Work Ethic

There is no higher praise we can give people than to say they have good character. But what does this mean, really? What makes this quality so essential to achieving personal success and fulfillment? More importantly, how can we build our own character and live more satisfying lives? Reflecting society's diversity, the contributors to this unique collection of essays speak from various cultural and professional backgrounds to share their observations on living with integrity, honesty, and compassion.

Issa Rae was born in Los Angeles but never felt she was quite the city’s type. Though each inspiration destination—from Potomac to Harlem—left its mark, Issa chases her dreams back to her sun-soaked roots. It’s there that Issa finally finds her voice, her wings, and the vibrant heartbeat of a creative community. Issa’s true muse had been waiting all along for her to come home.

Have you ever wanted to disagree with your boss in a meeting? Make a tough decision that you know will be unpopular? We all have opportunities to be courageous at work. But since courage requires risk - to our reputations, our social standing, and, in some cases, our jobs - we often fail to act, which leaves us feeling powerless and regretful for not doing what we know is right. There's a better way to work and live - and Choosing Courage provides the moral imperative and research-based tactics to help you make better use of your courageous instincts at work.

For decades, Sherry Turkle has shown how we remake ourselves in the mirror of our machines. Here, she illuminates our present search for authentic connection in a time of uncharted challenges. Growing up in postwar Brooklyn, Turkle searched for clues to her identity in a house filled with mysteries. She mastered the codes that governed her mother's secretive life. She learned never to ask about her absent scientist father—and never to use his name, her name. Before empathy became a way to find connection, it was her strategy for survival.

Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785) is the first of Immanuel Kant's mature works on moral philosophy and remains one of the most important in the field. Kant examines the core concepts and principles of moral theory, showing that they are normative for rational agents. He aspires to lay bare the fundamental principle of morality and prove that it applies to us. Kant offers the argument that the rightness of an action is determined by the character of the principle that a person chooses to act upon.

It can be difficult to live according to our values in a complicated world. At a time when capitalism seems most unforgiving but the need for paying work remains high, it is important to learn how we can be more mindful and intentional about our impact - personal, social, economic, and environmental. As designer and creative director Kelly Small had to do to navigate a crisis of ethics and burnout in their career in advertising, we can admit our complicity in problematic systems and take on the responsibility of letting our own conscience guide our decisions.

Finn and Drew, partners from the Rookie Reefer Bandidos caper smuggling pot from Mexico to Massachusetts, hook up again, this time in Florida. With good numbers in the Vietnam lottery, they're free to drop out of college and pursue simple hedonism. When they get on tying steel at a construction site in Delray Beach, it turns out their colleagues are a jovial lot of prisoners on work release from the Florida State Penitentiary.

In the bestselling tradition of Malcom Gladwell, James Gleick, and Nate Silver, prominent professor László Barabási gives us a trailblazing book that promises to transform the very foundations of how our success-obsessed society approaches their professional careers, life pursuits and...

In The 4 Day Week, entrepreneur and business innovator Andrew Barnes makes the case for the four-day week as the answer to many of the ills of the 21st-century global economy. Barnes conducted an experiment in his own business, the New Zealand trust company Perpetual Guardian, and asked his staff to design a four-day week that would permit them to meet their existing productivity requirements on the same salary but with a 20 percent cut in work hours. The outcomes of this trial, which no business leader had previously attempted on these terms, were stunning.

This is a completely unabridged edition of Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. You may also know this work as Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals, or The Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals. Our rendition of this classic has crisp, well-edited audio.

A powerful story about the African philosophy of teamwork and collaboration that has the power to reshape our workplaces, our relationships with our coworkers, and our personal lives, written by the bestselling coauthor of Fish! and the bestselling author of 1001 Ways to Reward Employees.

Even at seven years old, Issa Rae meant business, conducting herself with entrepreneurial authority on a toy phone in her bedroom. Eventually, it was a matter of convincing others that she had a lot to say and getting them to listen. From her first web series, Awkward Black Girl, to network disappointments to HBO triumphs, Issa charts her aspirational journey—self-doubts and all—of being taken seriously, finding her voice, and shaping it into a groundbreaking career.

Tommy Squirrel always wants to play. Sammy Squirrel likes to play, too, but he also understands the importance of collecting acorns for the upcoming winter season. What will happen to Tommy when winter comes and he has no food?

Remember a mortifying moment that made you self-aware? Honestly, Issa Rae remembers a few. In this illuminating essay, Issa follows her shoulda/coulda/woulda journey from awkward schoolgirl to a Hollywood life under the spotlight. Along the way she offers unfiltered insights into unwittingly courting controversy, curating a cautious but always authentic identity, and navigating the gap between private truth and public perception.

Issa Rae preferred working alone. She was particular that way. But as her career grew, she understood that sharing control didn’t necessarily mean losing it—or her vision. And that sometimes, carefully chosen Hollywood allies could actually enhance it. From rom-coms to blockbusters, from writers’ rooms to film sets—including Barbie—the former independent spirit discovers the superpower of collaboration while remaining unapologetically herself.

For the socially conscious, the intellectually curious, or the creative soul comes an inspiring, New York Times best-selling handbook for success in business, life, and the all-important task of building a more compassionate world—by the visionary founder and CEO of KIND Healthy Snacks.

Knowledge is your most valuable asset. That's why we put together a one-of-a-kind how-to-invest book with detailed experiences designed to help you grow as an investor, with content tailored to your own personal investing goals and needs. Rich Man's Principles Poor Man's Work Ethic is refreshingly different. It turns the tables and is straightforward and simple in its delivery of information to the poor man. Finding successful investing options when applied, they start working the tried-and-true system of success.

From the imagination stage to actually making the magic happen, writer-producer-actress Issa Rae is a multitasking phenomenon. She’s also an inveterate procrastinator. But even that’s part of her creative strategy. Blending personal anecdotes with practical insights, Issa explores the challenges of having to constantly deliver, the importance of “workations,” and the value of embracing a unique creative rhythm in an increasingly demanding world.

It’s a gamble to bet on yourself in Hollywood. But Issa Rae placed it. Charting her evolution from struggling writer to media mogul, she pulls back the curtain on her ever-evolving career in an always-changing industry and reveals that the best investment she made was her belief in herself. As she reflects on weathering storms and lessons learned, Issa moves forward with renewed purpose.

From the award-winning author and Financial Times columnist Elizabeth Uviebinené, a fundamental rethink of how we work and live. Because if we're going to really benefit from the radical shift of 2020, we have to rethink how we fit into an ecosystem. Elizabeth started with a simple desire to explore our relationship with work, and how it was impacting our lives.