In Pursuit of Elegance

In Pursuit of Elegance PDF Author: Matthew E. May
Publisher: Crown Currency
ISBN: 0385526504
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
What made the Sopranos finale one of the most-talked-about events in television history? Why is sudoku so addictive and the iPhone so darn irresistible? What do Jackson Pollock and Lance Armstrong have in common with theoretical physicists and Buddhist monks? Elegance. In this thought-provoking exploration of why certain events, products, and people capture our attention and imaginations, Matthew E. May examines the elusive element behind so many innovative breakthroughs in fields ranging from physics and marketing to design and popular culture. Combining unusual simplicity and surprising power, elegance is characterized by four key elements—seduction, subtraction, symmetry, and sustainability. In a compelling, story-driven narrative that sheds light on the need for elegance in design, engineering, art, urban planning, sports, and work, May offers surprising evidence that what’s “not there” often trumps what is. In the bestselling tradition of The Tipping Point, Made to Stick, and The Black Swan, In Pursuit of Elegance will change the way you think about the world.

In Pursuit of Elegance

In Pursuit of Elegance PDF Author: Matthew E. May
Publisher: Crown Currency
ISBN: 0385526504
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Get Book Here

Book Description
What made the Sopranos finale one of the most-talked-about events in television history? Why is sudoku so addictive and the iPhone so darn irresistible? What do Jackson Pollock and Lance Armstrong have in common with theoretical physicists and Buddhist monks? Elegance. In this thought-provoking exploration of why certain events, products, and people capture our attention and imaginations, Matthew E. May examines the elusive element behind so many innovative breakthroughs in fields ranging from physics and marketing to design and popular culture. Combining unusual simplicity and surprising power, elegance is characterized by four key elements—seduction, subtraction, symmetry, and sustainability. In a compelling, story-driven narrative that sheds light on the need for elegance in design, engineering, art, urban planning, sports, and work, May offers surprising evidence that what’s “not there” often trumps what is. In the bestselling tradition of The Tipping Point, Made to Stick, and The Black Swan, In Pursuit of Elegance will change the way you think about the world.

The Elegant Solution

The Elegant Solution PDF Author: Matthew May
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1847375138
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
One million. That's how many new ideas the Toyota organization receives from its employees every year. These ideas come from every level of the organization - from the factory floors to the corporate suites. And organizations all over the world want to learn how they do it. Now Matthew May, Senior Advisor to the University of Toyota, reveals how any company can create an environment of every day innovation and achieve the elegant solutions found only on the far side of complexity. A tactical guide for team-based innovation, THE ELEGANT SOLUTION delivers the formula to the three principles and ten practices that drive business creativity. Innovation isn't just about technology - it's about value, opportunity and impact. When a company embeds a real discipline around the pursuit of perfection, the sky is the limit. Dozens of case studies (from Toyota and other companies) illustrate the power and universality of these concepts; a unique 'clamshell strategy' prepares managers to ensure organizational success. At once a thought-shaper, a playmaker, and a taskmaster, THE ELEGANT SOLUTION is a practical field manual for everyone in corporate life.

The Laws of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess Everything

The Laws of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess Everything PDF Author: Matthew E. May
Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional
ISBN: 0071795626
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Winner of a 2013 Small Business Book Award for Economics The world is more overwhelming than ever before. Our work is deeper and more demanding than ever. Our businesses are more complicated and difficult to manage than ever. Our economy is more uncertain than ever. Our resources are scarcer than ever. There is endless choice and feature overkill in all but the best experiences. Everybody knows everything about us. The simple life is a thing of the past. Everywhere, there's too much of the wrong stuff and not enough of the right. The noise is deafening, the signal weak. Everything is too complicated and time-sucking. Welcome to the age of excess everything. Success in this new age looks different and demands a new skill: Subtraction. Subtraction is defined simply as the art of removing anything excessive, confusing, wasteful, unnatural, hazardous, hard to use, or ugly . . . or the discipline to refrain from adding it in the first place. And if subtraction is the new skill to be acquired, we need a guide to developing it. Enter The Laws of Subtraction. Through a dozen of the most compelling stories of breakthrough innovation culled from 2,000 cases and bolstered by uniquely personal essays contributed by over 50 of the most creative minds in business today, The Laws of Subtraction outlines six simple rules for winning in the age of excess everything, and delivers a single yet powerful idea: When you remove just the right things in just the right way, something very good happens. The Laws of Subtraction features contributions by over 50 highly regarded thinkers, creatives, and executives. On Law #1: What Isn't There Can Often Trump What Is "When you reduce the number of doors that someone can walk through, more people walk through the one that you want them to walk through." -- SCOTT BELSKY, founder and CEO of Behance and author of Making Ideas Happen On Law #2: The Simplest Rules Create the Most Effective Experience "Keeping it simple isn't easy. By exploiting subtraction in innovation, we've been able to create an environment of freedom and creativity that allows us to thrive." -- BRAD SMITH, CEO, Intuit On Law #3: Limiting Information Engages the Imagination "Subtraction can mean the difference between a highly persuasive presentation and a long, convoluted, and confusing one. Why say more when you can say less?" -- CARMINE GALLO, author of The Apple Experience On Law #4: Creativity Thrives Under Intelligent Constraints "Here's the key to the conundrum for managers who want to stoke the innovation fire: That close cousin of scarcity, constraint, can indeed foster creativity." -- TERESA AMABILE, author of The Progress Principle On Law #5: Break Is the Important Part of Breakthrough "If you kill the butterflies in your stomach, you'll kill the dream. Embrace the feeling. Save the butterflies." -- JONATHAN FIELDS, author of Uncertainty On Law #6: Doing Something Isn't Always Better Than Doing Nothing "When we're faced with the greatest odds against us, often we need to edit rather than add." -- CHIP CONLEY, cofounder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality and author of Emotional Equations

Then We Came to the End

Then We Came to the End PDF Author: Joshua Ferris
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0759572283
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
Winner of the Hemingway Foundation / PEN Award, this debut novel is "as funny as The Office, as sad as an abandoned stapler . . . that rare comedy that feels blisteringly urgent." (TIME) No one knows us in quite the same way as the men and women who sit beside us in department meetings and crowd the office refrigerator with their labeled yogurts. Every office is a family of sorts, and the Chicago ad agency depicted in Joshua Ferris's exuberantly acclaimed first novel is family at its best and worst, coping with a business downturn in the time-honored way: through gossip, elaborate pranks, and increasingly frequent coffee breaks. With a demon's eye for the details that make life worth noticing, Joshua Ferris tells an emotionally true and funny story about survival in life's strangest environment—the one we pretend is normal five days a week. One of the Best Books of the Year Boston Globe * Christian Science Monitor * New York Magazine * New York Times Book Review * St. Louis Post-Dispatch * Time magazine * Salon

The Shibumi Strategy

The Shibumi Strategy PDF Author: Matthew E. May
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470892161
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
Gold Medal Winner, Business Fable, 2012 Axiom Business Book Awards A personal leadership fable on applying principles of Zen to work & life choices. The Shibumi Strategy is a little book about a big breakthrough. It tells the story of a hardworking family man who finds himself in crisis when his company closes. Through his struggle, and guidance from unlikely sources, he learns subtle lessons in the form of “personal zen” principles, coming to understand that it is often the involuntary challenge, the setbacks, that harbor the power to transform. When approached as an opportunity — no easy task when simple survival is the first order of business—unforeseen trials can sometimes result in an altogether new lease on life. Shows how "personal leadership" can lead to real (and not always easy) breakthroughs Includes key lessons on commitment, preparation, struggle, breakthrough, and transformation Is based on Shibumi, a Japanese word without literal definition that describes the height of personal excellence, elegant performance, and effortless effectiveness. For those struggling with personal breakthroughs, The Shubimi Strategy offers a new way to face work and life challenges for balanced solutions.

Machine Beauty

Machine Beauty PDF Author: David Gelernter
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
Called "a brand name in computer science" by "The New York Times Magazine", renowned scientist and visionary David Gelernter offers a fascinating and often humorous discussion of the critical role of beauty, elegance, and aesthetics in computer technology. Print features.

The Perfect Gentleman

The Perfect Gentleman PDF Author: James Sherwood
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0500023727
Category : Design
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
For the man who has everything, and for the luxury industry trying to seduce him: a rich insight into what makes a product endure and bring pleasure to all who possess it In an age of globalization with fashion trends that change by the day, the quality and workmanship of the great British luxury brands endure and flourish like never before. Valued for their craftsmanship, superlative quality, exclusivity, and the status they confer on their owners, these “heritage houses” have been synonymous with the finest production for hundreds of years. This lavish publication celebrates the gentleman’s search for the perfect sartorial detail or the ideal accessory. It features six historical chapters, from the Regency period to the present, each of which presents classic British marques, including shoemakers, jewelers, shirt and tie makers, cloth makers, perfumers, hatters, and vintners. The final chapter showcases the new generation of designer-artisans who are redefining notions of quality and handwork in the era of globalization and digital technologies. A reference section presents the London gentleman’s social world, from the shopping arcade (Burlington) to hotels (The Savoy) and the member’s clubs and antiquarians in between.

Elegant Simplicity

Elegant Simplicity PDF Author: Satish Kumar
Publisher: New Society Publisher
ISBN: 1771422998
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
“A profound and accessible guide to an ecological civilization of peace, material sufficiency, and spiritual abundance for all.” —David Korten, international-bestselling author of When Corporations Rule the World Consumerism drives the pursuit of happiness in much of the world, yet as wealth grows unhappiness abounds, compounded by the grave problems of climate change, pollution, and ecological degradation. We’ve now reached both an environmental and spiritual dead-end that leaves us crying out for alternatives. Elegant Simplicity provides a coherent philosophy of life that weaves together simplicity of material life, thought, and spirit. In it, Satish Kumar, environmental thought leader and former monk, distills five decades of reflection and wisdom into a guide for everyone, covering: · The ecological and spiritual principles of living simply · Shedding both “stuff” and psychological baggage · Opening your mind and heart to the deep value of relationships · Embedding simplicity in all aspects of life including education and work · Merging science and spirituality for a coherent worldview. Elegant Simplicity is a life guide for everyone wanting off the relentless treadmill of competition and consumption and seeking a life that prioritizes the ecological integrity of the Earth, social equity, and personal tranquility and happiness. “Satish Kumar embodies the elegance of simplicity . . . follow his path to make your life simple, elegant, and inspiring.” —Deepak Chopra, New York Times–bestselling author “In this moving and eloquent book, Satish Kumar takes us through his own journey to a simpler, happier life with a low ecological footprint.” —David Suzuki, award-winning geneticist, author, broadcaster, and environmental activist

In Pursuit of Beauty

In Pursuit of Beauty PDF Author: Timothy Whealon
Publisher: Rizzoli Publications
ISBN: 0847846008
Category : House & Home
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
An appealing approach to creating elegant, worldly interiors that are rooted in the comforts of home. Interior designer Timothy Whealon is beloved for his accessible style, his seamless blend of classic and modern influences, and his skillful use of artwork and antiques, thanks to an extensive knowledge of fine and decorative arts. Whealon’s design philosophy finds its roots in classicism; however, he approaches each project with a fresh, twenty-first-century eye that makes it both modern and timeless. He doesn’t believe in interiors that look “decorated,” as if everything has been done at once. Rather, he layers items from different periods and cultures, artfully mixing the pristine and the patinated. This book is the first to showcase Whealon’s interiors, from an airy New York penthouse to a gracious Mediterranean-style villa to a casual beach cottage. Whether urban or rural, grand or intimate, each project exhibits classicism alongside comfort, careful attention to detail, and undeniable appeal. Many of the projects included have been newly photographed for this book, and each is a testament to Whealon’s exquisite taste and understanding of how people live today.

In Pursuit of Reason

In Pursuit of Reason PDF Author: Noble E. Cunningham, Jr.
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345353803
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
"A major contribution." Washington Post The authoritative single-volume biography of Thomas Jefferson, perhaps the most significant figure in American history. He was a complex and compelling man: a fervent advocate of democracy who enjoyed the life of a southern aristocrat and owned slaves, a revolutionary who became president, a believer in states' rights who did much to further the power of the federal government. Drawing on the recent explosion of Jeffersonian scholarship and fresh readings of original sources, IN PURSUIT OF REASON is a monument to Jefferson that will endure for generations.