Whitney Johnson

Are you a high potential charting your course within your current organization, a leader trying to jumpstart innovative thinking in your company? Or are you ready to do something new? Consider this simple yet powerful idea: disruptive companies and ideas upend markets by doing something truly different - they see a need, an empty space waiting to be filled, and they dare to create something for which a market may not yet exist. An expert in driving innovation via personal disruption, Whitney Johnson, will help you understand how the frameworks of disruptive innovation can apply to you: if you want to be successful in unexpected ways, follow your own disruptive path. Dare to innovate. Dream big dreams. Do something astonishing. Disrupt yourself. In this book, you will learn how to apply these frameworks to building a business, career - and you. We are living in an era of accelerating disruption - those who can manage the S-curve waves of learning and maxing out will have a competitive advantage. But this is a skill set that needs to be learned. Disrupt Yourself will help people cope with the unpredictability of disruption, and use it to their competitive advantage.

Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work

Disrupt Yourself

Introduction: Being the kind of boss people love to work for -- The s-curve of learning -- The seven accelerants of learning and growth -- Recruiting and hiring -- Managing the hungry new hire -- Playing to their strengths -- Managing masters -- Helping people leap to new learning curves -- Conclusion: Getting started

Play to Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve

Build an A-Team

Harvard Business Review

Bruce Feiler

Daisy Dowling

Stewart D. Friedman

Tips, stories, and strategies for the job that never ends. When it comes to being a working parent, there are no right answers to the tough questions you grapple with, from how to get your toddler out the door to supporting your teen through struggles with their peers to whether or not to accept that big promotion—and the extensive travel and long hours that come with it. But there are answers that are right for you and your family. The HBR Working Parents Series Collection assembles the ideas and strategies you need to help you get ahead—and get through the day. Included in this set are Managing Your Career, Getting It All Done, and Taking Care of Yourself. This compilation offers insights and practical advice from world-class experts on the topics that matter most to working parents including making decisions at home and at work that align with your priorities; navigating tradeoffs—and managing the feelings that come with them; developing strategies for managing both the details of your day and the long-term view of your career; finding time for personal development; and making career choices that work for you—and your family. The HBR Working Parents Series supports readers as they anticipate challenges, learn how to advocate for themselves more effectively, juggle their impossible schedules, and find fulfillment at home and at work. From classic issues such as work-life balance and making time for yourself to thorny challenges such as managing an urgent family crisis and the impact of parenting on your career, this series features the practical tips, strategies, and research you need to be—and feel—more effective at home and at work. Whether you're up with a newborn or touring universities with your teen, we've got what you need to make working parenthood work for you.

The HBR Working Parents Series Collection (3 Books) (HBR Working Parents Series)

remarkable things happen when you dare to dream

Dare, dream, do

Lead each person on your team up the learning curve. What's the secret to having an engaged and productive team? It's having a plan for developing all employees--no matter where they are on their personal learning curves. Better morale and higher performance happen through learning, argues Whitney Johnson. In over twenty years of coaching, investing, and consulting, Johnson has seen that employees need continuous learning and fresh challenges to stay motivated. The best bosses know this, and they know how to make it happen by thoughtfully designing people’s jobs around the skills they have today as well as the skills they'll need to be even more valuable tomorrow. That's how entire organizations stay competitive in an unpredictable, rapidly changing business environment. In this book, Johnson explains how to become one of those bosses and how to build your A-team by: Identifying what your employees already know and what they need to learn Designing their jobs to maximize engagement and learning Applying a seven-step process for leading each person up their learning curve We all want opportunities to learn, experiment, and grow in our jobs. When our bosses work with us to help us leap to new challenges, the result is a team that knows how to thrive, no matter what the future holds.

The Fire Escape

Creating a culture of learning and growth Growth is the goal. Helping people develop their potential—enabling them to articulate and become the self they want to be, are capable of being, and that best serves them and others in the short and long term—is what we as individuals and leaders strive toward. But how do we grow? It turns out it happens in a predictable way, which means we can understand where we are in our growth and chart a way forward. In this compact, complete guide, Whitney Johnson dives more deeply than ever into the S Curve of Learning so that you can envision how growth happens and direct yourself and others in your organization to create a culture that fosters it. The growth and learning journey comes in three phases: the Launch Point, the Sweet Spot, and Mastery. Compelling examples of successful people will show you when and why growth is slow, how to keep going, what to do when growth and learning are almost too fast to keep up with, and how to leap from one growth journey to another. As individuals grow, so do organizations and societies. Growth is learning put into action—action that betters the world as we better ourselves and our small niches, both personal and professional, within it. Growth occurs when learning is internalized—when we try something new and invest the effort to move it from being something we do to something we are.

How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company

Smart Growth

High-growth organizations need high-growth individuals Startups, growth-stage companies, and private equity–backed companies all have one thing in common: They need high-growth individuals to execute high-growth plans. As a leader trying to achieve ambitious organizational goals, you need people who can do more than just keep up; you need people who can set the pace. You need high-growth individuals. Disrupt Yourself helps high-growth individuals--and those trying to attain this status--learn the tools and frameworks necessary to make changes that matter. This book helps you understand how these frameworks of disruptive innovation can apply to your particular path, whether you are: A self-starter ready to make a disruptive pivot in your business A high-potential individual charting your career trajectory A manager looking to instill innovative thinking within your team A leader facing industry changes that make for an uncertain future Whitney Johnson used the theory of disruptive innovation to invest in publicly traded stocks and early-stage private companies, and now she applies the framework to the personal and professional growth of individuals. We are living in an era of accelerating disruption, and no one is immune. Johnson makes the compelling case that managing the S-curve waves of learning and mastery is a requisite skill for the future. If you want to be successful in unexpected ways and achieve your wildest goals, follow your own disruptive path. Dare to innovate. Do something astonishing. Disrupt yourself.

Master Relentless Change and Speed Up Your Learning Curve

Disrupt Yourself, With a New Introduction

James Clear

Rasmus Hougaard

Jacqueline Carter

Improve the way you work—and feel—by forming better habits. We all have habits. Some of them we've carefully established; others we may have simply fallen into. Some help us get our work done; others hold us back. This book explores how to change your behavior to break counterproductive tendencies, combat everyday stressors, and ultimately reach your goals at work and in life. This volume includes the work of: James Clear Rasmus Hougaard Jacqueline Carter Whitney Johnson How to be human at work. The HBR Emotional Intelligence Series features smart, essential reading on the human side of professional life from the pages of Harvard Business Review. Each book in the series offers proven research showing how our emotions impact our work lives, practical advice for managing difficult people and situations, and inspiring essays on what it means to tend to our emotional well-being at work. Uplifting and practical, these books describe the social skills that are critical for ambitious professionals to master.

Good Habits (HBR Emotional Intelligence Series)

The same learning curve model that helps you "Build an A Team" can be used to build yourself into the person you want to be. In Disrupt Yourself, Johnson shows us what this curve looks like and how to ride it. She lays out seven strategies for successfully riding the wave of personal disruption: Take the right risks Lay to your distinctive strengths Embrace constraints Battle entitlement Step back to grow Give failure its due Be discovery driven Each chapter takes each strategy in turn, guiding the reader through understanding of the strategy and then helping the reader to apply it effectively.

Tips, stories, and strategies for the job that never ends. When it comes to being a working parent, there are no right answers to the tough questions you grapple with, from how to get your toddler out the door to supporting your teen through struggles with their peers to whether or not to accept that big promotion—and the extensive travel and long hours that come with it. But there are answers that are right for you and your family. The HBR Working Parents Series Collection assembles the ideas and strategies you need to help you get ahead—and get through the day. Included in this set are Managing Your Career, Getting It All Done, and Taking Care of Yourself. This compilation offers insights and practical advice from world-class experts on the topics that matter most to working parents including making decisions at home and at work that align with your priorities; navigating tradeoffs—and managing the feelings that come with them; developing strategies for managing both the details of your day and the long-term view of your career; finding time for personal development; and making career choices that work for you—and your family. The HBR Working Parents Series with Daisy Dowling, Series Editor, supports readers as you anticipate challenges, learn how to advocate for yourself more effectively, juggle your impossible schedule, and find fulfillment at home and at work. Whether you're up with a newborn or planning the future with your teen, you'll find the practical tips, strategies, and research you need to make working parenthood work for you.

HBR Working Parents Series Collection (3 Books) (HBR Working Parents Series)

Bridget just couldn't believe that mom was excited for Christmas. Because Christmas isn't for grown-ups and it's definitely not for babies. The only reason for Christmas if for her to get presents. She wrote a long list for Santa excited to get a big pile of toys. But after mom quietly taught her why we celebrate Christmas, Bridget has a change of heart. In fact, she realizes that Christmas was never just for her. Christmas is for everyone.

Whitney Johnson

Books

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