Innovation and quality are two misconceived terms in business. Typically overused, they fill the void that leaders have in understanding the needs of their organizations. Both innovation and quality are fragile in that they are sporadic and unpredictable, even in the best companies. However, the research provided in this book will prove that there is a complimentary relationship between innovation and quality. From successful fortune 500 companiesand big government to small but successful entrepreneurial ventures, and non-profits, this book examines innovation through a number of different lenses.
When a Dad tries to dig a hole in his Northern Virginia yard to bury the remains of the family pet, he chances upon something buried years before-a mysterious briefcase. Its contents include a journal with cryptic writing. The father turns to his friend-and boss-Templeton Davis, a former Rhodes scholar and popular national radio talk show host, for help figuring out what he's found.They soon realize that they are in possession of materials that were hidden more than 60 years earlier by a notorious deep cover agent for the Soviet Union--Kim Philby. And buried with the materials were clues to the identity of the most effective spy in the history of Cold War espionage.Long a mere footnote in history, the story of this man's treachery reaches the pinnacles of power and geopolitics. It's a story that begins just before the Second World War breaks out and reaches the depths of the decades-long stand off that followed. The trail leads to a picturesque town in Vermont, the streets of New York City, the corridors of power in Washington, DC--but most importantly, Oxford, England, where Davis realizes that the beautiful city of spires on the Thames was once also a city of spies.The Oxford spies may never have reached the level of public notoriety as those from that other British stronghold of academia--Cambridge--but clearly the story had never been completely known-or told. And it was a very dangerous mine of detail in which to dig, a fact borne out by a couple of suspicious deaths left in the wake of Templeton Davis's travels.Davis discovers that at the moment when the world came closest to unparalleled disaster, secrets were being betrayed at the highest levels. He would also come to understand that what he had learned connected to a time of great sorrow for mankind--the Kennedy assassination.At a crucial moment, Templeton Davis quickly develops a bond borne of necessity with a beautiful young woman from Russia--someone with her own secrets. And when what she knows is combined with what the famous broadcaster has learned, the two unlikely heroes find themselves in grave danger, yet poised to rock the world.
As long as he can remember, Sam Poma has wanted only one thing: to play professional football. He has worked hard, never straying from his goal, and that dedication has served him well. He and his best friend, Mike Lane, are inseparable, on the field and off. From Sam's first game in middle school to a state championship game in high school and a spot on a college team, everything is going to plan. Sam's next step will be the pros. But when disaster strikes, stripping the rising star player of his hopes and dreams, he's lost. To make matters worse, he and Mike are drifting apart, and Sam is too depressed to notice Mary Beth, the young girl who has been his loyal friend all along. Like Sam, Mary Beth sees her own dreams-of a future with Sam-fading away; she feels she can't compete with the cute cheerleaders who adore him. As Sam begins to question what is really important in life, only time will tell if he can learn from past mistakes and build a new dream for himself.
If your organization wants to get better at strategic planning, you could hire expensive consultants eager to charge you as much as they can. Or you could demystify the process by reading this guidebook written by an accomplished businessman and former military strategic planner who explains that strategic planning means doing the right things, which is much different than doing things right. COL David R. McClean (USA, Ret) provides a phased approach with clear and concise advice so you can improve your strategic planning and increase growth. Whether you own a corner sandwich shop or manage a megabank, you can: -Conduct organization assessment to develop a comprehensive strategic plan - realize the vision -Select and lead strategic planning teams - build unit cohesion -Communicate with colleagues and business partners - increase on return -Analyze and execute an effective implementation plan - process improvement
Child sexual abuse is widespread with increasingly recognized medical, psychological, social, and spiritual damage. And while revelations of sexual abuse continue, newspapers and other media do not capture the extent, distribution, or aftermath of childhood sexual abuse that many medical professionals experience with patients. Kingdom Work: Redeeming Child Sexual Abuse shares the perspective of a physician who offers a worldview rooted in biblical Christianity and faith. Prompted by a single patient experience, author David R. Haburchak, MD, has produced a comprehensive, interdisciplinary primer on the broad subject of child sexual abuse with the primary aim of informing and energizing the universal church and others to engage healing and prevention of this heinous sin. The author develops a holistic and theological approach to the problem showing through literary and historical metaphors that child sexual abuse is ultimately a sin against the triune God.
Develop, configure, and deploy Java cloud-native applications using Payara Micro. This book demystifies Java cloud-native application development using standard Microprofile APIs and covers Payara-specific features such as automatic clustering and application initialization performance improvements. You will learn how to improve startup performance by taking advantage of class data sharing, and configure cloud-native applications via standard development tools such as Maven and Gradle. The book also clarifies how to develop functionality necessary in a cloud environment, such as health checks and request tracing, using MicroProfile APIs. The book begins by showing how to develop microservices using RESTful web services, followed by how to create microservice clients using MicroProfile and the REST client API. Dependency Injection via Jakarta Context and Dependency Injection (CDI) is also covered. Various approaches to application configuration are covered as well, including property files, environment variables, and system properties. You will learn to configure fault tolerance and high availability, generate system and custom application metrics, and generate health checks to automatically improve overall application health. You will know how to trace the flow of a request across service boundaries with OpenTracing. You will be able to make future maintenance easily through generating documentation, including how to automatically update documentation as your code is updated. Additionally, you will learn how to secure cloud applications and to automatically cluster applications and improve application startup performance.What You Will LearnDevelop microservices using standard Java APIsImplement cloud functionality such as request tracing and health checksDeploy applications as thin archives and as uber archivesConfigure applications via Maven and GradleGenerate custommetrics for capacity planning and proactive discovery of issuesImplement features in support of high availability and fault toleranceSecure your applications with Jason Web TokensTake advantage of Payara’s own cloud platform for easy deploymentWho This Book Is ForJava developers who wish to develop cloud-native applications and microservices, and Java EE application developers who wish to transition to developing cloud-native applications that are lightweight and easily deployed
A product of the Scottish Enlightenment, William Playfair (1759–1823) worked as a statistician, economist, engineer, banker, land speculator, scam artist, and political propagandist. It has been claimed – erroneously – that Playfair was a spy for the British government and ran a forging operation to print the paper money of the French Revolution. The Flawed Genius of William Playfair offers a complete account of Playfair’s life, richly contextualized in the economic, political, and cultural history of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. The book explores the many peaks and troughs of Playfair’s career, ranging from moderate prosperity to bankruptcy and imprisonment. Through careful analysis, David R. Bellhouse shows that Playfair was neither a spy nor a forger, but perhaps briefly a one-time courier for a government minister. Bellhouse pieces together as complete a picture as possible of the forging operations supported by the British government and illuminates Playfair’s lasting contributions in economics and statistics, where he is known as the father of statistical graphics. Disputing the misinformation about the man, The Flawed Genius of William Playfair highlights that the truth about Playfair’s life is often more intriguing than the fictions that surround him.
Let me introduce you to my compendium of the 287 most used American Adages & Aphorisms. These are the sayings your mother and father used ad infinitum while you were growing up. Almost without your knowing it, they formulated words to live by, words to guide your thinking as you matured and throughout life. I have categorized them for easy reference. Adages such as: * A clear conscience can bear any trouble* Diligence is the mother of good luck* Hope for the best and prepare for the worst* If you lie down with dogs, you'll wake up with fleas* You never know what you can do until you tryHopefully they will prove useful to any reader who is a bit fuzzy on their definitions, or who want their children to learn the common adages.To the newcomer to American literature, these will be fresh and exciting. I've provided somewhat irreverent meanings to help the reader along in understanding our culture.To parents, this book will assist you in providing your children with a grounding in the meanings of America's favorite adages. And additionally, this book, along with your e-reader when taken on the road, provides an easy resource for family in-car quizzes-which will boost interest and enthusiasm during long trips. So, enjoy. With my blessings
Every woman (or girl) has a secret fear: THE FEAR THAT SHE WILL BE VICIOUSLY ATTACKED OR SEXUALLY HARASSED. It's a recurring nightmare. This book simplifies REAL SELF-DEFENSE FOR WOMEN Our guide is simple and straightforward. Not complicated. It can be learned-mentally & physically-and practiced at home or the gym. We teach you the techniques, in words and photographs. Clearly. Concisely. We discard many techniques that might be OK for trained karate or other martial arts experts, but are useless to you-and may even put you in more danger.Variations of these techniques have been taught to thousands of his students by the co-author, Keiko Arroyo. They can and should be part of every woman's training.The world is getting more and more dangerous. Be prepared
Let's be honest. No other parenting books even try to show you how to make your son or daughter a great American.We do.Thirty (30) great men and women from across many professions, genders, politics, religions, and walks of life-the products of extraordinary parenting and mentoring. This book offers the exact techniques, words, phrases, mantras -to propel your offspring to incredible success - toward rich, vivid lives. They worked for those parents and mentors. They can and will work for you too.Mantras are the 21st Century way to lock your ideals, standards, ethics, and principles into formative minds. By definition they demand repetition. The phrasing may stay the same or almost the same. The stories, the elaboration, the background, the colors may bob and weave. But the cores of the mantras stay fixed. Stars to remember and guide one through life.MANTRAS. The exact words used to motivate and guide those great future Americans. Distilled from over 500 biographies.These techniques, these words and phrases, WORK This book uniquely brings you the best parenting and mentoring advice. Straight up. No bull. The EXACT, SPECIFIC techniques and words the parents or mentors used to motivate their sons and daughters. To inspire them. Inspire them not just to succeed, but to rise above all others.We present some of the smartest, most creative, most determined, most astute parents and mentors that ever lived. They threw their whole life into educating their children. Not in classroom ABC's and 3 R's. They educated their children in HOW TO LIVE LIFE.The parents and mentors of: Volume I: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Warren Buffett, Julia Child, Elizabeth Edwards, Edward Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor, Ronald Reagan, Yvonne Thornton, Alice Walker, and Denzel Washington.Volume II: Nancy Brinker, Hillary Clinton, Dwight Eisenhower, George Foreman, Andrew Grove, Quincy Jones, Wilma Mankiller, Paul Newman, George Soros, and Naomi WolfVolume III: Jane Pauley, Michael Bloomberg, Rachel Carson, Walt Disney, Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Billy Graham, Steve Jobs, Michael Jordan, Barack Obama, and Paul Volcke
