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...

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...

"Toyota is becoming a double threat: the world's finest manufacturer and a truly great innovator . . . that formula, a combination of production prowess and technical innovation, is an unbeatable recipe for success."-- Fortune, February 2006For the first time, an insider reveals the formula behind Toyota's unceasing quest to innovate and do more with less, a philosophy that has made it one of the ten most profitable companies in the world (and worth more than GM, F...

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...

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 darned irresistible? What do Jackson Pollock and Lance Armstrong have in common with theoretical physicists and Buddhist monks? The answer is elegance.Matthew May explores why certain events, products, and people capture our imaginations and our loyalty. Defining elegance as the elusive combination of unusual simplicity and surprising power,...

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...

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...

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...

We live in a competition loving culture. We love the performance, the big win, the ticking seconds of the clock as the game comes down to the wire. We watch games and cheer, sometimes to the point of obsession, but if we really wanted to see greatness—wanted to cheer for it, see it happen, understand what made it happen—we'd spend our time watching, obsessing on, and maybe even cheering the practices instead. This book puts practice on the front burner of all who seek to instill talent and...

**Millions of copies sold!The bestselling modern classic that sparked a worldwide conversation about the value of concentration—and the true costs of fractured attention.“I’m handing you the answer to the overwhelm you feel, and his name is Dr. Cal Newport.” —Mel Robbins, The Mel Robbins Podcast, author of New York Times bestselling The Let Them Theory**Deep Work—the ability to focus without distraction on cognitively demanding tasks—is on...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The book that sparked a revolution and inspired the hit Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo: the original guide to decluttering your home once and for all.ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE—CNNDespite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?Japanese cleaning consultant Ma...