Recommended Reading
Glenn Capelli’s Recommended Reading List
At the end of each year I find it helpful to look back and reflect on my past twelve months worth of learning. As part of this process I keep a list of all the books I read throughout the year and I find it interesting to go back over some of the ‘learning highlights’ from them. Here are my 'Top Five' and other favourites from the last few years.
Top 5 Titles
The Consolations of Philosophy - Alain De Botton
Recommended to me by a naked American in a Finnish sauna in a hotel in Singapore! I had earlier flown in from Helsinki and thought it was funny to be sitting in a Finnish sauna in Singapore when the day before I had been sitting in a Finnish sauna in Finland! I happened to mention this to the chap sitting next to me in the sauna and this helped us to strike up a sweaty but absorbing conversation.
One of the main topics of our conversation was the Sari Club terrorist bombing that had just occurred in Bali. I mentioned that the day before the Bali incident there had been a bomb blast at a Helsinki supermarket that had killed seven people. The Helsinki explosion was not the action of an organised terrorist group but the work of a lone individual aggrieved with his life. We both drew the conclusion that people needed to enjoy life while they had it, given that in today’s world we could be killed by a lone bomber on a whim or a terrorist organisation on a rampage; let alone a drunk driver, a bee sting or a deadly virus.
He mentioned that he was reading a book that was helping him come to grips with recent world events and that book was The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain De Botton. I purchased the book later that same day.
‘Consolations’ is a guidebook of great philosophers of the past and is written naturally, in a philosophical but enjoyable style. De Botton begins with Socrates in Athens, 469 BC and ends up in 19th century Germany with Nietzsche. Along the way he reveals the historical perspective on advice that was given for dealing with issues like unpopularity, not having enough money, frustration, inadequacy, broken hearts and relationship difficulties. The advice and wisdom from philosophers past seems as real and relevant in today’s fast paced and sometimes tragic world as it must have been back then.
Consider these wisdoms from the stoic Roman philosopher Seneca who died in 65 AD:
We should not be happy to lose an eye but life would still be possible even if we do so.
We are mistaken if we believe any part of the world is exempt and safe . . . Nature has not created anything in such a way that it is immobile.
Because we are injured most by what we do not expect, and because we must expect everything, we must hold the possibility of disaster in mind at all times.
‘Consolations’ is a readable and inventive book and plays the part of a true educator – where you enjoy learning and yearn to learn more.
The Rise of the Creative Class - Richard Florida
Richard Florida’s insight into environments that attract creative people and how the ‘Creative Class’ is the ‘money driver of today’ enthralled me. I’ve always been interested in the role environment plays in creating culture and in the organisations that foster and develop creative minds, so a well written research into these areas was most welcome and helped spark many good conversations.
In ‘Creative Class’ Richard Florida explains that creative people are drawn to creative environments and creative environments can be identified through a variety of indexes.
The Gay Index The gay community enjoys living and working in environments where ideas can thrive and diversity is valued.
The Technology Index ‘Where gays go, geeks follow’ is a sub theme in the book. Florida and other researches suggest that ‘technology rich’ people also like environments where ideas and diversity can prosper. If gays are openly accepted in such communities, chances are geeks will not be ridiculed either.
The Melting Pot Index Creative environments have a mix of colours, cafes, restaurants, theatres, music etc . . . they are a melting pot of cultures.
The Bohemian Index Creative communities have open arms that embrace writers and poets, painters and performers, people who think beyond the geometry that we live in.
As I read his thesis, I thought about why Lindy and I live where we live, in an area rich with cafés, theatres, parks, playgrounds, fresh food markets and people of diverse styles, ages, ethnicity, hair colours!. I also thought about some of the workshops I’ve run on the subject of creativity and how I’ve found that some organisations employ people that all think the same, dress the same, work in the same cubicles and eat the same foods, and then they ask them to ‘think differently and be creative’.
Creative people are attracted to a job for more than the pay packet. Creative people want to work with other creative people on exciting tasks to ensure exciting outcomes. They don’t want a symbolic grey cardigan to become a symbolic white straight-jacket. Dollars might initially attract them, but a creative environment will keep them.
Letters to a Young Contrarian - Christopher Hitchens
I am attracted by what Edward De Bono calls the O.P.V. the ‘Other Point of View’. I like to see things through many guises and enjoy trying to stretch my own thinking beyond its usual patterns. Thus, the contrarian style of thinking is one that I like – it challenges us, it provokes us and it is contrary to our normal way of seeing things.
One of my old favourite books was Stephen Sample's The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership and one of my new favourites is Christopher Hitchens' Letters to a Young Contrarian.
Stephen Sample's book was a leadership guide into ‘thinking grey’ rather than in ‘black and white’, in taking time rather than rushing into a heroic way of leading, and to giving service to those who serve you rather than thinking about how you, the leader, should be served.
Christopher Hitchens steps a little more broadly into the contrarian viewpoint and rather than a leadership focus in particular, he looks at life in general. Some examples from his chapter on humour will give an insight into his pen power:
When Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize, folk singing satirist Tom Lehrer stopped singing on the grounds that ‘satire is dead’.
A rule of thumb with humour; if you worry that you might be going too far, you have already not gone far enough. If everybody laughs, you have failed.
And he concludes his book with – The high ambition, therefore, seems to me to be this: That one should strive to combine the maximum of impatience with the maximum of scepticism, the maximum of hatred of injustice and irrationality with the maximum of ironic self-criticism.
Thoughts to think about!
Leading Quietly : An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing - Joseph L Badaracco
A Professor at the Harvard Business School, Joseph L Badaracco writes in a practical, real world way, outlining common sense approaches to thinking and leadership. In many ways Leading Quietly can be read in tandem with Samples’ A Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership as they both broaden the view of leadership and stretch thinking beyond the norm.
Badaracco’s book differentiates between the characteristics of ‘Hero’ and ‘Quiet’ leaders. ‘Hero’ leaders employ courageous decision making, bold initiative and orchestration of major events, while ‘Quiet’ leaders choose responsible, behind-the-scenes action over public heroism and continuously display the mettle required to resolve tough leadership challenges.
Badaracco challenges us to re-define our concept of leadership and to move from the stereotype view of the bold and gusty leader to that of one who leads responsibly and inconspicuously.
His strategies of quiet leadership include • The ability to see yourself in a real way - meaning don’t kid yourself! • Trusting mixed motives • Buying time to make decisions • Drilling down for information and • ‘Nudge, Test and Escalate Gradually’ ie thorough decision making.
His final chapter outlines three ‘quiet’ virtues that enable quiet leadership
Restraint Quiet leaders do not see life as a classroom in which the smartest kids are the ones whose hands shoot up first.
Modesty Quiet leaders are not inclined to think they are changing the world as this sounds a little too grand. They aim simply to do their bit.
This reminds me of a short letter I sent to the Australian newspaper when Australia needed to set a record score to beat England in the fifth cricket test and create a 5-0 whitewash for the 2002/2003 Ashes Series. I wrote “A Motto for Life” Don’t think about making history, just think about making runs. History shows the Aussies lost.
Badaracco quotes former Israeli PM Golda Meir who said Don’t be humble, you aren’t that great.
Tenacity A moral, emotional and personal urgency accounts for tenacity and success. Quiet leaders often fight uphill battles in which they have relatively little power, but they continue to continue. They may not initially know what ‘the right thing to do’ is, but through effort and tenacity, the ‘right thing’ emerges. Badaracco concludes that each effort has mattered – that day after day, through countless, small, often unseen efforts, quiet leaders make the world a better place.
Gould’s Book of Fish : a novel in twelve fish – Richard Flanagan
A work of fiction and a book from one of Australia’s brightest writing talents, Richard Flanagan. Set in Tasmania (as is another good read, A Child’s Book of True Crimes by Chloe Hooper) this book is part history, part humour, part savagery and all creative. Not necessarily an easy read (!) but certainly one that will spin the mind of a tenacious reader. The multiple layers of Gould’s Book of Fish teaches us something about the nature of creativity and at the same time takes us on a journey that captures the human heart in evil and good.
Flanagan’s book is a worthy adventure and one that has inspired me to return to more fiction.
More Top 5 Titles
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters' novel. A fingersmith being a pickpocket. Reading fiction can stretch the brain.
Life of Pi - Yann Martel’s Booker Prize winner. Sometimes life has a kick in the tail.
Self by Yann Martel. A tricky read and an insight into identity & sexuality.
Good to Great - Jim Collins' must read book for leaders and thinkers. What does it take to move from ‘good’ to ‘great’? The story of companies who have sustained great performance over 15 years. Insights into leadership, culture and achievement.
Vroom With a View: In Search of Italy’s Dolce Vita on a ’61 Vespa - Peter Moore’s story of turning 40 and then driving his way through the back roads of Italy on a Vespa made the year he was born.
Other worthy reads
Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution by Howard Rheingold. Utilising group decision making.
The Aging Brain by Lawrence Whalley. Brain research concerning what happens to our brains as we age.
Why We Hate by Rush Dozier Jnr. (one of the world’s great names!) An explanation of how and why we hate. A very interesting insight into anger, too.
More Top 5 Titles
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. An amazing novel for breadth and depth of thought. Also includes a run down of the history of punk music.
The Last Family In England by Matt Haig. Labradors are the last hope for families in England. A novel that raises questions about the nature of families and the disintegration of community.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. Told from the point of view of an autistic young man. An essential read for empathy.
War Hospital: A True Story of Surgery and Survival by Sheri Fink. The true account of surgery and survival in the embattled enclave of Srebrenica in Bosnia-Herzegovia in 1992. An amazing insight into tragedy and humanity.
Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin. In today’s world we need to find ways for information to stand-out and be memorable, hence purple cows. A great read concerning memes and how ideas spread.
Other worthy reads
My Brain Is Open: The Mathematical Journeys of Paul Erdos by Bruce Schechter. The story of the odd brain and life of mathematician Paul Erdos.
More Top 5 Titles
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. Friedman tells us what is happening in a world that is getting faster and flatter. A must read for an insight into globalisation and change.
Q&A: A Novel by Vikas Swarup. A novel that will soon be on our cinema screens. Beautifully designed.
Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thompson. The story of the disintegrating role of the UN in war zones. Another empathy read.
Saturday by Ian McEwan. A novel about a Saturday in the life of a neurosurgeon, and how little moments can change our lives.
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud. Probably one of the best books you will ever read (comics you will ever view) about presentation skills and visual learning. An amazing history of the comic book, as well as an insight into a very valid way of learning.
Other worthy reads
A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink. Discusses what it takes to survive and excel as we move from the information
May your reading continue to help you laugh, think, feel, imagine, learn and move towards a deeper wisdom. If you have recommendations for me, please zip them through.
ON BUSINESS, MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP
Glenn Capelli’s Top Five Books on Leadership
- What Do Leaders Really Do
John Kotter Harvard Business School Press 1999 - 171 pages
In my opinion, John Kotter’s best work explaining change and how leaders can deal with it. He also outlines the distinction between leaders and managers.
- Leading Quietly
An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing Joseph L Badaracco Harvard Business School Press 2002 - 179 pages
Makes the distinction between ‘Hero’ ‘ and ‘Quiet’ leaders with some sound practical advice on leadership thinking in challenging situations.
- The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership
Steven B Sample Jossey-Bass 2002 - 192 pages
The President of the University of Southern California presents a guide to thinking for leaders including the skills of ‘thinking grey’, ‘artful listening’ and ‘being’ leader rather than ‘doing’ leader. This very practical and worthwhile book goes hand in hand with Joseph L Badaracco’s work.
- Leadership Without Easy Answers
Ronald A Heiffetz Belknap Harvard 1994 - 276 pages
The book I would assign as a ‘must read’ for any potential or current leader. Practical and challenging with a mix of philosophy and strategy and without ‘silver bullet’ answers, quick fixes or over simplifying the task of a true leader.
- The Human Equation
Building Profits By Putting People First Jeffrey Pfeffer Harvard Business School Press 1998 - 306 pages
Jeffrey Pfeffer is always a welcome reminder of the importance of the human spirit as part of performance, profits and leadership. Provides sound reasons for why we need to create work environments that are exciting for people, and why consideration of the human/humane side of business is good for the ‘bottom line’. Many business authors promote the necessity of human spirit in the workplace but Pfeffer provides us with data on why it makes business as well as moral sense.
Others
The Lexus and the Olive Tree
Thomas Friedman
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (1999)
Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market Dominance
Larry Downes and Chunka Mui
Harvard Business School Press (1998)
Smart Choices - A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions
John Hammond, Ralph Keeney and Howard Raiffa
Harvard Business School Press (1999)
The Art Of The Long View
Peter Schwartz
Australian Business Network 1996
The Soul Of A Business
Tom Chappell
Bantam 1993 USA
ON INTELLIGENCE
Successful Intelligence
Robert Sternberg
Simon and Schuster (1996)
Working With Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman
Bantam (1998)
Learning As A Way Of Being
Peter Vaill
Jossey-Bass 1996 USA
Emotional Intelligence
Daniel Goleman
Bantam 1996 USA
Mapping Inner Space (Visual Notes and Mapping)
Nancy Margulies
Hawker-Brownlow Oz
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