8 Steps to High Performance: Focus on What You Can Change (Ignore the Rest)

Marc Effron

Harvard Business Review Press, 206 pp., $30

Although the author admits that 50 percent of anyone's individual work performance is predicted by her smarts, looks, personality, and socioeconomic class, Effron has written this book to show readers that they can win the next promotion by focusing on eight behaviors that they can control. Each chapter is filled with self-assessments, tools, and templates to help readers deliver outstanding results. "The path to complete the eight steps ... requires that you desire to be a high-performer, work hard to achieve each step, and avoid the distractions that will tempt you along the way," Effron writes.

Culture Your Culture: Innovating Experiences at Work

Karen Jaw-Madson

Emerald Group Publishing, 251 pp., $40

"The goal is to align individuals and organizations to interact in the most mutually beneficial ways, where everyone wins," says author and innovative management consultant Jaw-Madson. This book uses her concept—Design of Work Experience (DOWE)—to show organizations how to build culture through experiences at work. The four main components of DOWE are the combination of design and change processes enabled by leveraging and building capability and engagement throughout. The author uses storytelling and evidence-based research to help readers find their own solutions. It is intended to be a resource for people and organizations to apply innovation to culture.