A design sketch in the form of a personal essay, "The You-City" explores the near-future of American urban environments. Jeff Ferzoco pulls from his work as creative director in regional planning as well as his own experience as a gamer, social media-ite and city lover. Walking the reader through a New York City of the future, Ferzoco travels from the front door to the crosswalk to the market and back again, exploring the impact of new technologies, from radical data-sharing to alternative tr...

**A New York Times BestsellerFrom one of our leading technology thinkers and writers, a guide through the twelve technological imperatives that will shape the next thirty years and transform our lives**Much of what will happen in the next thirty years is inevitable, driven by technological trends that are already in motion. In this fascinating, provocative new book, Kevin Kelly provides an optimistic road map for the future, showing how the coming changes in our li...

The author of the bestselling The Art of Innovation reveals the strategies IDEO, the world-famous design firm, uses to foster innovative thinking throughout an organization and overcome the naysayers who stifle creativity.The role of the devil's advocate is nearly universal in business today. It allows individuals to step outside themselves and raise questions and concerns that effectively kill new projects and ideas, while claiming no personal responsibil...

Imagine you could write the first draft of a novel in only 30 days. Imagine you could figure out how long it would take to complete each step down to the day that you could set realistic and accurate goals that would allow you to maintain a constant momentum.This 30-day method for outlining a novel eliminates many of the problems that plague fiction writers. Why dig for plots blindly when, with a little preparation, you can craft something methodically from start to finish? Why go through ...

Don't know what to do with your life? Drawn to so many things that you can't choose just one? New York Times best-selling author Barbara Sher has the answer--do EVERYTHING!With her popular career counseling sessions, motivational speeches, workshops, and television specials, Barbara Sher has become famous for her extraordinary ability to help people define and achieve their goals. What Sher has discovered is that some individuals simply cannot, and should not, decide on a ...

Habit Change Is Like Chess Changing a habit is like playing a game of chess. In chess there’s an early game, a middle game, and an endgame. The same is true for habit change. Many people try to change their habits by skipping straight to the endgame. They dive in and commit themselves to making the change happen right away. This is what people do when they make a New Year’s Resolution. It hardly ever works.

The Killer Questions Your Company Should Be AskingGenerating and executing great ideas is the key to staying ahead in a rapidly changing world. It seems so basic. Why is it so hard to actually get right? According to innovation expert Phil McKinney, the real problem is that we're teaching people to ask the wrong questions about their businesses--or none at all. There has to be a better way.In Beyond the Obvious, McKinney will help you use his prove...

The Cluetrain Manifesto began as a Web site (cluetrain.com) in 1999 when the authors, who have worked variously at IBM, Sun Microsystems, the Linux Journal, and NPR, posted 95 theses about the new reality of the networked marketplace. Ten years after its original publication, their message remains more relevant than ever. For example, thesis no. 2: "Markets consist of human beings, not demographic sectors"; thesis no. 20: "Companies need to realize their markets are often...

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...

How often do you make it through your daily to-do list?Do you struggle to prioritize tasks?Do you find yourself getting distracted and moving on to the next task before you've finished the previous one?Maybe it's time to declutter your to-do list! This simple but practical approach to getting things done can help you take control of your day and be more productive.You'll learn the magic question that keeps you moving forward, how to complete tasks without ge...

Heres a seven-point approach that can make annual appraisals of your employees go from appalling to appealing.

After giving up the Internet for a month, a writer shares how we can all learn from her experience and rethink our relationship with the digital world.There's no doubt that technology has overrun our lives. Over the past few decades, the world has embraced "progress" and we're living with the resultant clicking, beeping, anxiety-inducing frenzy. But a creative backlash is gathering steam, helping us cope with the avalanche of data that threatens to overwhelm us dail...