They say there is a book in every one of us, and I believe that to be absolutely true. I feel at time that I have many, but writing a book is not as easy as one might think. In my case so far I have completed just three books, with several more in early draft stages. Nonetheless I'm proud of the ones that are completed.
Hidden Gold!
7 Ways to be More Cre8ive, Today!
The North End Years
Here is a little about each of them...
Hidden Gold!
Mining the inexhaustible supply of golden opportunities in every organisation.
Bill Jarrard and Johan Kruithof
In 1988 I took up the challenge of leading Continuous Improvement in an 1800 person IT Operations business unit, using a philosophy/methodology then called TQM or Total Quality Management. In doing so was my great fortune to find and work with Jo Kruithof, who for 25 years now has been a great friend.
In 1998 Jo and I decided to encapsulate what we'd learnt over ten years into a book on team based continuous process improvement. This built on work we'd done in many different organisations, with hundreds of teams. In 1999 it was published by SAI Global, and is still in print today as a companion book to Jo's other book The Quality Standards Handbook. Here's just a little of what Howard Paul, General Manager of Standards Australia Publishing, said about it...
Reviewed by Howard Paul
Every organisation has a potentially inexhaustible supply of golden opportunities to improve its processes and generally enhance its economic efficiency. The trouble is these opportunities are like gold: well hidden and difficult to mine.
Occasionally they turn up as convenient nuggets; other times it’s a long, hard accumulation of gold dust. But in every case, as with gold, these are opportunities to increase value. All you need are the eyes to see them and the tools to mine them.
Hidden Gold! provides both. It is a highly readable book on a proven approach to bringing opportunities out of hiding and turning them into demonstrable bottom-line improvements. Hidden Gold! is based on the authors' many years of hands-on experience in helping organisations in a wide cross-section of industries achieve spectacular improvements. Read more...
SEVEN WAYS TO BE MORE CRE8IVE, TODAY!
Bill Jarrard and Jennifer Goddard
Shortly after starting Mindwerx International I realised it was going to be a hard job 'selling' creative thinking courses. What we had to do was demonstrate that creative thinking was a skill anyone can learn and develop, and that that skill was immensely valuable in rapidly changing organizations, particularly those with a focus on innovation.
I knew this because, since first meeting Edward de Bono in 1985, I had used his critical and creative thinking methods and tools with outstanding results. What I could see though was that company leaders rightly needed to see how they could equip their people with tools and techniques that really worked.
So I set about writing a book featuring some of the thinking tools we were using regularly in facilitations, talking about to groups, and training teams in. It was Jen's idea for the title, which led us to develop a book that gives readers something simple and useful to use each day. This demonstrated what we wanted to highlight - that creativity and innovation need not be left to chance.
Originally written in 2001, this 76 page eBook still provides some fun and valuable insights and tools to be more creative every day. Now almost a classic, I believe it still serves its original purpose. See more and get the eBook now...
The North End Years
Bill Jarrard
"Transport yourself to a different time and way of being, learn the lessons of slowing down, enjoying the seasons, the joy of play and the reflection of how values and Really Important things in life come into being."
… Vanda North, International Speaker, Author, Mind Chi
This is a book that was almost 20 years in the making, and was brought to life with love by my wife Jennifer, who edited and published it, but more importantly pushed me day after day to finish it so it would be ready for my 60th birthday. And with the help of our friend Alan Black, we created the wonderful drawings that bring my story to life in these pages.
I began it when my children Kylie and Will were about 10 and 11 as a way for me to reflect to them the lessons I had learnt as a boy growing up in Canada. I initially had all the chapters mapped out, with a folder of bits and pieces of memory aids to help me pull it together, and soon after starting I had maybe 60 pages of draft work. Then it sat in my drawer, while I built new businesses and got 'too busy for non-work stuff'.
What a shame that was - if you have a book in you, and you do, begin it now and keep going!
Anyway by 18 February 2013 Jennifer had published the book, just in time for me to give to my family as we celebrated my 60th and my mother's 80th birthdays together. Since then many others have read it and remarked on how it brought back wonderful memories for them as well. And I'm told the lessons I share at the end of each chapter are both simple and meaningful. A couple of teacher friends have also passed the book along to schools in Australia and Canada, to spark some interest in having it introduced to young people. We'll see what happens.
For now, I am simply delighted that it has been completed and so well received. The eBook is available online and you can download sample chapters there as well.