Jinn of Quality and Risk

The Hacker's Diet, notwithstanding its silly subtitle, is a serious book about how to lose weight and permanently maintain whatever weight you desire. It treats dieting and weight control from an engineering and management standpoint, and provides the tools and an understanding of why they work and how to use them that permit the reader to gain control of their own weight. The book is intended primarily for busy, successful engineers, programmers, and managers who have struggled unsuccessfully in the past to lose weight and avoid re-gaining it. [by John Walker, at fourmilab] 

The Italians have always had a strange approach to football. Their players look like pop stars, and the squad almost always includes at least two forwards whom every other country in the world would kill for; all the outward signs suggest flamboyance and a sense of stylish adventure. But traditionally they play a stupefyingly defensive game, as if too much scoring would somehow cause people to doubt their masculinity. The Italian way is to score once, and then refuse to cross the halfway line for the remainder of the game. [hilarious writing by Nick Hornby] 

I have seen multiple companies with a serious deficiency in change management due to neglect or ignorance of the principles and methods advocated by GE Work-Out: How to Implement GE's Revolutionary Method for Busting Bureaucracy & Attacking Organizational Problems—Fast! One need that is frequently misunderstood is the presence and authority of a senior manager. This person is required in order to validate the efforts and conclusions of the group, ensure meaning in the presentation of solutions, make decisions when it matters, and dedicate resources to back up these decisions. In general, a company is doomed to decay and mediocrity if senior managers refuse to attend the final presentation of a group that has been tackling important problems, arrive late, leave early, delay decisions, or withdraw support from their implementation. I've unfortunately seen too many such people, often brandishing titles such as "director" or "vice-president." This book describes the very successful method at work within GE. 

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body. — Oliver Wendell Holmes
As a principle, it is good to stimulate the senses, using e.g. perfume, incense, candlelights, flowers, paintings, and sculpture. If you make it a habit, you have a virtue.