What could you read?
What are the books, websites, blogs
and articles that people get their inspiration from? You could try
reading something on the 360 Day, and see if anything here
challenges your thinking. Some examples are below.
Or why not take a look at
"Holiday reading to challenge your
perspectives" - suggestions made by a
range of people on Common Purpose Chief Executive Julia Middleton's
blog.
All the videos people have recommended are
here, or you can join in our discussion on
LinkedIn to find some more suggestions...
And where does your inspriation come from? Email us and let us know
and we'll add it to the list!
Steve Jobs' 10
bench-marks you should stick on your wall
How different is your thinking?
Professor Charles Handy, Management writer
The Mystery of Capital by Hernando De Soto (2000)
"De Soto's book shows that there is an enormous
amount of untapped wealth among the poor, the problem is that they
cannot leverage it in the way richer people do because their assets
- land, buildings, or businesses - do not have proper legal titles.
So obvious but so unnoticed, until now."
Prue Leith, restaurateur and
cookery writer
Overschooled but Undereducated: Society's Failure to
Understand Adolescence by John Abbott with Heather MacTaggart
(2008)
"He draws on the latest brain science and on ancient
traditions of small communities to develop the premise that
adolescents need to take risks, find out through experience rather
than theory, have a full, challenging, engaged and active time if
their brains are to develop into reasoning adult ones and not to be
stuck in the permanent childhood of dependence, caution, and
clone-like acceptance. The potential is there, but our education
system (which tends to disapprove of rather than take advantage of
adolescence) prevents its flowering."
James Ramsbotham, Chief
Executive, North East Chamber of Commerce
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
"Anita Roddick said: "If you think you're too
small to make a difference, you have never been to bed with a
mosquito". This book convinces you to keep trying."
Henry Stewart, Chief
Executive, Happy
Maverick: The Success Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace
by Ricardo Semler (1993)
"A radical and inspirational approach to
managing, based on trust and freedom. The inspiration behind
Happy's approach to management. I like it so much I have given away
over 400 copies!"
Tim Smit, Chief Executive,
The Eden Project
If this is a man by Primo Levi (1947)
"His searing account of being incarcerated in
Auschwitz and its effect on him and his neighbours. What should be
a depressing book asks fundamental questions about dignity and the
power of hope. Seriously, I have bought and given away more copies
of this book than any other and no one has been other than deeply
moved by its reading. It is also...short!"
Julia Middleton, Chief
Executive, Common Purpose
Candide by François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire) (1759)
"I found this book inspirational because it blew
away existing thinking at the time, and I believe it is very
important to challenge current thinking, whether it is 1759 or
2008. The character of Pangloss, is the one that resonates with me
the most, as he is optimistic and fair, which is summed up in his
phrase "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds".
Although I find the book inspiring, I strongly disagree with its
conclusion that "we must cultivate our garden". I would conclude
the opposite, that we should look beyond our own zones, be they
comfortable or not, and see how they and we impact on the world
beyond them, and how we can build constructive relationships
between the two."
Bridget McConnell, Chief
Executive, Culture and Sport Glasgow
Re-thinking the Social Impact of the Arts: A
Critical-Historical Review by Eleonora Belfiore and Oliver Bennett,
2006 (published as a book in 2008 by
Palgrave/Macmillan)
"This paper sets contemporary cultural policy debates in a
historical context, eliciting new perspectives about the origins
and nature of ideas we mistakenly think are modern constructs; such
as the current debate about the intrinsic vs instrumental value of
arts and culture. This book demonstrates that new insights and
understanding can be found as much in the nuances of, and
reflections on, policy, culture and history, as in epiphanic events
and ideas. It affirms the value to be found in deeper and richer
study, understanding and appreciation of what we think we already
know."
Eric Thomas, Vice-Chancellor,
University of Bristol
Silence by Shusako Endo (1966)
"He made me revisit my values and clarified the complex beauty
of the human condition. After finishing 'Silence' and 'The Samurai'
I stood still and thought long and deep."
Stephen Platten, Bishop of
Wakefield
Never Again: Britain 1945 -1951 by Peter Hennessy (1992)
"Peter Hennessy's first volume in his Social
History of England focuses on the work of the 1945-51 Labour
Government and the establishment of the Welfare State, so, 'never
again poor housing, never again will people fear for the cost of
medical treatment etc etc'. Hennessy sets this in the context of
Churchill's legacy; there is a generosity to his account and it
paints the canvas marvellously for the world that we have
inherited, sharpening our perception as we strive to build a
healthy contemporary society in twenty-first century
Britain."
Diana Parker, Chair, Withers
LLP
Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger (1959)
"This book is Thesiger's account of crossing the
empty quarter of the Arabian desert with camels, dates and a group
of men he got together as guides. It was an era of primitive
navigation and primitive feuding. Even just the opening pages are
an interesting study in leadership without authority and the
importance of leadership as being a common journey the experience
of which can be as significant as arriving at the journey's
end."
Martin Moore, Director, Media
Standards Trust
Flat Earth News - An award-winning reporter exposes
falsehood, distortion and propaganda in the global media by Nick
Davies (2008)
"More like three books than one, Davies' 'Flat Earth News'
is eye-opening, frightening and jaw dropping. He describes, from
the inside, how news is increasingly 'manufactured' from public
relations material and how original on-the-ground journalism is
disappearing. Though there is plenty to take issue with in Davies'
book, as an alarm call to the decline of a critical aspect of
democratic society, it's hard to beat."
Jonathon Porritt, Chairman,
Forum for the Future
Limits to Growth by Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows,
Jørgen Randers, and William W. Behrens III (1972)
"Back in 1972, the Club of Rome's 'Limits to
Growth' report stirred up a massive controversy about the overall
viability of our contemporary model of economic progress - based on
year-on-year exponential economic growth. The report has been
comprehensively updated three times since then - and the latest
version (2006) is as relevant, hard-hitting and important as the
first version in 1972. Politicians and business people are still
very uncomfortable about the concept of 'Limits to Growth' - but
getting one's head around this is still the single most important
determinant of making any kind of progress in the future".
Geoff Mulgan, Director, The
Young Foundation
Systems of Survival by Jane Jacobs (1992)
"Jacobs was a huge influence on how we think
about cities, warning against the hubris of generations of
planners. But it's this, one of her later books that I like most.
It contains a remarkable amount of wisdom about how societies and
economies work in the form of a conversation between a group of
friends. It's also a powerful argument against the current fashion
for blurring the boundaries between sectors."
Sue Stapley, Director, Quiller
Consultants
Public Relations Disasters - Talespin, inside stories and lessons
learnt, by Gerry McCusker (2004)
"I think everyone in any position of authority should
read it. It demonstrates compellingly how almost every single major
public relations disaster around the globe - and every reader will
recall many of them - could have been avoided by planning,
foresight and better communications! If, of course, everyone did
read and action the lessons learnt, I'd be out of work!"
Philip Kolvin, Barrister,
Chairman, Crystal Palace Campaign
The State vs. Nelson Mandela: The Trial That Changed South
Africa by Joel Joffe (2007)
"As a successful lawyer from the ruling white
elite, Joel Joffe did not need to risk his life to dissuade the
court from taking Mandela's. His careful dispassionate book
exemplifies a disciplined intellectual at work, subordinating, or
perhaps channelling, the intense anger he must have felt to the
exigencies of the cause. Every great leader surrounds himself with
great strategists. Joel Joffe stepped up to the mark."
Tony Gallagher, Professor,
School of Education, Queen's University Belfast
The End of Education: redefining the value of school by Neil
Postman (1996)
"Postman invites us to re-imagine the purpose of education and
the qualities of citizenship we want our young people to gain from
their schooling. He reminds us that education is about a whole lot
more than the accumulation of qualifications. He challenges us to
think critically and creatively about the social purpose of
schooling, and about how we can encourage young people to become
engaged, active citizens of the future."
Vince Mc Ginlay, former Supply
Chain Director and Textile Technology Director at Marks and
Spencer
The Jack Welch Lexicon of Leadership: Over 250 Terms, Concepts,
Strategies & Initiatives of the Legendary Leader by Jeffrey A.
Krames (2001)
"This book gives an insight into some of the drivers
that Welch identified and the techniques he used which contributed
to his then success. I wouldn't suggest this book is a blueprint
for how to do it, but it does help to understand better others
perspectives and approaches which in turn help us formulate
strategies for success in a global economy."
David Walker, Editor, Guardian
PUBLIC magazine
Unjust Rewards, by Polly Toynbee and David Walker (2008)
"I know it's not done to recommend your own book
but Unjust Rewards, by Polly Toynbee and myself, takes on the
conventional wisdom that there is nothing to be done about the
debilitating growth in inequality in the UK in recent years - and
specifically addresses the failures of corporate governance that
have allowed boardroom remuneration to get so out of line with
executive performance. We conducted focus groups with high earners
to explore their attitudes towards taxation and social action and,
as we say in the book, were left puzzled and dismayed by what we
call social myopia - the invisibility to high earners of so many of
their fellow citizens - and mutual ignorance about incomes and
conditions of life. This book was written to jolt the thinking of
the corporate class and seems, with the Tories' new concern about
broken Britain, to have hit its moment."
Madi Sharma, Managing
Director, The Ethnic Trail
Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
(1937)
"I recommend this one book to every person I mentor.
Without vision and focus, and without purpose in life, you will
never find happiness or satisfaction in your work or home. Not
surprisingly every successful person globally uses the same
technique to achieve his/her goals. This book takes you step by
step to personal wealth (for wealth do NOT read money!) and
reiterates that there are no barriers to achieving success, only
yourself."
Toby Hyam, Managing Director,
Creative Space Management
The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of
Philip II, Volumes 1 & 2 by Fernand Braudel (1949)
"These amazing books tells you just how
sophisticated the renaissance businesses of Europe were, as they
opened up new markets across the known and emerging new worlds of
the 16th century. Braudel's extraordinary analysis of the decline
of the European city states and the rise of the nation state and
the brilliantly innovative Genoese and Florentine business empires
that stretched from Yorkshire to the emerging spice ports are
inspiration for the globally distributed businesses of today. It
puts risk and reward and dealing with natural and social disasters
into an entirely fresh context. From the challenges of managing the
vast resources and manpower on a cargo ship or galley, to the
logistics and diplomacy required to offset quixotic royal patronage
with profit: it makes you appreciate the incredible scope of their
management skills without any of our technological and social
advantages."
Walter Menzies, Chief
Executive, Mersey Basin Campaign
Capital of the Mind - How Edinburgh Changed the World by James
Buchan (2003)
"It's grim down south and it's cool up north, and
yet the UK is disabled by the parochialism of the metropolitan
glitterati. What makes cities great? James Buchan's Capital of the
Mind - How Edinburgh Changed the World is a gripping account of a
small city's journey from disaster to daydream."
Brain Hanna, Commissioner,
Sustainable Development Commission
Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature by Linda Lear (1997)
"Rachel Carson was the heroine of my student
days. Her book, Silent Spring (1962), educated, inspired and
awakened me and many others to the issue of ecological balance and
our need to understand and respect the interaction of all living
things in the environment in which we live. As Lear states in the
Prologue to her biography of Carson: "She could not stand idly by
and say nothing when human existence itself was endangered". Rachel
Carson wrote her seminal book, "Silent Spring", in 1962. We should
all have paid more heed to its central message."
Kevin Baird, Director, Irish
Heritage Trust
The Lost Gardens of Helligan by Tim Smit (1999)
Eden by Tim Smit (2002)
"These books are Tim Smit's personal account of
his role in creating these two wonderful places. They make a
refreshing read for those of us a little tired of 'business books'.
Firstly the accounts make a tremendous read in themselves however
I'm recommending them because, while Smit doesn't focus on the
leadership or management issues, if you also read them with a
leadership/management eye there is terrific food for thought and
discussion within the stories."
Garvis D. Snook, CEO, ROK
Who moved my cheese? Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to
Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson
(1998)
"I am not a great one for management books as I
usually find them overly long and once I have consumed the themes
in the first chapter or two I get bored and do not have the time or
inclination to follow through to the end. One, however, that I have
used extensively and given out copies of is this as I find it a
very simple way of helping people to understand both the need to
change and not to fear it."
John Inge, Bishop of
Worcester
Becoming Human by Jean Vanier (1998)
"Jean Vanier, founder of the l'Arche communities
and in particular, a book which looks at the liberation of the
human heart. This recommendation derives from my conviction that if
any leader is to be effective he or she must work hard on the inner
journey as well as try to do the job."
Martin Kinsella, Chief
Executive, P3
The Report of the Inquiry into the Care and Treatment of
Christopher Clunis by Jean H. Ritchie, Donald Dick, Richard Lingham
(1994)
"This is a narrative that describes how in the
early 1990s a socially excluded individual was serially failed by a
wide range of agencies and services who might properly have been
expected to serve him (and his unfortunate victim) better. The
report is widely regarded as the blueprint against which all other
inquiry reports should be measured. The question I seek to ask by
recommending the report is: have the challenges of public service
multi agency, pan sector policy, organisation and management raised
by the recommendations contained in the report been addressed over
the last fourteen years? The answer as evidenced by the publication
of two Inquiry Reports in July 2008, both containing stories laced
with echoes of Clunis, is sadly no. My second question is given
that there are 26 mental health homicide cases currently under
review in London all of which according to NHS guidance require an
Inquiry and Report, each costing up to £1 million plus one of which
is about to commence, what needs to happen to break this ongoing
cycle of despair that is extravagantly wasteful both in terms of
its financial and human cost?"
Vij Randeniya, Deputy Chief
Fire Officer, West Midlands Fire Service
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others
Don't by Jim Collins (2001)
"In a world of sound bites, 'celebrity' and the
need to satisfy short term performance targets the notion that a
longer term perspective with less flash bang and a gritty resolve
to do the right thing may actually be the better way presents a
paradox for managers who may at the very least be seeking just to
survive in a rapidly changing world. Such a challenge comes from
this excellent book. Collins and his research team set out to
identify companies that had moved from just being good, to great,
and continued their growth for at least 15 years. During a five
year project the team identified three phases that preceded the
breakthrough to becoming 'great' - the first phase includes the
need for level 5 leadership. For those seeking a competitive edge
or self-actualization the descriptors of a level 5 leader present
an essential but also potentially uncomfortable challenge to
received wisdom. The book is particularly appealing because its
conclusions are based upon well-designed research and a thoughtful
interpretation of the results; there is none of the creative
speculation that characterises so many other books about
management. For those not in the for profit sector, the team have
produced Good to Great and the Social Sectors which extends the
research outcomes into other important sectors. The accompanying
website includes a diagnostic that will help you to determine where
your organisation is on the journey to becoming great and your
personal position on the journey to becoming a level 5 leader. Are
you a hedgehog or a fox?"
Andrew Morris, Director,
National Educational Research Forum
The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature by
Steven Pinker (2007)
"It presents scientifically derived evidence (and
witty anecdotes) about how language reveals information about the
structure of our thoughts. He shows how phrases like "he went from
bad to worse" suggest that our ways of thinking are based on
fundamental concepts, like movement, cause, space and time which
evolved for a much more primitive stage in our evolution. These are
often unsuitable for today and this affects political, social and
behavioural problems of the day. Pinker suggests that education is
a crucial element in freeing people from the constraint of
inappropriate structures of thought."
Mark Henderson, Chief
Executive, Mark Henderson Associates
Maverick: The Success Behind the World's Most Unusual
Workplace
by Ricardo Semler (1993)
"A truly inspirational book about radical
workplace democracy. Semler shows that trusting and believing in
your team really can bring results and is an absolute lesson in how
to be that truly authentic person."
Charles Kessler, Chairman,
Kesslers
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (2005)
"Blink, the seminal book by Malcolm Gladwell, is
one of those rare pieces of work. It is an easy read, it is
interesting, and stimulates new thought and approach. The phrase
used with the book is "The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" and
the book clearly shows how this is done. We receive millions of
pieces of information through the senses everyday. Why is it that
we remember a very small percentage, and immediately discard the
others? Learning this lesson can be enormously helpful in getting
messages through to people later. It's ideal information -
informative; educational; practical. I look forward to the
next!"
Adam Sampson, Director,
Shelter
The Tyranny of Numbers by David Boyle (2002)
"At a time when we are - quite rightly - seeking
to measure the good we do rather than simply assert that we do it,
it is worth being reminded of the limitations and dangers of
measurement itself."
Tony Howell, Strategic
Director - Children Young People & Families, Birmingham City
Council
The World is Flat: A Brief history of the Twenty-first Century
by Thomas L. Friedman (2005 - updated 2007)
"Like others, I would heartily endorse anything
by Malcom Gladwell or John Abbott but Friedman's book describes in
clear language how the global connected world has unfolded and
helps us make sense of this new environment. Describing the impact
on world economics, relationships between nations, implications for
business and education and the need for us all to adapt to this new
flat world - not least, the way young people already inhabit this
place - is essential reading for all of us."
Howard Raynor, Managing
Director, World Class Service Ltd
Bringing Out the Best in People by Aubrey C Daniels
(2003)
"The yawning gap between what gets said and what
gets done can leave us wondering whether we can ever really improve
team performance. In this book Aubrey Daniels sets out a clear
straightforward science based view about how to get the best out of
people. Daniels sets out a convincing case from the field of
behavioural analysis so that we can finally move on from this
year's fad to a real understanding of how to create outstanding
performance based on science."
Mich Stevenson, Chairman,
Spenbeck Limited
Anyone Can Do It: My Story by Duncan Bannatyne (2007)
"My choice of book for aspiring entrepreneurs
would be Anyone Can Do It by Duncan Bannatyne of Dragon's Den fame
- a man who started with nothing and who has worked his way through
business to become an extremely successful entrepreneur. There are
many lessons and messages for everyone in his book."
Jane Earl, Director, Assets
Recovery Agency
The Spirit of Success by Norman Drummond (2004)
"It is a very good bridge between the hard disciplines
of the world of work and the values driven parts of life, and it
encourages me to remember the importance of wholeness and being the
same at work as I am elsewhere."
Bill Knight, Deputy Chairman
of Council, Lloyd's of London
The Portable Hannah Arendt by Hannah Arendt and Peter
Baehr (2003)
"Hannah Arendt was one of the great philosophers of the
20th century and her work illuminates the human condition. These
essays and extracts are a good introduction. The book contains her
essay Reflections on Little Rock. This is Arendt swimming against
the current, arguing against the forced integration of education in
America. A Jew forced to flee Hitler's Germany to the United
States, Arendt was profoundly affected by racism and a passionate
believer in equality under the law, but she also believed that
forced integration crosses the boundary which separates the state
from the individual, and she hated the idea of using children to
fight our battles. The essay was very unpopular in her circle but
it shows the quality of her thought, the independence of her spirit
and her unconditional belief in the rights of the individual. In
her preliminary remarks she says, "I should like to make it clear
that as a Jew I take my sympathy for the cause of…..all oppressed
or under-privileged people for granted and should appreciate it if
the reader did likewise". They didn't."
Professor Brenda Gourley, Vice
Chancellor, The Open University
We Think by Charles Leadbeater (2008)
"All businesses need to understand the new Web
generation (Web2.0) and how it can be harnessed and exploited. This
book gives a unique insight."