Practices that can be implemented tomorrow
350862
"Small Teaching" by James Lang is filled with simple practices that can be inserted into existing course designs to improve student learning outcomes at the college level. There is no need for massive course redesign to implement Langs tested recommendations. He has purposely focused on actions that can be implemented tomorrow. All his practices are based on research. Chapters include the theories, practices, and principles needed to address the means to enhance student knowledge, understanding, motivation, growth, and more. This is a practical resource that faculty will refer to often as they strive to further the learning of their students.
3037270
The ideas in it beautifully express many of the things me and some other colleagues have been thinking and trying to practice for a while.  Furthermore, it offers practical wisdom and action for readers to experiment with.

I started a book club in my workplace around the book.  We have members ranging from senior management leading our response to Brexit - to first time managers in call-centers - to learning and OD professionals - who have joined.  We read a chapter each month applying and reflecting on the ideas in the book and the outcomes of our little experiments.  The membership has found the language accessible and compelling, and the invitations into different practices timely and powerful given the forces of change we're experiencing.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
1649446
I really liked the book it makes a very good case for the concept of the delivery of professional services using need technologies no necessarily by professionals.

I agree with the premises of the book but I found it a bit optimistic, I believe that professionals will always four d a way of preserving the part that will benefit them.

The book is highly recommended and I would like to explore some of the ideas even further especially about the decomposition of tasks.
2291062
This book makes so much sense...so much so that I plan to implement its principles asap...will let you know how it goes.
1852297
Brilliant simplicity, effective practices, timely theme !!  I used this book for the first meeting of a yoga book club. Everyone loved the book and several members were committed to continuing with the authors practices.
2152037
This book will teach you the fundamentals and essential practices necessary to further apply what you have learned to real world situations.
3446561
"Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World" by Bob Johansen is an interesting read for all those who wish to lead into the future.  Johansen comes at leadership from the perspective of a Forecaster, something he has done for more than thirty years, and an over all premise that today's businesses and organizations are operating in a world characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, often referred to as VUCA in the text.

As a forecaster, Johansen states that he studies the future to learn about leadership in the present.  This book contains the ten emerging skills that Johansen feels will be crucial for leaders responsible for maneuvering their organizations through the next decade.  He makes a convincing case as to why these skills are important.  Additionally, he provides guidance with how the reader can incorporate the skills into their own leadership styles.

The ten skills include: 1. Maker Instinct focuses on how leaders need to draw out their maker instinct and apply it to their leadership.  Johansen states that future leaders will need both a can-do and a can-make spirit.  2.  Clarity is a must in confusing times and a leader must be able to create and communicate with clarity without being simplistic.  3.  Dilemma Flipping is being able to succeed with challenges that cannot be solved and won't go away.  4.  Immersive Learning Ability focuses on immersing yourself in new physical and virtual worlds that may be uncomfortable to increase your learning.  5.  Bio-Empathy is being able to learn from nature and use that wisdom to inform your decisions.  6.  Constructive Depolarizing focuses on how a leader can constructively depolarize conflict to both calm and improve the situation.  7.  Quiet Transparency is a skill by which a leader by being open but not self-promoting.  8.  Rapid Prototyping deals with working through many scenarios during the process of development.  9.  Smart Mob Organizing is a leadership skill of organizing people using a range of media.  10.  Commons Creating within which both cooperation and competition may occur.

Each chapter has relevant examples to illustrate Johansen's main points and concludes with a good chapter summary.  The concluding chapter, Readying Yourself for the Future, starts with a great statement, "Leaders can make the future.  Leaders can decide what kind of future they want to create and go for it."  I also like that the author admits that the ten skills he outlines in this text are challenging to master and there are other resources to assist you with them.  You won't learn everything from this book, but then no one single volume teaches everything.  This book should be used as a catalyst.  Johansen describes ten skills for future leaders, and it should get you thinking about the concepts he writes about and exploring ways to incorporate these into your leading.

The speed of change can be overwhelming, and things only continue to speed up each and every year.  I agree with the author that the future will be loaded with opportunities and leaders must be ready to take advantage of the opportunities as they arise and be agile enough to sidestep the dangers.  This book raises important skills that each leader should at least consider if not incorporate into their leading.  It is a quick read and one I encourage any leader to not just read, but meditate on the described skills and seek ways to incorporate them into their businesses and organizations.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks.
497131
Practice Perfect clearly illustrates the concept of practice in both teachable and understanding terms.  After reading the book, it has definitely reshaped my thinking on how I practice as a mentor, coach and teacher.  The techniques offered can be applied to professional and personal sectors.  ~ Lisa Coates
2426933
This book is a pragmatic results oriented approach and inspiration to leading the digital transformation of any Organisation or company. I particularly like the cases, the self assessment guides and the checklists which makes the ideas and concepts easy to deploy.
I would welcome digital/online companion versions of the assessment and checklists too for the book owners - that would be very much in line with the authors recommendations!
4218
The authors have a unique way providing perspectives and strategies related to change.  It would be helpful if there were more examples of companies/organizations actually practicing to "switch."
801513
Amazing and practical book with day to day wisdom to make your work more effective.
3610677
A lot of ideas that I am currently implementing and they work!
4181957
Jeanne and Kevin do a very nice job to a very relevant and timely topic. They do this not only for business leaders and anyone that wants to learn more about the future of work, but for the HR professional. Their research along with real world examples exemplifies what organizations of the future will need. Their ten rules highlight from a systemic perspective what organizations need to keep in mind in order to remain relevant in the future. The employees of today and tomorrow are expecting a different workplace and experience and this book highlights and reinforces what is needed by organizations and its leadership to reinvent themselves or to become the organization of the past. For the HR professional, this book provides a value-added perspective that will make their job, profession, and expertise that much more needed and valuable in the upcoming future. Thank you to both for this insightful book.
4650837
The book presents an unique approach to being more effective and getting more accomplished in your personal and work life - ironically by limiting what you try to do at any given time.  I've used the Kanban method to coordinate the work of teams in places where I've worked and thought I would experiment with this approach for my individual work.  The book explains the principles behind the techniques well.  While I'm not sure how practical it is for most people to maintain a paper-based Kanban task board in their apartment, or even a home, the ideas presented in the book are thought-provoking and web and mobile apps for Kanban are making it more practical and portable.  I do have to admit, when I've tried using the Personal Kanban methods in the book to prepare for some busy weekends lately I was able to get more done than usual.
674955
I am fortunate to have been able to work with Dr. Horton for some time. As the book came together, I had the opportunity to utilize these exercises with a new staff as we opened our Community Day School. The team building we were able to openly and honestly engage in has allowed us to build a strong collaborative culture that we are continuing to improve day by day. Dr. Horton's exercises are easy to implement and yield genuine and measurable results when you implement the lessons with fidelity. It's a solid read that will help you move your staff forward.
3594874
I received a review copy of this book in advance of its release.

The Best Place To Work takes the approach of improving the workplace by applying psychological research in a way that is very approachable for all audiences, those familiar with psychology and business and those who are not. Perhaps my favorite chapter was the one discussing the importance of taking risks and facing inevitable failure in order to achieve more successes. Intuitively, it seems likely that applying the principles will help to improve business places; as a business person, I wish more research existed to support the theoretical ideas contained herein. Perhaps this book will prompt more businesses to implement the principles, which will serve as real world experiments to further support or refute them.
747614
Besides being very timely, the book addresses very valid issues and barriers to overcome Innovation barriers. It is well researched and has great relate-able examples. It is not so much a how to but focused on the challenges to overcome. Good read for innovators engaged to improve and excel further.