Book Reviews
The Great Invention: A History of the World in Nine Mysterious ScriptsSilvia Ferrara, Translated by Todd Portnowitz Farrar, Straus & Giroux (March 2022) “As long as there are emotions, there will be written letters…living letters.” The title attracted my attention…
Read More
It’s Time to Talk about Race at Work: Every Leader’s Guide to Making Progress on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Kelly McDonald Wiley (June 2021) Channeling Thomas Edison, “Affirmation of DEI without execution is hallucination.” The original meaning of the word…
Read More
The Power of Little Ideas: A Low-Risk, High-Reward Approach to Innovation David Robertson with Kent Linebac k Harvard Business Review Press (May 2017) Do innovators have only two choices: innovate small incrementally or innovate big disruptively? “There is another option.”…
Read More
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World Adam M. Grant Viking/An Imprint of Penguin Random House (2016) How and why originality starts with creative thinking, is driven by a vision, and can eventually have global impact Some books (not many) have…
Read More
Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin Harvard Business Review Press (2013) “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” Michael Porter Note: I reviewed this book when it was first published and…
Read More
Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas Jennifer Raff Twelve/Hatchette Book Group (February 2022) A brilliant exploration of Indigenous histories in the Americas when people first came to them I agree with Jennifer Raff that gaining a better understanding of the…
Read More
CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra Scribner (March 2022) How and why the best “playmakers” can — and do — write their own “playbook” As I…
Read More
The Storm of Creativity Kyna Leski The MIT Press (November 2018) “Wanting to know something that you do not know is the creative process” Kyna Leski To what does the title of this book refer? Kyna Leski suggests that a…
Read More
An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization Robert Keegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey Harvard Business Review Press (March 2016) How to establish a workplace culture within which personal growth and professional development are most likely to thrive Recent research…
Read More
The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company Joseph A. Michelli McGraw-Hill (2008) Lessons to be learned from the paragon of legendary customer service Does your organization need to…
Read More