From Publishers Weekly
This graphically modern and interactive volume demands that readers get themselves—and their businesses—out of whatever rut they’re in. By first encouraging the acknowledgment of being stuck, Yamashita and Spataro, a consultant and business school professor, respectively, pave the way for escape. They describe the seven emotional manifestations of being stuck (feeling alone, overwhelmed, directionless, battle-torn, worthless, hopeless, exhausted) and provide guidance for moving past them, through case studies (from the U.S. Postal Service to Apollo 13), exercises, charts and mantras such as "find the quiet rock star" and "write the headline from the future." It’s alternately funny and thought provoking; and with rarely more than 200 words per page, it doesn’t resemble a typical dense business tome. Yet somehow, in its succinctness (and despite its overuse of catchphrases), this book renders specific and practical points as well as enough inspiration to help all kinds of individuals and teams break through mental walls. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


The Wall Street Journal
One of the pioneers working on technology's cutting edge.


Jay Conger, author of Winning 'Em Over
Wonderfully engaging….Packed with practical guidance on how to restore momentum to your teams and organization. Hard to put down!


Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside
A new manifesto from two of our most original, most amazing thinkers (and more important, practitioners). Right now.


David Allen, author of Getting Things Done and Ready for Anything
Insightful and creative….In just a few minutes I got more than enough good ideas to last a long time.


Polly LaBarre, contributing writer, Fast Company
Part action manual, part tool, part dojo, Unstuck is unfailingly inventive….a fresh, fun, and serious-minded guide to moving forward.


Ivy Ross, founder of Project Platypus at Mattel Inc.
Unstuck really walks its talk.


Gary VanSpronsen, Senior Vice President of Business Development, Herman Miller
Unstuck is roadside assistance for leaders—a tool for turning information into action.


Fast Company
He may be one of the most influential consultants you've never heard of. He's certainly one of the most creative.


Fourtune
Strategy, brand, culture: Keith Yamashita puts them together.


Book Description
Getting stuck is an integral part of business because the most ambitious and rewarding work is often the hardest to undertake. The challenge is knowing how to get unstuck. In this dynamic and pragmatic handbook, Keith Yamashita and Sandra Spataro share the insights, methods, stories, and best practices of the extraordinary leaders they have worked with at business giants such as IBM, Sony, Disney, HP, and Nike. In immediately accessible terms, they identify the symptoms of being stuck, introduce readers to the Serious Seven states of "stuck"—from "Overwhelmed" to "Exhausted" to "Alone"—and offer dozens of in-the-moment tools, techniques, and examples to generate immediate ideas, whether you need to back up in order to move forward, motivate a struggling team, change your goals, or inspire yourself with a clearer picture of where you’re headed. With a handy trim size, a vivid two-color interior, and memorable images that speak louder than words, Unstuck is a book for anyone who wants to get themselves or their team motivated and moving in the time it takes to fly from New York to D.C. Designed to be flipped through, read in chunks, and returned to again and again, Unstuck is an innovation in business literature.


Book Info
Practical guide to turn to for inspiration and immediate solutions. Based on proven results and practices the authors have discovered working with IBM, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Nike, Gap Inc., and a host of other companies and leaders.


About the Author
Keith Yamashita is a founder of Stone Yamashita Partners, a San Francisco-based firm that consults with companies undergoing large-scale strategic change. He has worked with CEOs and executive teams at companies such as IBM, Nike, Hewlett-Packard, Gap, Inc., Apple, PBS, Herman Miller, and the World Bank. Yamashita is a frequent speaker and lecturer. His work has been featured in Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, FORTUNE, and Harvard Business Review. Sandra Spataro is an assistant professor at the Yale School of Management. She held a number of management posts at Oracle Corporation before earning a Ph.D. in organizational behavior at the University of California at Berkeley.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

What do you reach out for when you get stuck? A quiet place to think? A brainy colleague? Your whole team? Whether you're wrestling with a big new idea, feeling at a dead end, or trying to lead a team through a time of major change, every moment of being stuck is a lost opportunity. Unstuck is a radical and deceptively simple one-stop resource to help you move forward when everything seems to be headed in reverse. Not to worry. Getting unstuck is an integral part of business -- and life, for that matter. Often people get stuck because the most ambitious and rewarding work brings with it the most challenges. The question is, how long can you afford to be stuck and what are you going to do about it?

Unstuck is a smart, fearless, and totally practical guide to turn to for inspiration and immediate solutions. It's not just meant to be read; it's meant to be enacted. And it's based on the proven results and practices the authors have discovered working with IBM, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Nike, Gap Inc., and a host of other companies and leaders. Whether you need to step back to move forward, motivate a struggling team, change your goals, or create a clearer vision, Unstuck helps you diagnose your situation, identify the most important challenges, and implement the right tools and techniques to get things moving again. One last thing -- people often assume that making progress and having fun are mutually exclusive. Unstuck debunks that myth. Strategize, compete, get stuck, get unstuck -- but, above all, have some fun doing it.

It's time to get unstuck.

FROM THE CRITICS

Soundview Executive Book Summaries