Great Reading

Who you meet and what you read shapes your insight and outlook on the world. From our members to our residents and knowledge network, here is what we are reading to help shape our knowledge and perspective.

Larry Quick's Reading

A Brief History of Globalization by Alex MacGillivray

Globalization is fast becoming the most over-used and least understood word in the world. The accelerating political, economic, cultural and environmental interconnections that it describes are powerful and controversial. But what does it really mean? Ever since Pythagoras first imagined the world as a sphere revolving around the sun, our planet has been shrinking. This book covers globalization from all angles: from 15th-century explorations to the rise of the multi-national corporation; from the Great Wall of China to the birth of the football World Cup. Opening the lid on the complex economics behind the controversies, MacGillivray gives equal play to technology and culture, politics and war. Alex MacGillivray is an activist inquisitive enough to find out where globalization has come from, and a historian rash enough to say where it is going next. Rich in detail, wide-ranging in scope and even-handed in its assessment of the benefits and dangers of globalization, here is the full story of how a mysterious flat earth became a global village.

Robert Leaver's Reading

Polis and Praxis : Exercises in Contemporary Political Theory by Fred R. Dallmayr

The touchstone of these seven original essays is the relationship between polis and praxis - the public-political space and the political action that maintains and is conditioned by that space. The argument flows from Martin Heidegger's lament in his Letter on Humanism that modern philosophers have failed to understand that the essence of "action" is "accomplishment." Dallmayr's lucid essays are a step toward achieving that understanding.

Dallmayr assesses and puts into perspective the work of many of the seminal thinkers of the 20th century - Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Michel Foucault, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jürgen Habermas, Hannah Arendt, Leo Strauss, Michael Oakeshott - as he takes up such topics as the plausibility of friendship as a model for political relations, the relationship between political praxis and "experience," Heidegger's ontology of freedom, Foucault's treatment of power, and the merits and disadvantages of Habermasian critical theory. The result is a stimulating and original contribution to current political discourse that explores and advocates the manifold possible levels of active political life below and above the level of the State.

Fred Dallmayr has established a reputation as a theorist and critic who is equally well attuned to European and American currents of philosophical and political thought. Like Hannah Arendt, he sees the essay as an ideal form for exercises in theorizing en route while venturing beyond traditional categories and philosophical benchmarks. His aim in this book is not a close-knit propositional framework but a set of tentative and partially continuous explorations that are provocative and inviting, like the movements of a musical suite.

Michelle Gonzalez' Reading

The Company We Keep: Reinventing Small Business for People, Community and Place by John Abrams.

Short-term profits needn't be the sole indication of business health, as the co-founder of a thirty-year-old, employee-owned design company on Martha's Vineyard demonstrates in The Company We Keep: Reinventing Small Business For People, Community, And Place. Abrams here explores how business can be used as a force for cultural and social change in a community, setting forth eight foundation principles of change which define his South Mountain Company's work and vision and how they were achieved. Chapters survey a range of issues, from encouraging workplace democracy and balancing multiple bottom lines to practicing community-supportive business techniques and redefining measures of success. An exceptional, insightful guide for socially conscious businesses.

Jeff Deckman's Reading

Whatever Happened to Justice by Richard Maybury

This book is an absolute must read for any person in a leadership role, or who is working their way towards one….especially politicians and executives. Maybury cuts to the heart of what all well-intentioned religions and philosophies have in common with his 17 words: "Do all that you agree to do, and do not encroach upon other persons or their property." Nothing is more important to the sustainability of a society, a government, a civilization, a company, an organization or even a family than the way it establishes its rules of conduct; the manner in which justice is maintained and the methods of dealing with those who violate these agreements. Remaining true to form Maybury takes seemingly insurmountably complex, and often contradictory, legal, moral, political and spiritual rules of conduct and makes them completely understandable. In doing so he reveals to us basic principles that are as universal as they are effective. This new understanding then empowers us all to be able to enhance our own lives and those around us.

His explanation of the devastating societal impact that the abandoning of the simple yet durable Common Law principals, which the Founding Fathers employed to create the most prosperous society in history in favor of Political Laws will be something that you will never forget. He also makes a direct connection between Law and Economics that is as simple to understand as it is dead on accurate. It is a quick read. It is a deep read. It is a fascinating read. It will change the way you lead and the way you teach others under you how to lead. If it doesn’t then we probably shouldn’t have dinner together…

Mark Binders' Reading

The Springboard: How Storytelling Ignites Action in Knowledge-Era Organizations by Stephen Denning

Stephen Denning, a former manager at the world bank, elegantly describes his entry into the world of storytelling to effect change. With a handful of carefully chosen stories, he learns how to excite employees to embrace and impliment "Knowledge Management." As a result of his effort, within three years the World Bank had begun to fully integrate this new practice into its mission and structure.

Denning's analysis of what he calls a "Springboard Story" is fascinating. Rather than transporting the listener deeply into the story, he uses a bare-bones story to engage their interest but allow their minds to wander and create a "What if we did that..." scenario. It's a distinction between storytelling as entertainment and storytelling as management tool. In this book, Denning doesn't show the application of storytelling outside of the knowledge-management field. In other words, how would it work in changing a car company? Also, he says that storytelling stopped when his role changed from cheerleader and innovator to administrator of the new organizational structure he created. Don't the "drones" need stories too? Is there a way to imbue ordinary tasks with the kind of urgency and poignancy that is available through storytelling? I look forward to reading more of his work.

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