Bøger af Ken Thompson

Most of us think of Darwin at work on The Beagle, taking inspiration for his theory of evolution from his travels in the Galapagos. But Darwin published his Origin of Species nearly thirty years after his voyages and most of his labours in that time were focused on experimenting with and observing plants at his house in Kent. He was particularly interested in carnivorous and climbing plants, and in pollination and the evolution of flowers.Ken Thompson sees Darwin as a brilliant and revolutionary botanist, whose observations and theories were far ahead of his time - and are often only now being confirmed and extended by high-tech modern research. Like Darwin, he is fascinated and amazed by the powers of plants - particularly their Triffid-like aspects of movement, hunting and 'plant intelligence'.This is a much needed book that re-establishes Darwin as a pioneering botanist, whose close observations of plants were crucial to his theories of evolution.

Many, if not most, planning errors in projects and ventures of all types and sizes are not usually problems of misinterpretation or misunderstanding of complexity but rather simple errors of omission, unchecked assumptions and careless research due to adopting an unsystematic or ad hoc approach to this important task.A second equally large problem is the difficulty planners seem to encounter in successfully integrating existing and new strategy into their planning thinking. This often results in plans which are disconnected from the directions, priorities and values of the host enterprise.This booklet attempts to addresses both problems by providing a systematic approach (based on 30 questions) to defining strategy for immediate use within the planning process. The booklet provides a nine-step express process (with templates) with each step defined in detail and highlighted using a worked example from personal life which any reader can relate to. The objective is to enable an individual or team to come up with a solid "project scoping" which can be used to effectively and strategically direct whatever happens next, such as execution (small projects) or detailed planning (larger projects). All in an hour or two rather than a month or two! Finally, I have tried to err on the side of brevity and to avoid the temptation to be overly prescriptive as this frequently results in bureaucracy and over-dependency on "the method" at the expense of common sense, ownership and the quality of thinking.

This collection of Twelve Essential Leadership Skills describes a set of skills which, in the authors view, are each essential competencies for a proficient manager. Each Leadership Skill is self-contained, summarised in a couple of pages and can be used in a standalone way without reference to the other skills. The skills are quickly and easily digestible and instantly accessible for use, as required, for example, during group learning activities such as business simulations or problem-solving scenarios, to enhance the opportunities for practice and experiential learning. Each skill can apply in many situations; however as a useful simplification, to make things easy, we have categorised each of the twelve skills into one of three "primary" perspectives: A) TEAM (Skills 1-4) - concern dealing with colleagues for whom you are directly or indirectly responsibleB) PARTNERS (Skills 5-8) - concern interaction with all other colleagues including peers, bosses, senior management, third parties, customers, suppliers and other external partiesC) SELF (Skills 9-12) - provide you with tools to help you manage your thinking, decision-making, risk and commitmentsThe booklet also provides a Skills Self-Assessment Template and free Online App which you can use to assess current skill levels and set development priorities.More detail on any of the twelve skills can be found in the relevant book in the six volume "Systematic Guides Series" which are listed in the final section.

A SYSTEMATIC GUIDE TO CHANGE MANAGEMENTSystematic Guides are aimed at leaders and managers who need to instantly access 'Organization-Ready' models, practices, checklists and guidance in key subject areas which are logically organized and based on best practice. This guide provides a pragmatic framework for the interventions needed to successfully identify and intervene with key stakeholders in a Change Management project with the objective of winning their support and commitment. The Guide also covers best practices in the roll-out of change within communities. This Guide is also the course book for the popular Cohort Change Management Business Simulation. "Although Ken Thompson brilliantly and quickly summarizes the best of the best change-management thinkers, .... this book is no simple epitome of the best thinking in change management. Ken Thompson is changing change management. He is one of the leading-edge practitioner-thinkers who is carefully evolving change management from a planning discipline into a political one". CHARLES SPINOSA, Ph.D., Group Director & Leader, Strategy and Customer Experience, VISION Consulting"Ken has written a succinct yet powerful summary of change management thinking, approaches and tools, presented in a practical and accessible manner. Excellent reading for anyone involved with the leadership and management of change". CHRIS COLLISON, Author and Former Director of Change and Knowledge Management, Centrica. "This is a must-read for anyone who is involved in leading or helping to champion any organizational change initiative. The guide is full of really useful frameworks, practical tips and pitfalls to avoid. It would take a long time to research all of these dimensions of change management but Ken Thompson manages to compress it all neatly into a very easy-to-read mini bible". NOEL CLERKIN, Senior Principal Consultant at Axialent - improving individual, team and organizational performance."Ken Thompson applies his established system thinking expertise to produce a holistic appraisal of best practices in change management backed up with case studies and exercises. If you need a clear, concise and informed approach to change management whilst equipping yourself with the tools to make it work, this is the book for you".SIMON SCHOLFIELD, System Dynamics expert for the Dow Chemical company.

A SYSTEMATIC GUIDE TO GAME-BASED LEARNING (GBL) IN ORGANIZATIONAL TEAMS Systematic Guides are aimed at leaders and managers who need to instantly access 'Organization-Ready' models, practices, checklists and guidance in key subject areas which are logically organized and based on best practice.This guide offers a comprehensive and pragmatic framework for achieving transformational learning and behavior change in groups of leaders/managers using Game-Based Learning (GBL) in organizations of all shapes and sizes."This book will help HR and Learning professionals who need clear guidance and case studies to support their own work as they exploit team-focused game-based learning. It provides a deep analysis and clear guidance to help practitioners develop effective social game-based learning solutions." CHARLES JENNINGS, Co-founder of the 70:20:10 Institute"This text is one of the "bibles" for the merging discipline of gamification, serious games, and simulations. It should be prominently displayed upon your bookshelf. The Appendices alone are worth the price of the text." MICHAEL SUTTON, Chief Gamification Officer at FUNIFICATION LLC and purveyor of sims and serious games within immersive learning environments."Some writers 'show off' their knowledge/skills. Ken does not do this as his knowledge/skills in these areas are first class and the style/content speak for themselves".ALAN ANDERSON, Vice Principal, Cambridge Flexible Learning"While there are many books on game design and adult learning, I would place this short book at the top of the list for anyone interested in game-based learning (GBL)."DR. ROSS WIRTH, Professor and online course developer

We expect our organizational leaders and managers to be competent in collaboration and competition. However, truly exceptional leaders are masters of collaboration and competition at the same time, within the same projects and even within the same teams. These Interplay Leaders understand the subtle yet continuous interplay of collaboration and competition necessary for a project's success. The central argument of this book is that the current unspoken assumption in organizational leadership and management that all projects are either collaborative or competitive but never both is fatally flawed and produces, at best, sub-optimal results and at worst total failures. I discuss why I believe this 'single dynamic' mindset has gripped organizations by first reviewing the literature and then examining the etymology of the words "collaborate" and "compete." I then look to biology, war, politics and sport to show that this division between collaboration and competition is artificial and not a natural state of affairs. I propose a new understanding of how these two activities, collaboration and competition, fundamentally interplay and suggest two new hybrid dynamics "Edgy Collaboration" and "Eco Competition" which organizational teams can recognise and employ. I also identify and describe 9 practical disciplines/skills for mastering the Collaborate/Compete "Interplay":1.Qualification2.Teaming3.Game Mapping4.Scorecards5.Reputation6.Alliancing7.Principled Negotiating8.Decision-Making9.Course CorrectionsI conclude by discussing how learning/simulation games can assist in building the skills needed to succeed in Interplay and describe 3 real on-line team game examples which explore the new interplay dynamics experientially and socially

A second volume of thought-provoking ideas from the author of The Daily Telegraph's 'Sceptical Gardener' column

A timely, instructive and controversial book, which delivers unexpected answers.

How did plants get to be the way they are? In this new edition Ken Thompson grabs the opportunity to explain why any old plant will do for companion planting - but also that it can do as much harm as good - and why planting by the moon is complete and utter nonsense.

A fascinating popular science book that reveals how much we really know - and don't know - about the natural world. Explains why we need to be more concerned about ecosystems than individual iconic species such as the giant panda and gorilla.

How are birds linked to house prices?How can a gardener improve theflavour of their vegetables?Do wildflowers really thrive in poor soil?In this collection of articles from The Telegraph, biologist and gardening columnist Ken Thompson takes a scientific look at some of the greater - and lesser - questions faced by gardeners everywhere in a bid to sort the genuine wisdom from the hokum.What is the ideal temperature for a compost heap? What do bees do that improves strawberries? Why are gardeners in literature always such dummies? This is an expert's gardening miscellany, aimed at making you not necessarily a better gardener, but probably a far more thoughtful one.

In 2003 a MORI poll for the Royal Horticultural Society revealed that an extraordinary number of us are interested in attracting wildlife into our gardens. Because we'll be promoting the biodiversity of the UK, we'll be reconnecting with nature, getting more from our gardens, and we'll be doing our plants a favour.