Category Archives: Book Reviews

Culture is an essential part of any business, but there are innumerable pitfalls and mistakes that get in the way of creating a welcoming and fair work environment. In her 2021 book, Just Work: How to Root Out Bias, Prejudice, and Bullying to Build a Kick-Ass Culture of Inclusivity, author and consultant Kim Scott tacklesContinue reading “Just Work book review”

Success rests on a multiplicity of factors. There is no single trait that in itself sufficiently predicts success. While most self-help books stress productivity, efficiency, getting things done, there is more to living a fully actualized life than raw power. Emotional intelligence, or EQ, also plays a surprisingly important role. EQ is a term thatContinue reading “The measure of your emotions”

Non-fiction books can start to blend together after awhile. Growth mindset. Stretch goals. Getting things done. And acronyms. So many acronyms. Now, mindset is certainly a critical component to business and personal success. A few acronyms are real game changers. But books that actually lay out the practical steps to understanding and growing your business?Continue reading “Unlocking the potential in your ideas”

The aesthetic of the 21st century can be oppressively corporatist. Spontaneity, joy, and delight are smothered in never ending rat-race of pursuing wealth and success, climbing the corporate ladder, and being ultimately productive. While all of this has its place, people are not productivity machines. We need to play and relax as well. Play: HowContinue reading ““Humans are the biggest players of all””

Countless authors, entrepreneurs, and gurus have explored the subject of leadership. Their essays contain a wide range of perspectives, insights, and advice. The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership tackles the concept at length from the perspective of responsibility, empathy, and spirituality. If you’ve read even a little non-fiction on the topic of leadership, a lotContinue reading “The spirituality of leadership”

Up until the mid-20th century, economic thought was dominated by the idea that people were on the whole rational, that their activities could be understood and predicted according to economic laws. Behavioral economics arose to explore all the ways in which people are irrational, unpredictable, and act in an erratic, even self-destructive, manner. In HowContinue reading “Harnessing behavioral economics”

The 21st century workplace is fundamentally characterized by knowledge. It is the Information Age, after all, so it makes sense that knowledge workers and the knowledge economy loom large. But as much as these terms are thrown around, there is just so much to know out there that it can be difficult for the entrepreneuriallyContinue reading “The Business of Expertise book review”

Clockwork by entrepreneur and author Mike Michalowicz seeks to address a major mindset problem that afflicts many people, especially small business owners. It’s so easy to become so caught in a loop of day to day, minute to minute productivity, that your whole life can quickly become consumed. Michalowicz ties this into Parkinson’s Law, theContinue reading “Running like clockwork”

The last 18 months have been a season of adversity and challenges unprecedented in recent memory. Difficult times can make or break an organization. The difference oftentimes lies in leadership. In his recent book, Leading in Tough Times, author and leadership expert, John C. Maxwell, lays out how to lead during times of adversity soContinue reading “When the going get’s tough…”

The last few decades have seen a rise in polarization and politicization throughout the country. Facilitated my traditional and social media, everything from sports to comic books have become touchstones in various culture wars. In this context, censorship and control of speech have become powerful political tools, at the cost of the pre-political right ofContinue reading “Review of Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds”