Reading has always been for me, not just a pleasure, but a way to learn. It was Nelson Mandela who said:
“Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”
And reading is certainly a way to educate. So, when starting out on my working life I sort of casually began to explore the Business sections of bookshops. Did I know that this would become a near obsession, to the point of finding it nearly impossible to visit a bookshop & NOT come out with two to three items in a bag? No. Plus, the fact that they might not get read for a significant period was irrelevant. Of course, as time went on the options for reading multiplied.
So, in no particular order, the following have had a significant impact for me:
- “In Search of Excellence”- Tom Peters
- “The Hungry Spirit”- Charles Handy
- “Business as Unusual”- Anita Roddick
- “Rework- Change The Way You Work Forever”- Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
- “Small Giants- Companies that Choose to be Great Instead of Big”- Bo Burlingham
- “Start With Why”- Simon Sinek
- “Heroic Leadership”- Chris Lowney
- “Soloing”- Harriet Rubin
- “Spiritual Capital- Wealth We Can Live By”- Danah Zohar & Ian Marshall
- “Drive- The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”- Dan Pink
- “Insanely Simple- The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success”- Ken Segall
- “Think Simple”- Ken Segall
- “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”- Stephen R Covey
- “Be Your Best Entrepreneur …And Beyond”- Alex McMillan
I am sorry if that list seems a little long, but the books educated, made me think & helped inform my views.
Those views can be summarised as follows:
Leadership, soft-skills, personal development, management as well as “Gets Stuff Done Skills” are key in the 21st Century where Portfolio Careers & independent working will increasingly be the norm.
“Education” transforms lives by building self-confidence & belief. But education is about more than just career skills — it is about the whole person- the holistic view.
Training & self-development will no longer be up to some form of benign, all knowing employer but to each individual. Your capacity to be creative, adaptable, be & think independent will become key attributes to possess. in fact as the concept of a “job” becomes more a “way of working” then continuous self-learning will be crucial.
As Charles Handy pointed out, the educational system has failed to prepare us for independent working. Do we learn about the need for people skills, how to develop our emotional intelligence, imagination & creativity? By default, if at all. There are simply not enough specifically designed learnings to help us in this regard.
In my reading of “Insanely Simple”, it struck me that very little of today’s training & development connects us to what as Ken Segall described (I paraphrase), Apple Simplicity — that which connects us to our humanity.
The 21st Century company or organisation needs not your traditionally typical Company Yes Man but people who will be prepared to challenge the status quo. We will need to be more entrepreneurial in our approach & thinking, questioning why it’s always been done this way. Why not try something new & different?
In my reading other than books, I came across Scott H Young who reckons that hard work is being replaced by three other factors that in the future will be more important:
- Creativity
- Relationships
- Learning.
Amen to that.
In closing, I’d like to quote a great Irish man, George Bernard Shaw, who said:
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
Until the next time.
