New books this month focus on risk, motivation, sustainability, design thinking, coaching and compliance. Use the hold option to reserve or request any of these titles. Remember, you can suggest a book for purchase if you would like the library to stock it. Browse through the full list of new titles here.
An Economist Walks Into a Brothel: And Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk by Allison Schrager
Is it worth swimming in shark-infested waters to surf a 50-foot, career-record wave? Is it riskier to make an action movie or a horror movie? Most people wouldn’t expect an economist to have an answer to these questions–or to other questions of daily life, such as who to date or how early to leave for the airport. But those people haven’t met Allison Schrager, an economist and award-winning journalist who has spent her career examining how people manage risk in their lives and careers.
Whether we realise it or not, we all take risks every day. What most of us don't know is how to measure those risks and maximise the chances of getting what we want out of life. In An Economist Walks into a Brothel, Schrager equips readers with five principles for dealing with risk, principles used by some of the world’s most interesting risk takers. [Adapted from Publisher Text]
Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How to Thrive in Complexity by Jennifer Garvey Berger
Jennifer Garvey Berger believes that leadership is one of the most vital renewable resources in the world. Using her background in adult development, complexity theories, and leadership consultancy, Garvey Berger discerns five pernicious and pervasive "mind traps" to frame the book. These are: the desire for simple stories; our sense that we are right; our desire to get along with others in our group; our fixation with control; and our constant quest to protect and defend our egos. In addition to understanding why these natural impulses steer us wrong in a fast-moving world, leaders will get powerful questions and approaches that help them escape these patterns. [Adapted from Publisher Text]
Design Thinking: A Guide to Creative Problem Solving for Everyone by Andrew Pressman
Design thinking is a powerful process that facilitates understanding and framing of problems and will enable creative solutions. Illuminated through vignettes drawn from such diverse realms as politics and society, business, health and science, law and writing, design thinking can be applied across many disciplines to solve real-world problems and reconcile dilemmas. Design Thinking is the brain child of Andrew Pressman, a renowned architect and Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico. [Adapted from Publisher Text]
Strategy and Sustainability by Mike Rosenberg
Business and environmental sustainability are not natural bedfellows. Business is about making money; sustainability is about protecting the planet. Business is measured in months and quarters; sustainability often requires significant short term costs to secure a sometimes uncertain long-term benefit. And yet engaging with the issue isn’t optional – all businesses must have a strategy to deal with sustainability and, like any strategy, this involves making choices.
Strategy and Sustainability encourages its readers to filter out the noise and make those choices in a hard-nosed and clear-eyed way. Rosenberg’s nuanced and fact-based point of view recognizes the complexity of the issues at hand and the strategic choices businesses must make. He blends the work of some of the leading academic thinkers in the field with practical examples from a variety of business sectors and geographies and offers a framework with which Senior Management might engage with the topic, not (just) to save the planet but to fulfil their short, medium, and long-term responsibilities to shareholders and other stakeholders. [Publisher Text]
Becoming the Evidence-Based Manager: Making the Science of Management Work for You by Gary P. Latham
In this book, author Gary Latham distills over 50 years of management science for everyday practice and application. Full of the essential information you need to become an evidence-based manager from hiring to retention, Latham presents 10 general lessons of management and a new case-study featuring two evidence-based managers in action. Containing an in depth analysis of management practice with witty anecdotes (see 'A Trapper's 'Lottery''' about the benefits of variable schedule to employee satisfaction on page 94) Latham writes in a way that both informs and engages the reader. [Adapted from Publisher Text]
Driven to the Brink: Why Corporate Governance, Board Leadership and Culture Matter by Alicia Micklethwait and Patricia Dimond
Driven to the Brink is a collection of short stories about corporate disasters and how inadequate governance and flawed culture caused a massive destruction of shareholder value. It examines major corporate meltdowns and how we can prevent them from happening again. Look at any major corporate meltdown and two factors emerge: a failure of corporate governance and a culture where short-termism and greed are rewarded and risk is encouraged to flourish unchecked. Drawing on in-depth case studies of the Libor scandal, Olympus, Co-op, Kids Company and others, authors Dimond and Micklethwait ask what have we learned and more importantly, what can we do to prevent these disasters from happening again? [Adapted from Publisher Text]
Flex or Fail: The Future of Work and Pay by Arturo Bris, Tony Feltonand Robby Mol
Independent workers invoice clients but do not have employment contracts. Flex or Fail explores how this number is likely to double in the next 10 years, what impact this will have on work & pay, and how all of us will need to adapt to a new way of working. The book looks at the economics of labour markets and competitiveness and addresses the issues of individuals who face significant change in their lives. The tone is personal and recognises the fear and emotion that goes with the prospect of an uncertain future. Flex or Fail is optimistic and fact based, taking into account the resilience and confidence that is inherent in people to deal with change. [Text from Flex or Fail Website]
Supervision in Coaching: Supervision, Ethics, and Continuous Professional Development Edited by Jonathan Passmore
Coaching is rapidly growing from a young, emerging profession to one that is becoming more established on a global scale. As professional coaching grows, so does the need for a more formulated approach to regulation, ethics, and individual development. In order for coaches to develop their skills and knowledge they need to make continual professional development and supervision a core aspect of their practice.
Published with the Association for Coaching, Supervision in Coaching examines how coaches can use a range of professional development tools to improve and develop their coaching. The authors provide advice on a range of topics, including approaches to supervision, managing ethical dilemmas, the role of regulation and licensing in coaching, and the development of accreditation and professional standards. [Publisher Text]
The Compliance Revolution: How Compliance Needs to Change to Survive by David Jackman
Compliance is absolutely critical in creating a robust and resilient organization, one which is trusted by clients and contributes to market stability. Firms must approach compliance differently in order to meet these standards. Written for compliance staff, regulatory organizations, and senior management. The Compliance Revolution explains how key changes in compliance affect underlying principles, practices, roles, expectations and values. This valuable resource for global practitioners assists in navigating compliance requirements and implementing solid protection for a sound organization. [Publisher Text]
Innovation Capital: How to Compete–and Win–like the World’s Most Innovative Leaders by Jeffrey Dyer, Nathan Furr and Curtis Lefrandt
Great leaders of innovation know that creativity is not enough. They succeed not only on the basis of their ideas, but because they have the vision, reputation, and networks to win the backing needed to commercialize them. It turns out that this quality--called "innovation capital"--is measurably more important for innovation than just being creative. Featuring interviews with the superstars of innovation,--individuals like Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Elon Musk (Tesla), Marc Benioff (Salesforce), Indra Nooyi (PepsiCo), and Shantanu Narayen (Adobe)--this book will help you position yourself and your ideas to compete for attention and resources so that you can launch innovations with impact. [Adpated from Publisher Text].
Critical Moments in Executive Coaching: Understanding the Coaching Process Through Research and Evidence-Based Theory by Erik De Haan
Critical Moments in Executive Coaching offers an evidence and research-based approach that will be of great interest to coaches in practice and in training, students of both undergraduate and graduate coaching programmes and those who supervise and commission coaching. It does this by looking at what research is already telling us about the value of coaching conversations and the impact of critical ‘moments of change’ in coaching, from the perspectives of coaches, clients, stakeholders and sponsors. The detailed research findings outlined in the book are supplemented throughout by case studies and snapshots of coaching moments as well as practical advice and insights for those working in the field. The book also brings forward innovative new models and concepts for coaches which have emerged from research. [Adapted from Publisher Text]
The Oxford Handbook of Human Motivation Edited by Richard M. Ryan
Motivation is that which moves us to action. Human motivation is thus a complex issue as people are moved to action by both their evolved natures and by myriad familial, social, and cultural influences. The book includes theoretical overviews from some of the best-known thinkers in this area, including articles on Social Learning Theory, Control Theory, Self-determination Theory, Terror Management Theory, and the Promotion and Prevention perspective. Topical articles appear on phenomena such as ego-depletion, flow, curiosity, implicit motives, and personal interests. [Adapted from Publisher Text].
Photo Credit: Dewang Gupta on Unsplash
