First Friday Book Synopsis

(Note:  I’ve been a little under the weather lately.  I’m able to do my reading; but not much writing for the blog.  Sorry about that…)

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What are you reading right now?  That is always a fun question.  And, there are so many books to read – good books — to help us learn.  And fun books, to help us escape.  (And, yes, even those fun books have much to teach us).

I have four books going at the moment.  I have finished reading two, and am well into the other two.  Take a look:

#1 — For my next Urban Engagement Book Club presentation for CitySquare, I am now finished with my reading of White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. Written by a white woman, this book describes how racism is in fact systemic throughout our white-dominant society. She pulls no punches, and I found myself realizing ways that I still support racism by my ignorance, and by my silence. I really have to do better!

I’ve presented a number of books dealing with issues of race at the Urban Engagement Book Club.  This is one worth adding to that list.

(Here is the line-up of books for 2019 for the Urban Engagement Book Club, which focuses on issues of social justice).

#2 – I have finished my reading of Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller.  I will present my synopsis of this to a client company in just a few days.

This book had not crossed my radar, and I am quite glad it has now.  It is a very useful book; genuinely helpful.  And it has the quality of “do this, and then this” to get your message out in a much more effective way.

I teach Speech at the community college level, and studied Rhetoric at the graduate level.  Though this book does not use the terminology I learned in my academic studies, the principles line up very well  Good book!

#3 – One of my two selections for the March First Friday Book Synopsis is The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth by Amy Edmondson.Though this book is about psychological safety, and, really, about effective teaming in this ever-more-collaborative world, one of the real insights is the way people actually work today. Hint:  not in isolation. Another good book!

(Read this earlier blog post about a key insight from this book: The era of Constant Collaboration– A challenge clearly identified by Amy Edmondson in The Fearless Organization).

#4 – My other selection for the March First Friday Book Synopsis is AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order by Kai-Fu Lee.  This author was recently interviewed on 60 Minutes, and this book really helps me understand just what artificial intelligence is now capable of doing, and what may be coming down the line.  His number one concern is the loss of jobs – losses, in every arena, that will arrive faster than we are prepared for.

So I have four good books currently at the front of my mind, preparing synopses of all four.

What good books are you reading now?