New Releases by Chris Butterworth

"Stunning pictures and engaging words. . . . An accomplished entrée to early science topics." — Booklist (starred review) Dive into the warm ocean and swim around amid the coral and waving sea grass. Do you see an eye like a small black bead peering out at you? Linger for a while and discover the secrets of the sea horse — one of the shyest fish in the sea. With a head like a horse, a tail like a monkey, and a pouch like a kangaroo, the sea horse acts like a chameleon, changing color to ward off danger or to show that he and his mate are a lifelong pair. Watch their fascinating mating dance, as the two of them twine their tails together and twirl, before she places her eggs in his pouch to be born. Could there be a more intriguing creature of the sea? Back matter includes an index, and a note about sea horses.

This book will appeal to leaders and aspiring leaders in every type of organisation. It explains the why and how of creating successful organisations with amazing cultures where people flourish. It is a practical leadership handbook full of real life stories, insights and tips based on the authors’ many years of experience in senior leadership roles. A key insight is the need for leaders to recognise that one size does not fit all in the way they lead their organisation and interact with their people. Leaders need to be adaptive to the context and the person. To enable this the authors have developed the concept of the “5 hats of adaptive leaders”. These enable leaders to understand why, when and how to adapt their style as appropriate to any given context. The book is full of real life examples that every leader can relate to and provides them with a practical, easy to follow approach to building the habits of an adaptive leader. It is an inspirational and motivational read that enables the reader to immediately take action to make a positive impact on themselves, their people and their organisation.

With expressive artwork, this one-of-a-kind picture book about the familiar but ever-surprising crow reveals that these birds, despite not having flashy feathers, beautiful songs or fancy flying skills, are super intelligent, generating newfound respect for these unassuming creatures we come across daily.

We live in an ever-changing world in which organizations find it increasingly difficult to stay ahead of the changes needed to be successful without thriving people. The authors believe that when people are valued and respected it improves their overall mental well-being and workplace experience, which in turn, makes them more motivated to help meet the purpose and objectives of the organization and adapt to external drivers. This book explores how mental well-being and a culture of continuous improvement are intertwined and mutually reinforcing. The authors contend that to create a sustainable culture of continuous improvement there must be an organization-wide focus on mental well-being at the individual level. A culture of continuous improvement nurtured in the right way, however, will indeed support mental well-being and help create a thriving organization. The key benefit of the book is demonstrating how important mental well-being is for sustainable organizational success. It explores this through many different lenses such as the individual, teams, leaders, and the organization as a whole, and explains the key elements needed for success. Leaders at all levels are able to understand why mental well-being is critical and how to nurture it in the workplace. In addition, the book explains the importance of diversity, equality, inclusion, and belonging, and how this is integral to mental well-being and a thriving organization. This book provides unique insight into how mental well-being and a culture of continuous improvement are intertwined explaining how thriving people and a thriving culture of continuous improvement create a thriving organization.

This book focusses on the importance of creating an internal assessment program to periodically assess the maturity of the organizations transformation journey. It discusses the best approach to designing and implementing an assessment program by answering key questions posed when people resist. The book begins with selecting the positioning of the program not as an audit but as an opportunity to review strengths and opportunities, through to selecting senior leader support to design of the program and developing the assessors. More than 10 case studies are documented to show how organizations have approached their assessment programs, lessons learned, and successes and challenges faced. The book leads the reader through the process of selling the concept and importance of transformation and Lean assessments to embed the desired behaviors within workplace culture. With many case studies, the reader is guided to design their own programs and develop their own assessors. This increases the probability of sustainability of the transformation program by focusing on and maturing the behaviors the transformation programs are trying to drive. For example, one of the most well-known assessments is the Shingo prize -- This book explains the thinking behind the Shingo model and shares examples of assessments that support it. Other examples of assessments are covered, such as process maturity, quality and business assessments.

"Equally informative and appetite-whetting." — The Horn Book One of the best parts of a young child’s day is opening a lunchbox and diving in. But how did that delicious food get there? From planting wheat to mixing dough, climbing trees to machine-squeezing fruit, picking cocoa pods to stirring a vat of melted bliss, here is a clear, engaging look at the steps involved in producing some common foods. Health tips and a peek at basic food groups complete the menu. Back matter includes an index.

The inner workings of a home are laid out for kids in fun, retro illustrations jam-packed with the technology behind everyday life. How does flipping a switch on the wall make the lights come on? Where does the clean water that flows out of the faucet come from? What is used to keep a home warm? Travel beyond the walls and under the floors of a house to find out more about the electricity, water, and natural gas that make your home work — and find out how you can do your part to save energy and preserve these resources.

Looks at the processes involved in making the clothes we wear. It traces the journey of a bale of cotton from the field where it was harvested to the factories where it is cleaned, carded and combed, dyed, spun into thread, then woven into cloth and made into a pair of jeans. It also shows how wool is turned into a jumper, artificial fibres created for a football kit, a party dress made out of silk, plastic bottles recycled into a fleece, and how latex from rubber trees becomes a pair of wellies. This fascinating book on technological processes succeeds in being young, child-centred and friendly, but also packs in an enormous amount of information.

In an exuberant text accompanied by gorgeous, windswept illustrations, two esteemed picture-book creators celebrate the mighty tree. Journey through the seasons and discover how much there is to love about trees! From brand-new buds in spring to the sound of the wind whooshing through the leaves in summer, from the fall colors to the feel of winter’s rough bark and the promise of spring returning again — no matter what time of year, there’s always something extraordinary to notice about the trees around your neighborhood. Chris Butterworth’s text, gently sprinkled with facts, captures the wonder of a child as Charlotte Voake’s busy, buoyant artwork conveys how something as simple and common as a tree can feel like magic taking root around you.

The authors combine their seventy years of collective experience in Lean and business improvement to present 5 basic habits to the reader that are easy to learn yet take years to master. A culture of continuous improvement in your organisation will start to develop almost as soon as the habits are applied and continue to mature as they are mastered. Case studies in two of the world's leading banking organisations demonstrate how the culture of continuous improvement has been applied in real-world situations. The authors also discuss the underlying neuroscience explaining why these habits actually work. This book is essential reading for leaders and business improvement professionals alike. About the Authors: Morgan started off as a naval officer specialising in engineering, then undertook a master's degree in Lean. He has deployed Lean Six Sigma in seven different organisations, training over 1000 black belts, 5000 green belts and coaching the delivery of over $1bn in savings and over 23 international awards. He works in many industry sectors including automotive, marine, heavy engineering, government, logistics and financial services. He has a PhD in competitive advantage and technology diffusion and is a certified executive coach and published author. Chris Butterworth has had many years' experience of operating at senior management positions in several multinational organisations such as JCB, Jaguar and Corus and has been a partner with S.A. Partners for over sixteen years. Chris coaches executive teams and transfers knowledge across all levels of an organisation and has spoken at many international conferences. He is a certified Shingo Institute facilitator, a Shingo examiner and winner of Best New Speaker of the Year Award for TEC- The Executive Connection. After serving ten years as an F/A-18 fighter pilot in the US Marines, Brenton Harder moved to London as Head of Quality and IT with General Electric Information Services. Several years later, he moved to New York with HSBC as Senior VP for Global Transaction Banking before moving to Boston and Bangalore, India with Fidelity Investments as Head of Service Integration. Zurich was next for four years as Head of Operational Excellence with Credit Suisse, followed by another four years in Sydney leading the Business Productivity Group for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Brent is back in the USA now as Head of Business Process Improvement with the Bank of New York Mellon. He is a Certified Master Black Belt from GE, and holds a MBA, and a MSc in Technology Management.

"Stunning pictures and engaging words. . . . An accomplished entrée to early science topics." — Booklist (starred review) Discover the secrets of a mysterious fish — with its head like a horse, tail like a monkey, pouch like a kangaroo, chameleon color changes, and fascinating mating dance. Back matter includes an index, and a note about sea horses. Each paperback title in the series includes a CD that features: * an engaging read-along with sound effects * a segment focusing on fascinating facts * a read-along opportunity guided by prompts

Presents the life cycle of the endangered sea horse, discussing its mating behavior, the defense mechanisms it uses against predators, and the type of environment it lives in.

Starting Points is an Explanation text covering History, Geography and Art and Design themes for Year 6. It is part of Four Corners, the most visually compelling series of cross-curricular books to motivate all readers from 4 to 11.