Lean Thinking

 

Credit: Lean Thinking

 Overview

Expanded, updated, and more relevant than ever, this bestselling business classic by two internationally renowned management analysts describes a business system for the twenty-first century that supersedes the mass production system of Ford, the financial control system of Sloan, and the strategic system of Welch and GE. It is based on the Toyota (lean) model, which combines operational excellence with value-based strategies to produce steady growth through a wide range of economic conditions.
In contrast with the crash-and-burn performance of companies trumpeted by business gurus in the 1990s, the firms profiled in Lean Thinking -- from tiny Lantech to midsized Wiremold to niche producer Porsche to gigantic Pratt & Whitney -- have kept on keeping on, largely unnoticed, along a steady upward path through the market turbulence and crushed dreams of the early twenty-first century. Meanwhile, the leader in lean thinking -- Toyota -- has set its sights on leadership of the global motor vehicle industry in this decade. Instead of constantly reinventing business models, lean thinkers go back to basics by asking what the customer really perceives as value. (It's often not at all what existing organizations and assets would suggest.) The next step is to line up value-creating activities for a specific product along a value stream while eliminating activities (usually the majority) that don't add value. Then the lean thinker creates a flow condition in which the design and the product advance smoothly and rapidly at the pull of the customer (rather than the push of the producer). Finally, as flow and pull are implemented, the lean thinker speeds up the cycle of improvement in pursuit of perfection. The first part of this book describes each of these concepts and makes them come alive with striking examples. Credit: Lean Thinking.

The Power of Mattering By Zach Mercurio

Credit: The Power of Mattering; Zach Mercurio

 

Overview 

Your people have a fundamental need to be seen, heard, and valued.  Increasingly, people report feeling overlooked, ignored, and underappreciated at work. Simply put, they don't feel like they matter to their leaders or organizations—and it's taking a toll. This hidden epidemic of insignificance is fueling a mental health crisis, intensifying loneliness, and, for organizations, driving disengagement, turnover, and low performance. The good news is that leaders can learn the skills to ensure that everyone around them feels valued and knows how they add value at work. Through a captivating exploration of the emerging science of mattering and drawing from hands-on work in hundreds of diverse industries and organizations, researcher and speaker Zach Mercurio reveals how mattering to others is a fundamental—yet often overlooked—requirement for thriving.

He introduces a simple yet effective framework for making daily interactions with your people more meaningful:

Noticing: the practice of seeing and hearing others
Affirming: the practice of showing people how their unique gifts make a difference
Needing: the practice of showing people they're relied on and indispensable

Filled with practical advice, helpful exercises, and inspiring real-world examples, The Power of Mattering equips leaders at all levels with the tools they need to revitalize their teams—and entire organizations—by showing people that they matter. Credit: The Power of Mattering; Zach Mercurio.

You Too Can Be Prosperous By Robert A. Russell

 

Credit: You Too Can Be Prosperous

"I Am Prosperity"

You just took the first step towards a prosperous life. By saying these three simple words, you opened the window of prosperity in your mind. The energy your thoughts create as a result of this time-tested concept is so big, so powerful, and so irresistible that your life will become a magnet attracting success, employment, and wealth of every sort directly to you, where it belongs. The pieces to this puzzle are all at your fingertips, just waiting for you to make them fit. You don t need to search any further for that one missing piece. The techniques in this guide and those three simple words are all it takes. That's the beauty of this New Thought favorite. Once you start practicing these spiritual principles, it will soon become obvious that you too can be prosperous. Credit: Robert A. Russell.

#Spotlight 8 Habits of Love by Ed Bacon

 #Foodforthought

Do you love enough?

Credit: 8 Habits of Love, Ed Bacon

Overview

A spiritual guidebook to living life through love and connection, not fear and isolation, by a respected pastor and a frequent guest on Oprah's Soul Series.

Reverend Bacon believes that every person can live a full and creative life if they can learn to move through troubling emotions such as fear, anger, and sadness to find the beloved within themselves. Readers will learn how insecurity can keep us from connecting with others, our loving self, and finding our own peace, joy, and creative power. 8 Habits of Love will show, through relatable stories, how to create a full, meaningful life by developing simple habits-stillness, truth, forgiveness, compassion, play, candor, generosity, and community-and by asking such important questions as: How do I know I'm living the life I should be? How do I forgive those who have hurt me? How do I talk candidly with difficult people? How do I best help others when they need it? And How do I let go of the past and move forward? Credit: 8 Habits of Love

Learn more about Rev. Ed Bacon here.

"Spirituality for Badasses" by J. Stewart Dixon

 

Credit: Author J. Stewart Dixon

Jeff, Welcome to Authors by Sasha! As the author of "Spirituality for Badasses: How to Find Inner Peace Without Losing Your Cool", what motivated you to finally write a book that blossomed from at least twenty nine years of experience working with unorthodox teachers to discover your best self?

Spirituality for Badasses is my second book.  The first was written ten years ago.  I’ve had multiple false starts on a second book over the years.  I’d write a chapter or two and then resign it to the dust bin. Spirituality for Badasses came about after a frustrating attempt to make a more conventional version of my work fly. It didn’t fly. It flopped. So, in frustration, I said screw it, and wrote the first few chapters of Spirituality for Badasses in one sitting.  I gave those chapters away for free and it immediately flew.  

Your life experience includes history with drugs and alcohol, conventional therapy and pharmaceutical drugs. When and how did these influences enter your life path?  

College. Typical pot smoking, beer drinking hijinks. 

What was the hardest challenge you faced when breaking up with these substances in your journey? 

Who said I broke up with them?  I still drink tequila, whiskey or beer while barbequing on the back deck. And I smoke pot occasionally at night in my hot-tub. 

What were you seeking during this phase of your life? (Were you seeking a higher source, or were you a rebel without a cause?) 

My use of drugs and alcohol was and is mostly recreational.  Every once in a blue moon I’d have some sort of quasi-slightly deluded insight from pot. 

How did you perceive spirituality before you embraced it as a lifestyle? What diverse modes of spiritual healing did you try before committing to mediums that worked for you?  

With healthy skepticism. Then, while in college, I had several major kundalini/out-of-body experiences that proved to me there was something to it.  I practiced kundalini yoga with 3HO foundation for 3-4 years in my early twenties.  I was a big fan of The Monroe Institute as well (Robert Monroe wrote the famous new age book Journeys Out of the Body)

The book "Spirituality for Badasses" infuses self-help and humor to deliver healing to global audiences effected by the pandemic. Some perceive humor to be a double edged sword -- it can nurture the human spirit and for some it's a defense mechanism that helps them survive in a world that can be cruel at times.  

As an engineer and global citizen, how do you view humor?     

I agree.  Humor can be used to avoid or embrace deeper issues.  I use humor in SFB as a disarming mechanism.  The humor disarms any preconceived ideas the reader may have about what spirituality should look, feel or sound like. It’s much easier to charm someone, than to argue with or convince them. First the lollipop- then the medicine. 

What advice do you have for readers who can benefit from lightening up a bit?  

Laughter is good medicine.  Notice where you are when you laugh- in the present moment.  In your body. In your heart. Happy.

Many people are a 'work in progress'. What were the initial steps taken to slowly detach yourself from the fleeting man-made influences (drugs, alcohol, Prozac) that weren't helping you in the long run? What was the turning point that encouraged you to pursue a new solution to continue your quest for "seeking" from the universe? 

Direct spiritual experience that provides an insight, change or big aha moment makes drugs and alcohol seem like doggy treats.  Turning point for me- having multiple out-of-body experiences. 

Jeff, you've tried conventional therapy. What was your experience like and did you learn anything?  Given your experience, do you have thoughts on why such therapy works for some individuals whereas others struggle with this specific mode of healing? 

My experience of traditional therapy: Dry, heady and lacking in depth. Once I switched to nondual-zen satsang teachers and energy workers I found what I was looking for.  I believe it’s hit or miss- Kinda like dating.  I think there are both awesome and shitty therapists, satsang teachers and energy workers out there.  Getting stuck or struggling means you just haven’t found the right one yet.

As the author of "Spirituality for Badasses", you've referenced moments where you were 'too smart for your own good'. Can you share a few examples when you were too smart for your own good that it resulted in attracting more complications in your life?

Ego/personality/identity is too smart for its own good and caused much suffering throughout my life. My whole spiritual path adventure was about seeing, accepting and transforming ego. When ego shifted from the pilot's seat to the co-pilot's seat- everything changed for the better.

Is there a way for people to tame their ego so their 'smartness' doesn't rob them of a chance of living an authentic and abundant life? 

Mindfulness does this. It’s much better to be aware than to be smart.  But it takes some humility and usually some ass kicking or suffering before we decide to let awareness take precedence over smartness.

Spirituality is a tool that can transform lives on local and global levels.  

What emotions did you encounter day to day as these shifts were taking place within you? 

I was a pro at dark-night-of-the-soul shit: anxiety attacks, fear of death, existential annihilation fears, bodily trembling, sweating and contracting.  I swam in a sea of monsters before finding the calm warm bay.

How were you able to entertain these healthy transformations without ‘losing your cool and compromising your libido’? 😊 

When you peer through to the ultimate nondual nature of existence- then all experience equalizes. There is no difference between sex, an ice-cream cone or Nirvakalpa samadhi.   So abstaining from these things is pointless. Ergo- you can still be the unique, funny, artistic, quirky, strange, quiet, shy (however it manifests) badass cool you.

What are nonduality-advaita-zen-unorthodox teachers? What role do they play in your life? 

Teachers like Eckhart Tolle, Adyashanti, Andrew Cohen, Saniel Bonder, Gangaji, Adi-Da, Osho and more.  They played an immense role in my life. Most 20-somethings have a little black book filled with the phone numbers of girlfriends or boyfriends. My little black book had spiritual teachers in it.

Spirituality helps people recognize parts of themselves that can benefit from healing. What part of yourself needed to be healed, helped and restored to ensure that you live your best life aligned with a higher purpose? 

I suffered from existential depression, anxiety attacks and feelings of separation. When this crap went away permanently I raised my hand and said:  Cool. I’m okay now.  Thank you, universe.

Jeff, what spiritual practices help you maintain a state of mindfulness amidst the uncertain times we live in today? 

I don’t practice.  I’m it.  What’s the point of practicing to get to a place that I’m already in? So being it is my practice. “I am that”- Nisargadatta Maharaj  😊  And based on my 52 years on this forlorn little planet…times are always uncertain.

Credit: Spirituality for Badasses

When writing "Spirituality for Badasses", what did you learn about the writing process? Do you have any tips for writers wanting to launch their first book? 

I love writing. I go deep into the Zen happy spot zone when writing. Tips for a book launch: hire a professional.  I did. Money well spent.

What does 'badass' mean in your life? When did you finally discover your badass and how has it improved your quality of life? 

Badass means being courageous. A spiritual badass channels his or her courage into the spiritual adventure of knowing thyself. When I finally discovered my own spiritual badass true nature it ended my depression, anxiety attacks and feelings of separation. That improved my life, to say the least.

What guidance do you have for people wanting to improve or change the circumstances in their life? 

Read Spirituality for Badasses. 

Please share with audiences how people can support your work.  

Private sessions, coaching or courses: www.spiritualityforbadasses.com.

Buy the book @ Amazon here.

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