Uncommon Sense Management

This is a book for managers who know that their organisations are stuck in a mindset that thrives on fashionable business theories that are no more than folk wisdom, and whose so-called strategies that are little more than banal wish lists. It puts forward the notion that the application of uncommon sense - thinking or acting differently from other organisations in a way that makes unusual sense - is the secret to competitive success. For those who want to succeed and stand out from the herd this book is a beacon of uncommon sense and a timely antidote to managerial humbug.

This book offers alternatives to typical leadership, highlighting new ways of thinking about how individuals can lead effectively. Specifically, it integrates several fields, including neuroscience, behavioral economics, mindfulness, cognitive and social psychology, emotional intelligence, and management decision-making. The authors challenge the “common sense,” mainstream thinking about leadership, arguing that effective leadership depends on a more complicated understanding of the underlying dynamics.When leaders rely on the common sense that they have been taught explicitly or implicitly about leadership, the results are often not effective—for themselves personally, for their followers, for the organizations in which they lead, and for society as a whole. For example, aspiring leaders often believe that the mark of good leaders is their ability to come up with quick answers to problems. Others believe that one’s ability to minimize complexity and uncertainty indicates leadership potential. In addition, despite the literature suggesting the value of engaging in self-reflection, few leaders regularly step back and look inward. Even those who can intellectually discuss emotional intelligence often focus on their ability to influence the emotions of others rather than reflecting on and learning from their own emotions.The book calls for leaders to operate with more humility and greater awareness of the multiple contexts in which they function—approaches that improve life for all organizational members. As leaders become more effective, they will become healthier and more satisfied, less harried, more grounded, and more fulfilled in their lives.

** "A refreshing change of pace for a management book." ** "Revolutionary in its simplicity." ** ." . . a game plan of management and action that is nothing less than inspirational." Are you too busy to do your job? Do you fight with other departments to try to get them to help you? Does there seem to be a lack of commonality of purpose in your business? Does it seem like if only a little common sense were applied that you could do better and your company could do better? When businesses try to fix problems, they often focus on the wrong thing. Like a drunk negotiating a long hallway, the business will bounce from side to side off the hallway walls, stumbling and tripping along in ignorant bliss in an effort to right the wrongs. 70% of Americans hate their jobs (Gallup poll, June 2013). Uncommon Sense Management explains why and how to fix it. The book shows you how to find the root causes that create inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and low profits and how to fix them. It provides practical techniques that will allow you to get out of the "I'm too busy to do my job" syndrome that many business people find themselves in. Virtually all business ills can be traced back to ineffective communication of some type. If you can identify and fix the communication breakdowns, you can fix your business ills. However, ineffective communication takes many, many different forms that can appear to the untrained eye as something other than a communication issue. In an entertaining style unusual for a management book, Dan Purkey provides the keys to identify and fix the true root causes of business problems so that you can sustainably inject more efficiency, more effectiveness, and better profitability into your business. He provides the foundations to transform businesses into great places to work and profit machines, as well as to improve your personal work life. Uncommon Sense Management - when common sense just isn't enough.

Winner of the Gold Medal, Top Sales & Marketing Book of 2017, Top Sales & Marketing Awards You're a talented sales professional, but you face big hairy sales challenges every day and you just can't seem to get anywhere. * Why can't I get time with my prospects and clients? * Why are my benefit-loaded e-mails and phone calls falling on deaf ears? * How do I loosen the stranglehold of an established supplier? * How do I convert more leads into sales? * How do I stand out when my competition claims the exact same benefits? Same old questions, but in today's market they call for different answers. Uncommon Sense shows you how to shift your thinking and behavior to stand out from the pack and achieve bigger, better sales, faster. It's time to dispense with the common nonsense of dusty old selling imperatives (like, elevator pitches, unique value propositions, and Always Be Closing). Stop thinking like a seller, and start thinking like your customers and prospects. Uncommon Sense shows you how to shift the way you sell . . . and the results you get: * Provides a toolkit of practical strategies and tactics that will improve your access to prospects, enrich engagements with your customers, and transform your results. * Features dozens of examples of calls gone seriously wrong, career-changing stories of real salespeople, eye-opening statistics, and tips for thinking your way out of self-defeating behaviors into providing real value for clients. * Presents counter-intuitive sales thinking in bite-sized chunks for the busy salesperson who wants practical advice on specific topics. Whether you're a seasoned sales pro or a novice, a sales manager who wants to launch the team to new levels of performance, or a small business owner struggling with the selling role, Uncommon Sense is the personal sales coach you need to shift your thinking, shift your habits, and shift your performance to new heights.

"Peter Cochrane is one of our most far-sighted visionaries, and brings brilliant clarity and focus to our understanding of ourselves and our technologies, and of how profoundly each is transforming the other." -Douglas Adams, Author, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy In Uncommon Sense, Peter Cochrane's follow up to the radical 108 Tips for Time Traveller, Peter explains how very simple analysis allows the prediction of such debacles as the 3G auction and the subsequent collapse of an industry, whilst simple-minded thinking is dangerous in the context of a world that is predominantly chaotic and out of control. People balked when Peter suggested a wholesale move to eWorking, the rise of email and text messaging, and the dotcom regime mirroring the boom and bust cycle of the industrial revolution. His predictions of the use and growth of mobile devices and communication, or use of chip implants for humans to replace ID cards, passports, and medical records, or iris scanners and fingerprint readers - were all seen as unlikely. Today they are a reality. How then will the world react to his predictions as set out in Uncommon Sense of a networked world of distributed ignorance and sharing overcoming an old world of concentrated skill and control? To everything becoming 'Napsterised' in every dimension, where storage and processing power cost nothing, and become connected without the help of the old network companies? A world where individuals create their own networks, where laws of copyright and resale, and old business models have to be changed as giant industries are dragged kicking and screaming out of the 19th Century and into the 21st? Peter Cochrane poses and answers questions, suggests solutions, and raises red flags on issues that need to be addressed. Tables, diagrams, pictures and illustrations generously support all of the text, with the most difficult aspects illustrated by simulations and other material on a CD and links to a web site with an ongoing expansion of the themes addressed.

Top 10 Pick for Learning Ladders’ Best Books for Educators Summer 2021 A groundbreaking guide to improve teaching based on the latest research in neuroscience, from the bestselling author of A Mind for Numbers. Neuroscientists and cognitive scientists have made enormous strides in understanding the brain and how we learn, but little of that insight has filtered down to the way teachers teach. Uncommon Sense Teaching applies this research to the classroom for teachers, parents, and anyone interested in improving education. Topics include: • keeping students motivated and engaged, especially with online learning • helping students remember information long-term, so it isn't immediately forgotten after a test • how to teach inclusively in a diverse classroom where students have a wide range of abilities Drawing on research findings as well as the authors' combined decades of experience in the classroom, Uncommon Sense Teaching equips readers with the tools to enhance their teaching, whether they're seasoned professionals or parents trying to offer extra support for their children's education.