readers through time, space, and alternate realities, reuniting fans with favorite characters and presenting them with even more bizarre scenarios. A child is arrested for plagiarism. A squirrel adapts to human society by purchasing a cell phone—and a gun. And an old man shares memories of the Internet with his granddaughter (“A vast network of millions of idiots. Together, the idiots created endless shitty ideas. It was a true renaissance of shit.”). In the world of Poorly Drawn Lines, nothing is too weird or too outlandish for parody.