March 2023 MBR The Business Shelf

The Business Shelf

Real Flow
Brandi Olson
Star Blazer Press
www.realworkdone.com
9798218018429, $17.99, PB, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Real-Flow-Burnout-Unlock-Performance/dp/B0B92D3D9P

Synopsis: Business leaders have seen it before. Teams that should be achieving great work with ease are caught in a wild frenzy of competing priorities. Gradually their people suffer burnout, innovation evaporates, and time and energy are wasted on the wrong problems.

Thanks to this organizational multitasking, their organization is flooding from the pressure to do it all. But there is an unexpected solution to achieve high performance once again.

With the publication of "Real Flow: Break the Burnout Cycle and Unlock High Performance in the New World of Work", organizational agility expert Brandi Olson brings front and center what happens when an organization chases too many priorities simultaneously. Featuring extensive interviews with organizational leaders, "Real Flow" demonstrates the principles of flow that will create the environment teams need to achieve and sustain high performance. Integrating cognitive science, organizational agility, and lean principles, this is your guide to deliver exceptional value and enable people to be happy, healthy, and engaged in their work.

"Real Flow" reveals: The costly link between competing priorities, multitasking, and burnout and why no amount of vacation, self-care, or team-building activities will solve it; How to embrace the ecosystem paradigm and the direct impact it has on an organization's ability to adapt, change, and thrive; Strategies to remedy the burnout problem that don't involve doing less, expecting less, or shrinking the to-do list; How to redefine performance to maximize human potential for the long term over the short term and what that will do for your teams; The essential practice of limiting work in progress to improve the flow of value, plus the radical effect it has on solving the challenges your organization is facing.

Business managers and corporate executives don't need to choose between good work and their teams' well-being. Leading a high-performance organization depends on happy, healthy people. A careful reading of "Real Flow" will enable them to cultivate an evidence-driven approach to design a high-performing, agile organization, improve employee retention, and stop their employee burnout for good.

Critique: Of special interest to anyone having the responsibility for business management and work team leadership, "Real Flow: Break the Burnout Cycle and Unlock High Performance in the New World of Work" is an extraordinary, insightful, effective, and thoroughly 'user friendly' 'how-to' instructional reference guide that is especially recommended for personal reading lists and community, corporate, and academic library Business Management/Leadership collections.

Editorial Note: Brandi Olson (https://realworkdone.com) is an organizational agility expert and the founder of Real Work Done, a consultancy serving leaders through agile transformation, organizational strategy and team design, and executive coaching. She has spent two decades consulting with organizations-from nonprofits to universities to global Fortune 500 companies. An expert in organizational learning and change, she teaches leaders how to solve problems and adapt fast with high-performing teams.

The Control Catastrophe
Bob Stuckey and Ken Cooper, authors
www.KenCooper.com
TotalComm Press
https://bizcontrolsolutions.com
9780985094980, $16.95, PB, 270pp

https://www.amazon.com/Control-Catastrophe-organization-wasting-money/dp/0985094982

Synopsis: Lack of fiscal control is certain to become catastrophic for organizations. The business press is full of stories about organizations experiencing ethics scandals, theft, cheating, fines, prosecutions, outsourcing losses, waste, and inefficiency of all kinds.

What do these stories have in common? The organizations had all the traditional controls in place, and yet they still failed! It's clear that traditional controls are not working.

Something new is needed. BizControl is a new "core skill" for every executive, middle manager, supervisor, and many front-line professionals. Improving business controls is the fastest way to better protect your assets, eliminate unnecessary costs, and put money back on your bottom line -- and that is the purpose of "The Control Catastrophe: Why your organization is wasting money and how to fix it" by co-authors Bob Stuckey and Ken Cooper.

Critique: Absolutely required reading for any entrepreneur, business manager, or corporate executive responsible for protecting and maintaining the fiscal health of their enterprise or business, "The Control Catastrophe: Why your organization is wasting money and how to fix it" is impressively well written, comprehensively informative, and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in organization and presentation. The insights, advice and recommendations are 'real world' practical and vitally necessary to insure and monitor a company's sound financial footing. "The Control Catastrophe" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, corporate, and academic library collections on Corporate Governance, Project Management, Business Leadership/Motivation collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note #1: Ken Cooper (www.KenCooper.com) is a partner in BizControl Solutions and the founder of CooperComm, Inc. He has over 35 years' experience as a consultant, coach, speaker, trainer, and successful startup founder. Ken is a recognized expert in the areas of learning, organizational development, and performance excellence.

Editorial Note #2: Bob Stuckey (www.bizcontrolsolutions.com) is a partner in BizControl Solutions. He has held corporate-level positions in accounting and finance with applications to manufacturing, procurement, distribution, treasury, tax, sales, human relations, and adoption of leading-edge IT systems. He has been involved in over thirty-five corporate restructurings and reorganizations, and in multiple corporate mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures.

Fire in the Machine
Jonathan Tofel, author
Carolina Sasson, author
Lioncrest Publishing
https://lioncrest.com
9781544530178, $29.99, HC, 238pp

https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Machine-Entrepreneurial-Innovation-Organizations/dp/154453017X

Synopsis: As an innovator in a large company working hard to drive growth and deliver products consumers love, your size is an advantage-one that you can leverage for incredible results.

But when it comes to innovation, you cannot rely on big-company strength alone. Between your company's capabilities and the entrepreneurial ethos underscoring every successful startup lies the sweet spot for disruptive innovation, and the key to unlocking exponential growth.

With the publication of "Fire in the Machine: Driving Entrepreneurial Innovation in Large CPG Organizations, co-authors Jonathan Tofel and Carolina Sasson share insights gained from decades spent working within and consulting for Fortune 500 companies. They share the strategies that have helped their CPG clients harness entrepreneurialism and balance the startup mindset with big business systems to unleash the best of both worlds.

Simply stated, "Fire In the Machine" is an insightful journey into the challenges that all great innovators in large corporations eventually face -- and will show you how to leverage new strategies and realize the growth that's possible when entrepreneurial innovation is in the driver's seat.

Critique: A combination of instructional guide and 'how-to-manual', "Fire in the Machine: Driving Entrepreneurial Innovation in Large CPG Organizations" is exceptionally well written, expertly organized, and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in presentation. While especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, corporate, college, and university library Business Management/Entrepreneurship collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted for MBA students, academia, corporate executives, business managers, entrepreneurs, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Fire in the Machine" is also available in a paperback edition (9781544530161, $17.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $7.99).

Editorial Note #1: Jonathan Tofel (https://www.mission-field.com) is the founder and CEO of Mission Field. Before helping companies like PepsiCo, General Mills, and Kellogg's create disruptive innovations, Jonathan worked in Brand Management at P&G, Marketing and Innovation at Oxi Clean, and was an entrepreneurial consultant for The Clorox Company. Jonathan has founded two consultancies and continues to design and implement models for rapid innovation.

Editorial Note #2: Carolina Sasson (https://www.mission-field.com)is the Chief Operating Officer at Mission Field, where she embraces a holistic, iterative approach to help Fortune 500 clients develop big ideas. Starting her marketing career at P&G, Carolina launched a natural food startup in Boulder, Colorado, before spending a decade at Whitewave Foods and eventually leading The Seed Group, an internal innovation incubator.

The Power of Remote
Cynthia Watson, author
Shane Spraggs, author
Forbes Books
https://books.forbes.com
9781955884440, $24.99, HC, 316pp

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Remote-High-Performing-Organizations-Workplace/dp/1955884447

Synopsis: Arising from the Covid-19 pandemic's impact upon the business community resulting in an increased demand for hybrid and fully remote work styles, most firms understand that some form of distance work is here to stay -- and they have put some remote protocols in place.

But are they the right ones? Do they reflect best practices when it comes to the hiring, training, and onboarding of new remote hires? Are policies and workflows in place that enable remote workers to be as productive as possible? Does management know how to keep remote teams engaged while keeping an eye out for burnout and other wellness issues?

Often, the answer is "we're not quite there yet." Many companies either see the shift to remote work as a threat to their culture and management style, or they just don't know how to make the transition.

With the publication of "The Power of Remote: Building High-Performing Organizations That Thrive in the Virtual Workplace", co-authors Cynthia Watson and Shane Spraggs show just how to take advantage of the many opportunities remote work presents.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "The Power of Remote: Building High-Performing Organizations That Thrive in the Virtual Workplace" is expertly divided into five major sections: Remote Steps into the Spotlight; Building a Remote Team; Optimal Remote Performance; Effective Virtual Leadership; Tackling Remote Business Projects. A critically important informational and instructional resource, "The Power of Remote" is available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99) and should be considered an essential, core addition to professional, community, corporate, and academic library Business Organizational Management and Telecommunications collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note #1: Cynthia Watson (https://virtira.com/team/cynthia-watson) understood remote work long before it was hip. She wrote her 1993 master's thesis on telecommuting, then went on to build a career around the concept - running and advising a variety of companies while traveling the world. Today, as Executive Chair at Virtira, she continues to research remote best practices and develop training to make sure that everyone, whether working a few days from home or full time across the world, is thriving and productive.

Editorial Note #2: Shane Spraggs (https://virtira.com/meet-shane-spraggs-ceo-of-virtira) is Virtira's CEO and an industry leader in implementing project-based solutions that ensure sustainable success. He has brought his insights to a variety of Fortune500 firms and top media and software startups. Shane leads a team of consultants who implement remote productivity services, reporting and workflows so companies can drive performance and revenue.

The Great Digital Transformation
Gerard Szatvanyi
Forbes Books
https://books.forbes.com
9781955884457, $24.99, HC, 195pp

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Digital-Transformation-Reimagining-Interactions/dp/1955884455

Synopsis: Creating a website and digitizing processes may have seemed cutting edge at one time; but technologies have continued to advance, and retailers simply must keep up if they are to succeed in today's volatile marketplace.

Gerard Szatvanyi, an entrepreneur and founder of OSF Digital, a leading Salesforce partner, knows firsthand what it takes to remain on top (and not become obsolete) in today's connected retail world. Global brands and companies of all sizes have turned to him, time and again, to help them through their own digital transformation journeys. Thanks to the expertise of Szatvanyi and his team, these retailers have been able to avoid the red. Better yet, they have built systems that support customer interactions and enable an integrated, experience-driven path forward.

What does it take to digitally transform? Szatvanyi is aware of the obstacles, and he doesn't shy away from tough topics in the retail space, including the challenges surrounding stores and misunderstandings about remote work. Rather, with the publication of "The Great Digital Transformation: Reimagining the Future of Customer Interactions" and in an approachable conversational style, he extends his hand and invites readers to sit back with him and dream.

After all, with the technologies available today, the possibilities are nearly endless. Szatvanyi points out that the starting line is not a budget review or the development of a to-do list. Rather, it's a thinking exercise; a conversation, if you will, about what could be.

In his pragmatic way, Szatvanyi turns the complicated topic of digital transformation into easy-to-digest segments. What other strategy allows you to play video games for a few hours and try on headsets? Yet that's exactly what Szatvanyi advises. Doing so can help readers understand the potential of these technologies. After engaging in up-and-coming channels, it's often easier to imagine ways to use them to interact with customers. With personal examples and case studies sprinkled throughout, readers shift from thinking about new ways to live and work to seeing them in action.

"The Great Digital Transformation" covers: What digital transformation is; How to be customer-centric; Ways to create mobile experiences; The purpose of on-the-ground stores; How to engage in video; Guidelines to give employees meaningful tasks; Ways to reimagine remote work; What to know about headless commerce; How to target a niche market; Why building a community matters; How to capture data the right way; Best practices for setting up teams and systems.

Szatvanyi also shares practical guidelines to weigh the costs and benefits of new implementations. "The Great Digital Transformation" maintains a focus on revenue generation and improved profit margins. In every chapter, Szatvanyi lists questions to help readers re-think their current practices and re-imagine their business. These takeaways make it easy for organizations, regardless of their available resources or budgets, to take steps forward. Readers will be inspired to start their own digital transformation journeys and lead their brands toward a bright, profitable future.

Critique: Given the dramatic impact that the digital world has had on everything from politics to commerce, from consumer behavior to supply chain dynamics, "The Great Digital Transformation: Reimagining the Future of Customer Interactions" must be considered as an essential and core addition to personal, professional, community, corporate, and academic library Business Online Marketing and E-Commerce collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for MBA students, academia, corporate executives, entrepreneurs and business marketing directors that "The Great Digital Transformation" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Gerard Szatvanyi (https://gerardszatvanyi.com) is the founder, president, and CEO of OSF Digital, a leading global commerce solutions company which specializes in digital transformation. OSF Digital is a certified and award-winning Salesforce partner and has successfully led global retailers through their digital journeys. As an entrepreneur and executive, Szatvanyi has more than twenty years of experience in managing start-ups and medium-sized IT businesses and leading them to reach top performance. Clients from around the world have sought his expertise in enterprise applications, IT services, and consultancy. With his long list of international connections, Szatvanyi is pioneering the way into a new form of global entrepreneurship. In addition to his role at OSF Digital, he holds management and board positions for other tech-enabled businesses.

Behavioral Economics for Leaders
Matthias Sutter
Wiley
c/o Wiley Professional Trade Group
111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
www.wiley.com
9781119982975, $29.00, HC, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Behavioral-Economics-Leaders-Research-Based-Irrational/dp/1119982979

Synopsis: Every leader should know the surprising research and strange conclusions of behavioral economics -- for fairness, teamwork and productivity. But you and your colleagues don't always make rational decisions. Sometimes that's a problem that leaders must address, and and sometimes that can be a good thing -- when employees put their colleagues interests ahead of their own.

With the publication of "Behavioral Economics for Leaders: Research-Based Insights on the Weird, Irrational, and Wonderful Ways Humans Navigate the Workplace", Dr. Matthias Sutter (a leading economist from Germany's world-renowned Max Planck Institute) explains the latest surprising insights based on behavioral economics research. The book explains how people tick, how they react to incentives (monetary or non-monetary in nature) and what that means for working together (or against each other) at work.

Dr. Sutter summarizes new and classic behavorial science research that applies the everyday business world, so leaders can improve teams and organizations, the research-based way. Find out which factors are important for professional success, from career entry to senior management.

He covers: Starting your career on the right footing, advance quicker, and strategize how to meet your goals; Understanding what's holding your colleagues back from productivity and implement evidence-based changes; Identifying hidden biases in yourself and others to overcome inequalities and inefficiencies; Becoming a better leader and decision-maker by learning to interpret people's actions

Individuals, organizations, and teams will benefit from the often-counterintuitive wisdom in this eloquent study. Based on the author's 20 years of research (plus the findings of the world's top behavioral economists) "Behavioral Economics for Leaders" can help you get your team and your organization where you want to lead it.

Critique: Truly exceptional in organization and presentation, "Behavioral Economics for Leaders: Research-Based Insights on the Weird, Irrational, and Wonderful Ways Humans Navigate the Workplace" is an extraordinary, invaluable, and essential addition to personal, professional, corporate, community, college, and university library Business Leadership/Management collections and supplemental MBA curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "Behaviroal Economics for Leaders" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $17.00) as well.

Editorial Note: Matthias Sutter (https://www.coll.mpg.de/matthias-sutter) is a behavioral economist. He has been the Director of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in Bonn since 2017. He is also Professor of Experimental Economic Research at the Universities of Cologne and Innsbruck.

Managing Employee Burnout
Shauna Moran
Kogan Page Inc.
8 W 38th Street, Ste 902, New York, NY 10018
www.koganpage.com
9781398608092, $126.00, HC, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Managing-Employee-Burnout-Develop-Workforce/dp/1398608092

Synopsis: With the publication of "Managing Employee Burnout: How to Develop A Happy, Healthy and Engaged Workforce", Shauna Moran covers everything from what burnout is, what causes it and what different forms it can take. She also explores the role of the organization in employee burnout and includes specific guidance on how to manage burnout in remote and hybrid working environments and why dispersed teams may be more susceptible to burnout.

Full of actionable advice and real world examples, "Managing Employee Burnout" also demonstrates what strategies to put in place to safeguard staff retention and productivity from burnout as well as how to promote awareness and emotional intelligence in the business. Furthermore, "Managing Employee Burnout" explains why effective company culture, communication, leadership and an inclusive talent strategy are key to building a healthy, engaged and sustainable workforce. There is also coverage of how to improve employees' mental health and discussion of the importance of taking a break and how to establish healthy boundaries.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "Managing Employee Burnout: How to Develop A Happy, Healthy and Engaged Workforce" should be considered essential reading for all HR professionals, as well as anyone who is responsible for talent management and ensuring employee health, happiness and productivity. While especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, academic, corporate, and academic library Business Management collections and curriculum studies lists, it should be noted be noted by MBA students, academia, corporate executives, union leaders, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Managing Employee Burnout" is also readily available in a paperback edition (9781398608078, $39.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $31.99).

Editorial Note: Shauna Moran (https://www.shaunamoran.com) is the Founder of Operate Remote, an award-winning executive coaching agency that empowers leaders to address staff burnout and build more emotionally healthy, engaged and sustainable teams and organizations. Prior to this, she headed up Partnerships in various SaaS companies. Based in Vancouver, Canada she has a background in psychology and is an accredited Executive and Leadership Coach as well as an Emotional Intelligence Practitioner.

Experiential Intelligence
Soren Kaplan
Matt Holt Books
c/o BenBella Books
www.benbellabooks.com
9781637742020, $26.00, HC, 264pp

https://www.amazon.com/Experiential-Intelligence-Experience-Personal-Breakthroughs/dp/1637742029

Synopsis: With the publication of "Experiential Intelligence: Harness the Power of Experience for Personal and Business Breakthroughs", Soren Kaplan reveals how our past experiences impact our present success and future opportunities in ways we often don't recognize. While you can't change what's happened to you or how you've responded to it, within your unique stories are hidden strengths waiting to be discovered. Do just that by uncovering your Experiential Intelligence -- the mindsets and abilities gained from your personal and professional life experiences.

Just as memorizing facts doesn't give you a high IQ, your Experiential Intelligence (XQ) isn't merely what you've learned over time. It's how you perceive challenges, view opportunities, and tackle goals. XQ is your unique internal fingerprint. Leverage it to: Become a better leader; Increase collaboration, innovation, and results; Hire and develop talent using more strategic criteria; Transform your organization's culture.

"Experiential Intelligence" reveals the psychological, sociological, and neurological forces that make us tick. You can learn how to uncover your hidden assets, remove invisible barriers limiting peak performance, and amplify strengths to achieve breakthroughs for yourself, your team, and your organization.

Critique: Of special value to readers with an interest in entrepreneurship, corporate leadership, and employee/supervisor motivation, "Experiential Intelligence: Harness the Power of Experience for Personal and Business Breakthroughs" is deftly organized into three main sections: Understand XQ, Develop XQ, Apply XQ. Informative enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of four pages of Notes and an eight page Index, "Experiential Intelligence" is a seminal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, corporate, and academic library Business & Financial Management collections and supplemental MBA curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "Experiential Intelligence" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $13.99).

Editorial Note: Soren Kaplan (www.sorenkaplan.com) is an author, a Columnist for Inc. Magazine, the founder of Praxie.com, and an affiliate at the Center for Effective Organizations at USC's Marshall School of Business. He has advised and led leadership development programs for thousands of executives globally, including Disney, Visa, PayPal, PepsiCo, Cisco, Wells Fargo, eBay, Medtronic, AARP, and many others. Business Insider and the Thinkers50 have recognized him as one of the world's top management thought leaders and consultants.

Talent Intelligence
Toby Culshaw
Kogan Page Inc.
8 W 38th Street, Ste 902, New York, NY 10018
www.koganpage.com
9781398607255, $126.00, HC, 256pp

https://www.amazon.com/Talent-Intelligence-Business-Organizational-Performance/dp/1398607258

Synopsis: Improved access to people and business data has created huge opportunities for the HR function. However, simply having access to this data is not enough. HR professionals need to know how to analyse the data, know what questions to ask of it and where and how the insights from the data can add the most value.

With the publication of "Talent Intelligence: Use Business and People Data to Drive Organizational Performance", author Toby Culshaw provides a practical guide that explains everything HR professionals need to know to achieve this. It outlines what Talent Intelligence (TI) is why it's important, how to use it to improve business results and includes guidance on how HR professionals can build the business case for it.

"Talent Intelligence" also explains how and why talent intelligence is different from workforce planning, sourcing research and standard predictive HR analytics and shows how to assess where in the organization talent intelligence can have the biggest impact and how to demonstrate the results to all stakeholders. Most importantly, "Talent Intelligence" covers KPIs and metrics for success, short-term and long-term TI goals, an outline of what success looks like and the skills needed for effective Talent Intelligence. It should be noted that "Talent Intelligence" also features case studies from organizations including Philips, Barclays and Kimberly-Clark.

Critique: A high priority read for anyone involved in their company's Human Relations activities and responsibilities, "Talent Intelligence: Use Business and People Data to Drive Organizational Performance" is an extraordinary and seminal study that is especially recommended for personal, professional, community, corporate, and academic library Personnel Management and Business Decision-Making/Problem Solving collections. It should be noted for MBA students, academia, corporate executives, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "Talent Intelligence" is also available in a paperback edition (9781398607231, $41.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $33.59).

Editorial Note: Toby Culshaw (https://www.koganpage.com/author/toby-culshaw) is the Talent Intelligence Leader, Worldwide Operations and Consumer, at Amazon, leading a global team in talent intelligence. He was Global Head of Talent Intelligence and Executive Recruitment Research at Royal Philips, the Dutch health technology group. He was named by Recruiter Magazine as one of the 11 Most Influential In-house Recruiters in 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021 and is an international speaker on sourcing, executive research and talent intelligence. Based in Brighton, UK he is also the founder of the Talent Intelligence Collective, a Talent Intelligence Mentor at Udder and a co-host of the Talent Intelligence Collective Podcast.

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