Continuing bestseller status is honored with this 15th anniversary edition. Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional p...[More]

Continuing bestseller status is honored with this 15th anniversary edition. Stephen R. Covey presents a holistic, integrated, principle-centered approach for solving personal and professional problems. With penetrating insights and pointed anecdotes, Covey reveals a step-by-step pathway for living with fairness, integrity, honesty, and human dignity--principles that give us the security to adapt to change and the wisdom and power to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates.

Be Pro-Active: Take the initiative and the responsibility to make things happen.

Begin With an End in Mind: Start with a clear destination to understand where you are now, where you're going and what you value most.

Put First Things: First: Manage yourself. Organize and execute around priorities.

Think Win/Win: See life as a cooperative, not a comprehensive arena where success is not achieved at the expense or exclusion of the success of others.

Seek First to Understand: Understand then be understood to build the skills of empathetic listening that inspires openness and trust.

Synergize: Apply the principles of cooperative creativity and value differences.

Renewal: Preserving and enhancing your greatest asset, yourself, by renewing the physical, spiritual, mental and social/emotional dimensions of your nature.

Stephen R. Covey is the most respected motivator in the business world today. (recommended by Ted Haggard)[Less]

The Future Is Better Than You Think. We will soon be able to meet and exceed the basic needs of every man, woman and child on the planet. Abundance for all is within our grasp. This bold, contr...[More]

The Future Is Better Than You Think. We will soon be able to meet and exceed the basic needs of every man, woman and child on the planet. Abundance for all is within our grasp. This bold, contrarian view, backed up by exhaustive research, introduces our near-term future, where exponentially growing technologies and three other powerful forces are conspiring to better the lives of billions. An antidote to pessimism by tech entrepreneur turned philanthropist, Peter H. Diamandis and award-winning science writer Steven Kotler.

Since the dawn of humanity, a privileged few have lived in stark contrast to the hardscrabble majority. Conventional wisdom says this gap cannot be closed. But it is closing--fast. The authors document how four forces--exponential technologies, the DIY innovator, the Technophilanthropist, and the Rising Billion--are conspiring to solve our biggest problems. 'Abundance' establishes hard targets for change and lays out a strategic roadmap for governments, industry and entrepreneurs, giving us plenty of reason for optimism.

Examining human need by category--water, food, energy, healthcare, education, freedom--Diamandis and Kotler introduce dozens of innovators making great strides in each area: Larry Page, Steven Hawking, Dean Kamen, Daniel Kahneman, Elon Musk, Bill Joy, Stewart Brand, Jeff Skoll, Ray Kurzweil, Ratan Tata, Craig Venter, among many, many others.

"We live in an age of incredible innovation in technology, medicine, and food science, under living conditions our ancestors would have killed for. Yet in poll after poll, the vast majority of people bemoan that things are getting worse, not better. This tendency for people to regret a loss much more than celebrate success may have helped us survive in the early days of our evolution, but in this age of abundance, clinging to bad news does more harm than good. This message is the springboard for Diamandis and Kotler to explore what the future holds for a species used to linear and local thinking in an age of exponential and global growth." --Booklist 03/01/12

"This engaging book is a needed corrective, a whirlwind tour of the latest developments in health care, agriculture, energy, and other fields ...The authors make a compelling case for optimism over dread as we face the exhilarating unknown." --Publisher's Weekly

"This brilliant must-read book provides the key to the coming era of abundance replacing eons of scarcity, a powerful antidote to today's malaise and pessimism." --Ray Kurzweil, inventor, author and futurist, author of "The Singularity is Near"

About
Peter H. Diamandis is the Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, co-founder and Chairman of Singularity University and the founder of more than a dozen high tech companies. Diamandis has degrees in molecular genetics and aerospace engineering from MIT, and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School.

Steven Kotler is an author and journalist. His books include A Small Furry Prayer, West of Jesus, and The Angle Quickest for Flight. His articles have appeared in more than sixty publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Wired, Discover, GQ, and National Geographic. He also writes a regular blog for PsychologyToday.com.[Less]

Work and the Examined Life. In this inspirational meditation on why, and for whom, we work, the winner of the 1994 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion offers both a defense of the work of ...[More]

Work and the Examined Life. In this inspirational meditation on why, and for whom, we work, the winner of the 1994 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion offers both a defense of the work of businesses and a coherent philosophy to guide their thinking. Novak presents key moral ideals, including the creation of wealth and jobs, and the creation of the idea of progress.

"Rich, wise, and illuminating... simultaneously rehumanizes capitalism and remoralizes business--an immense... contribution...." Os Guinness[Less]

The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It Will Mean for Our World. Renowned Middle East expert Vali Nasr's bestselling "The Shia Revival" profoundly transformed the debate about the I...[More]

The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It Will Mean for Our World. Renowned Middle East expert Vali Nasr's bestselling "The Shia Revival" profoundly transformed the debate about the Iraq War by unveiling how the Sunni-Shia rift was driving the insurgency. Now, in "Forces of Fortune," Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world -- a new business-minded middle class -- that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.

His groundbreaking analysis will utterly rewrite the wisdom about how the West can best contend with the threat of Islamic extremism, as well as about what we can expect from the Muslim world in the future. The great battle for the soul of Iran, the Arab world, Pakistan, and the entire region will be fought not over religion, Nasr reveals, but over business and capitalism.

With a deft combination of historical narrative and eye-opening contemporary on-the-ground reporting from his constant trips to the region, Nasr takes us behind the news, so dominated by the struggle against extremists and the Taliban, to introduce a Muslim world we've not seen; a Muslim world in which the balance of power is being reshaped by an upwardly mobile middle class of entrepreneurs, investors, professionals, and avid consumers -- who can tip the scales away from extremist belligerence. His insights into the true situations in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the crucial bright spots of Dubai and Turkey provide a whole new way of thinking about the troubles and prospects in the region.

Drawing on his in-depth knowledge of the Muslim world's tortured history, he offers a powerful reassessment of why both extremism and anti-Americanism took hold in the region -- not because of an inevitable "clash of cultures" or the nature of Islam, but because of the failure of this kind of authentic middle class to develop in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, largely due to the insidious effects first of colonialism and then of top-down dictatorial regimes, often supported by the West. He then shows that the devoutly Islamic yet highly modern Muslims of what he calls the "critical middle" -- in Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and the stealth force behind the extraordinary growth of aggressively capitalist Dubai -- are finally the middle class the region has desperately needed. They are building a whole new economy -- as the middle classes did in both India and China -- and their distinctive blending of Islam and capitalism is the key to bringing about lasting reform and to defeating fundamentalism. They are people in the region the West can and "must" do business with. (Publisher)[Less]

Shedding light on the New Atheists. Hedges claims that those who have placed blind faith in the morally neutral disciplines of reason and science create idols in their own image. He makes an im...[More]

Shedding light on the New Atheists. Hedges claims that those who have placed blind faith in the morally neutral disciplines of reason and science create idols in their own image. He makes an impassioned, intelligent case against religious and secular fundamentalism, which seeks to divide the world into those worthy of moral and intellectual consideration and those who should be condemned, silenced and eradicated. Hedges shatters the new atheists' assault against religion in America, and in doing so, makes way for new, moderate voices to join the debate. This is a book that must be read to understand the state of the battle about faith.

The new atheists, led by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, do not make moral arguments about religion. Rather, they have created a new form of fundamentalism that attempts to permeate society with ideas about our own moral superiority and the omnipotence of human reason.[Less]

In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of "The Caged Virgin," Ali tells her life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Kenya, ...[More]

In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of "The Caged Virgin," Ali tells her life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.

Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries largely ruled by despots. In her early twenties, she escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Even though she is under constant threat--demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from her family and clan--she refuses to be silenced. Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she had made the movie "Submission."[Less]

From Effectiveness to Greatness with DVD. The author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" urges readers to go beyond effectiveness into a whole other dimension of human experience--the ...[More]

From Effectiveness to Greatness with DVD. The author of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" urges readers to go beyond effectiveness into a whole other dimension of human experience--the potential for greatness. 15 inspirational companion films avaiulable online to amplify the major themes of the book.[Less]

A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. "In today's world, scarred by cultural warfare, it is rare for a scientist to offer a testimony of faith in God. For that scientist to be one of the...[More]

A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. "In today's world, scarred by cultural warfare, it is rare for a scientist to offer a testimony of faith in God. For that scientist to be one of the world's most renowned is rarer still. For his testimony to be so lucid and compelling, combining reason and revelation, science and spirit, is unheard of. "The Language of God" belongs on the shelf of every believer and every seeker." - Dr. Robert H. Schuller

Dr. Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists -- yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God. Dr. Collins has resolved the dilemma that haunts everyone who believes in God and respects science. Faith in God and faith in science can be harmonious -- not separately but together, combined into one worldview. For Collins, science does not conflict with the Bible, science enhances it.

"The Language of God" makes the case for God and for science. Dr. Collins considers and dismisses several positions along the spectrum from atheism to young-earth creationism -- including agnosticism and Intelligent Design. Instead, he proposes a new synthesis, a new way to think about an active, caring God who created humankind through evolutionary processes.

Does science necessarily undermine faith in God? Or could it actually support faith? Beyond the flashpoint debates over the teaching of evolution, or stem-cell research, most of us struggle with contradictions concerning life's ultimate question. We know that accidents happen, but we believe we are on earth for a reason. Until now, most scientists have argued that science and faith occupy distinct arenas. Francis Collins, a former atheist as a science student who converted to faith as he became a doctor, is about to change that. see also Audio Book version[Less]

C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life. Throughout the ages, many of the world's greatest thinkers have wrestled with the concept of -- and belief in -- God...[More]

C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life. Throughout the ages, many of the world's greatest thinkers have wrestled with the concept of -- and belief in -- God. It may seem unlikely that any new arguments or insights could be raised, but the twentieth century managed to produce two brilliant men with two diametrically opposed views about the question of God: Sigmund Freud and C. S. Lewis. They never had an actual meeting, but in "The Question of God," their arguments are placed side by side for the very first time.

For more than twenty-five years, Armand Nicholi has taught a course at Harvard that compares the philosophical arguments of both men. In "The Question of God," Dr. Nicholi presents the writings and letters of Lewis and Freud, allowing them to "speak" for themselves on the subject of belief and disbelief. Both men considered the problem of pain and suffering, the nature of love and sex, and the ultimate meaning of life and death -- and each of them thought carefully about the alternatives to their positions.[Less]

The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It Will Mean for Our World. Renowned Middle East expert Vali Nasr's bestselling "The Shia Revival" profoundly transformed the debate about the I...[More]

The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It Will Mean for Our World. Renowned Middle East expert Vali Nasr's bestselling "The Shia Revival" profoundly transformed the debate about the Iraq War by unveiling how the Sunni-Shia rift was driving the insurgency. Now, in "Forces of Fortune," Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world -- a new business-minded middle class -- that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.

His groundbreaking analysis will utterly rewrite the wisdom about how the West can best contend with the threat of Islamic extremism, as well as about what we can expect from the Muslim world in the future. The great battle for the soul of Iran, the Arab world, Pakistan, and the entire region will be fought not over religion, Nasr reveals, but over business and capitalism.

With a deft combination of historical narrative and eye-opening contemporary on-the-ground reporting from his constant trips to the region, Nasr takes us behind the news, so dominated by the struggle against extremists and the Taliban, to introduce a Muslim world we've not seen; a Muslim world in which the balance of power is being reshaped by an upwardly mobile middle class of entrepreneurs, investors, professionals, and avid consumers -- who can tip the scales away from extremist belligerence. His insights into the true situations in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the crucial bright spots of Dubai and Turkey provide a whole new way of thinking about the troubles and prospects in the region.

Drawing on his in-depth knowledge of the Muslim world's tortured history, he offers a powerful reassessment of why both extremism and anti-Americanism took hold in the region -- not because of an inevitable "clash of cultures" or the nature of Islam, but because of the failure of this kind of authentic middle class to develop in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, largely due to the insidious effects first of colonialism and then of top-down dictatorial regimes, often supported by the West. He then shows that the devoutly Islamic yet highly modern Muslims of what he calls the "critical middle" -- in Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, and the stealth force behind the extraordinary growth of aggressively capitalist Dubai -- are finally the middle class the region has desperately needed. They are building a whole new economy -- as the middle classes did in both India and China -- and their distinctive blending of Islam and capitalism is the key to bringing about lasting reform and to defeating fundamentalism. They are people in the region the West can and "must" do business with. (Publisher)[Less]

From Stephen R. Covey's eldest son comes a revolutionary new path towards productivity and satisfaction. Trust, says Stephen M.R. Covey, is the very basis of the new global economy, and he shows how t...[More]

From Stephen R. Covey's eldest son comes a revolutionary new path towards productivity and satisfaction. Trust, says Stephen M.R. Covey, is the very basis of the new global economy, and he shows how trust--and the speed at which it is established with clients, employees and constituents--is the essential ingredient for any high-performance, successful organization.

For business leaders and public figures in any arena, "The Speed of Trust" offers an unprecedented and eminently practical look at exactly how trust functions in our every transaction and relationship--from the most personal to the broadest, most indirect interaction--and how to establish trust immediately so that you and your organization can forego the time- and motivation killing, bureaucratic check-and-balance processes so often deployed in lieu of actual trust.[Less]