Mindful thinking is the new competitive edgeScience confirms the distinction between the biological brain and the conscious mind. Each day, a game of mind versus matter plays out on a field defined by the problems we must solve. Most are routine, and don’t demand a more mindful approach. It’s when we’re faced with more difficult challenges that our thinking becomes vulnerable to brain patterns that can lead us astray.We leap to solutions that simply don’t w...

What made the Sopranos finale one of the most-talked-about events in television history?Why is sudoku so addictive and the iPhone so darn irresistible?What do Jackson Pollock and Lance Armstrong have in common with theoretical physicists and Buddhist monks?Elegance.In this thought-provoking exploration of why certain events, products, and people capture our attention and imaginations, Matthew E. May examines the elusive element behind so many innova...

What a Unicorn Knows is your company’s best guide to becoming a well-oiled, high-velocity machine for growth on its way to billion-dollar valuation.Why do some young companies become unicorns, while others don’t? What a Unicorn Knows is a playbook that offers a field-tested approach to delivering superior customer value and reaching unicorn status by removing the potential inhibitors to organizational scale and speed.Drawing on a mastery of lean-ba...

One of the questions always posed to Matthew May is: How do I apply the principles of elegance and elegant solutions to my life in order to create meaningful change? The Shibumi Strategy is one of the best ways to answer that question. Shibumi is a Japanese word that describes the height of personal excellence, elegant performance, and effortless effectiveness. It is without definition. Appropos of the current economic environment, The Shibumi Strategy is a personal leadership fable that t...

Gold Medal Winner, Business Fable, 2012 Axiom Business Book AwardsA personal leadership fable on applying principles of Zen to work & life choices.The Shibumi Strategy is a little book about a big breakthrough. It tells the story of a hardworking family man who finds himself in crisis when his company closes. Through his struggle, and guidance from unlikely sources, he learns subtle lessons in the form of “personal zen” principles, coming to unders...

Why do some young companies become unicorns, while others don't?It's easy for scale-ups, giddy from early startup success, to get ahead of themselves and stumble. It's even easier to be slowed down by the many forces of resistance working against them: drag, inertia, friction, and waste.Drawing on a mastery of lean-based methods for achieving maximum effect with minimum means, private equity operators Matthew E. May and Pablo Dominguez provide listeners wit...

The Laws of Subtraction features contributions by over 50 highly regarded thinkers, creatives, and executives.On Law #1: What Isn't There Can Often Trump What Is"When you reduce the number of doors that someone can walk through, more people walk through the one that you want them to walk through." -- SCOTT BELSKY, founder and CEO of Behance and author of Making Ideas HappenOn Law #2: The Simplest Rules Create the Most Effec...

One million. That's how many new ideas the Toyota organization receives from its employees every year. These ideas come from every level of the organization - from the factory floors to the corporate suites. And organizations all over the world want to learn how they do it. Now Matthew May, Senior Advisor to the University of Toyota, reveals how any company can create an environment of every day innovation and achieve the elegant solutions found only on the far side of complexity.A...

Everyone knows it's humans you need to stay away from. Humans, albeit unfathomably idiotic at times, are the apex predator. So why can't I stay away from this one?DominicAfter a bout of food poisoning forced my engaged friends into bathroom-quarantine, they got an email about a cancellation at this beachside resort wedding venue. They need to tour and accept the venue in-person today or else it'll go to the next couple on the waiting list. As much a...

Being Queen isn't as exciting as they make it out to be. I don't know. Maybe I'll start capsizing ships like our ancestors used to do. I need something new. Or someone…with a black pixie cut and a maddingly inquisitive mind.LexiI might have masqueraded as a classics major in academia but let me make it perfectly clear that I'm a marine biologist. Cecaelia are real and I'm going to prove it.When I move to Passions Bay to take up a job as the n...

In this quirky debut novel from author Matthew Dicks, career criminal Martin uses his OCD to pilfer items from his victims' houses without being discovered. It helps that he only takes things the homeowner would never notice are missing-like a roll of toilet paper or a bottle of maple syrup. Martin has spent so much time snooping through homes he feels like he knows the owners, but when he starts meddling in their personal lives, his precise world turns to chaos.

Do you repeatedly defer life to later, convinced there will come a time when you'll be better prepared to seize its opportunities?Do you spend your best hours on chores or trivia before allowing yourself to get to what most matters to you?The real mystery of procrastination is why we avoid goals to which we're passionately committed. It's understandable that we'd put off cleaning the fridge or completing our tax return; but why do we swerve...