Every year, our business classes are asked to read a recent
business book as part of an assignment.
And the choices are often fascinating and wide-ranging. I, too, have been reading several recently
published business books and thought I would briefly
profile them here:
First, from Harvard Business Review Press, HBR's 10
Must Reads 2015 contains a series of essays by business
writers and commentators, many of whom like Clayton Christensen (Disrupting
Class) and Daniel Goleman (Focus and Ecological Intelligence)
have longer works in our collection. I particularly liked the first essay, “Beware
the Next Big Thing,” by Julian Birkinshaw. Overall, this collection spans a
range of industries and is worth a look by those interested in functions like marketing and human resources.
I also flipped through Work Smarter with Social Media
by Alexandra Samuel who has repackaged earlier Work Smarter titles on email,
Twitter, Evernote and LinkedIn in this release also from Harvard Business Review Press.
She offers a Quick 30 Minute Set-up Guide on each of those topics and while the
information like setting up folders and rules may seem obvious, I really liked
the bullet point format she chose. It mimics a checklist, but has enough detail (e.g.,
choose a photo with at least 500 x 500 pixels) to help accomplish the tasks and
provides a basic introduction to these tools.
Another title, Are You Fully Charged? by
best-selling author Tom Rath (Strengths Finder 2.0), is a quick read and
really focuses on three key areas to help yourself stay charged: creating
meaning, interactions, and energy. Along with his previous work, Eat Move Sleep,
Rath has developed a comprehensive website,
children’s book, an app and promises a full length documentary in 2015. I can
readily see an organization adopting this as a “one book” selection for
everyone to read and discuss as part of professional development and well-being
activities.
Non-Obvious by Rohit Bhargava has an amazingly
clever and memorable cover. Its
subtitle, “How to Think Differently, Curate Ideas and Predict the Future,” appeals
to librarians as well as business leaders. I initially struggled to read and navigate the
digital form of this book, but found the print copy which Georgetown University
Professor Bhargava sent me to be much more manageable. I liked the headings, shaded labels and drawings
– there even was a bookmark summarizing the 15 trends. Some dealt specifically with education and
directly addressed changes we are seeing like Glanceable Content (think
Flipboard or Newsela) or interest in an emotional story like the Dove “Campaign for Real Beauty.” Professor Bhargava suggest 5 habits of trend
curators – another possible professional development focus – and provides
numerous resources, plus lists and evaluations for past trends.
Tomorrowland: Our Journey from Science Fiction to Science Fact
by Steven Kotler is also related to the future while geared for those interested
in popular science and topics like bionics or asteroid mining. Kotler explores the rate of technological change and its disruptive
force. In particular, he looks at the idea of merging humans and machines. These essays are based on writings that
appeared in Wired, The New York Times and Atlantic Monthly. Unquestionably, a collection of quality
writing on some tough issues – but it was complex and fought at times to hold my
attention. Does that prove the author’s
point that we need to grapple with the ramifications even if we prefer to
ignore them or do not understand completely? I think that Science and Project Lead the
Way faculty will find much to contemplate here and do want to sample more of
the essays myself.
Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts – Becoming the
Person You Want to Be is written by executive coach Marshall Goldsmith.
As the subtitle implies, it deals with personal growth, but looks at behavior
and interactions (like Rath) and environmental scanning and forecasting (like Bhargava).
While noting that change is difficult, Goldsmith encourages his readers to "try".
Of particular interest to educators will be the sections on the power of active
and engaging questions and becoming a planner, doer and coach.
For some global perspective, Alibaba’s World by Porter Erisman deals
with the Chinese company that launched the world’s largest IPO in September
2014. As a VP with Alibaba from 2000 to
2008, Erisman had an insider’s look at digital growth in China.
For more
information about CEO Jack Ma and this fascinating development, see the film Crocodile in The Yangtze whose trailer is above. Be sure to also investigate the many
infographics and details at the Wall Street Journal project on this company. Added 6/2: Author Porter Erisman will be at The University Club of Chicago for a noon Luncheon on Thursday, June 4th - cosponsored with The Bookstall
Looking for more ideas of books related to Business and Economics? The list could go on and on: reviewing Alibaba’s World led me to Age of Ambition by Evan Osnos which is a National Book Award Winner about China as well as an Economist book of the year. And I almost forgot to mention A Curious Mind by Brian Grazer which we have purchased and recommended to the Lit/Film classes. Finally, here are titles on the business and economics list of 2014’s bestsellers published by Library Journal.
