Reference

From the author that brought you the New York Times bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People comes a guide to accessing and encouraging the human potential for greatness.

In the more than twenty-five years since its publication, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has become an international phenomenon with more than twenty-five million copies sold. Tens of millions of people in business, government, and schools have dramatically improved their lives and organizations by applying the principles of Stephen R. Covey's classic book.

The world, however, is a vastly changed place. Being effective as individuals and organizations is no longer merely an option--it's a requirement for survival. But in order to thrive, innovate, excel, and lead in what Covey calls the "New Knowledge Worker Age," we must build on and move beyond effectiveness. In this era of human history, our call is for greatness--holistic fulfillment, passionate execution, and significant contribution.

Accessing the higher levels of human genius in today's new reality requires a change in thinking: a new mindset and a new skill-set--in short, a new habit. The crucial challenge of our world today is this: to find our voice and inspire others to find theirs. It is what Covey calls the 8th Habit. The 8th Habit is the answer to the soul's yearning for greatness, the organization's imperative for significance and superior results, and humanity's search for its "voice."

Covey's books have transformed the way we think about ourselves, our purpose in life, our organizations, and about humankind. Just as The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People helped us focus on effectiveness, The 8th Habit shows us the way to greatness.

In spite of soaring tuition costs, more and more students go to college every year. A bachelor's degree is now required for entry into a growing number of professions. And some parents begin planning for the expense of sending their kids to college when they're born. Almost everyone strives to go, but almost no one asks the fundamental question posed by Academically Adrift: are undergraduates really learning anything once they get there?

For a large proportion of students, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa's answer to that question is a definitive no. Their extensive research draws on survey responses, transcript data, and, for the first time, the state-of-the-art Collegiate Learning Assessment, a standardized test administered to students in their first semester and then again at the end of their second year. According to their analysis of more than 2,300 undergraduates at twenty-four institutions, 45 percent of these students demonstrate no significant improvement in a range of skills--including critical thinking, complex reasoning, and writing--during their first two years of college. As troubling as their findings are, Arum and Roksa argue that for many faculty and administrators they will come as no surprise--instead, they are the expected result of a student body distracted by socializing or working and an institutional culture that puts undergraduate learning close to the bottom of the priority list.

Academically Adrift holds sobering lessons for students, faculty, administrators, policy makers, and parents--all of whom are implicated in promoting or at least ignoring contemporary campus culture. Higher education faces crises on a number of fronts, but Arum and Roksa's report that colleges are failing at their most basic mission will demand the attention of us all.

From the master of Story, Dialogue, and Character, ACTION offers writers the keys to propulsive storytelling.

ACTION explores the ways that a modern-day writer can successfully tell an action story that not only stands apart, but wins the war on clichés. Teaming up with the former co-host of The Story Toolkit, Bassim El-Wakil, legendary story lecturer Robert McKee guides writers to award-winning originality by deconstructing the action genre, illuminating the challenges, and, more importantly, demonstrating how to master the demands of plot with surprising beats of innovation and ingenuity.

Topics include:

A must-add to the McKee storytelling library, ACTION illustrates the principles of narrative drive with precision and clarity by referencing the most popular action movies of our time including: Die Hard, The Star Wars Saga, Dark Knight, The Matrix, and Avengers: Endgame.

- Sports? This popular topic is often limiting, but Wellington will help you come across as talented--and also thoughtful and well rounded.

- Your trip to Egypt? Wellington will help you avoid common travel clichés that make admissions officers groan.

- The color yellow? Wellington will make sure you sound quirky and creative in the right way.

Even the most impressive students can sound ordinary by following the formulaic approach of other essay guides--and in this über-competitive landscape, you need an edge to stand out to top schools. Wellington's tutees have gained acceptance to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Georgetown, Duke, and other elite institutions, and with this book at your side, you can join their ranks.

In this hip, accessible primer to the music, literature, and art of Afrofuturism, author Ytasha Womack introduces readers to the burgeoning community of artists creating Afrofuturist works, the innovators from the past, and the wide range of subjects they explore. From the sci-fi literature of Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, and N. K. Jemisin to the musical cosmos of Sun Ra, George Clinton, and the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am, to the visual and multimedia artists inspired by African Dogon myths and Egyptian deities, the book's topics range from the "alien" experience of blacks in America to the "wake up" cry that peppers sci-fi literature, sermons, and activism. With a twofold aim to entertain and enlighten, Afrofuturists strive to break down racial, ethnic, and social limitations to empower and free individuals to be themselves.