Issue #105: The Book Issue

Good morning, friends!

We just returned from our first annual offsite, feeling bright and inspired. Lately, we’ve been having some great discussions about what books bring us inspiration. Personally, I’ve sworn off business books, specifically the one-size-fits-all volumes with catchy titles and content that reads like a stretched out blog post. If we’re all leaning in, 10xing, and going from good to great, who is really finding innovative ways of working?

These days, I’m focusing on getting my inspiration from industries outside tech and HR. What are blue-collar labour unions focused on? What are philosophers saying about work? Some of my recent favourites include Private Government, by Elizabeth S. Anderson (which purports that the modern workplace has taken the place of authoritarian government in our lives), Catherine Liu’s Virtue Hoarders (which rallies against a so-called “managerial class” focused on virtue-signalling and consumption vs. effective change), and Kim Kelly’s Fight Like Hell (a history of union labour in America. We also interviewed Kim back in March). I don’t always agree with every author’s view on work, but they get me out of my personal echo chamber and into a more creative zone. Here are some more picks from the Bright + Early team:

“Becoming Kin by Patty Krawec is a recent one for me. It's about reimagining the future to an extent, but building for the future we want. And I also think it's applicable to work because it speaks through rethinking and being intentional with how we relate to those around us and about operating in the spirit of kinship - which from my perspective, speaks to the ideal future state of our field.” - Stephanie Bergman, Senior Consultant, Team Lead.

“Pedagogy Of the Oppressed, baby! Boiled down, you can't make humans objective. So why are our processes all objective? This one spurs really good design conversations.” - Trisha Neogi, Senior Consultant, Compensation Lead

“I’ve always been an extremely nervous presenter– shakes, puking, crying. Public speaking was killing me and none of the helpful advice from people who cared about me resonated. Then I came across How To Own The Room by Viv Groskop. Like with all self help books, you take what’s helpful and leave the rest, but I actually found a lot of useful tips here. The main thing I took away, the game changer, was permission. Permission to be myself and not some business idea of a smooth presenter. I don’t have to be perfect, I just have to care about what I’m presenting.” - Steph Little, Senior Consultant, Policy and Compliance Lead

What are your favourite non-business business books? Hit reply; we’d love to hear from you.

-Nora

Bright Reads

• With wildfire smoke clouding cities like Toronto and NYC, should employees be staying home when there’s bad air quality (our own Steph Little is quoted here!).

• Ever felt like you were excluded at work, or not in the in-crowd? When the workplace can feel like Mean Girls, here’s some practical advice.

• If you’re into using customer journey mapping techniques to build out your HR programs (or curious about it!) here’s a great roundup of resources.

• Apple will drop the “ducking” autocorrect.

Coming Up

• Juneteenth (USA) is on June 19

• Father’s Day is on June 19

• World Refugee Day is on June 21

• National Indigenous Peoples day is on June 21

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