David Epstein

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

Minnesota

Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance

The New York Times bestseller - with a new afterword added to the paperback - from the author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.

In high school, I wondered whether the Jamaican Americans who made our track team so successful might carry some special speed gene from their tiny island. In college, I ran against Kenyans, and wondered whether endurance genes might have traveled with them from East Africa. At the same time, I began to notice that a training group on my team could consist of five men who run next to one another, stride for stride, day after day, and nonetheless turn out five entirely different runners. How could this be?

We all knew a star athlete in high school. The one who made it look so easy. He was the starting quarterback and shortstop; she was the all-state point guard and high-jumper. Naturals. Or were they?

The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training?
The truth is far messier than a simple dichotomy between nature and nurture. In the decade since the sequencing of the human genome, researchers have slowly begun to uncover how the relationship between biological endowments and a competitor's training environment affects athleticism. Sports scientists have gradually entered the era of modern genetic research.

In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving this great riddle. He investigates the so-called 10,000-hour rule to uncover whether rigorous and consistent practice from a young age is the only route to athletic excellence.

Along the way, Epstein dispels many of our perceptions about why top athletes excel. He shows why some skills that we assume are innate, like the bullet-fast reactions of a baseball or cricket batter, are not, and why other characteristics that we assume are entirely voluntary, like an athlete's will to train, might in fact have important genetic components.

This subject necessarily involves digging deep into sensitive topics like race and gender. Epstein explores controversial questions such as:

   *  Are black athletes genetically predetermined to dominate both sprinting and distance running, and are their abilities influenced by Africa's geography?
   *  Are there genetic reasons to separate male and female athletes in competition?
   *  Should we test the genes of young children to determine if they are destined for stardom?
   *  Can genetic testing determine who is at risk of injury, brain damage, or even death on the field?
Through on-the-ground reporting from below the equator and above the Arctic Circle, revealing conversations with leading scientists and Olympic champions, and interviews with athletes who have rare genetic mutations or physical traits, Epstein forces us to rethink the very nature of athleticism.

The Sports Gene

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Henry Chesbrough

How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape

Provides a diagnostic tool for readers to assess their business model and usher it through a six-stage continuum toward openness. This book also identifies the barriers to creating open business models (such as the not invented here syndrome and the not sold here virus) and explains how to surmount them.

Open Business Models

aba88ae8-2796-43ca-ad3b-5872138411e5-0

Light Hardcover (1 lb or less)

Bring Out The Best!

Guy. Kawasaki

The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition

Challenges popular corporate practices of using buzzwords and a pedigreed workforce to promote agenda-based productivity, and makes lighthearted and common-sense recommendations for being professionally competitive in the real world.

Reality Check

08c43441-ef42-4e86-a2e2-295291c6af4d-1

Jaeson Ma

Light Paperback (1 lb or less)

A Revolutionary Plan to Plant Missional Communities on Campus

God is calling forth a generation that is passionate for His presence. What does that look like and how can it be accomplished? Jaeson Ma offers a powerful vision of what God is radically doing in this generation. Students are already being set on fire for God, planting missional communities, praying fervently and stepping out in faith to see God move in power to reach the lost. It is time to see this manifested on every campus, in every city and in every nation. Through his own personal stories, student testimonies and practical biblical teaching, Ma envisions and practically equips student and staff leaders to change themselves and their campuses for Christ. Readers of The Blueprint will receive a clear vision for revival and reformation of society, a specific spiritual DNA (passion for prayer, power evangelism and planting simple churches) and practical tools to see the vision for reformation become a reality. That’s the plan. Now to see the revolution unfold!

The Blueprint

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The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything

A new product, a new service, a new company, a new division, a new anything - where there's a will, Kawasaki shows the way with his essential steps to launching one's dreams.

The Art of the Start

4826070b-c61c-442e-9c56-bee8ab208ae2-1

Steven Furtick

What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible

Steven Furtick challenges you to believe that the audacious faith that we see in the Bible, the faith that caused a man to pray and see the sun stand still in the sky, is the same faith we can claim for ourselves today. --from publisher description

Sun Stand Still

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Patrick Johnstone

Jason Mandryk

Heavy Paperback (2 to 4 lbs)

Entrepreneurs often suffer from "superhero syndrome"-the misconception that to be successful, they must do everything themselves. Not only are they the boss, but also the salesperson, HR manager, copywriter, operations manager, online marketing guru, and so much more. It's no wonder why so many people give up the dream of starting a business-it's just too much for one person to handle.But outsourcing expert and "Virtual CEO," Chris Ducker knows how you can get the help you need with resources you can afford. Small business owners, consultants, and online entrepreneurs don't have to go it alone when they discover the power of building teams of virtual employees to help run, support, and grow their businesses. 'Virtual Freedom: How to Work with Virtual Staff to Buy More Time, Become More Productive, and Build Your Dream Business' is the step-by-step guide every entrepreneur needs to build his or her business with the asset of working with virtual employees. Focusing on business growth, Ducker explains every detail you need to grasp, from figuring out which jobs you should outsource to finding, hiring, training, motivating, and managing virtual assistants.With additional tactics and online resources, 'Virtual Freedom' is the ultimate resource of the knowledge and tools necessary for building your dream business with the help of virtual staff.

Operation World

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Malcolm Gladwell

How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

The Tipping Point

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Randy White

Raymond J. Bakke

Onramps to Personal and Community Transformation

How would you handle the self-exposing, idea-dizzying, life-shifting surprises that Randy White faced when he tried to live for Jesus in Fresno, California? He tells his story, describing how the city can be fertile soil where God can mentor you, test you and shape you into the image of Jesus.

Encounter God in the City

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Jerry Bridges

Even When Life Hurts

Jerry Bridges contends that as you begin to explore the scope of God's power over nations, nature, and the detailed lives of individuals, you'll begin to acknowledge His loving control. And as you come to know Him better, you'll find yourself trusting Him more completely.

Trusting God

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Andy Stanley

Your Guide for Discovering and Maintaining Personal Vision

Everybody ends up somewhere in life. Now you can end up somewhere on purpose. Discover God's vision for your life, follow His way to get there, and get going!

Visioneering, Revised and Updated Edition

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Publications International Ltd. Staff

Heavy Hardcover (2 to 4 lbs)

Slow Cooker Bible

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Ethan M. Rasiel

"If more business books were as useful, concise, and just plain fun to read as THE MCKINSEY WAY, the business world would be a better place." --Julie Bick, best-selling author of ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW IN BUSINESS I LEARNED AT MICROSOFT.

"Enlivened by witty anecdotes, THE MCKINSEY WAY contains valuable lessons on widely diverse topics such as marketing, interviewing, team-building, and brainstorming." --Paul H. Zipkin, Vice-Dean, The Fuqua School of Business

It's been called "a breeding ground for gurus." McKinsey & Company is the gold-standard consulting firm whose alumni include titans such as "In Search of Excellence" author Tom Peters, Harvey Golub of American Express, and Japan's Kenichi Ohmae.

When Fortune 100 corporations are stymied, it's the "McKinsey-ites" whom they call for help. In THE MCKINSEY WAY, former McKinsey associate Ethan Rasiel lifts the veil to show you how the secretive McKinsey works its magic, and helps you emulate the firm's well-honed practices in problem solving, communication, and management.

He shows you how McKinsey-ites think about business problems and how they work at solving them, explaining the way McKinsey approaches every aspect of a task:
How McKinsey recruits and molds its elite consultants;
How to "sell without selling";
How to use facts, not fear them;
Techniques to jump-start research and make brainstorming more productive;
How to build and keep a team at the top its game;
Powerful presentation methods, including the famous waterfall chart, rarely seen outside McKinsey;
How to get ultimate "buy-in" to your findings;
Survival tips for working in high-pressure organizations.

Both a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most admired and secretive companies in the business world and a toolkit of problem-solving techniques without peer, THE MCKINSEY WAY is fascinating reading that empowers every business decision maker to become a better strategic player in any organization.

The Mckinsey Way

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John Wooden

NATIONAL BESTSELLER "I am just a common man who is true to his beliefs."--John Wooden Evoking days gone by when coaches were respected as much for their off-court performances as for their success on the court, Wooden presents the timeless wisdom of legendary basketball coach John Wooden. In honest and telling passages about virtually every aspect of life, Coach shares his personal philosophy on family, achievement, success, and excellence. Raised on a small farm in south-central Indiana, he offers lessons and wisdom learned throughout his career at UCLA, and life as a dedicated husband, father, and teacher. These lessons, along with personal letters from Bill Walton, Denny Crum, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bob Costas, among others, have made Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court an inspirational classic.

Wooden: a Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court

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James S. A. Corey

The book is the basis for the first season of The Expanse, a new original series premiering on Syfy in December 2015. Leviathan Wakes is James S. A. Corey's first novel in the epic series the Expanse, a modern masterwork of science fiction where humanity has colonized the solar system. Two hundred years after migrating into space, mankind is in turmoil. When a reluctant ship's captain and washed-up detective find themselves involved in the case of a missing girl, what they discover brings our solar system to the brink of civil war, and exposes the greatest conspiracy in human history. The ExpanseLeviathan WakesCaliban's WarAbaddon's GateCibola BurnNemesis Games The Expanse Short FictionThe Butcher of Anderson StationGods of RiskThe ChurnDrive

Leviathan Wakes

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Larry Osborne

Keeping Your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page



Serving as a church leader can be a tough assignment. Whatever your role, odds are youÆve known your share of the frustration, conflict, and disillusionment that comes with silly turf battles, conflicting vision, and marathon meetings.No doubt, youÆve asked yourself, ÔHow did it get this wayÖWith practical and accessible wisdom, Larry Osborne explains how it got this way. He exposes the hidden roadblocks, structures, and goofy thinking that sabotage even the best intentioned teams. Then with time-tested and proven strategies he shows what it takes to get (and keep) a board, staff, and congregation on the same page.Whatever your situation; from start-up phase, to mid-sized, to megachurch, Osborne has been there. As the pastor of North Coast Church heÆs walked his board, staff, and congregation through the process. Now with warm encouragement and penetrating insights he shares his secrets to building and maintaining a healthy and unified ministry team that sticks together for the long haul.

Sticky Teams

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Herminia Ibarra

"Today's breakneck pace of change has an immense impact on leaders-and as a result, on the organizations they run. All too often, people remain stuck in outdated mindsets and modes of operating, even after others recognize the need for change. Leaders need to learn to pivot even when there are no obvious signals guiding their way. Leadership expert Herminia Ibarra (INSEAD) upends traditional, introspective advice and says act first-and then change your way of thinking. In this unconventional book, Ibarra, one of the world's foremost experts on leadership transitions, provides the first practical guide on how to change when you also need to lead. Defying standard leadership development guidance, which encourages deep self-reflection into strengths and weaknesses, this book shows that the most effective way to change is through action, not analysis, and by learning from experience, not introspection. In short, it will teach you to change from the outside in by first acting like a leader and then thinking like one. Based on Ibarra's flagship executive education program at INSEAD, this book is for new and seasoned leaders alike who need to understand the new rules for success in their own organization, and in the global business environment at large. It's the essential guidebook for anyone who wants to upgrade their role or be the leader their organization needs them to be"--

Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader

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Jim Collins

Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

The Challenge Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning. But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? The Study For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great? The Standards Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck. The Comparisons The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good? Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't. The Findings The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include: Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness. The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology. The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap. “Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.” Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?

Good to Great

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Kerry Patterson

Joseph Grenny

Ron McMillan

Al Switzler

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

The New York Times and Washington Post bestseller that changed the way millions communicate “[Crucial Conversations] draws our attention to those defining moments that literally shape our lives, our relationships, and our world. . . . This book deserves to take its place as one of the key thought leadership contributions of our time.” —from the Foreword by Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People “The quality of your life comes out of the quality of your dialogues and conversations. Here’s how to instantly uplift your crucial conversations.” —Mark Victor Hansen, cocreator of the #1 New York Times bestselling series Chicken Soup for the Soul® The first edition of Crucial Conversations exploded onto the scene and revolutionized the way millions of people communicate when stakes are high. This new edition gives you the tools to: Prepare for high-stakes situations Transform anger and hurt feelings into powerful dialogue Make it safe to talk about almost anything Be persuasive, not abrasive

Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition

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Gallup

Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow

Two leadership consultants identify three keys to being a more effective leader: knowing your strengths and investing in others' strengths, getting people with the right strengths on your team, and understanding and meeting the four basic needs of those who look to you for leadership.

Strengths Based Leadership

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Jentezen Franklin

Opening the Door to a Deeper, More Intimate, More Powerful Relationship with God

In this New York Times Best-Seller and one of the best available books on the topic, Jentezen Franklin explains the spiritual power of fasting and offers a deeper understanding of God’s plan for fasting and the benefits available to those who participate. The book contains inspiring and practical information that readers need to know in order to access the power of biblical fasting. Those who seek God through fasting can expect tremendous rewards for their personal lives as well as for the church. They will see breakthroughs in many areas such as healing, finances, unhealthy dependencies and family relationships. This book also gives stories of those who have reaped miraculous rewards from this simple act of faith.

Fasting

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Roger Ebert

A Memoir

"The best thing Mr. Ebert has ever written." - Janet Maslin, New York Times

"To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this, and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."

Roger Ebert is the best-known film critic of our time. He has been reviewing films for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and was the first film critic ever to win a Pulitzer Prize. He has appeared on television for four decades.

In 2006, complications from thyroid cancer treatment resulted in the loss of his ability to eat, drink, or speak. But with the loss of his voice, Ebert has only become a more prolific and influential writer. And now, for the first time, he tells the full, dramatic story of his life and career.

In this candid, personal history, Ebert chronicles it all: his loves, losses, and obsessions; his struggle and recovery from alcoholism; his marriage; his politics; and his spiritual beliefs. He writes about his years at the Sun-Times, his colorful newspaper friends, and his life-changing collaboration with Gene Siskel. He shares his insights into movie stars and directors like John Wayne and Martin Scorsese.

This is a story that only Roger Ebert could tell. Filled with the same deep insight, dry wit, and sharp observations that his readers have long cherished, this is more than a memoir -- it is a singular, warm-hearted, inspiring look at life itself.



Browse by categories

David Epstein

The Sports Gene

Henry Chesbrough

Open Business Models

Scott Murray

Bring Out The Best!

Guy. Kawasaki

Reality Check

Jaeson Ma

The Blueprint

Guy. Kawasaki

The Art of the Start

Steven Furtick

Sun Stand Still

Patrick Johnstone; Jason Mandryk

Operation World

Malcolm Gladwell

The Tipping Point

Randy White; Raymond J. Bakke

Encounter God in the City

Jerry Bridges

Trusting God

Andy Stanley

Visioneering, Revised and Updated Edition

Publications International Ltd. Staff

Slow Cooker Bible

Ethan M. Rasiel

The Mckinsey Way

John Wooden

Wooden: a Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court

James S. A. Corey

Leviathan Wakes

Larry Osborne

Sticky Teams

Herminia Ibarra

Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader

Jim Collins

Good to Great

Kerry Patterson; Joseph Grenny; Ron McMillan; Al Switzler

Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition

Gallup

Strengths Based Leadership

Jentezen Franklin

Fasting

Roger Ebert

Life Itself

Al Ries; Jack Trout

Positioning: the Battle for Your Mind, 20th Anniversary Edition

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