New books this month focus on areas such as organisational behaviour, problem solving, performance management, leadership and more. The titles listed below are only a small section of the new additions. If you wish to borrow any of the books listed or find out what other fascinating titles are available, please get in touch!

Click here to see a full list of new arrivals

The stupidity paradox: the power and pitfalls of functional stupidity at work / Mats Alvesson and Andre Spicer (2016)

Location: 658.013 ALV

The Stupidity Paradox tackles head-on the pros and cons of functional stupidity. You'll discover what makes a workplace mindless, why being stupid might be a good thing in the short term but a disaster in the longer term, and how to make your workplace a little less stupid by challenging thoughtless conformity. It shows how harmony and action in the workplace can be balanced with a culture of questioning and challenge. The book is a wake-up call for smart organisations and smarter people.

Management & organisational behaviour 11th edition / Laurie J. Mullins with Gill Christy (2016)

Location: 658.013 MUL

Now in its 11th edition Laurie Mullins’s Management & Organisational Behaviour is the essential guide to OB for students today. Over half a million students have used this engaging and practically focused book as their introduction to the world of management and organisational behaviour, and it continues to evolve and improve to serve the needs of modern students. Using theory and practical, real-world examples, the textbook considers how organisational performance can be improved through effective management of people. This unique approach to the subject enables students to relate Organisational Behaviour to Management in the broader social and cultural contexts.

That’s not how we do it here!: a story about how organizations rise, fall – and can rise again / John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber (2016)

Location: 658.013 KOT

John Kotter uses this charming parable to explore why organizations often struggle no matter their past success, and why they fall. Kotter shows that by embracing reliability, efficiency, speed and agility, and building passion, discipline and personal growth, organizations can once again prosper, fulfill their mission, create great jobs and services and generate wealth.

How performance management is killing performance and what to do about it: rethink, redesign, reboot / M. Tamara Chandler (2016)

Location: 658.310.64 CHA

Chandler lays out the general principles and then walks you through each step in creating a performance management process that employees will actually embrace rather than avoid and that will help you meet the three objectives of great performance management: developing your people, rewarding them equitably, and driving your organization’s performance. It’s the first comprehensive, step-by-step guide to creating a performance management solution that’s tailored to your organization’s needs and goals and that places the emphasis squarely on your greatest asset: your people.

Sprint: how to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days / Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky and Braden Kowitz (2016)

Location: 658.012.6 KNA

Sprint takes you behind the scenes with some of America's most fascinating startups as they sprint on difficult problems. You'll meet a hotel robotics maker searching for the perfect robot personality, an innovative coffee roaster expanding to new markets, a company organizing the world's cancer data, and Slack, the fastest-growing business app in history. A practical guide to answering critical business questions, Sprint is a book for teams of any size, from small startups to Fortune 100s, from teachers to nonprofits. It’s for anyone with a big opportunity, problem, or idea who needs to get answers today.

Leading / Alex Ferguson and Michael Moritz (2015)

Location: 658.007.1 FER

LEADING is structured around the key skills that Sir Alex values most highly. It includes subjects we immediately associate with his managerial style: Discipline, Control, Teamwork and Motivation. But it also addresses subjects that are less obvious but no less important when seeking success: Delegation, Data Analysis and Dealing with Failure. Written with the investor Sir Michael Moritz, a longstanding friend of Sir Alex, LEADING is packed with insight, wisdom, humour and honesty. The individual stories inevitably concern themselves with football, and the phenomenal success that came along the way, but the lessons can be applied by anyone. Whether you run a business, teach in a classroom, or work in a small team, LEADING will help you become a better leader.

Grit: the power of passion and perseverance / Angela Duckworth (2016)

Location: 159.9 DUC

In this instant New York Times bestseller, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows anyone striving to succeed—be it parents, students, educators, athletes, or business people—that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a special blend of passion and persistence she calls “grit.” Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research, Angela explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success. Angela has found that grit—a combination of passion and perseverance for a singularly important goal—is the hallmark of high achievers in every domain. She’s also found scientific evidence that grit can grow.

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