Adversity Quotient @ Work [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Paul G. Stoltz (Author, Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2000

In 1997, Paul Stoltz unleashed a revolution with his groundbreaking book Adversity Quotient: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities, introducing the concept of the Adversity Quotient into public consciousness. Now, in Adversity Quotient @ Work, Stoltz applies the principles of his brilliant theory to the uniquely challenging environment of the workplace.

AQ is a measure of one's ability to handle adversity. Those who can't become easily overwhelmed and emotional, then pull back and stop trying; those who can handle adversity become the leaders of today and tomorrow. Adversity Quotient @ Work clearly demonstrates how workers and managers can use this concept of the AQ to their own advantage, and to the benefit of their clients and customers.

Adversity Quotient @ Work teaches listeners how to hire and retain highly motivated and talented workers, develop employees to their full potential, and create a leadership culture that encourages all to put forth their best efforts and maximize their performance capabilities. Based on real research performed with thousands of managers and members of the workforce on the front lines of hundreds of businesses, it will quickly become any corporation's indispensable handbook for success.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From the first sip of your morning coffee to the last sheep you count at night, you will face an average of 23 adversities, predicts author Paul G. Stoltz in this follow-up to the best-selling The Adversity Quotient. The key to coping, he says, lies in improving your Adversity Quotient--"the measurable, precise, and unconscious way you respond to adversity." Here, Stoltz applies AQ to the challenges of working in the "entrepreneurial, high-velocity New Economy."

First, he details the bad news: AQ is hardwired into you during your youth by parental models and early experiences. But the good news--that your AQ can be improved and put to work on your job--is the promise this book capably delivers. Stoltz, an organizational communications expert who has measured the Adversity Quotient of 100,000 people, is fond of using mountain-climbing metaphors to describe elements of organizational adversity. For example, low AQers are "quitters" who have given up the climb or "campers" who have found a safe, shady spot. But for the resilient high AQers, "the climbers," there ain't no mountain high enough.

The lower your AQ, the more of a toll job stress will take, warns Stoltz, whose assessment tools for measuring AQ are as detailed as his strategies for creating a "climbing culture" in your organization. The pages are packed with maps, self-assessments, specific strategies, and smart end-of-chapter summaries. This hands-on approach is undermined at times by too many metaphors, acronyms, and lists, as well as a tendency to oversell AQ as a predictor of success. Still, for executives, managers, and employees alike, The Adversity Quotient @ Work is a supportive and strategic home-schooling course for coping with the demands of today's workplace.--Barbara Mackoff --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The letter q as in quotient is getting a real workout these days--mainly in terms of improving personal and business lives. Here Stoltz, who is following up his concept of the Adversity Quotient, explains the precise application of his method for expanding human performance of individuals, teams, and corporate cultures. Sensitive to the charge of psychobabble, he documents well the validity of adversity, and how it is used to improve hiring, increase productivity, and revamp a company's momentum. Quizzes and continual exercises act as practicum and guides to emulate. Better yet are the plethora of lists: the six flaws in hiring (e.g., put pedigree over performance), myths and truths of the high-performance team, and steps for resolving crises (i.e., define problem and worst-case scenario). Plus, the fact that "best companies to work for" and "most admired companies" have adopted Stoltz's methodologies is proof of no small amount of veracity. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: HarperAudio; Abridged edition (September 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0694524093
• ISBN-13: 978-0694524099
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,508,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Paul G. Stoltz is the world's leading expert on measuring and strengthening human resilience. He is author of four international bestselling books on the subject -- printed in 14 languages -- and was voted by Executive Excellence as "One of the 100 Most Influential Thinkers of Our Time." Dr. Stoltz is a guest lecturer for the Harvard Business School Executive Education program. HBS incorporates Dr. Stoltz's AQ theory and methods into its prestigious executive development and MBA programs. The Harvard Business Review featured an article (January-February 2010) co-authored by Dr. Paul G. Stoltz and Dr.Joshua Margolis (Harvard Business School professor), titled "How to Bounce Back from Adversity."

Today, AQ is the most widely adopted resilience building method in the world, currently in use by industry-leading companies and many governments across the globe. In 1987, Dr. Stoltz founded PEAK Learning, Inc., a global research and consulting firm,through which he coaches, consults, teaches, and collaborates with top leaders, thinkers, and influencers within a broad range of organizations from start-ups and NGO's to the Young Presidents' Organization and the Fortune 100 on six continents.

As a highly sought-after thought leader, presenter, and teacher, Dr. Stoltz combines inspiration with application, delivering a compelling and practical message to audiences of 10 to 10,000 people. As PEAK's global reach grows, Dr. Stoltz remains highly active in the classroom, teaching AQ to groups of all levels and sizes in a broad range of indoor and outdoor settings, including some of the largest venues in the world.

As Director of the Global Resilience Institute, Dr. Stoltz oversees a research agenda in 21 countries dedicated to exploring, expanding, and advancing the applications of AQ to strengthen people and their organizations. His research partners include top thinkers at Yale University, Stanford University, and more than a dozen universities overseas.

He has been a member of Stanford University's Distinguished Leaders Lecture Series, was selected as the Millennial Thinker for Singapore, "Thought Leader of the Year" in Hong Kong, is a top-rated international faculty member for the Young Presidents' Organization, and is a frequently sought after resource for the world's top media including CNN, CNBC, Business News Network, NBC Nightly News, Public Broadcast Service (PBS), the Today Show, Sky News, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. You will also find Dr. Stoltz quoted in Wall Street Journal, Harvard Management Update, Investor's Business Daily, Asia 21, Inc., Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Singapore Straits Times, The Australian Financial Review, Success Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Boss Magazine, The Drucker Foundation's prestigious Leader to Leader and other publications.

Dr. Stoltz received his bachelor's degree in Organizational Communication and Economics from the University of California, as well as his business and social sciences interdisciplinary master's and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

PEAK Learning's international headquarters is situated in the coastal mountains of San Luis Obispo, California, where Dr. Stoltz resides with his family, who were honored by USA Today as "America's Most Creative Family."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AQ @ work, September 20, 2000

By 

bob weigand (Allentown,pa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adversity Quotient @ Work: Make Everyday Challenges the Key to Your Success--Putting the Principles of AQ Into Action (Hardcover)

Learning to climb and leading others through their climb becomes an essential skill for leaders in the new millennium. The wisdom of Stoltz's work are that we have the potential to do both.

Bob Weigand, Director Management Training & Development, St.Luke's Hospital and Health Network

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars AQ Intro for High Performance at Work, November 17, 2000

By 

Prof David T Wright (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adversity Quotient @ Work: Make Everyday Challenges the Key to Your Success--Putting the Principles of AQ Into Action (Hardcover)

'AQ@Work' is aimed at consultants, students, or those in business who want to create a structured reaction mindset (initially consciously incompetent, to unconsciously competent) to performing better individually and in teams in the workplace.

The attractively illustrated action-oriented chapters span: Expanding your capacity- the human operating system (Quitters, Campers & Climbers); The science of AQ; Measuring Your AQ; The CORE of a climber (Control, Ownership, Reach, Endurance); Developing Response-Able Climbers (LEAD= Listen to Response, Establish Accountability, Analyze the Evidence, and Do Something); Coaching and Mentoring Climbers; Defining and Finding Climbers; Hiring Climbers; Building Climbing Teams; Building A Climbing Culture.

Strengths include: the presentation (illustrations, tables, summaries, action lists); the lively engaging style; interesting "humans as computers with software" analogies; the usability of materials for in-company training; and the credibility of AQ itself (data set and application group spanning over 100,000 people Worldwide across cultures, sectors, and professions).

Weaknesses include: the lack of references; a need more anecdotes or tabulated quantified success stories (rather than repetitive, almost consulting sales pitch); needs 25% less page count for content; dull 2nd half becomes a "verbatim training notes doc" (to this reviewer); lack of depth to "science" (e.g. misses many credible individual/ team motivation/performance models e.g.2 misses communications models & significance to team performance); offers unsubstantiated contradictions with standard psychology view to internalizing/ externalizing problems and subsequent personal growth (or not); and anecdotes sometimes abstract/remote from complexities of real work environments. Interestingly, Cypress Semiconductor is hailed here as a success story, and as a failure in Pfeffer's recent OK "Hidden Value" and OK "Knowing Doing-Gap" texts.

Alternatives include: Pfeffer's efforts; Goleman's OK "Working with Emotional Intelligence"; and Schwartz's inspirational "Magic of Thinking Big". At the "quality-end" look at: the superb "First to the Future- on Active Leadership" by Willi Railo (rigorous proven methods to coach & lead Olympic-standard people, applicable to all) (ISBN82-991169-5-3 Norbok A/S 1995); and Jensen's punchy 'Simplicity' (ISBN 073820210X 2000). More peripherally look at: "The Time Management PocketBook" and "Yoga for Dummies" offering approaches for motivation, focus, and action to being better balanced as well as corporate citizens.

Overall 'AQ@Work' is only worthwhile- but it could be amongst the best with more rigor & science, less words, and more success statistics.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Building High-Performance Organizations, September 14, 2000

By 

Peter Economy "Bestselling Author" (La Jolla, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adversity Quotient @ Work: Make Everyday Challenges the Key to Your Success--Putting the Principles of AQ Into Action (Hardcover)

Finally! A book that shows exactly how to bring the best out of employees in today's organizations. Adversity Quotient @ Work provides readers with the essential tools they need to invent their own futures and to control their own destinies on the job -- taking their organizations to new heights. Get this book -- before your competition does!