Master of None


Book Description

In this revelatory memoir, the former CEO of Sonic challenges established thinking, offering counterintuitive career advice essential for every professional at all levels, whether you're just starting out or in the middle of your career. In his bestselling Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell introduced readers to the 10,000-hour rule--the foundation of success in any endeavor. But as Clifford Hudson reveals, there are serious pitfalls to this rule. What happens to those who spend years trying to achieve something that doesn't quite pan out? Do you really have to grind down the same path for many years, sacrificing priorities to become successful? In this thought-provoking memoir, Hudson asks whether or not mastery is even necessary to succeed. Most people don't need to be experts in their field. Yes, the successful know more than the average person about a particular topic, and they often possess a better-than-average ability with a particular skillset; but not everyone who is successful is an expert, he makes clear. More importantly, in today's technology-driven environment, change is the only constant, including the nature of work and the skills required to do it. Over-investing in expertise is often riskier than learning to be adaptive and open to new knowledge, ideas, and skills. Experience can also lead to overconfidence. And yet we continue to deeply value the expertise ideal. In Master of None, Hudson turns expertise on its head and shows that by embracing variety and becoming more versatile, anyone can succeed and become more open to different opportunities in life. To do so, he provides three basic rule that will see any professional through: Don't plan, explore Don't specialize, generalize Don't keep your head down, turn it up toward opportunity Groundbreaking and thought provoking, Master of None is a new way forward to help businesses and professionals at all levels thrive.










Jack of All Trades and Master of None


Book Description

ROBERT D. McCLINCHEY looks back at a long and fruitful life in this memoir, beginning with his birth on the family farm in 1926. Growing up in East Wawanosh Township in Ontario, he found plenty of adventureoften getting into mischief with his six siblings. The family worked together, struggled together and had fun together. From an early age, one of the keys to Roberts life was music, which the family enjoyed playing together. Whenever he played the fiddle, he was at peace with himself and others. It also led him to his late wife of 58 years, Frances. In 1950, the two were married. In this candid look back at his long life, Robert remembers his varied careers, including fisherman, pool hustler, machinist, mechanic, ice-road trucker, gasoline station attendant, road-builder, snowplow operator, bus driver, farmer and syrup maker. More importantly, he explores what it means to be a husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather while being a Jack of All Trades and Master of None.




Getting Biodiversity Projects to Work


Book Description

Few aspects of American military history have been as vigorously debated as Harry Truman's decision to use atomic bombs against Japan. In this carefully crafted volume, Michael Kort describes the wartime circumstances and thinking that form the context for the decision to use these weapons, surveys the major debates related to that decision, and provides a comprehensive collection of key primary source documents that illuminate the behavior of the United States and Japan during the closing days of World War II. Kort opens with a summary of the debate over Hiroshima as it has evolved since 1945. He then provides a historical overview of thye events in question, beginning with the decision and program to build the atomic bomb. Detailing the sequence of events leading to Japan's surrender, he revisits the decisive battles of the Pacific War and the motivations of American and Japanese leaders. Finally, Kort examines ten key issues in the discussion of Hiroshima and guides readers to relevant primary source documents, scholarly books, and articles.










Master of One


Book Description

What is your one thing? The entrepreneur, thought leader, and best-selling author of Called to Create offers a refreshing invitation: stop trying to do it all so you can thrive in your unique, God-given work. “A compelling case for embracing our vocational limits and choosing to do our one thing well.”—Emily P. Freeman, Wall Street Journal best-selling author of The Next Right Thing Imagine how different your life would be if you spent your time doing the very thing that brings you the greatest joy. It’s possible, but most people spend their days making incremental advances on numerous tasks, competent at many things but exceptional at none. That’s because for too long we’ve believed the lie that more activity, more jobs, and more responsibility equals greater effectiveness. In short, we are becoming a society of “jacks-and-jills-of-all-trades and masters of none.” But what if you could shift your focus from too many things to one? In this thought-provoking book, you’ll discover the exponential power of pursuing a singular craft. Through practical principles, Jordan Raynor provides straightforward steps for finding and thriving in your calling. He also highlights more than a dozen real-life examples of high-impact individuals who have chosen to focus on and excel in their unique gifting, including: • Chronicles of Narnia author C. S. Lewis • Enron whistle-blower Sherron Watkins • TV legend Mister Rogers • Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynthia Marshall • Reality TV star Chip Gaines • NFL Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy • Biblical figures, a teacher, a pilot, a banker, and world-class entrepreneurs Too many of us are overwhelmed, overcommitted, and overstressed. This book offers a better way—the path to becoming a master of one!




Around the Corner to Around the World


Book Description

Learn twelve key lessons from Dunkin’ Donuts former CEO Robert Rosenberg that offer critical insights and a unique, 360-degree perspective to business leaders and managers on building one of the world’s most recognized brands. For entrepreneurs fighting for survival and leaders in growing businesses facing critical strategic decisions, competition is always fierce and the future is never certain. Throughout all the chaos, you need a mentor that has seen a business through the ins and outs and can offer guidance that will exponentially tip the odds in your favor to succeed. Robert Rosenberg took over as CEO of Dunkin’ Donuts in 1963, 13 years after the first restaurant was founded by his father William. In his remarkable 35-year run, he grew the company from $10 million in sales to over $2 billion with more than 3,000 outlets. Through his tenure, Robert learned important lessons on running and scaling a family business. Rosenberg shares his insider perspective on all the dramatic highs and lows that are part of the Dunkin’ Donuts story to guide you to your own success story. In Around the Corner to Around the World, Rosenberg helps you as he: Distills the characteristics of a successful company through all phases of growth. Provides a new perspective on the dramatic story behind the rise of one of the world’s most iconic brands. Tells the first-hand account and essential lessons learned from the tenure of one of the most successful CEO runs in modern business history. Reveals some of the dramatic and surprising plot turns in the story of Dunkin’s rise to global prominence. Around the Corner to Around the World tells a compelling story of lessons gleaned over a 35-year career building a small business into the iconic Dunkin' brand it has become. The harrowing twists and turns and sometimes existential threats to the business will enlighten anyone starting or running a business.




Probable Impossibilities


Book Description

The acclaimed author of Einstein’s Dreams tackles "big questions like the origin of the universe and the nature of consciousness ... in an entertaining and easily digestible way” (Wall Street Journal) with a collection of meditative essays on the possibilities—and impossibilities—of nothingness and infinity, and how our place in the cosmos falls somewhere in between. Can space be divided into smaller and smaller units, ad infinitum? Does space extend to larger and larger regions, on and on to infinity? Is consciousness reducible to the material brain and its neurons? What was the origin of life, and can biologists create life from scratch in the lab? Physicist and novelist Alan Lightman, whom The Washington Post has called “the poet laureate of science writers,” explores these questions and more—from the anatomy of a smile to the capriciousness of memory to the specialness of life in the universe to what came before the Big Bang. Probable Impossibilities is a deeply engaged consideration of what we know of the universe, of life and the mind, and of things vastly larger and smaller than ourselves.