Stephen King says that if you want to be a writer, there are two things you must do: read a lot and write a lot. This is about the “read a lot” part. I include reading lists and book reviews that will help you do business more effectively and write better for business.
In this post, I point you to reviews of The Critical Few: Energize Your Company’s Culture by Choosing What Really Matters, The Model Thinker: What You Need to Know to Make Data Work for You, Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great, Wake Up and Smell the Coffee: The Imperative of Teams, and The Hospitable Leader: Create Environments Where People and Dreams Flourish.
From Michael McKinney: The Critical Few: Working with Your Culture to Change It
“In The Critical Few, the authors—Jon Katzenbach, Gretchen Anderson, and James Thomas—describe organizational culture as ‘a collection of deeply held attitudes, entrenched habits, repeated behaviors, latent emotions, and collective perceptions of the world. Culture is the shared set of assumptions we all bring when we work together—our unspoken expectations of one another. It’s easy to underestimate the powerful force exerted by the culture when trying to change it.”
From Wharton: How to Get the Best Results from Big Data Analysis
“Scott E. Page, professor of complex systems, political science and economics at the University of Michigan, doesn’t want people to limit themselves to linear thinking. In his new book, The Model Thinker: What You Need to Know to Make Data Work for You, he explains how taking a multi-paradigm approach puts more power into solving problems, innovating and understanding the full range of consequences to complex actions. He believes using many models is the best way to make sense out of the reams of data available in today’s digital world.”
From Bob Morris: Turning the Flywheel
“This brief but substantial monograph serves several important purposes. Here are two. It offers the single best introduction to Collins’ most important insights that I have as yet encountered. Also, it offers practical as well as precise advice to those who ask these two questions: ‘How can I improve from good to great?’ ‘How can I help my organization improve from good to great?'”
From Skip Prichard: How to Improve Team Effectiveness
“I read everything I can about teamwork and effective teams. Simon Mac Rory’s new book, Wake Up and Smell the Coffee: The Imperative of Teams, takes us on a journey to deliver improved team effectiveness.”
From Kevin Eikenberry: The Hospitable Leader
“Like me, you have likely seen many adjectives placed in front of the word leader. Never has ‘hospitable’ been one of them. Until I found The Hospitable Leader by Terry A. Smith. The newness of the idea drew me to it, as I hope it will you. Let me tell you what hospitable leadership means, why it should matter to you, and why you will want to read this book.”
Reading recommendations are a regular feature of this blog. Want more recommendations about what to read? Check out my Three Star Leadership blog, Michael McKinney’s LeadingBlog, and Skip Prichard’s Leadership Insights.