Aside from a daily dose of insights from Work Design Magazine, here are some recommended reads from our top contributors for the forward thinking workplace practitioner. Happy Reading!
Essential lessons in hospitality from the former co-owner of legendary restaurant Eleven Madison Park.
“Arguably the most important book of the year for most operators is Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara. Try to find a leader that hasn’t read it. At GCUC conferences around the world this year we encouraged our community to change their descriptor in LinkedIn.”
– GCUC Founder & Futurist, Liz Elam
Amazon prices at publication:
- Kindle: $9.99
- Hardcover: $17.99
In popular WDM Contributor’s latest book, Genius Spark: Reignite Your Life, Rex Miller embarks on a transformative exploration, aimed not merely at uncovering innate talents but helping readers to master them.
We are all born with a spark of genius inside us . . . so what happened?
The Spark is not gone, it’s just hidden, only emerging in unplanned moments of high performance or ability, when we enter a state of ‘flow’ and feel as if we were BORN to excel at whatever activity in which we are engaged.
Amazon prices at publication:
- Kindle: $9.99
- Paperback: $22.50
Unlock the power of flexible work with this practical “how-to” guide from the leadership of Slack and Future Forum.
How the Future Works: Leading Flexible Teams to Do The Best Work of Their Lives by Boffers a blueprint for using flexible work to unlock the potential of your people. “An insightful and pragmatic approach to using technology for various types of remote work to help find balance.”
– Bob Fox, WDM Founder
Amazon prices at publication:
- Kindle: $18.00
- Hardcover: Starting at $8.78
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results.
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving – every day. James Clear, one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.
Amazon prices at publication:
- Kindle: $14.99
- Hardcover: $13.79
- Paperback: $14.63
Nothing is more inspiring than a big vision that becomes a triumphant, new reality.
If you manage projects in any capacity, reading “How Big Things Get Done” by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner, will become your new bible. The 16,000 project database confirms the saying, “All the big mistakes happen on the first day.”
– Rex Miller, Author & Founder of MindShift
Amazon prices at publication:
- Kindle: $13.99
- Hardcover: $23.58
- Paperback: $19.48
How optimization took over the world and the urgent case for a new approach.
“An introspective slippery slope on the benefits and downsides of the modern-day religion of efficiency and optimization. Optimal Illusions by Coco Krumme brings together interdisciplinary sources in a travel log sojourn connecting the optimist drivers of Amazon air hubs, beet farming and Zappos into a unique and thoughtful tome.”
–Cynthia Milota, Director of Workplace Strategy at Ware Malcomb
Amazon prices at publication:
- Kindle: $15.99
- Hardcover: $24.32
Design is expression, a service, an act of creativity.
But if designers design for everyone, how can there be so little diversity in the profession? In Design for Identity: How to Design Authentically for a Diverse World by WDM Favorite, Jessica Bantom examines the implications of design in everyday life, from spaces and products to images and the fashion industry.
Amazon prices at publication:
- Kindle: $9.95
- Hardcover: $24.11
- Paperback: $22.10
Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again illuminates how we can elevate ourselves and others to unexpected heights.
We live in a world that’s obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn’t knock, there are ways to build a door.
Amazon prices at publication:
- Kindle: $16.99
- Hardcover: $20.66
- Papaerback: $28.30
The Work Design Magazine team carefully and independently curated these products and we may earn affiliate revenue from purchases made via links in this content. The prices listed reflect the price at the time of publication. Since 99% of our content is free – your purchase is an extra validation that you like our work. Thank you in advance and happy shopping!
