Extraordinary Outcomes: Shaping an Otherwise Unpredictable Future

Extraordinary Outcomes: Shaping an Otherwise Unpredictable Future

Released September 2014
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781118938331

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Book description

Steel your team against the unexpected by planning for uncertainty

Extraordinary Outcomes presents an innovative approach to thinking and planning, giving leaders a playbook for dealing with uncertainty. Written by internationally recognized authorities on problem solving and creativity in organizations, this book provides an alternative outlook on business strategy and people management for leaders navigating uncertain waters, where the future is anything but guaranteed. The framework is the result of research in multiple fields and the authors' experiences with individuals, teams, and organizations, with examples from real-world situations that illustrate the concepts and dynamics at work to give readers deeper insight. The focus is on conquering uncertainty - eliminating it where possible, reducing it where it can be reduced, and embracing it when it's inevitable.

Traditional ways of thinking and planning do not work in the face of an uncertain future. Frequently there are just no guarantees, nothing written in stone, and even a fortune-teller couldn't accurately predict the outcome. Extraordinary Outcomes helps leaders prepare for that, with strategies geared toward preparedness and embracing uncertainty.

  • Learn why skills and talent are only two pieces of a bigger puzzle

  • Discover how to better galvanize the team, and keep them motivated long-term

  • Connect to a purpose that inspires enthusiastic engagement

  • Conquer uncertainty, and develop a strategy for dealing with mistakes

    • No one likes to be caught off guard, and the consequences can be severe at the organizational level. Leaders can't be psychic, but they can plan for possible outcomes and always have a solution at the ready. For those who like to have an answer for everything, Extraordinary Outcomes provides a roadmap toward an uncertainty-proof strategy for doing business.

    Table of contents

    1. Cover
    2. Praise for Extraordinary Outcomes
    3. Title Page
    4. Copyright
    5. Chapter 1: Skills and Talent are not Enough
      1. Stars and Success
      2. What Awaits
    6. Chapter 2: Connect to a Compelling Purpose
      1. The Purpose of Purpose
      2. Purpose in an Organization
      3. Team Purpose
      4. Individual Purpose
      5. Evolution of Purpose
      6. Define Purpose
    7. Chapter 3: Galvanize Your Team
      1. The Team as Organism
      2. Forging a Team Identity
      3. Building Your Team Standards
      4. Universal Values to Establish Standards
      5. Trust
      6. Respect
      7. Integrity
      8. Empathy
      9. Inclusion
      10. Communication
      11. Standards Are Unique to Each Team
    8. Chapter 4: Amplify the Positive
      1. Breathe Life into Standards
      2. Chance Favors the Prepared Mind
      3. Positive Deviance
      4. Expand with “And”
      5. Small Wins
      6. How's Life?
      7. How Much Recognition Is Enough?
      8. What Good Is All This Positivity?
      9. Celebrate, Encourage, and Prime to Shape Success
    9. Chapter 5: Conquer Uncertainty
      1. Complicated Systems and Complex Systems
      2. Perils of Ignoring Uncertainty
      3. “Satisfice” versus “Optimize”
      4. Information and Uncertainty
      5. Bring the Future to the Present
      6. Perceptions
      7. Together We're a Genius
      8. What Were They Thinking?!
      9. Deliberate Chaos
      10. Visit the Future
      11. Partnering
      12. Embrace Uncertainty
    10. Chapter 6: Acknowledge, Learn, Correct
      1. Fear
      2. The Fixed Mind-Set and the Growth Mind-Set
      3. “Life Isn't About Finding Yourself. Life Is About Creating Yourself.”
      4. Use Your Mind to Change Your Brain
      5. Facing Difficult Situations
      6. Healthy Negative Emotion
      7. Personal Defeat
      8. Organizational Defeat
      9. 10,000 Hours
      10. How You Practice Matters
      11. Creating the “Culture of ROI”: Relentless Ongoing Improvement
      12. Unintentional Failures
    11. Chapter 7: Shape Your Future
    12. Acknowledgments
    13. About the Authors
    14. Index
    15. End User License Agreement

    Product information

    • Title: Extraordinary Outcomes: Shaping an Otherwise Unpredictable Future
    • Author(s):
    • Release date: September 2014
    • Publisher(s): Wiley
    • ISBN: 9781118938331