Some Festive Reading

You probably know most of the community books already. So here’s some alternative reading you might find really useful this festive period.

• Workshop Survival Guide. If you’re hosting any sort of online or offline workshop, you should read this. It’s really helped us take our workshop game to the next level. The most practical guide out there today.

• Who. Read this before you recruit your next employee (or hire any sort of agency/consultant to help you work). This has changed how we recruit and hire for a variety of different roles.

• Playing To Win. Everyone developing strategies today should be familiar with the basic concepts of strategy. This will help you recognise the battle you’re in for your audience’s attention and how to win that battle.

• Your Strategy Needs A Strategy. A slightly different take on strategy. Before deciding what your strategy should be you need to decide what category of strategy you’re developing. This depends heavily upon the environment you’re in. Most strategies are dead on arrival because they’re unfeasible.

• Storyworthy. If you want to persuade anyone, you need to tell persuasive stories. This is the first book I’ve found which goes from the theoretical process to the practical steps to tell persuasive stories. Read it before your next talk (or article!).

• Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise. Most of us reach a level we’re happy with and stay there. To really excel at anything you need to deliberately practice and refine new skills. This book was an eye-opener.

• Thinking in Systems. A bit of a dense and theoretical read with astounding implications for community professionals. Everything is part of a system. An increase in any metric comes at the expense of others. If you figure this out, you will be much better for it.

• Thanks for the Feedback. I never realised giving and receiving feedback was an art form until I read this. I’d make this a critical book to read whether you’re engaging in communities or not (but you might be surprised how useful it is if you’re in the trenches of this work).

• Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage. Sometimes we just need a riveting read. I’d recommend this one. At its best, it’ll make you realise you’re capable of enduring more than you think possible. At the very least, it might put some of your daily troubles in perspective.

Enjoy.