Building a Vibrant Community: How Citizen-Powered Change Is Reshaping America PDF Download

Author: Quint Studer
Publisher: Be the Bulb Publishing
ISBN: 9780998131115
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Every community wants to become a great place to live and work. The why is no mystery: We want to create a place our children and grandchildren will want to be. We also know the what: We need to attract investments, provide good jobs, and create lively downtowns where citizens will want to work, live, shop and play. What s usually missing is the how. In Building a Vibrant Community, Quint Studer addresses all three aspects, but mainly focuses on the last one. How can your community get from where it is now to where it wants to be?

Author: Jonathan MacDonald
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey
ISBN: 1473669340
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills. In a hectic business environment where it is estimated that half of the decisions that CEOs make turn out to be wrong, the stark reality is that it has never been harder to see what's happening around us, interpret information efficiently, and develop strategies that are executed in a successful way. This is partly down to the speed of change and also down to the mindset about change that is common amongst large and small companies. To them, change is seen as the enemy. This book proposes a role reversal and gives people a brand new methodology as a practical guide in how to use change as a fuelling mechanism to generate outstanding business success. We all accept that change is the only constant, yet the author believes there is a significant lack of insight into how to think and act in a way that capitalizes on a constantly changing environment. Powered by Change requires leaders to adopt a more radical view about the way business is done. The Windmill is constructed using four blades: Purpose, People, Product and Process. Getting these four blades to work in harmony with one another leads to an empowered business that can use the winds of change to fuel business success. Powered by Change is filled with examples and stories from around the world, including global corporates and start-up ventures, alongside colorful insights and above all, actionable steps to take to achieve competitive advantage. Key topics include change, innovation, leadership, strategy and futureproofing. "Test your thinking about how you would disrupt your own business - because somebody out there is already doing it." - Jesper Brodin, Chief Executive, IKEA

Author: Ilana Preuss
Publisher: Island Press
ISBN: 1642831921
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Community development expert Ilana Preuss explains how local leaders can revitalize their downtowns or neighborhood main streets by bringing in and supporting small-scale manufacturing. Small-scale manufacturing businesses help create thriving places, with local business ownership opportunities and well-paying jobs that other business types can't fulfill.

Author: Steven C. Currall
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199330719
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
"Organized" and "innovation" are words rarely heard together. But an organized approach to innovation is precisely what America needs today. This book presents a blueprint for coordinating technology breakthroughs to advance America's global competitiveness and prosperity. That prosperity is at risk. As other nations bolster technology innovation efforts, America's research, development, and commercialization enterprise is falling behind. An "innovation gap" has emerged in recent decades, where US universities focus on basic research and industry concentrates on incremental product development. The country has failed to address the innovation gap because of three myths--innovation is about lone geniuses, the free market, and serendipity. These myths blind us from recognizing our dysfunctional system of unorganized innovation. In Organized Innovation, Currall, Frauenheim, Perry and Hunter provide a framework for optimizing the way America creates, develops, and commercializes technology breakthroughs. A roadmap for universities, business, and government, the book is grounded in the authors' seminal study of the National Science Foundation's Engineering Research Center program, which has returned to the US economy more than ten times the funding invested in it. For too long, our approach to technology innovation has been unorganized. The authors enable us to turn the page. They show us how to organize innovation for a more prosperous, hopeful future.

Author: Charles L. Marohn, Jr.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119564816
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.

Author: Jay P. Childers
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271054115
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
"Examines, through an analysis of seven high school newspapers, the evolution of civic and political participation among young people in the United States since 1965"--Provided by publisher.

Author: Quint Studer
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119576644
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 295

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Book Description
A comprehensive book of “need-to-know” insights for busy leaders Being a great leader means getting the fundamentals right. It also means consistently doing the “little things” that make a positive difference in the lives of employees, customers, and other stakeholders. The Busy Leader’s Handbook: How to Lead People and Places That Thrive is a practical, easy-to-use book filled with gentle reminders of what we should be doing every day—especially when work is at its most intense. The Handbook is packed with proven best practices, tools, tips, and tactics for engaging employees, revitalizing cultures, delighting customers, and building high-performance companies. Short, succinct, and accessible, each chapter is “stand-alone,” offering helpful advice for meeting common business challenges. Plus, the strategies, approaches, and tactics are designed to be put into action immediately. Best-selling author, businessman, visionary, and entrepreneur Quint Studer draws on his 30-plus years of experience in helping organizations of all sizes and leaders at every level reach peak performance. Comprehensive in scope, his book overflows with insights and practical advice to help you make smart leadership decisions. For example: Why putting the right foundational structures in place early on creates clarity and heads off problems that cause businesses to struggle and fail The importance of followership: why being a good leader requires that you first be a good follower Why we tend to run from self-disruption and a sense of being unsettled (and how to learn to embrace them instead) Why leaders should seek consent, not consensus How to engage employees and create a positive workplace culture How to help employees find meaning and purpose in their work How to conduct difficult conversations and resolve conflicts—and why having these skills (or not) can make or break you as a leader Advice for attracting and hiring the best talent, retaining them over time, and dealing with the low performers who drive them away Why mentoring is so powerful and how to encourage it inside your company Tips and tactics for seeing the world through your customer’s eyes How to reduce customer anxiety (and encourage them to buy) with the right words at the right times for the right reasons The Busy Leader’s Handbook functions as a desk reference and pocket guide for anyone in a leadership position. It’s also a great training tool for onboarding new leaders. Whether you work for a start-up, a small or mid-size business, or a large corporation, this book will change how you think, inspire you to do your job better—and help your organization thrive.

Author: Susan Clark
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603584137
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Reconnecting with the sources of decisions that affect us, and with the processes of democracy itself, is at the heart of 21st-century sustainable communities. Slow Democracy chronicles the ways in which ordinary people have mobilized to find local solutions to local problems. It invites us to bring the advantages of "slow" to our community decision making. Just as slow food encourages chefs and eaters to become more intimately involved with the production of local food, slow democracy encourages us to govern ourselves locally with processes that are inclusive, deliberative, and citizen powered. Susan Clark and Woden Teachout outline the qualities of real, local decision making and show us the range of ways that communities are breathing new life into participatory democracy around the country. We meet residents who seize back control of their municipal water systems from global corporations, parents who find unique solutions to seemingly divisive school-redistricting issues, and a host of other citizens across the nation who have designed local decision-making systems to solve the problems unique to their area in ways that work best for their communities. Though rooted in the direct participation that defined our nation's early days, slow democracy is not a romantic vision for reigniting the ways of old. Rather, the strategies outlined here are uniquely suited to 21st-century technologies and culture.If our future holds an increased focus on local food, local energy, and local economy, then surely we will need to improve our skills at local governance as well.

Author: Jeff Thomas
Publisher: High Bridge Books LLC
ISBN: 9781946615442
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
Are you ready to have your perspective revolutionized?Having started out as an ambitious financial advisor who quickly moved up to a top 1% producer on Wall Street, Jeff Thomas' journey is one of transformation: moving from a focus on earthly success to one of greater significance.Maybe you too believe-as Jeff once did-that if you gain success, significance will inevitably follow. But as Jeff has learned, "Having achieved the financial success that I was striving after, I came to discover that the golden egg was hollow."So how can you find genuine and lasting significance?In Trading Up, Jeff shares the breakthrough that revolutionized his life's mission. His story illustrates the incredible orchestration of God using ordinary people and pointed truths to capture his attention, moving him from a place of striving and self-reliance to a place of thriving and being "all in" with God.Get ready to be challenged by penetrating insights and biblical wisdom as you embark on the thrilling adventure of Trading Up.

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309452961
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 583

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Book Description
In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.