Books
Some of the books we've read and got value from
We read. A lot. Here are some of the books we've got value from - quotes, brief reviews, or porcast interviews with authors. If you buy through the links, we will put all commissions to microloans to female entrepreneurs in the developing world. And as it's through bookshop.org, you'll also be supporting local independent bookshops. What's not to like!
Is all growth good?
Is a lack of growth failure?I find it fascinating that when I've asked a CEO why their business exists, or why they founded it, no one ever says "to grow it".It's always about something they saw that needed fixing, or an opportunity to take something they're good at and do ...
Celebrate business founders – but for the right reason
"Most of you will fail, disrespected, impoverished, but we are grateful for the risks you are taking and the sacrifices you are making for the sake of the economic growth of the planet and pulling others out of poverty. You are at the source of our antifragility. Our nation thanks ...
Male bosses need to read this to better understand their female team members
Gender-specific post for blokes who run companies. READ THIS BOOK! Many men, myself included, have often said that the system's not broke. But that's because we're fish in water... David Foster Wallace recounts the story of two young fish swimming along who come across an older fish. "He nods at ...
Even as we live longer, we are thinking shorter
My father was a lawyer by profession, but a gardner in soul. He understood that it takes time and patient nurturing for a seed to turn into a tree or a flower. And he did, in fact, sow hundreds if not thousands of plants in his life. It was one ...
Great and Mediocre Teams and Ideas
"if you give a good idea to a mediocre team, they will screw it up. If you give a mediocre idea to a brilliant team, they will either fix it or throw it away and come up with something better." Love this from Pixar co-founder, Ed Catmull. Always been my ...
Freedom has Consequences
Freedom. So easily abused and misunderstood when we have it. So fundamental for our humanity that we have to fight for it when we don't. My heart (and many more useful things!) goes out to those fighting for their freedom. Whether in Ukraine, Palestine, Syria or elsewhere. Those of us ...
Mess in your strategy is normal
"No one should develop a strategy without taking into account the effects of organizational friction. Yet we continue to be surprised and frustrated when it manifests itself. We tend to think everything has gone wrong when in fact everything has gone normally." This from Stephen Bungay's excellent book on getting ...
Thinking and Saying is the Easy Part
Coming up with a strategy is easy. Articulating values is easy. Defining a company purpose is easy. Articulating them well is much harder. But hardest of all? *Doing* them. Making them real. Mostly because it takes some planning, a process, discipline and a team to take them from words to ...
Accept bad behaviour to make it your culture
For "new behaviour model" read values or purpose. I don't think I've worked in or supported a company that hasn't gone through this dilemma. A "good" performer, i.e. one that nails their numbers or gets big wins or makes useful intros, but who doesn't live the values or has a ...
“Police stab vests are not built for humans with breasts”
Caroline Criado Perez is sadly spot on to highlight that we are collectively undervaluing both paid and unpaid work by women. Although there's some talk of the enormous value of women's unpaid work, in homes, families and societies, there's far from global recognition and subsequent action. And on women's paid ...
The importance of the internal compass
"Our ambition should not be to win, then, but to play with our full effort. Our intention is not to be thanked or recognized, but to help and to do what we think is right. Our focus is not on what happens to us but on how we respond. In ...
