Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook



The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook: A Quick Reference Guide to 100 Tools for Improving Quality and Speed by Michael L. George (Author), John Maxey (Author), David Rowlands (Author), Mark Price (Author)

This pocket toolbook hits the "sweet spot" as a quick reference guide for lean six sigma practitioners. If you are currently working in these disciplines and you need a reference with enough meat to remind you of how/why/when a particular tool should be used and also a little of the statistical foundations supporting the tool, then you will find this to be a very valuable book to own.

The Lean Six Sigma Pocket Toolbook blends Lean and Six Sigma tools and concepts, providing expert advice on how to determine which tool within a "family" is best for different purposes. Packed with detailed examples and step-bystep instructions, it's the ideal handy reference guide to help Green and Black Belts make the transition from the classroom to the field.
  • Features brief summaries and examples of the 70 most important tools in Lean Six Sigma, such as "Pull," "Heijunka," and "Control Charts"
  • Groups tools by purpose and usage
  • Offers a quick, easy reference on using the DMAIC improvement cycle
  • Provides comprehensive coverage in a compact, portable format
This text is simply the best of the various pocket Six Sigma tool guides currently available in the marketplace. Although this book is a quick reference guide as the subtitle suggests, there is enough substance here for it to walk on legs and provide learning material for those readers already familiar with basic quality concepts.

You're in Charge, Now What?



You're in Charge, Now What?: The 8 Point Plan by Thomas J. Neff

When you start a new job, you are in a “temporary state of incompetence,” faced with having to do the most when you know the least. Tom Neff and Jim Citrin, two of the world’s experts on leadership and career achievement, know what it takes to succeed in a new position. Through compelling, first-hand stories, from CEOs like Jeffrey Immelt of GE and Bob Eckert of Mattel, You’re in Charge—Now What? offers an eight-point plan to show you how to lay the groundwork for long-term momentum and great performance.

What is Neff and Citrin's 8 POINT PLAN? The fundamental idea is: Get set to learn, listen well, set proper expectations, read the culture, build trust, lead by example, set the appropriate direction, and communicate effectively. These ideas are transformed to become the 8 steps for building your foundation towards great performance as a new manager:
1. Prepare Yourself During the Countdown
2. Align Expectations
3. Shape Your Management Team
4. Craft Your Strategic Agenda
5. Start Transforming Culture
6. Manage Your Board/Boss
7. Communicate
8. Avoid Common Pitfalls

This book has exactly the right combination of white space, font size, lay-out, progressive structure, and inspiring snippets (including the all-important advocacy for having an in-house revolutionary).



New Leader's 100-Day Action Plan






The New Leader's 100-Day Action Plan: How to Take Charge, Build Your Team, and Get Immediate Results by George B. Bradt

This book is a distillation and synthesis of the most relevant content of many books, combined with lots of unique and very valuable insight from the authors, and arranged in a highly useful order.

The New Leaders 100-Day Action Plan gives us an insight into an area of our business lives that has not been given enough attention, namely what the authors call, the 'executive on-boarding' experience. Many, many new executives fail in new roles, not because they are incompetent but because they are set up for failure before their arrival.

The invaluable lessons within this book include: 

  1. your first day begins well before your first day
  2. negotiate after your offer and before your acceptance
  3. know your stakeholders before you start -- get all of these issues ironed out before you accept the job; and many others.


Success Plan for New Managers



Survive Your Promotion! The 90 Day Success Plan for New Managers by Katy Tynan

Katy Tynan's new book, "Survive your Promotion: The 90 Day Success Plan for New Managers," is a clear no nonsense guide for success. You'll find the book is light on management theory and heavy on nuts and bolts. Additionally, if your company's culture includes promoting from within, put this book on your must read list.

Some of the concepts include:
  • motivating, leading and managing people - including hiring and dealing with conflict
  • how to lead meetings effectively
  • how to best leverage your time
  • how to think like an owner
  • building a vision and mission statement
  • setting goals and evaluating results
  • among other valuable insights
If your company's culture includes promoting from within, put this book on your must read list.



Total Money Makeover Ramsey




The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey, radio talk show host, author and all-around financial guru, is no stranger to this ostrich routine. After his own bankruptcy he came to the conclusion that the key to financial (and physical) fitness isn't knowing all the tricks of the money trade; it's being honest with yourself. "If I can control the guy in the mirror, I can be skinny and rich," he says in his new book THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER.

If you're thinking about passing on this latest book from financial guru Dave Ramsey because you've already read his first New York Times bestseller Financial Peace, think again. Financial Peace is "what to do." Total Money Makeover is a step-by-step, nuts and bolts "how to do" kind of book. Dave takes the seven key principles of a healthy financial plan from Financial Peave and gives them a shot of adrenaline and a ton of muscle! He walks with you through each of the seven "baby steps" and shows you exactly how to accomplish each one. 

Along the way Dave shares dozens of stories from people who are working on or have completed their own Total Money Makeover. The result is a book that could replace all others on personal finance. Reader beware: If you're looking for the next "get rich quick" book from a guy with a calculator and no experience, this is not the book for you. But if you want an uplifting and encouraging book that will show you exactly how to build true wealth and will give you loads of stories from people who have done just that, pick this book up today! Dave knocks it out of the park with Total Money Makeover, and your personal finances could be doing the same very soon.

Product Details
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson; 3 edition (December 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 159555078X
ISBN-13: 978-1595550781


Path to Achieving Success & Happiness Chade-Meng Tan



Search Inside Yourself: The Unexpected Path to Achieving Success, Happiness (and World Peace) by Chade-Meng Tan

This books is full of ways to incorporate mindfulness into your life, he explains in-depth how to manage harmful emotions with mindfulness. It also contains a great deal of science backing up all of his claims, not to mention the book contains personal testimonials from other Google employees, about how a mindfulness practice has influence their life.

This is an interesting book and has valuable information for those who wonder why nothing seems to satisfy or fulfill themselves. The author, who has had a successful career as one of Google's early pioneering engineers, covers meditation and mindfulness as well as emotional intelligence. The combination of familiar information we all hear touted daily about meditation and philosophical attitudes that derive from Buddhism, with psychological techniques and knowledge of emotional intelligence is powerful stuff. The question is, will every reader be able to implement these concepts? Possibly not--but if you find there are areas of, say, emotional intelligence that you cannot grasp or you cannot seem to master, it's a signpost for you. Perhaps someone, a professional counselor, pastor, teacher or other guide can give you tools to move you past the roadblock.

The text is easy to read and well-illustrated with amusing cartoons and drawings. The book is engaging. Yes, there are many many of these "new-age" how to be happy books, but this one is so clearly written and so concise.

The emotional intelligence section, in particular, is laid out as clearly as a roadmap. Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills are the five pillars. In additional to getting you to a happier state, emotional intelligence can boost your work performance, and improve your relationships. The author chooses a most delightful example of someone who learns emotional intelligence: Ebenezer Scrooge! My fave, A Christmas Carol. Who doesn't love the story of the reformed curmudgeon, who goes from an insensitive, mean, unhappy man who begrudges even a handful of warming coals to his hapless clerk, to the joyfully generous uncle who dispenses his bounty only to find the more he gives, the happier he himself becomes. Great example, and the five steps of emotional intelligence are all there in Scrooge as he transforms himself in the Christmas miracle.

If you are unfamiliar with the concepts of emotional intelligence and of mindfulness and being in the moment, this is an easy-to-read book that can entice you to delve deeper into the subject.

Product Details
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: HarperOne (April 24, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062116924
ISBN-13: 978-0062116925


Leadership Challenge 4th Ed Kouzes & Posner





The Leadership Challenge, 4th Edition by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

The Kouzes and Posner "The Leadership Challenge" does a good job of providing an easy to read overview which helps leaders in all levels of an organization learn and grow. It's important to note that this is not meant to be a "solutions for specific situations" handbook. Rather, it provides that core level of understanding to give you a foundation, so that as you progress and pick up other "how to" books you have that base support beneath you to keep you grounded in a healthy, productive direction.

There are many first person stories in here to illustrate their points. They are presented with a variety of individuals from different backgrounds and management levels. This is great - it means no matter where the reader is in their career, they can relate directly to at least some of the stories. Sometimes books are tempted to only interview CEOs of gigantic companies, which might be cool for status reasons, but it does little to help the majority of their readers with their actual issues. The Leadership Challenge makes the stories accessible to all.

The key practices laid out in this book are:
* model the way
* inspire a shared vision
* challenge the process
* enable others to act
* encourage the heart

If you sit down with a hefty challenge that leadership has faced in your company, and then compare the progress of the challenge against these five practices, you can see very powerful correlations between what went well and poorly and these practices. There are not just touchy-feely "nice to have" ideas. It is clearly demonstrable that working to build a common purpose with the team, celebrating the small victories as you move along a project, building a climate of trust between managers and employees, and recognizing employees when they do an outstanding job are critical to the short term and long term success of an organization. They can often spell the difference between success and failure on a project.

Product Details
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 4 edition (August 4, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0787984922
ISBN-13: 978-0787984922


Save Yourself from Bankruptcy




The Real Crash: America's Coming Bankruptcy---How to Save Yourself and Your Country by Peter Schiff

Schiff providing us with simple common sense solutions based on sound economics. The solutions are indeed nasty but the alternative is frightening to imagine. Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt tells us that Politicians will always think short-term whilst wearing blinkers to the big picture so we can conclude that Schiff's advice will be ignored.

This book gives some brief background as to how the U.S. got into this financial mess (for much more historic detail check out Crash Proof by Schiff), but most importantly, Schiff hits on all of the major financial issues that exist in our country today, and he offers the simplistic suggestions for reform to fix our path. From education to health care, Schiff writes in his easy to understand, and analogy-packed style, about how we can alter this destructive path we are on. In his usual honesty, Schiff  admits there is no win win here, but we can certainly guide ourselves towards a softer landing with a quicker, healthier recovery.

For those of you who are looking for interesting material that you will not learn in any school, college or on almost any other outlet, please purchase this book. Schiff makes so much sense it is astounding.


Product Details
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press (May 22, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250004470
ISBN-13: 978-1250004475
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches


Leadership and Self-Deception by Arbinger Institute



Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box by Arbinger Institute


This is a most unusual book on leadership. The premise here is not about leadership approaches, methodologies for managing employees in the workplace, or other business strategy, but is instead a close and powerful look at how we view others and how that view impacts our ability to lead them.
The first unusual aspect of this book is the manner in which it is written. It is basically a novel. It starts with contextual story written in first person, of a man who has recently joined a successful company as an executive and is called in to meet personally with the Company senior leader. From the first few pages I was anticipating and wanting to know what would happen next. It is within this method that the leadership principles are revealed. This is an extremely important way to deliver a message. I know a few people who do not read novels, but stick to non-fiction types of books. This is a tremendous loss, as truth is most eloquently and powerfully conveyed within the context of a story. In the New Testament for example, Jesus taught most powerfully in parables, weaving truth into a common story people could relate to. In that manner this book weaves some powerful messages about leadership into a modern day parable of a business executive.

The concept presented in this book of what leadership is, is also a more unusual one in that the focus is not on "what" we do behaviorally to others, our outward leadership style, as most leadership books focus on, but rather our inward view of these individuals as people. The foundational question is whether we are "in the box" or not. "In the box" refers generally to viewing others as objects through our own biased lens, which often without our knowledge inflates our self-importance while diminishing theirs. When reading this story I couldn't help but draw parallels to companies I have worked for, like GE, where the culture of leadership was in place, but despite all the tools most managers were not effective delivering them. This book will give one explanation on why.

This book is personally challenging, in that the focus is not on how we act in that compartment of our lives called work, but rather who we are in relation to others in our family, our workplace, and strangers in our society. I think that the message here should be experienced, so I will not lay out all the components of the book, but rather encourage you to read to be likewise challenged about your own leadership and approach to others.


Effective Leaders Principles Manby





Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders by Joel Manby

Love Works is timely. In our economic climate, leaders can assume that they need to choose between profit and people. Joel Manby's thesis--backed up by decades of successful leadership--is different. A business run on timeless principles of love, like patience and kindness and truthfulness, can improve its bottom line and its relationships at the same time. Simply put, love actually works. This will be a refreshing read for anyone who feels that in order to succeed they must be a different person at work from who they truly want to be.

This book articulates an approach to leadership that is the exception rather than the norm in business today. Love Works is an entertaining, quick read with compelling life examples to reinforce a message that could and should change US business culture. We all know profit is key to business, but Mr. Manby contends profits are maximized by exhibiting patience, empowerment and giving in the workplace. Results are achieved by people who want to produce as part of a team as opposed to forcing employees to produce through negative enforcers. Implement the pricipals outlined in this book and you will have success in life, business and your passions.


From the Author
Leading with love is counterintuitive in today's business environment because it turns many so-called leadership principles upside-down. Yet the outpouring of support from people who had never even heard of HFE convinced me that while we might be doing something slightly crazy by leading with love, we were also doing something that people were hungry to be a part of.

About the Author
Joel Manby is president and CEO of Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation (HFE). Previously he has worked for GM, Saturn, and Saab. Joel and his wife, Marki, have four daughters and reside in suburban Atlanta.




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