Looking for a good book to end the summer?
Summer is winding to a close. Thankfully, there’s still time to squeeze in a few books. Wharton School Press asked its authors for their top summer reading recommendations again this year. Here are their top reads.
BUSINESS AND LEADERSHIP BOOKS
ERIKA H. JAMES, COAUTHOR OF THE PREPARED LEADER: EMERGE FROM ANY CRISIS MORE RESILIENT THAN BEFORE
Arrive and Thrive: 7 Impactful Practices for Women Navigating Leadership, by Susan MacKenty Brady, Janet Foutty and Lynn Perry Wooten
From James: I am inspired by personal stories of triumph. Arrive and Thrive profiles relatable women navigating brilliantly through the labyrinth of multiple work environments. This book shows us there are multiple pathways to success, once we determine what success means for each of us.
CHARLENE LI, AUTHOR OF THE ENGAGED LEADER: A STRATEGY FOR YOUR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
The Man Who Broke Capitalism, by David Gelles
A New York Times bestseller, Li’s recommendation looks back at the 20th century and points to Jack Welch and GE as the potential downfall of capitalism.
From Li: It’s a fascinating debunking of business myths and practices by Jack Welch and GE, such as the primacy of shareholder value and financial manipulations needed to engineer quarterly profits, which led to the greatest level of socioeconomic inequality since the Great Depression. The best part is at the end when Gelles highlights how some leaders today reject Welchism to do well, while also doing good.
PETER FADER, AUTHOR OF CUSTOMER CENTRICITY; AND COAUTHOR OF THE CUSTOMER CENTRICITY PLAYBOOK AND THE CUSTOMER-BASE AUDIT
Converted, by Neil Hoyne
From Fader: Neil has a great conversational style. He makes some pretty complex issues (including my own work on customer lifetime value) very interesting and understandable for the non-technical reader. And it’s highly practical stuff, based on Neil’s years of experience at Google. This book is a perfect complement to my book, The Customer Centricity Playbook – notice how Amazon suggests to buy the two as a bundle – and also sets the stage nicely for my forthcoming Wharton School Press book, The Customer-Base Audit.
KARL ULRICH, COAUTHOR OF WINNING IN CHINA
Money, Jacob Goldstein
Written by the host of the popular podcast “Planet Money,” this read surveys the history of money.
From Ulrich: The book busts quite a few myths, including the idea that money arose primarily to address inefficiencies in the use of barter. Clearly an audio-first book: snappy, snarky, and read by the author, whose day job is hosting the popular podcast Planet Money. Nice short chapters, which seem to be most entertaining in audio format at 1.2x.
LYNN WOOTEN, COAUTHOR OF THE PREPARED LEADER: EMERGE FROM ANY CRISIS MORE RESILIENT THAN BEFORE
Smart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company, by Whitney Johnson
From Wooten: Using the S Curve of Learning, this book conceptualizes a model and provides action steps for how individuals can achieve growth to become their best selves and serve others. There are three phases to the growth and learning journey: the Launch Point, the Sweet Spot, and Mastery. A central tenet to this book is as individuals collectively grow through putting learning into action, organizations and societies do as well. Learning moves from something we do to something we are; thus, resulting in actions that better the world as we better ourselves.
MICHAEL PLATT, AUTHOR OF THE LEADER’S BRAIN
Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson
From Platt: Melvillean in scope and style, Ministry for the Future interweaves intense event-driven narratives with informative disquisitions on monetary policy, geophysics, and ecology to make the most compelling case yet for mitigating climate change. This is a must-read call to action to save the planet.
BEYOND BUSINESS BOOKS
GREGORY SHEA, COAUTHOR OF LEADING SUCCESSFUL CHANGE
The Generation Myth: Why When You’re Born Matters Less Than You Think, by Bobby Duffy
From Shea: So much commentary concerning “generations” has for too long not only not clarified but actually confused our understanding of current generational differences and, too often, inflamed discourse regarding those differences and their consequences. Duffy draws together three long established streams of thinking and research regarding generations, namely the mechanisms of aging, key events, and the circumstances of our youth, and how they shape what characterizes a generation at any point. The perspective helps normalize conversation regarding generations as well as clarifies differences, their sources, and their role in pursuing a desired future.
KEVIN WERBACH, COAUTHOR OF THE GAMIFICATION TOOLKIT AND FOR THE WIN: THE POWER OF GAMIFICATION
The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
It’s a 1974 science fiction novel – a classic according to Werbach. Set in an anarchist utopia on faraway planets, the read switches between two rivaling worlds and follows political rivalries and the proxy war that ensues.
Though written nearly 50 years ago, the book has maintained relevance thanks to its political and economic philosophies. Along with this recent Wharton School Press recommendation, the book won the Hugo Locus and Nebula Awards for Best Novel in 1975.
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones
From Werbach: The original New York Times series and subsequent book have become culture war touch points, but that’s all the more reason to read and evaluate it for yourself. I learned a great deal about the history of my country, in the best historical tradition of forcing the reader to rethink the present in the hopes of a better future.
